The wind did not die down until very late this evening but as it kept coming from the same direction, full on the bow, it did not hamper the guests in enjoying a very nice day at sea. I only had to keep the forward observation deck closed. The last sea day always reminds me of the fact that a seven day cruise is so short. Too short in my personal opinion. Although enjoyable, it most of the time over before your realize it has even started. For our on board scheduling it also means that we have to cram a lot of activities into that last sea day. Activities that guests want to partake in while at the same time some of them are already worrying about packing. Trying to visualize how to get the contents of three suitcases in two due to too much shopping and that can pre occupy the mind.
When guests ask me that would be the best cruise to do if there is limited time I always suggest the 10 day one, if they guest has 10 days available. The longer the cruise the better it is of course and if you are already cruising then you know the routine of a seven day cruise but if you are new or almost new to these sort of vacations 10 days are great. It gives you a day to get over your flight and it gives you a last day to pack and get mentally ready to face the real world again. Then it leaves a full seven days, to just enjoy the product without having anything on you mind apart from making an in depth study of the dinner menu and the daily program.
The same goes for European cruises, or cruises down under. If you have decided to take a cruise in one of these areas, do not spoil it by making it too short. The long flight makes it not worth it. Take a 10 day cruise, or two 7 days back-to-back so you get the best value out of your flight. Also come in a few days early to get over your jet lag. Even if it is only 8 hours from New York to Venice, the waiting everywhere and the airport hassle all adds to that jet leg. If you then board the ship straight away, the tiredness is catching up with you on the second day and it will spoil your first port visit. You do not appreciate Dubrovnik very much if the only thing on your mind is to go back to the ship for a nap. So come in two or three days earlier. Each cruise company offers pre and post cruise packages. They are normally very good value and they take the fuss out of the planning. But even if you do not want to book that way; with the internet it is as easy to book a hotel 2000 miles away as it is to call your local pizza man for a delivery.
As you will have read, on one of the pages on this blog site, my wife and I like to cruise as well and a year ago we did Southampton to New York. My wife wanted to see the shows on Broadway so I said lets go by ship. When we started shopping around, what clinched our booking was the very good deal we could get in the combination of ship, hotel at Broadway and flights home. The total package made it very worthwhile. So we enjoyed the crossing, had three days in an hotel on Broadway, about 5 minutes away from Times Square and an a flight home with VERY good seats, all for the price of a normal business class flight. So my wife was happy with the musicals and I was happy with the cost and enjoyed the crossing as well. As there are not that many cruise ships that do regular transatlantic crossings from Southampton, I think you will know which ship I am talking about. I was really impressed with the quality of the on-board-lecturers, all from Oxford University and attended a lecture on life on the ocean floor for three days in a row. The lecturer had this rare gift of making complicated science understandable and interesting for the layman without lowering standards. Every day the crowd got bigger until on the last day there was standing room only. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the service in such a big dining room. Being into collecting books, the big library on board of course made me really happy.
As said, what made the cruise really valuable for me was the complete package, ship, hotel and flight that all together made for a very good cruise experience and for a very pleasant price.
Tomorrow we are back in Tampa, end of a sunny cruise and we will be getting ready for the next one. Fourteen days going clockwise island hopping through the whole Caribbean.
November 4, 2007 at 4:38 pm
21 days till I board the Veendam! I agree with you Capt. Albert that 7 days to cruise is too short, especially if you have to fly a great distance. IMHO the 14 day South Caribbean cruise is a perfect length.
When flying to Europe we go in a couple of days ahead, when we fly from our home on the West Coast to the East Coast for a cruise, we go at least one day before. The skies aren’t so friendly anymore and missing your cruise would be terrible. We will fly down on the same day when just flying to San Diego as there are multiple direct flights throughout the day.
It must be interesting for you to be a passenger on another cruiseline Captain. It’s great that you are able to truly relax and leave the navigating to them!
November 4, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Captain – You’ve often mentioned how much you & Lesley enjoy checking out other cruiselines. Could you sail on HAL for your holiday & have it truly be a holiday, or could you be called into service if needed in an emergency? Meaning you couldn’t truly relax [& toss back a few pints 😉 ] if sailing on one of your own company’s ships?
.susan
November 5, 2007 at 9:21 am
Captain Albert,
Thank you so much for this fascinating blog. I read it every day. And I couldn’t agree more about the 7 day cruise being w-a-a-a-y too short! My husband and I don’t even look at 7 day cruises anymore, unless there is reasonable, non-repetitive back to back we could do. Or a cruise-tour a la Alaska. We did that one year on the fated Nieuw Amsterdam. During our cruise of Glacier Bay a fire broke out in the crew’s quarters. This was her last season with HAL, so I guess her new owner’s weren’t too happy about accepting damaged goods. I presume that was a factor in their decision not to take her in the end (as per one of your other blog pages).
Anyway, now we are much happier with cruises of minimum 21 days. Thanks again for all your insights into what it takes to make sure we have a great time!
November 5, 2007 at 11:32 am
I guess you are looking forward to the next trip, captain, since it will be a 14 day one and a better routine for the ship’s staff and guests.
Some thoughts hwich have occurred to me while reading your log entries include: do you occasionally have a longer stay at Tampa, or some other port, to undertake the kind of maintenance & repairs which cannot be done while the ship is in service and which may not be possible on a same day arrival/departure? Also, it is very clear from your log that the captain always has the ultimate responsibility of command of the vessel, so it must be an interesting relationship with pilots who ought to have far greater knowledge of the conditions of ‘their’ harbour but cannot match your experience of how your ship handles in varying wind and ocean current conditions?
I also wonder if there any matters on which the captain is bound to consult with the ‘owners/Holland of America’ before making a decision (eg cancellation of an itinerary stop)? I have a vague memory that in the early days of cruise liners there would always be a representative of the owners on board ship, but that was often a recipe for conlict or indecisiveness?
Hopefully, the wind will abate so that you, your staff and all the guests will enjoy your next trip round the souyhern Caribbean all the more!