Trans-Ocean Voyages... A few questions...

First of all, where in the world do they store enough food and libations for 7 straight days at sea for 4,000 passengers plus crew? I know the ships are huge but is there really enough storage space? There must be, but what is the trick? How do they do it?

With 7 straight days, for those of you who have been on a trans/repositioning, dis you ever wish it was a little shorter at sea time? Even for a cruise on Celebrity, do you want to just get off the ship and walk around somewhere?

What other tips/tricks/advice designed for several sea days in a row would it be wise to know before embarking?

Thanks and 'GO SEAHAWKS!' :p

Yeah - another Seahawks fan. Transatlantic Cruises are the best! Besides total relaxation if that is your choice, the gym is amazing. Celebrity provides you with so many activities, from lectures and wine tasting to trivia games and dance lessons that you always have something to do. DH even got involved in a ping pong tournament. He hadn't played since college and we are both retired now.

We met people for cards, WI and cocktails frequently. Also loved our balcony as a quiet place to read and listen to ipods.

Enjoy! The cruise is amazing! :)

My goodness, you would be surprised at how much they can store on a ship We have done some very long cruises where we have spent over a week of sea days without a single port (this can easily happen on Transpacific cruises). Ships can easily carry enough fuel and supplies for several weeks although it can get crowded in the storage lockers.

Hank

My goodness, you would be surprised at how much they can store on a ship We have done some very long cruises where we have spent over a week of sea days without a single port (this can easily happen on Transpacific cruises). Ships can easily carry enough fuel and supplies for several weeks although it can get crowded in the storage lockers.

 

Hank

Yes, the storage lockers can get crowded with all those Seahawks fans. :p ;)

We are on a ncl transatlantic cruise in October and that is 10 nights straight with no stops on route... Southampton - Miami! Can't wait! [emoji41]

What other tips/tricks/advice designed for several sea days in a row would it be wise to know before embarking?

 

Relax:)

You need to prepare yourself for all those sea days. Take enough books. Sign up for wine tastings, etc.

They always run out of bananas, since there is no way to acquire fresh ones in the middle of the ocean.

crew will bring new ones on there way from home to ship (as I'm told they sleep at home tonight :) )

You need to prepare yourself for all those sea days. Take enough books. Sign up for wine tastings, etc.

They always run out of bananas, since there is no way to acquire fresh ones in the middle of the ocean.

Actually, you can almost guarantee that some things will run out. It is just not always possible to work out what it will be. On one of our TAs, the first thing to run out was plastic carried bags.

There is usually something like a passenger choir (I've been in two and they're a blast) and a passenger flash mob (both will have rehearsals almost every day; some additional art classes (don't have to be an artist as I can attest to:rolleyes::D) with free supplies; and lots of time and places to relax. I bring along my needlework. Lots of knitters. Definitely bring your e-reader. I was not going to be one of those to "give up" an actual book but I am a total convert. I bring my favorite 400 books everywhere.

Your roll call will have people talking about all this beforehand. If you do your ports on the front end you'll likely meet others on your private excursions and so by the time the sea days happen you'll have more new friends to spend time with.

The days at sea really flew by for us. We got in a routine on one of our TAs and on another one all our days were different.

Yes, the storage lockers can get crowded with all those Seahawks fans. :p ;)

LOL! Thanks everybody!!

First of all, where in the world do they store enough food and libations for 7 straight days at sea for 4,000 passengers plus crew? I know the ships are huge but is there really enough storage space? There must be, but what is the trick? How do they do it?

 

p

We just finished our run from port Everglades to Madeira.

Celebrity only has to satisfy fewer than 3,000 passengers. There is no 4k passenger ship in the fleet.

Supplies are merely transferred from the hold to the passengers on board.

G

I've never heard of passengers starving nor dying of thirst even though some staff members have underestimated the capacity for certain items. Only an incompetent HD will mess up occasionally but then they get promoted. (Name provided upon request) cause we were on board... :eek:

We've done three TA's and love them. Do we wish it was a day or so shorter because we didn't have enough to do or got bored and wanted off? Never.

Not only are there all the things to do mentioned earlier, the lectures are outstanding. Not just what's inport next and so on as on a normal cruise, but excellent lecturers on Architecture, sciences, movies given by true experts and PhD types. We would make a list each AM of what we'd plan to do for the day, and we'd end up missing half of them because of other things to do or more likely things not to do except relax. We'd meet people and be able to follw though with disussions beyond the 'what cruises have you taken'.

Yes, there is time to read and relax, but with all the activities, you'll need to carve out time to do that.

We find TA's to not only be a great time, they are less expensive. We've done mainly the Euro to US cruises so it gives us time before the cruise to explore the departure city for a few days, or even add an extended Euro land cruise.

And sense we live driving distance of the normal Fla ports (Fla Panhandle), we get a rental and we can bring back more wine and 'things' we find in port.

Love all our cruises, but the TA's seem to be some of the mose memorable.

Den

First of all, where in the world do they store enough food and libations for 7 straight days at sea for 4,000 passengers plus crew? I know the ships are huge but is there really enough storage space? There must be, but what is the trick? How do they do it?

 

With 7 straight days, for those of you who have been on a trans/repositioning, dis you ever wish it was a little shorter at sea time? Even for a cruise on Celebrity, do you want to just get off the ship and walk around somewhere?

 

What other tips/tricks/advice designed for several sea days in a row would it be wise to know before embarking?

 

Thanks and 'GO SEAHAWKS!' :p

SHEESH...A Seahawks fan... in DENVER?? How do you keep from getting trampled by Broncos? :eek:

Transatlantic and Transpacific cruises are THE BEST bang-for-your-(vacation)-buck available. Sometimes as low as $30pp/day! Boarding Silhouette in 48 hours for my 8th in the last 4 years. I guess that makes it an addiction... :o

You can be as busy as you want... with tons of stuff going on all the time. OR you can lean back, relax... and do NOTHING! :D

One of the most interesting things to do is observe the logistical ballet that occurs on the pier after a long transit. The carefully choreographed ballet of fork trucks and people unloading and loading tons of supplies is mindboggling. :cool:

We have done several TA's and TP's and we often find that there are things we want to do that are scheduled at the same time so we have to opt for one of them. We find there is plenty to do even with as many as 7 sea days in a row.

SHEESH...A Seahawks fan... in DENVER?? How do you keep from getting trampled by Broncos? :eek:

You'd be surprised how many 12s are out here! When I wear my Seahawks gear I get a lot more high-fives than jeers. Have a great time on your TA!! Please post updates!!

My best advice is to join your roll call and meet some of your fellow cruisers. We've met up at the port city the night before a TA for dinner with some roll call cruisers and met some great people we are still in touch with, even 10 years later. I've never been bored on a transatlantic cruise and have usually wished we had a few more sea days.

We have completed three trans-atlantic (with two more scheduled) and two trans-pacific cruises. We enjoy them for many of the reasons already mentioned by other posters. They are just soooo relaxing.

We did a TA from Barcelona to FLL in 2013 on HAL. My DH got bored after about four continuous days at sea and I got vertigo, probably due to the motion of the ocean. We probably won't do a transatlantic cruise again, for those reasons. It was a very reasonable cost and we also took the seven day cruise just prior to the transatlantic on the same ship, so got to see some of Spain and Italy.

Curious when the best time to book a Trans cruise for the best rate/deal? When the itinerary first because available, 6 months out, 3 months out, 2, months, 1 month, the week before?

Once my husband retires, our time will be more flexible and we will be looking for a Spring transatlantic to take us to Europe so that we can stay a few weeks before flying back. Or, we could do the reverse in the Fall time frame.

Curious when the best time to book a Trans cruise for the best rate/deal? When the itinerary first because available, 6 months out, 3 months out, 2, months, 1 month, the week before?

 

I'd like to know also. The more I read about the TA's, I think we would enjoy it. I would definitely want to sail on a ship that has plenty of activities. As much as we love Azamara, I think it would be quite boring since there is not a lot to do. After all, you can't spend your free time at the bars. ;) :p Casinos do not interest us.

Curious when the best time to book a Trans cruise for the best rate/deal? When the itinerary first because available, 6 months out, 3 months out, 2, months, 1 month, the week before?

 

It really is a case of how long is a piece of string...

Our first ever cruise was a transatlantic cruise in dec 2012 and we booked about a year out... We booked quite a good balcony as we didn't want to be disappointed with our choice, 3 months before sail the prices dropped quite a bit & we could have save a bundle of case... We ended up upgrading to Aqua A1 for only £37 each [emoji16]

6 months later we booked another transatlantic cruise more then a year out but this time we thought we were smart and booked the cheapest inside we could to upgrade later at little or no extra cash as transatlantic cruises aren't very popular and the cruise lines struggle to sell out right.... Wrong!! 9 months before sail date the cruise is a sell out and I spend the next 8 months panicking about spending 14 nights in an inside cabin... [emoji33] Luckily a month out a balcony became available for the same price a balcony was when I first booked the inside! So I jumped at the chance and upgraded! [emoji16]

Now I guess the moral of this story is who knows...

Not much help I know but my advice is to book when you see a price your happy to pay for a cabin you want to sleep in.. [emoji4]

Thank you.

cruises aren't very popular and the cruise lines struggle to sell out

This is the reason I asked because I have heard this before.

We normally book far out to get the stateroom that we prefer, but something like a trans cruise may be spur of the moment decision. We could take one to get us to our destination. Spending long hours at sea, we would not want to pay too much. Plus, the thought of being able to relax over a weeks time for less than our airfare (normal for us to fly to Europe is between $1200 and $1600 pp because we prefer to fly non-stop.)

Nuclear subs have a crew of around 130 and have enough provisions to stay submerged for 90 days. The subs are about 362 x 33 or 560 x 42 ft depending on the class. Cruise ships are a lot bigger and have more space per passenger ratio.

I doubt that you will starve as your aren't the first to sail on a TA.

Happy cruisng 🌊🚢🇺🇸

You need to prepare yourself for all those sea days. Take enough books. Sign up for wine tastings, etc.

They always run out of bananas, since there is no way to acquire fresh ones in the middle of the ocean.

Solve the banana problem by storing them in my cabin for use when they run out. Hope the charge for room service is a nasty rumor as we have breakfast in cabin every day, including departure. Just order day before and enjoy before fighting the crowd to sadly head home.