2nd time cruiser

Going on a cruise next month with my husband as part of his brush day gift and half is basically our LATE honeymoon. We were married 7 years ago and still haven't been able to do a honeymoon bc of money, kids and military. So this will be it. Anyway just wanted to know what you veteran cruisers do. Do you stay to yourselves, do you party it up with other people, or do you just go with the flow and see what happens. I want to have calm romantic days bit also want to have fun with other couples/people since we never get to have that type of fun with other adults. suggestions on how to get involved in the fun?

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Ok what you do is personal

Some people stay totally to themselves

If you want to share company of others then dinner on large table and get involved in activities like trivia as that brings lots together

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Wishing you a great cruise.

Each person is different. Some will party with others, some stay by themselves and still some do a combination of the two.

Have a great time.

Keith

Glad you are able to cruise again.

We like to partake in Trivia where we meet a few people.

If your ship has a disco on it, that it is a good place to meet others -- have cocktails and dance.

Everyone is different as to what they like to do on cruises.

You do not mention which line you will sail with. If Princess, check on the Military Benefit. It is $50 to $250 for eligible active duty and veterans.

Going on a cruise next month with my husband as part of his brush day gift and half is basically our LATE honeymoon. We were married 7 years ago and still haven't been able to do a honeymoon bc of money, kids and military. So this will be it. Anyway just wanted to know what you veteran cruisers do. Do you stay to yourselves, do you party it up with other people, or do you just go with the flow and see what happens. I want to have calm romantic days bit also want to have fun with other couples/people since we never get to have that type of fun with other adults. suggestions on how to get involved in the fun?

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First, what is "brush day"? As to what we do, we join our cruise's roll call prior to the cruise, partly to see what other C.C.er's are going, and to get some ideas for excursions. We usually participate in a meet and greet on board. It's nice to at least have a few familiar faces to say "hello" to on the ship, and people to talk to on an excursion. As others have said, there are times when we want do things by ourselves, and there are times when we like to interact with some of the other cruisers.

You can do both...it's not an "either/or" thing! Party it up when you feel like it...have "alone" time when you want!

I would choose a large table for dinner...that's where you'll get to know others...and if there's a night you want to dine alone, you can do a "specialty" restaurant on that evening.

You will have so much time to yourself, it's nice to have others to chat with at times!

Go with the flow. Check the ship's newsletter each night and see what you'd like to do the next day. You didn't say what ship or if you have assigned dining.

To meet others, if you don't have Anytime Dining where you could sometimes ask to share a table, then spend an e evening in a popular bar to meet others.

Or, if your cruise is port intensive, meet some on a tour.

Only you know what you want to do each day.

I would suggest a large table at dinner as well. My boyfriend and I went on a cruise in May, just us. We had our days to ourselves and just went with the flow. We met up with our dinner table at dinner, and most nights would do the evening activities with them. We were fortunate enough to have an AMAZING table that had similar interests.

I meant birthday, phone spellchecked it to brush day.

We are going on the norwegian Dawn.

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I meant birthday, phone spellchecked it to brush day.

We are going on the norwegian Dawn.

 

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The infamous spellcheck strikes again!:D

Plenty of options such as the roll call to get an idea of the folks that will be on your cruise. They will have a meet and greet where you can meet them on the ship. Get a large table and you'll be meeting them at dinner on the first night. Trivia and some of the ship's activities are available but you might also decide that you just want time alone and you might decide you want to spend most of your time alone. If you are taking some of the excursions, consider doing those with people on the roll call. It comes out cheaper and you get to see more. There are loads of ways to meet people and plenty of opportunities to just be alone as a couple. Play it by ear.

Yes just get on the cruise roll call to get all the info you need

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A good way to meet others is to sit AT THE BAR on the bar stools rather than just in the bar. :D

LuLu

Going on a cruise next month with my husband as part of his brush day gift and half is basically our LATE honeymoon. We were married 7 years ago and still haven't been able to do a honeymoon bc of money, kids and military. So this will be it. Anyway just wanted to know what you veteran cruisers do. Do you stay to yourselves, do you party it up with other people, or do you just go with the flow and see what happens. I want to have calm romantic days bit also want to have fun with other couples/people since we never get to have that type of fun with other adults. suggestions on how to get involved in the fun?

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Just do it your way and things will turn out as you like...

Whut Dancin Man said, Get on your roll call and let things progress from there . . .

Interesting that you asked this question, as I have wondered at times how to meet folks on a cruise, though DH and generally are happy keeping to ourselves. We have not met anyone at bars or trivia because we don't do those things -- maybe we should! We have met folks at large dinner tables, but nothing ever came of our meeting them, in terms of doing anything else with them on board (like drinks or a show). The two times we met folks that we then did have drinks and conversation with both centered around a CC meet and greet. In one case, we met a couple from our meet and greet later on a snorkel excursion, then had cocktails together, and in the other case, we simply encountered a couple we had met a few days earlier at our meet and greet and invited them to join us for drinks.

So far, in four cruises, we have not met anyone with whom we have shared emails or contact info, though I still remember one of the couples mentioned above and wish I could contact them. Both DH and I thought it would be fun to cruise with them again.

We have found it hard to make what might be called "friends" on board -- folks we "pal around with" during the cruise, or folks we might want to keep in touch with after the cruise or possibly cruise with again. We have found most folks are on board either with their own group of friends or family, or are there to spend quality time with a loved one. We haven't met anyone so far who really seemed to be looking for "friends," though we have met a lot of chatterboxes, for sure! On our last cruise we met the most interesting folks we have ever encountered on board ship, but it was the very last dinner of the cruise, so we all went our separate ways.

Ha, ha, I got a chuckle out of 'brush day'...sounds like 'happy birthday' spoken by a drunk!

"Er...uh....happy brrrushday, honey!"

Interesting that you asked this question, as I have wondered at times how to meet folks on a cruise, though DH and generally are happy keeping to ourselves. We have not met anyone at bars or trivia because we don't do those things -- maybe we should! We have met folks at large dinner tables, but nothing ever came of our meeting them, in terms of doing anything else with them on board (like drinks or a show). The two times we met folks that we then did have drinks and conversation with both centered around a CC meet and greet. In one case, we met a couple from our meet and greet later on a snorkel excursion, then had cocktails together, and in the other case, we simply encountered a couple we had met a few days earlier at our meet and greet and invited them to join us for drinks.

 

So far, in four cruises, we have not met anyone with whom we have shared emails or contact info, though I still remember one of the couples mentioned above and wish I could contact them. Both DH and I thought it would be fun to cruise with them again.

 

We have found it hard to make what might be called "friends" on board -- folks we "pal around with" during the cruise, or folks we might want to keep in touch with after the cruise or possibly cruise with again. We have found most folks are on board either with their own group of friends or family, or are there to spend quality time with a loved one. We haven't met anyone so far who really seemed to be looking for "friends," though we have met a lot of chatterboxes, for sure! On our last cruise we met the most interesting folks we have ever encountered on board ship, but it was the very last dinner of the cruise, so we all went our separate ways.

It's funny because our favorite show is king of Queens. And my husband and I always joke and say that's what our life would be like if we didn't have kids. Lol. Well now that we are cruising alone without the kids I want to take advantage of being able to drink and get together with other adults as we rarely get to do it while at home.

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Ha, ha, I got a chuckle out of 'brush day'...sounds like 'happy birthday' spoken by a drunk!

 

"Er...uh....happy brrrushday, honey!"

Lol yes I hate that this phone does that sometimes. Before it spell checked it to brush it changed it to butch day. I went back and changed it and then missed that it changed it to brush.

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On a cruise ship, I try to reach out to people a bit more than I would normally. A technique that works for me is to ask a question - did you have a good day? did you go ashore? have you tried any of the other restaurants? These are questions anybody can answer. If the people are sociable, a conversation usually develops and you can kind of get a sense whether you have anything in common, or whether they want to be left alone.

While I love cruising with my husband, it's not enough for me to spend time only with him, especially on longer cruises. I'm not shy to strike up a conversation with others, and I think sometimes they are wishing someone would get the ball rolling, so I do! If we're sitting in a bar, waiting in a lineup, or seated next to someone before a show, one of my all-purpose questions usually fills the bill. We've met some really wonderful people this way, and once the ice is broken, we usually run into each other throughout the cruise. So it starts to feel like we have lots of friends.

I am also quite willing to approach a person or a couple sitting at a large table in the buffet to ask if I can join them. Sometimes they say all the seats are taken, but often they say yes. If they're not in the middle of a conversation, I ask one of my questions. Met some really interesting people this way.

Occasionally someone is crusty or turns out to be a complainer. It's just the law of averages. Time to move on!