What happens on your way home..

[dcward89]

and to address the thread...we usually try to extend the vacation at least several days after the cruise ends. That helps with the let down of the cruise being over. We spend those few days sightseeing in whatever port town we sailed from and after a few days of restaurant eating and hotels we resign ourselves that it's time to get back to real life so we can make some money for the next cruise!!!

 

Can't wait for January 29, '11 - Serenade - Southern Caribbean!!!

[birdylady]

It's about 20 minutes from the ship back to the house....drop stuff off, then to the beach! Vacation doesn't have to end, just because the ship returns.

Cheater!

 

I always hate going to a restaurant right after we get off the cruise, and seeing prices on the menu!

We don't like the restaurant option cause we're afraid we'll just get up and leave without paying. :D

 

We usually drive straight home (7-8 hour drive, booo) and drop our stuff off. Call the neighbor to pick up the mail and paper. Then call the the in-laws to say we're coming to Camp Grandma and Grandpa at the Lake to pick up our furry child. Then back to getting the real life back in order.

Erika

[Sugar*Magnolia]

A great way to get through every day at home, until your next cruise is......

 

make sure you come home with something you can use every day. DH uses the soda thermos EVERY morning to tote his coffee to the office.

In my everyday drinking glass kitchen cabinet I have a couple of the plastic blinky glasses from the night deck parties! So I use those sometimes for my water!

[suezyq50]

We use to drive, living in GA. Now we are flying. It will be late when we get home. We unpack, while we wait for the pizza we ordered. We have an Alaskan cruise booked for next year, so we have that to look forward to.

[absolutsixthree]

I came back from the Serenade on August 15th . . and been in a funk ever since.

[Beanie01]

I was real depressed after my first cruise. My sister and I and some friends went in the month of May. We all got off the ship and said now what? Nothing exciting to look forward to for the rest of the year!

 

Seven months later, my sister and I booked a cruise for the following Oct., and before that Oct. trip, we booked in July for the following Sept.! Now that Sept. is upon us with a cruise coming up, we're already booked for another for next Nov.!

 

It helps to have another already planned to look forward to!

[lady_cruiser]

We call our brother and sister-in-law to let them know we are on the way home to Louisiana. We then call our friends who take care of both our cockatiels and let me them what time to expect us so we can pick up our feathered-kids.

 

Since we are too tired to even stop at the grocery store to buy essentials we usually stop some place and pick up fast food. Usually fried chicken at a place called Sunny's.

 

Once we get home we call the neighbor and go pick up our mail, take the phone off the hook, put up a "please do not disturb - we are worn-out from our cruise and resting" sign (complete with comically characters) on the door and take a nap.

 

Then after a long nap we head for the grocery store and then start unpacking my car just so my sister can repack her car so she can head back to Texas to her house the next day.

[birdylady]

We call our brother and sister-in-law to let them know we are on the way home to Louisiana. We then call our friends who take care of both our cockatiels and let me them what time to expect us so we can pick up our feathered-kids.

Oops, bad me. We have fids too. I forgot on our cruise trips, they stay at Camp GGL as well. Long weekends we have neighbors to care for them. So add that to our coming home routine. Pick up the fids when we pick up our pup.

 

Erika

(i.e. bad mommy for forgetting to mention them the first time).

[sailingawaysoon]

We have our neighbor take something out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge a couple days before we get home. Once home we toss some steaks on the grill and unpack. My husband will never let the suitcases sit w/everything in them. We try to schedule a future cruise while on the ship because the deposit is smaller and it gives us something to look forward to before we even get off. No matter what you do, it's depressing, but I agree w/other posters, it's always nicer when you have another cruise in the pipeline.

[ccruisequeen]

Cruise port is about 20 mins from us-- I look back over my shoulder at the ship as we leave, then see Carnival waiting at the Queen Mary & look at that until it's out of sight.

 

Once home, we stop for groceries (having "eaten down" so it doesn't spoil), drag suitcases & groceries home (we live in a SR Community where house is on a green-belt 2 blocks from garage), turn on computer & catch up on FaceBook & e-mail. Unpack & dump laundry, check photos, & wonder where my creme boule and towel animal are!

[frommichigan]

Anyone have a solution or idea on what they do during the initial stage of return to be able to cope with the "hangover" day???

 

Tips that came from fellow cruise critic members: Clean your house, make meals to put in the freezer and generally have everything pre-done so when you get home you can enjoy a great meal put your feet up and deal with the laundry the next day.

 

Amanda

[teajak]

Yes, my sentiments exactly! We've only been on one cruise so far, but I distinctly remember that feeling...on our trip home sitting in a restaurant and they hand us a menu - with prices! Ugh! :(

That is the worst. We extended it once for 2 days after the cruise,the sticker shock was terrible along with the dirty clothes, never did that again.:mad:

[moviestar600]

its always such a bummer for us driving home from the airport (45 minutes to an hour drive) because its like an abrupt ending to our vacation. This year we did sedan service to and from the airport. When we got home, we dropped off our luggage and headed for our favorite restaurant for drinks and dinner...both helped prolong the pampered feeling just a little:D

 

Generally our 7 day cruise gets us back on Saturday so we have one more day of rest before we go back to the rat race...since the Allure leaves on Sunday it looks like we will have to take Monday off. I cant bare coming home from vacation and having to go back to work the very next day :eek::)

[BillOh]

I remember waiting in line to disembark our first "Freedom" cruise and just standing there crying because I didn't want to leave. Having the next cruise planned definitely helps. Life is short - cruise often!

 

 

The only thing worse than Leaving Freedom was leaving Navigator because it was only a 5 day cruise, why did I book only 5?

[petesweet]

Since I am the one who would have to plan, shop and cook, I convince DH that we should stop somewhere for dinner or lunch on the way home. I do start laundry as soon as we are in the house, although it isn't finished for a couple of days.

Then we just both chill for the rest of the day. And start reality the next day.

 

Do you just walk out after eating? or do you pay?

Ha!

Kathy

[Hypo]

All of these depressing reasons is the reason they invented B2B cruises!!

[Pomperaugrr]

Talk about a buzz kill. On our 5 day Bermuda cruise on the Explorer in 2008, I had to go into work the day we disembarked. We were off the ship at 8:30, we were on the NJ Turnpike by 9:00, home by 11:00. That gave me 30 minutes to put on my suit, grab a bite to eat and I was at my desk at noon. Not a way to finish a cruise, but we had a situation to deal with at work.

 

It was a strange sensation to have had breakfast in the Explorer's Windjammer in the morning and be at my desk at noon the same day! :(

 

Eric

[Pocohi]

We are sailing in October on our 3rd cruise. I am hoping our experience at the end of the 2nd cruise won't repeat itself. We disembarked in Vancouver on our way home to Tennessee. Our plane developed trouble and we were delayed in Portland, OR. We barely arrived in Chicago in time to make the connection to Nashville. However, we didn't leave O'Hare for quite some time because the pilot had lost HIS own luggage. We arrived in Nashville shortly after midnight only to discover that one of our suitcases didn't. After the paperwork, etc, we arrived home around 1:30 a.m. As we were lugging in the remaining luggage, a BIRD flew into the house with us. All the broom-shooing accomplished was to send it upstairs. Do you know how much effort it took for a 250 lb. man with a large fishing net to catch a bird the size of your fist???? As I said, I hope this doesn't become a habit!

[joanne59]

Talk about a buzz kill. On our 5 day Bermuda cruise on the Explorer in 2008, I had to go into work the day we disembarked. We were off the ship at 8:30, we were on the NJ Turnpike by 9:00, home by 11:00. That gave me 30 minutes to put on my suit, grab a bite to eat and I was at my desk at noon. Not a way to finish a cruise, but we had a situation to deal with at work.

 

It was a strange sensation to have had breakfast in the Explorer's Windjammer in the morning and be at my desk at noon the same day! :(

 

Eric

 

We also live close enough to work the morning of departure and the afternoon of debarkation. One year we did quite a few long weekend cruises, and we were able to take many because I only missed one total day of work. It was a fun year, but then we switched back to TA cruises and have that long dreaded wait between each one. It's certainly a trade-off. And we ALWAYS have one planned when we step off the ship...is there any other way to

do it????

 

 

 

Happy cruising.....Joanne

[Sarahgraci]

I agree with "cry." I did at the airport last time and I think DH thought I was crazy. This time will be even worse- it's our last big hurrah before our first baby arrives late February.

 

We usually end up getting dinner somewhere on the way home. At home, we greet the kitties (have a housesitter who comes by to take care of them), dump all the dirty laundry on the floor to sort (and one cat rolls around in them- she is really, really obsessed with dirty clothes), and then start laundry. I unpack ASAP to get it over with. Then, check email and delete the junk. I take the next day off work to deal with mail/bills, finish laundry, clean a little, and grocery shop.

[Jimnbigd]

We usually find a Mexican restaurant along the drive from Galveston to Dallas, as we crave it by the end of the cruise. At the end of the meal, I have to tell myself: "Do not just get up and walk out. You have to pay. You have to pay. YOU HAVE TO PAY."

 

We usually get home around 5pm. I start unpacking. Around 7pm the wife asks me what I want for dinner. I tell her, "Two shrimp cocktails, tomato soup, chilled pear soup, Caesar salad, prime rib, duck, and cheesecake." Nope, I don't ever get served that at home, darn it. :D

[MrsPete]

What happens on the way home? Do you mean other than wailing and gnashing of teeth?

Tips that came from fellow cruise critic members: Clean your house, make meals to put in the freezer and generally have everything pre-done so when you get home you can enjoy a great meal put your feet up and deal with the laundry the next day.

 

Amanda

Yeah, we do that too. Coming home to a tidy house and clean sheets on the bed is so much nicer than coming home to a mess. I always have a couple ready-to-go meals in the freezer (Baptists. We think the 11th commandment deals with casseroles), but the 'fridge is always empty; thus, the first priority on the first real day home is always grocery shopping. Even if we get off the ship first and have good luck on the drive home, we'll always be 8:00-ish getting home, so there's no way we'd do laundry or cooking that night.

 

Lunch and dinner at a restaurant on the way home are a given.

 

The worst: The house being hot because the air conditioner's been off a week.

 

All of these depressing reasons is the reason they invented B2B cruises!!

I've not done a B2B (yet). Are you sure the depression wouldn't just be twice as bad?

[#1packerfan]

With our last B2B to PR, it took 5 hours to fly back to Chicago, then another 5 hour drive to get home. We usually end up getting home around midnight or later after travelling all day. I always unpack the suitcases right away and start laundry. We usually have to go out for breakfast and grocery shopping in the morning.

 

We usually have to drive at least 2.5 hours or more to any decent airport. Our local airport is 3 X more expensive than flying out of Milwaukee or Chicago. It's just part of our trip. Then it's back to work right away on Monday.

[cruisinleelee]

this time around we prayed. We left Miami on time with a scheduled arrival of 1:30 at Newark. 1 hour before our scheduled landing we were told they close NY air space due to the storms and we were put in a holding pattern. 1 hour later we had to land in Philly to refuel. The pilot landed too fast and I really didn't think we were going to stop... my butt actually came out of my seat! Then the storm came thru Philly and we sat on the plane for 2 1/2 hours. Then we were cleared to fly to Newark except the storms were still raging. The plane was tossed around like a tin can- we finally landed (again a wee bit too much throttle) at 6:30pm. 8 hours travel time:eek:. Thank God we had the wonderful memories of our cruise to take the sting out of that one:D

[donnaandtim]

This will be our first cruise and the first time in Florida so we are staying on and relaxing for 5 days after we get off the ship. The only thing that we have to bring home for sure is a wand from Harry Potter world for our grandma who is 88 years old and loves the Harry Potter movies.

 

We are sailing from Feb 6 - 13 and do not have to be back at work until Feb 22 and we get home on Feb 18th. We think this is the best way to get out of the holiday mode.

 

All we are hoping is that we come back to cold Calgary winter with tans.