How full do the transatlantic cruises usually sail?

[jamieann]

The 14 night transatlantic cruise is at the top of my wish list. Just wondering if these normally fill up or fewer people sail because it's so long?

 

[Debbru]

From what I've seen (we've done 2 EBTA's and will do this upcoming one), they usually manage to sell out the staterooms (using GT, FLR & cast member discounts) but the capacity is not at max since many cabins are 2 adults - no kids.
These cruises tend to have way fewer kids on them.

 

[apathetic]

The EBTA have been popular because of the varying ports. The ships are pretty full with most cabins selling out at premium prices. But like another said above, there aren't as many kids because they happen right on the edge of the school year. So, you have a high cabin occupancy rate, which drives up prices, but not quite as many people as you would see on a Caribbean cruise in July on the same ship.

 

[Ofinn]

The 14 night transatlantic cruise is at the top of my wish list. Just wondering if these normally fill up or fewer people sail because it's so long?

There is still lots of discounts being offered on the EBTA in May. It may fill up in the end, but like pp said there won't be as many kids. The WBTA was nearly sold out, suddenly there is rooms available in almost every category. The PIF dat is May 20 so there must have been a lot of cancellations. If need be DCL will offer discounts on that cruise too. It will probably sell out, but the same thing with fewer kids.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

They seem to be the ones that they have the most difficulty filling up, but we still book right away for the discounts! We are doing the WBTA in 2017!

 

[ludari]

I have never confirmed or checked the capacity of the ship on my two WBTA cruises but I have noticed it does appear to have less children on the ship. I believe this has to do with the timing of the sail date and school schedule.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

I think that's exactly it, people are hesitant to take their children out of school for the end of the school year and or the beginning of the school year as it is, but then add in how long the cruises are and it just seems pretty devoid of the children you expect on a normal DC.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

They seem to be the ones that they have the most difficulty filling up, but we still book right away for the discounts! We are doing the WBTA in 2017!

Any rumors on the dates or the ports on the WBTA in 2017? I'm booked for the 2016 WBTA, but it is only 11 nights, and I would prefer a 14 night. I have a great rate locked in for the 2016, but my PIF a date is in one month and I still can't say for sure if we can go this year. I'm thinking of canceling and trying for 2017-- if I knew the itinerary it would help me decide. Also, I need to be sure it will still be a September sailing, as my kids are out of school most of September but are back in October. So I can't do it if they push it back to October to follow a dry dock.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

I too would prefer a longer cruise, but we are tagging on a few weeks in Europe before the trip anyway so hopefully it all works out in the end. I too have been scouring for rumors or anything of the sort. I just want more info LOL

 

[darnheather]

Haven't decided on East or West for our TA but my goal is for 2019. My kids will be 18 and 13. I talked to several crew members and was told many of the kids are homeschooled and they make time for schoolwork every day in the clubs. My oldest will be just a month over the limit for Vibe but I can't imagine a better vacation after all those years of school!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Haven't decided on East or West for our TA but my goal is for 2019. My kids will be 18 and 13. I talked to several crew members and was told many of the kids are homeschooled and they make time for schoolwork every day in the clubs. My oldest will be just a month over the limit for Vibe but I can't imagine a better vacation after all those years of school!

Yup, we are homeschoolers and this is exactly what we do. It works out perfectly and we love to travel when everyone else is in school! We just spent 3 months in Mexico this year and with Europe next year we are excited and thrilled

 

[Ofinn]

Haven't decided on East or West for our TA but my goal is for 2019. My kids will be 18 and 13. I talked to several crew members and was told many of the kids are homeschooled and they make time for schoolwork every day in the clubs. My oldest will be just a month over the limit for Vibe but I can't imagine a better vacation after all those years of school!

We did the transpacific vancouver to Hawaii last sept. Yes they do make time for school work, but none of the kids showed up. Homeschooled kids need vacation too.

 

[darnheather]

We did the transpacific vancouver to Hawaii last sept. Yes they do make time for school work, but none of the kids showed up. Homeschooled kids need vacation too.

I was thinking "school" would be reading stories and histories of the places we are visiting. My 10 year old normally reads 2 books a week but was too distracted onboard. With 14 days though she should take some time for reading. Was that on DCL btw?

 

[Simba One]

Last year had 2600 passengers including less than 200 children.

 

[Ofinn]

I was thinking "school" would be reading stories and histories of the places we are visiting. My 10 year old normally reads 2 books a week but was too distracted onboard. With 14 days though she should take some time for reading. Was that on DCL btw?

I always figured the schoolwork help in the edge was for kids that were being pulled from school. The advantage to homeschooling is taking vacations when you want. I would never have my kids do schoolwork on vacation. The last thing I want to do is teach on vacation.

 

[gismo1554]

I've done 7 TA's now I think and all have been fairly full stateroom wise but not people wise. As others have said they might be at room capacity but you get a lot more solo or couples rather than families which means less kids in general.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We homeschool year round and there are no 'breaks'. The kids just take their books with them everywhere we go. We buy a curriculum that has to be turned in on certain days for grading and we travel a majority of the year, so there really is no 'vacation' so to speak as they are constantly learning. Because of the way we do this, they only have to do their school work 4 days a week and even my 6th and 8th grader are done by noon every day! Our vacations are at minimum 3 weeks and maximum has been 4 months....so there is no real ability to take that kind of time off and be able to get them back in the groove. My kids don't need homework help though, so on cruises they just do a little throughout the day in the stateroom and it all gets done!

 

[Ofinn]

We homeschool year round and there are no 'breaks'. The kids just take their books with them everywhere we go. We buy a curriculum that has to be turned in on certain days for grading and we travel a majority of the year, so there really is no 'vacation' so to speak as they are constantly learning. Because of the way we do this, they only have to do their school work 4 days a week and even my 6th and 8th grader are done by noon every day! Our vacations are at minimum 3 weeks and maximum has been 4 months....so there is no real ability to take that kind of time off and be able to get them back in the groove. My kids don't need homework help though, so on cruises they just do a little throughout the day in the stateroom and it all gets done!

We also homeschool year round, 4 days a week also. Are vacations aren't as long as yours though. A week here, 2weeks there...maybe 4 or 5 weeks all together over the course of year. I could see where if your taking a 4 month vacation it would be important to keep up with the school work. I want your job.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We love doing our 1 big vacation a year and then the smaller ones throughout the year. Those are just long weekends where we explore other states in these great United States I love hands on learning! LOL. I laugh because we ALWAYS stay in town when the other schools are on vacation, so our summers are spent right here at home as well as spring break!! We stay home and won't even go to museums. Our memberships seem to get a break during these times and we spend most of the time as part of library reading programs and taking classes at the community college in town. It's a great way to still hang out with friends while getting our school work done before and after the classes they take. The only holidays we tend to go away for are Christmas and Thanksgiving. Every other year we spend Thanksgiving in this adorable Bavarian village in Michigan and every 3 years we spend Christmas in Mexico. Do other homeschoolers tend to 'stay home' during school vacations or are we the only ones? I think that's why we absolutely LOVE the TA cruises!!

 

[Canadian Girl]

We did the Eastern TA last May and my family really had fun,but the time away from school was difficult. Many of the kids were homechooled but my daughters are not and being May meant my younger daughter missed her dance recitals as well. I may attempt the Western TA again, but only with my youngest who will be 13 in 2017 and myself. Her sister, now fouteen will not be able to take time off for any cruise as she will be semestered in high school. I promised her a repeat when she is in university. Of course, she will have aged out of all the kid's clubs by then.