Party Pooper?

[Theresa522]

You can eat, drink, gamble, lay out by the pool... never gets old!

 

I second this post!! :D

[cooncat_mom]

Some good advice - definitely talk to her (gently!) but we have the same problem in my family. My husband is like Tigger, bouncing off walls and getting really excited, and I'm almost like Eeyore - overplanning & just getting ready for disaster! Once we're at port, though, I'm ready to have a great time! It may be the same for the two of you....

[Newbcruiser1]

I'm just slightly older than you, andin the last few years I've gone on 2 cruises with my best friend. I actually had the same experience leading up to it where my friend didn't seem very excited, and I basically had to "take charge" and plan our excursions, etc. The cruises ended up working out fine and we both had a good time though. Her lack of excitement was just her - she doesn't get excited until the last minute, and even then, often not until we're actually ON the cruise and having fun.

 

It can be frustrating since you want someone to help you plan, share your excitement, etc. I'd probably agree with the other posters that mentioned backing off a bit (be excited and brag to others instead - you gotta get it out somehow! lol). Discussing "expectations" is a good idea too - we always ended up doing that, although not as formally as it sounds.

 

If it turns out that your interests on the cruise are slightly different, you will absolutely be able to find things to do onboard without her (activities, dance classes, shows, etc) should she choose not to participate. It's always nice at least having someone to eat with, talk to, etc though!

 

Have a wonderful cruise! :D

[cooncat_mom]

I meant there is some good advice in this thread! Realized I worded that badly too late to edit it...That'll teach me to do this at work!:eek: Shhh!;)

[klingoncruiser]

Sounds to me like your friend is concerned about something and won't tell you what it is. However once she is on the ship, those worries may well vanish and she will find it as addicting as the rest of us. I would ask what is bothering her about this cruise.

[Adri204]

I am single woman who travels alone all the time. I backpack, go camping, hiking, white water rafting, etc on vacations. I also love to horseback ride on vaca as I have horses so its fun to me. I am a history nut love it. But see thats me.

 

Now here is the thing, if you see a tour you really want to do take a ships tour and that way you will be traveling with a group. If she keeps changing the subject about the cruise/vaca ask her point blank why? The thing is you both need to have a reasonable understanding as to what is your idea of a good vaca and how to meet in the middle?

 

For example I personally dont drink alcohol so my idea of fun is not club hopping or drinking until 2:00am or so. Im not saying its wrong if others are differnt but just giving an example.

 

I travel alone and tend to be extremly social and love talking to others again thats me nothing wrong if someone is differnt then that. So figure out your expectations and go from thier.

 

Thier are some details that have to be discussed for example. Paying for the cruise, airfare if needed, pooling money or not, etc. Also discussing shore excursions is a necceisty as well. Do you want to do any? Which one's separate or together? Things like that.

 

Good luck,

 

Adri :)

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Unfortunately, the roll call is quite dead! I will be on the Grandeur on June 10th as well and because it's only a 4 night there is no meet & mingle. Maybe we could arrange an informal meet & mingle with the few people on the roll call?!?

 

I think you will be fine though. Ask your friend, like everyone else said. Maybe she is nervous! I think once she gets onboard she will be thrilled though and all of her avoidance will be forgotten.

 

From what I read, there will be a singles group onboard, so I am sure there will be many other people to meet if your friend hides in the cabin.

[BillOh]

I obviously wouldn't go into port alone for my own personal safety reasons... but I'm just getting sort of bummed out!

 

 

I'm glad your thinking about this. On our last cruise a single girl early 20's did just that, drank her self silly in Belize. Fortunately a family from the ship recognized her and saved her from some locals (apparently) and escorted her back to the ship.

[framboesa]

It was dificult for me to put my husband inside of one ship 4 years ago...Now he still speaks about the cruise to everybody and sometimes it seems that he get paid to rave so much about the cruise life...Don't do anything...just wait to be inside the ship and let the party begin!:D

[cruisedawgg]

I agree with some of these possible reasons too. Could be several things:

 

Since it's her first time:

1. She could be afraid of the unknown (being on a ship, surrounded by water)
   
2. Doesn't know what to expect at the ports of call / heard horror stories about foreign countries
   
3. Is just plain tired of hearing you drone on and on about it and avoids the subject entirely
   

Ask her if she's nervous about the trip, and reassure her she'll have fun. Then back off. After the cruise, she'll be doing all the blabbing to everyone about how much fun she had! ;)

[kharrison__15]

as mentioned, find out why she doesn't want to talk about it...there's something underlying here.

Where you from in SE Wis?

 

I'm just a little north of Milwaukee.

 

Thank you to EVERYONE for all of the ideas. Maybe I'm just a little too 'into' it. She's finishing up her semester in college and I'm sure has plenty on her mind, plus a new bf... there are lots of things I didn't think of. And I suppose, she's just always been different than me on levels of excitement.

 

I live in Milwaukee and she lives in Minneapolis, so we won't be face to face again until we're on the plane, but I will call her or FB her and talk about it... see if there is anything particular bugging her about the trip.

 

Thank you for all of the support and great ideas. I am on the roll call, but as SmilePerry noted, it's a pretty slow roll call. :(

 

I'm going to have fun, I know that much. thanks for the encouragement, I'll be out of here in no time!!! :D

[RetireeWannabee]

that was my mom.

 

I had wanted to go Alaska for a couple decades and long ago determined it woudl be mom that would come with me.

 

I was over the moon excited and she was ... nothing. what the ... ?

 

So it turns out, she just didn't want to have to do any "work" - thinking, planning, listening, anything. she just wanted to show up and have me steer her around.

 

we did have fun, it was only in the pre-cruise stage that she remained uninvolved, and, it seemed, uninterested. However, I was probably guilty of talking about it TOO MUCH. I will typicallyblow trips out of their rightful proportion because planning trips is stress relief and my job can be stressful.

 

hope it's just that your friend is pre-occupied and figures you have it all covered, why bother? assume she will come around, but don't worry about it - you can have a Me Time plan, and I don't think you have to worry so much about your personal safety onshore if you stick to the touristy areas. And quite liekly, you can find others to hang with onshore if you don't want to be alone.

 

plenty to do onboard. if your room mate is a drag, don't worry, you aren't just stuck with her, there's a whole ship of people!!!

 

good luck, I'm sure you will have a great cruise, hope she tries to, also!

[Poorplaya]

Especially at your age, you'll find plenty to do. My wife and I are both 22 yrs old, and we have so much to do that we keep our days full. Don't let her drag you down if she gets that way, you'll find plenty of things that can keep you busy for the entire day, all cruise long.

[Maraprince]

I'm just a little north of Milwaukee.

 

Thank you to EVERYONE for all of the ideas. Maybe I'm just a little too 'into' it. She's finishing up her semester in college and I'm sure has plenty on her mind, plus a new bf... there are lots of things I didn't think of. And I suppose, she's just always been different than me on levels of excitement.

 

I live in Milwaukee and she lives in Minneapolis, so we won't be face to face again until we're on the plane, but I will call her or FB her and talk about it... see if there is anything particular bugging her about the trip.

 

Thank you for all of the support and great ideas. I am on the roll call, but as SmilePerry noted, it's a pretty slow roll call. :(

 

I'm going to have fun, I know that much. thanks for the encouragement, I'll be out of here in no time!!! :D

 

 

Be prepared to do your own thing and enjoy your trip. Don't feel that you and your friend are joined at the hip and absolutely have to do everything together.

 

MARAPRINCE

[klfhngr]

I've noticed from past experience, that when someone is acting like that, they're gonna cancel. Seriously...

[cb at sea]

Stop talking about it! Jeez...let her find out how much fun it is on her own! I've found that the more you "talk it up", the less fun the "new" person really has....

[JenAndDan]

I agree that you should back off a bit and see what happens once you get on the ship but you should also prepare yourself - take the advice of others and join the roll call! I was in a similar situation many years ago when I went away with a close friend. Turned out she wanted to sleep in all day a nd then go out at night and I wanted to do everything non-stop. Luckily for me there was a third girl involved (another one of her friends) and the two of us quickly became friends and toured together while our friend slept the day. You are going to be surrounded by thousands of people so you'll never really be alone. If you want to sign up for excursions and she's not responsive you can either join things people on your roll call are doing or take a ship excursion. If you like to see things and she likes to sunbathe the two of you can still have a good time doing your own thing - you just have to communicate about it.

[ddgleason]

I am on this cruise too and the roll call is the quietest I have ever seen. I don't think we are even on page 3 yet and the cruise is less than a month away!!!

 

Perry and Harrison, I'll meet up with you to toast sail away. And Harrison, feel free to tag along with DH and me. (I don't know how much fun we are but you never know!)

 

Another thing to think about is your table size. If you are at a larger table, you just might hit it off with the people you eat with and start meeting them to do things. That has happened to us several times.

 

Whatever happens, you will be on a cruise and you have the right attitude. You will have fun. I LOVE your excitement! I am excited too!! We're going on a cruise, baby!!!

[COMBOY]

So... what do you do when the person you're cruising with seems un-interested in the cruise?

 

it's driving me crazy! My friend from high school and I are cruising June 10th on Grandeur, it's the first cruise for both of us-we're both 22. I'm completely out of my mind excited, and she always changes the subject when I bring it up. We've been friends since pretty much forever, but all of the sudden I'm second guessing how much fun this trip will be?! What are my options if she chooses to just sleep the days away?! Is there plenty to do on board on my own? I obviously wouldn't go into port alone for my own personal safety reasons... but I'm just getting sort of bummed out!

 

can anyone please lift my spirits by telling me how much fun this will be?!

 

thanks, cruise critic friends, you're the best!

 

IMO you two both need to sit down prior to this cruise and sort out what's going on between the two of you. She might be just as excited about the cruise as you are, but simply not the kind of person that wants to talk about it for hours like you. You have to respect that so maybe cool it off for awhile. Going on this cruise where she's sleeping in and your off partying may not work out for either of you. But I do think you two need to have a heart to heart and make sure you both understand each other expectations of this cruise. Yes...and that means really listening to what "she" wants out of this cruise and letting her know what your expectation are too. Don't argue with her and demand anything. Keep calm and make mental notes. I have found that having clear expectations and boundaries when traveling with friends are very important. You two don't need to everything together of this cruise. You two aren't joined at the hip. Maybe agreeing to just go into port and having meals together is all you will do together. Maybe she's the kind of person who just like to sit around the pool while you're taking dance lessons or at the casino...and that's perfect fine too. Traveling with friends means compromise and mutual respect for each others privacy and wants and setting the tone for this up front prior to departure is very important. I think once you get everything out in the open this will relieve your anxiety over the cruise. I wish both of you a wonderful cruise.

[kharrison__15]

I am on this cruise too and the roll call is the quietest I have ever seen. I don't think we are even on page 3 yet and the cruise is less than a month away!!!

 

Perry and Harrison, I'll meet up with you to toast sail away. And Harrison, feel free to tag along with DH and me. (I don't know how much fun we are but you never know!)

 

Another thing to think about is your table size. If you are at a larger table, you just might hit it off with the people you eat with and start meeting them to do things. That has happened to us several times.

 

Whatever happens, you will be on a cruise and you have the right attitude. You will have fun. I LOVE your excitement! I am excited too!! We're going on a cruise, baby!!!

 

We are seated at a table for 10, late seating. We talked a little tonight, nothing about vacation, she had other things she wanted to talk about so I figured I'd let her go on about it - I think we'll be fine. She's traveled plenty and is very independent, I can be quite independent myself.

 

Again, thanks everyone for your encouraging words. Leaving in 21 days!

[newcatintown]

I don't see an issue. You've been friends since forever. It's something you're thinking about a lot, she has other things on her mind. You will more than likely get on this cruise and reconnect and solidify your freindship. We can't expect others to have the same expecations we have. She's your friend and has been for some time. Once on the ship (or plane) the focus will be on the vacation. It will work out.