World cruise thoughts?

I'm with you.

 

Ain't it great that there are cruises of varying lengths that fit all of our varied travel preferences. We enjoy mixing it up with land vacations ... best of both worlds for us.

Yep!!

A World Cruise has been my dream for a long time, which I never thought would or could really happen. I doubt I'll ever be able to do it again, so short cruises or landtrips will likely be my vacations in the future.

We are usually gone 3 or 4 months a year. Six months on the same ship really doesn't appeal to us.

We have been around the world in smaller segments at a time. We have a trip booked beginning in December which we are looking forward to, 4 different ships that takes us from NYC to Singapore.

Unless you don't like flying, especially long flights, but want to see the world! That is why I'd rather sail around than fly around. :D

Yes long flights can be a stress...if you fly in coach. However the new Business class

is a sky bed over stuffed pillows and duvet, delightful food and wines You arrive after a full nights sleep and you can freshen up in the Business class lounge a nice hot shower, a cooked breakfast with all the trimmings If you haven't discovered business class it is a far cry of the old first class which never came to this level... By using FF points from just spending on Groceries tax, phone bills , clothes and gas, restaurants.... you can in a few short years earn the points to get these seats for just taxes... I live in the LA area, and visit France, Switzerland often its an 11 hour flight each way but doing it in comfort is less of a problem than flying first class in the USA.... Check it out

I agree you want to see the world but after a few months you just might not even want to get off the ship and that excitement you had in the first month is replaced by boredom

Looked at the world cruise and segments of the WC on the Insignia, but got discouraged by the very small size of the staterooms. Cooped up in a small stateroom on a long cruise would be rough for us.

cruised ATW16 and deposit down Mar 7 8am for ATW2020 and can't wait.

We never got bored and couldn't wait for morning and the opportunity to visit another port.

Size of cabin never affected us--we were just glad to return to a room that we didn't have to clean, towels and sheets we didn't have to wash,great bed, and food that we didn't have to shop for, cook, or clean up and eating at Terrace outside most meals was wonderful.

We never got tired of the food because we made up our own dishes in Terrace sometimes...grilled chicken, or seafood, wok peppers from the salad area, veggies , all placed on top of pasta/rice. Or grilled chicken on a huge salad with all sorts of fruit added; others came up with their own meals--it was fun and the guys at the grill entered into the decision-making with some wonderful ideas.

There is a huge number of ATW16 people that I know that have signed up for ATW19 and they too are excited.

Today ATW16 people are all linked by social media and many of us "talk" to each other several times a week--gone through births of grands, medical diagnoses, moves, other cruises, and life adventures.

We support each other, grieve and cheer with each other and can't wait to be together again.

It is wonderful, educational, and life affirming --throw caution to the wind. Go for it.

BTW...Miami to SF (180 days) on ATW2020= 67 days at sea but that includes Panama Canal Transit and Hubbard Glacier, so not that many days in a stateroom, regardless of size, and most of us don't stay in our staterooms on sea days anyway.

And speaking only for Mr. Wonderful and myself, after some of our ports and overlands we were glad to be able to have a sea day--rest & recuperation & notes back home.

a world cruise...180 days a half year .... sounds alluring I considered it then I took a series of cruises 14, 28 and 34 day cruises.

Something happened at about day 28 on the 34 day cruise, the experience I had, the joy and excitement the first week The pleasure of fine dining, all seemed to have pretty much have gone... by Day 34 I found the cruise, well just routine and even boring. !!! I cant imagine how I would feel at day 50, 80, 100 130 ??? There can be too much of a good thing. More is not always better.

The longest I was on a ship was back in the 60's, 45 days at sea, it was all inclusive, and the ship was gray and had numbers on the bow, had shared quarters, no specialties or trivia.

 

The lesson I learned was it is a far, far better and more pleasurable and stimulating to see the world in 21 to 28 day bits

 

Compare cruising to going to a fine Paris restaurant....it has this huge menu and you would love to try it all, But if you did order some 20 or more courses all at one time youd get sick. If you went to Paris for 7 days and ate every meal at that restaurant it would loose its enjoyment..

SO, my take is to see the world in small bites in 4 or 6 segments over a 2 -3 year period... Thats my take , others may differ but i'd consider pondering it... Take a shorter cruise first and see you reactions by day 28. first

I'm with you Dan, I've found 25-30 days is about my saturation point. Too much excess, too much food, too many desserts.

I can do fine at home, but when all that rich food is available for the asking or taking my discipline is non existent.

there was a woman who brought her scales from home for ATW because of the fear of gaining weight!

now that's what i call dedication. We ate as we do at home, usually ignoring the desserts, and the walking in ports was enough to keep the weight down.

on sea days there were many of us walking the track or using the machines.

btw....glad that some of you have no interest in long voyages--makes it easier for me to get them!!!! (selfish, right?)

I could probably live on a ship full time..enjoy everything about being at sea and seeing new places. My Dr. Dave loves cruising, but wouldn't want to live on a ship! We've been on cruises to many places on the first part of ATW2020 itinerary, but hope they have segments starting in Singapore going all around Asia, Alaska, and ending in San Fran. Wish they'd release the segments soon!

palakika--

we liked it so much a bunch of us said that we should just declare it our assisted living center.

Let's see: full doctor and nurse care, internet, someone to cook yummy and healthy food for us, someone to take care of our rooms, a cruise director, entertainment, bridge, trivia, and movies in the room or in the Lounge.

someone to declare "We're cleared", we can leave the ship and explore as much as we want to with a destination services person helping us on and off the bus....not to mention gym, walking track, and pool.

And it probably is a price performer compared to many of the land-based living centers. We're ready to sign up with a bunch of friends who will keep us laughing and goofy! Hopefully a few years are left before we need this kind of care!!!

Yes long flights can be a stress...if you fly in coach. However the new Business class

is a sky bed over stuffed pillows and duvet, delightful food and wines You arrive after a full nights sleep and you can freshen up in the Business class lounge a nice hot shower, a cooked breakfast with all the trimmings If you haven't discovered business class it is a far cry of the old first class which never came to this level... By using FF points from just spending on Groceries tax, phone bills , clothes and gas, restaurants.... you can in a few short years earn the points to get these seats for just taxes... I live in the LA area, and visit France, Switzerland often its an 11 hour flight each way but doing it in comfort is less of a problem than flying first class in the USA.... Check it out. I agree you want to see the world but after a few months you just might not even want to get off the ship and that excitement you had in the first month is replaced by boredom

I'm an experienced traveler and always fly business class, so I agree with what you're saying....but comfort isn't the issue....I'm afraid to fly (although I do it if necessary) and find it a fearful experience no matter what seat I'm in. You can try to shame me if you like, but it's my feeling. I'd just rather sail. I seriously doubt that I'll become bored....I'm never bored. And neither do many others or there wouldn't be so many repeat world cruisers. Long voyages bore you and flying scares me....guess we're even. ;) :')

We never got bored and couldn't wait for morning and the opportunity to visit another port.

 

we were just glad to return to a room that we didn't have to clean, towels and sheets we didn't have to wash,great bed, and food that we didn't have to shop for, cook, or clean up and eating at Terrace outside most meals was wonderful.

 

We never got tired of the food because we made up our own dishes in Terrace sometimes...grilled chicken, or seafood, wok peppers from the salad area, veggies , all placed on top of pasta/rice. Or grilled chicken on a huge salad with all sorts of fruit added; others came up with their own meals--it was fun and the guys at the grill entered into the decision-making with some wonderful ideas.

I agree with you! I wake up every morning feeling joyful to have another day to enjoy life. Having the blessing of sailing on a magnificent world voyage, not having to cook, clean or do laundry and staying active makes me very grateful. I know this will be a landmark event in my life....one that I can look back on and smile when I'm in the rocker someday. :halo:

cbb..Great description of "assisted living" on board! Can't wait for May7 to sail away once again!

Assisted living? What does it mean for the younger cruisers? On my last cruise with the Sirena, a cruiser complained loud, being one of the reasons that she had the impression of being on a place for the elderly.

As much as we like cruising, we enjoy also the diversity, the planning, the anticipation of a trip/cruise, but most of all we enjoy sharing with our families and friends at home.

Many cruises per year, are our best choice. But this is just us.

Ivi

Ivi..We were just joking about the assisted living. Mostly we were talking about enjoying being on a cruise ship for an extended period of time. We too love to be with our family and the many wonderful things we do in Bend, Oregon. After 15 cruises with O we've met so many interesting people over the past 10 years!

and the people i was talking about are in their 50s, 60s, and low 70s and could probably walk circles around those young whippersnappers..... by cracky

(and i don't particularly care what others think of me as long as I'm polite, use my napkin, and say 'please' and 'thank you'....which is more than some people on board do)

(and i don't particularly care what others think of me as long as I'm polite, use my napkin, and say 'please' and 'thank you'....which is more than some people on board do)

well said Cynthia

We recently finished 56 days of bouncing around the Caribbean. The ratio of mobility challenged on those voyages was much higher than on a world cruise. On the w/c passengers are mostly there to explore the world and are fit enough to do it while in the Caribbean many people are just trying to escape winter.

On the 180 day cruise some of the ports can start to blend in so it can get hard to remember everything you have done/seen. Doing 3 60 day voyages in a year is a nice way to spread out your travels but doing it all at once is much cheaper for those that need to consider cost.

I'm an experienced traveler and always fly business class, so I agree with what you're saying....but comfort isn't the issue....I'm afraid to fly (although I do it if necessary) and find it a fearful experience no matter what seat I'm in. You can try to shame me if you like, but it's my feeling. I'd just rather sail. I seriously doubt that I'll become bored....I'm never bored. And neither do many others or there wouldn't be so many repeat world cruisers. Long voyages bore you and flying scares me....guess we're even. ;) :')

No shame some can not enjoy flying. It is a personal thing I do not share fear of.

Me I enjoy it and today's comfort adds to my enjoyment, I used to be a pilot and think airplanes are the safest mode of travel you could ever want. But that is me, never been reluctant to fly in small or large planes. Mind you I select my airline so I know who is driving the bus and who maintained it.

No shame some can not enjoy flying. It is a personal thing I do not share fear of.

Me I enjoy it and today's comfort adds to my enjoyment, I used to be a pilot and think airplanes are the safest mode of travel you could ever want. But that is me, never been reluctant to fly in small or large planes. Mind you I select my airline so I know who is driving the bus and who maintained it.

Doesn't matter to me which bus it is, who's driving or who did the last oil change.....I don't want to be anywhere near one. And the lie flat bed can be as comfy as an Oceania bed, but I won't get a wink of sleep. So, cruising the world is the best choice for me. And just 10 months to go! Yippee! :hearteyes:

Coming home after 3 or 4 months away traveling is quite the culture shock. All of a sudden there is no one to do the laundry or make up the bed. We have to re-stock the frig and pantry.

It takes me more time to re-acclimate to being home than it does to move around the world.

We prefer to travel by ship over planes whenever possible. Taking Queen Mary 2 to cross the Atlantic is certainly more pleasant than first or business class, and usually less expensive for a balcony cabin than 2 seats in first.

We prefer to travel by ship over planes whenever possible. Taking Queen Mary 2 to cross the Atlantic is certainly more pleasant than first or business class, and usually less expensive for a balcony cabin than 2 seats in first.

+1

Once you have the time, there really isn't any comparison!

We prefer to travel by ship over planes whenever possible. Taking Queen Mary 2 to cross the Atlantic is certainly more pleasant than first or business class, and usually less expensive for a balcony cabin than 2 seats in first.

I agree! I'm planning to travel this way the next time I go to Europe. Way more relaxing than an airplane flight....and no jet lag.

Doesn't matter to me which bus it is, who's driving or who did the last oil change.....I don't want to be anywhere near one. And the lie flat bed can be as comfy as an Oceania bed, but I won't get a wink of sleep. So, cruising the world is the best choice for me. And just 10 months to go! Yippee! :hearteyes:

Then you made an excellent choice. All cruises are like underwear . They all do the same thing but come in different styles and fit. You found yours .All cruises like all cruisers like different things... you found yours.

I will confess that whenever possible I try to find a cruise that starts in a foreign or us port and returns to a US port. Once from Miami and Seattle too I took AMTRACK... and a cruise on rails. Another serious consideration, with the terrorist crowd is their total dedication to blowing up planes headed to the US. My solution to that is I fly USA to wherever one way and cruise back home. I also avoid visiting anyhting in the Mid East, Africa and Philippines any country that ends in "stan"

Enjoy Life.....it is a precious but fragile guilt

I also avoid visiting anyhting in the Mid East, Africa and Philippines any country that ends in "stan"

I agree with this. Although my world cruise goes to some of these areas, I may choose to stay onboard or just in the port for a few of them. Need to be discerning.