Who has the best advice for dealing with time zone change for our European cruise?

[KKMurphy2]

We will be traveling from Ohio to Rome on a red eye. What is the best way to deal with sleeping on the plane? Do you give yourself time to adjust and how long does it take? Our first time on a European cruise and we are very excited. :) We want to see as much as we can, while making sure we feel good!

Edited March 28, 2015 by KKMurphy2

[papcx]

Id be interested in an advice also. Doing a westbound TA in Oct so don't want the flight home to wipe us out.

[teacherman]

As far as sleeping on the plane, some can and some can't. If it is your first time to Europe, you may be too excited to sleep. I take a benadryl, and maybe a glass of wine, and can doze for an hour or two. My wife cannot sleep. Once in Rome, we check into our hotel and then go out for the day. We do not take a nap. We try to stay up to about 9 pm, and then go to sleep. We usually sleep VERY well. I do not have as much trouble flying east as I do west. Go on to Google and look for "jet lag". They will have many suggestions.

[spunks]

As far as we are concerned,Teacherman was right on. Flying eastbound, we cannot ever sleep on the plane and no longer even try to...even in business 1st. When we get to Europe, we stay awake...hard though it may be until about 9 pm . When we wake up the next day we are fine.Flying westbound is another matter and you will have to ask someone else because it seems to take us 2 weeks to get back to normal.

 

Doug

[north29]

As far as sleeping on the plane, some can and some can't. If it is your first time to Europe, you may be too excited to sleep. I take a benadryl, and maybe a glass of wine, and can doze for an hour or two. My wife cannot sleep. Once in Rome, we check into our hotel and then go out for the day. We do not take a nap. We try to stay up to about 9 pm, and then go to sleep. We usually sleep VERY well. I do not have as much trouble flying east as I do west. Go on to Google and look for "jet lag". They will have many suggestions.

 

We sleep very little on the over night flight, maybe dose off a few time, but wife wakes me up when my snoring bothers her and others LOL. We alway have a couple of wines, usually complimentary. You will be a little tired but excited, no matter how many times you do the trip. When landing, we find our way to the hotel and take a nap sometimes longer sometimes shorter but a nap. We then go out for a long walk and dinner and go to bed at the same time as home. We have tried other ways but it works for us. We consider the first day in Europe or anywhere a relatively lost day. What ever you do it will not affect your cruise. PS we always fly, because we can, at least 2-7 days ahead of the cruise.

[sauvichick]

Despite the comforts of business class on my most recent trip I was wide awake on the flight. I assume you are not sailing on the day you arrive. Take a local tour or go see the sights, but do not take a nap. We did that in Portugal and it worked perfectly. And if you are drinking alcohol on the plane I do not recommend a Benadryl. Flying does enough to the body.

Edited March 28, 2015 by sauvichick

[Booking It]

I echo the thoughts of others. I can't sleep on planes, either and I've tried Benadryl, Ny-Quil, melatonin. Nothing works. I need a soft bed, five pillows, and two fans in order to sleep!

 

Eastbound, staying up until bedtime is the best bet, no matter how exhausted you are. It will be the best night's sleep ever! I've found that I wake up the next day and I feel fine and can function at the new time zone with no problems. Westbound is another story. For some reason, the trick doesn't work. Maybe my body doesn't like the constant internal clock shifting? Annoying, but just plan on taking vacation days when you return from your vacation so that you can recover!

[paul929207]

Like the others above, we almost always arrie in Europe exhausted. If we get in early, we try to take a short nap late morning. Of course, this means you have to be able to get into your room before noon.

 

Either way, we then try to stay up into the evening. We usually make 8 or 9 pm.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Used to visit my parents in England fairly frequently.

 

Found the best way was to go "cold turkey." I would try to nap on the plane as much as possible. However, on landing I would immediately have my watch on local time and try to stick with it as much as possible. Glass of wine on the plane is okay, but I would also try to drink a lot of water and stay hydrated. Went to bed at normal local time (very tired, but it worked).

 

Coming home, again, tried to nap on the plane, and again stayed hydrated, fresh air, walks, etc. when home, and normal bedtime.

 

Would also try to eat smaller, easily digestible, perhaps more frequent meals, for a few days either side of the trip.

[LHT28]

I nap on the plane as much as I can

we head to the hotel drop our bags & go off exploring

we do go back to the hotel about 2pm & if our room is ready we have a short nap (set the alarm) up at 5 or 6pm go out for dinner walk about

hit the sack about 9pm

Get up same time as normal from then on

 

Some people adapt better to the time change than others

I find coming home is the worst for me ...takes several days to adjust

 

Enjoy the trip/cruise

[FawnRiver]

I can't sleep on the plane at all. DH manages to doze a bit. I always end up taking a nap when we get to our hotel, not voluntarily. As soon as I sit on the bed, I fall asleep. DH lets me go for a half hour while he checks in with his business. Then he gets me up, I grab a quick hot shower and we go out for a short walk and a bite to eat. We end up going to bed a little early, but close enough to our usual bed time. We don't try to sleep in the next day, we want to get out and explore.

[Velvetwater]

I could not sleep on the plan from LA back to the UK.

 

Hubby managed it with a few whiskies and kalm pills though (Lots of free alcohol on European lines hehe)We got to the UK at 5pm and were working the next day. I simply shipped myself off to bed at midnight even though it was 4pm in my head.

 

 

If you head to bed in Italy around 12pm it will feel like 6-7pm so you are just getting a real early bed time. You will wake earlyish but be refreshed enough and you can lie in for a few hours if it suits.

[zqvol]

We will be traveling from Ohio to Rome on a red eye. What is the best way to deal with sleeping on the plane? Do you give yourself time to adjust and how long does it take? Our first time on a European cruise and we are very excited. :) We want to see as much as we can, while making sure we feel good!

 

The best thing to do is get your MD do give you something.

 

If you don't want to do that I will tell you that it is much easier to adjust flying east than it is flying west. The advice that others have given about not napping , etc.. is spot on. You might be tired that first day you arrive but if you go to sleep at your normal time that first night the next day will be fine. (That normal time in Rome is only 6:00 p.m. in OH, so the body adjusts quickly). Going west is an entirely different issue.

Edited March 28, 2015 by zqvol

[Flatbush Flyer]

Business class with lay flat seating makes the price worth it on long red eye flights.

 

I agree that, upon arriving in the morning at a transoceanic location after a flight from the US, the worst thing you can do is go to bed.

Better to catch up on sleep, that evening (local time.)

[buggins0402]

We always take a short nap, then try to go to bed at a normal hour when going eastbound to Europe.

 

There was a period when I used to try and book one of the latest flights out, so that I could get a full day in at work on the day we left. But, it seems those late flights cause the worst jet lag on arrival for me. My guess is after a transfer in Europe and arrival to our final destination in the middle of the afternoon, we don't get out and about in our destination city in the full daylight...so my internal clock doesn't reset.

 

So I guess, if you try the short nap routine, my advice is to leave enough time to expose yourself to a decent amount of daylight in your destination.

[CPT Trips]

Avoid, or cut way back on caffein a couple days ahead of time. Don't have much alcohol on the plane or preflight. I find that a sleep mask helps me relax and maybe even doze. I reset my watch immediately on boarding plane and actually observe local time as much as possible on the plane. Get outside and in the sun if it is out as soon as you can. No caffein that first day, you need a good night sleep.

 

Works for me, ymmv.

[pris993]

Best way for me to rest on a long flight is to wear a sleep mask and put on some music on the plane's system.

 

We always take a nap upon arrival, then do our best to sleep through the night. Going east take me a week, coming west is no problem. So obviously I am different then others reporting here.

 

Been traveling to Europe and the Middle East for 30 years... I just plan on some down time and fly ahead of time.

[slidergirl]

The lay-flat seats that I can get in Business Class on Delta, Alitalia, Air France do help ;)

 

The routine I've done for years of traveling Eastbound to Europe: Sleep as much as possible on the flight. When awake on the flight, drink plenty of water (along with some wine with dinner). Head to the hotel as soon as I arrive. Leave my bags with the Bell Staff and head out on the town. Being outside as much as possible loads up the Vitamin D and energizes me. Head back to the hotel at check-in time (3-4pm) and go to my room. I'll take a little 30 minute (or so) "power nap." Get up, take a nice shower, and head out for the evening/night. Dinner around 8-9pm, then head back to the hotel for bed.

[seacrystal]

Best advice given to me years ago - follow the sun (and it works)! Nap on the way and NOT when you land. Go to bed early and feel refreshed on European time.

 

Have a wonderful trip. There is nothing like your first time in Europe!;)

Edited March 28, 2015 by seacrystal

[OctoberKat]

It's my experience that one's ability to tolerate jet lag falls victim to aging no matter what one does or does not do, most especially flying east. Therefore I build in three days of acclimation time to European trips. The first two days are fairly miserable but I'm semi-human again by the third day.

 

Sleeping on the late afternoon non-stop out of SFO, even in first or biz Lie-flat seats, is problematic.

[ducklite]

I book lay flat seats. Go to bed late the night before and get up early on my departure day so I'm exhausted by the time I get on the plane. Have an "express meal" for dinner with a glass of wine. Put the bed down, cover up, and go to sleep. Usually get 5-6 hours which is enough to make it until around 10:00 pm my first night. Next morning I wake up and am on local time.

 

I usually have more trouble westbound although on my last trip back from England I slept for about two hours on the plane and otherwise stayed awake. Got home and in bed around midnight, up at 7:00 the next morning and was back on my normal timezone.

[hubofhockey]

If I get a couple hours of sleep, I'm lucky.

 

What works best is actually going for a walk outside after getting to your hotel and showering. I do that and just try to stay up until 10 pm local time. It eases me in to local time well. I find it tougher flying from Boston to LA and dealing with the extra three hours than in going to Europe with a 5 to 6 hour difference the other way.