Any frequent cruisers who do not like TransAtlantics(westbound)

[xxpinksaltxx]

We have only done one TA in 2012 ( it was westbound in October to Fort Lauderdale). It had two stops in France and one stop in the Azores. This left us with 7 days in a row at sea after the Azores. We both thought we would be so bored and hate it. It was quite the opposite. There is plenty scheduled on board to do. Yes you will find days where there seems to be nothing of personal interest to do. We used these days for the pool and to read.

 

Things we liked:

1. Several days of getting an extra hours sleep. Meant I could stay up a bit later for late shows ( we dont like to waste our day sleeping and enjoy breakfast).

2. With only three ports we were able to truely relax for the second half of our cruise.

3. Less children, only 5 children on our cruise. I don't hate children, but it can be difficult to relax when some parents let their children run free throughout the ship.

4. Unless you live in Europe or the UK your flight home is likely to be shorter. Flight from UK for us is 24 hours whereas from East coast of the USA is only 18 hours.

 

TA negatives:

1. Not many people of our age (early 20's). And seemed to have a few rooms shut off for Elite functions etc

2. Disembarktation in Ft Lauderdale was a nightmare. 3 hours from being called off to getting in a taxi. Only one customs desk for all NON US passangers.

 

Also dont forget the 123go promo can not be used for TAs or repositioning cruises. Not a deal breaker for us as the TAs are normally very cheap.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Forums mobile app

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I don't care for TAs at all. I find them extremely boring. There is nothing to do aboard ship and the days drag on interminably. I don't think anyone else should do them either.

 

Mark, this post is for you. ;)

 

Thanks Cathy

TAs are nothing but a big waste of money

[Fouremco]

I don't care for TAs at all. I find them extremely boring. There is nothing to do aboard ship and the days drag on interminably. I don't think anyone else should do them either.

 

Mark, this post is for you. ;)

I have no particular issue with you not liking TAs, as it's a matter of personal taste. But I think that you go far too far saying that no one should do them.

[CathyCruises]

I have no particular issue with you not liking TAs, as it's a matter of personal taste. But I think that you go far too far saying that no one should do them.

 

Note the ;)

[Fouremco]

Note the ;)

Noted. :D

[teecee60]

I don't care for TAs at all. I find them extremely boring. There is nothing to do aboard ship and the days drag on interminably. I don't think anyone else should do them either.

 

Mark, this post is for you. ;)

 

Thanks Cathy

TAs are nothing but a big waste of money

 

Some people will do ANYTHING in an attempt to suppress demand and lower prices! :eek: :p :D

[Illyria]

We loved our westbound transatlantic. I wouldn't do the southern route to FLL; I don't care for the Caribbean ports and I prefer colder weather anyway :) Ours was CPH to NYC, with some excellent ports of call (British Isles, Norway, Iceland). It didn't actually end up having too many days at sea...the most it was supposed to have was 4 days in a row from Greenland to NYC but they had to cancel Greenland and one other port due to rough seas, so the captain added two ports in Canada. I don't think we ever got more than 2 sea days in a row.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Illyria

[lilghallinsf]

Love xxpinksaltxxx point. That's exact. I have done and planning another one in 2015. I don't mind loosing an hour a night. You are at sea. Not getting up for work but I think part of that is age. We are in our 40's. Loved both. But I like enjoying the relaxing at the start. Not being jet lagged in Europe, the anticipation of Europe and slow long days at sea. It's all a personal choice and you can tell by reading through everyone's point of view, it really has to do with what you prefer

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Embrace]

:o

We have only done one TA in 2012 ( it was westbound in October to Fort Lauderdale). It had two stops in France and one stop in the Azores. This left us with 7 days in a row at sea after the Azores. We both thought we would be so bored and hate it. It was quite the opposite. There is plenty scheduled on board to do. Yes you will find days where there seems to be nothing of personal interest to do. We used these days for the pool and to read.

 

Things we liked:

1. Several days of getting an extra hours sleep. Meant I could stay up a bit later for late shows ( we dont like to waste our day sleeping and enjoy breakfast).

2. With only three ports we were able to truely relax for the second half of our cruise.

3. Less children, only 5 children on our cruise. I don't hate children, but it can be difficult to relax when some parents let their children run free throughout the ship.

4. Unless you live in Europe or the UK your flight home is likely to be shorter. Flight from UK for us is 24 hours whereas from East coast of the USA is only 18 hours.

 

TA negatives:

1. Not many people of our age (early 20's). And seemed to have a few rooms shut off for Elite functions etc

2. Disembarktation in Ft Lauderdale was a nightmare. 3 hours from being called off to getting in a taxi. Only one customs desk for all NON US passangers.

 

Also dont forget the 123go promo can not be used for TAs or repositioning cruises. Not a deal breaker for us as the TAs are normally very cheap.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Forums mobile app

 

Thank you xxpinksaltxx, I was so confused until you posted .... which is east and which is west...??? :confused: and from what direction (plus upside down, or inside out) ..??? (... ok, I say this with the risk others will think this is such as blonde post...... if I just researched a little ...yeh??? or paid more attention to geographaphy 101 when I was young... ????) Now with you being like us from "down under" I've sorted it! Thanks for sharing your views. We haven't done a TA yet but we are REALLY looking forward to experiencing one - we are certain we will love the extra sea days. Also, we didn't realise the 123GO didn't apply to a TA. (But makes X - business sense...). Thanks for sharing that intel. :)

Edited September 7, 2014 by Embrace

[seaproponent]

Have done one of each and liked both. The obvious trick to these is picking a ship and a class of accommodation that you will be content to treat as the principal destination of your trip. We did one on the Silouhette and one on HAL's Rotterdam -- both great choices.

[Guern69]

I am about to go on my first cruise and thinking about doing a TA next year, I would prefer to stick with X and also the Eclipse. The thought of so many sea days is what attracts me, I went a complete break and to relax to totally switch off. Would probably be a solo traveler too, had only looked at westbound as was looking to travel the later part of the year but no reason why it could not be April 2016 I guess.

[Turtles06]

We've done two TAs so far, one in each direction, with two more booked WB, which should tell you the direction we preferred.

 

While losing one hour (EB) doesn't sound like much, when it happened night after night for nearly a week in a row, we found it very tiresome. It just disrupts your schedule more than you would think it should. That was our first TA, and we had late dining, and also team trivia in the morning. We just felt tired by the time we got to Europe. Were we to sail EB again, I think we'd try to eat earlier and be less scheduled. But my spouse disliked EB so much that she said it would have to be a very special itinerary to cross in that direction again.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Celebrity did offer the 123 on TAs, but after I did 2 TAs with the package they decided to discontinue it

 

Sorry everyone :p

[4774Papa]

We have done a TA eastbound, arrived in England in mid-May. If we did a westbound from Rome, with the ship departing early Nov, what is the weather like in Rome in late Oct?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We have done a TA eastbound, arrived in England in mid-May. If we did a westbound from Rome, with the ship departing early Nov, what is the weather like in Rome in late Oct?

 

It should be above 20°C

[Atlanta_Cruiser]

I have done 8 TAs and I'm through. Between lying on the deck all day to getting up and walking a few loops on the track, I just can't wait to get back to my room to dress and go eat and pray the cruise is over soon. I always gain about 7-8 lbs. a cruise and it's a pain to get off. Besides trying to find an empty treadmill or bike at the gym, there is just not enough Physical Activites (besides paying for a spin/yoga class) on the ships. the track is full of lounge chairs or people walking in lines 4-wide at a snails pace. I'm done with them. Unless they can come up with a physically more active TA cruise, ill stick to regional cruises where I can get off the ship and move. IMO

[Gracie115]

I have done 8 TAs and I'm through. Between lying on the deck all day to getting up and walking a few loops on the track, I just can't wait to get back to my room to dress and go eat and pray the cruise is over soon. I always gain about 7-8 lbs. a cruise and it's a pain to get off. Besides trying to find an empty treadmill or bike at the gym, there is just not enough Physical Activites (besides paying for a spin/yoga class) on the ships. the track is full of lounge chairs or people walking in lines 4-wide at a snails pace. I'm done with them. Unless they can come up with a physically more active TA cruise, ill stick to regional cruises where I can get off the ship and move. IMO

 

assuming this is a spoof since your signature indicates two more TA's in your near future....!!!:D

[4774Papa]

Are the lines to enter the Sistine Chapel shorter?

[Trainer]

We took a WB TA from Barcelona on Equinox. I enjoyed the Spanish and Portugal ports, but really did not care much for the sea days. I found I was waiting for meal times, not something I should be doing. Yes, there were activities, but many did not appeal to me.

I did enjoy the speaker (Can't recall his name) who spoke about solving crimes with DNA.

Also had a wonderful piano player. But much of the time I was not engaged with activities.

Spent a little too much time in Casino. Did read on my balcony quite a bit, which was fine.

Comments about Ft. Lauderdale disembarkation were 100% accurate...a nightmare. Not well organized and both citizens of USA and foreign countries were all in the same lines, creating long waits with many people. It seems it was worse because it was a TA because I've come in to that port from Caribbean cruises without such delay

[herbanrenewal]

Biggest down side to TAs: two one-way flights.

 

You don't have to do that - book open jaw, sometimes called multi flight.

for example, i have booked New York to Barcelona and Miami to New York as one round-trip flight.

I've done similar flights with American, Delta and United so I believe most US airlines do this, usually around the same price as a single one way.

[CathyCruises]

Ha! That's the BEST part of TA's!! Choice Air! Ridiculously cheap one way international flights--so much cheaper than you could possibly book on your own. Ours have generally been about 1/4 the price of the identical flight on the airline website.

[Atlanta_Cruiser]

assuming this is a spoof since your signature indicates two more TA's in your near future....!!!:D

 

Have cancelled Nov. April I will be going on because my husband loves TAs and I promised I'd go. Happy eating for me! :))

[herbanrenewal]

Are the lines to enter the Sistine Chapel shorter?

 

Hi, how are you? You two made our SA cruise particularly memorable - as if that itinerary weren't memorable enough!

 

Re: your question - October is one of my favorite month for Rome (I also love it in late April) Cooler weather, less crowded. We've been there several times including a 3 week Tuscany and Rome land based vacation.

You can easily get tickets to Vatican Museum (and Sistine Chapel) online and avoid the lines. another tip - go in the afternoon - you may not even need advance tickets, its much slower then. A couple years ago in late October we even were able to take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel - everyone was doing it with the guards just ignoring it until some jerk started setting up a tripod, and that ended it for everyone...but definitely not crowded in late afternoon.

 

email me if you want some tips for Rome or Florence.

new email since i have gotten so much spam on the other one

silhouette.may3@gmail.com

(Guess what inspired that choice of email address? )

kathy

[Ex-Airbalancer]

[/COLOR]#46

Today, 12:02 PM

CathyCruises

5,000+ Club

 

Join Date: Mar 2007

Location: Central California

Posts: 8,165

 

Ha! That's the BEST part of TA's!! Choice Air! Ridiculously cheap one way international flights--so much cheaper than you could possibly book on your own. Ours have generally been about 1/4 the price of the identical flight on the airline website.

 

 

#47

Today, 12:06 PM

 

Atlanta_Cruiser

Cool Cruiser

 

Join Date: Oct 2008

Location: Sandy Springs, GA

Posts: 359

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gracie115

assuming this is a spoof since your signature indicates two more TA's in your near future....!!!

Have cancelled Nov. April I will be going on because my husband loves TAs and I promised I'd go. Happy eating for me! )

Another thing I hate is meet people from different areas , they just go on and on about how great they are and will not let me get a word in :eek:

Edited September 7, 2014 by Airbalancer

[Can'tstopcruising]

We have done only one TA, eastbound. We really enjoyed it because in those days there was a bridge director, so there were lessons every sea morning and duplicate the same afternoon.

It was a 16 day cruise and once we hit land, we had many ports. So it was like two cruises in one!

 

I wouldn't take one now, because I don't care for too many of the onboard activities and don't want to read all day for 6 days.