Very Lengthy Cruises.......Anyone?

[sail7seas]

Am I alone here among all of us who love cruising that isn't sure I want to be on a ship for 30 (or more) days? We love being aboard for 14-15 days but I somehow am reluctant about cruising longer. The major attraction would be the ability to see many exotic ports but I don't think I'm all that eager to spend a month (or more) on a single cruise.

 

Seeing as DH is not yet retired, it isn't possible for us to cruise longer than 15 days at the most so, at the moment, it's only hypothetical for us.

Maybe I'll change my mind as we get older/he retires ----presuming he does that ....someday??? ;)

 

Anyone else unsure about taking a very long cruise?

[Krazy Kruizers]

The longest cruise we have been on has been 22 days. We didn't get bored or anything.

And we have debaited back and forth about a couple of long cruises like the 30 and 35 day ones - but we still haven't booked one and I don't think we ever will.

[sail7seas]

I'm so glad to hear you say that, KK.

 

Here I was thinking I was so odd. I LOVE cruising---obviously, or why would we go so much and why would I spend so much of my time 'talking about' it.

 

But, why am I so hesitant about a very lengthy cruise.

I've tried to analyze the reasons and I can't clearly delineate them???

 

I know you and DH love cruising (and do as much or more of it as us) so if you say you don't think you'll book a long cruise, I feel better!! :)

[jasl]

Well SAIL, I will not pack for a seven day cruise, 10 days maybe if the itinerary is special. Have been 28 days on the Prinsendam last year, done twentysome days on Orient Lines and are booked for 2007 on a 29 day voyage. Loved the two long cruises we have done and are looking forward to one for 2007. Most of our cruises are 14 days and they end all too soon!!!

Interesting question BTW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[Druke I]

Our longest was 29 nights, on Sky Princess, San Francisco to Sydney, and I loved every minute of it!

 

I'd love to do a world cruise, but other half says 30 days is probably her limit, so we are circumnavigating the globe in segments. It's not that she was bored, she just wants to not disrupt her normal routine longer than one month at a time!

[george@sea]

Am I alone here among all of us who love cruising that isn't sure I want to be on a ship for 30 (or more) days? We love being aboard for 14-15 days but I somehow am reluctant about cruising longer.

 

I took one 7 day cruise with my family brothers, sister, their kids and my Mother this past christmas. Was nice, but 7 days does not do it for me. Takes me at least a week to unwind from my job.

 

Most of the HAL cruises that I have been on have averaged any where from 22 to the one last summer of 34 days.

 

I only get bored while cruising if I can't find something to do, or because the routeteen I had gotten into was really messed up.

 

This coming Oct 6, I'll be going on the Amsterdam for the full 62 day cruise. Kind of an expensive experiment for me. Never cruised that long before and I'll hopefully be able to deal with all the sea days. If not, well I'll just deal with it and do whatever I do and just go on cruises that are no longer the 30 days.

[Sage]

Ask me about long cruises after next May. We have booked a back to back cruise of 18 days and then 7 days. Our longest so far has been 10 days, and we think that is too short, so we will see. I can't wait until DH retires so that we can book a World Cruise.

[PRINSENDAM]

Am I alone here among all of us who love cruising that isn't sure I want to be on a ship for 30 (or more) days? We love being aboard for 14-15 days but I somehow am reluctant about cruising longer. The major attraction would be the ability to see many exotic ports but I don't think I'm all that eager to spend a month (or more) on a single cruise.

 

;)Anyone else unsure about taking a very long cruise?

 

 

 

Don't kid yourself! :) Walking into a cabin for the first time knowing that it is 'home' for the next 30, 60 or 90 days is the best feeling ever!!!

 

I've done several long cruises... like 65 days, 120 days, 45 days, 90 days and quite a few others in the 15 to 30 day range. It is not a 'problem' at all!

 

The again I'm used to spending long operiods on board. When I was working at sea, in my first four years I was home just twice... for a few weeks each time. My longest stretch on one ship was eight months... and I was able to get ashore ONCE... that's right.... one evening ashore in eight months.

 

Stephen

[bruceh4]

So far our longest was 38 days and we had no problem. At the end I felt I could have gone on longer. As you can see from my signature we are getting ready for 62 days in a few weeks. I will let you know at the end of that how it went.:)

[Grumpy1]

When we signed up for the World Tour last year (113 days), my total cruising experience was two 7 night and one 10 night cruise. DW's only cruise was our 10 night honeymoon cruise in 2002. We had many people that wanted to know how we were sure we would enjoy being on a ship for such a long time. My answer was that we were going to be seeing more than 40 places in the world that we had never seen before and were taking our hotel with us. Everything else, the food, the friendships, the entertainment, was just icing on the cake. Would we do it again? IN A HEARTBEAT!!!!

 

I think you would enjoy a long cruise if (and for some it is a big if) you are comfortable walking away from your normal life and routines for that length of time. Some people are so commited to family, social, church activities that they just can't imagine being away from all of that for more than a few weeks. If you will be constantly worrying about things on the home front it will be difficult to relax and enjoy the cruise to its fullest. We were probably better prepared than some, because my business involved travel to places 1000 miles from home where we would stay for 6-8 weeks at a time.

 

Some people really enjoy the sea days the most because of all of the activities around the ship. Being newbies to long cruises, we weren't aware of all of the things that you can get involved in, and didn't join in many of the activities. We spent more time than we should have in our cabin or on the verandah, but still immensely enjoyed our sea days. I think not being tied to a schedule, bridge at 10:00, ballroom dancing at 3:00, etc, was very relaxing. We could do what we wanted to, when we wanted to do it.

 

We met a few people that, by the end of the cruise, were anxious to get off the ship and get home. They were definitely in the minority. Many were already looking forward to doing it again next year. We met couples that have done as many as 14 world cruises and aren't done yet.

 

Sail, since you are already very familiar with shipboard life and enjoy it, I think you would be very happy with a long cruise... but, you know, there's really only one way to find out, isn't there?

[itravel2much]

Our longest cruises have been 33 and 34 days. The days go by so fast.

 

The 62 day cruise is only weeks away and we can't wait. We will have no problem staying on the ship that long. It will be practice for the World Cruise in 2007.

[Krazy Kruizers]

george@sea --- bruceh4 --- itravel2much

I hope you all write up your reviews when you get back from those cruises.

Sounds great.

[localady]

We loved our 17 days in South America, and we are really excited about our 29 dayer we have booked in 2007. To be able to cross the Pacific and see many different South Pacific cultures is another "trip of a lifetime". There are many sea days so I hope to bring some reading along even if it is loaded on the laptop.;)

[sail7seas]

Thanks all for your wonderful replies.

 

So far, it seems that KK and I are the only two with reluctance to board for 30+ days.

 

I absolutely agree that to pack and fly for only a 7 day trip is so not worth it. We never do that. The VERY rare time when we would only be aboard for 7 days, we extend with pre and post cruise hotels for about the same number of days.....just to make it worth it for packing and flying. :)

 

Fourteen days aboard is heavenly. Sometimes I really have been ready to go home at that point. Other times, I wished we had another 14 + to enjoy.

 

Interesting to see if there are other who are reluctant.

[Two@Sea]

S7S - Does being "financially reluctant" count? :D

[sail7seas]

:) :) Yes.....I do think that has to 'qualify'.

[bobpatj]

Our longest cruise was last Jan., SA/Antarctica, on the Amsterdam. It was as hard to disembark the ship as any other shorter cruise! We're looking forward to our 31 days onboard the Amsterdam, as we sail from Singapore to San Diego, on the second half of the Asia Pacific cruise. Long cruises are easier to take when you're retired.

[RevNeal]

I have done a few 7-day cruises, a few 10-day cruises, a 12-day cruise, 14-day cruise, a 15-day cruise, a 21-day cruise, and a 22-day cruise (not all on HAL, and two have been chaplaincy cruises). I've loved every one. However, given the nature of my work, it takes me a good week and a Sunday to decompress from the stress-load and finally begin to have fun. Hence a 7-day cruise is really insufficient unless it is paired with something else (either another cruise or, perhaps, a land tour someplace).

 

I look forward to making my first 30+ day cruise in the not too distant future -- 07 or 08, I would imagine -- though which itinerary I don't know yet. I'm watching the future cruise projections to see what HAL will offer.

 

My biggest problem with long-range cruises is that Christopher doesn't get nearly as much vacation time as I do, hence he can't easily make a very long cruise with me. The longest he can do right now is 3 weeks (21 or so days). He enjoyed our Panama Canal cruise last year, and like me thinks he could do longer, but he won't be able to really consider a longer cruise until he merits more vacation time (and that won't be for another 5 years).

[Iggipolka]

If I had the financial resources to be able to take a cruise longer than 7 days, I would absolutely do it. I'd love to take a 30 or 64 day cruise, but there's just no way I can right now. I completely agree that it takes longer than 7 days to unwind from work stress. I feel like I"m just remembering what it is like to breathe without tension by the 6th day and then the vacation is over. I wish that I could take 5 weeks paid vacation like President Bush can!

[Krazy Kruizers]

sail

Who knows what you will feel like when your DH retires a few years down the road.

He may just want to do a very long cruise to celebrate his retirement.

You have a few years to think about it, look at brochures, and keep track of all the different itineraries that HAL offers.

[babyher]

I have only done 7 day cruises so far , with a couple days pre or post cruise added. So far ,between family and work considerations, that is about the extent we can manage right now . But hopefully in a few years we'll have the time and the resources to do the longer ones. I don't think I would have any problem at all spending 21, 34 or more days on a ship :) The more sea days the better I say *LOL*

[obriendan]

We have taken three cruises of 17 days or longer and much prefer them to seven day cruises. The short cruises are usually much more port intensive and I especially enjoy the sea days. And yes the longer cruises seem to end just as quickly as the shorter ones! However, I do have trouble negotiating with DW for the 30 day or longer cruises since she feels that this is just too long to be away from home and our normal routine.

[TedC]

We just returned from our longest cruise to date - 35 days on the Maasdam - and we loved just about every moment of it! It was great mix of interesting ports and sea days. The time flew by.

 

I can't conceive of going back to seven-dayers or even 10 dayers. (But never say never.)

 

Our first commercial cruise was only one day - Piraeus to Mykonos. After three days on Mykonos the same ship, Pegasus, picked us up for a five or six-day cruise in the Greek Isles.

 

Later, after several seven-day Caribbean cruises, we took an 18-day cruise around Cape Horn on the Ryndam. We had cruised longer on our own sailboat, but didn't know how we'd do on such a "lengthy" commercial cruise. We did just fine. But it boggled our minds that most on that cruise boarded in FLL and were doing 35 days! Unbelievable, we thought.

 

We then did a few European cruises and crossings of 12 to 17 days - and they all went by too quickly.

 

Now, after the 35-dayer, we are really spoiled. Our next cruise is only 14 days - it seems like it's hardly worth packing for such a short time!

[amapola]

Although I get 30 days leave (which works out to 6 weeks total, w/weekends), I never take more than 2 weeks off at a time. I much prefer having several short vacations spread out throughout the year. I've only taken 7 day cruises, and DH and I agree that we'd like to try a 10 or 12 day one next year (Europe or Alaska), but longer cruises don't appeal to me much. Then again, a longer land vacation doesn't appeal either! And I can unwind very quickly -- a couple of weeks ago DH had to attend a meeting in Washington DC Wednesday to Saturday. I couldn't get off from work at all (big proposal deadline looming) so I flew up to DC on Friday night and back home Monday morning -- I was back at work Monday afteroon. It was incredibly refreshing, relaxing and fun! :cool:

[cdkempton]

We've taken two 35 day cruises. The first was on the Ryndam from San Diego to Rio. It was absolutely fabulous. With 5 full days at sea to start off the adventure we were totally relaxed and ready for all the new ports. This is a wonderful cruise. We hated to get off in Rio even though we had a 3 day stay in Rio before returning home.

Our second long cruise was from Barcelona to Los Angeles. It wasn't as wonderful as So. Amer. but we thoroughly enjoyed 3 ports in Spain and Madeira. The Atlantic crossing was like glass all the way and just peacefully beautiful. We went to several ports in the Caribbean then through the Canal and on to Costa Rica and Mexico. There are a lot of sea days but we really love them. If you like to read or enjoy the ship's activities, there is always plenty to do. By the way, the trans-atlantic cruise was with Orient not HAL.

We had a good house-sitter and took care of all the bills and essentials before we left so there was nothing to worry about there. We kept in touch via the ship's computer with family & friends.

I wish we could come up with the $$$ to do it more often, but, we are back to taking 10, 11 & 14 days now. Any cruise, any length, any time!!! :D:D