Mardis Gras Transatlantic too long?

[Eli_6]

So, I want to book the Mardis Gras Transatlantic but hubs thinks it is too long to be on a cruise ship. Anyone ever done one of these?

 

Personally, I think it sounds awesome because flying to London isn't bad... it's nine hours from Houston direct and we have flown it before at night and just sleep. But flying back is always horrible because it's during the day and longer due to winds...this way, I get out of the flying back and get to go to cool places.

[Kwaj girl]

NEVER too long.  My favorite voyages are 60+ days.  Can't wait for our next World Cruise....last one on Regent Navigator was 137 nights.  But never on Carnival.

[joepeka]

We did a similar cruise a few years ago, a re-positioning from Australia (via Hawaii) to Vancouver on a different cruise line. We did the Hawaii to Vancouver leg which had five sea days at the end of the cruise, similar to the Mardi Gras sailing you're considering. For us, there were a lot of on board activities to keep us busy and since the weather in the North Pacific, while not bad, was rather cool, the activities were welcome. I'm guessing the weather on a TA in September would be better and I believe Mardi Gras has many more venues and activities than our ship. So..... while 14 nights seems like a long time, it's broken up by four port stops and only five sea days at the end. Do what you can to convince DH it's the trip of a lifetime. 

ETA: I just saw your other post in the cabin thread you started. Looks like you decided DH is going whether he likes it or not. Excellent!

Edited July 24, 2019 by joepeka

[Bookworm1985]

I have done one 15 and one 10 day so far, and another 14 day one in January. I LOVE long cruises, and I LOVE sea days. How can there be a thing as too many cruise days? 🤔 if you have the time available and the money for it, go for it.

[Banditswife]

We are doing the repositioning of Mardi Gras from New York to Pt Canaveral FL -15 days.  Personally we love the longer cruises.  We did the Hawaii cruise RT Long Beach. 15 days with 8 sea days.  Loved it.  They will have special activities on sea days like dance classes, crafts, seminars.   I wish we could afford 1 of those "world" cruises mentioned by Kwaj Girl.  Longer cruises have a different vibe too, more relaxes.

[crzndeb]

Some people would love to be able to do a long cruise. I usually string several together, since I have to fly usually 5+ hours to go anywhere for a ship. This year I am doing a B2B that will be 31 days. My longest has been a B2B2B for 35. It seems like anything under 20 is to short for me.

 

If you are healthy and able, I say go for it. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

[sanmarcosman]

Where will your direct flight be stopping before you reach London? The Mardi Gras will have special events added to the usual things to do to keep people occupied for the length of the cruise. 

[crzndeb]

39 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

Where will your direct flight be stopping before you reach London? The Mardi Gras will have special events added to the usual things to do to keep people occupied for the length of the cruise. 

I always question when people say direct flight...I thought nonstop is self explanatory, but direct meant a stop, but no plane change. Are there any airline people here that could explain.

[sanmarcosman]

21 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

I always question when people say direct flight...I thought nonstop is self explanatory, but direct meant a stop, but no plane change. Are there any airline people here that could explain.

You have it correct, direct is one stop no change of plane. See you at Sea-Tac and why was it never changed to Jac-Tac to honor Scoop? Mardi Gras will be a fine addition to the Carnival fleet.

[crzndeb]

1 minute ago, sanmarcosman said:

You have it correct, direct is one stop no change of plane. See you at Sea-Tac and why was it never changed to Jac-Tac to honor Scoop? Mardi Gras will be a fine addition to the Carnival fleet.

I do like the sound of Jac-Tac, but loving my flights to San Diego now out of Paine Field. Mardi Gras will have to wait. Preferred the Legend TA.

[sanmarcosman]

1 minute ago, crzndeb said:

I do like the sound of Jac-Tac, but loving my flights to San Diego now out of Paine Field. Mardi Gras will have to wait. Preferred the Legend TA.

Everett would be more convenient for you and it is Scoop's home town.  Paine is all new since we moved from Ravenna in 2002. Now Lindbergh Field is as close as Long Beach. We like driving to LB for Carnival sailings to Mexico and Hawaii. All the Spirit Class ships we've sailed have been great ships. We sail on Panorama next in February and then it will time to book Mardi Gras.

[gatour]

I have done a TA east bound (on another cruise line) and enjoyed it.  The only downside was the 23 hour days, since we were changing timezone almost every day.

 

The reason why we went east bound is I can't sleep sitting up, and most east bound TA flight fly over night.

[Eli_6]

18 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I always question when people say direct flight...I thought nonstop is self explanatory, but direct meant a stop, but no plane change. Are there any airline people here that could explain.

Sorry. I don't know airline lingo.

 

British Airways flies nonstop from Houston to London and vice versa.  That's what I meant.

 

My only point is going over there it is not too bad.  I mean, a 9+ hour flight is never fun, but it always seems like the flight back is more painful than going. But maybe it's because I either don't want to go home or are anxious to get home. 

[Eli_6]

And by nonstop, I mean, you take off, fly a long time, and land.

[crzndeb]

6 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Sorry. I don't know airline lingo.

 

British Airways flies nonstop from Houston to London and vice versa.  That's what I meant.

 

My only point is going over there it is not too bad.  I mean, a 9+ hour flight is never fun, but it always seems like the flight back is more painful than going. But maybe it's because I either don't want to go home or are anxious to get home. 

I have a flight to San Diego from Singapore coming up, after cruising over. Talk about a long flight. 😳

[Eli_6]

7 hours ago, gatour said:

I have done a TA east bound (on another cruise line) and enjoyed it.  The only downside was the 23 hour days, since we were changing timezone almost every day.

 

The reason why we went east bound is I can't sleep sitting up, and most east bound TA flight fly over night.

 

You could fly business and lay down, but it is probably more than a cruise unless you get a deal. (Literally, not even joking about that.) We flew business once (and only once) internationally because we were able to upgrade for $800 per person making the total cost about $1500. Normally, the business class tickets out of my city to anywhere in Europe are like $6k and up. It's probably more to Asia or Australia. I even have shopped discount and they are still about $3k-4k to most Europe destinations...which since I am usually flying with at least 4 people gets expensive.

 

My brother somehow flies business all the time with his frequent flyer miles to Spain for cheap, but he also flies a lot because his wife used to live in Spain and her family lives in Colombia.

[crzndeb]

3 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

 

You could fly business and lay down, but it is probably more than a cruise unless you get a deal. (Literally, not even joking about that.) We flew business once (and only once) internationally because we were able to upgrade for $800 per person making the total cost about $1500. Normally, the business class tickets out of my city to anywhere in Europe are like $6k and up. It's probably more to Asia or Australia. I even have shopped discount and they are still about $3k-4k to most Europe destinations...which since I am usually flying with at least 4 people gets expensive.

 

My brother somehow flies business all the time with his frequent flyer miles to Spain for cheap, but he also flies a lot because his wife used to live in Spain and her family lives in Colombia.

I almost always do Business for anything over 6hrs. I used the frequent flyer miles for this flight I had, and bought some more. In the end, it only cost me $800, which is a deal in my book.

[Eli_6]

1 minute ago, crzndeb said:

I have a flight to San Diego from Singapore coming up, after cruising over. Talk about a long flight. 😳

That sounds horrible.  There are places I don't go mainly because I don't want to be on a plane that long. 

[cincicruisers]

4 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I have a flight to San Diego from Singapore coming up, after cruising over. Talk about a long flight. 😳

Curious how long of a flight is it?

[xDisconnections]

It can be a long cruise with as many sea days as you normally find on a transatlantic if you have trouble staying entertained. We've done a couple of crossings each direction (Carnival Magic southern route and Regal Princess northern route) with another booked for next Nov on the Allure. We typically combine these with several days on land in Europe.

 

Although the Allure is a westbound, we prefer the eastbound crossings despite the shorter days due to the food and provisions being loaded in the United States. Personally, I wouldn't even bother with the Mardi Gras because of its lackluster itinerary only visiting the Canary Islands and the Azores.

 

Our upcoming Antarctica cruise is slightly longer than a standard transatlantic cruise and I'm already anticipating several dead periods due to it being a smaller ship with a lot of sea days.

Edited July 26, 2019 by xDisconnections