Can we overthink and overplan?

[pv girl]

Just a thought - can we overthink and overplan every little detail of our trips, so that there is no "magic" and surprise left when we actually take it?

 

Recent threads brought this to mind - what to eat, where to eat, when to eat, exact details to the minute of each day planned ahead, packing all the extras we think we can't do without for a week, internet plans, cell phone usage, menus and daily newsletters from past cruises, etc. Can we disconnect from the world for a few days and live in the moment and place?

 

I am a little OCD and have done this to some extent. Last trip I had googled pictures of the hotel, tourist sites we would visit, street scenes, etc. down to every last detail. When I actually got to these places, there was no surprise. It was like I had already been there. There was no "magic" in discovering a new place. I had already seen videos and pix of what we were looking at.

 

I have decided that on this summer's trip I will only research cabin choice and location and the hotel, and "some" shore excursions - only the 3 top ports on a 9 port cruise. The rest will be on the cuff. There are always local tour providers on the pier. I want to be surprised at what places look like. I don't want to plan what I will eat and drink each day - I want to look at the menu and be overwhelmed at the choices. I want to look at each day's schedule and decide my entertainment options right then.

 

CC is helpful, but sometimes I think it leads to overplanning. Am I crazy?

[mountainmare]

I agree--I even walk down the streets on Google earth. Last trip I backed off a bit and enjoyed the adventure much more.

[cayman09]

The planning was a part of the anticipation, part of the whole experience for me. It makes my trips last 6 months or more. I'm looking forward to now to the Veendam next May and reading all about it. Planning can also help you avoid unpleasant situations or unanticipated expenses. Big props to my CC friends for all the help.

[cbr663]

Yes, I do believe that you can over plan and ruin your trip. As you stated, a lot of the fun and the excitement of the trip is the discovery of a new place or experience. That is really hard to do if you have seen it all before you go.

 

For us, we allow ourselves as much flexibility as we possibly can. We don't do fixed dining, for instance, cause that's too rigid for us. There are things that we hope to do, but if we don't, oh well. On our last cruise, for instance, we had hoped to take in an afternoon tea as we haven't done so yet on any of our cruises. We didn't make it, so we have brought it forward to this cruise.

 

One thing that we have learned is to let go of taking all those pictures. Sit back and actually enjoy the experience rather than trying to capture every single second of it. I figure that there are lots of internet sites that have better pictures of every place that we have ever been. We take a couple of pics and then put the camera away.

[jaguarstyper]

I have found that planning leads to anticipation, which is generally a good thing. But, anticipation can then lead to disappointment as was the case in our last Alaska cruise when 3 of our 4 scheduled and greatly anticipated shore excursions were cancelled at the last possible moment. One, while we were en route in the van. That said, I will still plan my shore excursions in advance, but I'm going to try hard not to get to caught up in the anticipation and be prepare to go with the flow if something unexpected happens.

 

In all honesty, I tend to be an underplanner. With the exception of travel & lodging arrangements and shore excursions, I do like to just live in the moment during a cruise and just do what I feel like doing at the time.

[Hlitner]

If you are cruising in Europe we would not recommend you rely on being able to find a decent tour provider on the pier. In many parts of Europe the only tour providers at the pier will be taxi drivers, who may or may not be a decent tour provider :). And in some ports (such as the South of France) you might not even find a taxi! We seldom to ever do tours (cruise line or private) since we are very comfortable just doing our own thing by using public transit, rental cars, or walking. But if you are not comfortable doing things totally on your own we think you might want to reconsider and line up some tours in advance. The CC Roll Call for your cruise is often a great place to get together with some other like minded cruisers and share the cost of a private excursion.

 

I should add that we just returned from a month roaming around France (and Germany) in a rental car (we got to Europe on a 25 day cruise). At one point we were sitting in our French hotel room at 11pm, having no idea where we would drive or stay the next day. DW joked that we would be "homeless" in a few hours :). When we awoke on the morn of our homelessness, we checked the weather forecast and decided to head to Chamonix (this was a place we had not even considered in our pre trip discussions). Some of us can do fine by letting things go to the last second, but many would be uncomfortable in that type of situation.

 

Hank

Edited June 20, 2014 by Hlitner

[Kirrus]

Detailed planning works best if you have a companion who can be surprised during actual trip. It's important he or she doesn't participate in your research, but prepares to the worst. You will be rewarded :) Just my two cents.

[DaveOKC]

Detailed planning works best if you have a companion who can be surprised during actual trip. It's important he or she doesn't participate in your research, but prepares to the worst. You will be rewarded :) Just my two cents.

 

Agree. My DW loves that I plan and she enjoys the moment. I tell her some things (that I think she needs to know ahead of time), but also allow for her to be surprised other times. Seems to work out well.

 

For me, I used to travel ALL the time and often at the last minute, so I enjoy knowning where I am going ahead of time and really do not need any more "travel surprises".

 

I agree that having one planner is enough and works out for the best (my relatives love to travel with me).

 

DaveOKC

[frankc98376]

We tend to do the same thing- especially for embarkation day. We had it all planned- board early, verify all of our PG dinners, sign up for Thermal Suite, Mariners Lunch, etc.

 

Then we got to the terminal. AGI on board and the ship was in code red. Late boarding, PG Manager was somewhere in charge of a deep cleaning crew, and Hydro pool was closed due to code red. Missed the Mariner lunch trying to find someone to check our PG reservations.

 

From now on we just head to the terminal and roll with the punches:)

[Susie51]

The info and pics intensify the anticipation for me. The planning is a big part of the cruise for me and CC enhances the whole experience for me. The more diverse opinions there are; the more I like it.

 

Enjoy your more laid back approach this time!

[OCruisers]

Planning and anticipation is part of the fun of cruising for me. :)

LuLu

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do look over our itinerary carefully plan specialty restaurants, some excursions.

But as to planning exactly what we are doing every exact minute -- nope.

[donaldsc]

It is obvious that many people on CC are over the top over planners. Planning each meal on a trip is only minor compared to the people who have a spreadsheet that lists what they are going to wear each day (probably down to the underclothing) based on the activities of the say.

 

There was a post a while back from a person who had his one day in Rome planned to the minute including a grand total of 15 minutes for lunch. I pointed out to him that he (I assume this was a he) did not allow for the time it would take to get from one 15 minute visit to the next 18 minute site. I also pointed out that there was no time allowed for bathroom breaks. His response was - oops. I guess that he had to totally redo the plan. He was actually going to do this with his whole family.

 

The is a problem that cruisers have because they are going to be in a city one day from 8:30 to 4:00 and they feel that they have to jam as much as possible into their 7 1/2 hours in the city. I generally pick one place that I really want to visit and let the rest of the day flow.

 

It is also the reason that I prefer land trips to cruises because on a land trip you can stay several days in a city and if you want more, you just rearrange the rest of the trip. If you miss a place - so what.

 

DON

[jaguarstyper]

It is obvious that many people on CC are over the top over planners. Planning each meal on a trip is only minor compared to the people who have a spreadsheet that lists what they are going to wear each day (probably down to the underclothing) based on the activities of the say.

Good lord! That sounds way too much like a day at work. I go on cruises to get away from the daily plan. :D

[hal lover]

Unless you have a diet or allergy issue, I do not understand why people want copies of the nightly menus. Just don't get it.... Live it up a little, be surprised! JMHO.

[pv girl]

Thanks for all the thoughts - seems like the jury is out. Some plan and some don't. That's what I like about land trips - stop where things look interesting or keep going. I have been to so many "tourist" spots that turn out to be duds, and love the freedom to leave - can't do that on an organized tour, have to wait for the herd. I liked travel when our children were small as we were always seeking out parks and playgrounds. We got to see the locals and have some interesting conversations. Kids play together in some unspoken language wherever they are. Remember boys joining in on a soccer game on the beach at Cinque Terre and looking at the beautiful turquoise sea - no way to plan that.

 

cbr663- agree about the picture taking - we don't take scenic shots anymore - postcard pix are better than we can take - but we do take a camera along to get just a few shots of us enjoying the moment.

[Bill B]

For shore excursions, some of my best have been completely unplanned. Of course it depends on where the ship is berthed, but just walking off and wandering around has led to some great discoveries (not on the usual 'menu'), or to meeting people 'on the dock' and deciding to share a taxi for a quarter the per person price of an organized tour.

 

Conversely, pre-planning has 'paid off'. In Iceland, a 'modified'/customized private tour allowed a group of like-minded pax to do a nature tour with a stop at the Blue Lagoon for a couple of hours on the way back to the ship.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Bill B

[peaches from georgia]

Unless you have a diet or allergy issue, I do not understand why people want copies of the nightly menus. Just don't get it.... Live it up a little, be surprised! JMHO.

There have been posters on here over the years who get so uptight about planning every minute of their cruise ahead of time they want to see the menus on here and plan what they will order every dinner so they don't have to look at the menu and "get confused". They write down their dinner order ahead of time and just read it to the steward. Some women have pinned notes on their clothes as to what outfit they will be wear each nght and if the dress for the night schedule changes from what they read on CC they go berserk. If Monday night's clothes are labeled formal but Tuesday becomes formal night they can barely function. Yes, I have read this on CC when they returned. One woman wore her formal clothes on a non-formal night because that is what she had labeled her outfit for that night of the week. True story.

 

CC is great but I think it tends to send some people into planning overdrive and they become nervous wrecks. That's not a vacation to me! We've had mostly great cruises, but the most fun was the first cruise where we didn't know to plan anything ahead and just took things as they came and had a blast. There's a happy medium in planning and I think way too many people here cross over the line into obsession.

Edited June 20, 2014 by peaches from georgia

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Anticipation can lead to disappointment some times..

[nana51]

Unless you have a diet or allergy issue, I do not understand why people want copies of the nightly menus. Just don't get it.... Live it up a little, be surprised! JMHO.

 

I am, unfortunately, a very picky eater. I like plain simple food. It helps me relax knowing there is something on the menu I can enjoy. There is always the steak, but I don't want that all the time. Actually I've only ordered it once. I usually can find something I like. As to what to do everyday, I like to be surprised.........but in a good way of course.:D

[summersigh]

For us the planning for the next cruise is a sort of hobby. :)

 

We don't (I believe ) over do it but we decide before booking the main ports where we want to go then research, compare etc, etc which line and when we want to go.

 

Once booked we delve into the various ports of call deciding on our "must sees" and how we're going to facilitate that. If it's something out in the wilds we look for a ship excursion (not into taking chances that we'll miss the boat). For stuff in town or within taxi reach of the port we look at various ship excursions, private excursions and/or taxi tours. If there are a lot of ships in port the day we are (like St Maarten with 6 ships our day - one being the Oasis of the Seas) we go ahead and book to be sure we get what we want.

 

We don't go so far as planning sea days or ship evenings ahead of time. We enjoy savoring the agenda for the following day laying on the bed when we return to our cabin each evening.

 

Our main "rule" is - if there's planning involved - leave time for serendipity experiences - they're often the best of all.

[Mytime2014]

I was overplanning - out of my irritating anxiety about having the perfect trip on my 1st cruise. I was convinced I would be the only newbie on the ship and would just look stupid. Okay, I may still look stupid, but I won't be the only newbie!!!

 

As for the menu thing - I read menus, I also read cookbooks.

One of the fun things about planning the day in Seattle is finding the 'right' food. So perusing the daily menus is whetting my appetite. I have no idea what I will eat when I get there - but I know I don't want to miss the crème brulee, the roasted chicken, the ...... darn it, I know I have a list here somewhere!!!

 

Ports - ay-yi-yi.... kind of wish I had booked less and left it more open, but next time when I cruise out of Texas, I'll know to leave that more open and play it by ear.

[runnergirl71]

For me, I just wanted to make sure I have my excursions set and a clue about the money. I am really only cruising on HAL because it is what my running coach and her husband use for their Alaskan Running Cruise adventure. It is a means to an end only. I don't know HAL and have no reason to trust the brand yet.

 

Otherwise I would be waiting until I could afford Alaska surrounded by real magic on the Disney Wonder. DCL is my magic, happy line with a company I know I can trust. Can't wait to be back on it in February with the Fantasy Eastern Caribbean cruise.

 

I'd love to be proven wrong and find an alternative cruise line...but time will tell.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited June 20, 2014 by runnergirl71

[runnergirl71]

I have found that planning leads to anticipation, which is generally a good thing. But, anticipation can then lead to disappointment as was the case in our last Alaska cruise when 3 of our 4 scheduled and greatly anticipated shore excursions were cancelled at the last possible moment. One, while we were en route in the van. That said, I will still plan my shore excursions in advance, but I'm going to try hard not to get to caught up in the anticipation and be prepare to go with the flow if something unexpected happens.

 

In all honesty, I tend to be an underplanner. With the exception of travel & lodging arrangements and shore excursions, I do like to just live in the moment during a cruise and just do what I feel like doing at the time.

 

Not to prove the point of this thread, but... Which excursions were they? And should I be concerned that at this point with the cruise leaving on 7/26 that one of them with 2 times has the other time wait listed but not mine and the other with (I think) 5 times has one wait listed but not the others (including mine)?

Edited June 20, 2014 by runnergirl71

[PathfinderEss]

No you are not crazy, you can over plan. Of course some planning is necessary but not every little thing. Let there be some mystery on your trip. I find that to much planning can lead to much anticipation and then if it doesn't turn out well, to much disappointment. Leave some things to chance.

Edited June 20, 2014 by PathfinderEss