GWV Advice Needed

[mame42]

A friend (outgoing, people person who never met a stranger) with limited cruise experience (a couple of 5 day Caribbean and a 7 day Med) wants to do a GWV. Do any experienced WCers know of anyone who jumped from a few short sailings to a WC? Was it a successful leap?

 

Thanks for any input.

[KirkNC]

I have seen it work great but also seen a few cases were it did not. In the end, almost everyone who does a WC or 80-90 day grand voyage for the first time goes through it as most start with short trips.

[VennDiagram]

I can't answer from the perspective of a GWV. Just as someone who started with 7 day cruises and dreamt of being able to take longer cruises. Truly ached to take longer cruises, or so I thought. The World cruise was my ultimate dream. But now, after doing a few not-terribly-long cruises, 10 to 14 days, my sweet spot is 10 days, no more than 12. Could your friend try something longer than 5 or 7 days, to see if she she gets to the "okay enough, I'm DONE with being on a ship" feeling?

 

Sorry I'm not the GWV cruiser you'd hope would answer :)

[Tampa Girl]

I can't answer from the perspective of a GWV. Just as someone who started with 7 day cruises and dreamt of being able to take longer cruises. Truly ached to take longer cruises, or so I thought. The World cruise was my ultimate dream. But now, after doing a few not-terribly-long cruises, 10 to 14 days, my sweet spot is 10 days, no more than 12. Could your friend try something longer than 5 or 7 days, to see if she she gets to the "okay enough, I'm DONE with being on a ship" feeling?

 

Sorry I'm not the GWV cruiser you'd hope would answer :)

 

I don't think 10-15 days is adequate to get a good idea of how one would take a 30, 40, 90, 110 day cruise. The longest cruise we will have been on prior to our fortcoming Grand Asia, is 25 days. It was a totally different experience from even our 15-17 day cruises. Perhaps because the 25-day was a historical purpose - World War II, or perhaps the additional 10 days does make a difference. But the ship becomes your community; your onboard friends are your neighbors; and your cabin is your home. One gets settled into a routine that is vastly different from the shorter cruises, and the Grand Voyages are as much a learning experience as they are just a relaxing way to travel. Anyway, that is our feeling.

 

In any event, I think not having taken a cruise before could taking a WC could be disastrous. I'm just not sure what type of cruise or the length would be recommended.

[mame42]

Thanks all. She decided to take the leap and pre booked.

[bay guy]

My DW and I did 63 days of the 2018 GWV, our longest prior cruise having been 14 days. It took a little getting used to at first but the Amsterdam crew is fabulous and go out of their way to make passengers happy and comfortable. They quickly learn passenger names and really helped us turn a potentially bad situation into a good experience when my wife became ill on the trip. Because they pay attention to what is going on with the passengers, the crew quickly realized that I was showing up for some meals without her while she recuperated and I had lots of help from them getting food trays together for her in Lido and staff willing to leave their posts to carry the trays to our cabin for me.

If your friend is outgoing, she won't have any trouble making friends among the passengers and with the crew members. She definitely wants to participate in the roll call here so she can join groups for tours the passengers set up and also participate in on board activities like trivia and the various dance and cultural classes,

[rafinmd]

This was Crystal but I had a tablemate who had never done more than a river cruise before the 97-day world cruise. He's seriously considering doing another. It seems to me to be a big leap but seems to work well for many people.

 

Roy

[OlsSalt]

I don't think 10-15 days is adequate to get a good idea of how one would take a 30, 40, 90, 110 day cruise. The longest cruise we will have been on prior to our fortcoming Grand Asia, is 25 days. It was a totally different experience from even our 15-17 day cruises. Perhaps because the 25-day was a historical purpose - World War II, or perhaps the additional 10 days does make a difference. But the ship becomes your community; your onboard friends are your neighbors; and your cabin is your home. One gets settled into a routine that is vastly different from the shorter cruises, and the Grand Voyages are as much a learning experience as they are just a relaxing way to travel. Anyway, that is our feeling.

 

......

 

Well stated. That is our experience too - it becomes such a wonderful routine I never want to get off - our longest have been 50 days, so I could see doing even longer once you get into that "zone". To me three weeks is almost minimum now to justify the plane ride to get there. Unless it is a port that is easy to get to and the time zones don't change much, then shorter is okay.

 

Leaving one's own home for that long is for us the biggest planning challenge. Being on the ship that long is the easiest part. Even packing for those long voyages was not the problem i thought it would be either.

[CruisinTexans]

A lady who had never been on a ship did the whole 2009 world cruise and had a ball. I think she was in her late 70s or early 80s. She was really cute and energetic. Even climbed down Jacob's Ladder in St. Helena.

 

Hope your friend loves it as much as that lady did.

[Scrapnana]

Before I did my first world cruise the longest one I had been on was 14 days. Loved all of the 118 days of my first world cruise so much I took another one this year and am pre-booked for the 2020.

 

There was a lady on my first world cruise who had never been on any cruise before. She had a great time and she and her husband are booked on another one.

 

You definitely need to like sea days to do a world cruise.

[FinnishFun]

I am booked on the 80-day Grand South America & Antarctic in January 2019. The longest cruise I've taken so far has been a 15-day Panama Canal transit. I'm really looking forward to this trip as I love sea days. Sometime you just have to take the leap! Best of luck to your friend, I'm sure she will enjoy it.

 

Patty

[VennDiagram]

Thanks all. She decided to take the leap and pre booked.

 

Good for her (y) :)

[scluvsrain]

I booked the GWV for 2017. In preparation for the long voyage, I took a 35-day South Pacific cruise in spring of 2016 and loved every minute of it. I didn't want to get off the ship when the cruise was over. Before that, the longest I had been on a cruise was 21 days. Most cruises were 14 days.

 

I loved the 111 day GWV, but at about day 80 or so, I began to get very homesick. Not so bad I left the ship, but I did have quite a few mornings crying in the shower. But I bucked up and then when it was time to disembark at the end of the cruise, I knew I wanted to do more long cruises, homesickness be damned! Or should I say "dam"'d!!!

 

I've booked the 80-day Grand South America for 2019 and also the full GWV for 2020.

Love love love the longer cruises.

 

I sail solo, but have met and made wonderful friends on the longer voyages. It's like going home again when you return to the ship for a new voyage!

[mame42]

I booked the GWV for 2017. In preparation for the long voyage, I took a 35-day South Pacific cruise in spring of 2016 and loved every minute of it. I didn't want to get off the ship when the cruise was over. Before that, the longest I had been on a cruise was 21 days. Most cruises were 14 days.

 

I loved the 111 day GWV, but at about day 80 or so, I began to get very homesick. Not so bad I left the ship, but I did have quite a few mornings crying in the shower. But I bucked up and then when it was time to disembark at the end of the cruise, I knew I wanted to do more long cruises, homesickness be damned! Or should I say "dam"'d!!!

 

I've booked the 80-day Grand South America for 2019 and also the full GWV for 2020.

Love love love the longer cruises.

 

I sail solo, but have met and made wonderful friends on the longer voyages. It's like going home again when you return to the ship for a new voyage!

 

It looks like we will have a great group of solos on board the 2020 GWV.