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How long is TOO long aboard?


Chadster

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So, I was idly sitting here on this Friday afternoon after finishing my work, and as is often the case, I started poking around Royal Caribbean's website, just to look at prices and ponder. I saw that the same cabin that I have for a B2B later this year is available on the cruise before the first leg. If I were to book it, I'd be aboard the same RCCL cruise ship and in the same cabin for a total of 28 days.

No, I haven't YOLO booked it...as of when I type this, anyway. 🤪

It got me thinking, though. For you -- especially those of you who have cruised a lot -- how long would be too long aboard a ship before you needed to take a break? Yes, I know, responsibilities throw a curveball in that decision, but just from a standpoint of having the time and being able to do it...what would be the limit before you decided it was enough for a while? 🤔

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2 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

When I retire in 9 years, Hubby and I want to take one of those world cruises.  What is that?  Like 3-4 months onboard?  That sounds awesome!

That would be amazing; I see those cruises and always find myself wanting to do those!

I got to thinking about this question because I was looking at that 28-day stretch aboard a ship this holiday season; it's in stark contrast to how overwhelmed I felt on my first (and only, so far...thanks COVID!) cruise, and it was just 5 days. I had fun, but by the time it was over, I was ready to head home. I definitely feel like now, though, I'm much more receptive to longer cruises the more I've thought about it and the more reading I've done about people's experiences (particularly aboard RCCL, in this case, thanks to the Blog).

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3 minutes ago, Chadster said:

That would be amazing; I see those cruises and always find myself wanting to do those!

I got to thinking about this question because I was looking at that 28-day stretch aboard a ship this holiday season; it's in stark contrast to how overwhelmed I felt on my first (and only, so far...thanks COVID!) cruise, and it was just 5 days. I had fun, but by the time it was over, I was ready to head home. I definitely feel like now, though, I'm much more receptive to longer cruises the more I've thought about it and the more reading I've done about people's experiences (particularly aboard RCCL, in this case, thanks to the Blog).

Many years ago, when we took a Med cruise on Brilliance, it was about two weeks.  I remember thinking at the time that I was ready to go home.  However, in retrospect, I think that partially has to do with how busy that cruise was.  Not many sea days, mostly port days.  It is one of my favourite cruises to date, but while I am in no way opposed to a long sailing (or sailings), I think I would make sure there is enough down time.  Because we love our sea days.

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I may be biased, being ex-Navy, but I much prefer a longer cruise.  The 3-day cruises just seem like a waste, to me at least. You spend one day getting used to the ship, one day fully enjoying it, then it's time to pack up and leave... Maybe if I lived near the port and could just jump on a 3-day cruise every now and then I'd feel differently. 

Now a 28-day cruise sounds like a spot in paradise... Following Super Mario's path... Oh, sign me up! 

We're doing a 3/4 B2B in March, in the same cabin.  That feels much better than either the 3 or 4 by themselves.

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On 9/17/2021 at 3:27 PM, Chadster said:

So, I was idly sitting here on this Friday afternoon after finishing my work, and as is often the case, I started poking around Royal Caribbean's website, just to look at prices and ponder. I saw that the same cabin that I have for a B2B later this year is available on the cruise before the first leg. If I were to book it, I'd be aboard the same RCCL cruise ship and in the same cabin for a total of 28 days.

No, I haven't YOLO booked it...as of when I type this, anyway. 🤪

It got me thinking, though. For you -- especially those of you who have cruised a lot -- how long would be too long aboard a ship before you needed to take a break? Yes, I know, responsibilities throw a curveball in that decision, but just from a standpoint of having the time and being able to do it...what would be the limit before you decided it was enough for a while? 🤔

28 days is not long enough. I got on Symphony Aug 21st (Cruise week 2 of the restart) and got off Sept 18th (End of week 5), a total of 28 days.
Prior to that cruise, I had never cruised for longer than 7-days in a row.
If not for my Mother-in-Law's 90th Birthday party this week, I would have at minimum booked a 5th week interior.

Sometime in week 3 (Sept 4th cruise) I discovered what they mean by "Sea Legs." You start to ache in places you didn't know you had muscles.
The crew I asked laughed at me. Apparently, they knew about that and many brought their own ointments, we recalled.

To the question is 28-Days too long? 

No- Book It!

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50 minutes ago, LifesEz said:


Sometime in week 3 (Sept 4th cruise) I discovered what they mean by "Sea Legs." You start to ache in places you didn't know you had muscles.
The crew I asked laughed at me. Apparently, they knew about that and many brought their own ointments, we recalled.
 

Curious, what ointment was it?

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31 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

What is this new meaning for "sea legs"?  I've only heard (and used) it as being on a ship long enough to get used to the movement of the water so you can walk steadily without looking like you are drunk and falling over whenever a big wave comes by.

It's kind of the same thing. If you are onboard for long enough the body will adapt to keep you from being unsteady on your feet. It's engaging muscles to assist with the extra balancing effort. Those muscles don't get used in the same way on land, so they can start to feel sore if you aren't used to it. It's the same thing that contributes to you still feeling like you are moving when you get back on land.

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So far we’ve only done 7 or less nights. We have our 7 night Alaska with 3 night land tour with basically 2 sea days in May. I’m hoping that’s enough to recover! Lol 

We have a 12 night on Odyssey next October to the Holy Land/Best of Greece. It originally had 4 sea days which was awesome since it’ll be our first time on Odyssey but they added a port so now 3 sea days. The first 2 are sea days then the last day. Then we have 3 days in Rome. I hope I hold up! Lol 

For us though I think the sea days are in good spots. The first 2 will help us with jet lag and the last one to prepare for Rome. 
 

I think the sea days are important for relaxing. It’s going to be a busy 2 weeks. 
 

 Compare that to say a 12-14 day TA and the experience is very different with lots of down time. 
 

All you can do is try. I say book it! 

 

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I personally can't get enough sea days! In the 28-day scenario I laid out above, 11 of those days are sea days (not counting embarkation/debarkation days, which are technically partial sea days). The journey would be aboard Anthem, so I think there'd be plenty to keep me busy -- even if I just wiled away some time sitting at the Dog House and enjoying a hot dog or seven, or sampling the bars -- or jumping between doing each. 😄

The awesome thing about these B2B2B cruises is there wouldn't be a ton of repeated ports. I'd get a nice sample across the Caribbean: 8 ports, with only one repeat (Philipsburg, St. Maarten). And there's a day at Coco Cay in there, too. Plus, it focuses on the eastern and southern Caribbean; I did the Western Caribbean on my first cruise, and I was not overly impressed.

 

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1 hour ago, Chadster said:

I personally can't get enough sea days! In the 28-day scenario I laid out above, 11 of those days are sea days (not counting embarkation/debarkation days, which are technically partial sea days). The journey would be aboard Anthem, so I think there'd be plenty to keep me busy -- even if I just wiled away some time sitting at the Dog House and enjoying a hot dog or seven, or sampling the bars -- or jumping between doing each. 😄

The awesome thing about these B2B2B cruises is there wouldn't be a ton of repeated ports. I'd get a nice sample across the Caribbean: 8 ports, with only one repeat (Philipsburg, St. Maarten). And there's a day at Coco Cay in there, too. Plus, it focuses on the eastern and southern Caribbean; I did the Western Caribbean on my first cruise, and I was not overly impressed.

 

Have to say this is a great itinerary. Southern Caribbean is my favorite followed by Eastern. Plenty to do in St Maarten for 2 visits. Are you a Star Wars fan? Fun fact: there’s a great Star Wars museum in St Maarten. A guy who worked on the films operates it. Lots of props etc. 

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Interesting, our first was a 7 day Bermuda but we were literally docked in Bermuda for 3 days so it didn’t feel like a 7 day cruise, more like a short (very rocky) cruise with a floating hotel in the middle.  Then. 5 day out of Tampa which hubby immediately proclaimed too short, a 4 day out of PC with the grandson to see if he’d like it.  Well he did and it was WAAAYTOOO (get how I did that😁?) short.  Now it’s a 7 day on Harmony and an 8 day on Explorer for next year.  Working my way up!

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17 hours ago, Jill said:

Have to say this is a great itinerary. Southern Caribbean is my favorite followed by Eastern. Plenty to do in St Maarten for 2 visits. Are you a Star Wars fan? Fun fact: there’s a great Star Wars museum in St Maarten. A guy who worked on the films operates it. Lots of props etc. 

We went to his museum and enjoyed talking to him.

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We've done 12 nights and 14 nights, and find we are getting a little tired of the cruise.   Annoyances seem to accumulate at that point, such as when the Noravirus outbreak interfered with the buffet and Diamond lounge experiences.   Laundry also begins to be a factor.  That said, I am willing to push it for 3-4 weeks.  Since we lost our cat a year ago, we are less concerned about being gone for a longer period of time.

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I did a 14 night European once and it was tiring because there was nothing to do on the ship and we got off at every port. That being said I think I could do 20+ days on RCG as long as it was a 7n B2B and a 5/7n S2S. I would love 14 days on an oasis class ship because then I could do everything and also relax. Then I would like to maybe get off 1 day and stay at a hotel to get a breather from all that sea time. Then start a S2S on two different freedom/quantum class ships.

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