post-cruise depression?

[tammyp5]

Does anyone else suffer from post-cruise depression?

For months, I researched, planned, prepared and looked forward to our cruise.

We’ve been home less than a week and I’m in a blue funk. The tan has worn off, the pounds are slowly leaving, and the urge for a daily program has finally left, but I find myself at a loss for something to look forward to. Due to my husband opening a new business, I know we won’t be planning a cruise again until early next year.

What do you do to overcome this depression?

:confused:

[doone]

I feel your pain, but the only way to get over this depression is to book another cruise.

[booboo29]

Hi Tammy,

 

Sounds like a very real problem to me. I think you need a new big event to look forward to, like a birthday, or family wedding, or something like that. Maybe you and DH can take an inexpensive weekend trip or something like that. It could be just the ticket until you can book your next big cruise.

 

Good luck!

 

Jennifer

[localady]

You are so right Doone....!!!

The only cure is to start researching your next wonderful adventure.....I enjoy surfing cruises in exotic places, and sometimes I find a deal I can't refuse like the Noordam 16 day Transatlantic.....Now I have research to do for Rome, Florence, Monaco, Barcelona, Valencia, Cadiz, as well 2 ports in the Azores and Bermuda!!!! The 2007 itineraries are coming out now, allowing you to fully prepare for your next adventure.:D

It's the start of a fabulous addiction ...........;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

And while you are reasearching everything for your next cruise, come to the boards to help that depression.

[tcpdjp]

I know what you are saying! After the excitement of returning to work with stories of adventures, great food, etc. I find myself thinking, gee a week ago I was doing this or that. This happens with cruise or land vacations in Mexico and the Caribbean. DH doesn't seem to experience it as much as I do, but then I do all the planning and he just shows up :) I agree that maybe a short trip before your next cruise or a family get together -- something to look forward to would help. I pretty much start planning the next cruise soon after returning and we take at least one a year with weekend getaways in between. I have noticed that since we moved to the South (first North Carolina and now Florida), the post cruise depression is not as bad as when we lived in Minnesota and had to return to winter from the cruises. The weather aspect isn't as important now, i.e. getting away from those awful MN winters was paramount -- talk about depressing! Good luck and start looking forward to your next event.

Sailing on the Celebration in 47 days :cool:

8 previous cruises on HAL, NCL, RCCL, Carnival

[SDHALFAN]

I'm a veteran cruiser - especially aboard HAL ships - and my experience has been that you need to surround yourself with glossy cruise line brochures and start planning the next cruise. It doesn't matter that the cruise may not be until early next year. The next best thing to cruising is planning another one.

 

Just think how much thought you put into this last cruise and how much fun you had doing so. It's time to start again. The world is your oyster so don't look back, look ahead to the next great adventure.

 

I have been home exactly one week and 5 hours and that stinking ms Amsterdam is bound for the South Pacific without me on board. I'm thinking of getting even with her and taking the Fort Lauderdale to Hong Kong segment of the 2007 Grand (or World) Voyage. It will wipe out my bank account and I will no doubt come home to a mountain of credit card bills but I'm having fun thinking about how much fun I'll have on board one of my two favorite HAL ships.

 

Cheer up - your next ship is coming over the horizon, and probably sooner than you think.

 

Valerie;)

[debjo]

For tammp5...

I don't have a CURE...but I do have some ideas that have helped me over the past few years. After writing my Cruise Journal for our April '05 cruise, I added the ADDENDUM below. I posted this to another board then...maybe something here can help alleviate your PCD symptoms and tide you over until your next sailing!

 

ENJOY!

Debjo

 

HOW TO COPE WITH THE AFTERMATH OF A CRUISE

(aka Combating PCD “Post Cruise Depression”)

 

My TOP TEN LIST…not in any particular PCD prevention order:

 

 

1. MAIL YOURSELF A POST CARD FROM THE SHIP OR A “PORT-OF-CALL” telling yourself what great fun you are having on your cruise. Depending on the length of your cruise, your post card may not arrive until well after your return home when it will be a gentle reminder of your “good times” at sea! Who knows, the postal greeting may be awaiting you when you return home…what better welcome could you get than some “happy cruise mail”!

 

2. LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE…If you haven’t booked another cruise while you were on your cruise…begin researching immediately and get something booked. It is better to have the “cruise carrot” dangling before you, by having an actual cruise date planned, than to wander aimlessly through your days wondering when your next cruise will be.

 

3. REMEMBER THE PAST…If you are a member of Cruise Critics (of course you are…otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this), then either write a review of your cruise or answer questions presented by other members that pertain to the cruise you’ve just completed. In other words…share what you have learned…keep the experience alive!

 

4. ENJOY THE SWAY…As long as you can still feel the “ship” moving (even though you are now on land), you’ve gotten your “sea legs” and your body is still thinking it’s on a cruise. BE FOREWARNED…you’ll eventually get your “landlubber legs” back.

 

5. GET SOME “SEA” SOUNDS…If you’ve been fortunate enough to sail in a cabin with a balcony, you have no doubt, enjoyed the calming and relaxing sounds of the ocean waters as your ship cut through the waves. Go out and buy one of those “nature” tapes or CD’s that features “water” songs. I’ve always gotten my most restful night’s sleep on a ship with the balcony door open and listening to the surf. With the “water” CD, I can recreate that “music” as I drift off into a sea of sleep.

 

6. A PICTURE’S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS…Hopefully you’ve taken lots of pictures of the ship and your cruise experience. Get those pictures developed A.S.A.P and put your scrapbook, photo album, or website together to share with yourself and others. Put a favorite picture in a special frame and put it in a place where you’ll see it often. (We bought a brass porthole mirror that actually opens and closes. We enlarged a favorite seascape picture that we took from the deck of the ship and placed it in the porthole, so that when we open the mirror, we see the seascape…it looks like we are looking out a ship’s cabin window!)

 

7. PUT OFF THE UNPACKING…It is one of the last things you do before you go on a cruise, so it should be one of the last things you do when you get home. If your suitcase is all packed you can literally go on a last minute cruise! Hey…you never know!

 

8. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE “SHIP” MEAL? If it is something that you don’t normally have for dinner at home…why not make it? Or, if you are challenged like I am in the kitchen…find a restaurant that serves it and treat yourself to that special meal once in a while “on land”. (For me, it is Eggs Benedict in the morning, Beef Wellington, Beef Stroganoff, or Chateau Briande for dinner, and Chocolate Mousse or Crème Brulee for dessert. Last but not least are the Cold Fruit Soups you get on a ship as appetizers...hard to find in a cook book…even harder to find in a restaurant!)

 

9. LEARN TO MAKE TOWEL ANIMALS and treat yourself to a terrycloth creation now and again.

 

10. GOODNIGHT CHOCOLATES…buy a box of Andes Mints and put them on your pillow occasionally.

 

 

 

And for a “bonus” remedy:

 

11. “LOVE BOAT” RERUNS…or any “ship” movie can help ease your life on land. You can even find some books to read that are “set on the high seas”. Here’s a couple movie titles to get you started: “Out to Sea”, “Speed 2”, and of course, “Titanic”. As far as books go, I’ve only read one so far…”Murder She Wrote-Murder on the QE2”. I actually bought this one in the gift shop when we sailed on the QE2!

 

 

There are MANY, MANY more remedies to Post Cruise Depression…the above list is just the “tip of the iceberg”…something to get you started on the road to recovery!

[tammyp5]

Debjo - thanks for the great tips. Gotta get back on the horse, don't I?

 

Our room steward left us a cute elephant one night and when it was time to go to bed, my husband tried to move it to the couch. It just fell apart and we spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to do it. We had to give up after a while. I wonder if they do a demonstration on board?

 

If this works, here's a photo of it.

http://www.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=35461069/PictureID=1024996064/a=41961125_41961125/t_=41961125

 

You know, I looked and looked for books on cruising last summer when I was planning the trip. I never found one as comprehensive or as satisfying as this board. Isn't it wonderful to have access to everyone's knowledge and experience? What a gift.

[debjo]

tammyp5...

Get right back on that "horse" and you'll be just fine! (Warning...cruising is as addictive as horses!)

 

There really aren't any books out there that are as helpful and comprehensive as these Cruise Critic Boards. The "best" book that I found was "THE ESSENTIAL LITTLE CRUISE BOOK" by Jim West at our local Barnes & Nobel bookstore. Jim West is a Cruise Director. The "little" book is a compilation of all sorts of cruising "tips" he has gleened from 850 cruises that he was on and is sorted in list form according to topic. The copy I found is a third edition and was just $7.95. I plan on giving a copy to all of the "first-timer" cruiser friends/family, that accompany us on our future cruises, in their little "Bon Voyage" bag of goodies.

 

Attached is one of my favorite "towel animal" pictures from an NCL Majesty cruise we took in 2004 in honor of my M-I-L's 80th birthday. Being an animal lover, and away from my four-legged family for a week, I really adore the towel creations the cabin stewards make. On this particular cruise, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get a towel animal the first night out. When I asked our cabin steward about it, he said they didn't do that on the MAJESTY. Much to my surprise, when he left mid-cruise for his vacation, he shared my "disappointment" with his replacement. That evening, after a difficult day, when I opened our cabin door there was a cute little elephant on our bed to greet us. I teared up with joy! The next evening was this little dog with my black stuffed horse. (My husband bought me this little black "friend" after I had to send my black Tennessee Walker to Heaven's pastures.) Note: The sunglasses on the towel dog were the cabin steward's!)

 

Debjo