World Cruise - You?

[vbmom87]

I have no doubts that I could never handle a world cruise. There is absolutely no way I could be away from my children and grandchildren that long.

 

Last year we did a 14 day cruise on the Amsterdam and I decided then that MAYBE I could handle 21 days, but that would be the max. I would simply get bored. Sea days drive me crazy. I love scenery and although I love being on the water, just looking out at the ocean and not seeing land for the many sea days that are on a world cruise would just not appeal to me. Also, after 14 days on the same ship, there just wasn't enough variety in food and entertainment to keep me interested. Although I never got tired of Alaska, cruiselife was starting to get boring. I am a bit ADD and I need more variety.

 

However, since we could never afford a world cruise it is a non-issue.;)

[Harley57]

I do not believe I could handle 100+ days on a cruise ship or any kind of travel. While I love sea days, I'm not sure how I would do with 5-7 sea days in a row and DH gets very antsy with just one sea day. If time and money allowed (once DS hefty private college tuition bills are paid), the 21 day South America and Antartica explorer on Veendam looks very appealing (IF they are still doing this cruise when I can finally retire in 12 years :)

[English_in_Spain]

Although we are retired and our time is our own, I would never consider a world cruise.

 

The longest we have done is 35 days and although we enjoyed it, by the end I had had enough and was glad to get home.

 

When I read the blogs of people on a WC, to me they often sound in a rut and a bit bored.

 

I would rather take several cruises of about 20-25 days. That is about the ideal length for me. IMHO, once onboard life becomes so routine it is no longer special.

 

Edited July 29, 2012 by English_in_Spain

[world~citizen]

I have spoken with people who have experienced the world cruise from a staff perspective, and they confirmed what I thought I saw on a segment, namely that pecking orders can be established on world cruises. I suspect only those on the lower order of the the scale might mention it.

 

Who needs it?

 

To each is own though. We are ready to retire but don't feel like we are at all old. For us the atmosphere of a floating retirement home doesn't resonate. There is just too much work yet to be done in the real world.

 

Still, if you can truly disengage yourself for the prescribed period of time, the ship is on its way to ports that really enthrall you, the fare won't challenge your lifestyle when you return - and the HAL experience is for you - why not? You worked for it - you earned it.

 

Clique formation as noted by some is a consideration, but it need not dampen your experience.

[iancal]

No. In fact we asked ourselves this not very long ago. We are about to travel for 6 months with 2 12-14 day cruises interspersed in that period. Possibly one more 7-10 day cruise as the plans are flexible.

Edited July 29, 2012 by iancal

[sail7seas]

Although we are retired and our time is our own, I would never consider a world cruise.

 

The longest we have done is 35 days and although we enjoyed it, by the end I had had enough and was glad to get home.

 

When I read the blogs of people on a WC, to me they often sound in a rut and a bit bored.

 

I would rather take several cruises of about 20-25 days. That is about the ideal length for me. IMHO, once onboard life becomes so routine it is no longer special.

 

 

 

 

Your plan sounds more what we would be happiest doing when/if DH ever gives retirement consideration. :) He's still too young/active and enjoying his work too much.

 

[sail7seas]

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.

 

 

Kathy,

Thank you for the perspective.

I suppose in every social order there is a 'clique' situation....... of one sort or another. ;)

 

[SwissMyst]

Not sure why there needs to be a negative association for those who develop and share an affinity after being together longer in such a unique experience as a world cruise.

 

One can naturally develop a sense of "ownership" to their ship after a certain length of time. Fine, this happens. But to come on board thin-skinned and resentful of those who have already developed this affinity level seems to be bad way to approach the cruise experience in the first place.

 

I know I feel very different during a multi-segement cruise over-all compared to a single segment ones. There is different energy in the two experiences which would be even more so depending upon the number of segments experienced. Ultimately it is mixed: it is good to slowly develop familiarity with those experiencing the long haul together and to also be open to those coming onboard more briefly.

 

Saying hellos and saying good-bys on cruise ships has many subtle nuances to it and probably does settle into a sort of stratification over time between the short-term cruisers and the long-term cruisers.

 

So there is something valid to the observation there is a perceived sense of "cliqueiness" on world cruises - but it seems more natural sorting out process based upon time and prior shared experiences and little else, than something inherently offensive sorting out "us and them". Just something to be aware of and to not judge too harshly from the outside, until you have walked in those same shoes yourself. This sort of insider/outsider happens in most groups and organizations until time alone becomes the more natural change agent.

[Cindy]

My first reaction to the question was absolutely:D but when I really think about it, I'm not so sure.

I think it would be hard to be away from home for that length of time. What would I do about the house? The pool? The bills?:rolleyes: I'm sure there are ways to handle "life's responsibilities" when one is away for that long, but I'm not sure how to go about it!

I also think that being on a ship for that long, I would have to treat it more like a vacation home than a vacation resort. On a short cruise, it's OK to splurge on unusual meals and not have a routine, but I can't imagine doing it for 3-4 months unless I brought a second, much larger wardrobe with me!:eek:

Heck...who am I kidding? I just retired from education which is allowing us to take our first cruise longer than 7-nights in November. Two weeks will be our max until my husband retires, and that's probably about 8 years down the road. I'll start with 11-nights, and we'll take it from there!:D

[ANSalberg]

Did you have no points during the cruise when you thought you'd had enough? You didn't get an urge to leave and go home? I feel that would happen to me at some point on such a long cruise.

 

 

We've done 4 of the Grand cruises -and one World Cruise [ 2008] - We felt the World was simply TOO long; NOT because it wasn't exciting but because I began to REALLY miss our family and was practically "Home-sick" , except that we saw such wonderful places we had never seen before........India [ 2 ports] was AMAZING and my favorite; Egypt was a lesson in history -ancient history ....so some of the ports on the World cruise are VERY ...'different'

On the GRand Cruises - by FAR Asia/Australia was my favorite and we keep going back.

What is different on HAL than many other lines is that the Grand/World cruises leave/return from a USA port so flights are shorter and are much easier on your internal system [ crossing the oceans you have 4 or 5 days of hourly change in times; if you FLY you may have to deal with 4 or 5 hourly changes in ONE [or two] flights on the same 24 hour period. When you are young -that's a piece of cake -older, not so easily accomplished.

The longer cruises are neither "perfect" or "Awful" -they are simply OFFERED for you to consider. We love them! You often see a question "Will I get bored?" on a longer-than-seven-day cruise. I don't HAVE an answer for that cruiser. I don't GET "bored"

Whether YOU enjoy these MUCH longer [ 65/70 days -to 100-105 day World] is ENTIRELY up to you.;)

[iancal]

We find that after 12-14 days the food all starts to taste the same. For us, it is definately the law of diminishing returns.

[PathfinderEss]

I don't know if we would do the world cruise. As much as I like to cruise being gone that long might be a little much. We've done 30 days and loved it and are planning on another 30 days next year.

A big problem we would have on a world cruise is paying for it, lol. So since we're probably not going to win the Lotto, its probably out for us. And then there is the pet sitter. Like Innlady, at the price we pay for them I would probably be sending her on an all paid for vacation.

As much as it is fun to talk about doing it, it's really not feasable for us. I'll just enjoy doing a 30 day every once in a while, with 14 days thrown in between.

Edited July 29, 2012 by PathfinderEss

[TedC]

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.

 

We visited Easter Island on a WC segment - Fla to SYD. Crew members said they can only stop at Easter Island about 25 percent of the time due to weather. We had light rain on our day and consider ourselves fortunate to visit that remote outpost.

[SwissMyst]

I don't know if we would do the world cruise. As much as I like to cruise being gone that long might be a little much. We've done 30 days and loved it and are planning on another 30 days next year.

A big problem we would have on a world cruise is paying for it, lol. So since we're probably not going to win the Lotto, its probably out for us. And then there is the pet sitter. Like Innlady, at the price we pay for them I would probably be sending her on an all paid for vacation.

As much as it is fun to talk about doing it, it's really not feasable for us. I'll just enjoy doing a 30 day every once in a while, with 14 days thrown in between.

 

It finally dawned on me after retirement, those retirement checks keep coming in whether I am on a cruise spending that money or at home spending that money. So when I deduct the retirement checks from the cost and time of the cruise, it almost pays to not stay home. (Assuming most basics are now already paid off and one is essentially debt free for this approach to work.)

 

 

Before when I worked as an independent business owner, if I did not work I did not get paid so any vacation cost double - for the cost of the vacation and the loss of income during that time off. Now I get "paid" whether I am home or on the high seas.

 

Well, duh? But this was a psychological shift I had to make and still have to remind myself that this monthly income now can be deducted from the cruise price.

[iancal]

We sold our house, out at the end of August. It is too big for us. Took us 9 months to clear it all out. Downsized to a container that will be stored while we travel.

 

When we add up the typical costs that we will avoid -heat, taxes, insurance, utilites, food, general living expenses, and the interest that we will get from the house proceeds, it is surprising how much this offsets the cost of the 5/6 month vacation (cruise, land, etc) that we will be taking. And it could be longer if we find somewhere we particularly like.

Edited July 29, 2012 by iancal

[rocsailor]

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?

Our first travel experience was a trip around the world (Fla to Canada to Hong kong thru Rome to Paris and back to Florida via plane, Too many packing and unpacking stops so We decided to try crusing. First cruise as a couple was 18 days Panama canal cruise from Los Angles to Florida:) Loved the fact that We did not have to change the toilet paper the whole cruise. We were hooked by then, Next cruise was 65 days for the Pacific rim on Hal. Loved it and yes We did some of the land tours but We felt they were cumbersom and many as if you have traveled are far away from the port you dock at. Always seems top be in the industrial ports and the buses are not passenger friendly. Have done our own tours via taxi or just walked around on our own. But We just sailing and love the sea days, Also did the trip around South America but not on Hal and to this day regret that choice ( another story) it was another 65 days of splender. We are sailing in October for another 28 days and can not wait to be coddled by the crew on the Statendam this time. We have decided never to do a 7 day cruise after being on the New Amsterdam in December as We feel the crew is new on the ship and We do not get the service we are accustiomed to:( Just our opinion, So all in all our reaction to a world cruise is that would be heaven:D Thanks all and all of enjoy your cruises. Go Hal!!!!!!!!!:D

Edited July 30, 2012 by rocsailor

[Cindy]

A big problem we would have on a world cruise is paying for it, lol.

 

Me too!:rolleyes:

[Topsham]

I made the World Cruise in 1995 on board the wonderful flagship s.s. ROTTERDAM....

 

The cruise was 'officially' LosAngels to New York but naturally one could join in New York for the Panama Canal cruise which was also sold as a segment of the world cuise. Just to get into the swing of things I also made the Christmas cruise immediately before.

 

We departed Lauderdale on 21st December 1984 and cruised to St. Thomas, Barbados, Grenada,La Guaira, Aruba, Cayma, Guatamala, Cozumel, Lauderdale then on to New York. Departed New York just before midnight on 7th January 1995. We had on board roughly 300 passengers. 150 in La Fontaine Dining Room, 150 in Odyssey. That made roughly 75 people in each dining room during each sitting because they kept the two sitting system regardless of how many were dining. As Tri Wyono the Maitr'd explained... "You cannot ask a work cruise passenger to dine one evening at 6pm and the next evening at 8 pm and sit aat a different table wwith different dining companions. Not done on a world cruise!"

 

At Lauderdale 10th April the ship filled with trans canal people. Of the 300 that joined in New York about 270 were making the full cruise. We then cruised to Cartagena, Panama, Puerto Caldera , Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and arrived Los Angeles 23rd January.

 

On departrure LA we were back down to around 350 paassengers... but we had 150 entertainers on board!!!!! Even still, with 500 on board, not crowded at all and a fantastic atmosphere.

 

Captain Jacob Dijk in command.

Pieter Bos, Chief Officer.

Hans Hoffman, First Officer

Albert Schoonderbeek First Officer

Pieter Van Haattum First Officer

Peter Cordfunke 2nd Officer.

JJ Scherenga Hotel Manager

Yaanni Weggemans Purser

F&B Manaager Michel Busman

Marion Koopman Guest Services Manager

Tri Wyono Maitr'd

Wyan Sudana Mait'd Lido

Rick Spath Cruise Director

Sheri Tousey Hostess

Bertus Boon Chief Engineer

 

 

After LA we headed to Hawaii. Most of the entertainers left there (roy Clark and showband with 'friends'... so the numbers were at about 400 until Hong Kong when more passengers joined. from then on the numbers wwere around 700 until the final leg when we went up to full ship... 1100.

 

So after LA it was Lahaina aand Honolulu. Next port was to be Yap but on arrivaal weaather was bad sso we lay off and some locals entertainment came out by launch for a few hours. We then continued to Manila. Because of the missed call at Yap we were at sea for 11 straight days. 11 glorious sea days. Party, party!!!!!! No complaints from anyone!

 

After Manila we cruised to Amoy, Hong Kong.... 3 days, 3 nights there! Followed by Da Nang, Bangkok (2 days) Bali (midnight sailing), Semarang, Singapore (2 days), Port Kelang, Colombo, Goa (2 days), Bombay (2 days),

Muscat, Aden, Aquaba, Suez Canal, Haifa (2 days), Piraeus, Lipari, Civitavecchia, Monte Carlo, Sete, Bercelona, Cadiz, Lisbon (2 days) Ponta Delgada, New York and then Lauderdale on 18th April. I spent one night in a hotel then joined QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 for two days... back to Bermuda. It was the only way to get home with the baggage. I staarted off with two suitacses and a carry-on... and came home with NINE pieces of baggage.

 

The only bad day of the whole cruise was 17th April... the last day at sea before Lauderdale. All I wanted to do was enjoy it but I had to spend hours packing!!!! Grrrrrrr! It was not nice leaaving the ship. Too many sad goodbyes to many new friends. You don't sail with people for four months and not make friends. After 17 years a lot of us are still in touch and many others have gone to the big Neptune Lounge in the sky!!!

 

One very good reason why I 'survived' was because I had a project to work on. At the end of the Xmas cruise... heading up to New York, I was contacted by Carnival Cruise Line and they wanted to commission six large paintings for their newbuild the IMAGINATION. I haad to politely decline as I was setting off on a world cruise and there was NO WAY I was cancelling. They came back with a soloution. Do one painting during the cruise.... ship it to the shipyard when we arrived in Italy, then the remaining five paintings to be done as soon as I got home and to be delivered no later than end July. In New York I went ashore, bought a large easel, canvas, stretchers, tacks, canvas pliers, paints, brushes, turps, pencils, paper etc etc...a full painting kit.... set me back over $1,000. I obviously need a space to work in. Chief Officer said he would fix me up with a spare cabin. I had a single up on Boat Deck... great promemade deck just outside... better than any balcony. Just before Panama a passenger just down the alleyway from me fellaand broke his hip. He and his wife were sadly put ashore in Panama and flown home. So... yours truly got their suite to use as studio!!!!! They took the beds out, covered the carpet and away I went. Every morning at sea I would get up early, have breakfast in the lido... make a large mug of coffee and head for the studio. I would paint until aabout 1130 then head for the Oceaan Bar and the join in the rest of the days activities. Port days I did not work and on ssome sea days I forgot the morning routine because of.... ship rolling too much, some other activity that I wanted to attend or... just once in a while.... the late night session in Tropic Bar.... well you can guess.

 

Anyhow, the breaakdown for the cruise was as follows:

 

Total Days 118

Days in Port 59

Days at Sea 59

Part Days at Sea 11

Evenings in Port 30

Evenings at Sea 87

Afternoon departures (before 1800) 25

Midnight departures 23

Total ports 49

Boat Drills 18 (EIGHTEEN at least once per week!)

Sundays at sea 10

Sundays in Port 7

Formal nights 30.... plus a few extras

Total Hours: 2827 or 117.8 days

Port Time: 695 hours

Sea Time: 2132 hours... or 88.8 days... roughly 75.4%

 

I kid you not... I still have the big wall chart that I made for the cruise and had it stuck up in the cabin.

 

It was a great cruise. Packing not a problem... just pack for like a ten day cruise and then rotate it 12 times. unfortunately not for the ladies thought... the last thing they wanted to hear was, "She wore that dress at the Venetian Ball or the Black and White Ball."

 

It is not a big deal staying on board for so long. You just don't think about it. Everyone knows that the only bad day is disembarkation day and that happened once in 118 days.... not every seven days!!!

 

I've not done a full world cruise since but have done a few half world cruises and some shorter segemts.. in SAGA ROSE and SAGA RUBY. Both of those ship are very much like the old ROTTERDAM.

 

Stephen

 

Ahhhhhhh... them good old days.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Some day we will ..

[vbmom87]

We find that after 12-14 days the food all starts to taste the same. For us, it is definately the law of diminishing returns.

 

Yup!!

['The Bear']

Sail ---- We are considering Grand Voyages, but a WC would certainly be too long (even if we could afford it!!)

 

We still have three of our parents alive so being away two months would be about the maximum we could consider. I would probably become homesick for our grandchildren, three of which live in the same town as us, because that has happened previously on our 28 day voyages.

[happyglobetrotter]

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?

 

 

Some persons dominate the floor but they are a minority. Since cliques are not my game so I do not belong to any of them. Yes, there are some cliques. For ex. some persons on the 7th floor (suites) who do not speak to anyone on the other floors and spend the whole cruise in the Neptune lounge. There are some president club members who look down upon all the others now able to buy days ($300 day credits, etc) to achieve the 1,400 days total required to belong to the VIP club.

 

Yes there are persons always sitting in the same chair in the Explorers' café, and some others acting as if they were owning part of the ship (or the whole ship). But they are part of the cruise and the best is to ignore them. A cruise is a small village, a reproduction of society and a longer cruise allow time to see the good and bad of some passengers... Just normal life.

 

90% of the people on a world cruise are nice and worth knowing. I manage to avoid the other 10%.

 

Just one funny anecdote. On the last WC, there was a lady who was completing the daily quizz at the library about 5 minutes after sheets had been distributed. every single day. She always had perfect score. The librarian figured out that she had managed to pile hundreds of previous quizzes and was running to her room to copy the answers down. So this is how some people stay entrertained on a world cruise.:D

 

Louise

[SwissMyst]

I made the World Cruise in 1995 on board the wonderful flagship s.s. ROTTERDAM....

 

The cruise was 'officially' LosAngels to New York but naturally one could join in New York for the Panama Canal cruise which was also sold as a segment of the world cuise. Just to get into the swing of things I also made the Christmas cruise immediately before.

 

We departed Lauderdale on 21st December 1984 and cruised to St. Thomas, Barbados, Grenada,La Guaira, Aruba, Cayma, Guatamala, Cozumel, Lauderdale then on to New York. Departed New York just before midnight on 7th January 1995. We had on board roughly 300 passengers. 150 in La Fontaine Dining Room, 150 in Odyssey. That made roughly 75 people in each dining room during each sitting because they kept the two sitting system regardless of how many were dining. As Tri Wyono the Maitr'd explained... "You cannot ask a work cruise passenger to dine one evening at 6pm and the next evening at 8 pm and sit aat a different table wwith different dining companions. Not done on a world cruise!"

 

At Lauderdale 10th April the ship filled with trans canal people. Of the 300 that joined in New York about 270 were making the full cruise. We then cruised to Cartagena, Panama, Puerto Caldera , Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and arrived Los Angeles 23rd January.

 

On departrure LA we were back down to around 350 paassengers... but we had 150 entertainers on board!!!!! Even still, with 500 on board, not crowded at all and a fantastic atmosphere.

 

Captain Jacob Dijk in command.

Pieter Bos, Chief Officer.

Hans Hoffman, First Officer

Albert Schoonderbeek First Officer

Pieter Van Haattum First Officer

Peter Cordfunke 2nd Officer.

JJ Scherenga Hotel Manager

Yaanni Weggemans Purser

F&B Manaager Michel Busman

Marion Koopman Guest Services Manager

Tri Wyono Maitr'd

Wyan Sudana Mait'd Lido

Rick Spath Cruise Director

Sheri Tousey Hostess

Bertus Boon Chief Engineer

 

 

After LA we headed to Hawaii. Most of the entertainers left there (roy Clark and showband with 'friends'... so the numbers were at about 400 until Hong Kong when more passengers joined. from then on the numbers wwere around 700 until the final leg when we went up to full ship... 1100.

 

So after LA it was Lahaina aand Honolulu. Next port was to be Yap but on arrivaal weaather was bad sso we lay off and some locals entertainment came out by launch for a few hours. We then continued to Manila. Because of the missed call at Yap we were at sea for 11 straight days. 11 glorious sea days. Party, party!!!!!! No complaints from anyone!

 

After Manila we cruised to Amoy, Hong Kong.... 3 days, 3 nights there! Followed by Da Nang, Bangkok (2 days) Bali (midnight sailing), Semarang, Singapore (2 days), Port Kelang, Colombo, Goa (2 days), Bombay (2 days),

Muscat, Aden, Aquaba, Suez Canal, Haifa (2 days), Piraeus, Lipari, Civitavecchia, Monte Carlo, Sete, Bercelona, Cadiz, Lisbon (2 days) Ponta Delgada, New York and then Lauderdale on 18th April. I spent one night in a hotel then joined QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 for two days... back to Bermuda. It was the only way to get home with the baggage. I staarted off with two suitacses and a carry-on... and came home with NINE pieces of baggage.

 

The only bad day of the whole cruise was 17th April... the last day at sea before Lauderdale. All I wanted to do was enjoy it but I had to spend hours packing!!!! Grrrrrrr! It was not nice leaaving the ship. Too many sad goodbyes to many new friends. You don't sail with people for four months and not make friends. After 17 years a lot of us are still in touch and many others have gone to the big Neptune Lounge in the sky!!!

 

One very good reason why I 'survived' was because I had a project to work on. At the end of the Xmas cruise... heading up to New York, I was contacted by Carnival Cruise Line and they wanted to commission six large paintings for their newbuild the IMAGINATION. I haad to politely decline as I was setting off on a world cruise and there was NO WAY I was cancelling. They came back with a soloution. Do one painting during the cruise.... ship it to the shipyard when we arrived in Italy, then the remaining five paintings to be done as soon as I got home and to be delivered no later than end July. In New York I went ashore, bought a large easel, canvas, stretchers, tacks, canvas pliers, paints, brushes, turps, pencils, paper etc etc...a full painting kit.... set me back over $1,000. I obviously need a space to work in. Chief Officer said he would fix me up with a spare cabin. I had a single up on Boat Deck... great promemade deck just outside... better than any balcony. Just before Panama a passenger just down the alleyway from me fellaand broke his hip. He and his wife were sadly put ashore in Panama and flown home. So... yours truly got their suite to use as studio!!!!! They took the beds out, covered the carpet and away I went. Every morning at sea I would get up early, have breakfast in the lido... make a large mug of coffee and head for the studio. I would paint until aabout 1130 then head for the Oceaan Bar and the join in the rest of the days activities. Port days I did not work and on ssome sea days I forgot the morning routine because of.... ship rolling too much, some other activity that I wanted to attend or... just once in a while.... the late night session in Tropic Bar.... well you can guess.

 

Anyhow, the breaakdown for the cruise was as follows:

 

Total Days 118

Days in Port 59

Days at Sea 59

Part Days at Sea 11

Evenings in Port 30

Evenings at Sea 87

Afternoon departures (before 1800) 25

Midnight departures 23

Total ports 49

Boat Drills 18 (EIGHTEEN at least once per week!)

Sundays at sea 10

Sundays in Port 7

Formal nights 30.... plus a few extras

Total Hours: 2827 or 117.8 days

Port Time: 695 hours

Sea Time: 2132 hours... or 88.8 days... roughly 75.4%

 

I kid you not... I still have the big wall chart that I made for the cruise and had it stuck up in the cabin.

 

It was a great cruise. Packing not a problem... just pack for like a ten day cruise and then rotate it 12 times. unfortunately not for the ladies thought... the last thing they wanted to hear was, "She wore that dress at the Venetian Ball or the Black and White Ball."

 

It is not a big deal staying on board for so long. You just don't think about it. Everyone knows that the only bad day is disembarkation day and that happened once in 118 days.... not every seven days!!!

 

I've not done a full world cruise since but have done a few half world cruises and some shorter segemts.. in SAGA ROSE and SAGA RUBY. Both of those ship are very much like the old ROTTERDAM.

 

Stephen

 

Ahhhhhhh... them good old days.

 

 

What a wonderful remembrance. I am glad you got to relieve it one more time. Thanks for taking us along with you. I can't quite get over my own RTW cruise done back in 1977 either so I hear you. We saw the Saga Rose on her last trip somewhere in the Caribbean a few years ago. Those small ships were all quite grand in cruising traditions that just can't be replicated - it was all about ships at sea in those days, not entertainment, diversions and sanitization of the ocean-going rigors of sea travel.

[SwissMyst]

We find that after 12-14 days the food all starts to taste the same. For us, it is definately the law of diminishing returns.

 

This is a good thing. After the first days of novelty on any ship I find myself dropping into a routine of eating pretty much the same favorites over and over again. And getting smaller and smaller portion sizes at dinner. Cruising in the long run for me remains all about travel, and not dining indulgences.

[RuthC]

...on ssome sea days I forgot the morning routine because of.... the late night session in Tropic Bar.... well you can guess.

Late night session in the Tropic Bar? Oh, yes, I can guess. ;)

Too bad Frank was gone by then. Who was holding court that year?

I think I can guess, but would like to know if I'm right.