Planning obsession

[sandij]

Oh me too!!! I love to plan the whole thing, it adds months onto the fun of the actual cruise. I know I must drive people at work crazy with my countdowns and planning, showing them the excursions I picked and the cabin and everything. Did I mention I only have 41 days to go, six weekends.

[not2old]

I'm the Planaholic in our family! My DH isn't the least bit interested in where we go or how we get there, he says he just wants me to be happy-LOL! Since he does none of the planning, having him pack his things for our cruise is an adventure in itself! I research each port, attractions,beaches,etc. I plan the off ship excursions but DH plans the other day to day activities. He is my "stand in line person" for tickets, and he spoils me so much. I am O/C when it comes to planning, right now I'm planning (in my head, for now) our fall 2011 and Jan 2012 cruises. Any ideas for fall? We've done Can/NE and Alaska, DH won't go to the West Coast again-flight is too long ;-) I'm thinking Caribbean out of Baltimore! See, always planning... maybe I need a hypnotist??

[BillOh]

I'm not recovering. I'm a full blown obsessive-aholic! (I would start a support group, but

Felicia

 

We call them Roll Call groups. :D

[Osnab]

Planaholics....LOL...I think we have an official name for our syndrome :) That's ok, there are much worse things we could be afflicted with, we are not obsessed, we are ORGANIZED, nothing wrong with that :p

 

I don't think I could be the opposite of a Planaholic.....what's that called, a ARidiculouslyunorganizedfoolaholic?

 

My SIL is one of those.....let's wait till the MORNING of to do laundry and pack. I shudder........

 

Felicia

[workinmom3]

I am also there with all of you...although I don't usually plan day to day activities after we get on the ship. I have to say though, planning Disney was much more involved b/c I actually planned out each day & what things we did in which order. I do this for every vacation we take. My family is kinda used to it by now, and they usually just listen to me ramble.

 

Last Sept we went to St Lucia for nephew's wedding. Most of our trip was planned by TA since one of the girls worked there. We just had to arrange our flights. Guess who got the cheapest flight? That's right, me. The TA said she had never seen one so low. It pays to be OCD....

 

Only 120 days left for us.

[navigator0709]

Planners:

 

Read the attached article. Planning is what makes people HAPPY, more than the actual vacation!!!

 

The article basically says that studies show planning vacations brings people happiness leading up to the vacation. After the vacation, vacationers (according the study) are no happier than people that have not been on a vacation.

 

So, plan away! It makes us happy :)

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100218125204.htm

[Happy ks]

I only read the OP's post, so will reply only to that. I'll read the rest of the replies after I post.

 

You are doing the exact thing I did on our first cruise. I planned for over a year, I had every emergency contigency thought out, I had purchased every little suggested packing thing mentiioned on these type of message boards. I had photos and reviews of everything we would see, do, eat, etc... Imagine my surprise when we landed, got to our hotel exhausted after a red-eye flight where we did not sleep...and merely took a nap that day.

 

Not one thing happened as I had planned. Much of the planned packing list "things" didn't even make it out of the suitcases. We didn't visit all the (Disney) parks I thought we would. Just as an example of time allotment, doing a quick load of laundry before boarding the ship took 3 hours and I missed pool time with the kids. Everything took much longer than I thought, no one wanted to go on my planned escapades, no one cared what clothing I had packed for them, just get up and go.

 

I ended up chucking the plans and we had the time of our lives :)

 

I still plan, but only to the point where I know we have enough clothes, toiletries and camera, but I don't have every little thing "just in case". We still plan excursions, but not to the point where it has to be perfect and we allow leeway for midway changes.

 

My point is, plan but don't be rigid and you will have a far better experience. The problem with overplanning is that only you will do it, your travel partners just show up and enjoy.

[Happy ks]

OK, now have read through the thread and many of you had me cracking up :D

 

I do agree that planning is fun, just be careful not to get too caught up in the details. I know there is a popular web site where the woman has her packing list on a spread sheet, listed by day and activity. That would drive me bonkers to try to follow :rolleyes:. I just list by category: shorts-3, tops-6, cocktail dresses-2, pants-2...that sort of thing.

 

I do keep a toiletry kit packed all the time, since I have found it to be the most time consuming part of travel packing. We need the same things whether we go for 1 night or 20. Everything we use at home is duplicated in the kit.

 

I do have to say, however, I am hopelessly addicted and obsessed with Cruise Critic :).

[JustUs275]

I do keep a toiletry kit packed all the time, since I have found it to be the most time consuming part of travel packing. We need the same things whether we go for 1 night or 20. Everything we use at home is duplicated in the kit.

 

That is a great idea! I have bought several travel size items for the cruise so I can make a "kit" to take for each vacation. Especially a great idea because a lot of the items I bought can be refilled over and over, rather than always buying the smaller sizes. Thanks for the tip...now I'm off to find something to pack my kit in and get it all organized! :D

[Jolimont]

I WAS a planaholic, but there is hope for all of you! I have mellowed!

 

Why did I stop planning so much? Because things happen beyond your control and it's best to roll with the punches. By that I mean that we got the puking virus on the Princess Diamond (confined to cabin for 2 days) then the ship had technical difficulties and had to change ports, so my perfectly laid plans were good for nothing.

 

Then there's also the problem that I forget what I read or who said what or what was the actual best choice. I really don't want to show up on my cruise with 100 page printout of all my "research". Once I forgot to number the pages, oh, the agony!!!

 

But, I still enjoy CC, it's the anticipation I think. My husband wouldn't spend 5mn on here, he thinks it's a complete waste of time. He's wrong of course, but don't tell him that!

[ehfl]

There are some medications that can help treat this. You might want to check with a mental health professional.

[brisgal]

Planning is half the fun of any trip. I don't want to recover from being a plan-a-holic. Am I in denial??