What do you all miss the most?

[tonyfsu21]

I miss night one dinner & Jamies/Giovanni’s (early of course because I have 2 young kids). After dinner I usually hang out on the promenade with my family and get the kids tired & ready for bed. I really miss that first night in the casino Royale after the kids are in bed. It’s the simple things about cruising that make me happy. I really enjoy an early morning walk with a Starbucks coffee in hand and being one of only a few people out & about the ship. I am hoping this crisis is behind us by Thanksgiving because I have one heck of a great trip planned on Oasis of the seas! 

[Millenialcruiser]

No matter how late I stay up being an early riser on the ships is one of my favorite things too. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

I miss CK!! I have to keep cooking dinner these days! 

[Va4fam]

I miss everything.   The excitement of embarkation day, the first drink by the pool, getting to see our room for the first time, first night in the dining room, and so on.

But one thing that particularly stands out for me is watching the sun go down, the stars come out, smelling the clean ocean air, and watching the wake drift lazily behind the ship.  Such a calm and peaceful experience (for me anyway).

[FionaMG]

The build-up. Counting down the days and obsessively checking the Cruise Planner to try and snag a good deal on something. Checking a gazillion excursion websites for each port in an effort to find the best ones. Reading and re-reading the live blogs for our chosen ship in the run-up to cruise day.

It's hard to get excited and enjoy the thrill of planning when you can't be sure your cruise is even going to happen.

[Ogilthorpe]

Apart from all of the wonderful aspects of cruising, right now, I am missing the anticipation of the next trip. Even with upcoming cruises, the usual excitement is tempered knowing they may not happen.

[tonyfsu21]

So I have folks in my neighborhood (Harbor Inlet Neighborhood) in Fort Lauderdale that see the ships coming in and out on a daily basis and are fuming mad that “cruises are still operating”. Literally people so uninformed as to believe that cruises are coming into Fort Lauderdale and leaving with passengers. I’ve had to explain to my neighbors and friends that these people they see on the ships going out the inlet are in fact crew members not in uniform. Interesting to note we are seeing lots of ships come in for fuel & provisioning then heading back to anchor off shore. 

[Millenialcruiser]

15 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

So I have folks in my neighborhood (Harbor Inlet Neighborhood) in Fort Lauderdale that see the ships coming in and out on a daily basis and are fuming mad that “cruises are still operating”. Literally people so uninformed as to believe that cruises are coming into Fort Lauderdale and leaving with passengers. I’ve had to explain to my neighbors and friends that these people they see on the ships going out the inlet are in fact crew members not in uniform. Interesting to note we are seeing lots of ships come in for fuel & provisioning then heading back to anchor off shore. 

Yes, I have seen they are mostly anchoring in the same area. They are probably enjoying their self isolation a lot more than we are.

[jticarruthers]

Just being away from the "real world"

[Lovetocruise2002]

29 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said:

Apart from all of the wonderful aspects of cruising, right now, I am missing the anticipation of the next trip. Even with upcoming cruises, the usual excitement is tempered knowing they may not happen.

+1 on this one too.

[RCIfan1912]

Well everything but that is not the real question. I love when you first enter the ship, first walk onto the ship, that to me is when vacation officially begins and this is my home for 7 days. God I love Royal Caribbean!

[loki007]

Pre-dinner cocktails at the Champagne bar (sad its gone off Oasis), sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee in the morning, hitting Sorentos 10-12x per day for a slice, basically everything!

[SpeedNoodles]

At this point I miss just being excited about any of my future cruises. There are just too many unknowns.

[Ray]

Meeting New People  

[JohnK6404]

Everything except for the last day!

If I had to pick one thing... definitely the moment after checking into your cabin and the unpacking is complete... realizing that your cruise is just about to begin and you're now ready to leave the cabin and explore the ship!

 

[FionaMG]

9 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

At this point I miss just being excited about any of my future cruises. There are just too many unknowns.

Yup. I log on to my cruise planner and then find myself thinking what's the point. 

[Dan Curtis]

13 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Well everything but that is not the real question. I love when you first enter the ship, first walk onto the ship, that to me is when vacation officially begins and this is my home for 7 days. God I love Royal Caribbean!

I agree, when you step foot on the ship after walking up the gang way and a smiling face welcomes you aboard.  

[Frogfanatic]

Cruising is by far my favorite way to vacation.  I will miss the build up/anticipation that builds as the time grows near.  I will miss the vision of the ship for the first time as we pull into port and be in awe of its size.  I will miss the first steps on the ship and the feeling of vacation.  My wife makes fun of me, but I really will miss waking up early and watching the sunrise with a coffee at the back of the ship on the top deck then head to the gym.  I could go on and on, but even though my sailing (May 24 on HOS) hasn't been canceled yet, and I'm sure it will, I am switching my sights to our April 2021 sailing on OOS.  

[JohnK6404]

9 minutes ago, Frogfanatic said:

... I will miss the vision of the ship for the first time as we pull into port and be in awe of its size....

That's me too!

I also take so many photos at every port and just stare at the ship for a few moments before moving on for the day. Sometimes it drives my wife a little crazy, but she of course knows me! LOL!

 

[JohnK6404]

... I also miss that first tropical drink after lunch to kick off the cruise!

[Zambia-Zaire]

I simply miss the views of the open sea, at & just before twilight.

[Rene Desmarais]

I miss the experiences, emotions and the feeling of nothing holding you back.   I miss the RCL crew the most. Without them cruising would be uhmm blahs!

[Hagar]

Hearing "welcome home" as I board

[ehw51]

I miss watching the people,  kids so tired they can´t hold their heads up, parents also. lol Breakfast on the open deck at the back of the windjammer on the Anthem. My wife makes crocheted snowflakes and gives them to crew members before christmas, the joy in their faces is a great gift, You are right the RCL crew is the best!

[Leroyr55]

No words needed

[carrie76]

Shopping for cruise clothes. i miss shopping period!

And just the general excitement/counting the days. Someday....

[Ampurp85]

I miss looking out over decks and balconies. Plus not having to cook...but also having ample access to a ton of varieties of foods.

[Matt]

Not having to cook is always top of my list, but I really enjoy the escapism of a cruise. It really does help me feel disconnected from the world at large (primarily the news).

[tmp916]

The family bonding.  We usually try to go with my mom and dad, just having a nice scotch sitting out by the pool.

[bhageerah]

There are quite a few things that I miss!  I miss the anticipation that I always get at every stage that I get pre cruise!  Usually the countdown,  the drive or flight down to FL, checking into the hotel, getting to the terminal and finally getting onboard!  I will also miss dinner in CK or the MDR!  Waking up prior to the wife and heading up to the gym and coming back to the room and having my "pre-breakfast" out on the balcony while reading and enjoying the Vitamin-Sea!  To be perfectly honest I absolutely miss EVERYTHING about cruising prior to the last evening onboard! I am SO looking forward to a vacation after all of this craziness is over!!  I understand that the precaution is necessary and believe that they have made the right decision, I am just ready for this all to be over so we can go back to our new "normal" and move on.  

[joshgates]

Where to even start?

Embarkation day mani pedi before muster to get the trip started off right.

Mornings, love getting up early and catching the sunrise over the ocean, enjoying what feels like a nearly empty ship for awhile, then grabbing some starbucks and sitting down to read.

Randomly meeting people and making friends, some of the friendliest and my most favorite people I’ve ever met were on cruises.

Deluxe beverage package.  It does not go to waste and that’s all I’ll say on that one.

Looking forward to / planning my next vacation, with having two already canceled and July’s I’m not confident about (to put it mildly), I haven’t been doing my usual obsessive research about places to figure out what I want to do.  Until thing settle it’s like I don’t want to get my hopes up on a trip only to have it cancelled.

[WannaCruise]

On 3/30/2020 at 9:19 AM, Matt said:

Not having to cook is always top of my list, but I really enjoy the escapism of a cruise. It really does help me feel disconnected from the world at large (primarily the news).

Completely agree.  We never get internet for this reason.  And it's a vacation for me...no cooking or cleaning.

I'll second what others have said.  Love the feeling when you take that first walk on the ship, relaxing with the family and at the same time, participating in activities such as scavenger hunts, sky pad, waterslides, abyss, etc, MDR each night followed by a show, the game shows and fun evening stuff, the drinks (Lava Flow, Mojito and Blue Hawaiian!), exploring the ship, walking laps on deck 5 (depending on the ship) where you can see the water...so peaceful.

And like others, I'm a planner so love the anticipation of the next cruise, daily price checks for cruise an cruise planner, researching ports (although it's more about the ship than the ports for us).  Of course, this time it's hard as you don't know if those cruises will go ahead so its bittersweet. 

I honestly said to DH yesterday that if we can't cruise for our family vacations, and Disney is also out of the picture, I can't think of any alternative that even comes close.

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

I honestly said to DH yesterday that if we can't cruise for our family vacations, and Disney is also out of the picture, I can't think of any alternative that even comes close.

+1 on this line completely!  We had the exact same conversation a few days ago.

[Marlena]

Being excited! Seems hard to get excited even about a cruise at the end of the year with all that's going on. So much unknown. 

And I'm the best planner!!! Lol