Who Knew?

[Scrapnana]

In anticipation of my first world cruise I have ideas of what the cruise will be like but you seldom anticipate everything that will happen. I would be interested in hearing from seasoned world travelers about "surprises". Have you had an experience where you thought, "I didn't expect that at all," or "That wasn't what I thought would happen," or "I expected ___ but instead got ___"?

[Keith1010]

One of the items we learned on our first World Cruise is that it is much more of an adventure than a cruise. While some crew will turnover as will some of the passengers you will be together with many passengers and crew for a long period of time and you will share many nice experiences. For me, the ship became a small town village.

 

It is something that is quite unique and not easily put into words.

 

Keith

[xrvlcruiser]

Keith,

 

Hear, hear! So true.

 

Peggy

[take us away]

You develop a 'cruise family' while sailing the world and you often stay in touch over the years. If you are lucky, you will cruise together again and again.

 

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed on my 1st WC was that the experienced cruisers had excellent suggestions about just about anything I was interested in and often had directions! Still have the bar napkin with the map to find a great tailor in Hong Kong.

Edited October 1, 2015 by take us away

[Keith1010]

You develop a 'cruise family' while sailing the world and you often stay in touch over the years. If you are lucky, you will cruise together again and again.

 

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed on my 1st WC was that the experienced cruisers had excellent suggestions about just about anything I was interested in and often had directions! Still have the bar napkin with the map to find a great tailor in Hong Kong.

 

Absolutely.

 

We have sailed several world cruises on the same ship and each time we return we know several returning guests and when you all see each other it is like a family and/or school reunion. Yes, for us many have become our extended family.

 

Keith

[wishIweretravelling]

Agree with all that has been said above.

 

One of the surprises for me was about weight control. Face it, an extended period of being served good food with multiple courses would seem like it could do a lot of damage to the waistline. But I found that, because I was going to be on for an extended period, it was easier to forego a lot of the treats because I knew that there would still be plenty of time for them over the course of the cruise. And, yeah, you get over the desire to order every course on the menu immediately.

 

There also is plenty of opportunity for activity, so a lot more doing and a lot less sitting happens on a long cruise vs. regular life (particularly office life).

 

The ship that I was on had a scale in the gym, but the dirty secret was that it didn't work right when the ship was at sea. One day it said I weighed 290 pounds, another day it said 65 pounds. Let's just say that both were clearly inaccurate. Even in port, it was sometimes off, if the water was at all choppy.

 

Fortunately, I had brought a pair of very unforgiving slacks, and made a point of wearing them at least once a week. That was my best gauge and control.

 

When I got home, I had gained 2 lbs. after 72 days of cruising. And I'm quite sure I put them on during the last week, when I had fallen into the mindset of treating myself now because next week I won't be able to get it.