Why do people cruise like they work

[ousoonerfanintexas]

I love these people that are from out west and book a cruise leaving from the east then want to book red eye flights so they are flying all night then taking a cruise your whole first day is gone. This is a vacation not work. The majority of us leave for work at the very last moment then rush to get to work, rush through work and rush to get home and that is the same way they treat a cruise. I just booked a hawaii cruise for a guy leaving from Jfk to Honolulu he is flying for 12 hours then waiting for 4 hours by the time he boards it will be 8 p.m. which is 2 a.m. What a sorry way to start a vacation. On all my cruises that I fly I will fly out the day before like I did on my first cruise that was the best decision I ever made.

[Fern]

OU, I agree with you!

Aside from our first cruise, which was planned for us, we always get to the embarkation port the day before. We drive, but usually take two days. We drive halfway, stop at a hotel, then drive to the port city and spend the night.

Who needs the hassle of worrying about getting to the ship on time and being so tired you can't even enjoy the first couple of days!

I do understand that some people can't get off work to get to the embarkation port a day early, but if you possibly can, it certainly can be less stressful.

I totally agree but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way! I'm facing a fly in the same day (or all night really) before my Sea Princess cruise in Sept. and not real happy about it!

The air fares were insane so i had to do Princess air, then checking on transfer and hotels as a single, I just have to bite the bullet and fly to England the day the ship leaves. At least the first day is a sea day and seeing as I'm onboard for a B2B, 21 days I'm not losing that much!

Susie

[Cruise Cynic]

Aside from the now-obvious perils of "missing the boat" due to a flight delay, arriving the day before is great for us, cuz we can unwind, eat, shower, and sleep. Plus we arrive at the ship in great condition, and get to board at 10:30am, well before the noon buffet opens. On our first cruise, we arrived and boarded at 4 pm, and missed the buffet entirely (we were starving) and had to wait for second seating dinner at 8:30. Not fun, but we learned a valuable lesson.

in a perfect world yes, but sometimes due to work schedules, family committments, cost of airfare, budgets etc., people have to leave at the last minute and cutting it too close..I do agree, the stress level is sky high and the chances for a foul up increases

all things considered, the farther out you book your cruise, the greater the chances of planning for an extra day, lower air fare, finding a cheaper pre cruise hotel etc , thus starting vacation stress free

I'm often guilty of this. Usually it is because of tight time restraints on our end. But after careful introspection - even while on vacation I pretty much tackle it like work. Truth is I just don't know how to relax. I guess I feel like I have to be busy every minute.
When I'm at home I take little breaks to read or check my email, but I'm very high strung while on vacation.

I think I need vacation therapy. And practice - 'til I can balance it with relaxation and activities. I wish that was covered by my health insurance. Hey, a girl can dream!

VTJen

[Kuki]

Sure..in a perfect world everyone would fly in to their departure city a few days early and relax, see the sights, and enjoy a longer vacation.

However, time and financial restraints are not at all surprising. There are lots of people cruising who only get 2 weeks of vacation time in a year. Using all of it up on a one week cruise doesn't necessarily make better sense. It's all about individual priorities. Doesn't make them wrong!

[LisaK]

i agree that coming in the day before is a much less stressfull way to start your cruise. If you can do it, by all means go for it, but if you can't, fly in the earliest that you can.

When my ex FIL, started me cruising in the mid 70's, it was the only way that my ex MIL could get him to relax because once she got him on the ship, there was nothing for him to do but relax. With today's focus on making the ship the destination, wireless internet, bungee and rock climbing activity, mega size ships carring 3600 passengers, if he were cruising today he would find it much harder just to relax

I think one of the advantages of going in a day early is that it starts the relaxation process one day sooner, so when you get on the ship on your 2nd day you are already in your vacation "mode"..when you fly in the day off, or on the redeye the night before, you basically lose your first day of vacation "mode" and everyone knows the last day of a cruise is stress time, you really only relax 5 out of 7

I'm from the west and will be flying to the east for my cruise and the reason I will be flying in during the early morning of my departure day is because I am used to seeing lodging available around here for $40-60 a night and I don't think I'll be able to sleep a wink if I have to pay the prices I saw for a hotel in NYC, so what's the point of trying??

WOW! I think that was the longest run-on sentence I've ever written.

[ousoonerfanintexas]

Here is the thing, if you book cruiseline air then somehow you will be taken care of but most of us don't do that we book airfare through the airlines. So if your flight is delayed on canceled and you miss the boat sure you can catch it in the next port but does the cruiseline refund you one day...no, does the airline..no so you have already sytarted your hard earned vacation with a bad taste in your mouth. To me it just isn't worth it. I work all year to enjoy my time off.

We too are coming in the day before. Airlines are known to overbook and bump. We don't want to be one of those "bumps". Also because we're leaving from the North in the winter, and flying to Mobile for our cruise to Cozumel, we don't want to chance a flight being delayed because of weather.