Trans At or Trans Pac?

[rubinstein2r]

We want to book a 2015 cruise while on our Carib Cruise next week. We want a trans cruise. Looking for advice from experienced cruisers as to which trip is best and in what month. Thanks!

[celebritydave]

We have done 3 Atlantic TAs and have a 4th one scheduled. We prefer the westbound. You start the trip in Europe so you can add some extra days before the cruise to explore.

 

The ship makes multiple stops either in the Med or in the Carribbean. On a WB, the clocks are set BACK an hour as you sail, giving you more time to enjoy the ship.:)

 

Our WB in December left Rome on the 1st. We though that was too late in the year because of cool weather in Rome.Our TA this year leaves Rome Nov. The weather should be a lot better.

 

Hope this helps,

Dave

[cruisegoal100]

We have done eight TAs on Celebrity...5 eastbound and 3 westbound. Essentially the tradeoffs are

1. 6 nights losing an hour (eastbound) while on a westbound you will gain an hour during each of 6 nights. Had 1 eastbound TA where the hour was lost in the middle of the day vice at night...we personally liked that approach but many do not

2. Eastbound TAs are usually in or around April and the seas are usually calm. You will be starting out with warmer temperatures and it will get cooler as you near Europe. Westbound TAs are usually in the late October to early December timeframe and weather should be a consideration. Seas may be calm, or there may be some rougher seas depending on the weather. During 2 of our westbound TAs we have had to change/delete ports and change course to avoid storms coming eastbound toward Europe and we've had some rougher sea days in these instances.

3. You have the opportunity to spend extra time in Europe in either case, either before or after the TA.

Hope this helps.

[Nancyquilts]

If you don't have a choice by the time you board, just get the future cruise credits and book when you are sure what you want.;)

[TeaBag]

We have done 3 TA's and 3 TP's and loved them all. We too, like the WB TA sailings for the extra hour you get 6 times. We did an EB to Hamburg on Connie in April and it was a bit rough for a few days near the end. We did find out that having a balcony on a northbound sailing is maybe a waste of money as it is too cold to sit out and there were many days we never opened our balcony door.

 

We are about to do another TP.

[Turtles06]

We want to book a 2015 cruise while on our Carib Cruise next week. We want a trans cruise. Looking for advice from experienced cruisers as to which trip is best and in what month. Thanks!

 

The "best" cruise is totally subjective -- what is best for you? Assuming you might spend some time somewhere pre and/or post cruise, where would you like to be? What would you like to see? What would interest you? I suggest you do some research on potential itineraries and ask yourselves those questions.

 

I will say though, in terms of a TA, I much prefer going westbound. You can't beat those 25 hour days.

 

Enjoy your cruise next week, as well as whatever you decide for 2015!

[baldercash]

Done a few TA's about 8 and agree the Westbound is our favorite.

The TA's offered these days don't seem to include as many ports as they used to going east bound.

 

We just finished our 1st Trans Pacific Honullu to Singapore 35 days on Millie.

I would suggest that more effort & planning is required as one cannot really just walk off the ship and get full value in the ports like you can in Europe or Carribean. You need to plan excursions to see the islands and ports very much like South America.

 

Have done one TA from Argentina to Barcelona 21 day that was very different and interesting as it did the coast of S. America and Africa.

 

We tend to tack at least a week on in a European city when doing a TA.

 

We are doing Oasis 12 days Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona Sept 1st then returning Oct 14 Oasis Rotterdam to Ft Lauderdale 14 days. So a month to travel Europe with an 8 day river cruise from Basel to Amsterdam thrown in.

So won't have to decide which direction is best!

Edited January 17, 2014 by baldercash

[patty1955]

We took a east bound transpacific and, while I'm very happy we did, I won't do it again. Losing an hour each night was hard. I feel like I was suffering from sleep deprivation for most of the trip. Our next big cruise will be a west bound TA and I'm looking forward to it.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I am about to embark on my first TP cruise this April and what I look forward to is being bright-eyed when we arrive in Japan. I have done eastbound and westbound TA's and loved both of them and didn't suffer from the clock change at all because it is so gradual. I don't think I will suffer from the 12 hour time difference in Japan, since we will be gradually changing the time over 25 days in one direction and then in our case we are returning to the US on a 15 night eastbound TP.

 

I love cruising to the destination of choice rather than flying because when I do fly to Europe- my clock is totally messed up. Maybe it's my age! I never did get on the right time in Europe on my last flight there in January. I was so fouled up.

 

I anticipate that the TP cruises will have more motion than the TA cruises.

[LMKohler]

We have done 3 Atlantic TAs and have a 4th one scheduled. We prefer the westbound. You start the trip in Europe so you can add some extra days before the cruise to explore.

 

The ship makes multiple stops either in the Med or in the Carribbean. On a WB, the clocks are set BACK an hour as you sail, giving you more time to enjoy the ship.:)

 

Our WB in December left Rome on the 1st. We though that was too late in the year because of cool weather in Rome.Our TA this year leaves Rome Nov. The weather should be a lot better.

 

Hope this helps,

Dave

 

We were on your cruise! It was our first TA and we loved it. Not sure I would like an East bound and lose all those hours of sleep:)

 

Lucy

[baldercash]

We were on your cruise! It was our first TA and we loved it. Not sure I would like an East bound and lose all those hours of sleep:)

 

Lucy

May not be as bad as loosing 6 hours when you arrive in Rome or where ever from a flight but it does take it's toll.

 

We did RCI to Rome this spring and had 8 sea days in a row so the lost hours did not impact that much, could explain why the sea days flew by! We did notice it more then a west bound and this was one of our easiest transitions traveling east.

 

Getting on a plane at noon in Europe and getting off mid afternoon in Toronto is not that bad.

No real jet lag the next day.

Edited January 18, 2014 by baldercash

[Dick in Falls Church]

Have done something like 14 transAtlantics, both east and west. Slightly prefer the 25 hour days to the 23 hour days, but both ways good.

 

Have considered transPacifics, but haven't taken one yet. Have flown transPacfic about 5 times now, and don't like the long flights much, especially in cattle car class. Really tempted to try cruise this spring, but interfered with business training session.