Does anyone else get a little anxious before a cruise? About all the details?

I know this is silly-but I sometimes get a little anxious before I actually get on the cruise! I am the vacation planner in our house- I book the cruise-motel before-meal times-excursions,etc. We drive about 7-8 hours to the port-so I have to figure time off-motel room-dog boarding. This year-our cruise is the first week of December- so I need to do the tree and get presents done- also before the trip. My husband does not understand- "We get on the ship-relax-drink-repeat-get off the ship-no big deal"- I don't really "relax"-till I actually step foot on the ship-oh-and make sure my luggage made it on (the porter didn't leave it on the dock-because I didn't tip him enough-lol). Anyone else feel this way? This will be my 12th cruise- I think-so I know all the stuff to do- and I love planning for my cruises-BUT? I'm thinking the holiday stuff-added in-is stressing me out -:eek:

I enjoy the planning and it does not stress me out at all. I'm the one in the family who sets it all up. It's all part of the vacation for me.

But the Holiday stuff could be a bit of a curve ball.

It's pretty much the same for me. DH does not partake in any planning. We leave Jan. 5 and I'm stressing even though I have time before the holidays to care of everything, my major stress is going to be the week after Christmas with packing and all the undecorating of the house.

All the paperwork is done have set sail printed and luggage tags ready. Most toiletries are packed. Now Christmas planning to get through!

Have a great cruise!

Thanks- I usually enjoy it- I also work full time and have a child at home. It is his birthday today-so homemade cake and dinner- and I'm doing all the Thanksgiving cooking this year- my mother-in-law has dementia-so it's me-but only 5 to cook for-thank goodness-we leave Dec 1st for the cruise-so think I'm just stressed-

This will really only be our second cruise, and first with the kids, and I am the planner in my family. My wife thinks we can just wing it and everything will be great, but I want to obsess to make sure everything goes as good as can be. I really want to boys to have a good time, since our oldest is a Junior, and I see opportunities like this slipping away, as he goes off to college.

In our house, the moment we are booked/confirmed 'somebody' ;) hauls the suitcases from the basement to the guest bedroom even if the cruise is still 6 months or 12 months away. (I'm not kidding)

"What ARE you doing".....????

"Don't you remember we are going on a cruise...."????

"Yes...., but that's 6 to 12 months away"

" So...." ??

Stress is self induced based on your choices. Have a great cruise, make great decisions!

It's the same for me here. Our last cruise was on Anthem with a group of 8 families. I was the go-to guy for most of the cruise planner questions and reservations. Thanks to CC and our roll call, I was able to let the others know when it was time to book shows and activities. I had a FB event that I used to communicate the information to the other families. It all turned out fine and we had a great time. Only one big hiccup that happened and it was to our families cruise planner bookings and reservations got all mixed up 6 weeks prior because of and RCI IT glitch (Like that never happens right?) I'm just glad it happened to us and not one of the other families.

My wife is a school principle so I end up having more time on my hands to do all this stuff, plus I'm just an ity bity little OCD

My relaxing officially started when we got on the motor coach for the 15hr drive to get to the port. Once we had our luggage in the cargo hold, hoped up on the bus and from then on, it was out of my hands. 2 of the 8 families chose to fly instead, and both had one suitcase go missing:mad:

dp

There is always some stress involved with planning any kind of trip. In my house I do the trip planning, DW does the packing planning. Call it sharing the load :). We have done it enough now that the stress has gone down but there are still things to worry about. Making a list is always a big help for me. I actually do two lists, one for bookings and one for closing up the house etc. We have been very fortunate to be able to travel a lot in the past years so experience does help. My worrying stops once we close the front door to our house. After that I know I have done everything I can do and the planning is over. Time to execute the plan and deal with what mother nature and fate send our way.

I am also the planner, and every time I try to sit down with DH he nods off or gets bored. We are leaving Dec 14th, so I hear you on the holiday stuff having to be all set before we go. I am also the packer, and have to force him to set aside things so I can pack them away. For all my pre-trip planning and organizing that goes unnoticed, while we are in route or going through check in, I do get a lot of thanks and appreciation when I have everything in order or can name exactly where something was packed that is needed. It is frustrating and stressful though, and I also don't relax until we are at the pier, checked in. The night before, I can't sleep at all and check the weather every 5 minutes, or make sure our things really are packed. At least he eventually shows appreciation, though it would be nice if he helped more with the packing!

I sort of enjoy the "planning" part...to an extent! I don't "plan" every second of the actual vacation...just the flights, hotel, etc..... I don't get too stressed out anymore...been there, done that so much, that it's almost 2nd nature now!

I know this is silly-but I sometimes get a little anxious before I actually get on the cruise! I am the vacation planner in our house- I book the cruise-motel before-meal times-excursions,etc. We drive about 7-8 hours to the port-so I have to figure time off-motel room-dog boarding. This year-our cruise is the first week of December- so I need to do the tree and get presents done- also before the trip. My husband does not understand- "We get on the ship-relax-drink-repeat-get off the ship-no big deal"- I don't really "relax"-till I actually step foot on the ship-oh-and make sure my luggage made it on (the porter didn't leave it on the dock-because I didn't tip him enough-lol). Anyone else feel this way? This will be my 12th cruise- I think-so I know all the stuff to do- and I love planning for my cruises-BUT? I'm thinking the holiday stuff-added in-is stressing me out -:eek:

This is 100% me!!! I handle all the details and want everything go smoothly!!

To make matters worse we have some family members who travel with us and they don’t even own a computer!! So guess who has to handle all of their stuff too???

But....I figured out long ago that I am too OCD to let anyone else handle it, so I guess I will continue to “suffer in silence “....😂😂😂

In our house, the moment we are booked/confirmed 'somebody' ;) hauls the suitcases from the basement to the guest bedroom even if the cruise is still 6 months or 12 months away. (I'm not kidding)

 

"What ARE you doing".....????

"Don't you remember we are going on a cruise...."????

"Yes...., but that's 6 to 12 months away"

" So...." ??

LOLLLLLLLLLLL !! My wife's right the opposite :eek: While she does plan and make the cruise reservations (6-8 months in advance) she ALWAYS says, 'I'm going too get an early start on packing SOO I won't be so tired for the 8 hour drive to the cruiseport'. yeaaaaaaaaaa RIGHT !!:( Lo and behold, the night BEFORE we're leaving, she's just started packing !She, at least, has learned to make a packing list but is still bad about checking stuff off the list thinking,' Oh, I just KNOW I won't forget this or that!!' And..As we are unpacking on the ship and she'll realize that she's done that..again.:confused: About the only thing I WILL triple check her on is the E-docs and MOST st of all, the passports Actually, we triple check each other about those.. Before we close and lock the house I ask her,' Have you got THOSE passports!' Better to be safe than sorry.

Mac

Our cruise is 68 days away and I have clothes laid out in the spare room and my wife thinks I am crazy.These days came past fast enough,we are doing a B2B2B

I do all the planning for our family and I love it, but about a week or so before we leave is when I start stressing. No matter how much planning I've done I always feel like I'm missing something.

We never pack until the night before we leave; if we packed earlier I'd freak out and have to unpack everything to make sure it's all there and I didn't forget anything :/

Our current schedule we have cruises relatively close together, so I feel a bit behind on my planning. We just got back from China (which despite all my planning we did have a few issues, but still very enjoyable) and we leave for Singapore in 2 and a half months. For that trip I haven't done much planning at all. We have our airfare and our hotels, but no excursions or anything like that planned yet. I need to get on that.

Yes 100% agree. There sometimes are posts on here asking about why people want to get on the ship early. For me, I can not relax and be on vacation until we have boarded, and (to be honest) our luggage arrives.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Forums mobile app

There are some things that really can't be done before leaving home until the "last minute".

That's the part that stresses me out.

Ours isn't stress but excitement. We have done 15 cruises with RCCL and have it down pat. We agree on a cruise, I book it and it is usually close to final payment and then we start looking at excursions and everything else. We try to have everything prepaid before we set foot on board. We usually set our cruise wear out about a week out and pack the night before we leave. We normally take clothes for dinner and just pack workout clothes and bathing suits. Helps cut down on weight.

One thing we don't do is sail around the holidays. There is enough stress involved with those and we see no reason adding to that. LOL

I know this is silly-but I sometimes get a little anxious before I actually get on the cruise! I am the vacation planner in our house- I book the cruise-motel before-meal times-excursions,etc. We drive about 7-8 hours to the port-so I have to figure time off-motel room-dog boarding. This year-our cruise is the first week of December- so I need to do the tree and get presents done- also before the trip. My husband does not understand- "We get on the ship-relax-drink-repeat-get off the ship-no big deal"- I don't really "relax"-till I actually step foot on the ship-oh-and make sure my luggage made it on (the porter didn't leave it on the dock-because I didn't tip him enough-lol). Anyone else feel this way? This will be my 12th cruise- I think-so I know all the stuff to do- and I love planning for my cruises-BUT? I'm thinking the holiday stuff-added in-is stressing me out -:eek:

Not silly. i am the same planner and I plan way ahead of time and have things worked out. Part of my less stress is flying in the day before a cruise as to avoid how stressful it is flying in on cruise day. But your post mentioned driving, so that is a different ball game. I've reduced the stress on that by still arriving a day ahead, or at least close to the port. With a 7-8 hour drive that doesn't sound too difficult. But again, my driving trips were in Sept and October. Your profile says MIDWEST GIRL LIVING IN...... Where are you from and what port are you driving to?

Thanks- I usually enjoy it- I also work full time and have a child at home. It is his birthday today-so homemade cake and dinner- and I'm doing all the Thanksgiving cooking this year- my mother-in-law has dementia-so it's me-but only 5 to cook for-thank goodness-we leave Dec 1st for the cruise-so think I'm just stressed-

Enjoy Freedom, I love that ship.

I don't stress about it. I do most of the planning, looking for the best price, best obc, non-holiday travel.etc. My husband writes a check for his half of the trip cost and drives us to the cruise port or airport. It is a great division of labor.

Once we are booked, nothing much happens until we pull out the carryons and backpacks the night before we travel. We are light packers so assembling is fairly easy.

Both of us like the serendipity of travel so we are not ones to plan too much, preferring lots of spontaneity and some do-nothing days.

OH HELL YES!!!!!!! I over plan, over pack, over indulge......That's just me. Two years ago, I had 21 cabins. Last year I had 15 cabins. And I sweat making sure everything is good for everyone!! Hubby said to take a break so 2018 there will be just 4 of us. But I will still have my anxiety attacks. Hope all goes well sailing from SJU after the horrible devastation they have experienced in the Caribbean.

We always book our cruises way early so there's never a stress factor. The planning and anticipation is all part of the excitement for us.

I'm the same way. I halfway relax when we board, but I can't officially relax until we have our luggage in our room. We used to fly into port on the day of the cruise, but after a very close call, we now arrive in port on the day before we sail. This helps with the stress.

Add me to your club! I'm most definitely the planner of my family. My first couple cruises weren't nearly as stressful as my last one. This past Spring I was cruising with my mom, brother & sis-in-law. The only cruise my DB & SIL had been on before was for their honeymoon on Majesty & my parents had bought it for them for a wedding present. They were newlyweds & had no money. They were in an inside cabin & couldn't even afford to pay for excursions. So, I really wanted this one to be a much different experience.

Needless to say, I probably had about 5 different lists going at one point. My main concern was getting to the port & getting on board to be super smooth. To the point that I almost had anxiety over it. Plus, all of our excursions were not booked through the cruise line. It was the first time I had ever done that. So, that was a concern for me, as well. I think part of it is that when I'm making plans I have a certain idea in my head of exactly how I want things to go. Boarding & sail away couldn't have possibly gone any smoother. Once we were on board, I was able to relax. The excursions were exactly what we were looking for & were totally worth doing on our own.

I will say many of the tips I had for boarding, packing & the excursions came from CC. It ended up being an invaluable tool.