First cruise after a transatlantic

[saltwaterfan]

Somewhat new to cruising, I have an opportunity to take a cruise scheduled in Nov 2015 on the Equinox. Is there any reason to wait until the second cruise after the transatlantic or would the first cruise be fine. I'm sure there are people who have done both and may have an opinion.

[cruisead]

Do you have reason to believe that something wouldn't be right with the first cruise? Be sure to check the itineraries because Equinox does alternating itineraries of 10 and 11 day cruises. I believe the first cruise after the crossing is an 11 day cruise.

[Turtles06]

What is your concern? Germs from Europe? ;)

 

Seriously, though, what are you worried about?

Edited July 28, 2014 by Turtles06

[rebeccalouiseagain]

What is sometimes an issue is immigration. You have many nationalities all coming to the US and often crew members are getting off as well. I have heard that these voyages can take longer to disembark, which means that the new passengers might not be able to get on as early as usual. So yes- I would suggest doing the following cruise rather than the one arriving from Europe.

[Wine-O]

Maybe there's some concern with turnover of the crew following a transatlantic and maybe take a cruise or two to get back in sync.

[cl.klink]

I don't see a major issue either way. Suit what your gut tells you.

 

- Joel

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The crew HATE sea days. I know- I dated a crew member. They love port days because they get longer breaks and can get off the ship. So the crew may be tired and not rejuvenated after 7 sea days in a row. They love the Caribbean cruises because they are lively and fun for these young crew members. So after 10 or 11 in the Caribbean- they will have their mojo back.

[BEAV]

As others have mention, the ships are often subject to additional inspections, etc, having been out of the U.S. for several months. When this happens, embarkation of the next cruise can be delayed a bit, so just pack some patience. The only time we embarked immediately following a Westbound Transatlantic was on HAL and I believe we boarded about an hour later than normal. Not a big deal.

 

I believe RebeccaLouise makes a good point. No doubt crossings with multiple sea days are more demanding on the crew as opposed to a "normal" cruise. At least on a Westbound TA the crew is gaining an extra hours sleep at least 5 or 6 nights on the crossing. Quite the opposite of the Spring Eastbound TAs when you lose an hour for several nights.

 

Good luck with your decision.

Edited July 28, 2014 by BEAV

[saltwaterfan]

Thanks for the comments, I had no reason to believe there were problems. Being new to cruising, some times a simple question can be answered with a simple comment.

[Project_gal]

As others have mention, the ships are often subject to additional inspections, etc, having been out of the U.S. for several months. When this happens, embarkation of the next cruise can be delayed a bit, so just pack some patience.

 

Although, it is expected that there will be Coast Guard, health authority [sorry, forgotten what you call them in the US] and other inspections immediately after a TA, they do not always happen then. We did the westbound TA on Constellation last year followed by the 5-day Caribbean. Only the Coast Guard inspected on arrival at the end of the TA. Because of this, the crew were on edge for the stop at Key West [where there was still no health inspection] and again for our return to Fort Lauderdale. Personally, having done few westbound TAs, I think that the crew being on edge waiting for an inspection is worse than a slight delay at embarkation while an inspection is carried out.

[MR_T]

Somewhat new to cruising, I have an opportunity to take a cruise scheduled in Nov 2015 on the Equinox. Is there any reason to wait until the second cruise after the transatlantic or would the first cruise be fine. I'm sure there are people who have done both and may have an opinion.

 

 

We are on the transatlantic and we promise not to trash it and we will make sure we tidy up before we get off so its in tip top shape ready for your arrival! 😄 enjoy!!

[dorisis]

Do which ever is most convenient for YOU. It will make little to no difference.

[OCA REP]

What is sometimes an issue is immigration. You have many nationalities all coming to the US and often crew members are getting off as well. I have heard that these voyages can take longer to disembark, which means that the new passengers might not be able to get on as early as usual. So yes- I would suggest doing the following cruise rather than the one arriving from Europe.

 

BINGO!

 

We sailed on the westbound Equinox transatlantic this past fall and disembarkation was lengthy and no fun at all. A friend that also cruised with us reminded me that the government slowdown was also occurring during that time, so I'm betting that had an impact as well. Not sure how delayed embarkation was that day...

[Ex-Airbalancer]

BINGO!

 

We sailed on the westbound Equinox transatlantic this past fall and disembarkation was lengthy and no fun at all. A friend that also cruised with us reminded me that the government slowdown was also occurring during that time, so I'm betting that had an impact as well. Not sure how delayed embarkation was that day...

 

Lengthy is not what I call the delay , it took about 3 hours by the time we got a cab

It may the reason why we may never do another transatlantic :mad:

[MR_T]

Lengthy is not what I call the delay , it took about 3 hours by the time we got a cab

 

It may the reason why we may never do another transatlantic :mad:

 

 

We have done 2 transatlantic cruises so far and have another 2 booked and on both occasions we have got up early and taken our own luggage off and been in a cab within 5 mins of being let off the ship... 😎

 

Our view is we would rather get up a couple of hours early and be one of the first off the ship then have a bit of extra sleep then wait around in queues for hours!! And to be honest you get woken up early anyway with the noise of everything going on!! 😳

Edited July 28, 2014 by MR_T

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We have done 2 transatlantic cruises so far and have another 2 booked and on both occasions we have got up early and taken our own luggage off and been in a cab within 5 mins of being let off the ship... 😎

 

Our view is we would rather get up a couple of hours early and be one of the first off the ship then have a bit of extra sleep then wait around in queues for hours!! And to be honest you get woken up early anyway with the noise of everything going on!! 😳

 

It made no difference if you were up early :rolleyes:

US customs only had 1 person working and they checked the crew first , the first passenger who line up early still took hours to get get off

[Wine-O]

It made no difference if you were up early :rolleyes:

US customs only had 1 person working and they checked the crew first , the first passenger who line up early still took hours to get get off

 

That's one reason why we decided to spend the night we return in FLL and catch a no-stress flight out the following day. There are also several folks staying over also, so we've set up a post-cruise get together for cocktails/dinner, or whatever. :)

[Andy]

Maybe there's some concern with turnover of the crew following a transatlantic and maybe take a cruise or two to get back in sync.

 

Hi Wine-O,

 

That's actually one of my few items of concern. We always book the first Caribbean sailing after the transatlantic, and the embarkation is usually a nightmare. I do not blame Celebrity, as the ships must undergo various inspections, and it usually leads to huge crowds and delays.

 

Also agree with your comment, in that large amounts of crew generally sign off and sign on after a transatlantic, so the crew may not be as "in sync" as on other sailings.

 

For us.... neither of the above items are enough to make us reconsider a first Caribbean sailing of the season, but I hope this information is helpful.

[MR_T]

It made no difference if you were up early :rolleyes:

 

US customs only had 1 person working and they checked the crew first , the first passenger who line up early still took hours to get get off

 

 

Maybe I was lucky then!! Twice!! I was the very first person off the ship... & first through customs 😁 driving out of the airport in a hire car @ 8.20am!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Maybe I was lucky then!! Twice!! I was the very first person off the ship... & first through customs 😁 driving out of the airport in a hire car @ 8.20am!

 

You only have one westbound cruise in your past cruises, how could you have done it twice:confused:

 

I was referring to December 2013 TA, ending FLL which was such a disaster:eek:

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Airbalancer- look again Mr. T does have two TA's in his signature.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Airbalancer- look again Mr. T does have two TA's in his signature.

 

Please tell me which TAs would end in Florida :confused:

 

"Celebrity Silhouette TA 01/12/12

Celebrity Eclipse TA 20/04/13

Celebrity Eclipse CB 28/12/13

P&O Azura mini cruise 04/04/14"

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I see the confusion- I think Mr. T meant he was first off AND first thru customs. Maybe that's the twice- not 2 Westbounds.

[Fouremco]

We are doing the b2b Med/TA on the Equinox next year and had toyed with the idea of adding the Caribbean leg at the end. Having seen some of the comments here, I'm glad now that we decided not to.

[MR_T]

You only have one westbound cruise in your past cruises, how could you have done it twice:confused:

 

 

 

I was referring to December 2013 TA, ending FLL which was such a disaster:eek:

 

 

I've done one each way... Both times a breeze!!