How much pre-cruise planning?

[mrar]

How much do you plan pre-cruise? I'm doing so much research to find out what to do at each port (S. Caribbean). It's addicting! I want to make sure I make the most of it, but as a first time cruiser, I don't know if I'm over (or under) planning. Some excursions are only 3 hours or so and I don't know if I should plan another excursion for the day or just wing it and wander around. I don't want to get bored, while I want some relaxation it sounds boring to me to just lay on the beach all day. Am I crazy? hahaha

[cb at sea]

I ALWAYS research the ports....that way, you can get the most from your shore time! A guidebook is the thing to have....I usually check them out of the library, but will buy one if I think I'll need immediate reference.

 

If you're not a beach person, then you can go from excursion to excursion (self-guided or not!) in the time you have. Winging it probably isn't the best way to go! Read the guidebook, decide what interests you, and then start planning your day. Remember that you won't have the entire amount of time on each island that your itinerary says you'll have. You may not get off the ship right away (sometimes takes 30-45 mins to get the ship cleared by officials!) and you'll need to BE onboard 30 mins. prior to sailaway. So, plan accordingly!

Take note of the distances to places you might go, so you'll have time to get back to the ship!

[Colorado Kat]

Planning a trip is half the fun!

 

Use the Roll-call threads here, and the Port-of-Call threads. Read thru them, but take them with a grain of salt. Particular tour companies will rise to the top. The most important thing is to make sure you will be back to the ship on time.

 

 

Have fun! Kathy

[tak81288]

I love planning too and it doesn't sound like you are not doing too much...You could do more than one excursion in port but give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship. Some ports have A LOT of traffic in town as it gets closer to the ship's final boarding time since everyone is trying to get back around the same time. Just factor that into the equation too as you are planning if you are going to be doing self guided activities.

 

I usually try to plan excursions that go far away from the port area in the morning...If we have time to do other things later, we do them closer to the ship in the afternoon. Many ports have stores, restaurants, bars...etc...within walking distance of where the ships dock so even if you don't do official excursions all day or have time to do multiple things that take you far away, I highly doubt you will be bored.

 

Enjoy!

[forwardcabin]

Be sure to save some excursions for the next cruise--and the one after that...after all, once you've experienced cruising and going on excursions, you will want to come back again and again.

 

Here's hoping you have a great cruise. Bon Voyage!

[trish1c]

I booked my 1st cruise sight unseen about 1 month before sailing, not even knowing about these boards.

Now I do some planning but not all that much. The real planning comes from the decision / timing / pricing which all requires research.

[janabm81]

I am a big advocate for planning before the cruise...my husband makes fun of me because I'm already planning the excursions for our cruise in June 2011. I think that's what makes it so much fun...it's like you book the cruise and then you have all this time leading up to it so you have to do something so keep occupied in the mean time...why not plan fun stuff to do!

As far as excursions go...I personally wouldn't do more than one per port...otherwise you won't have any time for shopping or exploring the port area it's self.

[138east]

You have to find your own pace in the Caribbean. The first time we cruised, we did 4 hour morning excursions, came back to the ship for lunch, and relaxed, shopped, or just explored the port in the afternoon. This worked well for us - it was hot in the morning and by midday being out in the direct sun was brutal. On subsequent cruises we branched out to independent excursions and car rentals.

[BoardwalkBabe]

I'm a planner by nature so for me, planning is half the fun. I like to have as much information as possible about the ship and the places we are going ahead of time so we can figure out what we want to do ahead of time and then just go enjoy ourselves.

[KirkNC]

I agree, I find the planning to be half the fun. It does get to be a bit of work for Europe and for longer cruises. For our 17 day cruise in the western Med, I had a 5 page itinerary :eek:. I load my iPhone with all kinds of info and off we go. I am currently working on a 24 day trip for this summer.

 

Kirk

[suezyq50]

Planning is half the fun. But I have found I need to leave some free time. Otherwise I come home needing a vacation! I usually book something at each port after some research.