What are your favourite parts about a TA?

[h-sar]

Have only ever done winter Caribbean cruises, and one Med, so am looking ahead to a post retirement cruise in a couple of years.

Edited September 19, 2021 by h-sar

[Langoustine]

The chance to completely unplug, read a book, watch the water go by, and relax.

[Von & John]

Love TA’s, TP’s & Repositioning Cruises...

Embarking in one location & disembarking in another - provides opportunity to explore & enjoy both pre & post locations.  

 

Cruise itself - generally enjoy a nice balance of Port & Sea Days...

While we love Port Days - it’s amazing to have the opportunity to truly relax while on the cruise.  

Enjoying a cocktail or coffee while watching the water go by is a favorite pastime...

Plus the socializing w/ others!

 

Also - if you enjoy joining your Roll Calls, they are generally very active for TA’s, TP’s & Repositioning Cruises.  

 

Enjoy!!!

We’re still working - but we generally do not leave AK on personal trips for under 2 weeks.  

Three weeks is the sweet spot for us up to four weeks. 

 

[rkacruiser]

The seemingly unending days at sea with no/few ports, increased opportunities to get to know my fellow cruisers as well as the crew, maybe some special entertainment (such as enrichment programs) that are not usually offered on shorter cruises, watching the sea, and, maybe, being able to read that book that I have been wanting to read.  These are my reasons why I enjoy a trans-Atlantic or any longer cruise.  

[h-sar]

I appreciate everyone’s insights 🙂

[jeremyosborne81]

I just booked a 14 Day Transatlantic for next year and it has six consecutive sea days. I can't wait to find out what entertainment is available for those days.

Of course, I will bring a couple books too.

Edited September 20, 2021 by jeremyosborne81

[Hlitner]

There are a subset of cruise lovers who truly enjoy sea days (this would include us).  For those folks, TAs and Pacific Crossings are wonderful because we have lots of lazy sea days.    On those sea days it is truly different strokes for different folks.  Some passengers maximize their activities and on the mass market ships there are always lots of options.  Others (including me) just love the lazy days with no need to do anything.  On many sea days, DW and I will spend most of our day in a deck lounger or a comfy seating area inside (when the outdoor weather is not good) doing a lot of reading.   We have also developed habits that are adjusted for each class of ship.  So, for example, if we are on a Princess ship that has an International Cafe (which is always located on a lower level of their atrium) we will sit in that area during most of the morning.  This gives us easy access to tea/coffee drinks and we can read as well as people watch and enjoy the morning activities that happen in that area.  On a HAL vessel we might hang out in the relatively quiet Crows Nest.  If we are on a Seabourn vessel I will usually be up early and relaxing/reading in Seabourn Square (their main public area) waiting for DW to arise and join me (we can then go to breakfast).

 

We have also met other cruisers that cruise for the ports and dislike sea days.  Many of them seem to have a Type A personality and just do not want to be sitting around.  We have seen a few of these folks who are quite miserable on TAs...so a word to the wise.

 

Hank

[Thorswife59]

We have done 4 TA’s and love it. I don’t do well with long distance flights due to health issues and we’re retired with nothing but time so ... it’s the perfect way to travel to Europe. We get there rested, no jet lag and ready to hit the ground running.  After a month of exploring, mostly by train, we do another TA back, arriving home rested and again no jet leg. 
 

We enjoy the sea days and just relaxing with books by a big window, playing cards, people watching.  We can’t wait to do it again!

[TeaBag]

Love the unstructured days.  Don't have to be anywhere at any given time.  There's nothing like reading a book on your balcony and smelling the sea air.  Too bad I have to wait 12 months for the next TA.

[RGEDad]

We love the unencumbered open time for TA & TP cruises. We currently have 2 Transatlantic (TA) scheduled for next year (One in the spring over there, and one in the fall coming back) and on Transpacific (TP) in 2023 NZ to Vancouver (assuming NZ & Australia ever let us in that is).

I love sitting on the balcony and reading/listening to books, or just watching the waves roll past - very exciting. Sometimes have to bundle up with blankets, but that is not such a big problem is it. 

And - I find they are typically less expensive (per day) than port to port cruises, less crowded, and fewer port fees - just an added bonus.

We typically add a connecting cruise onto the foreign port cruise just to get at least some foreign culture. 

A significant cost of TA/TP cruises is the airfare to the foreign port. We are old, inflexible, and...how shall I put this...(I am) Husky, and the sardine seats in main cabin just do not work for us anymore. So we have been using non-stop flights from DFW only on business class. This year we are going to try the (AA) Premium Economy seats - which are, allegedly, similar to domestic first class in terms of width/leg room and significantly less expensive than business class.

 

[ShipFan13]

Taken several between the States and Europe.

 

• Love not having jet lag when I arrive at my destination
•  
• Love being able to relax my way crossing the ocean instead of 
• being cramped up in a airplane
•  
• More days to enjoy the buffet 😀

 

 

[h-sar]

Love hearing everyone’s thoughts on what attracts them to the TA’s. 🙂

Thank you for sharing.

[joanne59]

We love them so much, we are taking 2…in a row. Wonder to Barcelona, then fly home and taking Rhapsody right back over there. Finally being retired allows us the option to enjoy lazy days at sea before transitioning to a few more port intensive Mediterranean cruises. Yes, the prices is right for all those glorious  relaxing days at sea!

[TeaBag]

Wow, I've never hear of anyone doing that.  Of course, you're on the right side of the country for TA's  Bon Voyage to you.

[h-sar]

2 hours ago, joanne59 said:

We love them so much, we are taking 2…in a row. Wonder to Barcelona, then fly home and taking Rhapsody right back over there. Finally being retired allows us the option to enjoy lazy days at sea before transitioning to a few more port intensive Mediterranean cruises. Yes, the prices is right for all those glorious  relaxing days at sea!

I’ll echo the previous post by TeaBag…WOW! 

[TheOldBear]

We like doing two TAs in a row, but on the same ship in opposite directions.

No need to fly anywhere.

[joanne59]

6 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Wow, I've never hear of anyone doing that.  Of course, you're on the right side of the country for TA's  Bon Voyage to you.

Thanks….we figured it would be fun to take advantage of all our free time during retirement. Gotta think outside the box after so much time away from sea/Europe. 

[joanne59]

4 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

We like doing two TAs in a row, but on the same ship in opposite directions.

No need to fly anywhere.

Too bad the ones we are on don’t go back and forth in a short period of time 😉

[dave_k58]

On 9/28/2021 at 11:16 AM, RGEDad said:

We love the unencumbered open time for TA & TP cruises. We currently have 2 Transatlantic (TA) scheduled for next year (One in the spring over there, and one in the fall coming back) and on Transpacific (TP) in 2023 NZ to Vancouver (assuming NZ & Australia ever let us in that is).

I love sitting on the balcony and reading/listening to books, or just watching the waves roll past - very exciting. Sometimes have to bundle up with blankets, but that is not such a big problem is it. 

And - I find they are typically less expensive (per day) than port to port cruises, less crowded, and fewer port fees - just an added bonus.

We typically add a connecting cruise onto the foreign port cruise just to get at least some foreign culture. 

A significant cost of TA/TP cruises is the airfare to the foreign port. We are old, inflexible, and...how shall I put this...(I am) Husky, and the sardine seats in main cabin just do not work for us anymore. So we have been using non-stop flights from DFW only on business class. This year we are going to try the (AA) Premium Economy seats - which are, allegedly, similar to domestic first class in terms of width/leg room and significantly less expensive than business class.

 

WE are from Sulphur Springs and also got premium economy for the NOV 5 TA. Maybe we will run in to you on board

 

[RGEDad]

On 10/11/2021 at 8:25 PM, joanne59 said:

Too bad the ones we are on don’t go back and forth in a short period of time

Back about 5 years ago - While I was still a working stiff. I found a TA end of season Florida to Rome, and then a repositioning cruise that was headed the other way (It was repositioning from the Middle East over to the US-Barcelona to NYC). Really, Really wanted to do that, but I thought that 4 weeks away from the office/team I was leading was just a bit...too much. 

Now that I am retired - I keep looking for that situation. Yes, yes - I know - the Cunard line has cruises back and forth, but looking for the (much) lower cost repositioning cruise costs.

Trains from Rome to/from Barcelona are not so good, but there is an overnight ferry that would do us just fine.

[shipgeeks]

IMO, there is nothing that compares to being on the open sea, on the top open deck of a ship, and seeing the vastness of the ocean and the sky.

Occasionally seeing some dolphins or whales travelling alongside is a bonus.

Seeing the vast starry sky at night is not too shabby either.

[Pudgesmom]

The sunset on an eastbound trans-Atlantic from the aft deck, with a cocktail or glass of wine. We plan our evening around it.