Eastbound TA's

[Gracie115]

We are planning a special "retirement" vacation trip to take place in spring 2016. We plan for it to begin with a TA out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and once on the other side of the pond take another week to 10 days on mainland Europe.....

 

Is the one hour lost on many nights on a TA that big a deal? I didn't think it would be since you're on vacation and have no deadlines to get up/sleep....but I've read a few posts about people who felt tired out all the time because of it.....has anyone else had this happen or NOT had this happen ....... any input you can provide would be appreciated. :)

[MTemple212]

We are planning a special "retirement" vacation trip to take place in spring 2016. We plan for it to begin with a TA out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and once on the other side of the pond take another week to 10 days on mainland Europe.....

 

Is the one hour lost on many nights on a TA that big a deal? I didn't think it would be since you're on vacation and have no deadlines to get up/sleep....but I've read a few posts about people who felt tired out all the time because of it.....has anyone else had this happen or NOT had this happen ....... any input you can provide would be appreciated. :)

 

I have not done any eastbound but have done 3 westbound TA's and here's why: 1. you gain an hour each day while crossing which is usually at least 6-7hrs in total. So you are getting 25hr days for the ride back. I guess it depends if you enjoy sea days or not as well. 2. And the most important to me is that the ports calls in the Med, and usually there are many, are very tiring for the most part, would be at the end of your cruise. Then again, you will have 10 more days to relax before having to head back home though. I just find it quite relaxing to have my sea days at the end of a cruise before heading back to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Weather also may play a factor and I prefer Europe in the fall and not the spring. Personally, I would never book an eastbound TA, unless the price was just too hard to pass up. . Just my opinion....

Edited January 17, 2014 by MTemple212

[Turtles06]

We are planning a special "retirement" vacation trip to take place in spring 2016. We plan for it to begin with a TA out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and once on the other side of the pond take another week to 10 days on mainland Europe.....

 

Is the one hour lost on many nights on a TA that big a deal? I didn't think it would be since you're on vacation and have no deadlines to get up/sleep....but I've read a few posts about people who felt tired out all the time because of it.....has anyone else had this happen or NOT had this happen ....... any input you can provide would be appreciated. :)

 

Our first TA (which was nearly 2 years ago) was an eastbound. We thought -- how much can losing one hour matter? Well, what we realized is that it can matter a great deal when it is almost daily for more than a week, particularly if you have late dining.

 

On that crossing, our first cruise with Celebrity, we had the late seating for dinner. We'd also committed ourselves to a progressive trivia team, which turned out to have daily competitions at 10am. Not terribly early, but combined with late seating and losing an hour, it was too much on either end of the day. We were newbies to the TA and didn't know better. What we learned from this is that if we ever did an EB again, we wouldn't be scheduled for anything.

 

This fall, we took a westbound TA. We truly loved the 25 hour days, and we are doing another WB TA this coming fall.

 

I wouldn't say don't do an EB TA, just be careful in how you commit your time. And maybe pick select dining for even more flexibility.

 

Have a great trip, and happy retirement!

[Wine-O]

We are planning a special "retirement" vacation trip to take place in spring 2016. We plan for it to begin with a TA out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale and once on the other side of the pond take another week to 10 days on mainland Europe.....

 

Is the one hour lost on many nights on a TA that big a deal? I didn't think it would be since you're on vacation and have no deadlines to get up/sleep....but I've read a few posts about people who felt tired out all the time because of it.....has anyone else had this happen or NOT had this happen ....... any input you can provide would be appreciated. :)

 

If you stop in the Azores on the way over, you will change the clocks forward for one hour, 5 times, then on your way to the mainland Europe, you will change it forward the final one hour.

 

It gets a little tricky if your final destination is the UK as they are only 5 hours ahead of the U.S., and you stop in Portugal/Spain, then to the UK as you would gain the last hour on the way to the UK.

 

It will only affect you if you are on a particular schedule, i.e. go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6am -- it would feel like getting up at 5pm. Can your body adjust accordingly? :)

[Gracie115]

I have not done any eastbound but have done 3 westbound TA's and here's why: 1. you gain an hour each day while crossing which is usually at least 6-7hrs in total. So you are getting 25hr days for the ride back. I guess it depends if you enjoy sea days or not as well. 2. And the most important to me is that the ports calls in the Med, and usually there are many, are very tiring for the most part, would be at the end of your cruise. Then again, you will have 10 more days to relax before having to head back home though. I just find it quite relaxing to have my sea days at the end of a cruise before heading back to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Weather also may play a factor and I prefer Europe in the fall and not the spring. Personally, I would never book an eastbound TA, unless the price was just too hard to pass up. . Just my opinion....

 

 

 

I appreciate your thoughts but since we have NEVER done a TA of any kind we like the idea of having the ports and land trip to look forward to at the end of 5-7 sea days(depending on which TA we take) which is why we want to do the eastbound. Not really concerned with losing or gaining an hour just concerned with whether we will feel unusually fatigued by the constant time changing...

[Gracie115]

Our first TA (which was nearly 2 years ago) was an eastbound. We thought -- how much can losing one hour matter? Well, what we realized is that it can matter a great deal when it is almost daily for more than a week, particularly if you have late dining.

 

On that crossing, our first cruise with Celebrity, we had the late seating for dinner. We'd also committed ourselves to a progressive trivia team, which turned out to have daily competitions at 10am. Not terribly early, but combined with late seating and losing an hour, it was too much on either end of the day. We were newbies to the TA and didn't know better. What we learned from this is that if we ever did an EB again, we wouldn't be scheduled for anything.

 

This fall, we took a westbound TA. We truly loved the 25 hour days, and we are doing another WB TA this coming fall.

 

I wouldn't say don't do an EB TA, just be careful in how you commit your time. And maybe pick select dining for even more flexibility.

 

Have a great trip, and happy retirement!

 

Hi, thanks for this info. We would be in AQ so that's Select dining style and I don't think we be booking early morning activities....HA! I KNOW my DH wouldn't anyway....so if we had a relaxed schedule we would be okay?

[harz99]

Did the eastbound crossing on Rcl Indie last April with no noticeable effects, believe me it's a heck of a lot better to lose an hour a day than have jetlag!

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Forums mobile app

[fleckle]

Eastbound is no problem at all for us.

We just sleep an hour later the following morning, so we do not lose any sleep.

 

But we are pretty easygoing and flexible about our hours for eating and sleeping even at home and we usually do Select dining on the ship.

 

It is easy to understand how it could be a problem though for someone who is in the habit of always getting up and going to sleep and having meals at the same time every day.

 

 

The big advantage of the eastbound to us, as Americans, is that you arrive in Europe and look forward to still having the rest of your vacation ahead of you when you disembark, anticipating whatever exciting new adventures await you in Europe.

On the westbound, it means the end of your vacation, disembarking to go home and do laundry and pay bills.

 

Edited January 17, 2014 by fleckle

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I did the eastbound TA from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona in 2005 and loved it. The weather was ideal the entire way and we had no motion. It was sunny and warm every day! I had no issues with the time difference any more than I did returning to the US on a 7 night Cunard TA.

 

I wouldn't worry yourself a bit. What I can say is that I flew to Madrid in January of 2013, hoping to shake off the jetlag before our cruise out of Barcelona and I never got on a proper sleep pattern. It was awful and I got sick either from something I caught on the flight over or on the ship. In other words, the flight over weakens your immune system IMO and ruins your first day or two of your trip ( at minimum) because you are tired. I would much prefer to cruise to my destination than to fly there and cruise back.

Edited January 17, 2014 by rebeccalouiseagain

[AHEM]

I have done 7 EB TA's and 6 WB TA's, I have found little if any negative from having 5 or 6 23 hour days. I have also found little positive from the WB TA's 25 hour days. Remember the crossing will be 14 days, so most days will be 24 hours.

A few of my EB TA's were on the QE2 which meant that every day was a short day as the crossing took 5 days.

[Gracie115]

I did the eastbound TA from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona in 2005 and loved it. The weather was ideal the entire way and we had no motion. It was sunny and warm every day! I had no issues with the time difference any more than I did returning to the US on a 7 night Cunard TA.

 

I wouldn't worry yourself a bit. What I can say is that I flew to Madrid in January of 2013, hoping to shake off the jetlag before our cruise out of Barcelona and I never got on a proper sleep pattern. It was awful and I got sick either from something I caught on the flight over or on the ship. In other words, the flight over weakens your immune system IMO and ruins your first day or two of your trip ( at minimum) because you are tired. I would much prefer to cruise to my destination than to fly there and cruise back.

 

I have done 7 EB TA's and 6 WB TA's, I have found little if any negative from having 5 or 6 23 hour days. I have also found little positive from the WB TA's 25 hour days. Remember the crossing will be 14 days, so most days will be 24 hours.

A few of my EB TA's were on the QE2 which meant that every day was a short day as the crossing took 5 days.

 

Thanks so much, this is what I wanted to hear, I don't think it will bother us as we are not that rigid about sleep times or rising times.....:):)

[Gracie115]

Did the eastbound crossing on Rcl Indie last April with no noticeable effects, believe me it's a heck of a lot better to lose an hour a day than have jetlag!

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Forums mobile app

 

Eastbound is no problem at all for us.

We just sleep an hour later the following morning, so we do not lose any sleep.

 

But we are pretty easygoing and flexible about our hours for eating and sleeping even at home and we usually do Select dining on the ship.

 

It is easy to understand how it could be a problem though for someone who is in the habit of always getting up and going to sleep and having meals at the same time every day.

 

 

THANKS!! That's 4 in a row with no problems....I feel much better!! Now just have to wait for those schedules to come out this March!!!!!!:)

[Dunelm]

Have taken TA's both directions, and have loved them all. The only people I feel sorry for on the east-bound ones are the crew members who have to work after losing hours. TA's to Europe certainly beat flying there and having jet-lag.

[CathyCruises]

We have done the Spring TA the last two years. Yes, we all groan when the waiter says we have to set our clocks ahead a-gain! But the advantage that no one has pointed out is that it stays late much longer on the spring TAs, which means more time for drinks at the Sunset Bar!!

 

We do what you are proposing to do. The first year we got off a day early in Le Havre and spent a week in Normandy and Brittany, visiting the D-day sights and falling in love with Southern France. The we rented an apartment in Paris for two weeks cause it never seemed like we had enough time there, then went to visit family in London.

 

Last year we disembarked in Rome, spent a few days, took the train to France and rented a car and went back to Northern France!!

 

This year we are thinking of taking the train from Rome to Venice and then renting a car and driving over the Dolomites into Austria.

 

I don't think I'd enjoy a westbound because I really like having postcruise plans to look forward to! To get off the ship and fly home would be so depressing to me. . .

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Cathy- my favorite place in Italy is Merano (not Murano in Venice), which is in the Dolomites near Bolzano. It is gorgeous and the focal point of the town is a mineral hot spring with 25 spring fed indoor/ outdoor pools. I still long to return there.

[CathyCruises]

Cathy- my favorite place in Italy is Merano (not Murano in Venice), which is in the Dolomites near Bolzano. It is gorgeous and the focal point of the town is a mineral hot spring with 25 spring fed indoor/ outdoor pools. I still long to return there.

 

I think I read that on the thread that gave me the original idea to do this--I printed the whole thread! I really hope we can make it work. . .

[justcrusn]

we have done eastbound T/A the last two years and are planning to again this year.

I hear all the advice of why a westbound is superior -BUT- our fall schedule does not allow it.

So, eastbound it is for us. So, as to the question, it seems like we set the clocks ahead every other day. And yes we always groan, but its really not a big deal and we are acclimated to the european time zones by our arrival.

So, if you can choose, go west, if you can't (like us) eastbound is a LOT of fun.

We love sea days and the cruise costs about the same as going to cozumel. lol

choice air even makes the airfare home affordable.

 

THUMBS UP

[baldercash]

We have done the Spring TA the last two years. Yes, we all groan when the waiter says we have to set our clocks ahead a-gain! But the advantage that no one has pointed out is that it stays late much longer on the spring TAs, which means more time for drinks at the Sunset Bar!!

 

We do what you are proposing to do. The first year we got off a day early in Le Havre and spent a week in Normandy and Brittany, visiting the D-day sights and falling in love with Southern France. The we rented an apartment in Paris for two weeks cause it never seemed like we had enough time there, then went to visit family in London.

 

Last year we disembarked in Rome, spent a few days, took the train to France and rented a car and went back to Northern France!!

 

This year we are thinking of taking the train from Rome to Venice and then renting a car and driving over the Dolomites into Austria.

 

I don't think I'd enjoy a westbound because I really like having postcruise plans to look forward to! To get off the ship and fly home would be so depressing to me. . .

 

I like your style of travel.

[HS2BS]

We have done both and time changes are not a real bother. The earlier in spring the greater the possibility of weather problems, later is certainly a plus. Last year we did Silhouette form FLL to Rome and it was quite cool and windy, in the fall we did Royal Princess from Venice to Fll and the weather was quite cool and windy - crap shoot. This year we are doing the Ruby in April from FLL to Southampton and the Oasis back in October.

A few years ago we took the Equinox from Rome to Fll and it left on December 1. Perfect weather all the way.

So enjoy the cruise and don't worry over the time, retirement does not need a clock! Except for the grandkids!

Hal

[nojoke]

I can’t believe the negative responses! The East bound TA was lovely. We got up when we woke up--no agenda--just enjoy the day. It sure is a lot easier to change just 1 hour a day, than to adjust to the 5-6 hour change when flying. And it is fun to have the ports to look forward to after all those days on the ocean. I remember standing by the rail as we sailed in to Tenerife--everybody was so excited to see land. And, then after the cruise, enjoy your land vacation--unbeatable!! Just do it!

[grandgeezer]

Our first TA was eastbound. We had a three hour time advancement flying to Ft. Lauderdale, from Phoenix. Then we turned the clock ahead an hour on six of the next 8 days. It was brutal. We like doing alot of the activities and the time it starts doesn't change with the change of the clock.

Last year we did westbound and it was wonderful, turning the clock back an hour, six times, was great. Flying to Europe, over night, we were able to catch a few hours sleep, plus we went in the day before. When we got on the ship the next day, we were ready to go.

[CathyCruises]

We do what you are proposing to do. The first year we got off a day early in Le Havre and spent a week in Normandy and Brittany, visiting the D-day sights and falling in love with Southern France. The we rented an apartment in Paris for two weeks cause it never seemed like we had enough time there, then went to visit family in London.

 

Last year we disembarked in Rome, spent a few days, took the train to France and rented a car and went back to Northern France!!

 

I don't think I'd enjoy a westbound because I really like having postcruise plans to look forward to! To get off the ship and fly home would be so depressing to me. . .

 

I'm an idiot (and a terrible typist!) This should say NORTHERN!!!!

 

Yes, lots of negative comments; we loved it, wouldn't be planning on a third go-around otherwise. . .

 

HS2BS, we were on Silhouette last April too, thought the weather was great!! Were we on the same trip?

[cirpi]

I wouldn't quite call the almost daily clock change on an eastbound TA brutal, as one poster did, but the routine is not pleasant, especially realizing there is a few lost housr. However, my storm and strife and I have made five westbound, two eastbound and will sail east again in April. If changing the clock a few times at sea is the least of our travel worries, we will be happy.

Edited January 17, 2014 by cirpi
missing letter

[d4m]

So, eastbound it is for us.

THUMBS UP

 

We have taken TA's both directions. First was two years ago, went from FLL to Rome. Love the fact that daylight is much longer on this crossing than it was on our most recent TA Westbound in November-December 2013. It was dark early.

 

Frankly, although many love the exra hour, it meant nothing to us. Still woke up at our usual internal clocks, meaning we would wake at 5 instead of 6. Found there's not a whole lot of activity on the ship at that time of morning:) That extra hour meant absolutely nothing to us.

 

We enjoyed the Eastbound TA more than the Westbound. Didn't mind the hour loss at all. Liked the relaxation the major portion of the cruise and were rested to hit all of the excursions once we hit Europe. Only problem we had was that we ended in Rome and stayed there a couple days. Were quite tired by the time we left Europe for home because there is so much walking in that city and, of course, we wanted to see it all. (We don't find that problem in Barcelona a more walking friendly city IMO.)

 

This year we are heading on another Eastbound TA to Amsterdam, another walking friendly city! Our preference is heading East, but that would not deter us from going Westbound again, should some magnificent itinerary appear.

Edited January 17, 2014 by d4m

[varoo]

I can’t believe the negative responses! The East bound TA was lovely. We got up when we woke up--no agenda--just enjoy the day. It sure is a lot easier to change just 1 hour a day, than to adjust to the 5-6 hour change when flying. And it is fun to have the ports to look forward to after all those days on the ocean. I remember standing by the rail as we sailed in to Tenerife--everybody was so excited to see land. And, then after the cruise, enjoy your land vacation--unbeatable!! Just do it!

Know what you mean. For many years we used to fly to Europe and always felt miserable when we arrived there. We would be groggy and jet-lagged for several days.

 

I remember being on a tour where people kept waking me up and prodding me to get off the coach at stops along the way to take photos of the lovely sights, but the only thing I wanted to do was sleep.

 

It is such a pleasure to arrive by cruise ship instead, adjusting to the time changes slowly and gradually so that we arrive rested and refreshed.