Now what do I do???????????

[Hflors]

I've booked my cruise! Yea my first Celebrity cruise! Great price, I am proud of myself. (of course I will still keep an eye out for price reductions) I've booked our airline tickets. (paid a little too much but DH wants to fly non stop, cause he doesn't like to fly) and got a great hotel at a great price in San Juan for two nights before our cruise! Here's the problem. I feel a little let down now. Celebritiy's shore excursion is down so I can't look at that and plan anything. I will be looking for travel insurance! But here I sit with 5 months to go before my cruise and other then twittling my thumbs and checking CC nothing cruise related needs to be researched! I know I know I need to stop whinning about poor me spending 13 wonderful days in the southern carabbean and just sit back and wait.

 

Guess I'll go work on my packing list or do some research on the islands I'm going to visit! Anyone with any other ideas on how to spend the next five months?

[cusyl]

The only way I survive between cruises is checking Cruise Critic several times every day for new posts. :D

[cinnamon]

Check to see if there is a Roll Call up and running for your departure and start getting to know your fellow cruisers. We have 43 registered for our cruise on 3rd November and started 'chatting' last summer. 2005 that was.

 

Cinnamon

[espmass]

I spend the time checking cruise critic as it keeps me excited. Do remember when reading the posts though that you are reading peoples' opinions and everyone has their own expectations. I also research the islands I'll be going to and the ship I'll be on. I like to be familiar with everything before I go. You can also spend some time thinking about what clothes you'll be taking and watching the stores for things you might be needing. You didn't say which hotel you'rte staying at in San Juan or which cruise you're going on but I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. I always enjoy Celebrity cruises.

[halos]

5 months is NOTHING!!

I booked this upcoming Infinity cruise 16 months in advance.

 

Talk about TORTURE!!!!!!! :eek:

 

In all reality, it flew by. My only hope is that my 14 days on ths ship doesn't!!:D

[soooo excited!]

Hflors, I know exactly how you feel. We booked our cruise the day the prices were posted for Alaska, July 2007 !!! and, it's our first cruise !! and I've bought all my clothes - I didn't have any 'acceptable for cruising' !!! - and the luggage - and got my passport - the pre-cruise hotel - just have to do flights and excursions. How I will ever get through this long wait is beyond me. Thanks to cc for giving me lots to read - and I've now got a couple of email buddies from this site too who are experienced cruisers and have been to Alaska - they are helping me pass the time emailing me photos and helpful tips and encouraging me to hang in there - the wait will be over before I know it - or so I'm told !!!!!!!!

[Muushka]

I feel your pain. Last cruise (on DCL) we booked 20 months out :mad: .

 

This cruise we booked at 2 months out:) .

 

I like the shorter wait much more:D .

 

This is a new cruiseline for us. So it has been fun learning about X and the ship we will be sailing on. We are looking forward to a nice relaxing cruise, and some great dining. But in the meantime, we are like sponges absorbing all the great information out there.

 

What did we do before the internet????:confused:

[halos]

I feel your pain.

 

What did we do before the internet????:confused:

 

I don't know about you, but I had a countdown on the calendar...how absolutely archaic is that?? :p Every night, I'd go and cross off another day.

It was simply barbaric!! :D Just plain torture.

[rebeccalouise]

Start buying your cruise wardrobe! That's always fun. I especially like picking out things that are wrinkle proof and that I can mix and match. I also love buying polo shirts, khakis and new shoes for my little boy. I buy them ahead of time and let him wear them to school- kills two birds with on dollar. Have fun thinking, planning and dreaming. It is always fun to have a trip to look forward to. For me- makes life worth living.:p

[EGG]

I would go to the Ports of Call boards. Check out the excursions there, and also the private tours. You'll find out which of the ports it is easier to do on your own. You also have 2 days to plan in Puerto Rico.

 

Have Fun.

[cruisindonna]

I know people book their cruises a year in advance but that's to long for me to wait for something great. We booked a cruise to Bermuda on the Zenith 4 days before it sailed. That was fun, especially since it was August and we knew there were no hurricanes threatening. Anyway why don't you drop everything and drive to Bayonne NJ and sail away to the Western Caribbean on October 27 with about 70 other Cruise Critic cruising junkies. Check out the prices on line -- less than $100 a day for 10 days!!! Can't even get a hotel room for that, let alone food and transportation. No more waiting, just get packing. Seriously, I feel your pain, it's like a kid waiting for Christmas.

Donna

[tom_uk]

Anyone with any other ideas on how to spend the next five months?

 

a) start waiting;

b) start obsessing over the tiniest details about the ship;

c) wait some more;

d) start worrying whenever anyone posts a criticism of the ship;

e) wait even more;

f) post ever-less-relevant comments to your Connections thread - it's something to pass the time (and hey! no-one else's posts are any *more* relevant....);

g) yes, you've guessed it - do some more waiting;

h) plan, replan & re-replan all possible shore excursions;

i) keep on waiting; until finally

j) departure day suddenly looms up very quickly, and you can complain that you haven't left enough time to pack!

[cabo de hornos]

I've noticed that when you book a cruise, and then try to go online at X's home page, and then direct to the ShoreX page from the tab at the top, it will from timie to time say that the Xcursions site is "undergoing maintenance" or something to that effect.

 

If you have your booking number and open an account at My Celebrity, you can pull up your itinerary and you should see a link for "Products". That will take you to a page with several tabs on top, one of which is Shore Excursions. That will let you select the type, duration, etc. to search for the Xcursions offered on your cruise. This is often working well while the main link is "under maintenance".

 

I've purposely left out all the deails so that it will take you 5 months to figure all of this out!!

 

Seriously, though, have a great cruise. We're heading to the Millie in three weeks, so beleive me, it gets a lot worse from where you sit now.

 

Cabo

[keela1eva2]

If I were you I would not wait to buy the holiday insurance I would have it as soon as I booked anything. If you need to cancel for any reason in the run up to the cruise you could end up losing a lot of money.

 

I buy an annual policy as I holiday several times a year and the worldwide policy I buy covers me for anywhere in the world. This year it has covered a holiday in Ireland 2 Celebrity cruises and I have just booked another and like you I will have 5 months to wait. This is way too long for me so will be looking for something inbetween.

 

Also do a bit of retail therapy I came home 10 days ago and have booked a holiday bought 1 dress and 1 top plus some jewellery!

Us girls need something to keep us going! Keep posting on your CC site'

 

Sue