EBTA vs WBTA

[Hubie]

Hi,

We're thinking of booking a TA for 2018. I've read lots of pros & cons about both the EBTA & WBTA. Not sure what to do. The EBTA from Miami to Barcelona looks more interesting to us, but we're concerned about the loss of 6 hours on the way over the Pond. What do you recommend and why?

 

[jdb in AZ]

Hi,

We're thinking of booking a TA for 2018. I've read lots of pros & cons about both the EBTA & WBTA. Not sure what to do. The EBTA from Miami to Barcelona looks more interesting to us, but we're concerned about the loss of 6 hours on the way over the Pond. What do you recommend and why?

If you don't lose those six hours on the way over on the ship, you'll still lose them on a plane and have to deal with that all the same day. I think it would be easier to lose them gradually on the ship. If you do the WBTA and fly, make sure to allow at least a day or two to adjust.

Just out of curiosity, how well do you sleep on a plane? When we flew to Australia (14 hrs in a sardine can) I couldn't sleep and was a total zombie. It would've been easier to lose all those time zones on a ship.

 

[Hubie]

Thanks! You make good sense. We'll most likely book the EBTA while on our June DCL - Northern Europe Cruise. If we do book the WBTA instead, we would fly to London for at least a couple of days before taking a train to Dover.

DCL - 4-day Bahamas, Dream, 2014
DCL - 14-day WBPC, Wonder, 2015
DCL - 7-day, Norway Fjords, Magic, 2016
DCL - 7-day, Northern Europe, Magic, 2017

 

[cruiser21]

I disagree with pp. I've flown to Europe a few times. I sleep on the way over wake up it's morning. I'm a little tired so I just sleep 10 hours or so the first night, and I'm fine. I don't know where you live, but I live in AZ so I'm down 3 hours before the cruise starts. I think it would be difficult losing an hour everyday and getting up at a decent hour. Then you have to adjust all over again when you get home. All that being said it wouldn't stop me from doing it if I really wanted to. I agree with you it's a great itinerary. I have a horrible time adjusting when I come back home from Europe. I'm doing the WBTA because the jet lag won't be as bad when I get home.

 

[ivanp91]

We booked the EBTA on opening day, with the idea that if the WBTA offered a more appealing itinerary we would switch to that to allow us more time to save.

At the end of the day we are sticking with the EBTA, the ports seem much more interesting and the several hours lost over the voyage is offset by having a couple additional nights over the WB voyage. It is pretty much certain that we would never visit any of the ports of call if it weren't for this exact cruise, whilst some of the ports on the WBTA can be experienced on the cruises from NYC.

 

[cruiser21]

We booked the EBTA on opening day, with the idea that if the WBTA offered a more appealing itinerary we would switch to that to allow us more time to save.

At the end of the day we are sticking with the EBTA, the ports seem much more interesting and the several hours lost over the voyage is offset by having a couple additional nights over the WB voyage. It is pretty much certain that we would never visit any of the ports of call if it weren't for this exact cruise, whilst some of the ports on the WBTA can be experienced on the cruises from NYC.

The ports are fantastic on this cruise. I haven't completely ruled it out, but I'm thinking the WBTA would be easier on my body. We did the Hawaii cruise, and I loved gaining 3 hours. I'm also traveling with a teenager who doesn't get up until 10am on a normal cruise. What would happen if he lost an hour each day? Would he be getting up at 3pm LOL? Hopefully someday they'll do something like this going West. I haven't been to any of the ports on the WBTA except Dover so it's still a good cruise for us.

 

[ACDSNY]

I went with the WBTA as 4 sea days in a row is my limit before I start going buggy. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy sea days, but I've found when it's more than 4 I'm wanting to set foot on land and do something else.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have done 2 EBTA and would do another one in spite of the loss of hours. We are thinking of doing something in 2019, and will go with whatever itinerary looks best.

Today is my second morning back home from this year's EBTA. We had 2 mornings in Iceland to help us adjust, still I was sound asleep by 7:30 yesterday, woke up at 4 this morning. Luckily I am retired.

 

[Hubie]

Guess I'm sold on the EBTA, since we've been to Cork and some of the other ports can be hit by taking the 7-day from NY.

 

[ludari]

I've done two WBTA cruises and my friends have done one of each of the TA cruises and said they prefer the WB because of the time adjustment which they said interrupted their sleep patterns which made them miss several shipboard activities. Nevertheless I would be willing to deal with that time loss if the cruise ports are more interesting to me.

 

[gismo1554]

I've done EBTA and WBTA and find it a lot easier loosing the time in one go than loosing the one hour a day. It made it very draining and just meant I got up later and later. I find the effects less when you loose the 6 hours all in one as you can recover in a day but that's me. Both are great and which ever you choose I'm sure you will have a great time.