Solstice Class Ship - Transatlantic

[wpm2]

I've just returned from an 11 night Med cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection. I absolutely love this style of ship and would like to do a transatlantic on one. My only reservation is that the 3 sea days we had onboard this recent cruise were too busy and crowded. Does anyone know if the transatlantic cruises tend to be full. There always seems to be last-minute deals leading me to think it might be ok and not too overcrowded.

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Ben

 

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[robtulipe]

Typically TA cruises tend not to sell out due to these being longer cruises with many seadays so there isn't a high demand thus the deals and our experence with these are that they are not crowded. In fact on our last TA two of the ship's lower deck were closed off completely and those on these decks were upgraded to cabins on higher decks. Most if not all on our roll call who originally booked a OV ended up in balcony cabins.:)

Edited November 6, 2013 by robtulipe

[Jenna109]

We did a transatlantic cruise on the Eclipse at the end of April this year and it was full. No problems with the numbers as the ship was so big BUT beds around the indoor pool were very difficult to get whilst doing the days at sea.

Excellent daily activities and shows kept us busy - very enjoyable

[PSCruiser]

Typically TA cruises tend not to sell out due to these being longer cruises with many seadays so there isn't a high demand thus the deals and our experence with these are that they are not crowded. In fact on our last TA two of the ship's lower deck were closed off completely and those on these decks were upgraded to cabins on higher decks. Most if not all on our roll call who originally booked a OV ended up in balcony cabins.:)

 

Interesting, I've never heard of this happening.

In my experience, TAs (and all other cruises) have sailed essentially full, its just that on some of the less popular routes they will lower prices near sailing to fill those last cabins. This is based on the business model that cabin fare is only part of revenue, and cabins occupied, even at a low fare, will generate income.

BTW, OP, if you are Elite on X or D on RC be prepared for BIG crowds in the loyalty cocktail lounges - TAs attract lots of frequent cruisers.

It appears from your cruise list that the TA in question was on Princess. I'm guessing they are trying a new business model by sailing a "partial ship". I could see that the advantage of this would be that they could give leave time to stateroom staff, etc.

[robtulipe]

Yes, that was on the Caribbean Princess but neither were the Grand Princess and X Century TA cruises we did. A couple weeks before the 15 night X cruise we were able to upgrade from an inside to an aft corner FV for $120US each for a total cost of about $1200 or $40 each/day including taxes and fees and there were still many empty cabins even at such low pricing. I guess it depends on the ship, date and itinerary but that X Cruise went from Barcelona to Miami and had a great itinerary. Likely a S class ship would be more popular.

The 15 night CB pricing was at a even lower cost. We had a extra large superior midship inside on Riviera deck 14 for $33/day each with $125 each OBC from Princess. We decided not to go for a balcony which actually had much less area inside the cabin for $40 each per day. Also we find there are more single occupied cabins on TA since that at even double the cost per person it is still very reasonable cost wise to do a TA.

Edited November 6, 2013 by robtulipe

[wpm2]

Thanks for the info so far. I guess it'll be the luck of the draw as to whether it is a full cruise or not. An extra gin & tonic or 2 in the martini bar will help (unless I start seeing double :eek:)

 

Ben

 

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[Gonzo70]

Done two transatlantics with Celebrity (one on S-Class) and both were either full or mostly full. That said I personally have not experienced an issue with overcrowding on Celebrity (be it a transatlantic or regular cruise); sure some areas can be crowded a times - but as a whole I find the ships spacious and the customer-to-space ratio quite reasonable.

[fredflint]

On reflection right now on at ship full but does not seem crowded at all

[Turtles06]

We've just returned from our second TA on Celebrity, a westbound aboard the Infinity, our first time on an M-class ship. If felt crowded to me pretty much everywhere. Our first TA was in April 2012 aboard the Eclipse; a stunning ship, and it never felt crowded to me. I love TAs and I love being at sea. I haven't been on the Reflection so I can't speak to that ship, but I think I'd pick an S-class over an M-class for our next TA.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

On reflection right now on at ship full but does not seem crowded at all

 

Say hi to Fred the star guy for me :D

[CanuckCFAN]

We've just returned from our second TA on Celebrity, a westbound aboard the Infinity, our first time on an M-class ship. If felt crowded to me pretty much everywhere. Our first TA was in April 2012 aboard the Eclipse; a stunning ship, and it never felt crowded to me. I love TAs and I love being at sea. I haven't been on the Reflection so I can't speak to that ship, but I think I'd pick an S-class over an M-class for our next TA.

 

Hey Turtles,

 

Quick Q... Which did you prefer, heading Eastbound or West?

 

We were on the April 2012 Transatlantic with you guys to Southampton, this year we are taking the Silly out of Rome...

 

I have a very strong feeling that we may be part of the minority who prefer going east.

 

Thanks..

Bev

Edited November 8, 2013 by CanuckCFAN

[Turtles06]

Hey Turtles,

 

Quick Q... Which did you prefer, heading Eastbound or West?

 

We were on the April 2012 Transatlantic with you guys to Southampton, this year we are taking the Silly out of Rome...

 

I have a very strong feeling that we may be part of the minority who prefer going east.

 

Thanks..

Bev

 

Hi Bev,

 

Based only on this tiny sample of two, we preferred heading west. I loved that eastbound TA on the Eclipse, except for the time changes. Losing one hour doesn't sound like much, but when it happened night after night, combined with Late Dining, we got really tired of it. The reverse -- gaining an hour for several days in a row -- was really nice. And we also enjoyed having the ports up front, followed by seven consecutive sea days.

 

I wouldn't rule out an eastbound again, but we'd pick select or Early Dining and not have any commitments in the morning (like progressive trivia).

 

I did notice one other big difference between these two TAs -- the demographics. It was a MUCH older group on the WB just now; my spouse and I were wondering whether it was the direction, maybe lots of folks flying over to the UK and sailing home to Florida. Whatever the reason, it was a very noticeable difference. (My spouse and I felt pretty young on the WB, and we are in our 60s.)

 

We are thinking about the Silly out of Rome in Nov. 2014; I hope you have a great crossing. Please come back and give us your reaction.

[ghstudio]

We've just returned from our second TA on Celebrity, a westbound aboard the Infinity, our first time on an M-class ship. If felt crowded to me pretty much everywhere. Our first TA was in April 2012 aboard the Eclipse; a stunning ship, and it never felt crowded to me. I love TAs and I love being at sea. I haven't been on the Reflection so I can't speak to that ship, but I think I'd pick an S-class over an M-class for our next TA.

 

We were also on the infinity TA, but we did not really notice any more or less crowding that our previous TA's on the eclipse and equinox except perhaps in the theater which was pretty full on most nights at the early show. Bars, buffet, deck chairs didn't seem to be a problem.

 

The biggest difference between the cruises was that the infinity, being smaller, did have more motion than the solstice class ships.

 

If you want a small ship experience on a larger ship, book in aqua class and dine in Blu. It really makes a tremendous difference in the feel of the cruise.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Hey Turtles,

 

Quick Q... Which did you prefer, heading Eastbound or West?

 

We were on the April 2012 Transatlantic with you guys to Southampton, this year we are taking the Silly out of Rome...

 

I have a very strong feeling that we may be part of the minority who prefer going east.

 

Thanks..

Bev

One nice thing about an eastbound TA is the amount of daylight and the higher temperatures

Some nights it did not get dark until 8:30 pm