OnTheJourney

I'm willing to try it, if one of the big ships comes into Bayonne or Baltimore. Surely wouldn't fly anywhere to do a large ship solely for the sake of seeing how I like it, unless it's some amazing itinerary. I strongly suspect any large-ship experience would be once and done. Our cruises with Viking, with only 900+ passengers (let alone no kids!) has really got me liking their smaller ship feel. Easier to navigate for one thing. And, all their ocean ships are exactly the same! That works for me too. Less time spent learning a new ship layout = more time spent just enjoying being out on deck and such. With being 'directionally challenged', by the time I'd sort of learn my way around something like the Icon, the cruise'll be over.

I wouldn't do any cruise without a balcony. One of my favorite things is to just sit out there, enjoy the view, peace and quiet, and do some reading. I've spoken to this also in a few posts. Generally speaking I agree with you. Primarily itinerary-oriented vs. cruising moreso for what the ship offers are, I feel, two somewhat different motivations, though of course there are gradations in between as to personal preference. \ Good point, which is why I spend as little time as possible with ship-sponsored (indoor) activities and such. If I want to spend large amounts of time inside, I'll do a land tour with fancy hotels. The real attraction, for me, is whatever there is to see outside, even if it's just the waves.

Amazing for sure, and neat article. Somehow, though, I have zero interest in sailing on that big a ship. Largest I've ever been on is the Adventure. I wouldn't mind trying Oasis class at least once I suppose.

Same here. A bit of video actually. I watched for a little, and then had enough. Not my sort of thing.

LOL..that was a truly humorous event to watch during our Northern Lights cruise. Didn't participate but enjoyed seeing some of it. They filled up the hot tub with tons of ice. I think you had to completely submerge.

I'm with you on this totally. Somehow, for me, the time passes by more quickly when we're doing our driving tours. There I can do almost 3 weeks and it doesn't start to feel 'long'. We don't mind hotel hopping either and sort of like researching and staying in different places. I like the spontaneity that is often associated with that mode of travel. Even in a nice suite onboard ship, it's still the same room every night. Advantage to cruising, of course, is only unpacking once - and we do like it for that although either way you wind up living out of a suitcase to some extent. As we near the end of a cruise, we start to pack up clothes we won't be using anymore. Yep...for sure. We've only done two B2B, and loved both of them; however, both had just about completely different itineraries the 2nd week. Simply repeating the exact same - or even very similar cruise (and itinerary) back and forth wouldn't appeal to me, unless there were at least a few changes the 2nd week (or longer). If, however, you're only cruising for what the ship offers - as I've discussed previously - then it really doesn't matter. There's somewhat of a difference, I do believe, between solely being a diehard "cruiser" and an avid 'traveler" who pursues many different modes of travel to many different parts of the world. I think these are different groups of people with not quite the same interests. Those who, for instance, are content to keep going back down to the Caribbean - over and over - on very similar itineraries each time, are the latter category and are folks whom I deem more into cruising for the ship rather than where it goes. But, hey, that's why they make vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. My inlaws have often admittedly said that they often really don't care where they're going as long as they're cruising. I get it, but that's not me. I think a mix of land / sea travel experiences is what works best for us. If I cruise once or twice a year, I'm well satisfied. BTW - I see you're headed to Antarctica with Celebrity in January. ENJOY! We did that on the Infinity back in '17 and loved that trip. Absolutely amazing. Yes, it was a "drive by" but it worked for us since we'd never been to South America before.

Yeah I'm sure that's nice. We've done mostly RCL and X cause we can sail on either without having to fly. That said, if Viking went out of Baltimore or Bayonne (our two closest ports) I'd be tempted to go with them probably most of the time. Love the smaller size and quiet / relaxed feeling of their ocean ships. Our most recent was their Mississippi ship. Really a beautiful vessel but unfortunately our northern sailing was not very successful in terms of the planned itinerary. Doing the entire river from New Orleans to St. Paul is a most interesting journey. We have a voucher from the MS trip so might book the Octantis for their Great Lakes cruise. With X we've only been on the Summit and Infinity. A friend of mine who sails frequently with X loves the newer ships - Edge and Beyond. I have no interest in flying down to Florida to try one of them however. Unless it's someplace we really want to go, I'm good with going out Baltimore or Bayonne. One of our favorite cruises is Canada / New England. Unfortunately, X is starting to do alot of them roundtrip out of Boston. No interest in flying to or driving up there either. Sounds like you're a very frequent cruiser. We enjoy it alot but my favorite mode of travel is still DIY by car.

Even if you do, and would get a bit tired of repeat entrees or shows, I assume the whole point of the trip is to visit the four main destinations you mentioned. Are there going to be repeat port stops? If not, I'd say the varied travel experiences alone will override whatever else might take place on the ship that could engender a modicum of boredom -which might not even be the case anyway. Sort of all comes back, as I've mentioned before, of primarily traveling for the itinerary or for what the ship offers. If occasionally eating meals ashore, that would help to compensate for repeat offerings of the ship restaurants. I'd say you're good to go. If I'd have whatever it takes to enjoy traveling for extended periods of time, I suspect the last thing I'd be concerned with is what the shows and menus are. But, some folks are all about that sort of thing and want to know even before the cruise what shows or entertainment are going to be onboard. I really could not care less and will check out whatever it is once I'm on the ship. Can always get up and leave. We do often look at menus online before boarding, thanks to the wonders of apps, but I'd be just as happy finding out once on the ship. Go and enjoy.

Surely the best way. I have neither a landscaper or a house sitter, but would likely consider it were we to plan any extensive time away. Luckily for me, I have no interest in anything longer than a 3-week trip so it all works out. Auto bill pay is great regardless of traveling or not. Often happens that I'd have to quick make a payment for a credit card that comes due on the 15th of the month, let alone forget a payment right before a trip and then wind up paying charges. For an in-house person to whatever degree the person spends there - either live-in or stop-in - gotta really have someone that you trust. I have a hard time envisioning my cat getting used to a stranger coming in - since she always hides whenever someone visits or stops in even for a few hours! Computer controlling / monitors / cameras, etc. sounds great as well, but I just have no interest in stressing myself out with all that and probably STILL worrying about everything while away. Having been robbed many years ago and then, ever since that event, having put in an alarm system with internal motion sensors, another thing I'd be worried about is whether the person remembered to turn it back on every time they leave. Oh well, sacrificing an extensive level of travel in exchange for peace of mind is, for me, probably a good trade-off. If I do two or three 2-to-3-week-long trips a year, along with maybe some shorter trips sprinkled in there, I'm fine. I've come to realize there are a good many places on the "bucket list" that'll likely remain as such as opposed to actually happening. But, hey, go for it!!

Not being any sort of wine connoisseur, I've been fine with whatever red or white is offered. Not fussy. One time we had complimentary silver spirits package but I didn't even think to choose from it. Most of the wines are really too dry for me anyway, but I've gotten used to drinking dry or semi-dry wine on cruises so it's all good. Otherwise I never buy anything but sweeter wine at home. On our recent Mississippi cruise, one of the presentations was by the chef, explaining all about the food prep on board, etc. but it also included numbers on how much or how many of certain items were consumed. His one comment was, "you guys drink aLOT of wine.." 😁 Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Don't drink and drive.

Yeah I can handle that. Our most recent trip was 3 weeks. Don't think I'd like to go much longer.

I'll throw in a recommendation for Summit. Depends partly on what size ships you like from previous sailings. Summit was recently "revolutionized" not too many years ago, so is in great shape. Good food and service also. We enjoy cruising on her for Canada / NE trips out of Bayonne. If you're looking for what the larger ships typically offer - lots of restaurant choices, etc. - then you'd probably like one of the newer, larger ships. A friend of mine who cruises frequently with X loves the Beyond and the Edge.

Nope....sounds fantastic, but....couldn't do a trip anywhere near that long. But then, being from the UK, am I correct that it's not unusual to go on quite extended "Holiday" travel?

All I can say is, some of you folks that are doing these extended trips must either not have a significant property to manage, and also very possibly no pets or houseplants. I'd feel so bad putting my pet in a kennel for weeks on end. It even bothered me for our most recent 3-week trip. For the plants, thus far I've been able to get my niece or nephew to come over and water every 8-9 days, but I pay either of them quite well also. Then, there's the flowerbeds, pool maintenance (if traveling during the summer), and lawn mowing to attend to. If a winter trip, gotta have someone ready to plow snow. Till I'd take care of all those various needs, it's just so much easier and far less worry to simply plan 2+ weeks and then back home! If no plants, pets, yard and property to take of, smaller house or townhouse (basically close the door and go), etc., that's a different level of responsibility and less stress wondering what's happening back home while away. Often wonder, relative to all this, how people manage their affairs that go on world tours for 4-5 months.

We've only done it twice - on RCL - and really enjoyed it. As you say, sort of fun watching the sober faces of some of those leaving after the 1st week! Ours were only 1 week cruises, so have never done B2B2B, etc. As I've mentioned in a previous post, 2 weeks on any ship is plenty long enough for me.

Huh...sorry to hear this.

I'd say basically we do also. Although as we get older, convenience of where the cruise starts is an increasingly big factor. We're fortunate to have two ports that are within driving distance so a good part of our cruising has been out of those - RCL and X. I'll go along with that also. Something about it. Perhaps an innate fascination with water since we not only grew in amniotic fluid, but the body is also about 60% water. More specific to cruising, looking at the ocean activates opiate receptors in the brain, releasing dopamine. Probably why so many devices that use sound to help people sleep incorporate the sound of ocean waves or similar. Also good for masking tinnitus if the sound sweeps across a fairly full audio spectrum. All that said, there are obviously people who don't like being around (let alone on) the water at all. Interesting. We've only ever done one cruise with HAL - Alaska back in '06. I'd like to do their 2-week roundtrip Vancouver cruise sometime.

This whole tier system / gaining points towards the next level or increased benefits and so forth is another motivation that I guess I'd say falls under what I referred to as 'cruising moreso for the ship than the itinerary'. It is cruise line marketing mentality at its finest and most alluring. "Only 3 more 9-day cruises and I'm at the next level !!! Yippee!!!" So another interesting study is - how many cruises lines engage in this sort of thing? Viking, for one, doesn't. You don't attain any increased status regardless of how many or few cruises you do. There is no point system. No lapel pins handed out. That said, surely repeat cruisers are likely offered special deals or perks in one form or another. But there's no tier system like with RCL or X. Surely something to be said for attaining Pinnacle status on RCL I suppose, but the sheer number of cruises required to do it (especially if not booking suites) likely exceeds my tolerance levels. Big jump from D+ (which we are) up to P. But, if for instance that's one's primary motivation, then I can see where even doing the SAME itineraries over and over again just to attain a certain level would make sense. What we all gravitate to (or not) is surely a fascinating study, appropriate to not only travel but many different walks of life. Music / literature / art preference being not the least of them.

Most interesting. I'd read posts here that refer to people's "sweet spots" relative to how long they prefer their vacations to be. For those traveling here in the US who come from AUS or NZ, it's surely not unusual to spend several weeks traveling. Again, as I alluded to in my other post, distance from home factors in. Somehow can't see going from here in the states down to AUS for much less than 3 weeks. I'd surely not do well on a world cruise. By about a month in, I'd be ready to jump overboard.

Impressive enough for me! Any vacation - cruise or land - that gets close to or beyond 3 weeks is more than enough for me. Ready to go home by then. We just did Viking's Mississippi cruise - 3 weeks in all - and, while we enjoyed it (except for missing 8 out of 11 ports - long story), it started to FEEL long. I can't say that for just about any other trips. Probably due to so many "sea" days on the river without even being able to get off the ship. Each to his/her own! Something like B4B, etc. would be way too much for me. What also enters into it is, does one cruise primarily for the sake of cruising (like basically for whatever the ship offers) or is one more port oriented regardless of ship or line? Surely there are infinite gradations for either preference, but I've spoken to cruisers who definitely seem to orient towards one or the other. We did a Baltic cruise (about 2 weeks) that is about as 'port intensive' as you can get - only one sea day as I recall. The other extreme, comparatively, was the recent MS cruise. The latter surely far more relaxing (almost too much though - never read so much during a cruise. Between 2-3 weeks on any ship would likely be about my limit. As I get older, I'm starting to like shorter trips as well - even a week or less. Another factor is - are we talking closer domestic or international travel? If I'm going over to Europe or farther, I hate to spend the money for less than 2 weeks. For DIY car trips (still my favorite mode of travel), I can get alot closer to being away 3 weeks and it doesn't feel near as long as the equivalent time on the water.

That's most interesting. Given the sheer size of the ship, I can see where that could be the case. We'll have to try it sometime. I've recently heard a good quote..."the journey IS the destination". I sort of like that. Not that I'm opposed to trying different restaurants, but just convenient to eat in the MDR. On Viking, though, the cruise fare includes at least one visit (or more depending on room category) to their two special restaurants on their ocean ships, and we enjoy both of those.

5400 passengers? Can't quite imagine that. I guess we should probably try a big ship at least once, but not sure how much we'd really enjoy it. We don't really get involved in any of the social / game-type activities on cruises other than if there are guest lecturers onboard. Outside of that, theatre / ice shows, and shore excursions, we're content to be on our balcony reading or else walking the promenade deck. Not sure how much we'd take advantage of having lots of different restaurant options either, since we mostly eat in the MDR. Coming from Viking with only 930 passengers, Oasis class would be like culture-shock! Worth a try when one is in either Bayonne or Baltimore. Biggest ship we've ever done is the Adventure.

For sure...good point.

It seems the airlines have started limiting when you can actually enter the lounges. That was our experience with a recent Delta flight for long haul. Makes sense from the standpoint of controlling the number of people in the lounge. I think it had to be only 2 hours before the flight (?) Not sure anymore. Might have been less. Initially it was disappointing since we had hoped to hang out in there as soon as we got through security. Didn't work that way.

That’s most unfortunate, and seems odd given what 1985 said about the cafe being the main eating venue. You’d think that most pax would quickly discover the grill section.