When do you find time to sleep?

[Ghsthunter]

I'm a first time cruiser and I've been reading the boards and learning that there is a huge number of things to do. When do you find any time to sleep? I want to enjoy many of the activities, dance in the nightclub and still find time to exercise in the morning. Maybe I will just rest when I get back to work : )

[ShedQueen77]

You can sleep when you get home! :D

 

Honestly, I always make some 'relax' time possible. Even if it's a nap in a deck chair in the sunshine!

[CruiseSpecialist03]

The only time you get to sleep is the time when your passed out from too much excitement :D

 

You'll adapt to the cruise nights and the sleeping very quickly. You will still be able to do what you want and get some shut eye in between.

[RAVI360]

The only time you get to sleep is the time when your passed out from too much excitement

 

yep.........by the seventh day..i am sleeping in the air port going home...with HUGE :eek:bags under my eyes......:D

[Ghsthunter]

Well that sounds accurate. I will pass out from too much excitement. I have a feeling I'm going to be hooked on the whole cruise experience.

[MonaCK]

I am a huge fan of afternoon naps. :)

[yogimax]

An inside cabin also helps!

[ADD Boy]

I usually try to lay down for a nap in the afternoon, but then I start looking at the Capers and everything I'm missing, and can't stand it! and get up! (hence, my nom de guerre)

[nodaksvt]

naps and no exercise in the morning. whats the point of exercising when im just going to gobble down alcohol and food all day long.

[David148]

My fav time/place to nap is afternoon. usually when people are getting ready for the early dinner, on the lifeboat deck. It is usually very quiet out there and nice and cool under the shades. Just relax and listen to the ocean/waves going swooosh up against the boat. :D Usually i am in bed about 3am after a BLT from room service :D and up about 9am on sea days. I don't feel like i miss anything.

 

-David

[Curt Jerome Wild]

If it is a cruise, where it is very port intensive, or a lot of places I've never been before...

Not as much sleeping.

 

That's why I also enjoy sea days, and I love some of the West Coast cruises...

Been to those ports enough times, I just get lots and lots of the best nights sleep in those comfy Carnival beds - and just have a generally fun, relaxing time!

 

[cruisetobeaches]

POWER NAPS. Works wonders. usually in the morning after breakfast on the Lido deck (sea days) and again just before dinner. Add some Red Bull after dinner and I'm set................

[misguidedangel]

I took a week off after I got back to get the sleep I didn't get on the ship.....

 

I got used to going to bed after midnight and getting up by 7am....Not many people are early risers....I wouldn't be, but I have an internal alarm clock that wakes me up by 7am no matter what...S'okay, some port days we had to be up and out by 8am anyhow

[aggieastrosfan]

I am a huge fan of afternoon naps. :)

 

Yep!! I find around 2:00 to usually be a great time for me to nap based on what's usually going on that time of day. ;)

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm a first time cruiser and I've been reading the boards and learning that there is a huge number of things to do. When do you find any time to sleep? I want to enjoy many of the activities, dance in the nightclub and still find time to exercise in the morning. Maybe I will just rest when I get back to work : )

 

I get plenty of sleep. On sea days we don't even get our room made up since I sleep so late.

 

Been on enough cruises now that I don't care much about any activities. I just go and veg out.

 

I remember after our first cruise I was so exhausted. We had the Caper and would go from one activity to the next until it was bedtime.

 

Now I try to go on a ship with a big screen and I like to watch movies on deck. (pretty exciting huh) lol

 

Bill

[jakieemma]

I am a huge fan of afternoon naps. :)

 

Nothing like a late afternoon power nap on the padded deck chairs just outside the pursers desk. That is one of the quietest places on the ship and hardly anybody goes out there. (the same deck you board the ship on)

 

Siesta time !!!!;)

[Tapi]

I'm a first time cruiser and I've been reading the boards and learning that there is a huge number of things to do. When do you find any time to sleep? I want to enjoy many of the activities, dance in the nightclub and still find time to exercise in the morning. Maybe I will just rest when I get back to work : )

 

Longer cruises will give you more time to relax. I've found that on the shorter cruises (3-4 nights) I usually come home more tired than when I left (the reason being because I try to squeeze in as much fun as possible in the more reduced amount of time.

 

On the longer cruises you won't feel the need to do everything every single day. On itineraries with multiple days at sea, days tend to be a bit lazier. For example, on my last cruise aboard the Liberty (eastern Caribbean), we were busy on port days, but on sea days we were taking naps in the middle of the day, or watching a movie in the cabin. Also, we didn't go to the main dining room every night. Some nights we felt like going to the Emile's (the buffet style restaurant) and one night we just ordered room service and enjoyed a quiet evening. Becuase it was a 7 night cruise, we still had plenty of time to enjoy the main dining room as well as the Supper Club!

 

On the shorter cruises, I've found myself "partying it up" every night until the late hours, then getting up early in the morning to maximize the day (which in turn, makes for a very exhausting vacation).

 

One thing that you will also learn the more you cruise is that there are certain activities that you won't feel like you MUST participate in on every cruise. For example, we don't care much for the Hairy Chest Contest anymore, other pool games and contests, etc. They loose the novelty factor after you've done them a few times. We'd rather spend that time relaxing now...! :)

 

How long is your cruise?

[babyher]

We always get the late dinner time, so we can squeeze a nap in mid to late afternoon after a shore excursion of just to rest up so we can hang out a little later at night.

[millerlitegirl]

My usual schedule was:

 

club till 3am

pizza and..other things till 430 am

wake up at 7am on island days/8 on sea days

on island days sleep by the pool from when i get back on baord till 630 (late dinner)

on sea days usually pass out drunk poolside by noon :)

 

so sleep isnt really a night time activity if your young at sea...

[OZjones12]

I agree with the longer cruise thing. My 1st was a 5 day and I got off feeling I needed more!!! I go on 7 days now and much better. I ususally fall asleep in the lounge chair after drinking and eating too much and I am going to take advantage of the afternoon NAPS!!!

[ScottsSweetie]

It's hard to balance your time when a first-time cruiser - you want to do it all and not miss anything! You will certainly be exhausted after this first cruise. However, the more you cruise, the more you will define what your own cruise experience will be. You'll learn what you will love doing, what you like doing, and absolutely what you have experienced and don't need to see or do again. For instance, I went to all the port talks on my first cruise, and have never been to another one. (Don't really need them if you're on CC!) We never used to go to trivia, but now we enjoy that. There are always new things to do no matter how many cruises you have done - we went to the art show - not to buy, just for free champagne, and to a wine tasting on our last cruise. Now, we know that we won't go to an art show again (unless maybe its raining), but we WILL do the wine tasting again.

 

It will be hard not to over-do on your first cruise, but know that as you cruise more often it becomes easier to pick and choose your activities and you'll get more rest. Just start planning that next cruise as soon as you get rested up from the first one! ;)

[MDC]

A ten minute cat nap before dinner and another after breakfast. I'll catch up on the rest of the time when I'm off the ship and back at home.

[Hockey Addict]

Usually DH and I are asleep by 10pm...

 

BUT on our first cruise we were up until 2 or 3 and awake by 6am. It was so crazy how being onboard just keeps you awake. It is so exciting. We didn't want to miss anything. Of course we did miss stuff... it happens. The first morning I woke to DH yelling.... STEPH LOOK OUTSIDE!!! I jumped up and looked out the window... it was a cool sunrise. I was wide awake as soon as I woke up every morning when usually it takes me about a hour to function properly!

 

We didn't even want or need a nap. I think maybe they pump oxygen on the ship like they do in Vegas. ( I know they don't... it feels like it )

 

We lived on about 4 or 5 hours of sleep each day... DH was begging me to go to sleep. He would lay down and I just sat there like a kid who couldn't go out and play when everyone in the neighborhood was on my front lawn! So I went up top with my camera in hand and snapped some pics.

 

Maybe my next one I won't be awake as long... or maybe I will actually nap... swollen ankles and all.... I doubt it though!!!

 

When I got off the ship all of the suddon it hit me. I was so glad I had a 10 minute ride home. I don't think I could have driven hours to get home!

[lovemyfamily]

We had schedule the early seating for dinner, when we realized at some point we are going to run on empty and we all would really like to enjoy the nightlife on the ship. So our solution....take a quick nap after we get back from excursions and then get ready for dinner. We aren't going until March, so we'll see how well our plan goes then.

[MaryL_Trvls]

naps and no exercise in the morning. whats the point of exercising when im just going to gobble down alcohol and food all day long.

 

The point of exercise is to even it out lol, I plan on exercising but only to try not to gain as many lbs.

 

My recommendation is nap while you tan and exercise early (not too early its a vacation). My Boyfriend and I always say , "hey you sleep when you die"