Do you guys like to plan your cruise in detail or go with the flow?

[Blondilu]

I think it depends on where you cruise to. Maybe in the Caribbean it's easier to have no plan. Also, the more you cruise the more you are able to see how you can do what you want without extensive pre-planning.

 

 

But generally I plan. Maybe not meals, but where to go, how long it will take, what it will cost, how to get there. This upcoming cruise my 2 sisters and I are going to New York for 2 days and then cruising up the east coast ending up in Quebec. I have things planned for every day (but not always ALL day), and almost everything we're doing is paid for in advance and I have tickets in hand. NOW I can relax.

 

And believe it or not, there is a lot of free time in my plan. Lots of opportunity to wing it.

[salvagegirl]

I am normally like you, like to plan every detail. But cruising is different for us. Its the most relaxing vacation we have ever had. For our upcoming oct cruise the only plans we have is for the ports. I know we are going to the tropicante in costa maya and what we are doing in Cozumel.

[Kartgv]

For us, there are some things we plan in detail, some we don't plan at all. We plan and document all travel arrangements. We use spread sheets for things like packing lists, contact information for relatives & insurance coverage, medical information, any pre-arranged tours. Sometimes we plan port activities, sometimes not, depending on the port and whether or not there's a 'must see' attraction. If we're renting a car in port, we make sure to have maps.

 

The only onboard thing we pre-plan is sometimes dinner in a specialty restaurant on the first night of the cruise, when Anytime Dining can be chaotic at best. I can't see any need or benefit to pre-planning where you're going to eat breakfast or lunch each day - stay flexible in case you're tired and want to sleep late, or not tired and decide to get up and watch the sunrise, or eat too large a breakfast and decide you just want ice cream for lunch! For entertainment, with a few exceptions, you never really know who/what is going to be available until you see your daily newsletter.

[smm0218]

"For entertainment, with a few exceptions, you never really know who/what is going to be available until you see your daily newsletter."

Unless you are like me and have pursued the CC forum finding newspapers from other recent trips on the same ship. :)

 

I haven't gone so far as to decide where we are eating each meal, just the Specialty dining one night for which I've made reservation. And I do know where I want to go on embarkation day (anywhere but the buffet.) I want to try the different dining options but haven't gone so far as to decided which day/meal to do when. I'm a "little" more relaxed than that.

[jocap]

We go on cruises with several sea days in a row. Apart from a lecture in the morning, I drift about much of the day with little planned....

OH gets up, takes the daily paper and probably fits in 5 or 6 activities in the day time- even his time in the pool is planned.

We meet for dinner, and he suggests the evening's entertainment... and I usually I join him for that. :D

[geoherb]

I've planned more for our upcoming cruise to the UK and Ireland than I usually do. But I figure these ports are ones that we might not get back to. Even then, our plans are not as detailed as some of the folks on our roll call. They have things booked for every port. We're planning on doing some of them by ear. I know the basic highlights we want to see, but we're not going to be stuck on a schedule (other than making back to the ship in time).

[happy cruzer]

There are cruise lines where if you do not plan ahead and a make a reservation, you will not get to eat in a particular restaurant or see a particular show. Same as excursions that can be booked up, either private or cruise line ones. So for people who want to see or do a particular things there will have to be pre-planning.

 

We mix it up, plan some events and relax the other times.

[lasekeye]

I plan ahead, but just enough to know what's available on the ship, as the daily Fun Times will dictate more what we do each day.

 

For each port I plan much more fully. My private excursions are booked....or plans to use taxi to our destination for things we will do on our own, maps of the areas are downloaded with possible lunch spots highlighted.

 

I'm like this for our land based trips too. Plan what's available, then we pick and choose from the list....some things may not get accomplished while others that weren't on our radar of options we did do.

[sbussert]

Very detailed... first going for the main pool bar, then the mast bar, rising tide lounge, schooner... There's like 19 of them, so I better have a plan.

 

 

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[luvscruising2007]

I am definitely a planner. We book excursions ahead of time, either private or ship. This gets us the tour we want and it's pre-paid. We book specialty dining on board and we have booked Mystery dinner theater in advance. Meals in MDR, traditional dining. go to most of the shows but don't have to book them. Breakfast and lunch are spur of the moment. But we tend to eat late to go along with our late dining times.

 

Also, when we do a road trip, I plan out the overnight stops and book the hotel in advance.

[crystalspin]

Detail planner. Sometimes the plan is to "explore X" on foot or hail a cab, with less structure, but it's *planned* relaxation!

 

@smm0218 -- are you ME?

[easyboy]

We already have a packing checklist used every time.

We then just "cruise" along everyday.

[Nebr.cruiser]

On the ship, definitely go with the flow. We don't normally eat at specialty restaurants, so no need to plan that and we just decide what we are doing by reading the news sheet each day. We don't even want to have something planned for every minute--lots of relaxing is our daytime plan.

 

On shore, some days are go with the flow, others have a private excursion booked ahead. I would not enjoy having things planned out to the extent that the op does, but everyone is different.

[Keith1010]

In terms of what we do on the ship we don't plan it in advance other then things we need to tend to the first day.

 

In port this will vary by port.

 

One things I learned a long time ago is to smell the roses. In other words don't try to do so many things that you are running from place to place.

 

Keith

[pincak]

Go with the flow...the way we've lived our whole lives.

 

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[Lois R]

Depends on the cruise (In my opinion)..........on a Caribbean Cruise, I don't plan anything...........but when going to

areas of the world for the first time and it is a very port intensive cruise I definitely plan. I am sailing next week from

Barcelona to Rome:D........I do have plans for my days because there are things I want to see....in Florence I am

going to see DAVID:).....AND the cities we are visiting I have never been to.......I am planning on touring and cannot

wait!

Oh, I am planning to have a FANTASTIC TIME:D

[Hlitner]

We do a lot of cruising and extensive driving trips (all over Europe). For us, planning simply means "knowing your options." There are times when we have no clue what we will do until we do it :). In Europe we will some times drive for weeks and book hotels 1 or 2 days ahead. At times we do not even know what country we will visit until the same day or perhaps 2 days in advance. Many times we will just check the weather forecasts and head for the part of Europe where the forecasts are good.

 

 

On cruises we seldom take excursions or tours...preferring to do our own thing whenever possible. At times we do not even know what we will do until we walk off the ship :). But the key is knowing your options which really is what gives one the freedom not to do a lot of advance planning.

 

Not planning has amazing rewards. If we are someplace and enjoying ourselves, we might just stay. We have a good friend (a lady) who is just like the OP in that she does detailed spread sheets mapping out every minute of the day. She drives her family totally crazy but she cannot help herself (I guess this is called an Obsessive Personality. But we all have our crosses to bear.

 

Hank

[herbanrenewal]

I'm a planner. Especially if its a place where pre-arranging reservations will make the difference between enjoying a highlight or missing out. For a special restaurant in Paris, visiting the Vatican Museums in Rome or seeing da Vinci's Last Supper fresco in Milan you better plan ahead.

I will list all the things I would like to do in a port, map them to chose which ones fit into my time frame, make reservations or book a private tour.

If not with an organized group but self-guiding, I will plan all the things I think I can fit into the day, but if I want to spend more time once I get to my destination I will stay to enjoy where I am. So I plan in detail but reserve the right to be flexible and adapt to the moment.

[NMLady]

. ...

..I do have plans for my days because there are things I want to see....in Florence I am going to see DAVID:).....

Oh, I am planning to have a FANTASTIC TIME:D

 

Be sure you get your tickets ahead of time for that museum so you don't spend hours in line

 

http://www.accademia.org/buy-tickets/

[packer99]

We have ideas on what we want to do and when but never is it set in stone. And NEVER in a spreadsheet. Not everyone might want to do or eat what you want so we just see what happens. And never got offended that someone didn't want to dine or do some sort of activity.

[Cruise4Twos]

Cruise Critic is an information site that allows people to plan. It's as simple as that.

You're going on the Allure (big boat, lots of activities, lots to do). Do you research on everything you can. You said, "I want to be able to do as many things aspossible, including the ability to dine at different places". If you don't plan, you'll be sad otherwise. Add to it using the daily planner.

I cruised Oasis. I'm so glad I planned it, building in time for relaxation and all, not afraid to flex. I didn't realize that I would like the surfing as much as I did. We skipped Cozumel which we've been to several times for surfing that day.

Planning allowed me to retire early. Now my days are much less structured and my vacations are much more planned than ever before.

[CanadaDeb]

I like to know what's available in port before we go, so I do some research and plan maybe plan an excursion. That being said, if it happens we don't feel like doing what we had planned or something else comes up, it's ok. I just don't want to come back and then find out there was something I would have loved to do.

[cruiserking]

Planning a cruise is half the fun.

 

If we're visiting ports for the first time, I research the area, figure out the highlights, see if it is best explored on foot or with an excursion.

 

If we are returning to a familiar port I still like to have some sort of a plan. Some places we've been to many times we just take a stroll around.

 

I think it's important to some planning for your vacation. If you go with the flow you will miss out on a lot really great things.

 

Pick up a guide book that covers the ports you are visiting, it 's really very enjoyable. Plus it's that much more thrilling when you are arrive and you finally see the Bridge of Discoverers in Lisbon, Portugal, the Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, Spain or Diagon Alley in Orlando, Florida. ;)

 

Happy Planning.

 

Jonathan

[uscgrl93]

I love planning! I am very, very detailed ... but, I call it a "flexible schedule" because if something else comes up, we go with it.

 

 

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[payitforward]

I love researching the options ahead of time. However, the only thing I really plan is shore excursions. (But, I have no problem cancelling them if I decide I don't feel like doing them that day.) For me, vacation means doing whatever I feel like doing, whenever I feel like doing it. Trying to stick to a schedule would take the relaxation out of my vacation.