Considering first 14 night cruise! Questions...

[Lois R]

My wife and I have only done 7 nighters and they go so quick.

Wish we could afford a 14 or 21 night cruise but we lost out jobs in in 2010.

 

I'm 58 and wife is 55 so it will be hard to find jobs. I was a journalist (newspaper writer) for 27 years.

 

Wife was a secretary and can't find anything in the Greater Houston area.

 

Hopefully we can rebound, find jobs and cruise again

 

Wishing you both more prosperous times.

[Northern Aurora]

The hubby and I both prefer fourteen night and longer cruises, for many of the reasons others have already listed. After day seven or eight the entire mood on the ship just changes. Your fellow passengers seem so much more relaxed. Not only have passengers new to either Celebrity or to that particular ship learned the layout/routine, but anyone who had a hard time leaving an issue at work has stopped fussing.

[TeaBag]

Texmike I am so sorry you have both lost your jobs. That is truly tough and as you say, hard to get another job when you are in your fifties. Perhaps things will pick up in 2013 for you. I sure hope so. Is there anywhere you could move to that would hold more promise in the job market?

[ORV]

A couple of pros I haven't seen mentioned;

 

If you need it you get 2 cruise credits to count toward Elite,

 

You get more value out of the cost of the flight.

[swigso]

The longer the better as far as I am concerned. We did 20 nights on the Emerald Princess last year which was great and are doing 22 on Eclipse in Nov. Last year on Emerald I put on a whole 4 pounds (eat what you do back home), if you travel business you can bring what you want.

 

Didn't get bored once and really looking forward to November

 

See you are on the feb 23rd sailing,

Have you joined the roll call

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1405392&page=12

[ariawoman]

I'm actually sad that my cruise this year is only 9 nights LOL. 14 nights sounds delightful, do it! :-)

[debshomespun]

More days on a cruise is always better. We will be on Eclipse 14 night in Jan. We also have booked RC Independence for right after going to Western Caribbean. Did I say we love to cruise? :D. Longest time we cruised was 30 nights and we loved it! We are spoiled and have a hard time going for only 7 nights.

[TeaBag]

I'm actually sad that my cruise this year is only 9 nights LOL. 14 nights sounds delightful, do it! :-)

You're doing better than we are! Ours is 0 days this year....too much going on and we can't get away.

[phoenix_dream]

My wife and I have only done 7 nighters and they go so quick.

Wish we could afford a 14 or 21 night cruise but we lost out jobs in in 2010.

 

I'm 58 and wife is 55 so it will be hard to find jobs. I was a journalist (newspaper writer) for 27 years.

 

Wife was a secretary and can't find anything in the Greater Houston area.

 

Hopefully we can rebound, find jobs and cruise again

So sorry for your situation. I got laid off a few years ago at 58 and had no luck at all - same company for 25years and then there's the door. It's difficult to say the least. I am fortunate that DH still has a decent job. I wish all the best for you both to get back on your feet again. While I've more or less given up, several of the 50year old+ people who got let go when I did are finally starting to land opportunities. Best of luck to you both!

[x lindsay x]

I love anything 10 nights or longer. Alaska cruises are the one exception for me as those are mostly 7 nighters.

[CathyCruises]

DH and I always do longer (12-14 night) cruises, but when we went to Alaska with his family this summer, 7 was plenty, believe me!! I was never so happy to get home and let everyone's temper/emotions settle down. We always have the best time when it's just the two of us and we meet new friends on board. And get off before we start to irritate each other!

[ISABELLA]

There is no cons ...........If you like 7 days cruise, you will love 14 days twice as much.

[Susilou]

I am still rather a beginning cruiser, but I love it. Last year we went on our first 11 day cruise (on Costa - NEVER again) and discovered, as have all you others before us, that that is was not too long! We had been worried, but loved it. Price is what keeps us on shorter cruises for now. But, you do need to watch the dates, our cruise had lots and lots of kids - luckily, we don't mind - because it was Spring Break. Also mostly a European crowd on Costa, which was a plus for us.

 

Our next cruise is on the Summit on Nov 24th - first Caribbean.

[Taxguy77]

When I was still working fulltime, I found that it took me 6 or 7 days to unwind and start enjoying a vacation. 14-18 days seems to be about right to balance the cost and agrivation of air travel.

Depending on your age and normal activity level, you MAY have to watch out for weight gain (The sea air rally puts it on:rolleyes:). Use stairs as much as posible.

[neverbeenhere]

We almost always cruise for a min. 14 nights, but those nights come in all different configurations. 7-7, 10-7, 14, 5-4-5-5, 10-11. We find things we love about all the different combinations. But to stick-up for the shorter cruises, When you get someone on a cruise that you can't stand AND somehow can't avoid ---There is nothing better than a short cruise.

[AviGirl]

Thanks for all the support... Yep, spoke to DH last night and he (surprisingly) seems in favor of the 14 nighter! He was concerned that he might "lose his mind from boredom" but we talked through all the different activities that we could take part and that got him much more interested.

 

If you cancel the booking you made last year, you will lose your OBC. If you transfer the booking # to the new cruise, you won't lose out.

 

I spoke with my TA yesterday and you're right, I won't lose my OBC, in fact because I made the booking on board they are upping from $100 for the original 7 nighter to $300 for the 14 nighter!!!

 

There are also some 14 night New England/Canada sailings and there is Hawaii too...those are 15 nights and longer......

 

They are interesting cruises as are the TA (we did a TA on the QM2 to celebrate our 20th anniversary) but the issue is scheduling, our work schedule only allows us to take time in December when things are typically slow.

 

And I disagree that there are the same numbers of children on 14-night cruises. I see very few children on these, which is how I like it.

 

That's what I've been thinking as well... while I know there will still be families with children, I really can't see as many as on a 7 nighter due to the length and price... I guess I'll see soon enough!

 

My wife and I have only done 7 nighters and they go so quick.

Wish we could afford a 14 or 21 night cruise but we lost out jobs in in 2010.

 

Wishing you and your wife better times, Texmike!

 

When I was still working fulltime, I found that it took me 6 or 7 days to unwind and start enjoying a vacation. 14-18 days seems to be about right to balance the cost and agrivation of air travel.

Depending on your age and normal activity level, you MAY have to watch out for weight gain (The sea air rally puts it on:rolleyes:). Use stairs as much as posible.

 

Exactly... after 5 days of resting, we're ready to get into the swing of things but then the cruise is over! It will be nice knowing that we still have more than a week left sailing!

 

I've been thinking about the weight gain... I usually gain 3 - 4 pounds on a cruise, I'll be a little more diligent with the fitness - last year I joined the morning stretch class and really enjoyed and since I've been doing boot camp this year at home, I will probably join the boot camp classes on the ship - that'll keep me in shape for sure!! ;)

 

Also, we find that after day five, we are sort of tired of eating so much and tend to scale it back... it'll be interesting how much we "scale back" on a 14 nighter! DH said he wants to eat at Qsine every other night!! :rolleyes:

[BlueCat1105]

I have two lovely little Papillon dogs and one wonderful cat at home, and that is the con for me. I hate to be away from them for two weeks at a time. If I didn't have them, I would be A-OK for a two week cruise, but then my home life wouldn't be as happy.

[AviGirl]

I have two lovely little Papillon dogs and one wonderful cat at home, and that is the con for me. I hate to be away from them for two weeks at a time. If I didn't have them, I would be A-OK for a two week cruise, but then my home life wouldn't be as happy.

 

I know EXACTLY where you are coming from! Our 16 year old pup passed away in March (our other pup died from liver cancer in 2011), we would never have considered being away from them for so long but now that they are gone and while we miss them both terribly, I want to take advantage of the time we have until we bring a new pup into our little family.

[TeaBag]

I know EXACTLY where you are coming from! Our 16 year old pup passed away in March (our other pup died from liver cancer in 2011), we would never have considered being away from them for so long but now that they are gone and while we miss them both terribly, I want to take advantage of the time we have until we bring a new pup into our little family.

 

We are in the same state having lost our furry person last year. I have to say it is nice not having to worry about leaving and I want it to stay this way for our long trip next April in Asia. However, I do peruse the ads now and again!

[itsanita]

We have done a couple longer cruises...Hawaii, the Med, Panama canal... the only down side was packing. Hate it when my laundry bill is as high as my bar bill!

 

I am hearing that Celebrity now allows jeans (clean and no holes) in the dinning rooms for dinner. It would save on all the 'smart casual' clothes that we really don't need on our New England/Canada cruise coming up in October. We always follow the dress code, but it would be great if we could keep it a little more casual.

 

So, is it true? Jeans allowed in the dinning room (except on Formal nights)?

[darrencantwait]

the more days in the cruise, the more viable an exotic location is. I can't imagine flying NYC to Hong Kong for a 7 night cruise. But it was no problem for our 14 night cruise to Singapore. We've also done South America, rounding the Horn, and Mediterranean. It's definitely a challenge to get 2 weeks off, but we've made it our goal to try to do it every two years, and have been successful so far. Next up, Indonesia and Malaysia.

[Blucruise25]

Going on our first cruise next month - a 13-night trans-Atlantic. It's great to see how many of you love the longer cruises, because we just haven't know what to expect, being first-timers!

[navyrotorhead]

...is that it's not as long as a 15 day (or longer :D) cruise! :p

 

And THEN there's the most wonderful invention in human history... the b2b (2b2b...):)

[ariawoman]

I have two lovely little Papillon dogs and one wonderful cat at home, and that is the con for me. I hate to be away from them for two weeks at a time. If I didn't have them, I would be A-OK for a two week cruise, but then my home life wouldn't be as happy.

 

I agree, however, I only get 2 weeks off from my stressful life per year, so my baby girl Jewelie can manage with my mom living here at my place for the 2 weeks. :-) She gets a special sitter because she's diabetic and needs insulin twice a day. Sending her to a kennel type place would likely elevate her sugar and potentially cause her more harm than good.

 

I definitely long for her on the plane ride home, though. It's the only thing I look forward to at the end of a vacation, is coming home to her. Sadly she's getting on in years so I dont know how many vacations I'll have this, but I'll take it as long as I can. I'm even allergic to cats but I just can't imagine my life without one. They make my life complete, since I live alone. My boyfriend has a cat as well, so he understands it. His is much younger and healthier though.

[ariawoman]

...is that it's not as long as a 15 day (or longer :D) cruise! :p

 

And THEN there's the most wonderful invention in human history... the b2b (2b2b...):)

 

I dream of someday being a B2Ber...or a TAer....or the ultimate dream b2b including a TA at the end! I'd love to get rid of the flight home from Europe. I'm somehow better on the way there....but NOT the way home. It's longer and I'm sadder. lol