Cruise Question of the Day

Joanandjoe · September 2, 2008

Today's topic: "How do you decompress after a cruise? I have lost most of the weight I gained on our May 27- June 8 Alaska cruise-and-tour combination. But I still find myself comparing reality to our cruise. I go down to the kitchen in the morning to make breakfast and think "Why can't I order room service with salmon omlettes?". I see my messy kitchen and think "The staff should clean this.". I walk into my closet and think "I only unpacked once.". Is there a support group called : CRUISERS ANONYMOUS? I miss cruising on the Regent SO much. Every day had a new and exciting adventure: embarking and seeing the scenery, getting off at a port and walking around in a new city, having somebody else clean your room and serve your meals, days at sea with interesting people, and a week of no worries. How do YOU adjust? (by Joan)

boba · September 2, 2008

Post Cruise Depression can only be cured by booking another cruise. :biggrin:

deb1220 · September 2, 2008

One way that I decompress after a cruise is looking at all the photos I took - remembering the good times and the good feelings! I also keep a 'Cruise Diary' and read it over & over again re-living every highlight :biggrin: We also talk - as a family - about everything that we saw and did.....and then talk (and dream) about the next one!

KeithnRita · September 2, 2008

Today's topic: "How do you decompress after a cruise?

The travel time to get home after the cruise shocks us back to reality. On our last cruise we spent about 12 hours in two different airports. :sad2: :sad2:

rogue · September 2, 2008

I think that the old Celebrity TV commercials toldit all. I'm just in exile until I get back on the next ship. I'm not sure that I really do totally "decompress" from my last cruise. I also work on our pictures on the computer to get them looking as best as they can. I print up an album of the ones we want. Then I transfer them to my PDA and work on them to get them looking great on the PDA. Then I put captions on all of the PDA pictures. Now all of this can take months to do, and all the while I'm looking at the pictures and reliving the cruise. At the same time, I'm on CruiseCrazies talking about cruising. About the same time, we're researching then booking our next cruise.The planning for that starts and can last until we're actually on the next cruise. Then after that cruise ends, we're right back at the beginning. :biggrin:

Joanandjoe · September 2, 2008

Today's question is a rare post by Joan, so I think I (Joe) will put in my two cents. Normally, the main way we decompress is to plan our next vacation. Unfortunately, in 2007 and 2008, that has been very difficult. Two of our three vacations were done on three weeks notice: we left for vacation three weeks after I was given permission to go on vacation. The third was booked nine months in advance, and was nearly cancelled. Right now I'm back in the "not allowed to take vacation" category, so we can't plan anything. Howard's solution doesn't work when you don't know when or where you'll be able to go on vacation again.

Joan is more upbeat than me. My question would have been "how do you keep from going nuts when you're not allowed to plan a vacation?"

coloradocruisers · September 2, 2008

Today's question is a rare post by Joan, so I think I (Joe) will put in my two cents. Normally, the main way we decompress is to plan our next vacation. Unfortunately, in 2007 and 2008, that has been very difficult. Two of our three vacations were done on three weeks notice: we left for vacation three weeks after I was given permission to go on vacation. The third was booked nine months in advance, and was nearly cancelled. Right now I'm back in the "not allowed to take vacation" category, so we can't plan anything. Howard's solution doesn't work when you don't know when or where you'll be able to go on vacation again.
Joan is more upbeat than me. My question would have been "how do you keep from going nuts when you're not allowed to plan a vacation?"

Joe: Your problem will eventually be solved by retirement, right? I believe you said on another thread that you're counting down the days, somewhere around 2 1/2 years to go.

For me, it's going to be a while longer. So we have to make the most out of each cruise. We tend to take alot of pictures. Sharon's into scrapbooking, and I try to help. That's the best thing for us -- just to relive our cruise over and over again through photos. We're kind of on a three-year cruise cycle. Wish we could go more often, but with five people, it can get costly. I have found that when we have one booked, even if it's a year away, it can make the daily gripes seem less troubling.

DebbieandJerry · September 3, 2008

Jerry and I are very fortunate to have met Marcy and James on their first cruise. Even though they live about 25-30 minutes east of us, Marcy and I talk on the phone daily. We are always dreaming, planning, scheming (whatever) about the next vacation. We also talk about our past vacations and can now laugh at some of the more sobering moments (and fights). We try and get together shortly after our return to trade pictures and rehash stories.

So, having Marcy in my life has helped me decompress and regroup. But, I do know what you mean about the pampering and spoiling that we get. Isn't that why they call it vacation?

DebbieandJerry · September 3, 2008

There was a time when we were able to take 2 cruises a year. That was when we only did 7 day cruises and planned one for March and the other for October (coincided with the public school schedule of paid time off).

Now that we have pampered ourselves to balconies and longer cruises (i.e., more than 10 days), we have had to plan for one cruise every 12 to 16 months. So, how do we bide the time?

Of course, talking about it (incessantly), saving money for it, planing and re-planning the excursions, researching all of the options, going shopping for CRUISE WEAR, going on that diet so the CRUISE WEAR fits, whatever.

Jerry and James don't get paid time off. So we really have to plan our vacations and be methodical about the timing.

We've tried the "mini vacations" in between cruises and they are not worth it. All in all, it is more expensive to spend 3-5 days in a hotel in another city than it is to take a cruise somewhere. So right now, the in between cruise time isn't as bad as it could be because the anticipation of where we are going next always takes over.