Best Tips for Longer Cruises

[quote=Yankee47]

I like the "decompress" term.. that applies even to shorter cruises, and even folks who cruise regularly...it takes a few days...unfortunately with a shorter cruise, by the time you're adapting to the new rhythym, its time to get back to the stress....even if you live a relatively stress free life (yeh sure)..........

I like the longer ones. We've done 16, 19 and are about to do a 21 day. Love them all!

I like the "decompress" term.. that applies even to shorter cruises, and even folks who cruise regularly...it takes a few days...unfortunately with a shorter cruise, by the time you're adapting to the new rhythym, its time to get back to the stress....even if you live a relatively stress free life (yeh sure)..........

Pace yourself. Don't rush to do everything on board at once. Take the time to find the things you like most. It can take several days just to decompress from the real world. A longer cruise gives you more time to enjoy the trip.

whether you go for 1 week or 3 it really isn't different. you just pack more clothes and settle in for longer. when we cruised for 3 weeks we joined a bridge club on the boat and played cards every morning. there are a lot of groups you can join which makes it really fun. longer trips make it easier to do that because you have more time for daily activities, especially when there are a lot of sea days.

We tend to not take extra clothes as we use the laundry service - will do it ourselves on ships that have self-laundry, otherwise get the unlimited Lau dry package. Really enjoy returning (yes, you do eventually have to get off the ship) home with a suitcase full of clean clothes rather than doing laundry.

Download a few extra books on the reader and spend time in the Observation Deck - beautiful and relaxing...

Yep! We had 5 "children" (under 18) on our transist. One 5 year old that took advantage of Camp Ocean (note by the end of the cruise he was very spoiled), two 8-10 year olds (met them nice boys) and the rest were near 18. I know this because I asked the camp ocean personell. They didn't tell me who these children were, but it was very easy to spot them. On one hand it was nice to have grown-ups on the sailing on the other (like you pointed out) it had some very boring parts.

We went on a journeys cruise out of Galveston to Panama canal. Nearly all guests were "old" as the crew said a "senior citizen cruise" as school, college, etc was going on. They had deck parties, but no one went, Playlist cast did all their shows, they were dressed up talking to guests as nothing else to do. sort of a boring cruise as no teens, parents, etc. running around. Bring lots of books and we bring a dvd player and dvds as you see the same stuff on sea days. Ship is really dead after 10 pm as everyone is in bed. The canal visit was great, did lots of excursions.

Make sure you get into groups of similar interests. Pickleball players are a friendly and focused crowd so it's easy to make friends. HAL, Princess and some RCL (Quantum class, like Anthem of Seas) have courts and scheduled times. It's an easy way to get some good exercise and make friends, especially on longer cruises.

15 day cruise and a 23 day cruise. On both we brought easy to launder light weight clothes. We locate to laundry and plan our laundry days. We meet a great many folks, and meet up at various time for a drink or a chat. Being a smoker , there are the regulars in the smoking area or the smoking lounge and casinos. Meet and greet as many in the first few days and get to know the ones you like during the rest of the cruise. We have quite a few good friends still meeting up after the cruise. Get to know the staff who really pay attention to you, we still correspond with a few from the longer trips. Enjoy the longer cruise, we are still looking for an ideal 28 to 35 day cruise once we both retire---for real..... Have fun.

Wardrobe planning is more important. Take things you can mix and match that you can wear multiple times. Take clothes made of light weight synthetic fibers that can be hand washed and hung to dry. Our last transatlantic was on a cruise line with no public laundry. We seemed to have socks and underwear hanging to dry almost every day. I take clothespin hooks and children sized clip hangers for this so things can be hung around the cabin. Clothes don’t dry well hanging in the shower, although you need to start there until they stop dripping. I also take several scarves and necklaces that can change up an outfit. Be sure to take a Tide pen, Fabreeze, and a wrinkle releaser. You can make a week’s worth of clothes last for 2.