My wife is concerned that she will be bored on a ta. Pleasse help

[stanjj111]

We are considering a ta but my wife has reservations regarding being at sea for seven days. Please help decided as to whether we will be bored being at sea for this time. thanks

[Romco]

We are considering a ta but my wife has reservations regarding being at sea for seven days. Please help decided as to whether we will be bored being at sea for this time. thanks

Hi stanjj- TA's can be as laid back or as packed full as you like!! No shortage of activities. DH and I have been on many cruises and the one TA we went on was the best-needless to say we have another one booked! TA's are a true adventure! Bored is not an option.:D

[Can'tstopcruising]

It's a very personal decision. I don't think any of us can categorically say that she will or won't be bored.

 

I guess you have to sit down and discuss what you like best/least about a cruise. If you like enough of the onboard activities, or you like to relax in the sun or just read a book, you will be fine. If on the other hand, you mostly enjoy visiting the ports, it is obvious that 7 days at sea will be a little difficult.

[stanjj111]

Are there additional ship board activities on a ta?

[Donyb]

We have done 2 TA's and have our 3rd scheduled on the Equinox in Oct. I can truthfully say I don't know where the days went when we were at sea. It is truly relaxing and I found myself taking advantage of things I don't ordinarily do on cruises. For example, on both our previous TA's, the cruise line had guest lecturers who gave info about the history of places we would be visiting (we were going eastbound from the States).

You can read, sit by a pool, see a movie, go to the gym or whatever else suits you. I was never bored and actually regretted the hectic schedule once we started going into ports.

 

Is your wife usually bored on vacation?? If not, cruising TA is no different.

[elvnga]

I expected to find a little time to be bored during my TA, but I never got around to it. There was always something else to do.

[ClevelandOhio]

We have done 6 or 7 TA's and they range from fascinating to rather dull. If you sail on the QM2 you run from one intellectual event to the next even more exciting speaker. At the end of the TA you are nothing less than amazed at the quantity of offerings.

 

If you go on Royal Caribbean, they had only one speaker in addition to the routine cruise entertainment venues at night. The rest of the day they are blasting over the PA system trying to sell you something under the guise of entertainment: classes, bingo, etc.

 

HAL and Celebrity are some place between the above extremes. We just came back from the Spring East bound TA on Celebrity Constellation. The weather was cold and blustery after the first day at sea. All of our time was spent indoors. Celebrity had booked two speakers, one a forensic psychologist and the other a retired art history professor from the Univ of Chicago. They both presented a lecture a day on the sea days. They were interesting and well attended. Celebrity also had extra performances of a classical pianist during several of the sea days. We also try to catch the movie shown in the theater if it interests us. Catching up on the movies can be fun.

 

Take a good book because you can never be certain what will be offered or whether you will enjoy the offerings.

 

I've never been bored, but I am not the kind of person that gets bored. And interestingly, I'm always ready for the passage to end when we get to our destination. Book the cruise and see how it works for you.

[hylasgirl]

We are considering a ta but my wife has reservations regarding being at sea for seven days. Please help decided as to whether we will be bored being at sea for this time. thanks

 

 

My husband is concerned about this... maybe you and I should go together?:D

 

I think it sounds like such a great way to cross the pond. I get so tired of flying. I would love to take a ship one way. I don't even care if all I do is lay by the pool and read.

[Cruise Arizona]

We've done two TA's and loved them both, but the activities offered on both were very different.

 

On the Summit the extra activities seemed to be more Activities Staff oriented with extra trivia or an afternoon of Celebrity's version of the Millionaire game show. There were also several wine tasting activities.

 

On the Sostice the ship offered a whole series of concerts during the crossing, with the ship's jazz saxophone player one day (she and her band were awesome), Hyperion Knight's classical piano concerts another, and the Celebrity singers even putting together a few concerts. It was probably a great chance for these artists to show their talents in ways that they normally don't get a chance to show them on a cruise.

 

The Solstice class ships, and I'm assuming the other ships that are soon to be "Solsticized" have a great entertainment on demand TV system. We even watched a few good movies during our last TA.

 

Oooh, almost forgot about the Hot Glass show on the Solistice class ships. They are a great way to spend the afternoon.s

 

Unless ports are the only thing you like about cruises, then a TA is a great choice.

[Mr. Luckytoo]

My wife and I did a TA last year on the Navigator. She was really looking forward to the cruise while I looked at the cruise as a slow method of getting to Europe.

 

While there were some ports you have 6 sea days. In April it was way too cold to sit around the pool. There were lots of older cruisers (65+) camped out in the solarium and at times walking thru there looked like a retirement home.

 

Each night the cruise line had it's typical nightly entertainment.

 

During the day we noticed more trivia-like contests. They did have two (2) guest lecturers a history professor and a lawyer discussing such things like the OJ Simpson case, etc. Both were entertaining and worth listening to - assuming you like seminars.

 

When the TA was over I found my attitude totally reversed with regard to TA cruises. Normally my wife and I found ourselves so busy each day at every port that we didn't really enjoy the ship. Getting up every day, rush to the buffet, get off, enjoy the port and rush back to the ship 30 min before leaving, rush to dinner, rush to the show, etc...

 

The TA "forced" us to unwind and relax - something we hadn't done in the past. I was able to finish two books and relax while never being bored.

 

We're booked on another TA in June and I'm really looking forward to it.

[warmwinds]

My biggest concern would be not boredom but seasickness...on a regular cruise you know every other day or so you can be on terra firma and have the queasiness go away, 6 days straight with nothing but rocking worries me.

[USVI-4-me]

The idea of getting bored is foreign to me. What do people who suffer boredom like to do in their spare time? There are many options on a cruise ship.

 

Aside from the sea, the spaces and daily events; the biggie that comes to mind is meeting other passengers. If a person doesn't care to meet lots of people, that would be the biggest problem.

 

Conversations with strangers often begins before I've finished my first morning coffee, and that's good for me. Otherwise, it would be room service and a balcony. Now that does sound restrictive.

[Durkman]

My biggest concern would be not boredom but seasickness...on a regular cruise you know every other day or so you can be on terra firma and have the queasiness go away, 6 days straight with nothing but rocking worries me.

Disclaimer: the only TA's I've done were on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) (4 of them--2 Eastbound, 2 Westbound).

 

In addition to the length of time you are at sea you should also consider that the "open ocean" of the Atlantic is typically going to have rougher seas than in the Carribbean. Ships that routinely do TA's (like Cunard's QM2) are designed and built to more smoothly handle higher sea states than most other cruise ships. I cannot speak to how your cruise ship might handle the seas, but just keep this in mind if you are prone to seasickness. The seas will be rougher than what you will typically see in the Caribbean.

 

Personally, I wouldn't be interested in doing a TA unless it was in the late spring/summer/early fall. I'd want to be able to use the pool deck/pool, which you can't do in the colder months. Otherwise I think a TA would be fun.

[Shelbyjane56]

We are considering a ta but my wife has reservations regarding being at sea for seven days. Please help decided as to whether we will be bored being at sea for this time. thanks

 

 

I was raised to believe one can only be bored if they CHOOSE to be bored :)

[Druke I]

We've done 5 trans-Atlantics, with another booked, and have done 5 trans-Pacifics also.

 

Love those voyages, and sea days. Perhaps it is just us, but I have never been bored.

You can pick and choose activities, and be as active as you want, or if you prefer, just relax (vegetate).

[We're The Groupnors]

We have never done a TA, but did an LA to Hawaii round trip with eight days at sea; 4 going, 4 returning. At no time were we bored! We noticed from your cruise history that you have been on Celebrity before, so you know not to expect the cruise director staff to be up on deck every day rallying the passengers from one to another activity, as some of the passengers on our Hawaii Cruise thought they should. That being said, we had more than enough to do every day between breakfast (yes, you actually have time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast in the dining room), lunch, dinner, and cocktails with all the new friends we made, PLUS the activities on board. We had either two or three lecturers, saw shows, went to movies, walked the decks, visited the library, etc. Also, when you're at sea the shops and casino are always open. Not once did we feel the deparate need to play bingo.

[Corvette]

She will never be bored. I just came off a 2 week and did not get to nearly everything I wanted so have to go again in September for a week to finish off what I did not have time to do.

[UKBayern]

Are there additional ship board activities on a ta?

 

There are even transatlantic cruises that have special themes. We are considering a MSC dance cruise, but this particular line also offers bridge tournament cruises, painting class cruises, cooking classes, etc. I know that Crystal and Cunard also have theme cruises, and I am sure there are many more. HAL has wine-tasting cruises.

Check here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=349

 

If your wife is into one of the hobbies listed, she will have a great cruise no doubt.

[EatonDoolittle]

These are great responses, and here's another point of view to mention to your wife.

 

I'm sure I speak for others on these boards who, like me, are still working full time and then some in between our cruises We would LOVE the opportunity to get bored for 6 days at sea right about now.... :)

[Denny01]

OK, got a solution for you - take me and I'll tell your wife jokes all day, keep her entertained and have a grand time!! Just let me know and I'll book close-by SR and be your personal entertainer.

 

We've done 2 TA's, and we have booked cruises with added At Sea Days. Love them. For example, we did a 10N E Med cruise followed (B2B) by a 13N TA. We were becoming exhausted after the port-intensive E Med and loved the TA. As many have said, there are many things to do. but none of us know you or your wife and what constitutes bordom and entertainment. I've found the At Sea days to be pretty full and cancelled a number of plans to just relax, talk with friends, card games and wander the ship, so you can see I'm easily entertained.

 

We are also on a Hawaii 4days across-4days touring Islands-4days back cruise and looking forward to the interesting mix.

 

Denny

[Loracpin2]

We have taken two Tansatlantics. We met a great group of people and all agreed " we never had so much fun being bored in our entire lives". So much so that, while on board, 40 of us booked another TA for the following fall.

[DocJohnB]

Disclaimer: the only TA's I've done were on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) (4 of them--2 Eastbound, 2 Westbound). The seas will be rougher than what you will typically see in the Caribbean.

 

Personally, I wouldn't be interested in doing a TA unless it was in the late spring/summer/early fall. I'd want to be able to use the pool deck/pool, which you can't do in the colder months. Otherwise I think a TA would be fun.

 

I guess that would depend on your definition of rough. It also depends on which route the ships take across the Atlantic. Coming westbound, most take a more southerly route. On our transatlantic last December, we encounterd incredibly calm seas all the way across until the day before we docked in Miami. The seas on this particular voyage were calmer than ANY of my Caribbean cruises (20+). That is not to say that the Caribbean normally has rough seas. (People were enjoying the pool deck).

 

I will admit that this weather and the seas were not the "norm" for that time of the year, but . . . . . . . . . as we all know, weather is probably the most unpredictable happening on any cruise.

 

Most of these modern cruise ships can handle moderately rough seas without a problem. . . . pretty much like the TR.

[DocJohnB]

We are considering a ta but my wife has reservations regarding being at sea for seven days. Please help decided as to whether we will be bored being at sea for this time. thanks

 

None of us can speak for either you or you wife. Only you two know where your level of boredom kicks in.

 

But, IMO, one would be hard pressed to be bored for any length of time on a transatlantic, unless one "chooses" to.

 

On the transatlantic I mentioned in my last point, there were times each day at sea where we had to decide between 2 or 3 things we "wanted" to do (lectures, pool activities, classes, tours, etc.). Yet there were other times where I would put my feet up on the rail of my veranda, crank open my "Kindle" and read for an hour or so.

 

Nahhhhh, I don't think either of you will get bored on a transatlantic.

 

3 or 4 years ago, I took a freighter cruise. My wife declined because in her words, "I'll be too bored". In her case, I agreed and I was a bit worried about the transatlantic. No need . . . she was always busy.

[Cruise Arizona]

While it is certainly a strong possibility to have rough seas, we had only moderate seas on our last TA and had "summer day sunny lake" like conditions on the previous. We almost forgot we were at sea during that crossing. Its not that it couldn't happen, but it is not a certanty that the seas would be rough.

[Durkman]

I guess that would depend on your definition of rough. It also depends on which route the ships take across the Atlantic. Coming westbound, most take a more southerly route. On our transatlantic last December, we encounterd incredibly calm seas all the way across until the day before we docked in Miami. The seas on this particular voyage were calmer than ANY of my Caribbean cruises (20+). That is not to say that the Caribbean normally has rough seas. (People were enjoying the pool deck).

 

I will admit that this weather and the seas were not the "norm" for that time of the year, but . . . . . . . . . as we all know, weather is probably the most unpredictable happening on any cruise.

 

Most of these modern cruise ships can handle moderately rough seas without a problem. . . . pretty much like the TR.

Fair enough. I should have generalized a bit more. My point is that, on average, you are probably more likely to have rougher seas than you would typically see in the Caribbean. If today's cruise ships handle these seas as well as TR did (which was designed to be as stable as possible for carrier flight operations), I suspect that most of us wouldn't have any issues (and judging from all the glowing reports of TA's in this thread, rough seas don't seem to be a problem).

 

My one experience on a cruise ship in rough seas was on P&O Oriana (about 70k tons) crossing the Bay of Biscay in November '99 with 15-20 foot swells (sea state of 5-6). A lot of passengers were feeling it--sea sickness bags were strategically placed throughout the ship. I personally wouldn't want to deal with seas like that for 6 straight days, but perhaps seas like that are more of an exception than a rule.