West-bound TA Aug 2021

[zauberflote]

Hello all, I've been reading around and searching unsuccessfully for things I know I've seen here, so I have to ask what must be a common question:

 

I am looking at a TA in August of 2021 on the Summit. London, Scotland, Iceland/Greenland, Canada, Boston US. Is aft the better cabin location? We will enjoy bundling up and sitting on the "veranda" balcony while at sea, so long as the wind is not a gale. Also haven't figured out if port or starboard is the better choice for getting more sun. I've only been that far north once, in July, and it was a port-intensive cruise decades ago, so I have zero memory of our cabin.

 

Please forgive me for not having been able to find this out with a search; it's not for lack of trying! Thanks in advance for any help/advice/experiences for this very inexperienced cruiser.

[jelayne]

We like the cabins at the very aft for cool weather cruises as the ship acts a wind break. 

[zauberflote]

15 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We like the cabins at the very aft for cool weather cruises as the ship acts a wind break. 

Thanks, Jelayne! That is exactly what I wanted to hear! Unfortunately the completely aft ones that we can afford are, I forget, either non-existent or under/over something noisy, which we Do Not want. There are several (veranda but not family veranda) that appear available to one side or the other, aft of mid-ship. Veranda is as steep a price as I'm willing to pay. I think there are OV cabins, which we've had on our two previous (given to us) cruises, that are lined up across the stern end, but you know, we're older, there will be no kids, and maybe we want a veranda! 😉

[ghstudio]

When sailing to Europe, the recommendation is booking a cabin on the starboard (right) side of the ship.  

[zauberflote]

4 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

When sailing to Europe, the recommendation is booking a cabin on the starboard (right) side of the ship.  

Thank you! However we are sailing *from* Europe to US, so we'd want port? It would be facing South/East much of the time, perhaps. It's August, and the sun is still somewhat high in the sky, declining Southwards. Am I picturing this correctly?

[upwarduk]

6 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

When sailing to Europe, the recommendation is booking a cabin on the starboard (right) side of the ship.  

This is sailing away from Europe across to US.

[ECCruise]

2 minutes ago, zauberflote said:

Thank you! However we are sailing *from* Europe to US, so we'd want port? It would be facing South/East much of the time, perhaps. It's August, and the sun is still somewhat high in the sky, declining Southwards. Am I picturing this correctly?

Yes.  But not will be anywhere near as big a factor in August as it is in November, when most EB crossings take place.

And be aware that if you are in a balcony on the port side,  that the smoking area is mid-ship on that side which could affect you on the balcony if you are smoke-sensitive.

[gold1953]

I am booked on this one .  Very high priced at the moment

[zauberflote]

2 hours ago, ECCruise said:

And be aware that if you are in a balcony on the port side,  that the smoking area is mid-ship on that side which could affect you on the balcony if you are smoke-sensitive.

Yikes, thank you VERY much, @ECCruise ! I am extremely sensitive, and moreover have asthma. I guess that kind of rules out balconies on the "good" side... is it this way on every deck? Midships port side smoking area? 
@gold53 , I haven't even told DH we are doing this yet, much less talked to TA or booked. Not being an expert here, perhaps prices will come down at some point? I have a website (hopefully the unnameable one all you experts use!) notifying me of price changes on OV and veranda cabins. 
did you make a refundable deposit? I started a mock booking on an incognito page, and it looked like I'd actually have to get to the payments page to find put which kind of deposit I was to make. There was a general note with the cruise info that seemed to me simply to be "this is how NRD's work", but not specifying which type would go with my hypothetical booking

Edited January 17, 2020 by zauberflote
Figured out I could answer two posters with onepost.

[ECCruise]

5 minutes ago, zauberflote said:

Yikes, thank you VERY much, @ECCruise ! I am extremely sensitive, and moreover have asthma. I guess that kind of rules out balconies on the "good" side... is it this way on every deck? Midships port side smoking area? 

Smoking area is deck 4. Less impact the higher the deck. 

[zauberflote]

Good to know, thanks. Deck 4 was one I'd hoped would have a cabin for us. Ah well, back to the drawing board!

[Northern Aurora]

zauberflote:  We are also booked on this Iceland-Greenland cruise.  We will be doing it as a B2B so are booked on both the August 1st and August 15th sailings.  We booked the same Sky Suite 1 on deck 6 on the starboard side for both legs.

 

 In terms of price drops I will certainly monitor the cruise prices, but these sailings in August of this year seem to have sold very well.  We booked our SS1 very shortly after the 2021cruises were released for booking, and I recently checked the price of a SS2 (no SS1s were available) on the 2020 sailings -- the price was simply stunningly high.

[ECCruise]

26 minutes ago, zauberflote said:

Good to know, thanks. Deck 4 was one I'd hoped would have a cabin for us. Ah well, back to the drawing board!

No cabins on deck 4.  That is the "promenade" deck.  Restaurants, bars, casino, etc.

 

[Wine-O]

31 minutes ago, zauberflote said:

Good to know, thanks. Deck 4 was one I'd hoped would have a cabin for us. Ah well, back to the drawing board!

Sorry, but there are no staterooms on Deck 4.  Not sure what your budget is, but the O/V's on Deck 3 are a good bang for the buck.  Stateroom 3115-3127 are newly added since their last refurb.  They are in a great location on the ship, and have a huge picture window. They are in a private area of the ship with little to no foot traffic except for those who stay there.  Based on your itinerary, not sure you would get a lot of use of the balcony in a balcony stateroom.

 

P.S.  This is a popular cruise.  Don't expect any price drop.  🍷

 

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Wine-O

[Wine-O]

Just be aware that Westbound TA's early in the season are subject to hurricanes.  We did a Westbound on 1 September out of Amsterdam, and halfway across the Atlantic the Captain came on to announce that there are 4 hurricanes around us, and we are going to miss them all.  We ended up in Tampa, and the hurricane hit in the Carolinas.  It was nip & tuck getting back home avoiding the flooded areas.  🍷

[zauberflote]

Wine-O wow thanks! I live in a state that sometimes gets slammed, but haven't tracked enough hurricanes after landfall to know how far north they might go. I know that I've seen cone projections all the way up to coastal Canada, but Iceland? Scotland? This is a northern route. Would the danger still be there?
And excellent to know that the price is likely to remain steady...
Of course there are no cabins on Deck 4, she says to herself. I have actually looked at that diagram a dozen times lol. Thanks for the number recommendations on 3. I may actually be happier on a lower deck; I have no idea how my relatively newly acquired vestibular migraine is going to treat me.

[Glendakayself]

We are also booked on the 8/1/2021 and the 8/15/2021 Iceland/Greenland cruise. Come joine us on the rollcall for the westbound 8/15 cruise.

 

 

[zauberflote]

Glenda, thank you for invite! I am not booked yet, is it kosher to join a roll call if not yet on the cruise? I know I'd learn tons, but wouldn't want to be in the way.
I loved the idea of a cruise ending in Boston at the end of August-- Boston is our normal route to our normal summer vacation on Cape Cod, so we could roll straight from debark to Logan or South Station to catch the Peter Pan bus![emoji16]


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[ipeeinthepool]

12 hours ago, ECCruise said:

Yes.  But not will be anywhere near as big a factor in August as it is in November, when most EB crossings take place.

And be aware that if you are in a balcony on the port side,  that the smoking area is mid-ship on that side which could affect you on the balcony if you are smoke-sensitive.

 

I'm also booked on the westbound TA.  From my perspective, I always book the starboard side to avoid any smoke from the smoking areas on the promenade deck.  I'm hoping for at least a little warm weather to have some time in the pool.

Edited January 17, 2020 by ipeeinthepool

[Glendakayself]

9 hours ago, zauberflote said:

Glenda, thank you for invite! I am not booked yet, is it kosher to join a roll call if not yet on the cruise? I know I'd learn tons, but wouldn't want to be in the way.
I loved the idea of a cruise ending in Boston at the end of August-- Boston is our normal route to our normal summer vacation on Cape Cod, so we could roll straight from debark to Logan or South Station to catch the Peter Pan bus!


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Come on over and join the discussion. We already have a lively group. If you want, I can hold off adding you to the roll call list that I post until you give the go-ahead that you are booked, but I believe we have one poster that is planning to book on a cruise next month. 

 

I have to say that we are turning a little green today thinking about you heading for your summer stay in Cape Cod after the cruise. Sounds lovely. Check out the August 1 cruise. It leaves from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, and ends in South Hampton on August 15. Makes a great back to back cruise with no long flights across the pond. We are on the starboard side in the oceanview staterooms just across the ship from the ones Wine-o recommended. We cruised in 3112 in October and booked the same room for three more cruises. We had not done without a balcony since 2001, and I must say that we did not miss it after the first day or two of thinking I would walk out on the balcony. (The weather was so windy and rainy in New England/Canada in October that our itinerary had to be changed a couple of times, and I do not think that we would have used the balcony.) The starboard location is ideal, giving close access to two elevator banks, Guest Relations, Shore Ex, computer lab, public restrooms for an extra restroom, and for us to the Elite breakfast in Tuscan. The giant window was a plus. I often sat in the window, and the pictures I took through the window came out clear. There is a little more traffic down the starboard hall than the port hall that Wine-o recommended, but it did not bother us,

 

The price has gone up a bit since we booked on the day booking opened. The non-refundable deposit price is attractive, but it is way too far away for us to go with an NRD.

[zauberflote]

 
Come on over and join the discussion. We already have a lively group. If you want, I can hold off adding you to the roll call list that I post until you give the go-ahead that you are booked, but I believe we have one poster that is planning to book on a cruise next month. 
I don't know how breaking up a quote from Tapatalk will turn out but here goes! I will come join! (I peeked last night and got even more excited [emoji16]) Holding off adding me to your great list would be appreciated.
 
I have to say that we are turning a little green today thinking about you heading for your summer stay in Cape Cod after the cruise. Sounds lovely.
Me again. And green you should be! It's a running family reunion on the water, every summer all summer. Five generations have spent their summers there, with some family being residents year-round. World's cheapest amazing vacation, as good as a cruise except for the dirty dishes and all...

Check out the August 1 cruise. It leaves from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, and ends in South Hampton on August 15. Makes a great back to back cruise with no long flights across the pond.
Me:Would that we could! I chose the WB leg because the ugly flight is at the beginning, so I understand your reasoning completely!!
OTOH-- maybe the EB leg would not be too much more $$ than non-cattle-class airfare? [emoji6] My cat sitter would make a fortune! [emoji15]

We are on the starboard side in the oceanview staterooms just across the ship from the ones Wine-o recommended. We cruised in 3112 in October and booked the same room for three more cruises. We had not done without a balcony since 2001, and I must say that we did not miss it after the first day or two of thinking I would walk out on the balcony. (The weather was so windy and rainy in New England/Canada in October that our itinerary had to be changed a couple of times, and I do not think that we would have used the balcony.) The starboard location is ideal, giving close access to two elevator banks, Guest Relations, Shore Ex, computer lab, public restrooms for an extra restroom, and for us to the Elite breakfast in Tuscan. The giant window was a plus. I often sat in the window, and the pictures I took through the window came out clear. There is a little more traffic down the starboard hall than the port hall that Wine-o recommended, but it did not bother us

Me: All very good to know, thank you! I'd envisioned romantic bundling up à deux in every quilt/coat/base layer available, on a balcony lounger in the chill air...until I saw the very recent Summit review with photos of grade school furniture made for Instagram, not people....
 




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[upwarduk]

16 hours ago, ECCruise said:

Smoking area is deck 4. Less impact the higher the deck. 

Smoking area is Deck 5 Port side.

 

Quote

Just be aware that Westbound TA's early in the season are subject to hurricanes.

Are they called Hurricanes so far north?

 

AllI can say is that we did a repositioning crossing 9/9/16 from Southampton to Montreal and we had to sail south towards the Azores to avoid the eye of a Tropical Storm.

However, the itinerary does appeal, probably because it leaves from Southampton and goes to Boston, which so far we have not visited.

 

Edited January 17, 2020 by upwarduk

[ECCruise]

1 minute ago, upwarduk said:

Smoking area is Deck 5 Port side.

On Summit?