Fall 2022 transatlantic questions

[cruzer0007]

We did our first transatlantic this past May (Apex to Amsterdam) and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We are getting the "fever" to do another, and the fall crossings are fast approaching. As I look at the options there are multiple we can pick from, so I am hoping some with more experience can weigh in and help me assess the offerings.  The Apex is still "new" and they market it that way, we have seen many posts (and heard many in person comments) that new ships always have the best entertainment and live music offerings, and older ships slightly less.  Please share experiences, or information, around what we might expect, especially for live music (individuals or small bands) on ships other than Apex or Beyond.  How much difference is there in live entertainment for a transatlantic ?  There is a meaningful (to me) price difference for some ... wondering if the lower cost options mean lower quality entertainment, or less options for entertainment ?  Thanks in advance for feedback.

[cruisestitch]

Price is generally not tied to the amount/quality/variety of entertainment.  Look at the ports and the port charges.  Look at the length of the cruises.  Those are more significant factors.

[Host Anne]

I love transatlantics.  I don't think you can go wrong with any Celebrity ship.  I like them all.  I'm a bit different than many cruisers and actually prefer the Solstice class (Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette & Reflection) and the M-class ships (Millennium, Summit, Infinity and Constellation) over the Edge class ships.  

 

We've been cruising for many years, so the entertainment differences that might exist aren't important to us.  We don't go to many of the production shows any longer but we've always found great entertainers in the lounges on all the Celebrity ships.  In fact, I much prefer the smaller, more intimate lounges on the S- and M-class ships to the Edge class ships. 

 

Entertainment doesn't typically change because of the transatlantic.  Entertainment changes when contracts are up and that varies widely.  You'll still have main theater entertainment every night and plenty of entertainment in lounges.  The lower cost doesn't have anything to do with the entertainment.  It has to do with supply and demand of filling the ship.  People tend to like newer ships so they tend to fill more quickly.  

 

One of the best cruises we've ever been on was on Summit last year when Celebrity's first started sailing out of St. Maarten.  There were only 270 passengers on board (it was like having a private yacht).  Yet Celebrity didn't make any cutbacks.  All of the entertainment was in place as if the ship was full.  Some evenings, it was just my husband and I in a lounge listening to the band or entertainer.  

 

From an entertainment standpoint, I don't think you'll see a difference in the amount of entertainment offered.  For me, I'd save the money as I like all of the Celebrity ships doing a Fall transatlantic!  

 

Good luck with your decision and have a great cruise regardless of which ship you select.

[cruzer0007]

Thanks Anne for that perspective.  I probably should have been a little more clear in my original post, it was really *not* the main theatre entertainment I was concerned with, we enjoy some of it, but the thing I really enjoy are the individual musicians, or small groups, playing in the smaller venues.  I plan my day around when and where those folks are appearing, so thanks for sharing your experiences around that aspect. I am encouraged by your post, and I intend to keep the older ships as primary options.  We sailed on the Equinox about 5 years ago, and really enjoyed that, everything was great, my only "want" for that ship class/cruise was a piano player 😐

Edited August 14, 2022 by cruzer0007

[Denny01]

In reference to the non-theater, lounge music groups, there is no real difference in any of the Celebrity Class ships that we’ve ever noticed. 

 

the only ‘difference’ I notice is with the S-Class ships, when they have a full and in the atrium area with the open area above it up to the higher decks, the music does come strongly through to all those areas. But if it bothers us, there are many other spots to locate for games and socialization. 

 

Other than that….pick the itinerary, pricing and yes, other amenities of each ship. 

 

we are on the Edge out of Rome 24 Oct. Good stops in a few ports havent been to. 

 

Den

[Lastdance]

I am on the Apex, but was originally on Edge.  I prefer the Edge itinerary overall, but my DH had two ports on the cruise before that he wanted to see, so we switched.  This is my first time doing a b2b/TA, but I planned another for Beyond next April.  I totally understand what you are saying about musicians.  Good luck with your choice.

[cangelmd]

18 minutes ago, cruzer0007 said:

Thanks Anne for that perspective.  I probably should have been a little more clear in my original post, it was really *not* the main theatre entertainment I was concerned with, we enjoy some of it, but the thing I really enjoy are the individual musicians, or small groups, playing in the smaller venues.  I plan my day around when and where those folks are appearing, so thanks for sharing your experiences around that aspect. I am encouraged by your post, and I intend to keep the older ships as primary options.  We sailed on the Equinox about 5 years ago, and really enjoyed that, everything was great, my only "want" for that ship class/cruise was a piano player 😐

For reasons that aren’t clear Celeb does not have a dedicated piano bar and rarely books a pianist for the bar entertainment, although a pianist doing a solo show happens.

Host Anne would know way better than me, but the only particular to a TA is that they generally switch the entertainers off and on the ship during the cruise (not the production show folk, the individual acts), and that couldn’t happen as much on the TA

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Price is generally not tied to the amount/quality/variety of entertainment.  Look at the ports and the port charges.  Look at the length of the cruises.  Those are more significant factors.

 

I think ship class has an influence on pricing as well.  Apex will be more expensive than Constellation for the same itinerary and cabin class.

[Host Anne]

36 minutes ago, cruzer0007 said:

 We sailed on the Equinox about 5 years ago, and really enjoyed that, everything was great, my only "want" for that ship class/cruise was a piano player 😐

 

We could talk for hours about a piano player!  When the S-class ships debuted back in 2008, there was a piano in Michael's Club (now the retreat lounge on the S-class ships).  I loved it.  However, I believe over the years, Celebrity has been trying to appeal to a different, younger demographic and they eliminated things like the piano, a cappella groups in lounges, etc.  Years ago, Perry Grant was a very popular piano player on Celebrity ships.  Much has changed.  I'll try to finish my review of Equinox last week and I'll provide more detail.

 

That said, the individual entertainers and bands on Equinox last week were all very good.  My biggest issue was how loud it was, especially in the atrium (you literally could not talk to the staff at Guest Relations it was so loud) and even in the main dining room.  Even if we didn't care for all of the individual performers, there were definitely some that we would enjoy hearing every day.  

 

For me, one of the best entertainment we had last week was when Cruise Director Pete and guitarist, Bryony Drake  https://www.bryonydrakemusic.com/, combined to do an hour of the Beatles music together.  They had never done this before (Bryony had only been on the ship two weeks).  Pete talked alot about the Beatles history and showed bunches of great photos as they sang Beatles songs.  It was terrific.  I would have loved for them to do this in the Sky Lounge versus Celebrity Central (it was overcrowded) and held it in the evening instead of 3:00 on a sea day.  But it was great!  

 

We also like the entertainment at the Sunset Bar on the S-class ships for sailaway.

[Texter2]

Cruzer0007 - I would look at the itineraries and use that as a guide. Are there any ports that you have not been to that you might want to visit?  We were on the Apex TA with you! Part of the reason we chose that TA was because it visited new and different ports than we had not been to previously. It was our third TA. It is easy to get hooked. You may enjoy the WBTA even more as you gain an hour rather than lose an hour on most sea days. We also love the entertainment, but make our choices mainly based on itinerary. So many places to see! 

[the penguins]

On 8/14/2022 at 9:08 PM, Host Anne said:

 

We could talk for hours about a piano player!  When the S-class ships debuted back in 2008, there was a piano in Michael's Club (now the retreat lounge on the S-class ships).  I loved it.  However, I believe over the years, Celebrity has been trying to appeal to a different, younger demographic and they eliminated things like the piano, a cappella groups in lounges, etc.  Years ago, Perry Grant was a very popular piano player on Celebrity ships.  Much has changed.  I'll try to finish my review of Equinox last week and I'll provide more detail.

 

That said, the individual entertainers and bands on Equinox last week were all very good.  My biggest issue was how loud it was, especially in the atrium (you literally could not talk to the staff at Guest Relations it was so loud) and even in the main dining room.  Even if we didn't care for all of the individual performers, there were definitely some that we would enjoy hearing every day.  

 

For me, one of the best entertainment we had last week was when Cruise Director Pete and guitarist, Bryony Drake  https://www.bryonydrakemusic.com/, combined to do an hour of the Beatles music together.  They had never done this before (Bryony had only been on the ship two weeks).  Pete talked alot about the Beatles history and showed bunches of great photos as they sang Beatles songs.  It was terrific.  I would have loved for them to do this in the Sky Lounge versus Celebrity Central (it was overcrowded) and held it in the evening instead of 3:00 on a sea day.  But it was great!  

 

We also like the entertainment at the Sunset Bar on the S-class ships for sailaway.

Perry Grove is still going strong. You either love him or hate him. We are in the former group. A word of warning unless you are seated right next to the exit door never leave one if Perry's shows before the end. If you get a chance to see him on the main stage do it. A totally different "act" to his cabaret performance in a smaller venue.

[Oceangoer2]

On 8/14/2022 at 2:54 PM, Host Anne said:

I love transatlantics.  I don't think you can go wrong with any Celebrity ship.  I like them all.  I'm a bit different than many cruisers and actually prefer the Solstice class (Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette & Reflection) and the M-class ships (Millennium, Summit, Infinity and Constellation) over the Edge class ships.  

 

We've been cruising for many years, so the entertainment differences that might exist aren't important to us.  We don't go to many of the production shows any longer but we've always found great entertainers in the lounges on all the Celebrity ships.  In fact, I much prefer the smaller, more intimate lounges on the S- and M-class ships to the Edge class ships. 

 

Entertainment doesn't typically change because of the transatlantic.  Entertainment changes when contracts are up and that varies widely.  You'll still have main theater entertainment every night and plenty of entertainment in lounges.  The lower cost doesn't have anything to do with the entertainment.  It has to do with supply and demand of filling the ship.  People tend to like newer ships so they tend to fill more quickly.  

 

One of the best cruises we've ever been on was on Summit last year when Celebrity's first started sailing out of St. Maarten.  There were only 270 passengers on board (it was like having a private yacht).  Yet Celebrity didn't make any cutbacks.  All of the entertainment was in place as if the ship was full.  Some evenings, it was just my husband and I in a lounge listening to the band or entertainer.  

 

From an entertainment standpoint, I don't think you'll see a difference in the amount of entertainment offered.  For me, I'd save the money as I like all of the Celebrity ships doing a Fall transatlantic!  

 

Good luck with your decision and have a great cruise regardless of which ship you select.

Thank you for responding to this post....we're taking our first Transatlantic cruise and concerned we'll not have much to do that interests us during the day. In the Caribbean we're on deck most of the day.  Will the weather, East to West, be too cool for 'lounging' in the hoped for sun? 

[gordylad]

Have done a couple of transatlantics both from Rome on the Reflection.....loved them.

[Oceangoer2]

1 minute ago, gordylad said:

Have done a couple of transatlantics both from Rome on the Reflection.....loved them.

How was your weather and were you able to be outside during the day?

[cluso]

51 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

 Will the weather, East to West, be too cool for 'lounging' in the hoped for sun? 

 

We've done 4 westbound, to include the northern route Southampton-Boston-NYC-Miami.  The weather was fine, and we were outside a lot--up top and on our veranda (port side)!  You never know about Mother Nature--bring a sweater or jacket.

[TeaBag]

We have done at least 6 TA's and have never been bored.  In fact, it often happens that there are two things happening simultaneously and we have to make a decision which one we want to attend.  i love the ease of not having to get up early for an excursion each day.

[canderson]

8 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

How was your weather and were you able to be outside during the day?

We've done multiple WB TAs from Italy, Spain and the UK to either Florida or Cape Liberty over the years.  Somehow, we've been very lucky with the weather, but there are certainly no guarantees.  They all stop either in the Azores or the Canary Islands.  None of the WB TAs are headed to Cape Liberty this year, so that means that all things being equal, things should get warmer and not cooler as each of the ships heads west AND south, but the route does matter.

 

Example:  Average October high temp in the Azores is 69F.  In the Canaries, it's 81F.  So which route is taken can make quite a difference.

 

 

 

[Oceangoer2]

47 minutes ago, canderson said:

We've done multiple WB TAs from Italy, Spain and the UK to either Florida or Cape Liberty over the years.  Somehow, we've been very lucky with the weather, but there are certainly no guarantees.  They all stop either in the Azores or the Canary Islands.  None of the WB TAs are headed to Cape Liberty this year, so that means that all things being equal, things should get warmer and not cooler as each of the ships heads west AND south, but the route does matter.

 

Example:  Average October high temp in the Azores is 69F.  In the Canaries, it's 81F.  So which route is taken can make quite a difference.

 

 

 

This TA's starts in Barcelona and last stop before Bermuda is Gibraltar.  Would have like the Canaries. Will have to research a bit more.

[blueskadoo]

Given Bermuda's testing requirements, does anyone think they'll end up dropping Bermuda from the TAs?

[jelayne]

3 hours ago, canderson said:

We've done multiple WB TAs from Italy, Spain and the UK to either Florida or Cape Liberty over the years.  Somehow, we've been very lucky with the weather, but there are certainly no guarantees.  They all stop either in the Azores or the Canary Islands.  None of the WB TAs are headed to Cape Liberty this year, so that means that all things being equal, things should get warmer and not cooler as each of the ships heads west AND south, but the route does matter.

 

Example:  Average October high temp in the Azores is 69F.  In the Canaries, it's 81F.  So which route is taken can make quite a difference.

 

 

 

The Beyond TA departs Barcelona on October 12 and arrives at Cape Liberty on October 23, Then 2 days for TAs, press, then departs Cape Liberty for Florida on October 26.

[canderson]

9 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The Beyond TA departs Barcelona on October 12 and arrives at Cape Liberty on October 23, Then 2 days for TAs, press, then departs Cape Liberty for Florida on October 26.

Missed that one.  Goes via Bermuda though, correct?

[canderson]

38 minutes ago, blueskadoo said:

Given Bermuda's testing requirements, does anyone think they'll end up dropping Bermuda from the TAs?

Beyond, being the earliest WB TA on 12 Oct, will be our test case.  Our WB isn't until Oct 31, and there are a couple of other WB ahead of us that are currently scheduled for Bermuda as well, so even if Celebrity doesn't come up with answers before then, I suspect we'll know by the time Beyond sails.

 

My own guess, and that's all it is, is that Celebrity isn't going to be sufficiently interested in staffing medical with enough people to pull off thousands of tests in 2 days - that could require about 1 passenger test per minute for 48 straight hours, plus crew?  I doubt they'll expect guests to be testing on a 24 hour schedule, either (no, I'm NOT getting up at 3:20 am for a COVID test just to visit Bermuda!), so that further limits the amount of time available to get it all done.  The only line I've ever heard of that ever did anything even remotely that intense was Viking with their daily 'spit tests', but they were staffed and ready to perform this kind of thing right from the beginning of the restart.

 

Honestly, at the pointy end of this stick, if one person actually refused to test within the 2 days of arrival in Bermuda, the ship technically couldn't dock there.  What are they going to do, set that person adrift in a lifeboat? 

 

The logistics just don't favor a Bermuda stop on a WB TA at this time.

 

 

[Turtles06]

29 minutes ago, canderson said:

The logistics just don't favor a Bermuda stop on a WB TA at this time.

I totally agree with you and have said before that if Bermuda’s rules are still in place, I think Celebrity will skip it on the WB TAs this fall, at least the ones that don’t have an overnight (as the Silhouette does).

[Host Anne]

7 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Thank you for responding to this post....we're taking our first Transatlantic cruise and concerned we'll not have much to do that interests us during the day. In the Caribbean we're on deck most of the day.  Will the weather, East to West, be too cool for 'lounging' in the hoped for sun? 

 

Oceangoer2 ~  our weather was perfect when we did the last transatlantic but it's impossible to know what the weather might be like for any given transatlantic.  We don't lounge in the sun on ships typically but we live in Florida.  Being from Canada, I can see why you'd like to do that.  Your tolerance for "cool" weather far outweighs mine  🙂.  Depending what month you are sailing, you could be found lounging on the pool deck in the sun.  Plus there is always the solariums....you can still get some sun but avoid cooler weather if needed.

 

ENJOY

[Oceangoer2]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

The Beyond TA departs Barcelona on October 12 and arrives at Cape Liberty on October 23, Then 2 days for TAs, press, then departs Cape Liberty for Florida on October 26.

The cruise I mentioned is in Oct. '23.  So it's Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale.