Transatlantic Sailing

[chrismakris]

My wife and I are planning to do a European sojourn for 2 weeks for our 10th anniversary. We thought instead of flying back we take a transatlantic back. Something different I guess.

 

I was wondering how you would pass the time at sea when crossing the Atlantic. What do the cruise ships do etc. I can only play so much at the casino or read so many books.

 

We like to be active so 6-7 days at sea might make us go stir crazy.

 

We were thinking if they still have the 3 Continents cruise in 2015 we would take that one, so any experiences would be helpful

[cle-guy]

I did a TA this spring and thought just like you how bored I might be. I downloaded hours of iTunes movies, was gonna organize my file systems on my laptops....

 

Never even got them out of my bag. The CD does a great job of keeping you active. There were times of the day where I'd have to choose 1 activity over another!

 

Galley tours, cooking demonstrations, magic demonstrations, mixology, tastings, meeting new friends and enjoying the pool, lunch, exercise room together.

 

I never even went to casino, not a gambler at all.

 

Looking forward to my next TA!

[fredflint]

I will let you know in 4 weeks when I am back from my 15 day TA

[4774Papa]

We were hesitant to try a TA, but did the Infinity this May. We enjoyed the cruise. It was very inexpensive and while we had a lot of free time, we did well to occupy ourselves.

 

I went to the fitness center every morning. DW and I did our walking laps around the ship when the weather was nice. We did five wine tastings and met lots of great folks and had a lot of fun.

 

We did attend a couple of the From the Podium lectures that were interesting, as well as a couple of activities with groups. We both took books to read and enjoyed kicking back on the balcony reading and listening to the sounds of the ocean.

 

The food was good, the company good, the drinks good and the entertainment was good. We enjoyed our time, which included three ports. The Azores are beautiful.

[KirkNC]

I think you will be surprised how busy you will be each sea day.

[TeaBag]

Will be on our third TA in just over 2 weeks. On the last one, we didn't even have time to go to the gym! There is everything cle-guy said plus more. All kinds of classes, scrapbooking, water color, flower arranging, lectures. On certain S class ships, the hot glass show. Zumba, Tai chi (maybe only on TP crossings) Yoga. There were several times we had to make a choice as there were things scheduled at the same time that we wanted to participate in.

[Dick in Falls Church]

All of the above, plus:

 

No luggage restrictions,

 

Cheaper than business class airfare and much less hassle.

 

Relatively no time change shock.

[cle-guy]

I forgot about the passenger talent show. Many worked for a week rehearsing then performed for all on board one afternoon. It was quite possible every single passenger onboard was in the audience, it was standing room only people out the hallways standing on stairs....... cruise director said it was the best thing she'd seen everyone supporting their fellow passengers so fully.

 

A real camraderie develops with the extended consecutive seadays you won't get with ports interrupting may be the best way to describe it...

[Keith1010]

There will be lots of activities on each sea day.

 

It's a great way to enjoy the ship.

 

Keith

[MEcruzr]

And just for another opinion... I've done two TA cruises on X, one eastbound and one westbound. Never, EVER, again. I was bored to tears and getting cabin fever by the time land was sighted. Honestly, it about drove me nuts. The worst one was eastbound... the sea days were at the beginning. Westbound was better, having spent multiple port days off the ship before the long stretch of sea days. Plus, I was going home... which made it easier.

 

My suggestion... if you LOVE sea days, multiple in a row sea days, then you'll probably like a TA. If you're like me, and the second sea day in a row has you feeling "stuck"... then don't do it! LOL Yes, there's lots and lots to do. X does a great job of filling those sea days with options. They just aren't for me. I am quite active and it seems like all of those activities are sit down and listen/participate things (lectures, bingo, trivia, napkin folding, even the casino). I can only "relax" so long before I start getting "twitchy". ;) I was VERY twitchy by the time we hit Ireland!!!

[lexmiller]

We loved our eastbound TA on Equinox - we would absolutely do a TA again, however, only westbound from now on! The bummer of sailing east is how you lose an hour, you lose another hour, then another hour - 6 hours lost as you cruise east. In my review, you can read it, a link in my signature below, I joked how since there were 4 of us cruising, we lost a total of 24 hours sailing east, that "X" owed us a refund!

SO many activities, a full range from the fun, the active, the participatory, the creative, the entertaining, to the cerebral. Never ever a single dull moment. We had to make a conscious decision to pull ourselves out of some of the activities so that we could rest - I was exhausted by the 3rd sea day! There is an "X" advertisement that even says, and I am paraphrasing, how you can do everything or you can do nothing.

On a TA you truly get to immerse yourself in all that a Solstice Class ship has to offer - which is A LOT - an S class ship is just the right size, not too big, not too small - enjoy!

[Schplinky]

We did a thirteen day TA and left the ship with several things on our to-do list. Time just evaporates and we were very busy people.

[jagoffee]

We loved our eastbound TA on Equinox - we would absolutely do a TA again, however, only westbound from now on! The bummer of sailing east is how you lose an hour, you lose another hour, then another hour - 6 hours lost as you cruise east. In my review, you can read it, a link in my signature below, I joked how since there were 4 of us cruising, we lost a total of 24 hours sailing east, that "X" owed us a refund!

SO many activities, a full range from the fun, the active, the participatory, the creative, the entertaining, to the cerebral. Never ever a single dull moment. We had to make a conscious decision to pull ourselves out of some of the activities so that we could rest - I was exhausted by the 3rd sea day! There is an "X" advertisement that even says, and I am paraphrasing, how you can do everything or you can do nothing.

On a TA you truly get to immerse yourself in all that a Solstice Class ship has to offer - which is A LOT - an S class ship is just the right size, not too big, not too small - enjoy!

 

Nice review. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you. My DW and I will use 1/2 of your lost day on way.

Our first TA is west bound on November 1. If I get bored I will find Schplinky and follow him for a while.

[Schplinky]

Nice review. I enjoyed reading it. Our first TA is west bound on November 1. If I get bored I will find Schplinky and follow him for a while.

 

Be careful. Last time we were a whole day late for a rather good wine tasting because we lost track of what day it was, in the very best way.

[hmorrow]

Transatlantic's are our favorite cruise. We LOVE all the sea days. So relaxing. As much or as little to do, as you wish.

Helaine

[Lsimon]

...We like to be active so 6-7 days at sea might make us go stir crazy....

 

We love the slow sea days and have had a great time on three TA cruises we've taken over the past 6 years. But they are not for everyone. I see from your signature you've only taken one cruise and that it was 5 years ago. Did you have a couple sea days or more on that cruise? If so then how did you like them? I think your response to that question is key here.

 

I would NOT recommend a TA for anyone's first cruise or if they are unsure if they would enjoy sea days or not - especially someone who thinks they might go stir crazy with 6 or 7 sea days. There are a few more activities on sea days on a TA's such as speeches, classes or games (like trivia). But these are not for everyone. We tend to just enjoy the leisurely pace and relaxed time.

 

I remember a few years back we took a Hawaii cruise round trip from Los Angeles. There were four sea days each way. We loved the cruise including the sea days. But I heard stories of a very few who left the ship at the last port of call in Hawaii as they were bored to tears by the four sea days on the way out and dreaded the thought of having the same on the return trip.

 

If the idea of a TA appeals to you, but you are afraid you'll dread the sea days then take a shorter cruise with a few sea days on Celebrity first.

 

Here is a link to the daily program from our last TA cruise (Silhouette in December 2013) which you can look through to see the organized activities available: http://lfsimon.home.comcast.net/~lfsimon/Celebrity-Silhouette-Today-Dec-1-2012-TA.pdf

 

One other consideration: When were you thinking of your Europe trip? If you look at Celebrity's TA cruises returning from Europe to the USA you'll find that they are pretty late in the fall so another question is whether this would fit into your Europe touring plans as it is after the main tourist season. The only cruise line I know of that has transatlantic crossings throughout most of the year is Cunard.

[Honeybearhollow]

I've had up to 11 sea days and seldom had time to even read a book. If you have an active roll call who plan things like cabin crawls, pub crawls and slot pulls and other get togethers, there is seldom free time. I'm looking forward to 11 days on a TA next November.

[Aussiepair]

Our 7 day TA turned into a 11 day crossing because a hurricane prevented us from landing at Madeira. My wife and I found the trip very long with not nearly enough to do. It was a 28 day HAL cruise, the first 2 weeks were great but the passengers that boarded for the second half ( Atlantic crossing) were quite different from the passengers that just did the Mediterranean portion. HAL was selling cabins for the crossing very cheap to Americans, about a quarter of our fare, and a great many appeared to be only there for the food. The buffet area was a feeding frenzy with food fallout covering the floor. We have been on many cruises but never experienced anything like it. The dining room was fine as were the specialty restaurants. I am glad we did the crossing but would not do it again.

[varoo]

We love sea days, but know some people who hate them and refuse to book any cruise that has two or more sea days in a row

 

It is such an individual thing. For some, the dislike of spending day after day at sea is psychological, a trapped feeling of being stuck there with no way out.

 

I guess in a way it is similar to the unpleasant, claustrophobic feeling of confinement that some people get in an inside cabin, while others don't mind inside cabins at all.

 

While we enjoy and participate in cruise ship activities, we could manage to entertain ourselves and be happy on a transatlantic cruise even on a ship that offered no entertainment at all.

Some passengers enjoy traveling across the ocean on freighters.

 

 

When the Millennium had its recent troubles and was taken down to the Bahamas for repairs, all the passengers were required to disembark at Ketchikan.

 

But I was thinking that if I had been on that cruise and if it had been allowed as an option, I would have been very tempted to remain on board and ride the ship down to the Bahamas, even knowing about its mechanical problems and without any scheduled port stops or activities or entertainment.

 

I have a feeling that I may not have been the only crazy one who felt that way. ;)

 

[diligaf51]

My wife and I are planning to do a European sojourn for 2 weeks for our 10th anniversary. We thought instead of flying back we take a transatlantic back. Something different I guess.

 

I was wondering how you would pass the time at sea when crossing the Atlantic. What do the cruise ships do etc. I can only play so much at the casino or read so many books.

 

We like to be active so 6-7 days at sea might make us go stir crazy.

 

We were thinking if they still have the 3 Continents cruise in 2015 we would take that one, so any experiences would be helpful

 

If you still work for a living, those sea days were like old times......no telephone calls, texts or emails about insignificant things. my first one was the the most relaxed I had been in decades.

[chrismakris]

Hello all. Thanks for your replies. It sounds like there are more positives than negatives so that's a good start.

 

Mecruzr, Lsimon and varoo. I really appreciate your points of views. We have been on one cruise but should be 3 by the time we make our TA decision. I really don't care how many are days there are. I can keep myself occupied. No connection to the outside world for 7 days would be great.

 

I am more concerned about my wife than anything but I think after 3 weeks of seeing sights and ports, 6 days at sea would be a welcome break to unwind. I'm sure I'm going to have to have a separate spa budget for her ;)

 

I would like to hear about things that you may have done that weren't on the daily schedule.

 

So keep them coming.

 

Thanks again