Transatlantic Or Transpacific? Which? Both?

[deep1]

Thinking about one or the other or both. Always wanted to say I did Tahiti and Bora Bora for the one and want to do the Atlantic where I'm not the one doing the driving...  Anyone done em both? Compare and contrast? The Atlantic one looks like several nights of just sailing. Is there enough stuff going on to keep it interesting with all that cruising time?

 

 

[Katy H]

We did a transatlantic from Galveston to Civitavecchia. We had 8 days at sea. We were never bored. We absolutely loved that trip. They always have something going on and do extra activities on transatlantic sailings. My husband and I love to dance. Swing, Latin, and Ballroom. For us, this was a wonderful opportunity for us to get a lot of dancing in at a number of different venues. We were supposed to do a transatlantic in November, but unfortunately it was canceled. We lifted and shifted to October of 2021. I highly recommend transatlantic sailings!

[twangster]

In broad terms a transpacific typically represents a greater investment of time and money.  

A transatlantic is typically less expensive than a transpacific plus typically shorter.  TAs are usually 12-14 days versus TPs which are often 16-18 days.  

On a price per night basis you can often get a TA very inexpensively both for the cruise and for the airfare to complete the trip.  For Royal most US based TPs involve a flight to/from Hawaii where many Royal TPs start/end and the flight to/from Australia.  There are sometimes Asia-US TP routes but these are less common with Royal. 

There is greater variety of TAs involving Vision, Radiance, Quantum and Oasis class ships.  There are typically more destination choices with TAs such as Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Southampton.  Typically TAs start/end involving more US cities such as Galveston, Miami, Ft Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Bayonne (NYC area).

A TP involves crossing the international date line that also has some bragging rights. 

As far as sea day after sea day I love it and the days seem to fly by.  

Some TAs have better port of call diversity involving the Azores, Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland, etc.  Some TAs just seem to want to get there with just one port of call.  

If you're looking to bank Crown and Anchor points the TAs offer the best bang for the buck.  

The other decision is to sail East or West.  They have different vibes, one changes time mid-day while the other changes time overnight.  The changing time zones day after day messes with some people but if you have driven the Atlantic yourself you already know that concept.  

Another strategy to reach destinations in the South Pacific would be to fly to Australia round trip and cruise to the South Pacific round trip like the locals do.  A B2B or S2S that involves New Zealand and the South Pacific is heaven sent. 

[DandA]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

The other decision is to sail East or West.  They have different vibes, one changes time mid-day while the other changes time overnight.  The changing time zones day after day messes with some people but if you have driven the Atlantic yourself you already know that concept.  

 

What do you mean by a different vibe? or is just the time change?

[ScooterScott22]

I’ll give a brief background first.  Our TA was in the fall last year, UK - NYC and we had a TP booked for next May Tokyo - Seattle but L&S to Sydney - Honolulu in 2022.  Of note probably our favorite cruise has been a EBPC which was 14 day with only 4 port days, so safe to say we like sea days.  

If you are not a fan of sea days you might find either one to be less than ideal but there are plenty of options for activities.  For anyone who likes relaxing or a less hurried day the TA and TP would be great.  There is as much or as little as you want to do so even someone who likes the action should still be happy. 

I feel that our TA was more classic, as occasionIly it even felt more like what you might see in a movie about sailing the Atlantic.  Taking a walk on deck after dinner in the slightly cool air made it feel like a “crossing”.  If we had stayed with the Tokyo -Seattle next year, with Russia and Alaska, I expect it would feel completely different from the TP in the South Pacific.  

Addressing the time change, since your on vacation adjusting time each day is not as difficult as if you were getting up for work.  Adjusting, east or west bound, seems to be easier when there are no meeting or deadlines looming.  All you HAVE to do is get up and have breakfast and being able to squeeze in a nap at your leisure also helps,

[twangster]

2 hours ago, DandA said:

What do you mean by a different vibe? or is just the time change?

If you live in an area that participates in Daylight Savings Time you can appreciate the difference between springing forward (and losing an hour) versus falling back (and getting an extra hour).

Sailing West is like the fall DST change where you "gain" an hour each day.  It creates an effect where you find yourself not as tired at 10pm and before you know it (after a couple of days) you are still awake and it's 1 or 2am.  That's okay because at 2am it becomes 1am.  Day after day each day is effectively 25 hours long, the normal 24 hours plus the extra hour given to you.  This extra hour means you can do more in the evenings, your natural bed time is shifted you aren't as tired after dinner.  See a show and go dancing?  Why not?   

Sailing East you "lose" an hour day after day.  It's like shifting to a reality where the day has 23 hours.  Suddenly it's dinner time and Diamond happy hour yet it doesn't feel like it, but it is.  The hour is taken from you midday.  It's 11:59am and poof now it's 1pm.  If you are used to eating at 12 noon there is no 12 noon, it's 1pm and lunch service stops at 2pm so you better eat but you just had a late breakfast and before you know it,  it's 5pm and dinner time and people are drinking happy hour drinks but it feels like it's only mid-afternoon because your body clock hasn't adjusted fully.  

Some people prefer sailing West, departing from Europe and cruising to America.  Why not? ...25 hour days are more restful when you get an extra hour of sleep.  

On the Allure Eastbound in March it was common to hear "I feel like all I'm doing is eating, drinking and sleeping".

[deep1]

Hadn't considered the time changes as being that significant. I guess they are. I should know... I used to go back and forth between USA and South Africa and even the flights were exhausting...  I recall doing an Alaskan trip years back. The time change did mess us up some but not as much as near round the clock daylight...  I'm glad to hear they don't run out of stuff to do on the TA cruising days/nights... The one we have picked only has one stop so most is cruising. The TA will be the first "experiment" as noted its a little less $$$... The TP we want is Oahu to Sydney with my all important Tahiti and Bora Bora  stops... 

[DandA]

twangster:  I see what you mean, sailing west does sound like a better deal.  I had't realized that the time would change every day, but it makes sense.  I wanted to take a baltic cruise in 2022 and taking a eastbound TA before it sounded good, but now I gotta look about the the TA after a baltic cruise.  Thanks for you wealth of knowledge and experience.