Did I pick a bad week?

[HappyStamper]

My family and I will be cruising on the Explorer of the Seas November 28 to December 5. It will be our first cruise. I posted a roll call and have only gotten two responses. I am finding it hard to believe that no other Cruise Critic members will be cruising with us. If that truly is the case it leaves me wondering if there might be some reason that experienced cruisers would avoid that week. Is there something I should know?

[Scottee25]

I wonder if it has anything to do with being right after Thanksgiving? My wife and I are booked on the Serenade sailing on Jan 2 and I haven't even gotten a hit on my roll call let alone any replies. Also appears that there are still a great number of open cabins on our cruise. Regardless, I wouldn't look at it as being a bad week... it will be whatever you make of it:)

[goodml]

We almost always cruise in late November, early December. It's a fabulous time to cruise. Weather is usually great (minimal chance of hurricanes although we did sail thru a tropical storm on one cruise in late Nov) and you're still paying lower rates than at any time in the following 6 or 8 months. You're going to have a great time and you'll probably end up like us - wanting to go at that time every year. It's never a bad week when you're cruising:).

[CAT GIRL]

I think it may be because of the holidays. Some people may be saving

for Christmas and also people may have just got done traveling for Thanks-

giving and don't want to travel so soon. Me, I work in retail and I

have vacation black out dates from mid Nov through Jan 1st. I've never

had a nice Christmas due to my job. Believe me, if I could go that week

I would. Enjoy!

Cat Girl

[sayhello]

I'm sailing that same week on the AOS, and hardly anyone posts to our roll call, either. They've gotten enough folks signed up for the Meet & Mingle, but I'm wondering if people will actually come, since no one posts to the roll call...

 

Anyways, I'm looking forward to this cruise! As goodml says, we should mostly be out of the way of the bad weather (I looked at a statistical chart, and there was only one Hurricane that late in November since they'd started the statistics. ) Plus school is not out yet! And the rates are still cheap(er)! And after I stuff myself on Thursday night for Thanksgiving, I get Friday off to prepare! Etc, etc, etc! And I've heard some of the ships start their Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving. I've been to Disney World at this same time of year, and it's the best. No crowds and great weather.

 

Enjoy! :D I plan to.

 

sayhello

[debandbill]

We almost always pick this timeframe to take a cruise for a lot of reasons:

 

Cost...Its a cheaper time to cruise.

 

Logistics... airfares are reasonable between holidays.

 

Weather....usually wonderful and so much cooler than midsummer in the Carrib.

 

Anniversary...its ours so we just give each other a cruise for Anniversary and Christmas. Also, if we happen to cruise over Thanksgiving, I think about all the poor souls slaving in the kitchen and cleaning up dishes while I am on my balcony reading a book...after dinner, I just get up and go see a wonderful show...priceless! Here is a hint....cruises longer than 7 days during Thanksgiving tend not to be as expensive as the typical holiday sailings since most people don't have 10-12 days to take vacation between Tksgiving and Christmas.

 

You have picked a wonderful time to cruise...no worries about hurricanes..you will love the Explorer and will be hooked on cruising in early winter!

[wallie5446]

This is an outstanding time to cruise ! And for all the above mentioned reasons, if your work schedule will allow.

 

You must remember that there are only 100k members on Cruise Critic with 1500 to 2500 on line at any given time. Verses the huge number of people sailing every week, we are a very small % that read here. We started cruiseing in 1987 and did not find out about CC until last year.

[BabySam99]

My family and I will be cruising on the Explorer of the Seas November 28 to December 5. It will be our first cruise. I posted a roll call and have only gotten two responses. I am finding it hard to believe that no other Cruise Critic members will be cruising with us. If that truly is the case it leaves me wondering if there might be some reason that experienced cruisers would avoid that week. Is there something I should know?

Same here HappyStamper! I have met one other person cruising with me on Enchantment 11/27...I dont get it! Where is everyone :rolleyes:

 

Have a good trip!

[clan]

We are sailing Celebrity's Zenith on Nov. 7. We have had very few CC members posting, also. Last year we sailed the same ship, same month, and had tons of posters! So I guess it must just be the luck of the draw.

[raerae]

I am on the AOS with sayhello on Nov. 28th. It's true not many people on the roll calls this year. I am one of the people that struggle to keep the thread going. Last year we were on the Explorer that same week. We had a VERY active roll call with over 70 people signed up for the M&M and only 11 people showed up. It's what you make it. Don't worry about the M&M and just go and have a great time. The ship will be getting decorated through out the week and will be finished when your cruise ends.....it's fun waking up daily and seeing more decorations. Have a Blast!!! :D

 

 

Cindy ;)

[dougp26364]

We're on Explorer on the 14th. I've posted a couple of times on the roll call forum but there's not that much interest it seems. The cruise on the other hand has sold very well with few cabins left. So I've just assumed that while this date is not very popular on the CC roll call forum, it is reasonably popular with at least another few thousand people who will be sailing with us.

 

I have had the same problem with that last cruise we took, which was Alaska in July. Seems there were big CC groups the week before, the week after or on the other two ships but not on our sailing. We had a great time anyway and didn't have to worry about planning the CC party time into our schedules, which stay pretty busy on a cruise.

[HappyStamper]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I will just forget about the roll call and Meet & Mingle and look forward to meeting new friends onboard (and telling them about Cruise Critic). I hadn't even thought about Christmas decorations so that will be something else to look forward to!

Cat Girl- My daughter works retail but I guess her district manager really likes her because she was able to get that week off! I worked retail myself for many years and I really don't miss being too burned out to enjoy the holidays.

[Ms Jo UK]

Hi

My sister and myself are flying into Miami from the UK on 27th November and sailing EOS on 28th. I has just got back from Las Vegas so must have missed your post. I have signed up for meet and mingle found that post that a few months ago.

 

This is my second RCCL cruise (Vancouver/Hawaii oct 2001) I am getting excited and I am about to start planning our land days.

 

Happy cruising

 

Jo

[HappyStamper]

I do remember you as one of two people to reply to my roll call. It doesn't look like there will be a meet & mingle since only 13 have registered and I think 25 is the minimum required. We will have to arrange to meet on our own if you'd like. Do you mind telling me where you are staying Saturday night? We will be at the Holiday Inn- Port of Miami.

[wolfganghowell]

Don't worry, its a great week. People with families avoid it since they don't want to pull kids out of school that week and as mentioned, a lot of businesses control their vacation schedules at that time. We usually go early November but are trying this week too. This is our 3rd cruise after discovering Cruise Critic and there are only about 10 of us on the Roll Call - and really only about 4 of us post. Our other cruises were large groups and lots of posters, so I really think it's just a slower cruise week. But that's a good thing - less crowds, cheaper prices and excellent weather.

[MysticRhythmCruiser]

My family and I will be cruising on the Explorer of the Seas November 28 to December 5. It will be our first cruise. I posted a roll call and have only gotten two responses. I am finding it hard to believe that no other Cruise Critic members will be cruising with us. If that truly is the case it leaves me wondering if there might be some reason that experienced cruisers would avoid that week. Is there something I should know?

This is a great time to cruise. I've been on two cruises at this time of year and next year, will be cruising at this same time as well. The only thing I would say to you is make sure you get down there the day before the cruise. Weather can be iffy at this time of year. A large winter storm hit the East Coast last December right before our cruise. We were lucky enough to be able to rebook our plane tickets to San Juan, but not everyone was lucky; some had to wait until Tuesday to catch up!

 

Also, I recommend getting insurance to cover these situations.

 

Good luck, it's a great time to cruise and you'll have a blast.

 

Cheers,

Esther