How do you cram it all in???

[J18ktleo]

I was wondering by reading all the postings over the past couple of years...what is the secret to doing it all on a cruise? :cool:

I find that my days are enjoyed by the pools with it being difficult to pull myself away to do the spa...but of course, that is a necessity! Always in a dash to get the day started so rarely enjoy room service for breakfast (which I'm sorry we missed on our last trip in a suite on the CP!) :rolleyes:

Prefer to leisurely 'not plan' for dinner but then miss the Captain's Cocktail/Inner Circle parties and most of the early shows and alot of the late shows and many of the bars not to mention afternoon high tea and happy hour at the champagne/martini bars...just seems like we need 4-5 days with no ports to really do it all??? :o

So, from one semi-seasoned cruiser to another...how do you cram it all in???

[sue d. miller]

I don't!! I know what I like to do, and that is what I do!!! There is enough for everyone to find something to enjoy, but I would not enjoy running around like crazy trying to "do it all". I like to chill and "smell the roses". ;)

[bardgal]

I don't. It's all about what I want or don't want to do, and I just let it go and don't worry about it. If I tried to cram it all in, I'd need another vacation.

 

Must do In-Cabin room service breakfast. That is one of my cruise pleasures.

I'm not big on the ship activities, since I love to see where the day takes me. Have a walk on deck, curl up with a book by the pool, be a hermit on my balcony and watch the sea..... support the fine community of Casinos at Sea™. ;)

Haven't seen a show in years. But want to try to see Piano Man this time, and some comedy.

Arrive late at Capt's cocktail party - if I go.

Will try high tea in Cabin since we have a suite this time! WOOOO!

May check out the happy hour at the Wake View Bar, but hearing there is no WAKE VIEW (what the hell were they thinking when they designed this?????) it really is kind of a disappointment... but there's always the deck bars!

Usually love having a nice leasurely dinner, and closing the dining room. This will drive our PC staff nuts I imagine - even though we're looking at after 8pm reservations.

 

I like not worrying about it, and letting it happen.

[cruiserforlife]

sue d & bardgal have the right attutude...don't try to do it all.Find what you like and enjoy life.Try to make time stand still on a cruiseship (not easy to do but you can slow it down) because if you stress out and try to do it all,your dream vacation will be over before you know it.

 

Just chill out and remember:"everyting gonna be alright"!

[Solo Cruiser]

I bring my trusty highlighters to remind me of what I want to do in the next day's patter. More often than not I miss something because I decided to take a nap, or miss the trivia game because I'm having such a good time at tea, or miss an exercise class (oh well) because of a shore excursion. Even though I plan like a crazed woman before the cruise I find that once I'm on the ship, everything just sort of falls into place with the rhythm of the ocean. I love that feeling!

[magnumcoog]

I do not try to do everything, in fact on my last cruise on the Serenade of the Seas I did not attend 1 show or even step foot in the casino. All of this was in part because of the pre-cruise friendships found right here on CruiseCritic, we had a blast when we finally met and continued until we had to get off the ship.

 

I did find that I like the late seating better as you do not have to rush back after a day on shore to get ready for the early seating. This seemed to gives more time either to relax, watch the ship leaving the port, just having a drink or too and not having to gulp it down, etc etc etc

[BJS]

The choices are what keeps cruises interesting. We have found that the things we might like to do on one cruise may not be the same as on another cruise. We never do something just because it's available but rather do things when we feel like it.

[kruisey]

I check Princess Patter and find my likes from that for the following day.

Like Sue mentioned earlier do ones own thing.Theres always something for everyones tastes.

[J18ktleo]

I feel so much better...seems like I miss so much (specially the last cruise which was cut short 2 days thanks to Frances...we spent so much time with our cruise critic friends, we never took advantage of our upgrade to the suite..my DH finally got in the jacuzzi tub for 15 min the last day just to say he did! :D )

I guess, after that cruise, I feel like I missed out cuz' there weren't any midnite shows and all the bars closed at midnite, which I thought was kinda weird! :cool:

I think we all get in a pattern of what we love to do and that's what we keep on doing...which works for me! :p

[bdjam]

I think those pesky days in port tend to mess up the schedule. Like the others, I do what the day takes me to. The activities are available for me if I want them, but if I want to sit out on the balcony and read – I never get to read when I’m home – then I can do that too. My life goes full blast – the time I’m on the ship is the only time I can have to do what I want, when I please. And right – sometimes staying on a quiet ship while it’s in port is included.

[melissa_bel]

I guess I really want to try to do different things so, I manage to get out of the pool area by early afternoon so I can do a kiling at Trivia ;o) or have a game of Monopoly (or, ping-pong) with DH ;o). Or when I'm off doing something else, he finds someone to play giant cheess with.

I really like movies so, if they have one showing during the day (or evening), I don't need much pushing either ;o). I always know how to make time for things I like to do.

Basically, it's a cruise so, we're there to chill and take our time. You don't have to everything that's available, just do what YOU want.

[critterchick]

We always think we're going to do more than we end up doing. We usually go to the gym in the first day or two, then get lazy. We always at least have coffee from room service, although breakfast is my favorite meal, so I like cruising the Windjammer. We always get a spa treatment (at least I do, DH usually does). We like the casino, but don't spend more than 1/2 hour there at a time throughout the day. We see some shows but not all of them. We often turn in early. :eek:

 

If we're visiting places we haven't been, we do shore excursions so we can get to know the place. If we return, then we either do something on our own (Vancouver, for example) or just wave from our balcony while everybody else goes ashore (Ensenada). The longer we're on a ship, the less we care that we aren't seeing or doing everything. That tells me we're relaxing! :D

I like the idea of highlighting what you'd like to do. We don't do bingo or trivia games & the like (yet), but we sometimes take the dance classes & I love the cooking demos!

[lacruisecat]

I tend to do next to nothing during sea days, which I really enjoy. Port days are another story. I am one of those people who will be the first to get off the ship and the last to get on while in port. I pre-book independent tours and manage to squeeze in beach time, shopping and activities. I think it is because I know I only have one day in port, I tend to run around. On a land based tour, I tend to slow down and take it easy.

 

I plan to book my next cruise with at least 3 sea days. Ahhh, to do nothing!!

[bjboothman]

One benefit of not trying to do it all, is that it give you an excuse to plan another cruise to catch up. Through my first 3 cruises I never even put on a swimsuit. I've never been to a show, except to see the musicians in the lounge, never been to high tea. I've since fallen in love with the hot tubs and plan to try high tea this time. I've only gone to the gold members captains party one, skipped it each other year. I've missed the champagne tower 3 out of 4 times. I go on a cruise to relax and watch the world go by. Having nothing to do (if you choose) is the biggest benefit. We have stimulation overload at home - a cruise is a place for me to get away from it. Every night I read my Patter and consider things I'd like to check out the next day. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

[catmand]

Ditto...................getting ready for #3, still have the "TO DO" list from number two with half the things still open.

[regnig]

When one has been blessed enough to find themselves cruising for the 2nd, 3rd, etc time you find yourself just relaxing and doing less and less of any of the planned activities. About our only must do is coffee on the balcony in the AM. After that we just take the day as it happens doing nothing more than feels comfortable. We avoid shore excursions and enjoy just walking around new ports on our own. A lot of time is spent doing nothing more than sitting in the sun reading a good book. We are down to averaging 1 show a cruise now. We don't cruise for the ports but rather for a relaxing time with no work, no kids of our own, no telephones, no traffic, no normal day life..... :D :D

 

And, although I know it is key to some people, the last thing I would consider packing is a highlighter to mark things in the Patter.