B2B Transatlantic to Include Ireland?

I have my 2013 cruise booked, but I'm gearing up for the longest cruise/vacation we have ever had in 2014.

I have always wanted to go to Ireland and love England. My DH has been to neither and hates to fly, so I am planning a Transatlantic going over to England(?) a British Isles Cruise or land vacation to include Ireland (by rail - won't drive) inbetween and then a Transatlantic back. I am in the Washington DC area so will go out of FL or NY area I'm assuming.

This ideally would be about 7 nights over - a week or so on land and then another 7 nights back. Thinking probably gone almost four weeks! I'm so excited!

First, I have to wait for the 2014 schedules for all of the lines - does anyone know approximately when that will happen?

And I would LOVE to hear about someone who has done something similar! I've been trying to go through the trip reports to find recent similar experiences.

Other questions (after searching the boards here) are:

1) Is there any price or other benefit in doing both TA crossings with the same line? (other than more loyalty points?)

2) It appears that Cunard is the only line that does fairly frequent TA's?

3) We both work (own a business) so getting off for this long will be a challenge but I'm determined. I probably would love sea days - reading, relaxing, etc. but DH might get a bit bored without his internet/computer or TV for hours on end. Anyone have any insight or suggestions for this?

I can't wait for those 2014 Trans Atlantic schedules to be posted! More excited about this than our upcoming Canada New England on Brilliance in September! (Not fair to compare, I know! LOL)

Debinnova

Just want to say that you are correct on #2. Most cruise lines do east bound transatlantics in the spring, keep the ship in Europe for the summer and then do west bound in the fall. So that's a big gap of several months.

You could time it to take a Cunard crossing, have your week in Ireland (I would kill for that!) and then hop on a west bound transatlantic back to the States. Or the other way around. We did a west bound transatlantic on the Jewel and I prefer that because you gain an hour almost every other day. We had only two sea days in a row between ports, so it wasn't that long stretch of sea days that other TAs have.

Emilygrace,

Thanks for the response. It would be fabulous to sail on TA into England, spend a few days and then hope on over to Ireland and get a TA back from there to US - but I know that is a long shot!

Hoping to hear ideas from others!

Debbinnova

Emilygrace,

 

Thanks for the response. It would be fabulous to sail on TA into England, spend a few days and then hope on over to Ireland and get a TA back from there to US - but I know that is a long shot!

 

Hoping to hear ideas from others!

 

Debbinnova

I live here in NI and usually do 2 TA every year but they are nearly always 6 months apart I fly one way each time

I think you would be better to try and sail into Southampton and then take a flight into Dublin for the South or Belfast for the North of Ireland

Not sure how you would sail back : The QM2 or some of the other Cunard ships

are to the best of my knowledge the only ones that cross the pond on a regular basis

I have done that a few times and loved it :)

I've got to say that I would reconsider just doing a train while in ireland. We spent a week over there last year and flew into dublin and did a counter clock-wise driving trip through Athlone, Dingle, Cashel, and back. LOVED IT and wouldn't trade it for the world. The things we got to see by driving ourselves were amazing.

Yes you're on the other side of the road and have to shift with the "wrong" hand but it was something I'll never forget. By the second day I was a pro!

Try it!

Do you have any idea of what time of year you want to go? If you want to go in the spring or fall, you could take a different cruise line to Europe, stay there, and then come back to the US on a Cunard cruise that may depart more frequently. This way you can have two different cruises instead of the same cruise both ways.

Do you have any idea of what time of year you want to go? If you want to go in the spring or fall, you could take a different cruise line to Europe, stay there, and then come back to the US on a Cunard cruise that may depart more frequently. This way you can have two different cruises instead of the same cruise both ways.

Just a thought : if time off from work is a problem Then sailing into Rome / Barcelona or Malaga etc will mean a longer flight time from these ports if you want to see Ireland

Jvalastro, I'm open as to time of year - but would rather not go in the very cold season. I was thinking that perhaps I could go over on one line and come back on another - with Cunard probably being one of the lines.

What times of year do most of the other lines go? Is there a pattern?

There seem to be transatlantics going to England (not sure about Ireland) so I'm hopeful that I can make it work.

Take a TA over to England, spend a week or two either on the ground on a British Isles Cruise (England and Ireland) and then sail back to the US.

I just can't wait for the transatlantic schedules to be posted!

Another question I have is, I'm assuming it is better to plan way in advance, book, get the cabin I want and just hope I catch any price drops or promotions? I would love to be relaxed enough that I wait until closer to sail time and grab an amazing deal, but for a trip like this - that is just wishful thinking!

Debinnova

Obviously you can't really make any plans until the 2014 schedule comes out, but you can hope to find a ship such as say the Independence of the Seas, which homeport is Southampton, thats transatlantic, going east or west, times up well with the opposite transatlantic on Cunard that would still give you a week or two in England/Ireland. Being on a RCCL one way and a Cunard the other would be awesome also for the cruises would be completely different styles.

And most lines besides Cunard have transatlantics from US to Europe in the late spring (April-May) and from Europe to US in fall (October-November).

Cunard is probably the only line you can do the TA over and back on. They run the TAs pretty much year round except for World Cruise Season, so March - Dec.

What you might want to do is take Cunard over, and RCI back (I prefer fall, always have better weather on the crossing and in Europe).

Lydia

My next decision will be time of year. Some of my decision will have to based on the sailing schedule working out right - allowing me a week at least in between to do London and Ireland.

I was under impression that the seas were more likely to be rough in the fall, so I was wrong about that? I think some of the TA's start in May and go through December.

I would love input from those that have gone about what the weather and seas were like during their particular cruise.

I appreciate the feedback!

Debbinova