Celebrity Transatlantic Cruise

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Here are two TAs one for the spring and one for the fall

These prices are crazy !

Add in one way airfare the trip is way out of my price range

 

 

Mark

[Gracie115]

We will also state that the best deals are usually "last minute" offers which means just inside the final payment period (this varies by cruise line and length of cruise). The best deal we have had in many years was on a Regal Princess cruise (last October) which we booked just 10 days before the cruise. But we got a very high category balcony cabin (on a 10 day cruise) for less than $45 per passenger day (when adjusted for On Board Credits).

 

Hank

 

When we are able to do this after retirement it will be wonderful but until then we have to find the best deal as far out as possible so that we can plan accordingly with our work...... 10 days notice would never work at this point in our lives........

[lovemylab]

Here are two TAs one for the spring and one for the fall

These prices are crazy !

Add in one way airfare the trip is way out of my price range

 

Mark

 

The prices for that Fall TA were about half that when the itinerary was first released. I removed the pictures from the quote due to their size.

 

With TAs, I've usually found the prices to be really low when the itineraries are first released. The prices then increase steadily and usually drop again after final payment in order to fill any remaining cabins.

 

In regards to the savings obtained by booking last minute, we also can't do this due to our jobs. Furthermore, we have to fly to the port so the savings of booking the last minute cruise would be gone when we go to pay the higher prices of booking last minute airfare. Instead, we prefer to book early and then watch for price drops. If prices have dropped after final payment, we would look into a cabin upgrade (since we usually book insides). On all our cruises, we've never seen the price go lower compared to what we paid by booking early.

Edited March 12, 2016 by lovemylab

[durante]

as you were asking why your reply wasn't relevent, the OP was asking about plus or minus of doing a TA and opinions about stateroom categories given they don't suffer from seasickness. Your reply did not cover some of their questions, although it was interesting information regarding the bargain prices on offer.

Edited March 12, 2016 by durante
Typo

[Ex-Airbalancer]

The prices for that Fall TA were about half that when the itinerary was first released. I removed the pictures from the quote due to their size.

 

With TAs, I've usually found the prices to be really low when the itineraries are first released. The prices then increase steadily and usually drop again after final payment in order to fill any remaining cabins.

 

In regards to the savings obtained by booking last minute, we also can't do this due to our jobs. Furthermore, we have to fly to the port so the savings of booking the last minute cruise would be gone when we go to pay the higher prices of booking last minute airfare. Instead, we prefer to book early and then watch for price drops. If prices have dropped after final payment, we would look into a cabin upgrade (since we usually book insides). On all our cruises, we've never seen the price go lower compared to what we paid by booking early.

Sory about the size of the picture , never seen it do that before :o

I need to book last minute as I never know where ( or if ) I will be working

Edited March 12, 2016 by Airbalancer

[teecee60]

I'm sure you do get some great deals and you aren't shy at telling us. The majority of your posts are on the subject. Perhaps those that "flame" you are a bit fed up of having the fantastic prices you've got mentioned all the time. After all we can't talk of specific travel agents on this board.

 

Phil

 

Some of the fantastic prices I get are from a travel agency that advertises right here on Cruise Critic. :cool:

[jbuch02]

Re cabin pricing both repositioning cruises and otherwise:

 

Airline X fares (a specific fare code) show up very early in the reservation cycle. They are heavily discounted. Celebrity does the same thing. My sense is that by mining their reservations data over time, just like the airlines do, they come up with a cabin price that represents the lowest advance booking price that is sustainable/still profitable and will spark sales.

 

As with the airlines, and as the Celebrity reservation cycle continues, pricing becomes dynamic and demand based. Prices will typically go up but sometimes they'll go down based on demand. This is hard for us to track or time. In general you are going to get a good price on a cruise or an airline reservation where you need specific dates and a specific seat/cabin by booking when the cruise or flight first becomes marketed, sometimes 12-18 months in advance, or shortly thereafter.

 

I also believe, if you need to book in advance for specific dates and cabins, you're better off booking on board. We recently made an onboard booking for a TP from Sydney to Hawaii via the Polynesian Islands on Solstice and then, B2B, Hawaii to Vancouver in 2018. Fabulous pricing and this cruise happens only once per year. The 2017 crossing was booked in the cabin class we wanted. When you figure pp/d pricing and get anything under $100/d, pp for a Cat 6, OV, you're getting a good deal. You'll often find pricing well below that for repositioning cruises booked when the cruise is first marketed. Your mileage may vary.

 

The trade off is that to get a date that works for you or for one off itineraries and for the cabin class you want, you're going to miss the typical fire sales that Celebrity runs inside the final payment date. You can cancel and rebook at a lower price and that does work for Repostioning cruises but you'll almost always give up any perks you garnered for cruises that are not considered repostioning cruises (the Hawaii to Vancouver leg of our recent 2018 booking is not a repositioning cruise and we got two perks on that one, bevs and gratuities). If it is a B2B you booked and got the same cabin on both segments your will almost always lose that by rebooking. Switching can be done but, IMO, it's not as good as unpacking once and being done. BTW, there's a break even point for deciding which one of these you want, OBC or grats. It's around 10-11d for a typical $300 OBC ($150pp).

 

Moreover, when you book on board, you get an additional cabin credit depending on the cabin class (OV is $175) applied to your current cruise or the one your booking. I also received something I never received previously, a $200 credit that will be applied to my cruise fare for booking the B2B and I was told this happens only when you book on board. I think this was just for this TP. Always ask although the future cruise reps will tell you what perks are available as they trying to sell a cruise and they work on commission.

 

Fire sales. No kidding they happen and the recent low prices associated with all the repostioning cruises from south Florida to various ports in Europe in April are pretty spectacular. When you can get room and board for as low $41/d, that is spectacular.

 

So, here's my recent experience looking at Constellation's 13n, four port, TA on 4/2 from Fort Lauderdale to Civitavecchia : the morning we debarked Constellation on 3/10 following a 5n W Carribbean voyage, I checked the Celebrity Web site for the TA. An OV was priced at $549pp. I was ready to jump on that price but I had to clear some previously scheduled activities on my calendar to do it. Later in the day, I decided to go ahead and, with Celebrity, put an OV cabin on 24h while I checked everything out including one way air fares from FCO to ATL. Two things happened: one was the airfare from FCO to ATL was prohibitively expensive. A show stopper. The other was that the Celebrity offer disappeared by 4pm same day. All cabins we're marked sold out for the TA except suites that were not in my budget. Shortly thereafter, all the typical on line consolidators I use showed no inside or OV inventory. Darn!

 

This is what happend next. Thinking that fire sale cabins might appear again because they do, you just have to watch, I started searching for one way airfares and clearing my schedule and Lo and behold, based on a tip to call ChoiceAir, I found a fire sale on two one way seats on KLM. After finding that, I started looking around for fire sale cabins. Lo and behold the OV was back but priced at $869! However, if I priced it at a military discount, not previously available with the $549 pricing, that I am eligible for, it dropped to $619pp. Higher than the lowest fire sale price I saw the day before but still pretty good.

 

What this reveals is that, one, people cancel inside the typical final payment date and sometimes very close to the sail date making last minut cabins available. Sometimes there's cancellations to rebook lower prices. When there aren't perks available as on TAs there is more of this activity on these itineraries than on others with perks. Two, Celebrity works hot cabins, the Lowest priced ones, by offering up grades at discounted prices to cruisers already in them and then resells the cabin they vacated sometimes at a higher price. They make good money doing this and optimize cabin/ship load factors just like the airlines optimize their seats loads.

 

It takes a lot of work to follow this stuff. People working full time jobs can't do it. TAs can but I'm not sure they are all that good at it and have your bottom line interests in mind. I know there are exceptions. Unfortuneately, I couldn't clear my schedule and had to pass on the great deal I could have had which amounted to 14d on Constellation with four ports then to Rome and a same day flight back to ATL for just under $2k for the two of us. Pretty amazing. See my sad face.

[beddy2]

I've done a few transatlantic cruises on Celebrity over the last 5 years. One on Solstice, two on Constellation, two on Reflection and three on Silhouette, mostly inside cabins, and absolutely LOVED each and every one of them. :D

 

If you shop the well known online sites, you can get prices that are EVEN LOWER than what is on the Celebrity website... and the prices for this April are LOWER than I have EVER seen them and they are changing every day. :cool:

 

Constellation 13 nights to Rome for $539pp for an Ocean View.

 

Eclipse 13 nights to London for $584pp for a balcony.

 

Silhouette 13 nights to London for $359pp for an inside. :eek:

 

Equinox 14 nights to Barcelona for $679pp for a balcony.

 

Reflection 16 nights to Rome for $799 for a balcony.

 

For an EXTENDED vacation, you can get the B2B 11 night med cruise on Reflection (inside cabin) for $599pp! :)

 

27 consecutive nights on Celebrity's newest ship for $1398pp is a fairly sweet deal. ;)

 

Even this late, booking your return flights through AIR2SEA (formerly Choice Air) is dirt cheap as well!

We're on the Equinox to Barcelona in 10 days. Can you give us some idea on clothing for this? Have done numerous Caribbean cruises. But wondering what the temperature changes might be?

[villauk]

There are for example 4 port stops on the Equinox sailing. About the same as a regular cruise..

 

Not on my regular cruises of 11+ nights ;).

[Karynanne]

We're on the Equinox to Barcelona in 10 days. Can you give us some idea on clothing for this? Have done numerous Caribbean cruises. But wondering what the temperature changes might be?

 

We're on your cruise. We've taken quite a few April Transatlantic cruises, and the temps can vary. It may rain in some ports, but usually the temps are mild. Between 65-70, this time of the year. I always bring a rain coat (jacket, etc.). We are also on the cruise following the TA, and last year it rained in a few of the Med ports in Italy.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Karyn

[TourDeCruise]

We're on the Equinox to Barcelona in 10 days. Can you give us some idea on clothing for this? Have done numerous Caribbean cruises. But wondering what the temperature changes might be?

 

We are also on the same Equinox cruise in 10 days. Come join our rollcall thread, which is another great place to acquire information and join others on private excursions. There are others who have come onto the thread recently to introduce themselves and to get information on this specific cruise.

 

Here is a link to the rollcall thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2139054

[teecee60]

We're on the Equinox to Barcelona in 10 days. Can you give us some idea on clothing for this? Have done numerous Caribbean cruises. But wondering what the temperature changes might be?

 

There's just absolutely no way to tell the weather. One April/eastbound it was sunny and in the mid 80s (uncomfortably hot for me) until we got to Gibraltar, Last April's trip (to Amsterdam) was much cooler (high 60s/low70s) the whole way and rained multiple days.

 

Your route through Ponta Delgada as opposed to the Canaries will tend to be cooler... Flexibility and layers is your best bet. I predict you will have a FANTASTIC time! Enjoy! ;)

Edited April 5, 2016 by teecee60

[Issyalex]

We did a TA cruise on eclipse last Nov, Southampton to Miami, and booked a balcony cabin and wished we had saved money and booked an inside. The weather did not become warm enough to sit out until we arrived in Bermuda. Also our cabin was on the wrong side of the ship for the little sun we had. :mad:

[hun]

Thank you for the info - also following for our first TA planning advice!

[ECCruise]

There is simply no way that anyone can make blanket statements like "the weather will be fine..."

 

We've done 16 TAs and yes, on some of them the weather has been great, warm to hot. Others, including some on the southern route, have been sketchy at best. Lots of rain and very little sun. The northern route can frequently be nasty (we've been re-routed three times on that routing but we keep doing them).

 

For us, its all about pricing. If we can do a balcony at a reasonable price (and TAs are becoming less and less reasonable) we do. The extra space on the balcony alone is a plus.

 

Split our crossings between East- and West-bound. No difference to us, gain an hour our lose an hour. Get about the same amount of sleep either way.

 

Although it is not the only cruising we do by any means, we are suckers for TAs. Have 2 more booked this year and 2 more next year, although we often combine with B2B or a couple weeks in Europe pre- or post-cruise.

 

You will only know it if fits you by doing it. Some folks love them and some are stir-crazy by the 3rd sea day.

Edited May 24, 2016 by ECCruise

[Karynanne]

We've done 12 TA's, and I agree with ECCruise, all of them have had different weather scenarios. Our most recent TA was in April. It was a southern route with two rocky days and mostly sunny weather.

[jobinhume]

4 Celebrity ships depart in April out of Florida ports for Europe via transatlantic. Silhouette, Eclipse, Constellation, and Equinox. We have been on the Equinox which is a magnificent ship. For a two week transatlantic cruise, minus the port stops, what would be the pluses and minuses, including inside, ocean view, and balcony cabins. We are both very senior citizens but never get sea sick.

 

In addition to the excellent votes for balcony cabins I wanted to throw out a few points about the inside cabin. For me personally I normally book inside. I have been upgraded to balconies a few times, and while it is nice to have it for me the cost is not outweigh the benefit.

 

Partially this is because I'm often cruising by myself and I already have to pay for two beds so the jump up to balcony is twice as expensive for a solo traveler. Having said that I find that the gap in price is usually around $1000 pp between inside and outside. So for me I ask myself would I rather pay that additional price or use that money to pay for a second cruise, a nice handbag, or piece of jewelry.

 

When I have been in a balcony, I've been surprised how little I use it. Personally I enjoyed being up on the deck and people watching but acknowledge the people who love it really love it. What I love about the inside cabin is that it's totally dark during the day. And for me to nap is more valuable than coffee on the balcony. So if money is not a concern and you enjoy the privacy of being outdoors in your own space, go for it. Just don't feel bad if you decide to go inside you are still going to have a really great trip. I have had an ocean view a couple of times and frankly it didn't do much for me. If I am not going to be in the inside it's worth it to just jump up to the balcony price. In the oceanview rooms that I've had Windows little foggy or perhaps crusted with sea salt as those rooms are lower and close in the water.

 

The last point to consider on transatlantic it is how you adjust to time zone changes. If it is tough for you the question to ask would be will the sun help you regulate your sleep or would having The dark cabin divorce you from being tied to the sun if you prefer to have a different sleep patterns

[jobinhume]

I forgot to address the seasickness issue. If you don't get seasick it doesn't really matter where you are. But some this thread have mentioned it so I'm following up for the benefit of others.

 

For some the fresh air on the balcony helps. For others being on the lowest floor is more helpful and that is where you find many of the inside and all of the Oceanview cabins...

 

Agreeing with posters say you can't predict whether or sea conditions on the transatlantic I will say I've done about eight of these over the years and was introduced to the phrase "you can roll a marble across the Atlantic". I found this to be quite true and rarely have rough seas. The exception being the day or two as you transition between the Mediterranean in the Atlantic that is where I have found a bumpy ride but the actual crossing very smooth

[Ox Fan Cruiser]

I noticed that for next April, the Eclipse goes to Bermuda then across the Atlantic. The other three take a more southern route. Would this make much of a difference in temps or seas at that time of year?

[rubinstein2r]

We did the TA with stops in Morocco and the Canary Islands in November. We had NO rain and calm seas. We had an Aqua cabin and made good use of our balcony on both the port and sea parts of the journey. My thoughts on the weather is that there is enough time scheduled for crossing the ocean that the captain has enough latitude (pun intended) to go around rain and rough seas.

[ECCruise]

I noticed that for next April, the Eclipse goes to Bermuda then across the Atlantic. The other three take a more southern route. Would this make much of a difference in temps or seas at that time of year?

 

We've done the Eclipse both east and west-bound stopping in Bermuda. The weather will likely be cooler on that route since you are further north in the Atlantic, headed to Southampton than the more southern routes. Seas can't be predicted 10 days from now let alone many months. I can say, though, that having sailed to Bermuda 7 or 8 times in April and May, the Atlantic can get spring storms that time of year.

[boblin]

I was on Eclipse this spring in April and we were supposed to dock in Bermuda, but missed it due to a storm, supposedly, but I wonder if the real reason wasn't the difficult channel the ships need to negotiate on the way to the West end docks and how high winds or waves can endanger the ship. Anyway, whatever the reason, we stayed on a more southerly route east and had more days of sunny, warm weather, so not a total loss. A couple on board said it wasn't the first time they'd missed a spring TA call in Bermuda. As for me, I won't chance it again.

[Gracie115]

And we were on the Eclipse TA last year that stopped in Bermuda in April...weather was beautiful first day and cool the 2nd......so you never know....

 

I do "boblin" has a good theory on why they sometimes don't stop....we watched as we sailed away from Bermuda and it IS a difficult and narrow channel(sure seemed that way anyway) I imagine bad weather makes it even worse....

 

So glad we got to stop though...Bermuda is beautiful!