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Cruise withdrawal syndrome - Best ways to cope please?


haf

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While the winter up north here in Montreal is not as bad as last year, my wife and I are starting to experience the first symptoms of cruise withdrawal. I have not fully researched the message boards on how other people are coping but it would be interesting if you can shed some lights on how you are managing. The usuals, such as travel channels, videos , etc have been tried but to no success for the time being. 

Thanks 

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I read this blog every day. I then scroll the message boards endlessly. Then I watch YouTube videos of Ship tours from Harr Travel or Cruising with Ben & David, then I watch docuseries, such as "Might Cruise Ships".  Then I go to the RCI site and research things to do and do mock reservations to try out different combinations of itinerary/stateroom/etc.  This really hasn't helped all that much...but it's better than watching the so-called "news".

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I feel ya.  Prior to last year, between work and fun, I spent far more time away than at home....  

For cruises, I canceled everything except December on the Grandeur this year.  It's easier for me to cancel a trip than to plan it while not being sure if it's going to be able to go.  December's far enough away that I can put a little time and day dreaming into the planning but not be too upset if I need to reevaluate later this year.  I'm also looking at booking different cruises than I ordinarily would for 2022/2023, I've only ever done the Caribbean, preferring land based trips for everywhere else, so lots of other places to look into.  Currently I'm researching Antartica and Alaska cruises, they've been on my todo list for awhile now and there's a ton to consider for both of them.

Been wanting to go to Europe, spend a few days/week in France and then do a Mediterranean cruise, so using it as an excuse to learn French via Duolingo while I wait till that's possible.

One of the things I noticed when I stoped traveling is that I never really took the time to document any trip that I've gone on.  I was (and still am) a proponent of enjoying the now, sometimes I could get caught up in taking a photo more than I was enjoying the moment I was in.  All fine and dandy till I want to look back and try and relive a trip in my memory...I don't have as many photos/etc to trigger those memories.  So now I've decided to start documenting my trips a bit more.  Photography's already a huge hobby of mine (although mostly studio based or environmental portraiture) so I'll spend some time picking what my ideal travel kit would be.  What I'd bring for the Caribbean is different than I'd bring for a bucket list trip like Antartica.  Part of me's also amused at the idea of trying to drag along my 8x10 to just go complete overkill.  Started teaching myself watercolor painting too to make a travel journal with, a combination of writing, sketching, and painting.  We'll see how that goes (not well so far!). Good things to help though and hopefully make future trips even more enjoyable.

Off of that, I've started reading back through live blogs and longer reviews, some YouTube vlogs, and movies about travel/adventure.

I still travel some, but it's much more local.  My last "I NEED TO GET AWAY" trip was a few hour drive and a stay at an airbnb in Cherry Springs so I could do some astrophotography uninterrupted for a few days.

Took up some older hobbies too to keep myself busy, right now I'm making a 1/12 scale dollhouse for my nieces with hand tools, keeps the hands busy while listening to the RCB podcast ?

tl;dr, lots of planning for the future and new projects to keep occupied / improve myself in the mean time.  It's been a strange year.

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9 minutes ago, joshgates said:

I feel ya.  Prior to last year, between work and fun, I spent far more time away than at home....  

For cruises, I canceled everything except December on the Grandeur this year.  It's easier for me to cancel a trip than to plan it while not being sure if it's going to be able to go.  December's far enough away that I can put a little time and day dreaming into the planning but not be too upset if I need to reevaluate later this year.  I'm also looking at booking different cruises than I ordinarily would for 2022/2023, I've only ever done the Caribbean, preferring land based trips for everywhere else, so lots of other places to look into.  Currently I'm researching Antartica and Alaska cruises, they've been on my todo list for awhile now and there's a ton to consider for both of them.

Been wanting to go to Europe, spend a few days/week in France and then do a Mediterranean cruise, so using it as an excuse to learn French via Duolingo while I wait till that's possible.

One of the things I noticed when I stoped traveling is that I never really took the time to document any trip that I've gone on.  I was (and still am) a proponent of enjoying the now, sometimes I could get caught up in taking a photo more than I was enjoying the moment I was in.  All fine and dandy till I want to look back and try and relive a trip in my memory...I don't have as many photos/etc to trigger those memories.  So now I've decided to start documenting my trips a bit more.  Photography's already a huge hobby of mine (although mostly studio based or environmental portraiture) so I'll spend some time picking what my ideal travel kit would be.  What I'd bring for the Caribbean is different than I'd bring for a bucket list trip like Antartica.  Part of me's also amused at the idea of trying to drag along my 8x10 to just go complete overkill.  Started teaching myself watercolor painting too to make a travel journal with, a combination of writing, sketching, and painting.  We'll see how that goes (not well so far!). Good things to help though and hopefully make future trips even more enjoyable.

Off of that, I've started reading back through live blogs and longer reviews, some YouTube vlogs, and movies about travel/adventure.

I still travel some, but it's much more local.  My last "I NEED TO GET AWAY" trip was a few hour drive and a stay at an airbnb in Cherry Springs so I could do some astrophotography uninterrupted for a few days.

Took up some older hobbies too to keep myself busy, right now I'm making a 1/12 scale dollhouse for my nieces with hand tools, keeps the hands busy while listening to the RCB podcast ?

tl;dr, lots of planning for the future and new projects to keep occupied / improve myself in the mean time.  It's been a strange year.

Excellent suggestions ! 

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1 hour ago, ellcee said:

I actually only check in every so often because talking about cruising right now is depressing...

What she said!!!!!!?

 

Yup.....seems like there is more bad news than good news. I am getting more and more pessimistic as each day goes by..2021 is looking like a write off at this point...I am not even sure about 2022.....as I wont cruise with the "new norm"....

 

It was ok and fun to dream and talk and look at clips etc during  2020...now a year later and even further from cruising imho...its jut depressing!

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2 hours ago, emmef said:

I read this blog every day. I then scroll the message boards endlessly. Then I watch YouTube videos of Ship tours from Harr Travel or Cruising with Ben & David, then I watch docuseries, such as "Might Cruise Ships".  Then I go to the RCI site and research things to do and do mock reservations to try out different combinations of itinerary/stateroom/etc.  This really hasn't helped all that much...but it's better than watching the so-called "news".

This is basically my exact same routine! ?

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