World cruise? - 1st timers need advice

[JTor]

Hi everyone,

Since there are so many experienced cruisers on this board I'm hoping someone can advise us about longer (eg.1 month+) cruises. We're in our later 30's/early 40's and planning an academic sabbatical year. One option is to take (all or part of) a world cruise. Neither Regent nor Crystal have their 2010 schedules on the website yet but Seabourne is doing 108 days from Jan.5/10 and the Pacific Princess is doing 107 from Jan.27/10. We have some questions:

1) we know most WCers are older - will we feel too out of place?

2) how likely are we to get "cabin fever"? we did a 2 week sailing which was fine but...

3) if we did a segment later in the cruise would it be hard to make friends since people will already have formed their cliques? is it better to do the whole WC?

4) how realistic is it to work (eg. writing on a laptop a couple of hours a day) aboard a WC? is it less structured than the usual 1-2 week cruise?

5) can anyone on this board make any suggestions about which cruise lines might be most suitable for people our age and with our goals? We've been on Crystal and Regent and loved them both, never been on Seabourne or Princess; I gather HAL, Cunard, P&O and Fred.Olsen may also offer WCs. I've also heard about renting on The World, can anyone compare what that might be like for us?

6) any idea when Regent might release 2010 World Cruise information?

Thanks all :)

[Iamboatman]

I am reposting and supplementing my prior post in another thread responding to your inquiry, so some may be out of sync, but hopefully relevant:

 

As for your questions:

 

1. World cruiser are substantially older...almost without exception. That is not to say it will necessarily be a parade of wheelchairs, but 50's are considered the youngsters. This is true on most lines...simply because most younger people do not have the free time and/or money.

 

2. I work on my cruises. With internet, international mobile phones and satellite phones it can be done with some efficiency. You just need to be prepared for intermittent service, much slower internet speeds, etc. I, for example, take my personal satellite phone with me and am not opposed (on longer trips only) to finding an internet café near the port to do some work which requires a faster connection. It does compromise a port here or there, but when you gotta work, you gotta work. Two hours a day onboard is going to be expensive.

 

3. There is, notably - though not exclusively - on Regent, a definite segregation between those on the full World Cruise and "Seggies". Some find it offensively cliquish, others bothersome, others irrelevant and yet others find a way to break through the barrier.

 

4. Cabin fever is very difficult to achieve when you have a wonderful views and new ports on such a regular basis. But everyone is different. While I would love to spend 2 weeks at sea with no ports, others find 3 days at sea too much to even contemplate.

 

5. As for the best cruise lines for world cruises, I would first determine itineraries as they can vary greatly. Demographics are different as well. Cunard had a definitely different cruise experience dependent if you are in Grill or Britannia Class...and I assume the demographic would vary a good bit between the two. Seabourn's first World Cruise is going to be a great one...and with only 450 passengers max. (It is selling well and the segments are opening to booking. So if you are interested, I wouldn't wait if you don't want to be booking an upper suite.) HAL is very good, but you will find a big difference in amenities, comfort, etc. if you cruise in a suite vs. a stateroom. There are very consistent HAL loyalty...but it is getting a bit pricey; making Regent and Seabourn look like better values If you like Regent and Crystal, I really would not consider Princess, P&O, or Fred Olson as they are just such different products with much provided at lower levels (food, service, amenities, cabins, etc.)

 

6. Regent just polled a number of past passengers on World Cruise preferences, so it is in the works, but I do not have an estimated date.

 

Hope this helps.

[dfb]

Hi, I have done some long cruises and maybe I can help.

 

1 I will turn 50 in December and did all my long cruises to date in my 40s. I don't think I was ever the youngest person on any of those cruises! Of course, there were a whole lot of people who were a lot older than me, but it was never a problem. This question gets asked a lot and maybe it is just me not being at all age sensitive or the fact that my husband is a decade older than I am, but I just don't see this as a factor or an issue. So, if you need people your own age around and this is important to you, then know up front that you will be on the bottom range of the age spectrum and it will be heavily weighted older than you. That being said, you may not be the youngest. On our longest cruise one of the youngest WCers turned 9, I think! He was not the youngest passenger either!

 

2 Cabin fever. I definitely got cabin fever on every long cruise. Some people don't but I do. It comes and goes for me. I think OK I've been on here long enough it is time for me to go home, then a few days later it passes and I am fine for another few weeks and then another cycle. On the other hand, my husband could have gone on forever without ever getting off the ship! My Mom went with us on a 2 month cruise early this year and she got it too. Hers was like mine it came and then it went and then came again. Depends on each individual I think. In any case, it does seem to pass. I think because of the cycle of sea days and shore days. When you get an exciting run of shore days you forget about it.

 

3 I think obviously it is easier to make friends among WCers if you are on the entire cruise. I only say that because of the size of the group. Regent has events exclusively for the WCers and you will have a good opportunity to see the same people over and over and make friends. That said the younger people will probably be the ones doing segments and if you prefer to interact with them, then it won't matter. I think if your goal is to make friends, you will do it in either case. As to the question of it being better to do an entire WC. I would just to avoid the flying! Unpack once, see the world, pack up and go home.

 

4 WCs are as structured as any other cruise. Whether or not you can discipline yourself to work at the laptop for a couple of hours a day would be up to you. On our second long cruise, my husband had a work project to complete. It sounds like the kind of thing you are talking about. He did not do the project. He said "the atmosphere was not conducive to that kind of concentration". OK, but it had nothing to do with time or structure and all to do with his desires and motivation. That particular cruise had 2 ocean crossings and a couple of sea crossings with days on end at sea with no land and no daytime or evening activities to distract him (other than the casino) but he prefered to spend his time starring out at the horizon from our balcony or napping than working. Again, varies by individual I would think.

 

5 Regent is the only one I your list I have cruised. Our first long cruise was with Orient lines which is now gone. Below are our trip journals from the 2 long Regent cruises (we did not keep an online journal for the first one) that may give you some idea of what to expect from the experience on a day-to-day basis.

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/WestwardWorldCircumnavigation200/entries/2005/01/25/prelude/111

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/circle-south-america-2008-aboard/entries/2007/10/02/preface/1695

Both links start with the first entry and you can use the little blue right arrows at the top and bottom of each entry to page forward. You can click Archives at the top and skim around the titles. Also, here is the end of the last journal for a look at some recent menus if that is of interest to you.

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/circle-south-america-2008-aboard/

 

6 RSSC has been releasing their schedules a bit earlier each year for the past couple of years now. But, I would not expect to see the 2010 WC schedule before November of this year. I think last year it came out in December and the year before that in January. Historically, RSSC released it during the WC, so it was never before January. But, last year it was fairly early in December, so it seems like they are creeping up the release date of the cruise calendar each year to me.

 

Good luck with your research. You have not started too early! Debbie

[dfb]

Regarding Eric's comment on the price of Internet, since you have cruised Regent before you probably already know all this and you did not ask about using the Internet or communicating with home, but...

Time Plan #1: $0.20 per minute - 250 minutes for $50

Time Plan #2: $0.25 per minute - 100 minutes for $25

Pay As You Go: $0.35 per minute

One-Time Account Activation Fee _ $3.95 (Applies to all users on first login only)

Also, once you pass 21 days on RSSC you get free Internet on your next segment as well as some free phone time. RSSC also has cellular at sea on their ships now so you may be able to use your home cell phone everywhere too. http://www.rssc.com/cellularservice

 

Just wanted to let you know that if it is an issue that even with service blackouts, etc. we have never had a real problem staying in touch with home.

Debbie

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wow Debbie, what good practical advice! Not sure we'll ever do this, but if we ever do a lengthy cruise, I can just see my husband working a couple of hours a day--reading, writing. He also has a sabbatical coming up, but even when retired, he will continue to work I believe, and being able to do this on a long cruise just might be the persuader for him.

 

Very interesting about the cabin fever. I worry about being homesick. Does this happen too?

[dfb]

Wendy, I'm not sure it is really homesickness, at least not on Regent. On Orient Lines, maybe it was more so because of the lack of food variety. No popcorn for 50 days! Yikes! On RSSC we have been able to get any food pretty much any time we were craving it and that lessened some of the stress for me anyway of feeling trapped. I think that was it, a kind of antsy-ness about being trapped on a ship and too far from anywhere to get back to home or anywhere remotely familiar or comfortable with any ease. My thoughts at the time were something along the lines of even a gilded cage is a cage. But, as I said, then a busy stretch of fascinating ports would come along and all would be forgotten and I would be thrilled and excited to be where I was again. During those long lulls of sea days far from home, though you miss all kinds of things. Pets, milkshakes (terrible experiences for us across the board on Regent ships!!), LOST episodes, etc. Of course it is all petty stuff, but then maybe that is what homesickness is and maybe that is what I was feeling. But, at the time it seemed more like a desperate restlessness to be somewhere else than on the ship. Sorry, I can't be more specific! As far as working on a cruise ship while on vacation on one, Clay just couldn't do it. We were just talking about it since I posted his failure here! He was supposed to be writing. He had done research and was to continue it and write, but he did not do it. He told me he did not remember saying what I quoted, but agreed that summed it up. He just did not feel like or want to do it, there was no other excuse.

All I can say is that long cruises are very different animals than short ones. Completely different. After having done some, I can't imagine doing a segment of one. The people on segments seem so stressed and busy. When you know you are on for months, you just have a different mindset and pace yourself and enjoy things differently than people with only days or weeks. I can't really explain it. It may be one of those things that you just can't understand until you've experienced it personally. I hope you get to, Debbie

[JTor]

Wendy, Debbie and Eric,

Thanks so much, that is very helpful. I am a bit concerned about the not being able to work issue... although we are both very disciplined when at home, I can see how the excitement of being on a ship and doing a "once in a lifetime" thing (for us anyway) could make it very hard to concentrate. I will have to think carefully. We could do a segment and not work, or do the whole WC if we do work... both seem to have a downside. I'm sure the internet issue will arise because inevitably we'll need to do some research or access info we haven't brought along, but I'm not too worried about it because if we're organized enough this shouldn't be too frequent. We won't have any "day to day" responsibilities so won't need to keep in regular contact with work.

[Iamboatman]

Just know that I work two businesses while cruising. With some early mornings and time when my DW is taking a nap you can get a good bit accomplished.

 

You can also skip segments or, as I have some clients do, switch ships when two are in port the same day, creating your own World Cruise-like segments. It takes some planning and may even involve two cruise lines, but it can make things very interesting.

 

I only offer the suggestion because you seem to have a very "out of the box" approach.

[larry1365]

JTor --

 

A World Cruise is a very special adventure. I think each individual appraoches and expereiences it differently.

 

We were on 2007 Voyager full World Cruise. You can read about it and view photos thru my journal at: http://journals.aol.com/thelmccrackens/worldcruise

 

To me, there were no "downsides" or any "restlessness." Knowing that we were going to be onboard for 111 days developed its own mindset. Some new friends who were only on for a segment or two, were ready to "get off" as their time to do so approached, while we kept thinking about the experiences still laying before us.

 

Only on the last couple of days of the 7-day voyage from the Canary Islands to Ft. Lauderdale did I begin think about what was awaiting us at home. But at that time we were enjoying "last" dinners and fun times with all our new friends.

 

A world cruise is a wonderful expereince and if you have the time and resources to do it...do it! We hope to take another with Capt. Dag on the Voayger next January.

 

Larry

[basedow]

Larry, What a delight to read and view your log and pictures!:)

[petlover]

We've been on 2 world cruises (each was close to 4 months) and a 60 day circumnavigation of South America so you can tell we like long cruises. All 3 were on Regent ships. There will be lots of older people but you will not feel out of place. I'm in my 50's so quite a bit older than you but have met other full world cruisers in their 40's who had a ball. I have never once had cabin fever. I usually keep busy but am also very content just curling up with a good book. There are lots of segment guests in their 30's and 40's who will be getting on and off as well. It is easiest IMO to make friends when you're on for the full WC. If you have the time and $$, this is definitely the way to go.

 

You shouldn't have any trouble doing your work while on board. You can be as disciplined as you want. It's your trip to do what you want, when you want to. I would definitely recommend Regent. I know quite a few people who have done world cruises on other cruise lines and came back to Regent saying it's the only way to go.

 

Go for it, I don't think you'll regret it !!!