Will I be bored on a Transatlantic?

[yuvraj]

I had the same reservation when I did my first TA a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed it but we had good weather and that is a factor. Also, cruise was not with RCCL and the one I did had some good port stops so it felt like a B2B with the early part being the usual Caribbean cruise.

 

One observation. If you are going US to Europe then you lose an hour each day. This makes the days quite short. On the cruise I was on, the clocks changed at midday.

[brnowl]

We're thinking about booking a transatlantic but my DH is worried that he will get bored at sea for 7 days in a row.

 

 

 

Can anyone give us ideas on what you did that kept the boredom down while at sea?

 

 

 

We have done 2 transatlantic cruises, both with HA, and loved them!

But here is the thing...we did back to backs, with a cruise with more port stops, and the transatlantic for the way back, when we were ready to unwind, and kick back on the balcony with a glass of wine!

 

There are so many things you CAN participate in , if you wish, all depending on your interests. There are pool and deck activities that might appeal, planned by crew members. There are ship tours, cooking demos, educational talks on a wide variety of things, depending on speakers booked. Movies, bingo, card games, reading, lounging poolside, participating in game show type events, are some of the possibilities. There is a gym, or basketball or other courts, and many more sport activities depending on your ship. Lots you can do, or not do.

 

 

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[mikegrip]

There were more activities than standard sea days on our transatlantic, including lecturers that had interesting topics (we especially liked the astronomer who gave lectures during day and a few star-gazes at night). I do have to admit that by day 3 I started feeling like I was experiencing "Groundhog Day" as we were in a def. routine and the lectures were at the same time each day. Ours had a stop in the Azores which has been one of our favorite stops and I suspect part of that is the 6 sea days leading up to the stop.

[jules815]

My husband and I were on the Harmony TA last October, and although we didn't take part in any of the activities planned by our roll call, we were never bored. Amazing how quickly 9 sea days in a row went by. We'd do another TA in a heartbeat.

[mek]

I did one 14 night TA about 5 years ago on Liberty OTS. It's a large ship with many activities and we had a balcony, so I was never bored with 7 days at sea. I'm going on another TA next April on a smaller ship, so I expect I will have to entertain myself a little more than on the previous cruise. For what it's worth, I'm not the kind of person who just likes to sit and read or relax. I'm very active and still had a great time.

[genegri]

We like to tag a TA at the back of a port-intensive Europe cruise. Now you may laugh but we usually do some real work on the TA to occupy time and to ease back into real life. For some reason, the same work seems much more fun when you do it on a ship. :D

[Motorman23]

We're thinking about booking a transatlantic but my DH is worried that he will get bored at sea for 7 days in a row.

 

Can anyone give us ideas on what you did that kept the boredom down while at sea?

 

Re-live your honeymoon?

 

 

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[londongal796]

We really enjoyed our first TA and have booked another one. We've also been on a TP and have booked a second one of those as well!

 

I do agree that a 7 day stretch can be difficult. If you can find a TA with a slightly different itinerary so that you have a stop in the middle, I imagine that would be preferable. However, it's not always possible.

 

The best thing is to get involved with the Roll Call activities on Cruise Critic for whichever cruise you settle on. We had a fantastic cabin crawl which ended up taking a good 2 hours and took us ALL over the ship. One time we had a book club hosted by fellow cruisers where we just met the once towards the end of the cruise, giving you plenty of time to have read the book during the downtime.

 

There are always all sorts of activities going on on-board. Many are free, some are pay-for (ie. sushi making classes, cupcake classes, galley and bridge tours, etc). I think having an open mind is the best way to approach this. Maybe you aren't REALLY interested in towel folding or cake making but the staff on-board make it entertaining and usually the cake making demonstration involves 1) free cake and 2) booze.

 

We also have always brought some movies to watch on our laptops and have been known to binge watch an entire series during a long cruise (needs to be downloaded movies / tv shows of course as the internet isn't that good!).

 

The hard thing is to be able to tell you whether or not your husband will enjoy it. We absolutely LOVE the downtime. We find many cruises to be almost exhausting, and we like to relax on our vacations. A lot of 7 day cruises are 6 days in port and only one sea day. Our first TA we spent 2 days in Barcelona beforehand, then first day on the ship, one sea day, then a FULL day in port in Malaga (visiting the Alhambra Palace)--we were EXHAUSTED by the end of that. Two days of not-so-nice weather and then 5 days of GLORIOUSLY HOT weather on our 7-day stretch at sea. We really enjoyed the warm sea days and loved the weather as we got closer and closer to Miami. (Our TP was much more port intensive so hard to compare.)

 

In any case, I don't think TA's are boring, but I think if you don't want to participate in any of the activities on board, it could be boring.

[mek]

I had the same reservation when I did my first TA a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed it but we had good weather and that is a factor. Also, cruise was not with RCCL and the one I did had some good port stops so it felt like a B2B with the early part being the usual Caribbean cruise.

 

One observation. If you are going US to Europe then you lose an hour each day. This makes the days quite short. On the cruise I was on, the clocks changed at midday.

 

We also had the clocks changed at noon, so it became 1PM on select days and it did make for a shorter day.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I've done two of these cruises in both directions and the time change didn't effect me at all. Not one iota. That's why it's a great way to get to Europe. You don't have the killer jet lag that screws up your internal clock. I'm so looking forward to my upcoming TA. To answer the question about boredom. If the ship has a lot of amenities I think the TA will be great. Royal does a great job of entertaining it's guests. There is always something going on. The passengers are usually seasoned travelers that are fun to talk to. You'll meet a lot of nice people and make new friends. Take plenty of reading material with you- that is a problem if the library isn't well stocked. On a two week trip- I brought three books to read (and donated to the ship library) and my laptop with six movies that I'd never seen before downloaded- just in case there was nothing good on the television in the room. I bring Uno cards, Bananagrams, etc. I was a girl scout (prepared for anything). Also- make sure you bring two pairs of comfortable (broken in) dress shoes. They don't sell shoes on the ships- except for flip flops.

[vickiw0318]

I did my first transatlantic on the Serenade last April. I admit to being very skeptical and I do mean very skeptical. I signed up up everything offered on my Cruise Critic thread. I ended up really enjoying the progressive trivia. Our team managed to finish in the top half of the teams though given the amount of headshaking we did, I am not sure how that happened. The young activities manager, Grant, had a terrific personality and added a lot to the event. It's always good to have a time to laugh - at the questions and at yourself.

 

We did a cabin crawl and a very successful slot pull. Also fun was out two "book club" gatherings - we read two books prior to the cruise and met to discuss them. Another group put on its own lectures. There was an expanded group that met in the Diamond Lounge each night prior to dinner with a pre-arranged group of Cruise Critics. Lots of people toured the ports together.

 

Can't wait to do one again.

[molsonschooner]

We have enjoyed the three TAs we have been on, but we really enjoy lectures, movies, and conversation with fellow passengers.

 

 

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Lectures. I can stay home and get lectured by DW every day. And it costs nothing.

 

 

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[Motorman23]

Lectures. I can stay home and get lectured by DW every day. And it costs nothing.

 

 

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Oh my... even I wouldn't have said that....

 

 

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[rebeccalouiseagain]

In 2005 I sailed across with Ernest Borgnine and his wife Tova, which was surreal. Very nice man who was giving a lecture series. In 2008 I sailed home on QM2 and Victoria Tennant was onboard promoting a book she had written. On day I went to pick up my seven year old son from the youth program and Victoria was sitting on the floor reading them stories. So- who knows who might be onboard your TA. If you are retired, maybe seven sea days aren't for you. I'm a busy Mom who needs time to decompress once in a while- I love sea days and not having to get up early for excursions and so forth. I like the relaxation. If someone thinks they will be bored, they probably will.

[traveltilidrop]

DH feared that he would be bored on our fifteen day Hawaii Circle cruise which featured five sea days over and five sea days back, but as it turns out, we were very busy every day. In fact, one day, we missed an activity because we were so busy! You will need to review your Cruise Compass every night before going to bed in order to plan for the next day.

[royzer76]

Simple answer ... NO.

[JamesEM]

I disagree, having a shot attention span after three days at sea I had enough, however my wife was having a great cruise.