AJK

If the blog group came to Chicago for pizza, they would volunteer to skip the cruise to eat pizza everyday.

Yes, I totally agree, even on that last point lol.  It was great for them to see and experience everything today.  I think that the 9/11 memorial was quite thought provoking for them.  
Although I did feel like I was on an all day field trip. It is hard to take off the teacher hat ?

And they don't even wear the real Disney costumes... They are just fake Disney characters.  It's just very very wrong!!! Jane

Intercontinental New York Times Square
Double Deluxe Room





No scope as it was too crazy with the kids.

Find the deck that muster is held on. There are chairs under the lifeboats and no foot traffic. On the LIBERTY it was deck 4. Just be aware one side is smoking and the other side is non- smoking. We sit there, watch the water and read- super relaxing. 
If you are on Brilliance it’s our favorite class of ship- big enough but not too big. The Schooner Bar is usually almost empty during the day. 
Dont try to do everything.  The port shopping at Cozumel can be stressful as the vendors accost you and try to entice you into their stores.  Don’t make eye contact and keep walking to your destination. Better yet, enjoy the ship while everyone else is on shore. 
I have only been on one ship when the Solarium pool was crowded. There is every body type on display male and female so whatever yours is will not be noticed. 
 
 
 

First of all, try and tell yourself you don't have to do everything!!  Yes the compass has a ton, but you don't have to do all of it.  For example, i really enjoy the ice show but on allure, I was really enjoying the solarium and it was ok to skip my tickets to the ice show. 
   Trivia is usually about a 1/2 hour.  The magnets simply are nice to have to keep various junk off the floor.  The first trip we didn't have them, the 2nd I had 3m command strip hooks.  Some people swear by the shoe hangers, over never had one.  There is no right or wrong... You will figure out your groove and what works!
   My husband deals with anxiety and depression.  He brought books and his headphones to relax with, and simply decided he would do what worked.... He had a great time on adventure!   
    I hope you have a wonderful cruise!!!   Keep asking questions if planning helps alleviate the anxiety!!! Jane

On the trivia issue, check out the Schooner Bar.   In general, activities of any sort on a ship last 40-50 minutes.  Even when performers have longer time periods, they will break after a set. The longest activities I have attended have been the major shows on Oasis-class ships - they can run up to 90 minutes.
 

I can think of a few others. ?

Yes, I’ll add my favorite towel animal from our last cruise on Ovation - the panda mascots that are on the top deck.

We will be on the Independence of the Seas. This is the kind of reassurance I need. One of the other reasons I wanted The Key was the chance to have a leisurely breakfast and then be escorted off. Our flight leaves at 1pm, so we are hoping to be among the last off ? since we won't have a lounge at the airport.

We will be on the Independence of the Seas. This is the kind of reassurance I need. One of the other reasons I wanted The Key was the chance to have a leisurely breakfast and then be escorted off. Our flight leaves at 1pm, so we are hoping to be among the last off ? since we won't have a lounge at the airport.

Honestly, I can be VERY overwhelming.  We are preparing for our 4th cruise and I am always overwhelmed.  This is a great place to start finding answers/ideas. 
I only JUST bought magnetic hooks for this upcoming cruise.  There are tons of ideas for using them.  For me, it's a place to hang extra things I don't want on the floor or on the desk...like lanyards with our sea passes, using them as just magnets for the daily cruise compass or other paper items we want to be able to see/access, swimsuits off the floor, towels off the floor.
I think most things like the trivias, etc. from what I've read here might take 45 minutes to an hour or so.  Someone else will chime in here who has more experience with those.
The compass can also be overwhelming, but so helpful.  Just find one that is a similar itinerary as yours and just familiarize yourself with wording/times/venues/etc, then don't worry about it too much more.  It was so helpful for me to see one before our cruise so I felt like I had more of an idea of those things so it WASN'T as overwhelming as it would have been if I had just showed up onboard and gotten this gigantic document.
What ship are you sailing on?  On each of our cruises, I've been able to find quiet spots to relax/get away from crowds.  I struggle with some crowd anxiety, non-medicated, but I can get to the point where I just need to GET OUTTA THERE.  It's helpful that we cruise in balcony rooms for times when I just need a quick getaway. 
We have been to Cozumel twice and I love it.  I might be in the minority.  I enjoy walking around town (after taking a taxi).  We have eaten at 2 different restaurants and shopped.  But we've not done a paid excursion.
You have enough time to do your research to get comfy with your ship/ports and have questions answered.  Make sure you keep up with this site.  DON'T join any FB groups.  They are full of drama and people not giving sound advice (IMO).

The Cruise Compass for the next day is generally left on your bed while you are at dinner.  I will look thru it just before turning in for the night to see if there are things I want to do.  Take a highlighter and highlight the events you wish to attend.
I'm a type A personality but, as soon as I step aboard my stress level winds down and cruising is the most relaxing vacation I have ever been on.  You will be able to find several places away from the crowds.
I too am one that enjoys Cozumel, even if you don't find an excursion to take, get a taxi to take you downtown and stroll around.  Last time we grabbed a taxi to the Mega Store (Walmart type store) and walked from there to Poncho's Backyard for lunch. Started walking  back till we got hot/tired and grabbed a taxi back to the ship.  All total we were only off the ship around 4-5 hours.

What ship are you on?   You said 4-day and Cozumel so I’m assuming you are sailing out of Tampa on Brilliance?  If so, it isn’t a gigantic ship, so the crowds won’t be as crazy as you may be imagining.   Also, try to dismiss the rare occurrence of of disaster from your head; the things you mention are EXTREMELY uncommon.  Like, win-the-lottery, struck-by-lightening uncommon.
I know it doesn’t do any good to tell someone suffering with anxiety to relax, so I won’t even go there, but let me assure you that there will be PLENTY of places for you to relax, almost by yourself if you’d like.  Except for sea days right around the pool, there are often quiet open spots on upper decks.   Find a bench or seat, take a book if you’d like,  time can go by without you realizing it because you are so relaxed.  Turn your chair to the sea and watch the water go by.  Seriously, there is nothing more relaxing and you will forget there are people there.  I can also say with experience that your self-consciousness, while understandable, is unnecessary.  I can’t even explain how much your fellow passengers couldn’t care less about what you look like at the pool. They don’t notice you, and they don’t care.  Let yourself go, have a great time.  
 
The game shows take about 30-45 minutes.  Almost NOTHING on a cruise takes an hour or more.  They are intentionally scheduling things so they are quick and move on to the next.  I encourage you to do them; they are lots of fun.   If you are on a ship with an X vs. Y game and a Crazy Quest, you may want to avoid them because your anxiety may be overwhelming.  They are a ton of hilarious fun, but they are often frantic and very adult.  The pace and craziness might be too much for you to enjoy.   If you’d like more detail, feel free to message me and I’d be happy to go into more explanation.
Please let yourself enjoy your trip!  

Hi, You sound like me. I worry about about planning everything. We've done enough Carribean cruises now.. Always with Royal, that most of the stress is gone. I can tell you what I've learned. I get to the port at 11:00 am. Best time. (After your first cruise, sign up for the crown and anchor.. It takes about 15 min to get on). One thing we constantly remark on is that, for instance, the ship holds 4000 people . Where are they? Somehow Royal does a good job at it never seeming over crowded. The first day at Windjammer, is busy but by coming early,, we generally get a good seat. As far as the adult solarium goes, it's nice but a little humid for our taste. We normally just stay on the top level near the pool to hear the music. / Cozumel is wonderful. We rented a driver and a car for 3 hrs and had him drive us to the back of the island where it's just road and ocean. Gorgeous. I got the best pics! Then ate at a auth Mex restaurant. We returned to the ship hours before anyone else, so had that time to enjoy the hot tubs. I've never gotten the key. . Oh if you do get off the ship, wait a hour or so after they start disembarking. We do and always walk right off without stopping. I do the highlighter on the compass but not the hooks. Haven't needed those. Two things I don't go without ..  a travel bottle of Downy wrinkle release and I have a organizer that hangs from the bathroom door for toiletries. I hope you have a good time!

We cruised with my father a couple of times who is also on anxiety medicine and he gets anxious around some types of crowds, too much commotion, etc.  What helped with him was us telling him that although embarkation day can seem kind of crazy, overwhelming and very crowded, later on in the evening and each day after it never seems as crowded as it is on the very first day. He never found a problem finding some little quiet spot to watch the ocean and relax.

Great for hanging a multi shelf organizer.
 

We use our hooks for the following:  holding sea pass cards/lanyards when we come in the door, holding compass, drying bathing suits, holding various paperwork that comes through your cabin during your cruise (I'm sure they kill a forest for each cruise - makes me crazy), hanging goggles so they don't get lost, and just general miscellaneous stuff that I don't want sitting on the counter.
We travel with our two boys, so there is always a mountain of things that I'm trying to get off the counters/desk, etc.  The hooks help me maintain my sanity as I allocate one for each person - it helps with the clutter.
We also use an over-the-door hanger for shoes (4 people, 7 days = a ridiculous number of shoes), and sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.  Also really helps a lot with de-cluttering.

@rtread thank you for your service.

Christmas Market Cruise on the Danube River. I have always wanted to see Vienna, Prague, and Budapest and think cruise is the best way. Christmas Market cruise just for the weather and festivity of the season, not that I want to buy that much. Our first ever cruise is next Dec but just FLL to Cozumel and back, just to see how we like cruising. I have been told many times that once you cruise you're hooked for life.

This is our first time using a travel agent, which I decided to do after listening to about 10 podcasts. ?. Well, lo and behold she called me earlier this week.  Our cruise went down almost $800!!!!  Such awesome news and reinforced to me to always use a travel agent for cruises in the future!

Food porn! I love it. I promise to add to it after my Dec 5 cruise (1st cruise).

I've noticed that the regular desserts in MDR and WJ are almost strikingly lacking in sweetness, which would account for the general feeling of "meh" with those; seems higher sugar is reserved for desserts in specialty venues or places like La Patisserie. I don't really mind overmuch since I'm hypoglycemic, and having less sugar in my desserts means I can have one or two with dinner and not go into a coma 30 minutes later. Unlike "The World", where I'll enjoy every last bite and scrape the plate, then wonder why I'm waking up in a lounger by the pool and looking like this:

 
 ? 

Food porn! I love it. I promise to add to it after my Dec 5 cruise (1st cruise).

But think about how much fun you can have pretending you're being beamed up by Scotty, and the shower water is the "snow" of the transporter effect! ?