Information overload vs blissful ignorance

[kitty allen]

First time cruise for both of us. It's my life long dream. It never even crossed his mind before. I'm reading everything and giving him all sorts of tid bits that are only serving to make him nervous. He is reading nothing and can't even remember what day we leave.

Me: you need to bring a power strip because they only have one plug per cabin.

Him: what do we need to plug in?

Me: just the electronics and the night light. Not much else because neither of us uses a hairdryer and you're not allowed to iron in the room.

Him: you have to do it in the hall?!

[CathyCruises]

LOL! I can just picture that! But there are two US plugs plus a European plug. We manage fine if we have two people, it was a little tough with four of us.

[royalcruz]

We've never needed a night light...we just leave a light on in the bathroom and leave the door open just a crack. We never needed a power strip....what is there works fine for my hair appliances and for cell phone chargers. We don't bring ipods or pads or laptops.

[Oville]

Get one of those Plugs that you plug in and it has 3 outlets on it. Light weight, small and no fights over charging iPads, kindles, cameras.....

[CathyCruises]

Also on S Class, the bathrooms have great night lights--you never have to worry. M class is different story. We sleep with the curtains open so we get some ambient light in the cabin.

[Essiesmom]

I see you are on a Solstice class ship (Can your husband even name the ship?). This is what you will have for outlets:

And this is what it looks like when I add my extender plug:

[babylnor]

First time cruise for both of us. It's my life long dream. It never even crossed his mind before. I'm reading everything and giving him all sorts of tid bits that are only serving to make him nervous. He is reading nothing and can't even remember what day we leave.

Me: you need to bring a power strip because they only have one plug per cabin.

Him: what do we need to plug in?

Me: just the electronics and the night light. Not much else because neither of us uses a hairdryer and you're not allowed to iron in the room.

Him: you have to do it in the hall?!

HeeHee...:D I can completely understand where you are at. I'm travelling on the Millie in, YIKES--2 days with my brother. Yesterday, he was "What day are we leaving?" and I"ve been reading, posting questions, and finding all the information I can about the cruise, the line, the ports, and the cc members we might bump into for months :)

Deb

[NYCruiseNoob]

I can relate. My wife and I are on the Millennium 12/3 sailing. Our first cruise. I've been spending a lot of time here reading up, asking questions...she knows we're going, and that's about it.

 

There have been times that I wished I wasn't learning so much...it might be fun to just show up and take it all as it comes...

[Lsimon]

There is definitely a lot of over-discussion and nit-picking on these boards and I'm sometimes a good part of it! The bottom line is that cruising is great and unless one is extremely picky or tends to be very critical you'll have a fantastic time on your cruise no matter what junk you pack or don't pack and what you prepare for or not.

 

The real issue here is that so many of us have become so hooked to cruising that we really obsess about it and become obsessed over the little details. You may very well find that you love your cruise so much that you catch that bug.

 

Of course catching the bug is a double edge sword - cruise enough and you may find yourself standing in the middle of wonderfully magnificent stateroom and pouting because there aren't as many drawers as there were on your last cruise or some other silly such nonsense. I've caught myself doing that and had to laugh at myself. The fact is that on every cruise we've taken I find thinks I like more, and other things I like less, in comparison to prior cruises. Likewise we've gone through swings in taking more, or taking, less, knickknacks such as power strips as they are nice when you need them but a hassle to pack, store and repack and we find we can get by without a good deal of the stuff we used to bring although we've developed our own list of knickknacks we continue to bring along.

 

Your cruise is what you make of it and the opportunity and environment is there to have the time of your life. I hope you find cruising as enjoyable as most of us have.

[kitty allen]

Thanks for the electrical info. Hubby is actually an archaeologist who spends good chunk of his time travelling hither and yon. Mostly roughing it and certainly never on a "luxury" vacation. He has buckets of specialty travel plugs and travel savvy, but my constant peppering him with "tips" I've picked up is making him feel like he didn't study for the exam. He's afraid there's going to be an extra charge for anything he touches. But really, my post was about the image of him trying to iron in the hall. (or a row of people ironing in the hall). He's also wary of the "formal" nights. Poor dear, he's filled with dread. Spending months in the middle-eastern desert with a pit toilet is the norm. The secret code of cruising is SCARY!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

There is definitely a lot of over-discussion and nit-picking on these boards and I'm sometimes a good part of it! The bottom line is that cruising is great and unless one is extremely picky or tends to be very critical you'll have a fantastic time on your cruise no matter what junk you pack or don't pack and what you prepare for or not.

 

The real issue here is that so many of us have become so hooked to cruising that we really obsess about it and become obsessed over the little details. You may very well find that you love your cruise so much that you catch that bug.

 

Of course catching the bug is a double edge sword - cruise enough and you may find yourself standing in the middle of wonderfully magnificent stateroom and pouting because there aren't as many drawers as there were on your last cruise or some other silly such nonsense. I've caught myself doing that and had to laugh at myself. The fact is that on every cruise we've taken I find thinks I like more, and other things I like less, in comparison to prior cruises. Likewise we've gone through swings in taking more, or taking, less, knickknacks such as power strips as they are nice when you need them but a hassle to pack, store and repack and we find we can get by without a good deal of the stuff we used to bring although we've developed our own list of knickknacks we continue to bring along.

 

Your cruise is what you make of it and the opportunity and environment is there to have the time of your life. I hope you find cruising as enjoyable as most of us have.

 

Good response, Larry! Of course I'm cruising on my favorite M class this time and will have actual drawers. :D But we made a workaround on the S class.

 

So when I'm tempted to get grumpy about some little nitpicky thing, I'll remember to stand in the middle of my beautiful cabin on the beautiful ship and laugh and realize how lucky I am to be there!

[LouisV]

I can relate. My wife and I are on the Millennium 12/3 sailing. Our first cruise. I've been spending a lot of time here reading up, asking questions...she knows we're going, and that's about it.

 

There have been times that I wished I wasn't learning so much...it might be fun to just show up and take it all as it comes...

 

ok, I have to admit that I'm a planner and I plan everything to death. I guess my job rubs off on me and my DH leaves all the planning to me now.....our first cruise was different. It was on the Ocean Princess and a long time ago. I knew nothing about Cruise Critic at the time and spent very little time on the internet back then. All I used was a cruising guidebook for research and reading. The only thing we preplanned was early dining. We even booked our excursions on the ship. It was a lot of fun just showing up and taking it all in as it came....No expectations and no disappointments what so ever!

[lel5344]

And DW leaves all the details to me (although she does her own packing).

 

To us, the key to a wonderful cruise is to be reasonable in your expectations. Read the comments on Cruise Critic and remember that the most vocal critics are usually the ones with a small ax to grind (but it ends up being a monster-sized chain saw).

 

Cruiising is wonderful, addicitive.... Go with the idea that it is your vacation and you're going to have a spectacular time. Don't let a boor or two (they are always out there) spoil your trip. Don't sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff).

 

Read the info from the cruise line. Most of your answers will be there. And, chances are, whatever is not in the cruise line info isn't terribly important.

 

In addition, as you continue on Cruise Critic, you will find that many contributors provide consistently accurate, unbiased information. Find some of their postings and you'll get some great heads-up tips.

[Bridge Maven]

I agree with the poster who tends to ignore posts from people who only criticize Celebrity, but feel the same way about posts from people who never criticize Celebrity, as well, for a variety of reasons.

[Ocean Dancer]

We love cruising so much that we actually keep a carry on packed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just fill up the mouthwash, add new razor blades, hair spray etc.

 

There was NO internet way back when!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just read your daily paper they place on your bed after dinner, It's your cruise, enjoy:)

[BrusselsGirl07]

When we tooked our first cruise (and it was also a dream vacation for me to go on a cruise!!) I did not even know there were so many cruise lines and so many different kinds of cruising. I did not even know about Cruise Critic. I just picked Celebrity Galaxy beacuse I liked the look of the itinerary, and figured all the ships would be same - how lucky was I to have fluked choosing Celebrity! We loved the cruise and it was probably all the more enjoyable, as we got on board not knowing anything about cruising and not having read any boards or roll calls. So everything that happened was a wonderful surprise. We both became very addicted!

[hcat]

I am the info obsessed one in the family--I print out stuff, read, love cruise critic & all it has to offer ( in fact , we just saved $200 tonight when someone on our roll call posted about a Sr discount)

 

DH only wants to know the name of the ship, dates & itin & how many formal nights...and when he needs to book a limo, flights & pre-cruise hotel...other than he does not care but relies on me to have the info we need...works out well in the end!

 

so OP--don't feel bad when you ask questions or that your mate may not be as curious...keep the info yo have gathered in your folder so he is not overwhelmed....

Enjoy Your Cruise!!!

[Cruising Bill]

I went on my first "real" cruise (e.g. not the Carnival weekend cruise, which I had done a couple of times) on the Galaxy in 2004. I did not know you could even choose a stateroom, much less any other things to worry about--but my Partner and I had a fantastic time. Only when a couple of cruises later, I think in 2007, did I discover Cruise Critic and the wealth of information it provides. Now, I am an aft balcony snob (on M class) and an AQ snob (on S class), and have definite opinions on the location of nightclubs, staterooms and dining facilities--and don't even get me started on chair hogs. At the same time, on each cruise we go on now, I am brought back to that fantastic time we had on the Galaxy and each subsequent Celebrity cruise. Rule Number 1: don't complain. Instead, laugh and have a great time! As the OP said--Enjoy Your Cruise!

[njaloha]

I sent my DH an email with a link to Cruise Critic webpage for the Silhouette deck plans and said, "memorize these". He's the same guy who told me to stop telling him about the shore excursions because they were confusing him and said, "just get us to a beach."