That was thirty years ago, and New York harbor has changed considerably. Most seagoing vessels are not filled with transatlantic passengers en route to Europe. These days, they're headed for the airport, as airplanes are much quicker, cheaper, and people are in a hurry. Time is short, vacation time limited, and most no longer want to spend the better part of their European trip on a ship.
Travel by ship has not disappeared completely, of course. Once in Europe, you can take cruises of the Greek Islands, a cruise of the Mediterranean, sail up to the North Cape, explore the great rivers of Europe such as the Danube and Rhine, and so on. Its the travel to Europe itself, primarily from North America, which has lost some of its luster. In days past, ship was the only means of travel across the sea, so getting there was half the fun. Jet lag was unheard of, since you had weeks to slowly adjust to new time zones. Passengers arrived in Europe relaxed and refreshed, ready to begin their journey.
The recent movie about the Titanic romanticized that great era of great ships ( as well as romanticizing a situation that never would have occurred in real life--deluxe class did not mix with steerage, and certainly, it is doubtful they would have found anything charming about the dreadful cramped conditions, unwashed bodies and poor sanitation that the steerage passengers had to contend with--but that's another story entirely). And while that era will probably never return, it still is possible to cross the Atlantic by ship.
Only a few ships still make the journey, the best known being the Queen Elizabeth 2. Depending on the number of ports of call, the average trip is roughly 6-14 days, although some are longer. Ships traveling from North America depart from several cities, including New York, Boston, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. They terminate their voyage at different locations, including Barcelona, Venice, Lisbon, Copenhagen and Genoa. In between, their stops are determined by the length of the trip and the cost. For example, you can take the Royal Princess on April 11,2000, and take a nice 19 cruise to Barcelona. Your port of departure is Buenos Aires, and in between, you'll visit Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Dakar, Madeira, Casablanca, Gibraltar...not a bad way to get to Barcelona.
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