Work From Sea

One additional question: There are 2 sailings. They seem to be mostly identical. Both 12 nights. Same ship. Both round trip out of Amsterdam. Both sail to Geiranger, Arctic Circle, Honningsvag, Flam, and Molde. June 17 additionally stops at Alesund and Olden. July 11 stops at Tromso, Stavanger, and Kristiansand. Any thoughts on the ports of call that are different between the two? Any of those stops a "must do" to help me decide between the two trips? Thanks again to everyone.

Thank you all so much for the feedback. Great perspective and advice from everyone. I think I'm leaning towards getting the balcony. Not much downside and would be nice to have the views and outside access at anytime.

I have another thread on here about Spending 2024 At Sea. My goal is to live aboard and work from different back to back sailings for all of 2024. So I have similar internet concerns as you do. I still think I can do it, but the overwhelming responses I've gotten from this community is that reliable internet is not a given. Speeds can vary wildly and seem to be the best in ports. And also best the closer you stay to the equator. If you sail too far North or South or out into the Atlantic, the speeds drop dramatically. Starlink, if available, gets better reviews. I like your odds better than mine if you are in the Caribbean and on ship for a short time. Especially if you have some flexibility with your call scheduling or needing the video aspect. I'm trying to be gone the whole year so I'll have a lot of calls to do during that time where I need to present via video. I'm not confident that shipboard internet packages will work for me. Would love to hear your experience when you get back.

I'm looking at an Arctic Circle Cruise in June. It's 12 nights onboard the Jewel of the Seas out of Amsterdam. Is the weather going to be decent enough to warrant the expense of a balcony cabin? Caribbean - no question. I can sit out there and drink coffee and watch the sunset/sunrise every day. But in the Arctic Circle? Might be some nice views of the Fjords in Norway from there. Is it worth it to spend the extra $900 to go from Inside to Balcony ($600 to go from Inside to Ocean View)?

Well dang. I was expecting a ton of conversation around linking different routes together based on the seasons, weather, or ship preferences. I thought that would be the main challenge. Trying to schedule everything and keep it all straight and flowing. Turns out now I'm more stressed about staying connected to be able to do my work. To hear all the internet and VPN woes makes me more than a bit concerned that I can pull this off. My work is largely self contained and my employer is pretty patient, but I definitely need to have access to my project management / SharePoint web pages and to be able to pull of regular Zoom meetings with my team. I may have to just do several 7-10 days sailings to test everything out before I pull the trigger on a longer stint. Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'm enjoying learning for all your experiences.

Thanks for the feedback guys! I really appreciate it. Not having ever cruised doesn't scare me at all. In fact, that kind of feeds my personality. A few years ago I decided I wanted to take up running so I trained for, and ran a marathon in 26 weeks. Just to see if my body would do what my brain told it to. Took a position working in Mexico City for 3 years not speaking a word of Spanish. I like testing and pushing myself in fun ways. I think committing to a long term cruise and finding ways to adjust to the small space and solving internet connectivity challenges / time zone changes would be fun. The StarLink possibility sounds like it would definitely help. I'll have to check into which ships offer that. And I've seen all those Super Mario videos before. Love that guy! A friend of mine actually met him on a couple of cruises that he was on and chatted him up quite a bit. Gives me encouragement that I can do this if I plan it all out carefully and methodically. The biggest obstacle I'm finding is committing to the cost. It's doable but the solo traveler supplements are pretty stiff. Having a companion to split the cost would be ideal, but to be honest the nomadic challenge of doing this completely by myself for a year is a big draw.

Good info, Twangstser. Thank you for that insight. I'm a project manager for a software company so my work is kind of flexible but I have some standing meetings with my developers or my QA/Testing teams that are pretty fixed each day. Maybe instead of biting off an entire year, I should take a month and test drive the concept. Maybe spend a month in the Caribbean and see how that works. If it is a fit, extend for another month. If not, come home to reality. Lots to think about. That's why I'm looking for a good travel agent who can tell me stuff like this and give me some solid advice.

Had the realization the other day that I am need of an adventure. That quickly turned into a crazy idea on how to make that adventure epic. I want to spend 2024 at sea for the entire year. My employer seems to be good with the idea. I can work remotely and just need internet access and possibly access to an airport if I need to get to a client site for a week before meeting back up with the ship. The problem? I have literally never set foot on a cruise ship before. Never taken a cruise. But to be honest, that's part of the adventurous appeal. Can anyone recommend a travel agent that may have some experience in putting together an extended back to back (to back to back) series of cruises? Or which ships/routes make sense logically to string together at different times of the year? I know MEI Travel is a sponsor here but any recommendations on a specific agent that might have the knowledge and patience to help me out?