Jet lag question

[manlie]

I have read all the ways to hopefully combat jet lag but for the first few days when did you find yourself at your best? We wanted to book a few tours before sailing and am unsure if I should book morning tours or if you found you were more of a night owl? 
I am a Canadian currently on Central Time (7 hours behind Rome)

[TayanaLorna]

We have not done much on arrival day other then eating and staying up until 8 or 9 pm in new time zone and getting a good night's sleep.  Next day we would be ready to go early.  Arrived in Iceland at 6:30 am, Viking transfer to conference center for breakfast then to ship at 11 am.  Just enjoyed ship.  Arrived in Barcelona at 3 pm, Viking transfer to hotel, out to early dinner then early bed.  Had all day private tour next day.

[princeton123211]

11 hours ago, manlie said:

when did you find yourself at your best? We wanted to book a few tours before sailing and am unsure if I should book morning tours or if you found you were more of a night owl? 
I am a Canadian currently on Central Time (7 hours behind Rome)

This really is dependent on your personal stamina and sleep requirements. I don't sleep very much on overnight flights to Europe so generally I arrive, get to the hotel to drop stuff, try and go out for a walk/breakfast/coffee etc. By early afternoon I like to have a 1-2 hour nap (I'll set numerous alarms and also a wake up call from the hotel) and then wake up by 3-4 in the afternoon, take a shower, and am good to go for the night and will take up at a normal hour the next morning. 

 

My wife on the other hand will be down for the count if she goes for a nap so she just stays up the entire day and tries to make it til 9pm. 

[mapleleaves]

You're probably not getting many responses due to the fact that dealing with jet lag is such an individual thing. 

Based on past experience, a morning tour would be better for me; if jet lag is going to catch up with me, I will start to fade late afternoon.  But I wouldn't schedule a tour before 9am.  At home you can throw yourself together in 20-30 minutes but now you'll need more time because you're living out of a suitcase.... you need to remember what you've packed, where it is, find your adapter, find a restaurant for bfast and all that entails. 

As to adapting to the time change, I find that it depends on what time I arrive at my destination. 2 weeks ago I landed in Pisa at 7pm .... went to a bar, had a stiff drink and a couple of appetizers and was in bed at 9.  I felt rested for the rest of the trip!  But when I arrive before 12 noon, I find that I'm dragging by dinner time and have to force myself to stay awake until 9. It's more of a struggle.

[mar214]

From experience, this is the formula we use when flying overnight to Europe: as soon as we board the plane, we set our watches for local time at our destination. When you see it is 2 am where you are going, that movie on your flight doesn't seem so appealing. You are better off trying to get as much sleep as you can on the plane. When we arrive, we DO NOT NAP!!!! Yes, we our brains are foggy, but if you plan for a "quick" nap, you will fall into a deep sleep, turn off your alarm and waste your first day. We plan at least one activity since there is so much to do and your time might be limited. A visit to one museum or some major tourist site will wake you up and you will be glad you did something productive on your first day. Even just walking around and people watching is so much fun in Europe! Plan for an early dinner and an early bedtime and you will be good to go for the next day. You will probably wake up early the next day, so it's ok to make morning plans. It's always a thrill to be in Europe - have a great time!

[cruisemom42]

I agree people react to jet lag in very different ways.

 

I usually manage to get a little sleep on the plane, enough to keep me going through the first day. Getting outside in the sun is helpful to help your body adjust to the new time. It's better to do something that involves walking around outside than a museum on that first day, IMO.

 

Traveling to Europe, I can't say that I have a problem with waking up mid-night or too early. Maybe because I am more of a night-owl, I find it sometimes harder to "get going" in the morning -- if it is 8am in Rome, my body/brain still feels like 2am back home, e.g., I should be in bed. A couple of espressos help. 😄

 

When booking things, I'd just try to give yourselves a little wiggle room. Nothing too terribly early (unless it's a special pre-opening tour or something) and nothing too late; give yourselves a break in between tours during the day to sit, have some food and drink and just soak up the atmosphere so you don't feel overscheduled.

[euro cruiser]

The best advice I got was to stay outdoors and moving as much as possible on arrival day.  It made a big difference for me when I followed this suggestion.  

 

I've also noticed that I do better with time recovery when I travel with a small group vs. by myself.  We start in with the wine at lunch and the laughter isn't far behind, that generates its own kind of energy.  However, when I travel alone I just try to keep moving, outdoors.

[lisiamc]

I’m an outlier. I know a lot of people make the effort to stay up and go to bed at the normal time for the new time zone. But when I fly west to east, as in from the USA to Europe, I will have a shower and go to bed as soon as I can get to a shower and a bed. I will normally sleep for three or four hours and wake up ready for the rest of the day, and seem to be in the right time zone from then on.

[RTR 21-0]

On 5/22/2023 at 10:22 PM, manlie said:

I have read all the ways to hopefully combat jet lag but for the first few days when did you find yourself at your best? We wanted to book a few tours before sailing and am unsure if I should book morning tours or if you found you were more of a night owl? 
I am a Canadian currently on Central Time (7 hours behind Rome)

Recently took our 1st International trip and was concerned about jet lag. Booked ann overnight flight and after our dinner we started to watch a movie and I noticed we only had 5 hours before landing. My light bulb went off and I realized the movie could wait.  Took a melatonin and settled in for a couple of hours sleep.  Once we landed at 9:30, we checked into hotel, had a cappuccino and croissant, freshened up a little and walked around until we met our tour guide for the Colosseum at 2:00.   I hoped being out in the sun the first day would help and it surely did.  We went to bed around 9:00 and felt pretty good the next morning for our Vatican tour.  We really didn’t experience any great amount of jet lag fatigue until we returned home.  Took a full week to feel like we were getting fully rested even after sleeping 7, 8 hours each night.  

[doones2]

We also found that the jet lag was experienced when we arrived home.  Took me almost a week to feel human again

[Lena400]

I book a hotel for the night before I arrive so I can land, go straight to sleep for 3-4 hrs and then finish the day. It's expensive but some hotels offer a day rate too, usually in low season.