Are Sea days on Trans-Atlantic cruises monotonous?

[Eddie Wilson]

DW and I are contemplating a trans Atlantic cruise.  We don’t mind intermittent sea days, but generally book port heavy itineraries.  DW is worried 6 consecutive days at sea she will go batty.  

 

Do they have more and or different things to do on board?  Can only handle trivia so much?

 

Thanks for any help....

 

Eddie

Edited September 4, 2023 by Eddie Wilson

[ReneeFLL]

I don't think so, but it depends on how entertained you need to be and how many days there are especially in a row. To many port stops in a row can be tiring to some. There is usually always something to do or if you like to sit and read often then you won't be bored. We're on a TA right now on the Jewel and they have trivia, lectures, etc. The bigger ships will have a lot more to keep you entertained than the smaller ones. We are on the Arctic Circle cruise and there aren't that many sea days in a row. The most we have are 2 in a row.

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by ReneeFLL

[gumshoe958]

One of the highlights of last year’s Wonder TA was a music festival, where every musician on the ship played a short set in the Aqua Theatre. Lasted about 4 hours, great idea. 

 

I’m also on the Jewel TA right now and there are two daily lectures on sea days including a very informative one on the next port of call. Otherwise it’s pretty much the normal Royal sea day fare as @ReneeFLLsays - trivia, bingo, game shows, movies, dance classes etc. There’s a guest choir and a flash mob type event.
 

And yes, the bigger the ship obviously the more there is to do. But the overwhelming majority of TA guests are seasoned cruisers and many bring their own activities - games, crafts etc. You quickly settle into a routine and it’s a very relaxing way to spend a fortnight.

[njkruzer]

Never bored on TA sea days.  Plenty to do.

[Giantfan13]

We have done 7 TAs and we just LOVE the sea days. I guess to each their own and you make of it what you choose. The ship provides plenty of entertainment. You can go to your roll call and organize things to do on sea days. The solarium is a great place to hang out.

Many TAs have about 7 sea days in a row and we use them to just unwind. We LOVE to just find a deck chair or a lounge and just look out at the beauty of the ocean for hours on end. Again, that's just us. If you need to be doing something at every minute, and depending on the ship,  there are so many things going on.

We have another TA booked for Oct and another next year. Just never get tired of all those sea days.

 

Cheers

Len

[Eddie Wilson]

8 minutes ago, Giantfan13 said:

The solarium is a great place to hang out.

Many TAs have about 7 sea days in a row and we use them to just unwind. We LOVE to just find a deck chair or a lounge and just look out at the beauty of the ocean for hours on end.

 

We love to hang at Solarium, and lounge, unwind as you say.....just not sure we can do it for a week.

[Giantfan13]

2 minutes ago, Eddie Wilson said:

 

We love to hang at Solarium, and lounge, unwind as you say.....just not sure we can do it for a week.

Ha, I had to laugh because we used to say the same thing, but once we got used to doing nothing and loving it, we couldn't be happier doing it every day. If you hang--wherever- you will probably meet others who are doing the same thing, make new friends, and look forward to that every day. Again, you DO NOT have to do that every day. On a lot of the TAs we have done, they have brought in a guest lecturer who does lectures on most sea days. Check your roll call to see what others have planned or organized, mostly for sea days. Check a good book out of the library, learn to dance, and catch a few rays.

 

Cheers

Len

[Ret MP]

I've said many times on this and other cruising social media sites that I mainly cruise for the ship experience and the ocean.  I haven't done a TA so, I can't speak from experience.  But, I have done a cruise or two that had 3 days in a row that were "at sea" and loved it.  And I didn't need anything else to entertain me like Bingo, or Karaoki, or ............  I'm happy walking around the ship, people-watching, sitting at an outdoor bar, sitting on my balcony, watching the flying fish.  As long as there is beer, tequila, vodka, and/or wine, a ship, and the ocean, I'm a happy camper.  

[Another_Critic]

9 TAs to date + 3 more booked.

 

Star Princess - 6 sea days until the Azores, port cancelled, 3 more seas days until Southampton.

Azamara Journey - 10 sea days in a row, no ports.

Quantum - 8 sea days in a row, no ports.

Anthem - 8 sea days in a row, no ports.

Other TAs with 5 sea days in a row.

Oasis - 9 sea days in a row.

Odyssey - 6 sea days in a row.

[Teeara]

Here are our Cruise Compasses from the Wonder of the Seas WB transatlantic cruise last year.  It will give you an idea as to what to expect on a transatlantic cruise.

 

https://issuu.com/hochmania/docs/wots

 

I've also got a bunch of videos from that cruise on my YT channel.  I will say that sailing on an Oasis class ship was perfect for a TA.  So often you don't have time to explore all the areas onboard that class since it's so large.  A transatlantic is the perfect time to do so.  With all the different neighborhoods you could focus on one a day!  

 

So I heartily recommend a transatlantic cruise.  We're hoping to book the WB TA on Allure after her amplification in spring 2025.  Fingers crossed it opens for booking later this year.

 

 

Edited September 5, 2023 by Teeara

[pretzlaff]

 

I am with Renee and Gumshoe currently on the 17 day Jewel. Quiet and boring can be a good thing.  This is mixed with the occasional whale or iceberg sighting. 
 

We are headed into a large sound on the southern tip of Greenland today. You won’t find that on a four day cruise out of Florida. 

[lovesthebeach2]

12 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

I don't think so, but it depends on how entertained you need to be and how many days there are especially in a row. To many port stops in a row can be tiring to some. There is usually always something to do or if you like to sit and read often then you won't be bored. We're on a TA right now on the Jewel and they have trivia, lectures, etc. The bigger ships will have a lot more to keep you entertained than the smaller ones. We are on the Arctic Circle cruise and there aren't that many sea days in a row. The most we have are 2 in a row.

 

We did that last September from Copenhagen to Boston…..awesome cruise that we want to do again.

[lovesthebeach2]

14 minutes ago, pretzlaff said:

 

I am with Renee and Gumshoe currently on the 17 day Jewel. Quiet and boring can be a good thing.  This is mixed with the occasional whale or iceberg sighting. 
 

We are headed into a large sound on the southern tip of Greenland today. You won’t find that on a four day cruise out of Florida. 

If you’re talking about Prins Cristin Sund you will be amazed at the beauty. Highlight of the cruise!

[Scottee25]

13 hours ago, Eddie Wilson said:

 

We love to hang at Solarium, and lounge, unwind as you say.....just not sure we can do it for a week.

 

So I have friends that have never been on a cruise and feel all the sea days of a TA would be boring. I am the type of person who always needs to be doing something on vacation. However, the sea days actually force me to slow down which is much appreciated. I can sleep in. I can do something or nothing. I still find things to do with all the sea days while also taking it easy. But as others have said, to each their own. You won't know how you feel about all the sea days until you actually try it.

[crzndeb]

Everybody is different. I have done several TA’s and TP’s, with as many as 7-9 sea days  in between. I never depend on the cruise line to entertain me. I have hobbies, so I usually bring a couple of crafting hobbies along with me. I also download movies, series and audiobooks on my IPad. I  love the solariums, but it’s hard for me to just lay there doing nothing, hence my crafting. I also walk, so going from deck to deck, forward to aft, lets me enjoy some of the artwork in the hallways. I much prefer numerous sea days in a row, rather than numerous port days. I’m retired and a homebody, so time on a ship is not a whole lot different than time at home, except I can’t putter around in my yard. I rarely cruise less than 10 days anymore, so I prepare myself for sea days.

Next week I board the Jewel for 14 nights to Greenland. 8 sea days. Im ready!!

[mapleleaves]

I was always intrigued by the notion of a TA. Sounds so much nicer than being crammed on a jet for 10hrs to Europe, plus it avoids the 8hr jet lag.   But on my last cruise ( Sept 2022), we missed a port due to stormy weather.  This happened to follow our scheduled sea day so we had 2 sea days in a row. OMG, I thought I'd lose my mind.  I don't do artsy craftsy stuff, or bingo, or trivia.   There's no way I could handle a TA.  But it's definitely an individual thing. I just know it's not for me.

[barbeyg]

We used to be people who go, go, go on vacation.  We have found over the years that we love the sea days.  Our first cruise back after Covid, we never even got off the ship. 😂 It was the most relaxing, rejuvenating trip so far. We look forward to our retirement TA in April, and our TP to Hawaii in September. We are never bored on sea days. 

[GimmeOcean]

I'm looking forward to the sea days on my upcoming TA almost as much as the ports.

[Another_Critic]

6 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We did that last September from Copenhagen to Boston…..awesome cruise that we want to do again.

 

6 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

If you’re talking about Prins Cristin Sund you will be amazed at the beauty. Highlight of the cruise!

I was on the same cruise.  👍👍👍👍👍

[ReneeFLL]

4 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

If you’re talking about Prins Cristin Sund you will be amazed at the beauty. Highlight of the cruise!

We are in it right now, so beautiful.

[lovesthebeach2]

4 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

We are in it right now, so beautiful.

I hope you have your camera!

[goldfish65]

Depends a lot on your attitude. For me it was bucket-list dream to know how it felt to people before air travel was an option. So I had a goal of sorts. Brought an assortment of books (only read one) and games (never played.) Enjoyed "overpacking" and having clothes for whatever mood or activity. There was a fantastic string duo playing sets at different venues and times. It's a very unusual luxury to never be in a hurry about anything for days, to lose track of what day it is. And ditch your phone. To find a spot where the only thing you can see and hear is the ocean. Look at the stars. 

[jeh10641]

19 hours ago, Eddie Wilson said:

DW and I are contemplating a trans Atlantic cruise.  We don’t mind intermittent sea days, but generally book port heavy itineraries.  DW is worried 6 consecutive days at sea she will go batty.  

 

Do they have more and or different things to do on board?  Can only handle trivia so much?

 

Thanks for any help....

 

Eddie

Hi, Eddie,

Just have fun. I have done one eastbound TA (1959) and three westbound (1959, 2008, 2016 with a fourth coming in October 2023). We love westbound because that gives us time to spend in Europe beforehand visiting places we had only dreamed or read about.

 

Although we live near Seattle, we are both from New York City. We have family and friends there whom we visit before flying to Europe from NYC. Less flight time than from Seattle.

 

We are both in our early 80s. We are retired so there is no need to "relax" since we are always relaxed. Going westbound, we gain an hour of sleep time every night so after two or three weeks of land sightseeing before the cruise the extra sleep time is a great way of winding down. Each TA cruise we have taken has included three to five ports before the TA part.

 

We are both readers so plenty of time for that. We love to meet new "friends" on every cruise. We love the entertainment at night. We do trivia, games, etc. Go to lectures or movies.

 

Jim

[taglovestocruise]

TA'S are now our favorite way to cruise.  8 or 9 sea days on a Oasis Class TA  with almost no kids is fantastic.  

[LooneyCruzer]

Just go and enjoy nothing to do. Most 5-7 days cruises are awful because there is only 1 day and 1 chance to do something. Everyone is in a crazy frenzy. 
7+ day cruises are heaven. Everyone is relaxed, no one is rushing, if you miss something, you have additional chances to see or do it.