Where do you find the thrill??

[CCCM]

I have just booked on Westerdam for October (Eastern Carribean). I have been pouring over information and looking at all the different cruises available. I have found some that sound incredible (Voyage of the Vikings is my new favorite).

 

I have started to wonder which thrills me more. Does the thrill come from choosing a certain itinerary and ship (booking)? Does the thrill come in the preparation of the cruise? Or is the thrill from the actual cruise itself?

 

I am thinking that many will say all three.

[kstemple3]

I also love the reading and deciding which cruise. And I always think the anticipation is at least as good as the cruise. I usually book pretty early, so have a long time for that anticipation. And of course, the cruise is almost always wonderful. Then it's home and back to reality. And in a week, it seems like the cruise was months ago.

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[bepsf]

Making the deposit is nice...

Getting the tickets is better...

 

Stepping across that gangway, being greeted by familiar smiling faces and escorted to your cozy new home-away-from-home?

 

PRICELESS!!!

[kakalina]

There is a separate and different thrill for each and every step of the cruise process.

 

I take great enjoyment in leaning first towards one itinerary than another. When I call my agent and give them the credit card number it is another milestone to be celebrated. The ultimate thrill, getting on board!!

[grannynurse]

We've done the Voyage of the Vikings twice (with variations) and loved them both. There is a difference in a cruise and a "crossing", and that was the thrill for us.

So many at sea days on the way over and back, being out in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. The water colors are so different, the feel is different. There are port-intensive parts when you get to Europe, but the stops in Greenland, Iceland, faroes, are isolated stops, and it just feels like what you'd picture an old ocean liner voyage was like when they were in their hey-day.

We love crossings.

GN

[dj_crusin]

I forgot who said this, but "Ninety percent of the excitement of a future trip is waiting for it to happen!".

 

To quote "bepsf"

Stepping across that gangway, being greeted by familiar smiling faces and escorted to your cozy new home-away-from-home?

PRICELESS!!!

 

I might add: Finally discovering your cabin number (if you're on a GUAR!)!

 

Dan

[Krazy Kruizers]

Knowing that I won't be cooking for at least a month (not that I cook that much when we are home). Others will be waiting on me - no bed to make - no laundry to do.

[ANSalberg]

We cruised first in 1978 -and LOVED it. Then there was a spate of 15 years when we couldn't; work problems/college for the kids etc - LIFE, I guess. Then we began cruising again in the mid-1990s. And as we retired we began cruising even MORE [i retired first by 3 years] I worried that we might, in those years, be taking cruising SO for granted that it would lose its appeal or we would become innured to its excitement; NOT SO. I get JUST as excited now as I did in 1978 and in 1994. And everything that everybody has said - Booking/planning -then getting the documents- or crossing the gangway and the feeling of "Coming home" never ceases to amaze me -and envelope me. More than 40 cruises later- 25 on HAL - we STILL feel the RUSH of JOY!

Anne

[bookworm0911]

All 3--- but the preparation lasts longer then the cruise and I love the excitement of looking forward to sailing no matter where I am going. :D

[jhannah]

Yes, all three provide a thrill. But actually stepping on the ship is the greatest thrill of all for me. Just knowing I'm going to be taken care of marvelously for the next X number of days is such a joy.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Making the deposit is nice...

Getting the tickets is better...

 

Stepping across that gangway, being greeted by familiar smiling faces and escorted to your cozy new home-away-from-home?

 

PRICELESS!!!

 

 

Brian, that quote was Priceless!!!:D

[Live4cruises]

Cruising is our passion. We book as far ahead as possible - as soon as itineraries are posted, so we've always got at least a year to plan. Haunt the library, keep Amazon in business, pore over all the wonderful internet resources. I get a year's worth of pleasure from planning and counting down the days. Then we're there! This year and next we'll be on ships and lines we've never cruised before - oh boy!. So I'm counting the days (hurry up! hurry up!) until we get the excitement of new discovery. Then (and this is the really hard part) after hurrying time along for so many months, I try to change my entire outlook and get time to all but stand still. So difficult, but I really work at being in the moment while we are on vacation.

 

We are so very lucky!

[Bramcruiser]

I think it varies. For example I am next booked on the QM2 in December and its definitely the ship first and the three out of seven days at sea that sold me. Its a Caribbean cruise but while the island hopping is nice it never compelled me to go for it. Its just that the 7 day Caribbean turned out to be cheaper than a 6 day transatlantic and you don't have to worry about the issue of one way airfare to Europe.

 

However, there have been other cruises where the iteniary was most important. That was the case with my last cruise which got me to try out HAL and which ended up turning me into such a fan of HAL.

 

Again, the ship was also the main point for my 2007 cruise in Western Europe which I just booked over a week ago. Unfortunately it's not HAL again. However, I wouldn't pick a ship just for the sake of it if the iteniary sucked and the price was way too out of my league though.

 

As for when the thrill happens. FOr me, it goes all the way from the actual booking (yes, I do a jig after I make the booking and pay the initial deposit because it seems to feel real by that point) right until disembarkation which is always the most depressing part. Preparing is just as much fun as cruising.

[HALOnlyCruiser]

I agree with everyone.....hard to choose what's most exciting. Two of my favorite quotes:

"The most intense joy is not in the having, but in the desire: Delight that never fades; bliss that is eternal; is only yours when what you most desire is just out of reach." (Some French guy quoted by Anthony Hopkins in the movie Shadowlands.)

"We find the joy of the journey is equally divided between anticipating and remembering." (Tommy Bahama ad in Conde Nast Traveler)

Best Day: Waking up the morning of departure (if you've slept at all) and saying, "TODAY'S THE DAY!!!!"

Worst day: Walking down the gangplank AWAY from the ship on the last morning.

[sunflowerstarr]

glad to hear someone say that its possible you wont sleep on departure day. ive been thinking from the time i booked that im going to be too excited to sleep. stay up all night talkin to my friend about all teh stuff were gonna do, goin through the first day then finally passing out, if the excitment of being on there isnt too great by then!

[Randyk47]

We'll be on our 7th cruise this coming March and I can say that the thrill is almost as great today as it was for the 1st. Well....maybe that's a bit much....that first cruise with all the unknowns is a really kick and a very special memory. We still get thrilled doing the initial research, narrowing down our choices, actually booking the cruise, researching the ports of call once booked, packing, leaving home, arriving in the port city, boarding the ship, and, of course, the cruise itself. I'd say we're a lot less anxious as not as much is unknown but that doesn't dull the thrill, it makes it more thrilling as we don't get worried about what are now the known aspects as much as we once did. We found kind of a routine in terms of knowing we're going to fly in the day before, that we can or will arrange our own transportation from the hotel to the terminal, and knowing about the return home and how best to plan that. When cruising becomes unthrilling....heaven forbid the idea!.....then we'll look for something else.

[cruznon]

I agree that the anticipation of the cruise is a great thrill--checking over the itinerary, planning,etc.

Having those docs arrive is grand.

The first glimpse of the ship as you arrive.....then walking up the gangplank....an incredible thrill!

My DH husband puts it this way: "I feel so privileged to step aboard that beautiful ship!"

:D :D :D