Whatever happened to spontaneity in travel??

[CILCIANRQTS]

Why do so many folks insist on total information before boarding their cruise?
1. Please post all the dailies so I can know everything ahead of time.

2. Can someone post all the Chef’s table menus, even though they may not be the same on my cruise.

3. Can you post a list of all the officers on the ship.

4. Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?
5 What night is lobster night?
6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

7. Would someone post a picture of yyyy.

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?
etc., etc. etc.

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

[TayanaLorna]

8 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Why do so many folks insist on total information before boarding their cruise?
1. Please post all the dailies so I can know everything ahead of time.

2. Can someone post all the Chef’s table menus, even though they may not be the same on my cruise.

3. Can you post a list of all the officers on the ship.

4. Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?
5 What night is lobster night?
6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

7. Would someone post a picture of yyyy.

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?
etc., etc. etc.

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

Ha ha, I guess in retirement we want to micro manage and plan our days.

[Clay Clayton]

35 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Why do so many folks insist on total information before boarding their cruise?
1. Please post all the dailies so I can know everything ahead of time.

2. Can someone post all the Chef’s table menus, even though they may not be the same on my cruise.

3. Can you post a list of all the officers on the ship.

4. Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?
5 What night is lobster night?
6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

7. Would someone post a picture of yyyy.

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?
etc., etc. etc.

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

For me it’s to make sure I don’t miss anything.  If it wasn’t for these boards there are many things I wouldn’t know about.  

[Haqdeluxe]

What thoroughly entertains me is those that insist on knowing every detail as to why something like a port of call was changed or dropped. What is knowing the why going to change? "Torstein, Haq here... I don't agree with these changes you made to YOUR cruise. I insist you change it back to what I want before I drag you on social media and never sail with Viking again." Seriously, what does knowing the why help and in knowing what do you think you can change?

 

Not meant to pick on or rile anyone up.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Haqdeluxe

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

 

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

 

Agree with this piece...  We just came off an Antarctica cruise - not with Viking - and the biggest part of this was that plans could change at anytime and they did.  No research or planning would allow you to know that you were not going to get to this landing point today because weather threw those plans out the window so we are now landing here...

 

We are planners in many ways, but we love the anticipation of the Chef's Table and we leave the knowledge of the menu until we sit down.  We don't wan't to know in advance, and we have even said don't give us a menu and surprise us.

 

This will likely get people riled up, but I think that many want to know too much that is really not that important.  To me anyway.

[Twitchly]

I like hearing about lots of details because it makes me feel like I’m already on vacation. That’s the joy of planning for me; it extends the experience. 

[Baron Barracuda]

On our first Viking cruise we made our Chefs Table and Manfredi's reservations long before sailing.  Once aboard ship and able to view the menus for The Restaurant for all 14 days however we completely rearranged things.  Having those menus ahead of time would have been nice.

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Why do so many folks insist on total information before boarding their cruise?
1. Please post all the dailies so I can know everything ahead of time.

2. Can someone post all the Chef’s table menus, even though they may not be the same on my cruise.

3. Can you post a list of all the officers on the ship.

4. Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?
5 What night is lobster night?
6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

7. Would someone post a picture of yyyy.

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?
etc., etc. etc.

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

Too many newly retired travelers with too much time on their handds!

I totally agree with you.  For me, half the fun is the adventure and seeing/doing/experiencing things I had no idea about before they happened.   Love to go with the flow.

Sadly, post-COVID that has not always been possible as far as booking trips, as with the pent-up demand, everyone is booking up cruises, hotels, planes, national parks, and more way ahead of time.  I miss those times when you could just "wing it" on a trip.  Not so anymore.

[springtravel]

I guess I am just one of those planners that need to make all the arrangements ahead of time.  I want to be prepared with all the info I can before I leave.  Once I am onboard, I will be brain dead and don't have to think about anything, just go with what was planned.  If things change, stop missed, etc, so be it.  Will think about that when it happens.  In the past, when I haven't planned and go with the flow, I get home and remember what I meant to do or see.  Now, it's planned.  If I decide in the moment to do something else, I know what I am giving up.  That being said, we are traveling with another couple that isn't planning anything.  They can either go along with us, or go on their own.  We won't mind either way.

[Pushka]

I've always wanted as much detail as possible. I'm the travel organiser and feel it's part of being prepared. Not a new thing for me. People do things differently. Works for them. 

[oskidunker]

I hate surprises. 

[CILCIANRQTS]

37 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

I hate surprises. 

Boo!! 😉😎

[Moonlion]

Some possible reasons:

 

4.Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?

Some people are more prone to motion sickness if facing the rear when moving.

6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

Maybe to coordinate with excursion times. 

 

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?

To decide whether to board early and have lunch onboard or have lunch at a local restaurant before boarding. 

[RBachmann]

For me, the planning and learning about all aspects of the upcoming trip are almost as much fun as the trip itself, and allows me to enjoy a 2 week trip for many months beforehand.

[zalusky]

If you don't care about money than be spontaneous!  I have often found that getting the getting the restaurant/better shore excursion/discount/itinerary/evidence to persuade friends requires some research.

 

The last sailing we would have done a number of things very different had I researched a little more.

Our post cruise hotel appeared to be a 3.5 star hotel but in fact was more like a 1 star hotel with AC that did not work etc.  A little deeper dig into Tripadvisor and I would have seen that.

[ropomo]

While on the subject, what are the precise dimensions of the ice cubes provided in each venue and in cabin (preferably in imperial and metric please) 😜

[Mimiya11]

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

For me it’s to make sure I don’t miss anything.  If it wasn’t for these boards there are many things I wouldn’t know about.  

Some of the examples are things I don't need to know in advance.

But as you said, there are many things I would be missing if these boards were not around.  

As we are going on our first Viking cruise, I knew nothing about the cooking classes (not to be confused with the cooking excursions for $$$$) until I saw someone post about their experience making paella on the ship and suggesting we book a class once we get on board.   Who knew? 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Mimiya11

[cccole]

5 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Why do so many folks insist on total information before boarding their cruise?
1. Please post all the dailies so I can know everything ahead of time.

2. Can someone post all the Chef’s table menus, even though they may not be the same on my cruise.

3. Can you post a list of all the officers on the ship.

4. Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?
5 What night is lobster night?
6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

7. Would someone post a picture of yyyy.

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?
etc., etc. etc.

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

Do you know people who actually ask ALL of these questions?  Once our bags are taken out the front door we are on vacation.  We have done the best we can to plan for a great trip but...things happen.  Things that are important to us are not important to others.   If someone wants to know who the officers are, what the dailies are, what the menus are...it's not important to me...but it may be important to them.  Everyone travels and plans their travels with their own comfort level.  Personally, there are things important to me when planning a cruise that you might find offensive, etc., etc., etc...like cabin location, ports, dining venues and reservations, and excursions.  You have to be flexible but if something is going to be a problem you can try to sort it out before you leave your front door.  JMO Cherie

[tocruiseguy]

6 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Too many newly retired travelers with too much time on their handds!

I totally agree with you.  For me, half the fun is the adventure and seeing/doing/experiencing things I had no idea about before they happened.   Love to go with the flow.

Sadly, post-COVID that has not always been possible as far as booking trips, as with the pent-up demand, everyone is booking up cruises, hotels, planes, national parks, and more way ahead of time.  I miss those times when you could just "wing it" on a trip.  Not so anymore.

Agree, for example, I really don't get why people look at online menu's and figure out what they want to eat before going to any restaurant much less months before you are on a cruise ship.  I note that on our upcoming cruise the speciality restaurants were completely booked on all the sea days when I happened to look.  How do you know you won't just feel like heading to the buffet that day?  Isn't half the fun, eating with people you enjoy being with and picking something you feel like eating at that moment ? Although we do research on ports we do like to just walk off the ship and wing it where we can.  I get not wanting to miss anything but a vacation where you plan every moment doesn't seem like much of a vacation, seems more like a day at the office. 

[Twitchly]

38 minutes ago, tocruiseguy said:

Agree, for example, I really don't get why people look at online menu's and figure out what they want to eat before going to any restaurant much less months before you are on a cruise ship.  I note that on our upcoming cruise the speciality restaurants were completely booked on all the sea days when I happened to look.  How do you know you won't just feel like heading to the buffet that day?  Isn't half the fun, eating with people you enjoy being with and picking something you feel like eating at that moment ? Although we do research on ports we do like to just walk off the ship and wing it where we can.  I get not wanting to miss anything but a vacation where you plan every moment doesn't seem like much of a vacation, seems more like a day at the office. 

This would be my husband’s philosophy. So I do all the planning, and he gets to enjoy the fruits of my labors. Works for us. 
 

That said, I don’t particularly enjoy planning anything other than vacations. Deciding what to do this weekend? Meh. Let’s wing it.

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Why do so many folks insist on total information before boarding their cruise?
1. Please post all the dailies so I can know everything ahead of time.

2. Can someone post all the Chef’s table menus, even though they may not be the same on my cruise.

3. Can you post a list of all the officers on the ship.

4. Which way does the bed face in cabin xxxx?
5 What night is lobster night?
6. Can someone post the hours all the restaurants are open..

7. Would someone post a picture of yyyy.

8. What restaurants are open for lunch on embarkation day?
etc., etc. etc.

Some of our best travel experiences have occurred without any advance notice of what our options were or what was about to happen.

Query: Can one “overplan” a cruise??

 

My excuse for planning cruises and RV trips is that I am a Navigator and we don't leave port without having a detailed plan on getting to the next port.

 

When cruising, when you have limited time in port, planning in advance helps to maximise the benefits of limited time. Even having been in most ports at least once before, I still want to maximise what we see.

 

When pulling a 41' 16,500 lb trailer, you only hit a dead end once and have to back up a considerable distance, before you plan, plan and plan again.

[LibertyBella]

I started traveling when quite young, before the Internet, fax, etc.  Long-distance telephone calls were extremely expensive. Planning was a necessity if one wanted to ensure all arrangements were accurate.  I still remember I had to write letters months in advance and mail them air mail to each of the hotels I wanted to reserve for my honeymoon (many decades ago), and then wait for a written letter response.

 

Nowadays I extensively plan because I am detail-oriented and I want everything "perfect," especially if it is a very meaningful or special trip. This is especially true if we travel to destinations with historical, archaeological or natural important sites.

 

Yet I can still be spontaneous if I just want a fun vacation escape.  Once I called a travel agent and said I would like to go on a week-long cruise leaving anywhere from the U.S. as long as it was under a certain budget. I did not know the cruise line or ship until the tickets arrived, nor did I care.  I booked Caribbean cruises in the past not knowing anything about the ship until I arrived on board--I just wanted to see certain ports.

 

I trust my travel planning abilities, and I can more or less handle unseen circumstances last minute. In the old days travel insurance really did not exist too much, so you were more or less on your own anyway.  When we were younger husband and I traveled all over Europe by train and with backpacks and camping equipment, so I have done it the cheap way, and now I like a bit more luxury. We have self-driven in multiple countries in multiple types of vehicles (lucky me--I am a bit multi-lingual!). I will book tours ONLY if the destination is quite complex and requires more local leadership and interaction, and my language abilities are not strong enough.

 

I do love to travel!  I never worry about cruise menus in advance, or daily programs,  or even cabins too much, or anything really except my excursions, because the ships and ship meals and activities are fun, but not so unique that I will remember them forever, but I will certainly cry if I miss seeing the Acropolis when visiting Athens.

 

 

[claranda]

For me it’s definitely an age thing. I remember getting on a flight to Burma in the 1980s having planned nothing. Revisiting Myanmar in the 2000s I had it all planned to the last detail. Of course, there’s the adage ‘never go back’ (so true), and the rather jaundiced outlook of the older traveller, but it wasn’t as much fun as the first time; I’d organised all the chance and adventure out of it.

With cruising, apart from planning (over-planning?) getting to and from the starting/ending point, I leave it to chance…. apart from booking excursions, dining and a few other details…😟!!

[L11]

I am truly of 2 minds on this one. These days, I tend to be the over planner with lists for everything I want to be sure not to miss. For example, my husband loves onion rings. In my research on these boards, I found that Viking had onion rings by the pool grill. Happy husband. I have learned so many little (and big) things about cruising and the ports of call that I never would have even thought to ask about by doing my research ahead of time.

 

There is, however, a lot to be said about the joy of serendipitous discovery. When I was young and untravelled in the 1980s, my husband and I took our very first cruise out of Barbados on the now defunct Exploration Cruise Lines Starship, a very small ship for very small ports. I was so 'green' that it never occurred to me to put an extra set of clothing or much else essential (other than medication thankfully) into my carry on. Well, you guessed it. Our luggage never made it out of Miami. It joined us again in Miami at the end of the cruise (thanks Eastern Airlines). We were forced to cope the best we could for the entire cruise, buying a few pieces of clothing (that didn't fit) in the hotel gift shop along with toothbrushes and toothpaste,  borrowing clothes from fellow passengers, whom we got to know very well, very quickly and scavenging in the tiny gift shop on the ship (think size small bikini on size large body with a men's size XL t shirt to cover it all up). Our formal night clothes, in the times when formal meant truly formal, was a borrowed suit for my husband and a handmade caftan I had purchased during the cruise on the island of Bequia in the Caribbean (as I said, very tiny ship with uncommon ports of call). Bottom line, no amount of planning could have prepared us for that cruise even if it had not been in the days before the internet and Cruise Critic yet, hands down, it was my favorite cruise EVER. Oh, to put the icing on the cake for that trip, 3 days before the end of the cruise we all got notice that Exploration had declared bankruptcy and that everyone including the crew would be disembarking in Barbados. The crew kind of declared an open bar and we had a heck of a send off for them! Youth was a wonderful thing. Hope I never lose that youthful spark entirely!

 

Lesson of the day--do as as much planning as you want but be prepared to roll with the punches and to enjoy the ride wherever it takes you.

 

Linda

 

[Vagabond51]

The amount and thought given to the responses on this thread provides answers to the OP question. Most here have plenty of discretionary time and resources. The wife puts up with what she refers to over the years as "Robertisms". Mostlt large spreadsheets and page after page of Evernote notes and links. "Plan your work, work your plan", or "anal" as she refers to it. It can cause serious disagreements in the months coming up to a trip. She just wants to wing it, driving me nuts. I was/am an analyst by trade and nature. She is also quick to point out to family and friends "it keeps him off the streets and out of the pool halls." Plenty of spot on answers to the question though.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Vagabond51