Who does the research??

[yankee1chic]

It's just me in our household. I LOVE IT!!! I have vacation OCD. I am to vacation planning as Monica on "Friends" was to cleaning. It is my drug of choice.... Hubby just smiles, nods, and enjoys a stress-free vacation due to all of my planning. It is one of my favorite parts of planning a trip.

[gliles]

We both find the anticipation and planning is almost the best part! DH usually finds the cruise and talks me into it (a lot of work that is :p) Then we both obsess on the ship and excursions, etc.

[CruisinEars]

We are a team in our house. We both talk about what cruises to book and watch youtube videos on the ships we are considering. We spend lots of time discussing when, where and which cruiseline is next. We also plan 1-3 years out so that we have a timeline and can plan for the big vacations. We want to do a Med cruise so that is one that would be planned for at least 2 years out. We also have to plan around our kid's school schedules and trips to visit my parents in Arizona. Sometimes we can spend an entire Saturday afternoon talking about cruises and what we want to do. Yes, I know, we need to get a life. :D Although it could change. I keep telling my parents about our plans and they keep coming with us. Hubs has "threatened" to book our next cruise and not tell me any details.:eek::D

[gcvt]

I do it all. She just asks when we are leaving!

 

Same here. The GF doesn't care for forums or vacation planning. She just asks me how many days until we leave each time.

[Jasperdo]

My wife handles all of the household finances, and I do all of the trip planning. Sometimes she'll make a suggestion, such as "We haven't been to Yellowstone in awhile." And I'll take it from there. I can spend hours and hours a day researching our trips. I know what she likes, and what I like, and I try to mix up a variety of both.

 

As far as cruises go, I'm always searching for good deals. When I find something I can't refuse, I'll run it by her to see what she thinks of it. Almost always she says "Let's do it!" So I book it, then do tons of research on each Port of Call.

[Andee]

DH & I love the same kinds of vacations. We decide on the basic trip (although it's usually my idea) and I do all the research and planning because I love it and he doesn't.

 

He cancels the paper and the mail, does all the driving and heavy lifting. He is good natured when things go wrong and I get anxious.

[mikjr]

Is everybody's spouse also a cruise critic fanatic, or do most of you research for your spouse and entire family? Just wondering if this is a team sport or a solo thing:rolleyes:??

 

I'm the only CC member...

[Boatingmom]

Thanks for all the responses. I will now continue to research and plan our next cruise:D still need a hotel and if I have enough points on my cc after Christmas, it will be free. Happy research and cruising one and all!:p

[BratDet]

am on CC, husband reaps the benefits of the shared info here.

 

We are just off the Ruby and I arranged everything! He was consulted along the way, but I planned all our excursions and did 99% of the related reading.

Could not believe people got on the ship without any concept of what they were doing in ports.

 

There was sooo much to see, if I waited till getting on the ship- we would not have been able to relax and roll with our plans and change plans as needed day by day....

 

I am soooo glad I prebooked tickets for everything I could. (Traveling during peak Europeans vacation time adds to crowds)

 

We sailed right thru an open turnstile after we scanned our tickets at St. Marks in Venice on a very hot day- totally escaping the long line outside...for just one Euro per person booking fee.....

 

If I hadn't planned, time would be wasted on lines instead of using that same time to simply enjoy the experience.

 

Bernadette

[Island wannabe]

DH has input into where we go - but I research/book/plan the rest. It works great for us. I am a planner and like to know everything going into it and DH likes the surprise and going on a whim.

 

Exactly the same in my household. If I waited for DH to plan the details of our vacation we would be booking everything the night before! I too am a planner and get a lot of joy out of it.

[5326jan]

I have a lot more time to do the reading, research and planning. We decide on a destination (broadly speaking) and I take it from there. Since I have been on CC our cruises have gotten so much better by virtue of joining and/or planning private tours at the ports of call. We always considered guides an unnecessary expense before we actually used them and discovered how much more enjoyment you get from visiting a place when you know what you're looking at! We have also met some really nice people!

 

DH contributes by paying and telling me what a great job I did! :D

[K-Dogg]

I do all the booking, planning, etc. I just tell my hubby when to take off work and what to pack. I do ask him for opinions along the way, but we pretty much have the same taste so no problem there.

I love doing the planning and research! That's what brought me to Cruise Message Boards to begin with!! :)

[BoardwalkBabe]

I love doing the research and the planning; DH says "just tell me where we're going and when to show up." It works for us!

[smtcan]

Over time we have decided which destinations are on our list. I check on line and when I see a good deal to one of our choices, I suggest it to DH. 99% of the time he says 'Let's do it!'. After that, I do all the planning and booking - ships, hotels, flights, excursions etc and tell him how much it will cost so he can pay the bills. This has worked for us for forty-four years, so I can't see any reason to change.

Sheila

[Genessa]

Dh loves to shop for travel - so, typically, he researches cruise fares and air fares, sees which of the places where we might want to go are being offered reasonably and tells me he has booked xyz - although occasionally I come up with an idea for an itinerary and he goes for it.

 

He also usually researches the hotels for prices, then I scour CC and the maps and guide books and we decide which to book.

 

Excursions, though, is my job, lol. I love the details of which places who wants to see and figure out the logistics, whether it is for the few days pre-cruise, or the ports during the cruise.

Once in a while he will say "I really want to ..." and I will include it, otherwise I just try to keep both our interests in mind.

 

So he is the bargain shopper and I am the detail point person - it makes for a perfect partnership!

[jpthomas27]

It's all me. I will run the time and location by here before booking, but other than that she just enjoys the reults. My taste tends to be more adventurous so once in a while if I may run something by her if I think it's a little border line on what she would be comfortable doing, but otherwise she doesn't usually have any idea what the trip will be like other than what I tell her.

 

For me the research is part of the fun, I can research for hours a day and enjoy every minute...She just wants to have fun without the hassle, so it works great for us.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Solo me ..:):)

[beg3yrs]

His job is to carry out the luggage.

 

Whoever has to carry the luggage packs very light? ;)

[Times Prince]

Over time we have decided which destinations are on our list. I check on line and when I see a good deal to one of our choices, I suggest it to DH. 99% of the time he says 'Let's do it!'. After that, I do all the planning and booking - ships, hotels, flights, excursions etc and tell him how much it will cost so he can pay the bills. This has worked for us for forty-four years, so I can't see any reason to change.

Sheila

For us it is about the same, except the gender role is reversed. My wife will also keep on top of mailings and bargains we might get from that snail mail or email.

 

Generally we decide what theater (Caribbean/European etc.) we want over the next couple of years and then wait for excellent opportunities to present themselves.

 

Once we decide it is up to me, Mr.TA, to book the cruise, air, hotel, transport, and excursions. I also get to pack. It is a vacation for her, and once we're onboard I get vacation too.:rolleyes:

[Cruise2End]

For DH and I, it's a tag team effort. We do just about everything but who does it depends on our schedule and who has the time and adrenalin when it comes time to research. We both contribute and then discuss and make decisions on what we're actually doing and how. Works for us !!

[NoobCruise]

Me! All me! Actually he decides when cuz it's hard for him to get time off. We decide where together. I ask for DHs opinion on some things, but mostly get a "whatever you want to do, Baby!" kind of answer lol He has no interest in CC and politely listens to me go on and on about what we're going to do. I think he gets as much pleasure from seeing me excited and having fun planning as he does from the actual trip lol

[CruiseScrooge]

spouse,family? i am unfamiliar with these words.

[cruiselvr1]

:) Hi there

Well it was just me for a few years until I just happen to have my DH read some posts on C.C. . Before I knew it he was posting all the time. Now he is on C.C. all the time.:rolleyes:

 

Is everybody's spouse also a cruise critic fanatic, or do most of you research for your spouse and entire family? Just wondering if this is a team sport or a solo thing:rolleyes:??

[Poppet1964]

I do all the planning and I'm the only one on CC. What really frustrates me, is that my DH doesn't even want to talk about an upcoming trip unless it's less than a month away! I LOVE the planning part, I want to share all my 'finds' with him before hand!

[sparky-elpaso]

I'm the planner - DH goes along for the ride. :) I was telling him recently that I can remember back when we were first married (43 years ago) planning trips by getting travel magazines and sending for brochures, etc. It's so much easier now - tons of info available on the net. Sure glad I found CC before we went on our first cruise.