How do you pass the time waiting for your cruise?

We are new to cruising...first one over New Years. We never preplan vacations...with dh's points from work travel, we travel for free all over the country several times a year, spur of the moment based on our schedules that week. Kids talked me into a cruise, so made the reservations in May for December based on the kids school schedule and that I know for a fact I won't have court that week. Paid for with cash, so much different than other vacations which were free other than food/souvenirs. My current problem...It is so far away:) 160 days left. It is surely a lesson in patience[emoji3], but what on earth do cruisers do while waiting, lol? What kind of planning/research do you do? I have been looking at different excursions, but I keep changing my mind. Perhaps that's a good thing and a good thing about taking time to really research the locations where we are going? I am type A, so planning etc is in my blood, but this is so long.

When we worked, we had very little time to think about our upcoming vacations,cruises. We worked usually 10 - 14 hours a day -- and sometimes 6 and 7 days a week.

Once we retired, we were able to take 4 and 5 cruises a year so we had time to plan each cruise and check out what excursions we wanted to do. We also still did a lot of land tours in Europe, etc.

Now -- we spend many days in doctors offices, taking tests, etc. -- so way fewer cruises -- maybe 1 or 2 a year. My time is now trying to answer people's questions on CC.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising; I hope you really enjoy it. There are a few things you can do at this point - find flights to get into your departure city at least a day (or two) prior to sailing. That will give you a cushion in case there are winter storms that cause flight delays. Check out hotels in your departure city - do you want to stay near the airport or downtown? Do you want to go shopping for toiletries, etc. prior to boarding the ship, rather than packing them from home? You can also look at ship amenities you can order in advance - alcohol package, soda package, spa services, laundry, etc.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

I do a lot of research on the ports we will be visiting. I look at the excursions offered by the cruise line, then I look at private excursions. I try to narrow it down to the activities we are interested in and get down to looking at the reviews of the different companies that do private excursions along with reviews of people that have used the private companies and the reviews of people that went on the ship excursions. If I decide on a private excursion for a port, I book it as early as possible to make sure we will get the company we want. Some of the good ones book up very early. Believe it or not, some people are booked for excursions more than 160 days out from their sail date. If it's a popular excursion with the cruise line, we book it as soon as the cruise ship allows us to book it on-line. If we are driving, I make hotel reservations that include parking for the time we are on the cruise and have a shuttle service. These book early too for the best places. We've booked the hotel a year in advance for some locations. We had to change hotels 4 months prior to our cruise to Europe and the hotel we wanted was already booked solid. If we are flying, I make the airline reservations at least 6 months from the cruise so that we can have the seats we want together. I book shuttle service or rental car, depending on where the port. If our luggage tags for the cruise are frayed, I order new ones from Amazon. I take a cube and start picking up the small things I'll want to have such as over-the-counter meds that are individually packaged, antiseptic wipes, LARGE zip-locks for our shoes and to put toiletries into to keep them from leaking and for our wet swimsuits to make the trip back. We try to pack light and the zip locks help with that. Planning, planning, planning. I read all the reviews for the ship we will be on and decide what we don't want to miss, and look at the good and the bad things to decide what are the must do's and what to avoid.

Researching the ports and planning future cruises

We very much enjoy cruising but don't want to wish our lives away and have other enjoyable things going on between now and when we cruise again. :)

Keeping up with the CC boards gives me my "fix". :D

LuLu

usually, but not always, we know what excursions we want to do by the time we book. I personally spend time researching the next trip. we have two booked, the first in September and next in March, 2016. I've been looking for something later in 2016. I never tire of reading other folks input, most times taken with a grain of salt as you should. welcome to cc.!

Well, if it's a new embarkation port, I spend quite a bit of time on here asking questions or researching hotels and information before I book a hotel.

I also research flights and look for a good deal before booking.

We really do try to make a conscious effort to book cruises to ports with at least one new port so we will also spend time researching what it has to offer and then what we want to do there.

I join a roll call and talk about the cruise with others who are on the sailing with us and that helps pass the time.

I also work some overtime to help pay for it and to help us get some extra spending money :)

Reading cruise critic: cruise line's forum, Roll Call, researching each port.

Finding a pre-cruise hotel, checking airfare prices, tweaking the packing list, answering CC questions.

Research! I research like crazy everything about cruising in general, but also the ports that we will be visiting. I'm an obsessive planner, so it works for me.

I have to say, the wait is torture, however. I have a little countdown clock on my desk at work so when things get crazy stressful, I can say to myself, "Only x more days!" [emoji6]

Work.....cruise critic and doctor appointments. In that order of importance.

Planning the next cruise.

Keith

We are new to cruising...first one over New Years. We never preplan vacations...with dh's points from work travel, we travel for free all over the country several times a year, spur of the moment based on our schedules that week. Kids talked me into a cruise, so made the reservations in May for December based on the kids school schedule and that I know for a fact I won't have court that week. Paid for with cash, so much different than other vacations which were free other than food/souvenirs. My current problem...It is so far away:) 160 days left. It is surely a lesson in patience[emoji3], but what on earth do cruisers do while waiting, lol? What kind of planning/research do you do? I have been looking at different excursions, but I keep changing my mind. Perhaps that's a good thing and a good thing about taking time to really research the locations where we are going? I am type A, so planning etc is in my blood, but this is so long.

Only 160 days until your cruise? That's not very long at all ;):D I usually book my cruises two YEARS in advance (as you can see in my countdown clocks).

How do I spend my time? Researching Cruise Critic and talking to other people on the roll call for my cruise. Start going through my things to determine if I need to buy new clothes or other items. Finalize hotel, car rental and airfare. Start working on my packing spreadsheet. Make sure all previous pictures are downloaded onto my computer, wipe clean the memory cards and see if I need new ones.

Besides Cruise Critic, I love Tripadivsor's save (function) and saved trips.(Under the drop-down of your name -> just below messages)

When I read about a hotel here on cruise critic or on Tripadvisor or where ever, I can look it up on tripadvisor and save it to my own saved trips. Even if my trip is not official. I can put comments in like "often found on hotwire", or great for kids. or usually goes for X dollars in high season. I love the way my map starts to fill in. It's a great resource. I am a huge planner too and plan out over a year. I don't know what I would do if I had a last minute trip? I know the planning is going to have to stop for now, as school is starting back up here on Monday. I do have my prioritizes. I will be working full time and going to school full time, so that ***eventually*** I can travel full time :cool: Planning will have to take a back seat to the week end for now :eek:

Easy plan the next cruise 😉

Easy plan the next cruise

I like that...and also watch the absolute last minute cruises, to see whether we can squeeze in a short one in between....;)

here's what I do:

- make/update spreadsheet with packing list (including which bag each item goes into)

- check and recheck the itinerary, time in port, etc.

- update the document with itinerary, time in port, clothing for the day, in-port plans for the day, etc.

- update travel notebook (this has the itinerary, daily schedule, copies of all documents, confirmation numbers, amount of $ spent, contact phone numbers, etc)

- look at pictures and maps of the ports online

- familiarize myself with the ship layout, food, entertainment, etc

- read cruise critic reviews of my ship/itinerary

- read cruise critic

- check the weather at the ports on my itinerary

- practice packing (once or twice)

- search for flights each day to find a good fit based on price and time

- book hotel

- check for price drops

- talk to people on my roll call on cruise critic (and other sites if there are any)

:D

You want to keep the hopper full. If you can only get away once a year, start planning for two and three years out. We are in the happy zone where we can get away several times a year - so we have October trip to England with return on QM2 in November; then to Houston for Thanksgiving; a January stay in St. Maarten; a February escape from NY on NCL Gem. Then we are starting to review options and pencil in later months/years.

One of the advantages of long term planning is that you are able to shop for good deals, take advantage of frequent flier points for necessary flights, etc.

I am quite lucky because I have a very small family so I still get to have fun with my hobbies. That being said work, eat, sleep, cruise repeat

Check out the official tourism sites for the ports you are visiting. they often have lots of information, downloadable guides and maps. So you can plan your activities if you want to do something other than the ship's or private excursions. They may also have discounts for activities, admission to sites, a day pass for transportation. also check reviews on Trip Advisor. Another good site is Frommers - they often have maps and diy walking tour guides.

I just watch the boards, cc and another one that has an app, just in case something comes up. I like to check out my ships deck cams. Other than that, I just go about living my life. I do keep the cruise in the back of my mind when shopping I case I find something that would be great to take with me :)

I do most of what all who do who has come before me!!!!

Really researching if fun for me....and just working and living...and church