Your ship routine....
 

When you board your dream ship, do you plan every minute, or just play it by ear, day by day...Que Sera Sera??

Do a little of both. Plan excursions naturally, but then after play it by ear and make way back to ship, stopping to see anything that may arouse my curiosity. Sea days, look at the Capers and see what's going on, but really I go as the wind blows, just take it easy.

I do whatever I feel like. One day I may spend the entire day in a shady spot near the aft pool, listening to the I-Pod, and relaxing, the next I might spend the day doing the trivia, and hanging around the main pool. Like I said,,,whatever I feel like.

Ken
"SKY"

Trip, first of all I love your posts - from these little thought provoking inquiries to your book list and particularly your well thought out and (usually LOL ) even tempered mediator style answers.

That said, our first few cruises were very frenetic trying to do EVERYTHING on the capers and fit all we could into our port times. After this many though it all depends on whether it is just DH and I or if we have another couple or family members. If it is just the DH and I we sometimes book an excursion either through Carnival or on our own, or we just head to a beach or shopping area in port. On the ship we try to split our time between relaxing in a deck chair and participating in the activities on the ship. On longer cruises we try to catch an afternoon nap on our days at sea. We usually hit the casino for a little late night action and sometimes just take a romantic midnight stroll around the top deck. In other words we play it by ear and just try to have fun and relax.

However, if we take a newbie with us, we try to do some things with them and plan to allow each other time to ourselves rather than being joined at the hip. We also enjoy the afternoon tea and have enjoyed one of the art auctions. This is something we never did on our first few cruises and we try to do something new (like a dance class) on each cruise.

I almost always pre-book any excursions we want to take. Other than that, we just go with the flow. We don't hang out by / in the pools or hot tubs--I don't relish the idea of sharing a pool with hundreds of people I don't know--
I usually find my spot where it's quite so I can just plop down and relax and let the world go by.
I don't watch the news, don't call home to try to get bad news ( bad news will always find you )--I just might get concerned if I saw a couple mushroom type clouds on the horizon--but then again, maybe not!
Cruise to rest and relax--don't cruise to stay wired up and connected to something at home or work you can't do anything about anyway !!
:) :) :)

Blue Skies...thanks for your kind words:) Reading your reply, it surely sounds like you know how to enjoy a cruise, and thoughtful to newbies traveling along:)

I have spoken to some cruisers, who continue their type A days as they cruise....:(If they don't have something planned, they panic,..they don't know what are missing, but we sure do:)

We pre-book any must have excursions, plan to be at dinner in the dining room then leave the rest to whatever we want to do at the time. We always book a balcony and that’s where you’ll most often find us. Must have seen a couple of hundred flying fish by now and 3 dolphins. No sharks yet. :)

In port we enjoy finding a taxi or bus for a quick tour of any port we have not visited before but mostly like to wonder around freely and shop.

I like to hit the port and shopping presentations to make sure I know enough to not miss anything but after that, whatever we decide to do. Often we don’t even go to the production shows in the evenings. Just depend on what we find interesting.

Being as much of a control freak as I can be, I would probably find the captain and steal his figurative captain's hat. Lol. Honestly, If I didn't have a full ship charter or a megayacht of my own(which I currently don't) I would look forward to the pleasant suprises of what would be available for me any given day. I would plan for the day but would also allow myself the freedom to change my mind at any point.

A little of both. Like someone else said, our first few cruises we tried to do everything we saw in the Capers and it dictated our days for us. Now the only must see thing that we plan around is the Marriage game.

We normally look at the capers when we get back to the room in the evening and see if there is anything we really want to do. If there is then we plan it, if not we just wing it.

Excursions are planned before we take a cruise, whether a ship excursion or doing our own thing we know what we are doing ahead of time.

My ship routine?
get up/drink/get up/drink/get up/ drink...
err Oh Yeah... get up/drink/get up/etc.
I left out the falling down part... lol

We usually have one planned excursion (private) for one stop... other than that we go with the flow and usually end up having a great time... we always keep one afternoon just for the room and down time.... yippppeeee!

We highlight our Caper before going to bed for the next days events, things we are interested in. Then during the day we just go with the flow, if we find ourselves wanting to do something, we check the Caper to see what we highlighted that is coming up next. We vow to never ever RUSH to anything (except back to the ship from port...)
I spend one at sea afternoon reading/napping on my balcony.
IT'S A VACATION PEOPLE..... RELAX!!!

Trip, I agree very much with Blue Skies.

It is so comforting as a never-been-yet cruiser to know that it's okay just to sit! Here I am at work, jumping around on the endless, multi-level, figurative trampolines. Staying in my Type A mode is the only way to keep from crashing.

But, still, I was already feeling guilty, thinking it would be so wonderful to just sit and watch the ocean and doze....but knowing I would miss out on so much fun stuff. But I'm already planning NEXT year's cruise, and the next, a cruise addict in the making, because of you loyal, passionate cruisers....so I can get around to some of that fun stuff then, right?

This is a wonderful community, isn't it?

Brenda, once you walk up that gangplank. for so many of us, the stress stays behind on the shore. It may take you a bit longer to unwind, but, I will place a bet, you do find the stress relief, in the calming seas...

No phone is ringing, no faxes to read, and no schedule,.. it's all YOUR time, and deservedly so....Once your vacation mode sets in, and you land clock turns off, your peace will come guilt free.....

Just the fact you are already thinking of the next one, is proof you are a Cruisemate! xoxo from a type A as well:)

And a book lover, too!

Could be worse. I am already planning my next 3 cruises. A 30th Birthday cruise(in 2010) with some friends, a family cruise in a couple of years, and a group cruise being originated from my agency next year. I figure being on a cruise would take the sting out of turning 30(and joining the aged(in show business years anyway)).

Brenda, by any chance are you on facebook, I've been putting up some favorite books..I just tried to put some more, but I think I broke it:):)

Trip, yes, I'm on Facebook, but I haven't posted anything in ages....couldn't find any of my friends who were on....... they're all so young...Brad's age. This is the first board community I've joined, and, Lord have mercy, am I hooked!

{HEY BRAD...sting out of age 30? Wait till you're past 60!!!!!!! But, I'm here to tell you, life just began making sense to me after age 50 or so. 60+ is good!}

Take care, everyone.....

A little of both. At sea days anything goes, but in port we know what we want to do or see.