Forewarned is forearmed

[TNTLAMB]

but is it possible to be too prepared for your cruise? Does knowing the minute details of your upcoming cruise right up to the daily activities and even the garnishment on your dinner (which you already know what it is) take away from the overall cruise eXperience? Planning using these boards seems to be a great way to extend the cruise experience but can it be overdone? What are others experiences? Who knows maybe a "Grand Wave" can add back some zip to an already predictable event. (Not that I would wish that experience on anyone)

[LARGIN]

Sometimes too much is too much... :D

[Pam in CA]

Good questions. I think it's great to have a resource where you can ask questions and get answers from people who have first-hand experience. And, I think it's great to be able to see the answers to others' questions that you didn't think to ask. However, I do think that sometimes, particularly for a first-time cruiser or someone cruising a new line for the first time, people can get too granular and some of the answers are a bit too "armchair quarterback." People can get bogged down in details rather than be informed and then relaxing and go with the flow.

 

Cruising is a fantastic experience for most of us and we want others to enjoy it as much as we do. However, everyone's experience and expectations are different and I believe they sometimes come into conflict and people wind up disappointed. :(

[Cindy]

Neat topic! Before my first cruise, I obsessed over every little detail. I discovered Cruise Critic, and learned about every possible thing that could go wrong (none of it ended up happening), and everything I should make sure I packed (and boy did I pack!). Now I read the threads that are pertinent or interesting to me, and stick my $.02 in on occasion.

So to answer the question, no the boards don't take away from my enjoyment of the cruise. To the contrary, being on Cruise Critic helps me get more excited and impatient. I've just learned over the years that one bad opinion doesn't mean I'll have a miserable time, just as one outstanding experience doesn't mean I'll love everything about my cruise.

[sun&sea]

It seems like a lot of the negative reviews also state that they "researched every detail". I remember my first cruise. I knew next to nothing! It was such a blast! I was so overwhelmed. I personally feel that a little info is great, but planning every detail only leads to disappointment. Your expectations are directly related to your experience. Have little or no expectations, and you'll be soooo pleasantly surprised! Have every detail planned out, and you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Just my opinion!

 

Janet

[mtaylor04]

I think your right. The girls and I booked a cruise on another cruise line. After reading horrible reviews about the ship we had booked, we canceled and went back to Princess without trying the other cruise line.

 

Now, we might have been very happy on the other ship but I wasn't willing to try it since I know we love princess.

[Casshew]

Much of the enjoyment comes in the planning stages :)

[Linda the Book Lover]

I love gathering information and then taking out the parts I feel will be helpful. :eek: I must work in a library or read alot of mystery novels LOL I believe that your experinece is just that your experience and it is amazing how two people can be right next to each other but each takes away something different. For some it is TMI and others there is never enough out there. Personally, I love just reading some of the posts more than posting. ;)

[chrysalis]

perhaps someone will compile a list of the most "interesting" questions posed at CC

[clydehiller]

Knowledge is power. If you study and plan accordingly, then you can accomplish your goals- be it knowing where to get a lounge chair in the sun or finding the excursion that you would enjoy.

 

Knowledge sets the correct expectations. Knowing in advance that tendering in Playa del Carmen is slow means I won't get upset if there is a wait- I'll be expecting one.

 

Additionally, when I'm on the internet investigating and planning, my imagination runs wild, and it's almost like being on vacation. And I love vacation.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Much of the enjoyment comes in the planning stages :)

So true. I feel like I'm getting more value for my travel dollar because I spend 10 times as long planning a trip as I am on the trip. I also check out just about every book from the library on the area we're visiting, read at least one book with history on the area, and try to find a piece of fiction that takes place there. :D

 

HOWEVER... I didn't discover CC until my 9th cruise or so. Our first cruise we booked 3 days before the cruise began....didn't have a clue what we were getting into. The first eight cruises (sans planning) were wonderful, amazing vacations. The next 13 cruises were wonderful, amazing vacations.

[mr green]

I believe the number one thing to do, after checking tours, is to get the deck plans of your ship, and try to commit them to memory. Properly done this saves a great deal of time, and it is not hard to do. It also drives my wife crazy! john

[Psee]

Knowledge is power. If you study and plan accordingly, then you can accomplish your goals- be it knowing where to get a lounge chair in the sun or finding the excursion that you would enjoy.

 

when I'm on the internet investigating and planning, my imagination runs wild, and it's almost like being on vacation. And I love vacation.

 

You hit the nail on the head!! :)

 

3 things important in life, someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to...:cool:

[Toto2Kansas]

Only problem with too much research I can see is that each cruise is different than the one before or the one after, to some respect.

I have also noticed that those with fewer cruises seem to want to know everything before they leave. Menus, activites, CD, Staff, best waiter, best bar waiter, best bar, best time to board, best time to leave, yadayadayada.

 

To each his own. We, enjoy the surprise of what a cruise has in store and realize that from one week until the next, shows change, waiters change, etc.

 

It is great that CC provides a place to find out important things and some actually do feel the need to know everything before they leave.

That is what makes it fun for everyone. You can research to your hearts content or just go with the flow. There is always someone to answer your question here, no matter how trival it may seem to others. And threads that don't interest some, can be skipped.

What I or others might consider a trival question, might be very important to someone else, therefore it IS important to them.

[CruiseFever]

but is it possible to be too prepared for your cruise? Does knowing the minute details of your upcoming cruise right up to the daily activities and even the garnishment on your dinner (which you already know what it is) take away from the overall cruise eXperience? Planning using these boards seems to be a great way to extend the cruise experience but can it be overdone? What are others experiences? Who knows maybe a "Grand Wave" can add back some zip to an already predictable event. (Not that I would wish that experience on anyone)

 

It's still important to those new to cruising.....I remember a going on a 7 day cruise from our home in the midwest with 14 pieces of luggage for our 4 person family once. We didn't realize how much luggage we had until we tried to load the car to go to the airport and found out it wouldn't fit. Mind you, all of this luggage occupied the living room for a good month before the cruise. By time to go I think I had forgotten what I packed.

 

Fast forward: Our last cruise I packed my one carryon size piece of luggage the morning of the cruise and rolled it on the ship that I had not so much as looked up the deck plans online for. We had nothing planned at all and had as good if not better time than when we planned everything down to how much we were going to tip the cabin steward...in advance!

 

...but then that WAS a one night Cruise To Nowhere too.

 

I didn't even bring duct tape

[NorcalGuy]

Additionally, when I'm on the internet investigating and planning, my imagination runs wild, and it's almost like being on vacation. And I love vacation.

I agree. I have a blast "over planning" before I go on my cruises! Extends the experience.

I also agree that by knowing some of the potential "pitfalls" of a particular ship or voyage, that even if I can't avoid them, I am at least not surprised and can actually "go with the flow" a lot easier.

On the other hand, I consider my plans, even booked excursions, as a rough guide and will change if something else makes more sense once the cruise begins. I'm not locked into anything!

[TNTLAMB]

I think your right. The girls and I booked a cruise on another cruise line. After reading horrible reviews about the ship we had booked, we canceled and went back to Princess without trying the other cruise line.

 

Now, we might have been very happy on the other ship but I wasn't willing to try it since I know we love princess.

 

I think ferreting out facts such as those that got us onboard the Grand last month with no wait and nearly perfect tendering and subjective opinions presented as fact (that can freak you out as it did mtaylor04) is the hard part.

[scootepie66]

Hi TNTLamb, can you believe its been a couple of weeks since our cruise?

 

I think cruising is like anything in life, you research and talk to others about their experiences and then take away from them what will be helpful and useful to you and discard the rest. I remember when I was having our first baby everyone loved sharing their graphically horrifying experiences of childbirth (why do people do that?) and I was really freaking out but I had a lovely older friend who had 3 lovely grown up children tell me that millions of women give birth everyday and that yes things do happen but not to dwell on the negative and focus on the positive. Words of wisdom I have tried to live by in any situation. (BTW- I am addicted to these boards...the debates on certain issues get old after awhile, sometimes they are good for a laugh though) :)

[TNTLAMB]

All I know is that I'm ready to go againg, back on the boards to figure out where and when. Thinking about the 14 Day Sea Grand adventure but then maybe It'll be....

[Dreamer333]

perhaps someone will compile a list of the most "interesting" questions posed at CC

Huh? What does this have to do with the OP's question? :confused:

 

To answer the OP...

I think there is a big difference between fretting/worrying about the details... and to enjoy researching your upcoming cruise!! Like some others posted, sometimes the research and anticipation is truly a part of the whole cruise experience.

[Sascol]

What does the title of this thread mean?

[Genessa]

Sometimes when I read these posts, I think some people are way over planning.

 

But, I myself love to research and then plan loosely based on the research.

 

Our first cruise was done without any planning and is still one of the most memorable. However, because we didn't plan - my "computer" was a Commodore at that time - we ended up in probably THE single worst room on a ship. We were on the lowest deck, in a room with two fixed single beds (on a belated "honeymoon" - thank goodness we were both thinner then). The bathroom floor was so hot from being over the engine room that it not only thrummed, we could have fried an egg on it. We had to take a blanket from one of the beds and rigged it up around the bathroom to try to "contain" the heat.

 

Our planning for our second cruise (still sans computer research), consisted of getting brochures from a TA, pouring over deck plans, picking out a specific room, requesting window seating at dinner...

 

I still like to research rooms and would never take a guarantee, but I could not care less who the cruise director is, what shows are playing, which night is lobster, etc...

 

Luckily for all of us, we can both skim through and read what we want or not read what we're not interested in. CC keeps me feeling as if I have a cruise planned even when I don't.

[cruzinchris]

Greetings, fellow cruisers.

I discovered this website in December, 2004 and joined a roll-call for our January, 2005 cruise. DH and I have been on nearly a dozen cruises to date; our most recent sailings had been on the Star, Golden, and Grand, and the 1/05 cruise was on the Caribbean Princess.

 

For nearly two months, I read absolutely every review about the CB and all threads devoted to this vessel. I kept asking myself why I had never felt to need to pack some of the items that were suggested: coffee pots & coffee, bungee cords, closet organizers, laundry detergent, etc. It was often amusing, and I found myself chuckling at most of these posts.

 

Among all of the suggestions for what to pack, there were two items that I found to be helpful and will always take them along: air freshener for the bathroom (Yankee Candle Car Jar) and those jumbo Ziploc bags that I hadn't known about prior to this message board (I always packed plastic bags, but those Ziplocs sure come in handy). Many thanks to anyone who recommended these two travel necessities!

 

Prior to this cruise, I read many posts recommending Crown Liquor & Spirits (FLL) for wine to carry onboard. DH and I were very disappointed in the service and selection is this store and would not patronize the establishment again. It's simply not what we've accustomed to in wine shops that we frequent at home.

 

One of the aspects of "over-planning" that seems to permeate these boards are scheduling issues (entertainment, menu sequence, ports of call, etc.). It's probably best to keep in mind that "ship happens" and that all of these things are subject to change and may not be exactly the same from one cruise to another. Here's an example:

 

For some reason, the Caribbean-themed menu has a bad rap, and many prospective passengers want to know when this menu if featured so they can plan to dine in an alternative venue that night. Following our CB cruise (eastern itinerary) in January, 2005, I posted several times that the Caribbean menu was offered on Tuesday night - the evening following our day in St. Thomas when island attire was suggested and the Island Night Deck Party was held.

 

In recent months, there has been on-going debate about when the Caribbean menu is featured, and I now know that it was changed sometime last spring because DH and I were just on the CB last week. The Caribbean menu was offered on Monday night (sea day), and the Italian menu was featured on Tuesday night (post-St. Thomas) - with suggested island attire and the Island Night Party. Go figure.

 

Activities and onboard entertainment are also subject to change from one voyage to another. I had seen Patters for the CB in the months prior to our recent cruise and noticed a full line-up of Motown-themed nights: dancing, trivia, and Motown pop star. There was a 50-60s dance party (not just Motown sounds), no Motown trivia challenge, and DH was the only Princess Pop Idol contestant to sing a real Motown song on that night of the competition. We were disappointed, to be sure, but the altered schedule certainly didn't ruin our cruise.

 

I won't even broach the topic of missed and/or changed ports-of-call because I know that this can be a sore subject for many cruisers. DH and I have enough cruise experience to know that itineraries are subject to change as stated in our passage contracts, and we trust the judgment of the cruiseline in making these decisions.

 

Overall, I have found that most everyone on these boards is helpful and resourceful, and I appreciate the vast amount of information that is shared.

Chris

[chrysalis]

Huh? What does this have to do with the OP's question? :confused:

 

To answer the OP...

I think there is a big difference between fretting/worrying about the details... and to enjoy researching your upcoming cruise!! Like some others posted, sometimes the research and anticipation is truly a part of the whole cruise experience.

 

Then I suggest that you read the OP's question again.....would not asking the question, "what will be the garnishment on my dinner plate" not be considered an "interesting" question, and as the OP stated "can planning be overdone?"

 

If you think that "how big will the waves be on April 23rd?" or "who will the CD's second assistant be on the Crown when I sail in 2007?" or "how sweet is the iced tea in the HC?" are not a bit over-the-top, then I stand corrected.

 

Ya really have to wonder how people could have possibly enjoyed cruising before the advent of the internet. Where did they get all of those minutia questions answered?

[Dreamer333]

Then I suggest that you read the OP's question again.....would not asking the question, "what will be the garnishment on my dinner plate" not be considered an "interesting" question, and as the OP stated "can planning be overdone?"

 

Oh! I understand what you were posting about now!!!!!!! I was thinking that you were talking about the OP's question being an odd question!!

Sorry for the misunderstanding!!

 

Yes, I agree that there are some crazy questions out there!