TA on Epic - Port Canaveral / Barcelona

[CruisingNole]

I'm hoping to get some feedback from folks that have taken a TA on Epic. Mainly being the passenger demographic. Would a couple in their mid-30s be considered "kids" on one of these cruises? No offense to any of the 65+ crowd, but I like to know what I might be getting into. :cool:

[Mike_DeA]

Any cruise over 7 days will skew toward an older/retired crowd. There will likely be others in your age group, but not a great deal.

[CruisingNole]

Any cruise over 7 days will skew toward an older/retired crowd. There will likely be others in your age group, but not a great deal.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I figured as much, but was curious if Epic might draw a somewhat younger audience vs some of the smaller ships.

[havanadaydreaming]

I would think time required to make a TA would skew retirees and maybe some recent college grads who haven't joined the workforce yet.

 

it's a challenge to take that much time at most workplaces in one chunk.

[MikeBTN]

There will be plenty of mid-30s to early-60s that still like to have fun, so it will be a lively cruise. They are typically not full and very few kids, so that’s a bonus.

 

However, yes, the average age does skew quite a bit older than your typical 7-night Caribbean sailing.

[C cruise]

In April, when we took that cruise, we were very comfortable with our age group -- 60's.... I think there were some 30's 40's 50's but lots of 60's and 70's... very few young children... ship was full capacity... in some areas of the ship a very party atmosphere at night and in some sections a very mellow, piano bar type crowd...

[BirdTravels]

I'm hoping to get some feedback from folks that have taken a TA on Epic. Mainly being the passenger demographic. Would a couple in their mid-30s be considered "kids" on one of these cruises? No offense to any of the 65+ crowd, but I like to know what I might be getting into. :cool:

The mean age would be around 65.

 

Doesn’t really matter. TAs give you a lot of time to rest and relax.

[zactak]

I took the TA from Barcelona to Port Canaveral in 2016. I was 33 when I went. The demographic was slightly older, but there were still a ton of people around my age. I actually was solo on the cruise, and had no trouble meeting people around my age. I don't think you guys will have any trouble with meeting people around your age, or you feeling out of place at all. I would go on another TA in a second. I love all the sea days!

[kirsty_r]

I’m hoping to be on this one at 32... there are often a mix of ages on the TA’s in my experience... some young, mostly older, few kids....

 

 

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[123linz123]

I'm in my early 50's (don't act it tho!)

In my experience the longer the cruise the older the average age. This year is my first time with NCL so I'm crossing my fingers.

Last year I went on HAL for 2 weeks. NEVER AGAIN.

 

I certainly don't mean to be disrespectful, hopefully I will be old one day, (and I'll be booking a fun ship ha ha!) but I felt like my vacation was in a cruise retirement home.

[CruisingNole]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Might be pulling the trigger on this one. Price for an interior is cheap, not a fan of that category, but if the price is right....

 

Has anyone here done a TA on a ship that you've never previously sailed on? Epic would be completely new to us. The first half of the trip are all sea days, but it looks like there are plenty of activities on board to stay entertained.

[kirsty_r]

I did star as a new ship to me and hated it... that really was a oldies cruise.

 

The epic ta is very much fun for all years... I’ve been doing them since my mid 20’s... there is lots to be entertained with on epic....water park if weather nice, bowling alleys, spa if your into that is nice for sea days, there was always lots going off games, trivia, lectures, bingo, meet the officers etc... don’t give up on it, I love the relaxation of the sea days but the second half is very port intensive but the ports are all very lovely....

 

 

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[sicness4x4]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Might be pulling the trigger on this one. Price for an interior is cheap, not a fan of that category, but if the price is right....

 

Has anyone here done a TA on a ship that you've never previously sailed on? Epic would be completely new to us. The first half of the trip are all sea days, but it looks like there are plenty of activities on board to stay entertained.

 

The Epic used to be my favorite ship. After doing the Getaway TA's and the Bliss Panama Canal, I'm leaning more towards the newer ships. I think Spice H2O on Epic is better than the Breakaway ships for those sea days relaxing with a drink. Looking at price, Epic wins. At around $50pp, per night for a sailaway inside....pull that trigger.

 

BTW, I had just turned 40 when I did my first TA five years ago. Definitely an older demographic, but also quite a few that are in their 20-30's.

Edited October 7, 2018 by sicness4x4

[C cruise]

the Epic was my first cruise and first TA - and it was wonderful!!

[back-at-it]

We did that cruise 11/12/16 and was lucky enough to up-sell to the Haven. What a trip. It was the best cruise we have ever sailed on. We were in our early 60's. There was a wide range of ages, but as expected, very few kids.

 

Do it, you will love the sea days.

[pollux]

I did the TA on the Epic and the Bliss.

I be on this one also.

Still young at 84 and can out dance and walk anyone.

Don't worry about us oldies we still have spark.

I love the Epic so much I am staying on her from Oct 21 till Dec 04.

See you on the TA.:*

[kirsty_r]

I forgot to mention it’s the lively oldies that do the transatlantics!! Much less scooters and zimmers than the last cruise I was on. The others won’t be able to stand the pace... the dancing goes on well into the early hours... hopefully will see you onboard Pollux, I’m just waiting to see if I’m allowed leave at work before I book... [emoji3]

 

 

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[delaware32]

We did the TA from Canaveral in 2017 . We found the demographics to a be mix . We actually were surprised at the number of children aboard . I think it was a good mix . Although we are retired there seemed quite a few of younger folks . Good trip . We enjoyed 5 days post cruise in Barcelona.

[jdvmd]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Might be pulling the trigger on this one. Price for an interior is cheap, not a fan of that category, but if the price is right....

 

Has anyone here done a TA on a ship that you've never previously sailed on? Epic would be completely new to us. The first half of the trip are all sea days, but it looks like there are plenty of activities on board to stay entertained.

It the price is right, you should go for it!

[wilsonhold]

It the price is right, you should go for it!

We are booked on this upcoming TA trip. A friendly word of advice on price is the factor, you should research the cost of the non cruise transportation that you need. US/Europe mainline carriers charge a hefty premium to fly back from Europe one way. There are other options, but some of these options have reviews are not always positive. Hope you can join us. It should be a good time.

 

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[CruisingNole]

On 10/8/2018 at 3:52 PM, wilsonhold@gmail.com said:

We are booked on this upcoming TA trip. A friendly word of advice on price is the factor, you should research the cost of the non cruise transportation that you need. US/Europe mainline carriers charge a hefty premium to fly back from Europe one way. There are other options, but some of these options have reviews are not always positive. Hope you can join us. It should be a good time.

 

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After finding a deal that was impossible to turn down, we pulled the trigger on this one and booked yesterday. I did some preliminary searching and Norwegian Air has some cheap one way, non-stop flights from Paris to Orlando. The only catch is that it appears they only run once a week. It might work out though, because we plan to stay in Barcelona for a few nights and then catch a train to France. 

[tulch]

We are flying TAP to Miami which, when we booked it, beat Norwegian's fare.  You may want to check it out.

[CruisingNole]

1 hour ago, tulch said:

We are flying TAP to Miami which, when we booked it, beat Norwegian's fare.  You may want to check it out.

 

I'll definitely check that out. I live in Orlando though, so I'd be willing to pay a little extra for the convenience. What city/date are you flying? 

[peteukmcr]

We’re on this TA and are looking forward to our first sailing on Epic. Although not in our mid thirties (more’s the pity) we’re still working so we picked this as it’s only 13 days and so we can pack it into a 2 week vacation from work. 

As for flights, please take care with Norwegian, the prices might be low but they are doing a lot of rescheduling and cancelling of transatlantic services. 

For reasonable low cost direct services check out people like Aer Lingus (via Dublin where you can do preclearance for US immigration which means you don’t have do it when arriving into the US). There are many airlines that offer one way flights direct to Orlando from the U.K. such as Thomas Cook (who we’re using to get back from Orlando after this sailing and next year to get to Orlando for our next eastbound TA in April 2019). 

[tulch]

23 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

 

I'll definitely check that out. I live in Orlando though, so I'd be willing to pay a little extra for the convenience. What city/date are you flying? 

 TAP flies to US cities via Lisbon and they allow a free stopover in Lisbon.  We will stay in Barcelona May 12 through the morning of May 15.  In the afternoon, we fly to Lisbon for two days and fly out on Friday, May 17 for arrival in  MIA on Saturday,  May 18.  We then will rent a car for the three hour drive back to Cape Coral where we live (with less traffic on Saturday through Alligator Alley!).  I am guessing that TAP also flies to MCO, but cannot say for certain.

 

Our airfare includes one free checked bag per person and, I believe, a meal & snacks were included as well.  We thought it was a pretty good deal.