We’re Just Back From…An Atlantic Crossing

Why would a traveler take a cruise with almost no ports of call? Here's our take: It's a great way to relive that awesome laid-back feeling of summer

On our first true cruise vacation in the post-pandemic era, Teijo and I opted for an Atlantic crossing last week on Silversea’s Silver Nova. We traveled from Lisbon, with one stop along the way at the Azores’ Punta Delgada, and then had a stretch of eight straight days at sea before we reached New York. Eight days of nothing but flat line horizons and the impossible weather predictions: Would the mighty Atlantic be ferocious, lake-like, or something in between? Every day, we wondered.

Why would any real traveler subject themselves to this kind of experience on vacation?

Here’s why: Sometimes you just need a break.

Sometimes you need to sleep until 11 a.m. and then have breakfast in bed every morning for six straight days. You pack a stack of books you’ve been meaning to read – and then ignore all of them because you have discovered all sorts of great reads in the onboard library (Hugh Bonneville’s biography, Matthew Perry’s sober autobio, Adriana Trigiani’s latest soulful novel about Italy). You play ping pong (a lot of people were into trivia but we were too mentally and socially exhausted). We could have gone to the fabulous lectures onboard in the ship’s theater – especially the one about Lucille Ball or pretty much anything Bill Miller, the famed cruise historian, had to say – but they were broadcast, later, on the in-suite TV, and they were just as enjoyable from the couch (or the bed), especially accompanied by truffle popcorn served by our butler.

On this trip, we had date nights. Several, special date nights. At home, our effort to find time for each other is pretty much limited to dining out at one of our favorite local restaurants and then coming back home to walk the dogs, feed the cats and tidy the kitchen (or finish the laundry). On Silver Nova, our date nights involved pre-dinner cocktails with classical music at the Shelter Bar (or torch songs at Dolce Vita), an elegant dinner, a musical show in the ship’s theater, and then dancing at the Panorama Lounge. It’s like living in New York with lots less pressure to decide.

We disembarked today, after an overnight in Manhattan, which made me long for the flat horizon of the open sea. Look, we travel for our living, we cruise often. And we’re always working, and there’s the pressure of deadlines and info-gathering and visual click-fests. This trip was not about that. This trip was about what we hope fellow travelers love about being out at sea. It’s about summer.

I remember summer, as a kid, as this long, wonderful, always surprising stretch of absolute nothingness. No pressures, schedules or obligations. No homework. Summer was all about pure pleasure. Time stopped.

This Atlantic crossing was like summer for adults. Maybe it’s only a week-plus, but we loved how the days seemed to stretch as far as the flat horizon that was our constant visual companion. I already miss that. Today has felt a bit like Labor Day, when you know you’ve had a good summer season — and yet the reality of life is imminent, it’s ready, once again, to hit you with its fullest of forces.

The good news? We’re rested, restored, rejuvenated, and will handle anything that’s thrown at us. The better news? We’re already planning – amongst a bunch of work trips with plenty of ports and challenges – another crossing. I can’t wait.