By Dawn Gilbertson

TENERIFE, Spain -- It's not the most comforting announcement to hear on vacation.

"We don't want you to get hurt," the captain said over the PA. "So please move slowly, take your time."

My mom and I were about to spend six days crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a 4,200-passenger cruise ship -- at the tail end of hurricane season. Potentially rough seas and the hazards they present are part of the gamble when you take the long way home from Europe. And we were all in.

Most cruise lines offer trans-Atlantic cruises just once a year in each direction to get their ships positioned for the season (Caribbean in winter, Europe in summer). So the journey is a rite of passage for many cruisers.

Some repeat the cruise year after year, in both directions. On Royal Caribbean, you even get a certificate marking the crossing. When's the last time an airline did that for you on a trans-Atlantic flight?!

So it was my turn. I treat my 83-year-old mom to a cruise every year. This year we ditched the familiar Caribbean for a 14-night trans-Atlantic cruise from Rome to New York on Royal Caribbean.

I know this sounds positively miserable to some of you. In a recent Facebook post showing a cruise ship like ours in the Canary Islands, a never-cruiser called it a "floating prison with alcohol." A pilot friend who is crossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands in a sailboat this month called cruise ships a "floating petri dish."

And that's OK. Cruising works for us. (It isn't my first choice for a trip with friends or my grown children.) I call it the no-brainer vacation.

The long trans-Atlantic sailing was especially attractive because we had six consecutive sea days on the way to New York after our stops in Spain and Gibraltar. No tours to plan, restaurants to research or alarms to set for this Type A traveler who travels for a living.

The toughest question each day was whether to work out in the gym or the outdoor track, where to eat, what to read on the balcony, what time to play trivia or Yahtzee and when to nap.

At night, it was a question of which shows to check out (or skip), and which slots (my mom) or video poker and keno machines (me) to play in the casino. I read three books. My mom had at least three desserts every day.

Here are the pros and cons/highs and lows of the cruise.

The price was right. I paid $3,400 for two for the cruise fare. That's less than my one-way business-class ticket from Philadelphia to London in August, and included balcony accommodations, food and activities. My total vacation bill was significantly higher when adding in the expensive cruise beverage package (my mom doesn't drink, but the cruise line requires both passengers to pay for it so there's no sharing), Wi-Fi for two weeks, casino visits, tips and private tours in Rome before the cruise. But that happens with any vacation. I used miles and points for airfare to Rome and pre-cruise hotels.

Unpack once, still get a Europe sampler platter. Once we boarded the ship in Rome, we unpacked and didn't pull the suitcases out again until the last night -- and my mom still got to see Cartagena, Malaga, Tenerife and Gibraltar. Contrast this with the stress of those jam-packed European itineraries via train or plane. My mom was a trouper on long walks in the Boston and Rome airports and a four-hour food tour in Rome, but would never travel with me again if I tried that in multiple cities! (We did taxi tours in our port stops.)

History. Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a funny bit poking fun at travelers who whine about jet lag after a trans-Atlantic flight. "It used to take six weeks. On a boat. If you survived!" There was no mention of the Titanic on the cruise, of course, but the captain did share facts about the evolution of trans-Atlantic crossings from Columbus to immigrants to the first Cunard ships. (Cunard is the only line that offers year-round trans-Atlantic sailings.)

Unpredictable weather = change in itinerary. Hurricane Melissa and other storms messed with two of our planned stops on the cruise. I was disappointed to miss our only stop in Italy, La Spezia. We were going to take a train from there to Cinque Terre, while other passengers planned to visit Florence. We also missed the Azores in Portugal, another stop that caught my eye when booking. (Tenerife was substituted.) It is something to keep in mind if certain ports are driving your cruise choices.

Groundhog Day. The free time was beyond glorious, but the days started to blend into one another. That happened even with rugs in the elevators telling you the day of the week -- yes, they actually do that. The activities and food started feeling the same, too. I saw the same woman jumping rope in front of the outdoor Twister game every morning. There is only so much trivia and name-that-tune you can play, only so many times you can eat that salad with chicken and sesame dressing or the station du jour at the buffet. Passengers weren't the only confused ones. The morning of our second-to-last sea day, a guest-services employee told me to enjoy the last day of the cruise.

No jet lag. To gradually get back on East Coast time before we pulled into New York (technically, Bayonne, N.J.), we changed our clocks back five times during the crossing. That's great for an extra hour of sleep each night and no jet lag after the trip, but it was a bit confusing to wake up every day with different times on all our devices. (The Royal Caribbean app always had the correct time.)

Relatively smooth sailing. Canceled ports aside, we absolutely lucked out on the cruise, weather-wise. (Wish we could say the same thing for the casino.) It was sunny and in the 60s and 70s for most of the trip, and sun-worshipping passengers filled pool chairs on most days. There were only a couple of notably rocky days, including the final sea day when the upper decks and pool were closed and the captain kept telling us not to walk around with glass.

It was the only day the cruise line attached vomit bags to each railing in the stairwells. We never needed one.

Write to Dawn Gilbertson at dawn.gilbertson@wsj.com

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November 18, 2025 21:00 ET (02:00 GMT)

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