Celebrity Transatlantic cruises

[drpclarke]

HI everyone!

Have any of you been on a transatlantic cruise?

I see they are great deals...but with the ones that don't hit Greenland/Iceland, there are MANY days at sea. Is there a variety of activities on those days, or kind of the same old/same old? 

 

I am perfectly happy sitting on deck reading my book with a nice beverage, but my husband gets antsy, and that's bothersome.

 

Thanks!

Rachel

[jelayne]

There is plenty to do on sea days.  In addition to the normal sea day activities TA & TP crossings have some  speakers everyday doing 2 different topics each day, often matinee shows in the theater

and some type of art classes.  Also some of the “normal” sea day activities turn into multi day competitions “. 

Edited October 4 by jelayne

[tscoffey]

We took the west-to-east Transatlantic on the Apex in May.

We had 6 sea days (one sea day included an emergency medical stop in Bermuda) from Ft. Lauderdale to Punta Gorda (Azores), then 2 from there to Ireland.

They had 3 speakers who were all interesting. Multiple presentations each day (none repeated).

Loved spending the afternoons in Eden, with my iPad.

Edited October 4 by tscoffey

[Purplsmurf]

We love TAs. There is so much…..or so little….to do. We are heading out on another one in a couple of weeks and if the weather is nice, will spend a lot of time poolside 

[terry&mike]

Hubby and I love transatlantic cruises. We generally think of them as a way to relax after a busy trip. 

We fly out this Tuesday to Malaga, Spain, and will have several weeks spent in apartments in Malaga and Valencia, and then over to the Provence region of France for a river cruise. We'll head back to Spain and sail out of Barcelona to Miami on a 12 night transatlantic, arriving home in mid-November. 

We are booked on a Celebrity transatlantic for the fall of 2025. We'll sail this one home after a Greek Islands cruise with friends, then several weeks visiting Azbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Albania, and Slovenia. 

We have sailed transatlantics in the past on Cunard's Queen Mary 2, she is a purpose built ship for transatlantics, and we absolutely loved these sailings. Cunard provides great programs, lectures, entertainment and more, often times with a theme, so it makes for a great crossing. 

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

We love TAs. There is so much…..or so little….to do. We are heading out on another one in a couple of weeks and if the weather is nice, will spend a lot of time poolside 

Another vote for TA’s:

Officers get more involved and put up Quiz/sports teams.

Check out the Roll Call for extra activities including: Slot Pulls, Cabin Crawls, Poker Runs, Book Clubs, Codiva Groups (chocolate sharing), extra talks etc.

We have sat out on our balcony for several hours on practically every sea day on every TA.

Relax and enjoy.

[Gracie115]

We love TA's too but they sure aren't the "deal" they used to be!!!

[Gracie115]

Does anyone know when 2026 TA's will be available to book?

[Livin Life]

8 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

Does anyone know when 2026 TA's will be available to book?

Apex and Eclipse are available now for April 2026 ending in Southampton and Amsterdam.  November for the remaining ships.

[Toftwood]

We love TA's having done both eastbound and westbound - we are based in the UK.  There is plenty to fill your days (if that is what you want) - we often couldn't find time to relax as we wanted to join in so many things.

[drpclarke]

This is all great information! Thank you all so much for answering and telling me about the extra speakers and activities...that will keep the hubby happy!

Thanks,

Rachel

[Silent Penguin]

33 minutes ago, drpclarke said:

This is all great information! Thank you all so much for answering and telling me about the extra speakers and activities...that will keep the hubby happy!

It took dh and me many years of cruising to discover TA's are the perfect fit for us.  We eat meals and go to evening shows together, but we tend to spend our days differently. We are the reverse of you two. I like to be busy on at-sea days while dh is the "book on the balcony" person. That being said, if  I invite him to join me to do things, he'll go, and sometimes, I'm surprised at what he's willing to try. Last year, we did a small group cooking class in which we prepared the food in the ship's galley and then were served the meal we helped prepare. 

 

If you haven't already gone this route, if you are curious about what activities are offered on at-sea days, think you will find people have posted copies of the Celebrity Today for recent TAs .  

[SbbquilterUT]

We look forward to using as a TA to travel to Europe instead of flying.  This year it was Eclipse NY to Iceland with a short flight to London to sail on another line.  Also have sailed the Anthem which is a good ship for TA with the 270 area for reading and relaxing.  Have also sailed on a smaller ship this year which was also a treat.  

[Kordy]

When you do a Trans-Atlantic cruise on a ship that is not an ocean-liner, but a standard cruise ship, is it true, that you're much more bouncy in the Open Atlantic?  I don't get sea-sickness, but my wife is prone to it.  In the Caribbean, she rarely has issues, and never had to take a tablet, but how does that work in the Atlantic Ocean, during a TA cruise?  are you more likely to have rocky waters?  I know that ships like Queen Mary 2 are true ocean-liners, so they are designed for this stuff, but Celebrity doesn't have any ships like that and they're not really meant for open ocean cruising????? how do they handle it????

[the penguins]

30 minutes ago, Kordy said:

When you do a Trans-Atlantic cruise on a ship that is not an ocean-liner, but a standard cruise ship, is it true, that you're much more bouncy in the Open Atlantic?  I don't get sea-sickness, but my wife is prone to it.  In the Caribbean, she rarely has issues, and never had to take a tablet, but how does that work in the Atlantic Ocean, during a TA cruise?  are you more likely to have rocky waters?  I know that ships like Queen Mary 2 are true ocean-liners, so they are designed for this stuff, but Celebrity doesn't have any ships like that and they're not really meant for open ocean cruising????? how do they handle it????

As the QM2 is the only "liner" you don't really have a lot of choice.

That said the "cruise" ships  have a neat trick to increase stability - they have huge tanks in the bottom that can take on water to increase the weight. That plus stabilisers that work to reduce the roll ensures that any discomfort is reduced to a minimum. You can also "help yourself" by sticking to cabins on the lower decks (7 is as high as we go) and to ones near the centre of the ship. Always remember the crew's saying that "the more you pay, the more you sway". 

Finally the ship's routinely amend their course to avoid any predicted storms and whilst this may cause annoyance it again reduces any discomfort.

Relax and enjoy.

[catspaw1]

Kordy, please note that westbound TA transit the pond during hurricane season. Currently there's a hurricane along this route. The cruise ships try to avoid bad weather as much as possible but their goal is getting the ship delivered on time. We hit a game once in AK that had most passengers sick. So just be prepared. Bring seasick meds & take them 2-3 hours before incoming bad weather.  The crew should keep you informed. We have also been on cruise ships that closed all outside doors due to bad weather. The Gulfstream is notorious for bad weather but in July it was a milk pond sailing from NJ  to Bermuda when we were on the Eclipse. Bad weather can hit anytime. Just be prepared. As a long time blue water sailor, I agree- midship cabin & low deck levels are best in bad weather. Take some ginger tablets with you also. 

[catspaw1]

Sorry I meant to say we hit a game in AK. 

[the penguins]

58 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

Kordy, please note that westbound TA transit the pond during hurricane season. Currently there's a hurricane along this route. The cruise ships try to avoid bad weather as much as possible but their goal is getting the ship delivered on time. We hit a game once in AK that had most passengers sick. So just be prepared. Bring seasick meds & take them 2-3 hours before incoming bad weather.  The crew should keep you informed. We have also been on cruise ships that closed all outside doors due to bad weather. The Gulfstream is notorious for bad weather but in July it was a milk pond sailing from NJ  to Bermuda when we were on the Eclipse. Bad weather can hit anytime. Just be prepared. As a long time blue water sailor, I agree- midship cabin & low deck levels are best in bad weather. Take some ginger tablets with you also. 

ginger biscuits work for us.

The crew usually suggest green apples.

Final tip if/when the Captain recommends you take motion sickness tablets don't wait to see - take them.

[Purplsmurf]

We have done westbound TAs and have had great weather and smooth seas

[thebutlerdidit]

17 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Sorry I meant to say we hit a game in AK. 

A gale maybe?

[catspaw1]

Yes sorry I meant gale. Bad typing.

[Gracie115]

17 hours ago, Purplsmurf said:

We have done westbound TAs and have had great weather and smooth seas

 

We have also...but our last one in Nov 2022 went through the tail end of a hurricane.....18 ft swells,  pretty bouncy... luckily I don't have a problem with seasickness......

[gfkcruiser]

On 10/4/2024 at 12:09 PM, Gracie115 said:

We love TA's too but they sure aren't the "deal" they used to be!!!

Agree and not as many ports

[Gracie115]

50 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

Agree and not as many ports

 YES, our first 3 TA's were all 16 nights and with at least 6 ports.  Now they are 12-14 nights with 3-4 ports, 2 of which are nearly always Bermuda and Azores, both of which are lovely but not over and over again.  And the price is so much more..... we look at X but the only TA we have booked is with a different line that is 16 nights and 6 ports and far less expensive than what X has to offer.   

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, Gracie115 said:

 YES, our first 3 TA's were all 16 nights and with at least 6 ports.  Now they are 12-14 nights with 3-4 ports, 2 of which are nearly always Bermuda and Azores, both of which are lovely but not over and over again.  And the price is so much more..... we look at X but the only TA we have booked is with a different line that is 16 nights and 6 ports and far less expensive than what X has to offer.   

I think X makes most the TAs short than 14 nights now  is to save giving out $250 OBC for share holder credit