Celebrity Transatlantic cruises

[catspaw1]

1 hour ago, Gracie115 said:

 YES, our first 3 TA's were all 16 nights and with at least 6 ports.  Now they are 12-14 nights with 3-4 ports, 2 of which are nearly always Bermuda and Azores, both of which are lovely but not over and over again.  And the price is so much more..... we look at X but the only TA we have booked is with a different line that is 16 nights and 6 ports and far less expensive than what X has to offer.   

Gracia, which cruise lines did you see the TA with that aren't Celebrity? We would consider other cruise lines since Celebrity has gotten so expensive.  We are booked on a Celebrity TA for November & will see how it goes. It arrives in Bermuda late November where the water temperature is too cold to swim. We were in Bermuda in July on the Eclipse & the water temperature was perfect at 80. We sailed our own boat to Bermuda once while sailing it to the Caribbean & the water temperature was cold too swim in then IMHO. But of course with global warming now, maybe the water temperature will be warmer then. 

[Gracie115]

2 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Gracia, which cruise lines did you see the TA with that aren't Celebrity? We would consider other cruise lines since Celebrity has gotten so expensive.  We are booked on a Celebrity TA for November & will see how it goes. It arrives in Bermuda late November where the water temperature is too cold to swim. We were in Bermuda in July on the Eclipse & the water temperature was perfect at 80. We sailed our own boat to Bermuda once while sailing it to the Caribbean & the water temperature was cold too swim in then IMHO. But of course with global warming now, maybe the water temperature will be warmer then. 

 

We are booked on the Sky Princess leaving Southampton Nov 14, 2025.  It is a 16 night sailing.  Visits Portsmouth, Cherborg, Vigo, Azores, Bermuda and ends in Port Canaveral. 

 

The one this year on the same ship leaving Nov 28, is a 17 day cruise with some of the same ports but also includes Lisbon and Madeira.

 

But we've also looked at Oceania, which has even longer TA's and more ports because their ships are smaller and can get into more ports. 

[catspaw1]

Thanks. I'll see how we like our upcoming TA first. Never have been on Princess but we would consider it if the price is right. We will also look at HAL as we have a 14 night AK cruise booked for May 2026. Thanks for the info. Celebrity is getting too expensive.

[SEC Man]

On 10/4/2024 at 12:09 PM, Gracie115 said:

We love TA's too but they sure aren't the "deal" they used to be!!!

We are considering a westbound TA in 2026 (have never done one) as part of the appeal is the price (i.e. less than flying business class).  Based on what you stated are there other cruise lines that offer a better TA value than Celebrity that are basically in the same class (we have historically done a number of cruise lines but recently have focused on Celebrity E class and for an upgraded experience Oceania though the latter would be too boring with mainly TA sea days). 

[Gracie115]

3 hours ago, SEC Man said:

We are considering a westbound TA in 2026 (have never done one) as part of the appeal is the price (i.e. less than flying business class).  Based on what you stated are there other cruise lines that offer a better TA value than Celebrity that are basically in the same class (we have historically done a number of cruise lines but recently have focused on Celebrity E class and for an upgraded experience Oceania though the latter would be too boring with mainly TA sea days). 

 

 

We like Princess full suites on the Royal class ships. With the full suite you have a separate dining area from the MDR, and many other perks, including a cocktail hour each evening in the concierge lounge.  We combine that with either the Princess Plus or Princess Premier package and the price is still less than what Celebrity is charging for comparable accommodations. Comparable for me would be something better than a CS but less than an RS on Celebrity ships.   

[Kordy]

Why have the trans Atlantic cruises gone up in price so much?  Is it because there is so much more demand?  I mean, personally I would only book a Trans Atlantic cruise, if it was a great deal. But if it is as expensive as a standard cruise - what is the appeal that allows them to command such high prices?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, Kordy said:

Why have the trans Atlantic cruises gone up in price so much?  Is it because there is so much more demand?  I mean, personally I would only book a Trans Atlantic cruise, if it was a great deal. But if it is as expensive as a standard cruise - what is the appeal that allows them to command such high prices?

Have you done a TA ? 
why is there so much demand , probably more people are retired and have the time now 

We did them when we were working as we owned our business are could take the time off 

Before Covid you could get a 2 week cruise in a balcony including tips and airfare for around  $1000 a week 

[Gracie115]

3 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Have you done a TA ? 
why is there so much demand , probably more people are retired and have the time now 

We did them when we were working as we owned our business are could take the time off 

Before Covid you could get a 2 week cruise in a balcony including tips and airfare for around  $1000 a week 

 

Or a suite for about 1/3rd or even less than today's prices

[canderson]

5 hours ago, Kordy said:

Why have the trans Atlantic cruises gone up in price so much?  Is it because there is so much more demand?  I mean, personally I would only book a Trans Atlantic cruise, if it was a great deal. But if it is as expensive as a standard cruise - what is the appeal that allows them to command such high prices?

Years ago, a TA was considered less than a full cruise experience by many due to the lack of port calls vs. a more traditional cruise.  As a result, these cruises weren't as popular, and the cruise lines had to keep prices down to encourage bookings.  Most cruisers had never experienced a TA or anything quite like it, and were actually discouraged from considering them for a variety of reasons, some of which included

 

• Too far from land.  What if?
• Isn't that hurricane season? (more often a Fall question)
• Must be boring without the normal number of port stops.
• There's nothing to see.
• etc

 

Over the years, a bunch of TA enthusiasts (myself included), who would have done ourselves a huge $ favor to just keep our yaps shut and not discuss this topic, would mention here and elsewhere how surprised we were at how much we enjoyed our first (and subsequent) TA experiences, and why.  By doing this, we disabused a whole bunch of people of the notion that TA cruises are a total snore, obviously made too much of the shipboard experience itself, and in general, just made the mistake of encouraging other people to give them a go.  And they did.  And many of them kept going, year after year.

 

And look what happened - slowly - over a period of years ...

 

Ask around, and you'll now find a hard core of annual TA cruise fans.  These cruises book up now.  Fifteen months ahead of embarkation, I tried to score a Retreat cabin for a particular November 2025 TA, and they were already fully booked.  That never used to be the case 'back when'.

 

There are people who enjoy the shipboard experience itself such that the number of sea days isn't considered any kind of detriment to the experience.  Quite the opposite, actually.  And there are clearly more than enough of them to keep these cruises adequately booked such that there's no longer a price incentive needed.

 

Many have begun to use a TA as one end or the other of a larger European vacation, or use them for a return trip home as the last leg of a B2B for a European cruise.  Why fly both ways when you can instead extend your vacation by another 12~16 days in comfort?  For most people, that's 12~16 less days of cooking, laundry and making the bed.

 

I figure it can't get much more expensive by talking about it now.

😜

 

[D. B.]

On 10/7/2024 at 4:00 AM, SEC Man said:

We are considering a westbound TA in 2026 (have never done one) as part of the appeal is the price (i.e. less than flying business class).  Based on what you stated are there other cruise lines that offer a better TA value than Celebrity that are basically in the same class (we have historically done a number of cruise lines but recently have focused on Celebrity E class and for an upgraded experience Oceania though the latter would be too boring with mainly TA sea days). 

West bound TA's are my Favorites. I do one every November and because we get to Turn our Clocks BACK 7 times, I arrive home 7 Hours Younger?

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, D. B. said:

West bound TA's are my Favorites. I do one every November and because we get to Turn our Clocks BACK 7 times, I arrive home 7 Hours Younger?

Regrettably you also arrived in Europe 7 hours older. 🤣

[the penguins]

On 10/7/2024 at 10:23 PM, canderson said:

Years ago, a TA was considered less than a full cruise experience by many due to the lack of port calls vs. a more traditional cruise.  As a result, these cruises weren't as popular, and the cruise lines had to keep prices down to encourage bookings.  Most cruisers had never experienced a TA or anything quite like it, and were actually discouraged from considering them for a variety of reasons, some of which included

 

• Too far from land.  What if?
• Isn't that hurricane season? (more often a Fall question)
• Must be boring without the normal number of port stops.
• There's nothing to see.
• etc

 

Over the years, a bunch of TA enthusiasts (myself included), who would have done ourselves a huge $ favor to just keep our yaps shut and not discuss this topic, would mention here and elsewhere how surprised we were at how much we enjoyed our first (and subsequent) TA experiences, and why.  By doing this, we disabused a whole bunch of people of the notion that TA cruises are a total snore, obviously made too much of the shipboard experience itself, and in general, just made the mistake of encouraging other people to give them a go.  And they did.  And many of them kept going, year after year.

 

And look what happened - slowly - over a period of years ...

 

Ask around, and you'll now find a hard core of annual TA cruise fans.  These cruises book up now.  Fifteen months ahead of embarkation, I tried to score a Retreat cabin for a particular November 2025 TA, and they were already fully booked.  That never used to be the case 'back when'.

 

There are people who enjoy the shipboard experience itself such that the number of sea days isn't considered any kind of detriment to the experience.  Quite the opposite, actually.  And there are clearly more than enough of them to keep these cruises adequately booked such that there's no longer a price incentive needed.

 

Many have begun to use a TA as one end or the other of a larger European vacation, or use them for a return trip home as the last leg of a B2B for a European cruise.  Why fly both ways when you can instead extend your vacation by another 12~16 days in comfort?  For most people, that's 12~16 less days of cooking, laundry and making the bed.

 

I figure it can't get much more expensive by talking about it now.

😜

 

In 2025 our TA is still a third of the price than our 12 night Iceland cruise in May, same ship, same cabin.

[island lady]

I am still anxiously awaiting the release of booking for westbound Apex in 2026.  Have the previous leg booked...just trying to match it up with the TA.  Come on Celeb...cough it up!!  🙂 

[canderson]

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

In 2025 our TA is still a third of the price than our 12 night Iceland cruise in May, same ship, same cabin.

That is one of the more expensive itineraries.

[the penguins]

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

That is one of the more expensive itineraries.

True but it appealed, good itinerary, an easy flight from London City Airport to and from Amsterdam and it’s an S Class ship.

[ijscheer]

On 10/9/2024 at 8:12 PM, D. B. said:

West bound TA's are my Favorites. I do one every November and because we get to Turn our Clocks BACK 7 times, I arrive home 7 Hours Younger?

The time difference between Central Europe and US East coast is only 6 hours (5 hrs for Great Britain.)

[canderson]

2 hours ago, ijscheer said:

The time difference between Central Europe and US East coast is only 6 hours (5 hrs for Great Britain.)

Could be the OP lives in the Central time zone in the U.S.?  That adds one more hour on the day of arrival.

[NMTraveller]

On 10/7/2024 at 2:23 PM, canderson said:

Many have begun to use a TA as one end or the other of a larger European vacation, or use them for a return trip home as the last leg of a B2B for a European cruise.  Why fly both ways when you can instead extend your vacation by another 12~16 days in comfort?  For most people, that's 12~16 less days of cooking, laundry and making the bed.

This ^^^^^

[NMTraveller]

I wish that Cunard would build another ship for their TAs.  I was trying to book a TA on Cunard either before or after my cruise, and it was always going the wrong direction.

Edited October 14 by NMTraveller

[Kordy]

On 10/14/2024 at 10:40 AM, NMTraveller said:

I wish that Cunard would build another ship for their TAs.  I was trying to book a TA on Cunard either before or after my cruise, and it was always going the wrong direction.

 

Ain't gonna happen. There is only one Queen Mary 2. The true ocean liner. Descendent of the RMS Titanic. 

[the penguins]

On 10/6/2024 at 7:53 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I think X makes most the TAs short than 14 nights now  is to save giving out $250 OBC for share holder credit 

It also opens up the sailings to people who have limited vacation time which in turn will reduce the average passenger age.

[the penguins]

15 hours ago, Kordy said:

 

Ain't gonna happen. There is only one Queen Mary 2. The true ocean liner. Descendent of the RMS Titanic. 

Nothing like Titanic or any of the other classic liners that made their money from Second and Third Class passengers. First Class being loss making but headline grabbing - Check out Amazon for “The Only to Cross”  Also judging by the frequent discounts it’s also not all that popular. 

[Kordy]

5 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Nothing like Titanic or any of the other classic liners that made their money from Second and Third Class passengers. First Class being loss making but headline grabbing - Check out Amazon for “The Only to Cross”  Also judging by the frequent discounts it’s also not all that popular. 

Surprised that 1st class is loss-making, given how expensive it is.  I thought that cruise companies make MOST of their monies from the suites/1st-class passengers, as they really pay huge amounts for their suites.  An inside cabin on a cruise ship can be had for as little as $500/7 nights on most mass-market cruise lines... there is not much profit in that !  But upgrade to a suite and you're paying several thousands $$$ for the same cruise.  They hope you spend extra on drink packages, wifi, casino, excursions and specialty restaurants, where the real profits are!

[the penguins]

1 minute ago, Kordy said:

Surprised that 1st class is loss-making, given how expensive it is.  I thought that cruise companies make MOST of their monies from the suites/1st-class passengers, as they really pay huge amounts for their suites.  An inside cabin on a cruise ship can be had for as little as $500/7 nights on most mass-market cruise lines... there is not much profit in that !  But upgrade to a suite and you're paying several thousands $$$ for the same cruise.  They hope you spend extra on drink packages, wifi, casino, excursions and specialty restaurants, where the real profits are!

Sorry for any confusion. I was commenting on the comparison between the Titanic and the QM2 - the Titantic and all the other Liners of that era made their money from Second/Third Class passengers they were not in anyway comparable to a modern cruise line. For example they had no theatre, entertainment was organised by a Committee of Passengers, almost no fresh water (for example baths were sea water with a small jug of fresh to rinse afterwards), no stabilizers, no bow thrusters, and no air con just heating. 

[ExArkie]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Sorry for any confusion. I was commenting on the comparison between the Titanic and the QM2 - the Titantic and all the other Liners of that era made their money from Second/Third Class passengers they were not in anyway comparable to a modern cruise line. For example they had no theatre, entertainment was organised by a Committee of Passengers, almost no fresh water (for example baths were sea water with a small jug of fresh to rinse afterwards), no stabilizers, no bow thrusters, and no air con just heating. 

Some ships had third class passenger provide their own food, only a few first class cabins had en suite bathrooms while others had community bathrooms, and so forth. While I totally enjoy Cunard’s harkening back to the “glory days of transatlantic travel,” I wouldn’t want to actually be there. 
 

As for QM2 being a “direct descendant” of Titanic, it’s complicated. Check out Chris Frame’s history of ocean liners for a description of the strange convoluted story. He also has You Tube videos that address some of the history.