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Am I strange...

reedl

By reedl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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reedl

reedl

Posted
Posted

I read all the threads here about which cabin is better, what to pack, whether to bring water, what to bring, etc. and I just cannot seem to get as concerned as some people seem to be about the "little things" of a potentially great time.

 

- I am not really concerned with the cabin location. As long as I am on the ship the additional walking from front to aft is good exercise in my mind. If people are so concerned about cabin location, why are they not concerned with hotel room location? The same about bed placement in the cabin. If it is near the door/window versus nearer the bathroom. Does it really make that much of a difference? For example on my upcoming Allure cruise, I am in a D8 cabin, but every single D cabin is exactly the same in terms of interior size. There is no major difference.

 

- I do not worry about bringing things like irons, etc. To me if clothes wrinkle, then do not bring them.

 

- I do not spend hours trying to save $20. When booking airfare for example, I look for a good deal and book it. The same with cruisefare. If the price goes down a lot (I might check once a week), then I will take advantage of it.

 

- I usually pack the night before we leave. It takes around an hour (the most time is taken folding everything into the suitcase).

 

- My wife and I do not buy clothes specifically for a cruise. We have some nice clothes we wear on the cruise, but we do not buy things to wear only on the ship.

 

- I do not worry about bringing water or soda on the ship. The ship has great tasting water available pretty much everywhere. I am always within a few feet of water. I have the soda package and drink a lot of soda, so I will be fine.

 

- Do not read every single review in bitter detail. At this point what else am I going to learn that I don't already know. Furthermore, perhaps I might find out things from a different point of view versus others.

 

- I do not endlessly research every single event on the ship before I get on the ship. To me there is much more fun in arriving on the ship and looking at the cruise compass every day and seeing something cool to do that day. And if I miss something, oh well. It is not the end of the world!

 

- I do not book excursions, and the only reason I book specialty restaurants is because you have to book them in advance to get the place you want to or take advantage of dining packages.

 

- If little negative things happen on the ship, I always let it slide (unless it is something that can be remedied by staff).

 

- If I do not "get along" with the people I am seated with in the MDR, I either just grin and bear it, or eat somewhere else. It is only for 7 or so days.

 

- During the cruise, I do not plan every minute of every day. In fact I do not even know what I am going to do in the next few hours most of the time.

 

- Sometimes I just sit and either people watch or watch the water going by.

 

- I do something novel in this day and age. I talk with crew members about things. I actually make it a point to talk to one upper level employee a day (not to complain, but to just chat). From these connections I have learned many things about things that have happened on a cruise. Plus you also learn about the way things are run "behind the scenes" which is of particular interest to me. You would be surprised how much I have learned from simple interactions I have had.

 

It seems some people are more concerned about the specifics of a 7 day vacation than the person that they marry. It reminds me of some local restaurants that I go to. When I walk in, it takes me around 1-2 minutes tops to read the menu, and figure out what I want. I have seen people spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what they are going to eat. Why does it take so long to figure that out for something that will only be affecting you for the next hour or so?

 

...But maybe I am strange...

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CGBanks

CGBanks

Posted
Posted

Different strokes for different folks :-) My husband is very content to let me do the planning, review reading, detail working. I enjoy all that and he is happy to enjoy the spoils of my work ~ We have also learned to ignore the small things. Life is too short. I do like your idea of chatting with the crew. That is a wonderful idea and I'm sure they appreciate your interest !!

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nolimits

nolimits

Posted
Posted

I agree with You. I read the compass every morning on ship to plan day .I have found that having a little pre cruise knowledge from Cruise Critic boards does help though.We pack light and fast. I do like to bring bottle water with me this is learned behavior after 2nd cruise ,when cabin next door had plumbing problem.The smell never went away in my mind LOL

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OCruisers

OCruisers

Posted
Posted

Good Thread! :)

 

Very much agree with you on everything except the cabin location which is important to us. As time goes by, we had rather not have the long walks. :D

 

We want to have cabin with a balcony as close as possible to the mid-ship elevators. Fortunately, finding one is seldom a problem because some people avoid being close to elevators.

 

LuLu

~~~~

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Scribbles77

Scribbles77

Posted
Posted

Nope you are not strange.

 

We do worry about cabin location as my mother is getting on and not as mobile as she used to be so we like to be near the elevators.

 

Other than that we just book the soda package and let the rest of the details take care of themselves.

 

We do not check prices we book what we are willing to pay and thats it done, (maybe if we were in the US we would pay more attention but being in the UK we have no flexibility once booked anyway)

 

Love to cruise, love to relax, do not like to pre plan much as i like to take each day as it comes.

 

Happy cruising everyone :D

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Sherri914

Sherri914

Posted
Posted

I have a little different view. While I agree with some of what you've written and I think trying to plan every second of every day of a vacation can be overkill, I happen to enjoy reading about my upcoming vacation. For me, planning is part of the FUN and is a way to start my vacation early - mentally at least. I like reading about the places I will be visiting, be it a ship or a resort. That doesn't take away from the experience for me. It enhances it. I enjoy seeking out things that my husband and I will be able to do together in ports or on the ship. I enjoy seeing pictures and reading about the ship and what it has to offer. I take my time packing and I take my time ordering from the menu. And my husband and I exchange loving glances and meaningful conversation while doing both. :) For me, planning ahead of time makes for a wonderfully relaxing vacation.

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Toddcan

Toddcan

Posted
Posted

Strange: If you mean "not statistically normal", then Yes, you are strange.

 

On the bell curve of how much people plan for a cruise, you are clearly way off to one side (Don't plan much at all).

 

But some people may conclude that there are only 2 choices.. overplanners, and underplanners. The reality is there are hundreds (thousands) of different levels of planning.

 

The fanatics want every single detail that you mentioned in your post. Those people would be on the other side of that bell curve from you.

 

I think that bell curve is probably a normal distribution, which means that the vast majority of the people are pretty much half way between overplanning and underplanning.

 

Me? I admit I am off the centre of the curve- towards the overplanning side. I DO care a LOT about cabin location. I research my excursions too. Probably a few other things as well.

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DicAnns

DicAnns

Posted
Posted

I don't plan a detailed schedule, but I enjoy reading about the ship and activities in advance purely because it turns the 1 week vacation in a couple months of excitement/anticipation.

 

Just like with land travel, I like to read about ancient and recent history of the destination, get an idea of a city's layout and demography, spot a few areas/neighbourhoods where I would like to stay and a few restaurants I'd like to try, and learn a bit of the local language if needed. Then once I'm there I take it easy and go with the flow but I feel that I get the most out of my unfortunately short vacation time by enjoying the preparation phase.

 

Maybe I'm strange? :o

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garycarla

garycarla

Posted
Posted

Almost did not open this due to title, but said... what the heck.

 

As I read down through your post, I agree with the vast majority. I have adapted some of your comments below. OP comments are in italics

 

 

- I do not worry about bringing things like irons, etc. To me if clothes wrinkle, then do not bring them.

 

- I do not spend hours trying to save $20. A few hundred, sure. $20? What a waste of time and effort

 

- I usually pack the night before we leave. It takes around an hour. We often do the morning of.

 

- My wife and I do not buy clothes specifically for a cruise. (yea, some people go buy muscle shirts and PJ's to wear to breakfast)

 

- I do not worry about bringing water or soda on the ship. The ship has great tasting water available pretty much everywhere. My question; which water is better, bottle or ship?

 

- I do not endlessly research every single event on the ship before I get on the ship. We read the daily and still forget things a few hours later.

If we could remember a few hours, that would be an improvement.

 

- I do not book excursions. Rare that we do.

 

- If little negative things happen on the ship, I always let it slide (unless it is something that can be remedied by staff). We just laugh at the miserable people.

 

- During the cruise, I do not plan every minute of every day. In fact I do not even know what I am going to do in the next few hours most of the time. Again, we just wing most of the day.

 

- And, we surely see no reason to review a menu before the cruise. Or to review the dailies/compass that will change anyways.

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CruisinCrow Great Review Rare

CruisinCrow

Posted
Posted

I'm with Sherri. To me, researching and anticipating a vacation is part of the fun. I don't need to plan every minute of the day, but I do like to find out what's available.

 

And people DO worry about room location in a hotel. Try reading the Trip Advisor forums - "What building should I request? What room should I request?" It gets asked over and over.

 

I wasn't concerned about cabin location either until we ended up in a very bad (loud) cabin. We didn't get any sleep the whole week, it ruined our vacation and I couldn't get my husband to take another cruise for a few years. Now I pay more attention to cabin location.

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Lost_in_BC

Lost_in_BC

Posted
Posted
I do like to discuss these trivial things to pass the time, but worry about them? Not really... :p

Agreed. I book very early, and planning helps get me pass the time.

 

That said, I don't plan the day to day much. Just the ports. Advanced screening of menues & daily's just aren't for me.

 

To the OP. I always take being "strange" as a compliment. So yes, you are strange. But that's what makes you YOU, and that's awesome. :D

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LA_CA_GAL

LA_CA_GAL

Posted
Posted

I agree with most of the OPs points.

 

I do not need to see every menu for the entire week. Some folks are ridiculously obsessed with food. Personally, I just go to any food venue, and order from what they have.

 

I do not need special seating in the MDR, just give me a chair, a table, and good service.

 

I do not need all the daily compasses. I hardly ever read the ones delivered to my cabin.

 

I do not need to lug around cases of water when it is free and available literally everywhere on the ship.

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mein18

mein18

Posted
Posted
I read all the threads here about which cabin is better, what to pack, whether to bring water, what to bring, etc. and I just cannot seem to get as concerned as some people seem to be about the "little things" of a potentially great time.

 

- I am not really concerned with the cabin location. As long as I am on the ship the additional walking from front to aft is good exercise in my mind. If people are so concerned about cabin location, why are they not concerned with hotel room location? The same about bed placement in the cabin. If it is near the door/window versus nearer the bathroom. Does it really make that much of a difference? For example on my upcoming Allure cruise, I am in a D8 cabin, but every single D cabin is exactly the same in terms of interior size. There is no major difference.

 

- I do not worry about bringing things like irons, etc. To me if clothes wrinkle, then do not bring them.

 

- I do not spend hours trying to save $20. When booking airfare for example, I look for a good deal and book it. The same with cruisefare. If the price goes down a lot (I might check once a week), then I will take advantage of it.

 

- I usually pack the night before we leave. It takes around an hour (the most time is taken folding everything into the suitcase).

 

- My wife and I do not buy clothes specifically for a cruise. We have some nice clothes we wear on the cruise, but we do not buy things to wear only on the ship.

 

- I do not worry about bringing water or soda on the ship. The ship has great tasting water available pretty much everywhere. I am always within a few feet of water. I have the soda package and drink a lot of soda, so I will be fine.

 

- Do not read every single review in bitter detail. At this point what else am I going to learn that I don't already know. Furthermore, perhaps I might find out things from a different point of view versus others.

 

- I do not endlessly research every single event on the ship before I get on the ship. To me there is much more fun in arriving on the ship and looking at the cruise compass every day and seeing something cool to do that day. And if I miss something, oh well. It is not the end of the world!

 

- I do not book excursions, and the only reason I book specialty restaurants is because you have to book them in advance to get the place you want to or take advantage of dining packages.

 

- If little negative things happen on the ship, I always let it slide (unless it is something that can be remedied by staff).

 

- If I do not "get along" with the people I am seated with in the MDR, I either just grin and bear it, or eat somewhere else. It is only for 7 or so days.

 

- During the cruise, I do not plan every minute of every day. In fact I do not even know what I am going to do in the next few hours most of the time.

 

- Sometimes I just sit and either people watch or watch the water going by.

 

- I do something novel in this day and age. I talk with crew members about things. I actually make it a point to talk to one upper level employee a day (not to complain, but to just chat). From these connections I have learned many things about things that have happened on a cruise. Plus you also learn about the way things are run "behind the scenes" which is of particular interest to me. You would be surprised how much I have learned from simple interactions I have had.

 

It seems some people are more concerned about the specifics of a 7 day vacation than the person that they marry. It reminds me of some local restaurants that I go to. When I walk in, it takes me around 1-2 minutes tops to read the menu, and figure out what I want. I have seen people spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what they are going to eat. Why does it take so long to figure that out for something that will only be affecting you for the next hour or so?

 

...But maybe I am strange...

 

 

Everyone approaches any situation differently so regardless of whether you over plan or under plan or do something in between, you are certainly not strange.

 

However, I guess the inevitable question must be asked... If you really don't care about your cruise until you step onto the ship then why are you reading CC? You may accidentally do one of the things that you don't normally wish to do prior to boarding.

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