Transatlantic Pros and Cons

[Virtopia]

This was a great read through as I'm planning to do my first TA solo in fall 2018. I'd like to find one that ends in SJ or Miami so I know I'll have a few port stops.

 

I'm a big reader so the luxury of being able to get through books uninterrupted is a dream and I'd definitely get an OV or Balcony stateroom; don't know if I could do an inside.

[jules815]

We were on the Allure's inaugural TA last year with 12 nights from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona and only 1 port being Malaga. Being such a big ship it was perfect to explore with the time given - and never crowded. Everyday was relaxing but busy. Not many kids. We love the sea days, and the weather and the seas in April were heavenly.

 

Definitely try to spend a few days in Barcelona and stay on Las Ramblas if you can. The Hotel Continental (aka The Pink Palace) is always a popular choice with CCs - it's a little quirky but great value and if you can, a balcony room overlooking Las Ramblas is a perfect place to sit with a wine and enjoy the entertainment. Then you have the Boqueira market place nearby to visit as well!! Love Barcelona...

 

Couldn't find any cons!

 

This is so great to hear! One of the reasons we're doing the Harmony TA, which will be our first, is we haven't been on an Oasis Class ship yet, and we figured having those 9 sea days would be a great way to really get to explore and enjoy the ship, versus a few sea days on a Caribbean itinerary. The ship really is the destination! We're also spending 3 nights in Barcelona, which will also be a first. I am over-the-top excited about this trip, as is my husband, who loves to cruise, but typically is along for the ride and I do the planning. He's been very involved in researching everything about what we'd like to see and do in Barcelona. :D

[judymag]

This is so great to hear! One of the reasons we're doing the Harmony TA, which will be our first, is we haven't been on an Oasis Class ship yet, and we figured having those 9 sea days would be a great way to really get to explore and enjoy the ship, versus a few sea days on a Caribbean itinerary. The ship really is the destination! We're also spending 3 nights in Barcelona, which will also be a first. I am over-the-top excited about this trip, as is my husband, who loves to cruise, but typically is along for the ride and I do the planning. He's been very involved in researching everything about what we'd like to see and do in Barcelona. :D

 

 

Would love to do harmony but can't get away hoping to twist my dads arm to do freedom next year know it would be the 2nd time on rhea hip but I don't care enjoy

[jonbgd]

Katie, do you know how many other children are on the cruise? Someone else was asking about taking their child on a TA.

I think the CD said there is 128 kids onboard the Indy

[Clarea]

I think the CD said there is 128 kids onboard the Indy

Thanks.

[lhanson38]

We are doing our second TA 14 days in Oct this year. Barcelona to Tampa. Going over a week before the cruise love Barcelona. We loved the TA I truly can not remember ever being that relaxed I came back with the best tan of my life I spent every afternoon laying in the sun reading one of my very fav things to do. The shows at night were fantastic we had ice shows, aerial shows. Halloween party's & Parades. There was always something to do or not. If I had one complaint it would be the food its just ok. One the other hand I lost 10lbs on the trip walking everywhere and working out every morning. So I think not loving the food was a good thing.

[monctonguy]

I have thought about doing and looked at these often and am tempted, as a traveler solo you would get a lot of points for a great price.

 

However, the cost of drinks would defn be a big factor unless included and I am always worried about the lack of nightlife and entertainment during the evenings.

 

I was bored out of my mind on my last cruise for 5 nights as it was dead, cant imagine 10 days to 2 weeks of that.

[Hoopster95]

I have thought about doing and looked at these often and am tempted, as a traveler solo you would get a lot of points for a great price..... I was bored out of my mind on my last cruise for 5 nights as it was dead, cant imagine 10 days to 2 weeks of that.

 

 

Hey monctonguy. I've sailed solo many times, TA solo once and a TA + TP each double occupancy. As a solo I would stay away from Radiance/Vision classes... too small and very boring if weather is not cooperative. I did not enjoy the sea days on Radiance on the way to Hawaii... first 3 days bad weather and the Solarium was packed with people and their towels when I went to the gym at 7am. last 3 sea days were great as we finally got sun so pool events, poolside bbq and other things were available.

 

Trouble is even with larger ships if weather is bad, you can't use the great top deck. I did Indy out of FLL and again had bad weather on my TA. Definitely couldn't wait to get off at Ponte Del Gada after 6 sea days. Also I believe there was a very big change of staff as this was the first time Indy was heading to Europe. Even with Graham Seymour as CD (one of the best) he still couldn't bring this cruise up for me. The ship was very dead, including many of the game shows re participation. The only well attended event was trivia which had hundreds of people attend as that was a main focus for cruisers with many "forceful" altercations throughout the cruise between cruisers and towards the staff. It was ridiculous.

 

Conversely, did TA on Adventure from Jan Juan. Superb mix of people (ie. latino, so lots of upbeat night life) and weather was fantastic all the way with plenty of pool deck activities every day, use of the sports court, etc. It was a younger crowd so participation at events were all much higher to "normal" RCL standards I would say.

 

All the very experienced people who have posted here already have said it very loud and clear... TAs are for "relaxing". It's said over and over again. So If you need more activities, a little more things to do, perhaps a better chance of sun/weather with security of being able to get off sooner at ports, then stay away from TAs especially as a solo. Just my 2 cents! :)

 

(edit: just thinking more about this, not having done a TA on Oasis Class, I would think this class of ship would be excellent for a TA good or bad weather)

Edited May 12, 2016 by Hoopster95

[Alohaaloha]

We're doing our first TA on the Celebrity Eclipse in October, and cost of drinks on this trip features highly for us too.

We enjoy lunchtime and evening drinks on vacation, and as this is a 15night cruise, we looked into the cheapest alcohol package which retails at $1650.00 for 2 plus $297.00 as the 18% gratuity. I think almost $2000.00 for two packages is pretty high to say the least, and I'm sure there won't be any inclusive offers or heavily discounted either!

It'll be go dry or modify for us!

 

 

 

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[blueblock]

As there are so many retired and older people on TA's, I wonder why they say they love to relax and read, etc. I do that every day at home. Still seems like a lot of money just to go across the ocean and eat at a moments notice.. Originally we thought it was a good idea to do a TA due to the low cost, but it all adds up , especially when not many perks at all are offered and airfare has to be included, either getting to or coming home from Florida.. We just save up and do a few Caribbean cruises now in the winter.

 

I can't answer for retired people because I work full time - so when I say I love to read and relax on a cruise, it's because those are not things I get enough time to do at home, plus I don't own an oceanfront balcony on which to do them! TAs are not for everyone, but when I add up the ports I get to visit, the joy of hanging out on my balcony, and the price, it works out to be a good experience for me. I don't care for Caribbean cruises personally. Life would be boring if we all liked the same things!

[monctonguy]

Good input and info Hoopster95. A lot to think about and consider I guess. I am usually a pretty low key person at home, but when I travel I like to live it up. I guess I would have to make some kinda compromise in doing one of these long cruises.

 

Also, it depends a lot on the crowd. Only takes a couple of people that you hit it off with to make your cruise much more enjoyable. As I found out on my last one....was a 5 day cruise to Cozumel and Cayman.....should have been a fun and active and what most ppl would think a fun/more party type cruise...if anything it was the exact opposite. Worst cruise for that in the 9 cruises I have taken......so live and learn.

 

The big factor would be the drinks I think...as if I am bored and lazing around for almost 2 weeks, it would get very pricey enjoying some drinks each day at $14/drink.

 

But one long cruise like that will basically bump me to diamond status so maybe worth it over taking 3-4 shorter cruises.

[bethco]

We will be doing Barcelona to FLL TA's in late October in both 2016 & 2017. Should we pack warm clothes for those, or will typical Caribbean cruise clothing be ok?

 

You will freeze if all you take is typical Caribbean cruise clothes. There are plenty of folks who wear shorts and a t-shirt around the ship during the day, but most of us are in something a bit warmer - especially if you are going to go outside. Folks sit outside, but you will see a lot towels being used as blankets.

 

There will be folks from cold climates saying no it's warm, it's great for sitting by the pool. But for those of us from warmer regions, it is not pool weather until the last few days, not parka weather either.

[rednancy1]

We are booked on our first TA this October and can't wait! We are Diamonds on RCI, plus we have cruised other lines, so we know that cruising is a good fit for us and we know that we love sea days. I would not recommend someone to book a TA if they have never cruised.

 

We are combining our TA with land time in Barcelona, so we will be able to enjoy this part of Europe at our leisure, something we often miss on a cruise when we have limited time in each port.

 

We got our airfare on Air2Sea for a great price, much lower than booking through other travel search engines. We paid $971 for two of us one way PHX to BCN. We plan to use points when we book our flight home from FLL on SWA.

 

We are also booked on our dream Italy and Greek Island cruise in October, 2017. Then we booked another TA for the return back to the states. We plan to spend a total of 10 days in Europe prior to that TA before and after our 9 night Italy & Greece cruise. I am saving up the PTO and looking forward to only one really long flight each year.:)

 

It sounds like a great TA. Go Ginny.:)

[Hoopster95]

I am usually a pretty low key person at home, but when I travel I like to live it up. I guess I would have to make some kinda compromise in doing one of these long cruises.

 

Nope!!!... Take a long cruise but not a TA. My best cruise EVER was 12 days on Serenade (and it was my least fave class of ship :p) that did the Med and Adriatic. Busy busy cruise, lots of ports and full days on shore touring the most iconic ports, fantastic mix of people and youth, great DL, made a ton of friends, superb roll call, decent nightlife (Europeans and Latin)... just a great mix and fantastic cruise. Instead of a cheap TA spend a little more money and do a long cruise that goes to places... memories for a lifetime. I can barely remember anything about my sea days on the TAs. I feel that the cheaper price is not worth it.

 

blublock a couple of posts ago wrote a fantastic post said it so very well! TAs are not for everyone :)

[Tony O]

So how do you pack clothing for those long T/A's.

[Clarea]

So how do you pack clothing for those long T/A's.

We pack for about 10 days, and then do laundry on the ship as necessary.

[mek]

OP - You're going west, so you won't experience this, but the only problem we had was on our eastbound TA, on RCI, the clocks were changed at noon, so on those days where the clocks were moved forward, we lost 1 hour - noon became 1pm - it really screwed up the day. As we had 7 straight sea days, we never could figure out why they did it that way - it should have been done overnight - it's not like someone would have missed something big if they overslept in the morning.

Edited May 13, 2016 by mek

[bethco]

By turning clocks forward during the day on eastbound transatlantics, the crew don't lose an hour of sleep for 5 out of 8 nights. The 25 hour days seem easier for everybody.

Edited May 13, 2016 by bethco

[Baseball fan]

This was a great read through as I'm planning to do my first TA solo in fall 2018. I'd like to find one that ends in SJ or Miami so I know I'll have a few port stops.

 

I'm a big reader so the luxury of being able to get through books uninterrupted is a dream and I'd definitely get an OV or Balcony stateroom; don't know if I could do an inside.

 

 

I've gone on 2 TAs, both solo, and have another planned this year.

 

If you can afford it, I highly recommend a balcony cabin. I loved having my own time on my balcony to read...

 

Although ending in Florida is more common, there are a few ships that end elsewhere.

[IsanTom]

Relaxing and very few children aboard!

[klass2]

Katie, do you know how many other children are on the cruise? Someone else was asking about taking their child on a TA.

 

 

 

Sorry for the late reply. I've been keeping myself busy doing nothing but relaxing. [emoji4]

 

On the first day I asked the adventure ocean staff and they said less than 100 kids onboard. This includes teens and babies who don't participate in activities much.

 

My 5 year old is in the aquanauts program and I've never seen more than 10 kids at a time in there with her.

[Clarea]

Sorry for the late reply. I've been keeping myself busy doing nothing but relaxing. [emoji4]

 

On the first day I asked the adventure ocean staff and they said less than 100 kids onboard. This includes teens and babies who don't participate in activities much.

 

My 5 year old is in the aquanauts program and I've never seen more than 10 kids at a time in there with her.

Thanks for the info, and I hope you continue to keep busy relaxing.:)

[trolleydolly]

Thanks for the info re kids on board. We have booked a TA and taking our 14 year old. I was hoping as it covers 2 weeks of the Easter holidays here in the uk that there may be a few more kids (not loads!!) but just a few for him to mingle with. Otherwise he'll be stuck with us for a very long 15 nights!! It also has 6 stops in Caribbean before crossing which might encourage a few!!

[ltjn]

I want to thank you all for your insight on Transatlantic cruises. We are doing our first Transatlantic on the Navigator (6 November 2017). Is there anything else we should know or prepare for this cruise? I have so many questions, such US funds, Sterling Pound funds or Euros, and so on. Any insight will be greatly appreciated. What complicates this cruise, it will be the last cruise on our B2B2B2B2B2B (starting on 15 September 2017). I think what I am asking is what do I need to do to make sure we have great 65 nights at sea, and in Europe. Any insights that you all have would be greatly appreciated!

 

We have cruised many times on Royal, and have a good idea what to do onboard. It is just a little daunting being all over Europe for some many days.

[mek]

By turning clocks forward during the day on eastbound transatlantics, the crew don't lose an hour of sleep for 5 out of 8 nights. The 25 hour days seem easier for everybody.

 

I never thought about the crew, but you're right about that. I did screw up our days - especially with early dinner.