EBPC or WBTA?

[MikeGS]

Hi!

After our first Disney cruise last year round the med, my family and I are really keen to do another one (I wish I'd booked a placeholder while I was onboard!)! We are currently thinking about doing one of the longer repositioning cruises later next year when they become available (assuming the value of the £ doesn't plummet too much on Wednesday :-( ).

The reason we wanted a longer cruise was because, we felt guilty some days for not getting off the boat. There was so much to do and we were having so much fun, so a cruise with more days at sea (and in total) sounds like a great idea. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for us on which might be a better cruise. We are a family of 5, with 2 adults, and by the time of the cruise next year a 5, 6 and 9 year old.

I'm guessing that the WBTA is a rougher sailing, but is that right? Are there any other things people think I should know?

Thanks

Mike

 

[GoofyLovingFamily]

We vote Panama Canal. Everyone we have talked to loves this one. We are planning 2019 for this one. We have heard rough seas on TA cruises.

 

[MikeGS]

We vote Panama Canal. Everyone we have talked to loves this one. We are planning 2019 for this one. We have heard rough seas on TA cruises.

It's my preference TBH, the only worry I have, is if its at the same time as this years, my wife is an accountant and can't ever get the first full week of any month off (we had to move our honeymoon because of this back when we got married). Which could be a big problem for either!

 

[MickeyEarrings]

Remember that you gain hours on a westbound voyage. You lose sleep - several times - on a long eastbound voyage.

 

[ludari]

I've done two WBTA cruises and they are my absolute favorites. On both of my WBTA cruises the captain/crew slightly modified the planned route to avoid bad weather (no changes to ports) and only during one of my WBTA cruises did we experience one day with rough seas but it wasn't really that bad. Some of the other things I like about the WBTA is that they are better ports and I believe more sea days (which are my favorites). Also if you are travelling from Europe you will save on airfare as well. Good luck with your decision.

 

[gismo1554]

I have done a number of WBTAs now (2007, 2010, 2014 & 2015) and I'm booked on this years. The rockiness of the cruise depends mainly on the route they take and all of these were southern cruises going to Florida side from Barcelona. This years will be my first experience of a northern cruise (going to New York) and from what I've read these are a lot more choppy and prone to bad weather. We shall see but I personally love the amount of sea days you get on a WBTA and the gaining an hour each day. I've done a EBTA before (but not PC) and loosing an hour each day was hard work but EBPC I think the total time loss is only around 3 hours so not too bad. I would go by the ports and number of sea days personally and this is what always sways me to the WBTA. After this years though I may have a different opinion on this one.

 

[MikeGS]

Thanks! That's really interesting! I hadn't considered the adding/ removing hours. With an extra hour per day its just possible I might be hungry at some point one thing I remember from my last cruise was, after boarding in Barcelona, never feeling hungry for the rest of the cruise. Sea days are a big yes from us as well.

Are their any indications yet whether the 2018 WBTA will be heading to NY or Florida?

 

[Gilland18]

We have done one of each, with a second WBTA coming this fall. I loved both but the Panama Canal cruise was my favorite of all time! Part of the choice would be where you live. If the US, the canal cruises will be easier flights and probably cheaper. If you live in Europe, the flights are probably better for the Transatlantic. The time changes for the EBPC didn't seem to be real troublesome and are fewer than the WBTA. Weather and seas are more predictable on the EBPC since the routes change for the WBTA. Actually don't think there's a wrong choice here. They are both great!

 

[Geomom]

Thanks! That's really interesting! I hadn't considered the adding/ removing hours. With an extra hour per day its just possible I might be hungry at some point one thing I remember from my last cruise was, after boarding in Barcelona, never feeling hungry for the rest of the cruise. Sea days are a big yes from us as well.

Are their any indications yet whether the 2018 WBTA will be heading to NY or Florida?

The last cruise listed for the Magic is the British Isles one out of Dover for the 1st week of September, ending on 9/9/18. I think that the cruise that starts on 9/9/18 will be the WBTA out of Dover, likely doing a northerly route and ending somewhere in the Northeastern US...likely NY. If that ends up being the case, it could work out very well for you!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi!

After our first Disney cruise last year round the med, my family and I are really keen to do another one (I wish I'd booked a placeholder while I was onboard!)! We are currently thinking about doing one of the longer repositioning cruises later next year when they become available (assuming the value of the £ doesn't plummet too much on Wednesday :-( ).

The reason we wanted a longer cruise was because, we felt guilty some days for not getting off the boat. There was so much to do and we were having so much fun, so a cruise with more days at sea (and in total) sounds like a great idea. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for us on which might be a better cruise. We are a family of 5, with 2 adults, and by the time of the cruise next year a 5, 6 and 9 year old.

I'm guessing that the WBTA is a rougher sailing, but is that right? Are there any other things people think I should know?

Thanks

Mike

Having done both an eastbound and westbound transatlantic crossing, my vote is for westbound.

Generally, EB transits are in the spring, when the weather is "milder". And WB in the fall, when the weather is "rougher". We didn't find that to be true. Our WB transit (in Sep/Oct) we had seas like glass and bright sunny days every day. Our EB transit (in May) we had the "typical" north Atlantic weather - rough seas, rain, sleet for the full 6 sea days. Plus the port stops were very cold and windy. Now, we may have had atypical weather, but as is true with most weather, you never really know what you're going to get.

Added to that the gaining of a hour a day for 6 days on a WB is much preferable (to me) than the losing of those 6 hours on the EB cruise.

 

[MikeGS]

The last cruise listed for the Magic is the British Isles one out of Dover for the 1st week of September, ending on 9/9/18. I think that the cruise that starts on 9/9/18 will be the WBTA out of Dover, likely doing a northerly route and ending somewhere in the Northeastern US...likely NY. If that ends up being the case, it could work out very well for you!

Wow that would be about as perfect as possible for us! If that's the date and POD I'll be booking it on the day it's released.

 

[Geomom]

Wow that would be about as perfect as possible for us! If that's the date and POD I'll be booking it on the day it's released.

I'm just guessing at it, but when you look at itineraries--the Dream and Fantasy have theirs listed through the end of September. The Wonder and Magic end in early September--which looks to be the end of their Alaskan and European cruises.

 

[gismo1554]

Are their any indications yet whether the 2018 WBTA will be heading to NY or Florida?

As others have said I think its going to be Dover to NY just be interesting to see which ports. It would be nice to be Dover to Florida but I doubt it looking at where the last European one ends. The dates should be out before May (usually the September ones come out in May and the earlier ones in March but this year they came out earlier so fingers crossed).

If you live in Europe, the flights are probably better for the Transatlantic.

Strangely I'm not sure this is the case. One way's from the US are expensive to all of us so I think it works out the same for both US and Europeans. From the UK especially the price of one way flights from the US is quite harsh but then you can get a reasonable flight to Barcelona. I tend to use airmiles which helps with the costs (tesco clubcard allow you to convert ).

With the Pananma you can usually get a multicity return with most of the major airlines which will save you some money and could work out cheaper. Its a bit of a gamble the flights either way as sometimes one can be cheaper than the other and sometimes not.

 

[MikeGS]

I've just had a quick look on Skyscanner for roughly that time this year and the flight prices seem ok one way.

JFK to Manchester are weighing in at £216 which seems ok, and I'll assume it will come in at about £250 per person by the time you get to paying.

I guess we'll have to see what happens to the value of sterling tomorrow, although hopefully any further drop will be temporary :-(

 

[gismo1554]

I've just had a quick look on Skyscanner for roughly that time this year and the flight prices seem ok one way.

JFK to Manchester are weighing in at £216 which seems ok, and I'll assume it will come in at about £250 per person by the time you get to paying.

I guess we'll have to see what happens to the value of sterling tomorrow, although hopefully any further drop will be temporary :-(

Very true! I think Norweign is one of the ones that people got good deals on this year so something to keep an eye on

 

[GatorMomInNC]

Done and EBPC and 2WBTAs. My favorite cruise of all times are the WBTAs, but the EBPC is great too, and we did Disneyland, WDW and Universal on the bookends of that cruise. The EBPC weather is HOT AND HUMID, FYI. Much more beach type ports on the EBPC. My kids loved both, but probably my younger child liked the EBPC better. You can't go wrong on either.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We did WBTAs in 2015 (Barcelona to Miami) and 2016 (Barcelona to NY). We liked the more southern crossing to Miami better and had smoother seas than on the more northerly transit to NY. We'll do the EBPC this fall, so I'm anxious to see how that itinerary compares. The WBTAs were each 11 nights while the EBPC is 14, so the number of sea days (which we love) are nearly the same despite the additional ports of call for the EBPC. We're booked on the Sept. 2, 2018 British Isles cruise from Dover and are hoping for a WBTA to follow as a B2B. We'll see.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Remember that you gain hours on a westbound voyage. You lose sleep - several times - on a long eastbound voyage.

But not so much on the EBPC, since there is only a two time zone difference between San Diego and Galveston (although there might be another zone change during the cruise itself that would be compensated by another in the opposite direction before arrival in Galveston).