On our first true cruise vacation in the post-pandemic era, my husband, 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.

We disembarked, 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 what we hope fellow travelers love about being out at sea. It’s about summer.

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.

Editor’s Note: Because Silversea ships constantly travel around the globe, most ships, including Silver Ray, Silver Muse, Silver Moon, Silver Cloud and Silver Whisper, among others, offer repositionings (also known as transoceanic cruises). There are numerous options; some involve major itineraries on one end or the other so you have plenty of ports along with your sea days, while others, like this trip, basically just move the ship from one continent to the next.