By ship

I can agree with Frank, crossing the Atlantic is very boring. I have crossed is 8 times both ways on merchant ships and do not recommend it for a vacation.

However if you just want to relax and see the same sights and people for a week, you will be happy.

I would also question the wisdom of investing such a great amount in that trip. I have taken the 16 river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest; that is a trip where one sees 16 different towns. More interesting.

There are no regularly scheduled cruises across the Atlantic. (If there are, I couldn't find any.) The ones that are available are repositioning cruises moving the ships from North American to Europe. That's only done twice a year---once in each direction.

The Queen Mary 2 crosses from New York to Southampton quite a few times from April until September. I saw an ad in a Canadian newspaper just the other day offering a crossing on April 14, including the airfare back to NY, for C$1789. Call Cunard and some travel agent cruise specialists to find the best deal. I have crossed twice on the QM2 from NY and it's quite an experience.

Your best bet are repositioning cruises, usually in the Spring and Fall. There was a good deal this year on the QE2 (or maybe QM2) that had some transatlantic cruises for a decent price. Check out vacationstogo.com, they are as good as any website I've checked. You can search by repositioning or by ships that start in New York.

Thanks, Norma, I didn't realize Cunard brought back transatlantic service. They had discontinued it a few years ago.

While I have never taken it, I have been told that unless you love cruises, it's a very boring 6 days at sea. But a good alternative for fearful fliers.

Hard to travel light as I believe Cunard still does "dress-up" for dinner.

Actually the 6 day Atlantic crossing wasn't boring at all. The 12 day Med. cruise I took this October , now that was boring. On the QM2 there are a lot of things to do, interesting lectures, etc., and my husband took watercolour art classes every day that gave him a lot of pleasure. I do admit, though, that after the 6 days one really is anxious to disembark !

Just a note, the Queen Elisabeth II is no longer in service. It was sold to a group in Dubai, and made her final voyage a week or so ago. The ship will be converted to a luxury hotel.

You might check out the various cruise lines for repositioning cruises, where the cruise lines move ships from one area to another at the close of a season. You can get some good deals but need to allow a long time for passage and be prepared to travel at the time of year these rates are offered.