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First time Cruise: Best way to Book

First time Cruise: Best way to Book

Old Oct 5, 2016, 5:37 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by david55
I did two transatlantic voyages as a kid....47 years ago. I remember getting pretty seasick and have been "off" boats ever since. So this is a bit of a gamble.
In such a case, a wise decision was made. Oceania ships aren't huge (relatively speaking) which doesn't help with stability (not that huge ships helps if they don't have/use stabilisers).

The Med can be surprisingly rough too, especially in the wider and bigger western portion.

I did talk to a TA today whose specialty is Oceanic cruises..... he gave me some pointers and helped pinpoint a location on the ship for a cabin to mitigate sea sickness....but I think we have opted to fly as originally planned and try a shorter cruise another year.
Generally speaking, those with seasickness try to locate themselves at or just above waterline close to the centre longitudinal axis and centre to minimise motion felt by the ship's rolling and pitching. The nice and more expensive cabins are usually up high where motion from rolling is felt the most.

From where you're located, I'd try a short repo cruise between Vancouver and southern California. Waters are generally calm.
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Old Oct 5, 2016, 6:21 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by Randyk47
While at some level I think you're missing out on a wonderful experience I also agree that starting out with a 24-day cruise as your first cruise maybe isn't a good idea. Twenty plus years ago my wife and I took a 4-day "try it, you'll like it" cruise... I'd suggest you try something a little shorter and closer to home as a first cruise sampler.
OP, I'd endorse this approach as well. After driving around the world by ourselves, my wife and I very apprehensive about cruising. We started out by booking a six-day cruise to a site is best seen by boat. We liked it, and then tried a nine-day cruise. Liked that, then 12-day. We have progressively worked up to a 20 day cruise.

Aside from the length of the cruise, the other variable to consider is what kind of cruise experience do you want. Each cruise line is different, and you might research the different lines and compare them to your vacation temperament.

Bon voyage!
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Old Oct 10, 2016, 8:28 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by ktremor
I recently had a client who has been on 30+ cruise but nothing over 10 days. She and her husband went on a 24 day Cunard sailing and they regretted it as they said it was too much.
On my first transatlantic sailing, which was structured to only ever have 2 sea days in a row but due to a missed port ended up with 4, as we watched people kiss the ground as they disembarked after that 4th sea day, my sailing mate admitted that it was too much for her too. It wasn't the motion of the ocean (which wasn't bad - we missed the port so we could avoid the bad seas), but rather the fact that after a certain amount of days she got anxious as she wasn't used to so many days in a row of doing relatively nothing. And it wasn't just the sea days - after a certain amount of time she was just ready to be back in the real world. Funnily enough, now that she's retired, her attitude is completely changed and now it's the longer the better.
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Old Oct 11, 2016, 6:32 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by wrp96
On my first transatlantic sailing, which was structured to only ever have 2 sea days in a row but due to a missed port ended up with 4, as we watched people kiss the ground as they disembarked after that 4th sea day, my sailing mate admitted that it was too much for her too. It wasn't the motion of the ocean (which wasn't bad - we missed the port so we could avoid the bad seas), but rather the fact that after a certain amount of days she got anxious as she wasn't used to so many days in a row of doing relatively nothing. And it wasn't just the sea days - after a certain amount of time she was just ready to be back in the real world. Funnily enough, now that she's retired, her attitude is completely changed and now it's the longer the better.
While we'll still have to overcome the house and pets hurdle longer cruises would and will be more attractive once Mrs K retires. She only gets so many vacation days and the demands of her job just won't allow longer trips. That's not to say if we get to the point where time off or away from work isn't an issue that we'll be interested in a lot of sea days though. We're still destination cruisers and look at cruising as a way to at least sample different parts of the world.
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