Eastbound vs Westbound TAs occupancy

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We have done both ways

Before Covid by Final Payment Date there is usually only a handful cabins would be left for both directions 

This year we are book on the Reflection April 13 night TA and the constellation November TA

Using Sea Scanner , with about 65 day until sailing the Reflection is only 50% book,

With 10 months to go the Constellation is 77% book 

The price per day is just about the same , on the Constellation , Suites are gone ,  there 2 AQU, and 12 concierge cabins left 

On the Reflection everything is left 

I wonder why the big difference in booking pattern 🤔

[Jim_Iain]

I definitely don't have any insider information I could hazard a guess.  

 

1.  The farther out the more people book to hold the cabin and then closer to sailing cancel or move the reservation.   I know this is true of our April 22, Apex TA.    For a long time it was totally sold out but the closer to final payment cabins started opening up.   I haven't counted but lots of cabins are now available.

 

2.   With the new ships, Celebrity has more E-Class ships than ever before, which might equate to more inventory.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

The Reflection has always had a lot cabins available 

I wonder if the self testing is scaring people from taking the cruises 🤔

The Caribbean cruise before the TA is pretty full

With the Conny TA , people on the roll call are writing that they been on Edge class and prefer the old ships 

 

 

[mrgabriel]

We have never taken a westbound TA for 2 reasons & have heard many others say the same. 
 

1) November weather can be horrible. There can still be hurricanes in the Atlantic.

2) Eastbound means you arrive in Europe refreshed - no jet lag. Hang out over there for a few days or weeks before flying back. 
 

Edit to add: self testing is much less of a burden than proctored testing. 

Edited March 2, 2023 by mrgabriel

[Ex-Airbalancer]

4 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

We have never taken a westbound TA for 2 reasons & have heard many others say the same. 
 

1) November weather can be horrible. There can still be hurricanes in the Atlantic.

2) Eastbound means you arrive in Europe refreshed - no jet lag. Hang out over there for a few days or weeks before flying back. 
 

Edit to add: self testing is much less of a burden than proctored testing. 

We have done 5 of each way , we prefer westbound 

The only Hurricane we have run into was on the Mediterranean , 15 m waves , it was rocking and rolling 

General the weather has been better on Westbound TAs 

we like gaining an extra hours instead of losing them 

We also like a 3 hour direct flight home instead of a minimum 9 hour flight home 

[Gracie115]

On 3/1/2023 at 11:44 AM, Jim_Iain said:

I definitely don't have any insider information I could hazard a guess.  

 

1.  The farther out the more people book to hold the cabin and then closer to sailing cancel or move the reservation.   I know this is true of our April 22, Apex TA.    For a long time it was totally sold out but the closer to final payment cabins started opening up.   I haven't counted but lots of cabins are now available.

 

2.   With the new ships, Celebrity has more E-Class ships than ever before, which might equate to more inventory.

 

There were a lot of rooms right after final payment for the April 22 Apex TA, now there are very few balcony, less than 25 and about 60 ocean view and insides left.  OH and the Iconic suite at a little over $22K per person!!  I think that gets the ship to more than 90%.

 

I think you're right about the additional inventory but also think the itinerary is part of the difference too.  The Apex has a really nice one for a TA, Reflection is ok, but 2 nights shorter.  Constellation is an older ship(though we love the M class) and I think is harder to fill these days.  

 

We had friends on a late January Reflection cruise that was at 50% occupancy.  I suspect the older ships are all having a tougher time filling.

[Jim_Iain]

On 3/1/2023 at 6:02 PM, mrgabriel said:

We have never taken a westbound TA for 2 reasons & have heard many others say the same. 
 

1) November weather can be horrible. There can still be hurricanes in the Atlantic.

2) Eastbound means you arrive in Europe refreshed - no jet lag. Hang out over there for a few days or weeks before flying back. 
 

Edit to add: self testing is much less of a burden than proctored testing. 

 

I've done at least a dozen crossings and have a different view.   

 

West Bounds -  Really depends on whether you take the Northern, Mid-Atlantic or Southern Crossing.  We have had some rough Northern Crossing  the worst being 2018 when a huge Arctic Storm (not a hurricane from the Caribbean) caused us to divert south of the Azores and put us into Boston a day late.   Our deck furniture was tied down for the entire crossing.     On the other hand I have down many southern crossings and the seas were as smooth as a lake and temperature  for most of the crossing was like Hawaii.

 

Real advantage of a Westbound is you gain an extra hour sleep for 6 days as oppose to loosing an hour almost every night on an Eastbound.   The crew love the Westbound because they get the extra hour to party while on a Eastbound they loose an hour of sleep each timezone Change.

 

Eastbound -   The cruises can also be very different via the route.   The Southern Crossings are the smoothest and warmest while the Mid-Atlantic or Northern can be chilly and variable on on seas.    We avoided the Eastbound for about 20 years and finally decided to try the spring sailing.   The time zone changes do take a toll on your and the crew but at least as a passengers you can grab a nap or sleep in. 

 

We also took the B2B to Iceland and Greenland and back last year.    We had much better weather eastbound but only being 10 days apart it was just the luck of the draw.  

 

We have decided on the Apex for April of this year but mostly due to the length of the cruise and it being based in Amsterdam/Rotterdam.

[Mark_K]

I prefer the eastbound, mainly because of the flights.  I much prefer an extra long day and arriving home in the evening to an extra short night where I didn’t really get any decent sleep.

[drakes2]

22 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

I prefer the eastbound, mainly because of the flights.  I much prefer an extra long day and arriving home in the evening to an extra short night where I didn’t really get any decent sleep.

I booked this cruise mainly for the itinerary also the fact my son and family live in Amsterdam so I get to see them. Granted its just for 2 extra days but I also fly there  every summer for am extended visit. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Here the empty cabin  count for the Conny with 245 days to go ,249 cabins with 179 inside and OVs 

our April Reflection with 51 days still has 60 suites , and 100 AQU still empty and a most Sunset balconies , and most of the other categories are 50% empty 

The Caribbean cruise is mostly filled , will they reduce the staff for the TA ? 

 

if people didnt like M class why is almost book 🤔

 

we did  Apex Amsterdam TA cruise last April , didn’t care for E class , but was that because my wife was in quarantine for 10 days ,  I couldn’t eat or drink outside my cabin for 5 days , and the wife’s mom passed away 4 days into the cruise 

 

[drakes2]

9 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Here the empty cabin  count for the Conny with 245 days to go ,249 cabins with 179 inside and OVs 

our April Reflection with 51 days still has 60 suites , and 100 AQU still empty and a most Sunset balconies , and most of the other categories are 50% empty 

The Caribbean cruise is mostly filled , will they reduce the staff for the TA ? 

 

if people didnt like M class why is almost book 🤔

 

we did  Apex Amsterdam TA cruise last April , didn’t care for E class , but was that because my wife was in quarantine for 10 days ,  I couldn’t eat or drink outside my cabin for 5 days , and the wife’s mom passed away 4 days into the cruise 

 

That is so sad for your wife. Always a fear when you travel with so many sea days; if there's an emergency you're unable to get off the ship.  My grandmother passed on our very first cruise years ago and I couldn't get home.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

That is so sad for your wife. Always a fear when you travel with so many sea days; if there's an emergency you're unable to get off the ship.  My grandmother passed on our very first cruise years ago and I couldn't get home.

Thank you , but it wasn’t unexpected 

[smtcan]

We are doing our tenth TA this April.  We enjoy both directions, but eastbound is our favourite, mainly because we arrive in Europe rested without the awful overnight flight.  The return flight is in daytime and we will be home to recover from jet lag.  We have been fortunate to have had reasonable weather in both directions, although we did miss Cobh once because of a storm in the Bay of Biscay.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, smtcan said:

We are doing our tenth TA this April.  We enjoy both directions, but eastbound is our favourite, mainly because we arrive in Europe rested without the awful overnight flight.  The return flight is in daytime and we will be home to recover from jet lag.  We have been fortunate to have had reasonable weather in both directions, although we did miss Cobh once because of a storm in the Bay of Biscay.

For those Canadians on this cruise; anyone have a Home Trust visa card? Thinking of getting one for abroad purchases. Don't really feel like carrying a lot of euros or pounds Sterling. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

5 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

For those Canadians on this cruise; anyone have a Home Trust visa card? Thinking of getting one for abroad purchases. Don't really feel like carrying a lot of euros or pounds Sterling. 

I got a Brim card last year , no foreign fees 

i got notification by email when I use the card 

https://brimfinancial.com

 

[C-Dragons]

On 3/1/2023 at 10:12 AM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

We have done both ways

Before Covid by Final Payment Date there is usually only a handful cabins would be left for both directions 

This year we are book on the Reflection April 13 night TA and the constellation November TA

Using Sea Scanner , with about 65 day until sailing the Reflection is only 50% book,

With 10 months to go the Constellation is 77% book 

The price per day is just about the same , on the Constellation , Suites are gone ,  there 2 AQU, and 12 concierge cabins left 

On the Reflection everything is left 

I wonder why the big difference in booking pattern 🤔

There are a couple of reasons that come to mind.

The size difference between the 2 ships, as Reflection is larger and has more cabins.

The other issue is the direction the ships are sailing. WB TA's tend to be more popular than EB TA's.

And I'm sure pricing is a factor too.

Edited March 4, 2023 by C-Dragons

[Ex-Airbalancer]

43 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

There are a couple of reasons that come to mind.

The size difference between the 2 ships, as Reflection is larger and has more cabins.

The other issue is the direction the ships are sailing. WB TA's tend to be more popular than EB TA's.

And I'm sure pricing is a factor too.

Price for us is within dollars per night , 

The Reflection does 1550 ish cabins and Conny has 1090ish cabins 

About the only thing I can  think of  WB are more much more popular after Covid 

[C-Dragons]

12 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Price for us is within dollars per night , 

The Reflection does 1550 ish cabins and Conny has 1090ish cabins 

About the only thing I can  think of  WB are more much more popular after Covid 

😉    Just for the record, Reflection has 1523 cabins that can accommodate 3655 guests.

Connie has 1065 cabins that can accommodate 2556 guests.

WB TA's, imho, have always been more popular. We have sailed WB TA's 5 times more than EB.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

48 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

😉    Just for the record, Reflection has 1523 cabins that can accommodate 3655 guests.

Connie has 1065 cabins that can accommodate 2556 guests.

WB TA's, imho, have always been more popular. We have sailed WB TA's 5 times more than EB.

 

From Connie fact sheet , 1092 cabins 😉

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Fact_sheets/CEL-Constellation-FactSheet-MICE.pdf

[Gracie115]

1 hour ago, C-Dragons said:

😉    Just for the record, Reflection has 1523 cabins that can accommodate 3655 guests.

Connie has 1065 cabins that can accommodate 2556 guests.

WB TA's, imho, have always been more popular. We have sailed WB TA's 5 times more than EB.

 

 

1 hour ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

From Connie fact sheet , 1092 cabins 😉

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Fact_sheets/CEL-Constellation-FactSheet-MICE.pdf

 

Could the difference in # of cabins be those deck 11 Aqua rooms added several years ago?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

34 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

 

Could the difference in # of cabins be those deck 11 Aqua rooms added several years ago?

Probably as the fact sheet link was from 2021 😀

[C-Dragons]

31 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

 

Could the difference in # of cabins be those deck 11 Aqua rooms added several years ago?

Sorry Gracie, but I can’t answer your question.

My info came from Cruise Deck Plans dot com, and apparently they have different room totals. 

[Gracie115]

22 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Sorry Gracie, but I can’t answer your question.

My info came from Cruise Deck Plans dot com, and apparently they have different room totals. 

 

That is such a great site!!! My go to when trying to find the right state room.

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

 

Could the difference in # of cabins be those deck 11 Aqua rooms added several years ago?

I was trying to understand the differences in the numbers and rely on Celebrity's official Fleet Guide.  capacity is based on lifeboats and certified Max Capacity.   It is really a good resource and shows how the reallocation of rooms during the Revolutions were allocated to number of pax per room type.

 

I love Cruise Deckplans and use it almost daily but they do have some incorrect data at times.

 

For Reflections  -  1,523 Cabins 3,046 capacity at 2 PAX per Cabin 3,480 maximum legal capacity

 

 

 

Constellation   1,092  Cabins   Max Capacity at 2x per cabin  2,184 Max Legal 2,559

[Ex-Airbalancer]

@Jim_Iain I wonder whose TA will have the lowest price for Exciting deals 🤔😁