Transatlantic

[neeko]

Have a 15 night transatlantic on hold right now. How boring would 7 days at sea be in April. Are there a lot of activities or should we bring plenty of books. 

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, neeko said:

Have a 15 night transatlantic on hold right now. How boring would 7 days at sea be in April. Are there a lot of activities or should we bring plenty of books. 

Lots of activities including Beyond the Podium Speakers, Quizes , competitions and matinee shows in the theatre. 

[upwarduk]

8 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Lots of activities including Beyond the Podium Speakers, Quizes , competitions and matinee shows in the theatre. 

In 2013, I went to IT lectures in the iLounge. 
I learnt a lot and re learnt things I had forgotten.

On a Hawaiian cruise ( also a lot of sea days) my husband joined the choir and Ukulele classes.

[emmas gran]

2 hours ago, neeko said:

Have a 15 night transatlantic on hold right now. How boring would 7 days at sea be in April. Are there a lot of activities or should we bring plenty of books. 

 

Coming from USA you have 23 hour days!!

[gordylad]

Have only done a few October ones going the other way. Loved them. Had great weather a few ports then easy sea days to do what you wanted

[cangelmd]

Always bring plenty of books 😊.

 

We;ve done one TA, westbound. Weather was quite frustrating, mostly beautiful and sunny, but so windy that the decks were closed for most of the crossing. Ship wasn't built to have all the passengers inside all the time - you also had no furniture on the balcony, and frankly the first day or tow the balcony wasn't safe.

It is highly unlikely that you will have anything like that in April, which is the upside of the spring TAs.

 

Join your role call! You will get in touch with people looking for card partners, orgainizing slot pulls, other activities. Hopefully by April, these will actually take place.

[sippican]

35 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Always bring plenty of books 😊.

 

We;ve done one TA, westbound. Weather was quite frustrating, mostly beautiful and sunny, but so windy that the decks were closed for most of the crossing. Ship wasn't built to have all the passengers inside all the time - you also had no furniture on the balcony, and frankly the first day or tow the balcony wasn't safe.

It is highly unlikely that you will have anything like that in April, which is the upside of the spring TAs.

 

Join your role call! You will get in touch with people looking for card partners, orgainizing slot pulls, other activities. Hopefully by April, these will actually take place.

 

I was so surprised to read this. We did a November westbound TA and had nothing but calm seas, barely any wind and sun almost every single day.  We were on our balcony every single day. 

Sorry you had such cruddy conditions.

[TeeRick]

As on any cruise, boring is in the eyes of the beholder.  No way to answer this for you @neeko since nobody knows what you like or what is important to you.  TA's are very popular and most people find plenty of things to do on them- if they want to.  Others enjoy relaxing on the Sea Days with very little activity planned.  There is a mix for everybody's preference and style.  But if you need constant activity (like on a RCCL mega-ship in the Caribbean), perhaps a TA is not for you.

[Jim_Iain]

We have done about a dozen TA and have never gotten bored but we love long sea day.  To me I do my normal routine which includes walking 10 miles a day, which takes about 3 hours.  By the time I add in eating Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and maybe an afternoon nap takes the major part of the day.

 

There are more things going on every hour than you can be involved in.  You can stay as busy as you wish or as relaxed as you enjoy.

 

They always have a Beyond the Podium Speaker and on the TA's usually 2.   They have lectures on most sea days.   Many of them are superb and pack the Theater.   Subject range from the Romantic Period o Luxury Cruising to Forensic Detective Science. 

 

 

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, sippican said:

 

I was so surprised to read this. We did a November westbound TA and had nothing but calm seas, barely any wind and sun almost every single day.  We were on our balcony every single day. 

Sorry you had such cruddy conditions.

Snap - have sat on our balcony on every transatlantic East and West bound, northern and southern routes.

[hrhdhd]

I see 7 sea days and think, "Bliss." If you think, "I'll be bored," maybe a TA isn't for you.

[LGW59]

Never done a TA, yet, Covid changed those plans on me.  Several years ago though, we did a 14 day Mexican Riviera out of San Diego, was one of the best cruises we have ever taken.  Total of 4 sea days, 3 of which we consecutive, it was a blast, never at a loss for something to do or nothing to do.  Like you I wondered, hmmm will I be bored?  Nope not for one second, even sitting on the balcony for hours just looking at the ocean, I consider that something to do while doing nothing at all!

[emmas gran]

My DH just reminded me of our 1st TA on QE2 in 1991, (Southampton to NY ), we only went once due to rough weather that was at 5 am to sail into New York. Formal wear every night on the 5 sea days.

It got us hooked on cruising.

Edited February 12, 2022 by emmas gran
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[HS2BS]

We too, have done more then a dozen transatlantic cruises, and find that the west bound use a more southern route in the fall. Most of our eastern ta stop in the Azores & Bermuda, which is northern but mid Gulf Stream, but cooler and more sustainable to winter/spring storms.

Always something to do or nothing at all, your choice!

 

Hal

[canderson]

We've done a fair number of TAs, always westbound, mostly southern route.  We took friends with us on one of them and they, too, were concerned about how they'd handle the at-sea days.

When it was done, they wondered where the time had gone, and wished that the cruise wasn't over.

For anyone capable of getting into the rhythm of shipboard life, it's pretty easy to hope that the trip never ends, even with lots of at-sea days, which we treasure.

 

I give this advice:

If you couldn't handle a week at the beach at an all-inclusive resort, you probably can't handle the at-sea days of a TA.  But most people can, and thoroughly enjoy them.

 

[Lastdance]

To TA or not is a choice; as to whether or not you enjoy it...another choice.  However, if you do not try, you'll never know.  It's great with parties and games from your roll call.  You can do as much or as little as you want to do, but by your question, you sounded like it was not a choice, but somehing you felt you had to experience.  Hope that's not the case.  

Let us know what you've decided.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Lastdance

[kwokpot]

I think just for the fact the question is being answered causes pause for the OP to do a TA. TBH there's really not much to do, so to speak on a transatlantic cruise since the whole point of them is not to do anything. Sure there's lectures, and trivia and movies to go to but TBH I never attend those on any cruise whether Caribbean or TAs. I've probably done over 25 combined TA's and TP's (The last one in November 2019 as a Suez Canal cruise on Royal with 9 days at sea) and I'm never ever bored. But you have to be able to entertain yourself. And by that I mean being comfortable basically relaxing for seven days straight. Great time to use the Fitness Center EVERY  DAY.  If you can't do that, don't do a TA.

Edited February 12, 2022 by kwokpot

[b803040]

Doing my first TA on the Apex in April and this will be my longest cruise ever.  Very excited and surprised to see how popular this cruise is.  Looked into upgraded cabins and that’s not even an option at this point.  And I’ve signed up for everything- shore excursions, specialty dining, ship tours and even Deal or No Deal!   This will either be a transformative experience or a dud.  But I’m leaving myself open to everything!  Wish me luck!

[canderson]

12 minutes ago, b803040 said:

Doing my first TA on the Apex in April and this will be my longest cruise ever.  Very excited and surprised to see how popular this cruise is.  Looked into upgraded cabins and that’s not even an option at this point.  And I’ve signed up for everything- shore excursions, specialty dining, ship tours and even Deal or No Deal!   This will either be a transformative experience or a dud.  But I’m leaving myself open to everything!  Wish me luck!

Here's hoping you land on the "Why didn't we do this sooner!" side when you've completed your adventure!

 

Yes, you'll find that upgrading, especially to a suite, isn't easy on these cruises.  You get a lot of 'hard core' cruisers on a typical TA, especially westbound it seems, and the suites get gobbled up not long after the itinerary is announced. 

 

We had two westbound TAs cancelled due to COVID and were still really wanting to book another.  We had to wait-list when booking a year and a half in advance for a cabin left of the sort we wanted when we decided to book our next westbound TA (October 2022).  And that was during last year's rather 'low bookings' period for the line due to COVID.  We were very pleased that we were able to snag it when someone else cancelled.

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

28 minutes ago, b803040 said:

Doing my first TA on the Apex in April and this will be my longest cruise ever.  Very excited and surprised to see how popular this cruise is.  Looked into upgraded cabins and that’s not even an option at this point.  And I’ve signed up for everything- shore excursions, specialty dining, ship tours and even Deal or No Deal!   This will either be a transformative experience or a dud.  But I’m leaving myself open to everything!  Wish me luck!

If you are not busy it will be by choice, not because of nothing to do.  TAs on X usually have about 2/3 of cruisers Elite or above.  Very popular.   There are numerous activities that will be announced on board.

Also important is the Captain can change the route several hundred miles north or south to find calmer weather.  We have had rough weather only once on a cruise and that was near Hawaii. 12 TAs.  All wonderful.  Your choice, be busy or not.

[kwokpot]

Just now, Arizona Wildcat said:

If you are not busy it will be by choice, not because of nothing to do.  TAs on X usually have about 2/3 of cruisers Elite or above.  Very popular.   There are numerous activities that will be announced on board.

Yes what you're saying is true. I've done many TA's with my parents and my mom really enjoys attending all the lectures and the movie showings they have. But as I said before one has to be interested in those activities to begin with. I can honestly say out of 91 cruises I've attended ONE trivia contest and that was early in my cruising history. I'm just not interested in that. So what I will say is that if someone enjoys attending all those indoor activities a cruise offers on a Caribbean cruise, then you'll find those same activities on a TA. But if you're not interested in attending a lecture on say Religion, History, Famous Persons, Science, Etc, and you don't like organized group games such as trivia, name that tune, indoor archery then there's not going to be any more or different activities that the ship will offer to keep you entertained on a TA. 

 

[LGW59]

44 minutes ago, b803040 said:

Doing my first TA on the Apex in April and this will be my longest cruise ever.  Very excited and surprised to see how popular this cruise is.  Looked into upgraded cabins and that’s not even an option at this point.  And I’ve signed up for everything- shore excursions, specialty dining, ship tours and even Deal or No Deal!   This will either be a transformative experience or a dud.  But I’m leaving myself open to everything!  Wish me luck!

What type of suite are you currently booked in?  For April 2022, they still have SS1 and SS2 available, reasonable price for two.

[b803040]

I’m in an S1 SS……. Was looking for a CS, and started the search last summer.   They were all gone by then.

[LGW59]

25 minutes ago, b803040 said:

I’m in an S1 SS……. Was looking for a CS, and started the search last summer.   They were all gone by then.

Ah OK, yes the only ones I saw as available were SS.  I booked several cruises for the late fall of 2023, so two years out, the upper suites flew off the shelf like a bank giving away money.  BTW, really hope that you enjoy the TA!

[b803040]

Love that….”like a bank giving away money…..”. My sentiments exactly!