Are you planning a trip to Europe soon? You might think about taking a ship rather than a plane if you have extra time.
While the cost of flying to Europe is at an all-time high right now, the cost of some transatlantic cruises to Europe booked for April, May, and June is at an all-time low — in some cases, under $500 per person.
Since there is less demand for transatlantic sailings than for cruises that concentrate on a particular destination, like the Caribbean or Europe, they are frequently a good deal. In order to fill them, cruise lines frequently offer steep discounts on short notice.
It appears that this year is the same. Several of the transatlantic sailings leaving in April are listed below, and as of Friday, they are all being offered at steep discounts:
• A 16-night trip on Holland America's 2,668-passenger Rotterdam from Fort Lauderdale to Rotterdam, Netherlands, starts at $499, or roughly $31 per day. Travel starts on April 3.
• A 14-day trip on Holland America's 2,666-passenger Nieuw Statendam departing from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona starts at $499, or roughly $36 per day. Travel starts on April 8.
• A 14-day trip on Holland America's 2,388-passenger Oosterdam departing from Fort Lauderdale to Civitavecchia, Italy (the port for Rome), starts at $499, or roughly $36 per day. The journey starts on April 10.
• A 13-day trip aboard the 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride departing from Tampa to Barcelona costs as little as $559, or roughly $43 per day. The journey starts on April 13.
• A 13-day trip aboard the 2,666-passenger Celebrity Reflection departing from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona starts at $489, or roughly $38 per day. Travel will start on April 23.
Similar to this, there are affordable transatlantic cruises available in May, including a 17-night voyage on the 3,502-passenger MSC Divina operated by MSC Cruises that starts at $799, or roughly $47 per day. The trip starts on May 15.
Deals on transatlantic travel include a 12-night Norwegian Getaway cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida, to Lisbon, Portugal, starting at $499, or roughly $42 per day. Trip departure is on June 3.
Details about transatlantic cruise offers
Please take note that the substantially discounted rates listed above are only valid for the lowest-category windowless inside cabins on each of the ships.
Nonetheless, on some of the cruises, there are also noticeably affordable rates for accommodations with balconies and ocean views.
On the 16-night Rotterdam cruise leaving April 3, ocean-view accommodations (cabins with a window) were featured on Holland America's website Friday for $699, which is only $200 more than a windowless cabin.
For the cruise, balcony cabins were priced at $799. For a balcony cabin, that comes out to roughly $50 per day.
Please take note that all prices are per-person and are based on two persons sharing a cabin. For lone travelers, they are not accessible.
Additionally, while the rates cover lodging, meals, and entertainment, they exclude port taxes and fees, which can raise the overall cost of the trip by another $100 or more.
Port taxes and fees are often not included in the advertised prices by cruise lines, but they are added to final invoices at check-out.
Spring is the time for transatlantic sailings to Europe
Peak transatlantic sailing months from the United States to Europe are April, May, and June. In order to move ships from their winter bases in the Caribbean and the Bahamas to their summer bases in Europe, cruise lines must first move the ships from their winter bases.
Due to the requirement for such repositioning, many cruise ships go in one direction from popular cruise ports in North America like Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and New York to the best cruise ports in Europe like Barcelona, Civitavecchia, and Southampton, England.
Typically, transatlantic voyages consist primarily of sea days as the ships cross the Atlantic Ocean. It doesn't appeal to many cruise passengers, thus they are frequently only sparingly booked in advance. Because of this, cruise lines may give them a last-minute discount.
Transatlantic sailings, while an excellent alternative to flying to Europe, do have one significant disadvantage: they are exceedingly lengthy. A swift journey over the Atlantic is perhaps your best option if you only have a limited amount of time to spend in Europe.
Transatlantic cruises do, however, offer a far more leisurely option to reach the Continent for those with the extra time.
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