Are Transatlantic crossings typically less crowded?

[BoiiMcFly]

I would imagine so, since not everyone has the time or interest in being on a ship for that long. Am I right or is it the same as Caribbean cruises?

[AmazedByCruising]

As far as I know every ship is always full, unless it isn't, then prices are lowered until it is.

[Shorex]

Depends.... on the cruise line. On Crystal the trans-ocean cruises sell out rather quickly. The per diem rates are lower than port intensive cruises and there is so much to do. Often the TA's will have a theme such as Jazzdagen or Wine and Food Festival. Factor in more time for the ladies who love to dance and the bridge players who love more sessions and you'll find a sold out cruise.

[whogo]

The cruise log listed just 743 guests on our Prinsendam crossing in November, 2016. Capacity is 835.

[Clarea]

I would imagine so, since not everyone has the time or interest in being on a ship for that long. Am I right or is it the same as Caribbean cruises?

It's been our experience that there are fewer passengers on a transatlantic cruise, and far fewer children too.

Edited January 9, 2017 by clarea

[VACARITraveler]

Our experience has been there are fewer passengers but there are more crew member families if the ship is repositioning-at least on Holland America.

 

 

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[cruising grandma]

I've been on a couple of Celebrity and a couple of Royal Caribbean TAs, and they were all sold out. Many frequent cruisers with loyalty were on, and RCI opened up larger lounges for happy hour nightly to accommodate them. Celebrity gave three drink coupons per person per night. Very few children onboard, like Bob said....more midaged and retirerees than young passengers.

[navybankerteacher]

I've been on two HAL and one Celebrity repositionings - as well as two QM2 TA's - I am pretty sure that none were sold out.

[jocap]

They seem to be getting more popular these days; another one is the month long cruises from the UK/Caribbean/UK... there are more and more of these every winter, and the one we're on has a wait list, with people on internet sites calling in each day in the hope of hearing of a cancellation.

So from what I've picked up over the last few years, they are filling up more, and the prices are not as low as a few years back.

[GUT2407]

Most ships sail full or pretty close to it, so no less crowded.

 

Not sure about the assumption people don't want to be onboard "that long" is accurate either.

[AmazedByCruising]

They seem to be getting more popular these days; another one is the month long cruises from the UK/Caribbean/UK..

 

Wait what? Which line? Where??

[jocap]

Wait what? Which line? Where??

P&O out of Southampton; I think all the ships, apart from the two which stay in the Caribbean over winter do two or three trips in winter; Aurora has just returned from one, ready for her world cruise, and I have friends on two ships crossing right now.

We're on Ventura soon for a month; last year was the first time she'd done it, and it was a sell out- we met people on board who'd hoped until the day before!- so we knew to book early for this year.

Next year V does the same cruise, followed immediately by another one which touches on some US ports as well....I think that's 33 days there and back. :cool:

[navybankerteacher]

I think there are two distinct categories being discussed here: the leisurely long itinerary, such as P&O round trips, and the repositioning --- where many lines redeploy from Mediterranean summer to Caribbean winter sailings in thevFall and back in the Spring. There is tremendous westbound capacity in October and November and eastbound in April and May - which likely exceeds the much smaller capacity on the longer, tailored, itineraries. These repositionings represent the lines' need to relocate their ships rather than seeking to meet an existing demand.

[RSLeesburg]

It's been our experience that there are fewer passengers on a transatlantic cruise, and far fewer children too.

 

 

Fewer children, but many many more higher level loyalty members, and based on some of the RCI TA reviews, they can be just as bad as kids [emoji6]

 

 

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[Hlitner]

We have probably done more then 20 TAs since we retired 13 years ago. We love TAs (and TransPacifics) because of all the lazy sea days. When we started doing these cruises (more then a decade ago) they were often a great bargain and seldom crowded. But the word has gotten around among we retirees, and these cruises are now often sold out (or close to sold out). They are still priced in a reasonable way, but seldom priced the way they were 10 years ago when we could get a balcony cabin on a decent cruise line for about $50 per passenger day.

 

Hank

[cb at sea]

There are fewer "families" on TA's....most folks with younger kids simply can't spend the time or money for that. All cruises are pretty damn close to full, tho...just a different mix of ages!

[jcl410]

P&O out of Southampton; :cool:

 

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 also does a 26-30 day Southampton to Caribbean cruise. (With a 7 day to NYC at the beginning, and 7 day TA from NYC to SOU at the end.)

 

I was on the transatlantic portion in December, and about 500 folks were doing the full 26 days.

 

Aloha,

 

John

[wassup4565]

Our autumn transAtlantic on the Brilliance a year and a half ago was pretty much sold out. We got a good price (a little over $100 a day pp), but we booked a year in advance. This was an 18-night cruise, with some interesting ports in France, England and Ireland to start.

 

Many of the passengers were retirees, but there was also an interesting international component of people from as far away as Australia who were interested in the Faroe Islands and Iceland. I mean, how else are you going to see the Faroe Islands?

 

If you book early, and you have flexible time, you can probably still get a good bargain. But I don't suggest the cruise companies will be giving these cruises away for a song any more.

[SPacificbound]

We have been on a number of Transatlantic cruises. I can't say that they were crowded.

 

Transatlantic cruises are longer cruises, so that in itself reduces the number of families with children. A ship can be sailing with all cabins sold, but that doesn't mean they are over crowded.

[whogo]

navybankerteacher hit the nail on the head. There is excess capacity as cruise lines move their ships to Europe in the spring and to the Caribbean in the fall and many ships sail at bargain prices. The long, round trip transatlantics during high season are a different beast and can command a premium price.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Last TA I did was in November of 2012. Ship was sold out (RC) but mostly couples or singles, so didn't seem as crowded as a summer Caribbean cruise. Very few children and didn't meet any people with 3 or 4 in a cabin, so although full was not at capacity.

 

Large numbers of diamond and above on board. Two overflow lounges opened; diamond and diamond plus/pinnacle.

 

I was amazed too at the number of "snow birds." Met lots of British retirees planning on spending winter in Florida and cruising home in April. They loved the price and ability to bring lots of luggage and not worry about flights and airports.

[Bankshot]

T/A's are still a good bargain and you can also get discounted airfare when you sign up for the "Choice Air Program". (Ask your agent about this program) Airfare for our last Miami to Barcelona flight was under $500 each. I recommend a Fall cruise from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale. If you try a cruise in the Spring going East you start the trip with six or so days at sea and you lose an hour a day. So, by the seventh day you are having dinner at around 1:00pm "Body Time". Reverse that and you seem to "gain" an extra hour a day which extends Happy Hour. Try to fly over a few days ahead and enjoy Barcelona. The first six or seven cruise days visit ports in Portugal, Spain, Canary Islands or the Azores. Then enjoy the last six days at sea where they add a lot of extra daily events. Our best cruise price was $41/ night per person for an outside cabin.

[calliopecruiser]

The two transoceanic cruises I have been on have been sold out, as is the one I have coming up this spring. They were not full to capacity, though, as there were a fair number of solo passengers (so all cabins were sold, but there were less than a full number of guests).

[Sequim88]

Our TAs were both sold out as far as a year out. Suites and Balconies went very fast. We booked the day bookings opened in order to secure a wheelchair accessible balcony. It was a very long 18 month wait. One thing we've noticed is that the roll call threads are MUCH more active for TAs. All the foreign port stops made for a lot of great info sharing and excursion planning.

 

Even full the ships were never crowded. I think on these itineraries with all the sea days people tend to find quiet places to relax or use the balconies more so were spread out. Also in North Atlantic not a lot of pressure on the pool area like sea days on a Caribbean itinerary.

[BoiiMcFly]

Our TAs were both sold out as far as a year out. Suites and Balconies went very fast. We booked the day bookings opened in order to secure a wheelchair accessible balcony. It was a very long 18 month wait. One thing we've noticed is that the roll call threads are MUCH more active for TAs. All the foreign port stops made for a lot of great info sharing and excursion planning.

 

Even full the ships were never crowded. I think on these itineraries with all the sea days people tend to find quiet places to relax or use the balconies more so were spread out. Also in North Atlantic not a lot of pressure on the pool area like sea days on a Caribbean itinerary.

 

Good to know, thanks!