7 day cruise with no pre or post plans

[CasaM]

We usually do an ocean or river cruise to Europe in the fall. We like to plan our own pre and post stays, our own flights, and sometimes even do a back to back, like an ocean cruise, 3-4 days in a city like Paris, and then a river cruise. After flying over to Europe, we find we like to maximize our stay to the extent we are able.

 

That being said, this year’s planning went a little bit different for us. We decided to make our fall cruise as easy as possible. DH didn’t want to be gone long, so we got our flights thru Viking (a first for us) which also includes the transfers, and we’re going for just the 7 day cruise (Portraits of Southern France).

 

Now that we’re a few months away, I am getting a little anxious that the 7 days will be just too exhausting, especially not having time to get over the jet lag and arriving the day the cruise embarks.

 

If you’ve done a 7 day this way, please tell me about your experiences, both good and bad, so I’m prepared.

 

Thanks to all!

[jpalbny]

We've done that and managed fine. While we prefer to have longer cruises, with a few days on one end or the other (or both), we are both still working so sometimes we can only get one week off. Both of our river cruises have worked out that way, but it's better than staying home!

 

The sequence goes like this: work a nearly full day Friday, rush out of work to home, grab our bags, rush to the airport Friday evening, overnight flight to Europe, arrive Saturday, have a day to do a little sightseeing (usually not much). Get a night's sleep, embark, run around like crazy people for 7 days on the cruise. Get off the boat Sunday AM, fly home, arrive Sunday evening, and go to work Monday. Most of Uniworld's 7-day cruises are Sunday-Sunday, which works well for us.

 

It is tiring, but we have learned to manage pretty well. If you can, fly something other than economy so you can sleep at least some of the flight to Europe. Those few hours of sleep make a big difference for us.

 

And even though it's a crazy rush to work Friday and leave that evening, having the whole day Saturday to arrive in the embarkation city and relax is very helpful. After the red-eye flight, we force ourselves to stay awake all day Saturday, have a nice early dinner, and then a normal bedtime (Europe time). We always get a great night's sleep that way, and we wake up on Sunday ready to go! Just one extra day makes a big difference.

[caviargal]

We've done that and managed fine. While we prefer to have longer cruises, with a few days on one end or the other (or both), we are both still working so sometimes we can only get one week off. Both of our river cruises have worked out that way, but it's better than staying home!

 

The sequence goes like this: work a nearly full day Friday, rush out of work to home, grab our bags, rush to the airport Friday evening, overnight flight to Europe, arrive Saturday, have a day to do a little sightseeing (usually not much). Get a night's sleep, embark, run around like crazy people for 7 days on the cruise. Get off the boat Sunday AM, fly home, arrive Sunday evening, and go to work Monday. Most of Uniworld's 7-day cruises are Sunday-Sunday, which works well for us.

wake up on Sunday ready to go! Just one extra day makes a big difference.

 

We have done this several times, most recently earlier this month. We also both work and, with our passion for travel, we take every opportunity to do so as often as possible, even when it means back and forth to Europe with only a week in total.

 

For our recent Uniworld cruise, we flew out at 8pm on July 3rd, overnighted the next day in Lyon, then trained to Avignon to board. It was a Sunday to Sunday and we were home by 6pm on Sunday and back to work bright and early on Monday morning.

 

We have noticed that a very early flight on the return home reduces jet lag for us. We were up at 3:30 and at the airport before 5am for our return flight.

 

Europe is our favorite destination and we will do what it takes to visit as often as we are able.

Edited July 19, 2015 by caviargal

[DrivesLikeMario]

...The sequence goes like this: work a nearly full day Friday, rush out of work to home, grab our bags, rush to the airport Friday evening, overnight flight to Europe, arrive Saturday, have a day to do a little sightseeing (usually not much). Get a night's sleep, embark, run around like crazy people for 7 days on the cruise. Get off the boat Sunday AM, fly home, arrive Sunday evening, and go to work Monday. Most of Uniworld's 7-day cruises are Sunday-Sunday, which works well for us...

 

Boy, does that sound familiar! I hate to do it that way, but DH's vacation time off demands it or we don't go. It's do-able OP. You'll be okay, just take advantage of airplane time and bus time to catch up on sleep if needed.

 

What works best for me with jet lag is to set my watch to whatever time I'm in and go with it. I never think about what time it is at home because that makes me tired. The first day, stay up until a somewhat normal bedtime. Just mentally get on their time and your body will get there too.

[Casey12]

If it is me traveling or not traveling ---- I am willing to take a 7 night cruise in Europe. You won't regret it. It may not be ideal but you will fondly remember the vacation.

[jklc123]

I totally agree with what has been posted so far. We like to reach cruise ports a day ahead not only to start dealing with jet lag but also in case there are flight delays. However, for our last trip we landed the morning of embarkation day and everything was fine. We did take two extra days in Paris at the end, though. We have more trouble dealing with jet lag when we arrive home than at the start of the trip, probably because we're so excited to be in Europe!

[rjscott]

Casa M,

Which itinerary are you doing on the Portraits of Southern France? We did the Avignon to Chalon last year without a pre or post stay. We had a very nice walking tour of Avignon shortly after we arrived which helped immensely with fighting off the jet lag. We enjoyed this cruise very much.

 

Becki

[CasaM]

Thank you all for your encouraging words.

 

Becki, we are doing the same....Avignon to Chalon...on Viking flying out of Newark. We haven't received our flight info yet. Did you do any of the optional tours, and if so, which ones and were they worth doing?

[rjscott]

Yes, we did do a couple of optional excursions. We did the Les Baux, which we enjoyed very much. We also did a market excursion with the chef to Les Halles in Lyon, which was only 10 euros pp. That was fun. My husband did the Chateauneuf du Pape excursion, which he did enjoy, but said it was more of a lesson in wine tasting than a tour of the vineyard, but he liked it for the once-in-a lifetime experience. I stayed onboard and there was a very nice afternoon tea with the most scrumptious macarons (!) that day.

I did a live posting of our cruise. Here is the link if you are interested:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2017837

 

Becki

[CasaM]

Becki, I loved reading your trip notes...what a nice whetting of the appetite! I can't wait. Thank you.

[rjscott]

You are most welcome. Thank you for the compliment!

 

Becki