World Cruise - You?

[happyglobetrotter]

There are not 18-20 formal nights on a 65 day cruise, no way.

 

Last year, on WC 2012, there were 18 formal on a total of 112 days. So this is about half of what you think. And yes, these nights are special. The dining room is always decorated for the formal nights (blue ball (Antartica), pirates' night, Valentines, St Patrick, Easter, Indonesan night, roaring 20s, etc). Each time the dining room is wonderfully done.

 

We have done 6 full world cruises and are going back in 13 and 14. They are addictive but I must say that it also allows us to stay away during our Canadian winter...

Edited July 28, 2012 by happyglobetrotter

[durangoscots]

I have done segments of two world cruises.... one 77 day and one 50 day. I think I could easily do a world cruise if it were not for the pets (people I can email and even call if I need to but I sure miss the doggies) and the board does add up. And by the way.... my dogs love the boarding kennel so that is not an issue.. They go charging through the doors yelling "Party Time!!! Maybe in a few years or so I will do the full world. I know I alternate what I do in ports... heavy sightseeing some places, walking in others, and just hanging out on the ship in others. Just depends on where we are gong.

 

Susan

[sppunk]

We will never want to live without let's. And we will never want to abandon our pets fir 30-40 percent of a year.

 

So a WC is out of the question. I would much rather do shorter land tours to exotic locations so we could actual digest the area. That's something you lack on cruises, you need lots of repeated itineraries to touch the surface of anywhere usually. Our style if vacationing doesn't mesh with it.

 

I do always wonder how Jeff (the blogger) can every year spend 150+++ days on Amsterdam (occassionally another ship). Not wondrr financially as it is none if my business, but winder how your mind can let you be away from home abd all it entails for more than hakf the year every year. But good for him!

[rkacruiser]

A long or world cruise is not like "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium". The days at sea between ports gives one time to reflect, enjoy the ship, the ship's activities, and your shipmates, and do the ordinary everyday things that need to be done like laundry, hair-cuts, etc. Yes, there are short stretches when one port is followed by another. But, if one is not a tour bus-type cruiser, there are options for sightseeing that one can do.

 

On a long cruise, one really does get to know--for better or worse--your shipmates. And, they get to know you. As has been said by Blue Whale, being able to sail with other guests with whom you have sailed and have developed a relationship adds a really positive dimension to one's cruise. It is fun to sail with friends!

 

Maybe best of all, one gets to know the wonderful crew of a Holland America ship and they get to know you as well. The ordinary, wonderful, friendly service becomes even more personal. And, if you have sailed many times with HAL, it is a GENUINE treat to encounter those crew members with whom you have sailed before. Truly, it is like a homecoming!

 

It is true that one develops a ship-board routine, just as one does at home. But, being bored? No! Only on one long cruise was I ready to disembark when we arrived at our destination. And, that was because the ship was too small for such a lengthy journey. (It was not a Holland America ship.) The cruise, crew, most of the passengers, and itinerary were wonderful; it was the ship.

 

I am still reflecting upon and learning from my 2008 world cruise experiences. Keeping a journal (or blog) along with photos is a must. Seeing a news story, watching a movie (i.e. Slumdog Millionaire was very meaningful having visited India), etc. brings back to mind places I have been fortunate enough to visit and people with whom I interacted.

 

A long cruise/world cruise is a mind and cultural expanding journey that really cannot be fully described until one experiences it!

[sail7seas]

There are not 18-20 formal nights on a 65 day cruise, no way.

 

Last year, on WC 2012, there were 18 formal on a total of 112 days. So this is about half of what you think. And yes, these nights are special. The dining room is always decorated for the formal nights (blue ball (Antartica), pirates' night, Valentines, St Patrick, Easter, Indonesan night, roaring 20s, etc). Each time the dining room is wonderfully done.

 

We have done 6 full world cruises and are going back in 13 and 14. They are addictive but I must say that it also allows us to stay away during our Canadian winter...

 

 

You seem the one to ask.

Seeing there are a good many who do World Cruise or Grand Voyages every years, doesn't it become a bit 'clicky' with those who are insiders and those who are not?

 

I would suspect groups are long established and there are lots of 'we're the experienced ones and you newcomers have no clue.'?! :D

 

Does any of that happen?

 

Edited July 28, 2012 by sail7seas

[arzz]

Sppunk

 

Keep in mind that we may only get a day or two at each port -- but you arrive well fed and well rested. No hassles worrying about where to eat, what it will cost, or spending time finding a place to stay every couple of days. Also no time wasted taking trains, buses, cars, planes from place to place. Instead, as you go from place to place you are "at home" on the ship, getting a good night's rest.

 

If the time in port is planned well, you can get a flavor of the places that you visit -- and on the longer cruises you will overnight at some of the best ports. Many folks plan a few "overland" excursions during the extended cruises -- for instance we left the ship in Alexandria, Egypt and joined it the next day in Port Said -- and we did so again between Ashdod and Haifa in Israel. We also overnighted in Bangkok as it is long way from the port to the city. Others will leave the ship for a few days between distant ports to tour exotic locales without the hassles and costs of flying from the US (such as an overland tour to the Terra Cotta warriors between ports in China -- or a tour to Machu Pichu between a northern Peruvian port and Lima)

 

And, a cruise that goes round trip from the US provides a "first class" travel experience for the crossings that costs less than business class air and doesn't limit your luggage as severely as the airlines do -- and there is no jet lag -- time changes at most an hour a day.

 

it can also be important to choose the itinerary of the cruise well -- some itineraries (such as I often see on the world cruise) do only one or two days per country -- you are right here -- not a lot of local flavor. On the other end there are the Grand Med itineraries which are port intensive but to a much better job of visiting many ports in a region. The South America cruises also seem to do well at multiple ports per area.

[rkacruiser]

You seem the one to ask.

Seeing there are a good many who do World Cruise or Grand Voyages every years, doesn't it become a bit 'clicky' with those who are insiders and those who are not?

 

I would suspect groups are long established and there are lots of 'we're the experienced ones and you newcomers have no clue.'?! :D

 

Does any of that happen?

 

 

I am not HappyGlobeTrotter and her answer may differ from mine.

 

I was on the final segment of the Amsterdam's world cruise in 2007. I saw/felt no clickishness. On the entire 2008 world cruise, I am sorry to say, I did experience this. And, based upon my experience in 2007, I was surprised.

[arzz]

Sail

 

On our first Grand Cruise to South America/Antarctica we only did a segment and knew no one on board before we embarked. One of the things that was so surprising to us was how we were approached and welcomed by so many of the previously addicted Grand Cruisers, as well as the wonderful HAL staff and crew. As "segmenters" we expected to feel like second class citizens and we never did. Within a few days we had met many folks and never felt alone.

 

In fact, as Blue Whale says, we still run into many of those folks occasionally on board ships. We do run into friends on trips that are not just the Grand Cruises. Last December we took the Amsterdam through the Panama Canal -- the cruise between the Grand Asia trip and the World Cruise. We were floored to discover so many folks on board that we had met at other times on other itineraries.

 

We did not then, nor now, feel that the friendships are exclusive. Yes, one starts to know many of the repeaters on board, but the social life is "inclusive" -- at least in our experience.

[rkacruiser]

Perhaps I should add to my comments that I met and became friends with many wonderful people on the 2008 cruise. There were many of us who were newbies for such a cruise and we did bond. And, I met many long time world cruisers who were welcoming and friendly as well.

 

But, as in landside life, there were the "others".

[Crusing Bob]

For those of you who would like to take this kind of a cruise but can't afford the time or the cost, you should read some of Mary Ann's great daily reviews when they take this cruise every year. They live in CA and she really knows how to write an interesting log of their adventures which they have done many years and don't get tired of doing it.

 

Melinda and I are fortunate to have them in our Roll Call and M&G on our upcoming return to Hawaii on the Zaandam. Hopefully, we will get a little time to talk with them about some of their best experiences. So, if you want to feel like you have seen the world by a Holland ship, look up their reports.

 

Bob

[sail7seas]

Thanks, aarz and rkacruiser.

 

Good to know.

DH and I often stick to ourselves on cruises but I wondered how people welcomed newcomers to what could be 'their private club'. ;) It would be understandable for those who have cruised repeatedly to have their private circle.

 

 

[sail7seas]

For those of you who would like to take this kind of a cruise but can't afford the time or the cost, you should read some of Mary Ann's great daily reviews when they take this cruise every year. They live in CA and she really knows how to write an interesting log of their adventures which they have done many years and don't get tired of doing it.

 

Melinda and I are fortunate to have them in our Roll Call and M&G on our upcoming return to Hawaii on the Zaandam. Hopefully, we will get a little time to talk with them about some of their best experiences. So, if you want to feel like you have seen the world by a Holland ship, look up their reports.

 

Bob

 

Thanks, Bob.

 

I seem to get bored with those daily, lengthy Blogs. They just don't 'grab my interest' for some reason.

 

I think I'm the type that has to be there, feel it, smell it, touch it, hear it etc or....... :o

 

[CaveDiving]

We actually prefer the longer cruises. We were full time RV’ers for about ten years before we started cruising, so we’re kind of used to being together. And our cabin is always larger that our RV was.

 

We find that the longer cruises are more like a life style than a vacation. We often take several B2B cruises before or after the World Cruises.

 

We have a number of friends that we repeated see on the longer cruises.

 

Of course you need to realize that Trivia is a blood sport on World Cruises.

 

Scott & Karen

[SwissMyst]

Could do it after we retire. The planning might kill me but I can certainly handle the time on the ship.

 

The real planning part we find is taking care of your house and business matters while you are gone. Once on board, the cruise seems to have a life of its own.

 

We are now taking longer and longer cruises - partly because we like them and definitely because the dear dog finally passed away - long times away were just not fair to him. We now feel anything less than 3 weeks is just getting started.

 

One week to unwind, one week to get the lay of the land, and one week to make it finally feel comfortable. Thus, so far we find ourselves resentful when it is time finally to get off "our" ship. Only once was the sea passage so rough for the last two weeks that we were happy to finally be back on land, but still not happy to leave the ship (just the rough waters)

 

The rhythm of ship life, the coming and going into port, and even the port activities themselves and the view of things from the water are just awesome for us. We get reminded that all major travel until a century or so ago was by water, so this is really big way to see things and feel connected to eons that came before us.

Edited July 28, 2012 by SwissMyst

[Hawaiidan]

Having been at sea up up to 60 days at a time..without a port I can say that after 36 days it is the law of diminishing returns. Inversely under 21 days is likewise a waste.

 

The trick, I found, is to keep the excitment and discovery in the picture. After 40 days anything becomes routine; even luxury cruises. I found that I needed a break to recoup, regroup and re-invigor my wanderlust.

 

Thus, for me I would rather take a world cruise in "bites" as one does a grand meal. If you try to eat it all you maybe can finish but will the last course be as special as the first? Or will you revel in the fact, secretly, that the meal is finaly over.

 

Mentaly, too, when you have done the trip.. whats left? Like Alexander, will you weep of no more worlds. Break the world into even portions that , like a fine meals courses, each get both anticipation and appreication as well.

 

Some times less is more... you dont have order the whole enchliada .

[cruisinjudy]

The most we have done is 30 days and we have another 30 day cruise this winter. We like the way you just get into another world on a cruise and you do see things on the longer cruises that you don't see on the shorter ones. That being said I am not sure we are ready to spend 60 + days on a cruise, nor pay for it. We like to have at least a balcony and that gets pricey on a longer cruise.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I would love to do a World Cruise but doubt my husband would be able to be away from home for that long. Also I have a 95 year old father in good health who plans to live at least to 102 so do not feel I can be away for four months. We have done a 30 day cruise and before doing a World Cruise, I would try a 65 day Grand Voyage to see if could really tolerate it. But someday I will!

[NMLady]

World Cruise -You ?

DH is still very active in his profession but every now and then we have the 'would we do a world cruise' conversation? He cannot possibly be away from his office long enough for WC.

 

As much as we love to cruise and we surely do, as much as we have cruised and surely is a great deal, I'm not sure I would do well on a World Cruise. I'm not even sure I'd be so wonderful on a 65 day Grand Voyage

If he was able to leave his office for long enough, we wonder if we would want to.

 

 

We've done a great deal of organized and independent touring all over Europe, the Caribbean, domestic, Canada and we loved it........ but I can't see myself jumping on a tour bus at least 2-4 times a week for weeks on end. All of that touring was 'then' and this is 'now'. Thankfully, we are both walkers and able to be mobile without assistance.

 

What's the point of doing one of those exciting cruises if you don't go tour the ports?

Can you imagine being aboard for 8 - 13 weeks and only touring once or twice a week?

 

Is that crazy?

 

Hubby and I have talked about 'if we win the lottery :)" would we take a world cruise since we love the longer cruises. He walks slowly with a cane so walking around port cities isn't always an option. And even though as lottery winners we'd have plenty of money for tours, after reading one of the World Cruise blogs I know we wouldn't want to spend that much time on tour buses, even if smaller private vans. But we also can't imagine spending the money for a world cruise and then spending most of the port days on the ship. So, we decided NO we wouldn't do a world cruise.

We'd like to do some of the segments though: to South Pacific and then to Australia.

And we'd definitely like to do 38 day Voyage of the Vikings.

Edited July 29, 2012 by NMLady

[I Luv Crusin]

Every once in a while we get a world cruise brochure and I sit and dream. Unfortunately, we are no where close to having the time or funds to seriously consider it and I can't see that ever happening. I would like to do something longer than what we've have been doing.

 

Our next big trip will be to Northern Europe and I've seen some 14+ cruises that look interesting. Maybe in 5 years or so............

[DeepWaterMariner]

A world cruise isn't going to happen for us due to health limitations but it is still nice to dream about one or follow the yearly blogs as the world cruisers report on their activities. While I've always thought I'd love a world cruise I've come to realize from following the blogs that it isn't always the best way to see some of the great sights. A Nile cruise (if Egypt were tourist friendly again) is a better way to see Luxor than busing over from the Suez Canal. The multi day tours away from the ship are very pricey while you're still paying for time on the ship. On the plus side, of which there are many, only a world cruise or Grand Voyage will hit a place like Easter Island.

Edited July 29, 2012 by DeepWaterMariner

[localady]

I confirmed on our last 15 day Hawaii adventure that I get restless with 5 days at sea. I am not sure I could handle the long periods at sea that the World Cruise has. Our next cruise is very port intensive purposely as our Hawaii cruise with 11 days at sea and 4 in port, had too many sea days for my taste. :D

[Lady Chew]

I think I would prefer to do a world cruise in segments rather than all at once. My brain would be overloaded with so much information on all the different ports, I would probably forget more than half of what I learned. My longest cruise to date was 29 days and I got very tired of wearing the same clothes. It's not like the old days when you could travel with many "steamer trunks" and have a larger selection of apparel. Even mix and match gets old, IMO.

 

 

That what we're doing right now - cruising around the world in segments. We weren't sure we could manage to be away for 120 days, (and be together that long without wanting to strangle one another).

#1: Ft. Lauderdale to San Diego, via the Panama Canal, with stops in the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica. January 2011. 14 days.

#2: Rome to Ft. Lauderdale - stops in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Spain. Oct-Nov 2011. 35 days.

#3: coming up in Sept. The Grand Voyage to Asia & Australia. That will be from Seattle to San Diego. Will take us to Japan, China, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, some other island stops ... furthest point before we turn back towards Australia/etc is Singapore. 75 days.

#4: spring 2014. Singapore to Rome or Athens, via the Red Sea & Suez Canal. I think it's about 30 days.

That gives us a solid line all around the globe!

After that, and maybe in between we'll have the filler cruises - Black Sea, more in the Med, South America, Alaska. And there are still some islands we've yet to visit in the Caribbean.

And after all of those, if we survive our 75-day voyage ... we just may take an entire World Cruise!

Edited July 29, 2012 by Lady Chew

[magandab]

I definitely could not do a world cruise or even a grand voyage. My upcoming NZ cruise is 14 days and I think that will just about stretch my tolerance for being away from home to the limit. I could never be away from my dogs any longer, and I'll always have dogs.

[Dog Drool]

I am thinking that when I down size, sell the house and move into a retirement community I would take a world cruise . But that is a long ways off.

[3rdGenCunarder]

You seem the one to ask.

Seeing there are a good many who do World Cruise or Grand Voyages every years, doesn't it become a bit 'clicky' with those who are insiders and those who are not?

 

I would suspect groups are long established and there are lots of 'we're the experienced ones and you newcomers have no clue.'?! :D

 

Does any of that happen?

 

 

When I first read this, I thought you were asking if the "clicky" difference was between world cruisers and segment cruisers. I didn't see a WC clique this winter on the Australia segment of the QM2 WC, but I did meet a woman who was greatly disappointed that not everyone on the ship was doing the whole WC. (There was a surprisingly small percent of the passengers doing the whole WC) Australia does not have the restrictions that the US has, so in addition to the 22-day round Australia segment, Cunard sold all sorts of smaller segments. There were people embarking and disembarking at nearly every port. I thought it was great because it made the cruise available to people who might not be able to travel across the country to get to the ship or take three weeks off from work. But this woman was horrified. "It's like a bus, with people getting on and off at every port." How this affected her cruise, I do not know. I was surprised that she would talk to 22-day riff-raff like us!

 

I've done segments of a WC a few other times, and I never ran into someone who looked down on segment passengers like that before.