We have asked Ngaire to put us on the list for the '07 World cruise. While we travel frequently, we are not heavily into cruising (will have been on all of the RSSC ships after 3 weeks on PG next month) - our longest single time away was an around-the-world trip of 10 weeks (only part of which was a cruise) a few years back. Our longest period on a ship has been 3 weeks (Antarctic and PG to come)Our major concern is simply the extended "disconnect" from our lives at home - family, friends, Community involvement etc.

Query: Was this a major concern for you WC alums? How did it turn out? Any advice?

Hint: Two of us are taking this cruise - one is more troubled about this than the other. Won't tell you which is which!

Honestly, there is some disconnect but with email, cell phones etc it really isn't bad. Better than it was in the past before all this modern stuff.

Hope this helps . . .Peggy :)

You'll have to wait for Marcie to come back into town for her viewpoint - I think she and Tom loved the WC 2005 and had no problem with being away so long -

hrprof, I know Marcie did a tremendous amount of planning before she left. She was lucky to have a daughter to whom she could give a Power of Attorney, who could just move into the house, pay the bills, take care of the pets, yard stuff, all the things we just DO. Like Peggy said, it must be better now with e-mail, cell phones and ....all "this modern stuff".

When I have more time, I intend to start out by stretching my time at sea to 3 weeks, and if I like that, next time more. I tend to get sensory overload after awhile because I want to do it all for each cruise, and I am afraid I will just get bored and not take advantage of the opportunities in front of me. The one thing I noticed about the full WC'ers on the leg that I was on is that most of them felt no pressure to make the most of every port. You are already a seasoned traveler, and probably know exactly what you like. Now you and Marcie will have to share duties of reporting back to those of us at home~

I'm not sure I could do more than two weeks. Maybe I'm too much of a "homebody" but I like the ability to spread out in my house and the thought of spending any great length of time on a cruise ship gives me the heebie jeebies.

Pam, I have never been more than two weeks either, that's why I want to take it one step at a time when I am able to later. hrprof has already been around the world in 10 weeks on land, already so much more time away than you and me. Now he's asking advice of those who have been there, done that. Eager to hear what marcie will say, as I think her cruises previous to that were about 2 weeks.

hrprof, as Peggy stated, with email you are never away from home when you are on a world cruise. We prepay as many bills as possible before we leave and our mail is forwarded to one of our children who takes care of the rest with the pre signed checks we leave.A world cruise is a dream come true and, if you can do it, go for it.

Olivia, I understood what hrprof was asking, I simply made a comment as to *my* opinion of spending that long in a cruiseship cabin.

Sorry Pam, I misunderstood. For me,I cannot imagine being on a ship that long.

Marcie will say, I think, GO for the WC - the time on ship was never a problem for Tom and Marcie -

No time to go into detail until I return home but Joanna is right...go for it. Peggy said it well, that is why she is booked again on this year's WC. I can go into more detail when I'm back home and not on a total stranger's laptop at Starbucks. Bottom line....if you have such a wonderful opportunity, GO FOR IT.

I think that I need to be more precise in describing my request - we are not concerned about the logistical issues - we can handle bill payments, house sitting, mail etc. I'm talking more about the psychological "disconnect" - away for the season of lent and Easter, 1/2 of the symphony and ballet season, withdrawal from a range of volunteer and civic interests - even though retired, we're up to our eyeballs in a bunch of things - we engineer our travel carefully to minimize time away - except for that one 10 week trip, we have never been away more than 6 weeks at a time - only been away for Christmas twice (Tigers in India, Penguins in you-know-where)These are the things we're talking about, plus missing out on 111 days of grandchild growth and development.

So, are these common concerns in making a judgment to do the WC? If so, were thay borne out? We have a month in Africa planned for 9/06 and will defer that in favor of WC - no way would we go away in Sept. for a month and away again in January for 3 1/2!

for going on a world cruise do not worry!!!
i still work and own my own company and with e mail land phones etc you can always stay in touch

last year we almost made the entire world cruise with tom and marcie but only got as far as australia

and i can tell you it is well worth it!!!

even if marcie has to save every stray animal !!


including tom

now we are leaving this weekend on the navigator
from montreal till dec 4 back in los angeles
and never would be able to do this without some communication


!GO FOR IT!!!

Victor, I'm so happy you found us! We miss you and Rosanne ! I''m still not home and at a internet cafe but had to duck in and say hi to everyone back in LCT land! I wrote about you and Rosanne in my travel diary of the WC on brown and Keene travel website and how fun you were and didn't want to get off the ship. I'LL never forget buying that poor starving dog in Tahiti dogfood and what a fun day we had with you guys!
Miss You guys, Paul, Hans etc. Hugs to you and Rosanne.

Marcie (if I may use your first name)

I am told that you might be an outstanding source to respond to our concerns re WC - I followed your adventure on the '05 trip with great interest and hope that you will find time to respond when you get home - I won't push the thread up again, but please don't forget about me!

Thanks to all for advice and encouragement.

Ted

Ted...I'm sure Marcie will have a more comprehensive answer to your question about "disconnecting", but I can tell you our experiences during 64 days at sea.

It our case the ship's activities, fellow passengers and crew became our "normal" focus and we worried less and less about what we might have been doing at home.

On an extended cruise you will be looking forward to your next port - especially if you've done research and plan to take advantage of every possible experience.

From past posts, I judge you to be a traveler, not a tourist, so I expect you will have appreciation of the cultures and locations you visit. I think you'll find that your concerns for things at home will be replaced by the new friends and experiences. You'll probably feel sad to leave these things after 100 plus days. The end of long cruises often leaves us feeling that way.

And when you return home you may find it hard to pick up where you've left off - your cruise experience just seems to stay with you for a while. Returning to the "real" world isn't easy.

Margo

Thank you for your insightful comments. Indeed, returning to the "real world" of home is a marked transition from the exhileration of new travel experiences. Often, however, we have returned from being away and it is like tuning in to a soap opera - nothing has changed!

hrprof, (sorry I don't know/remember your real name!)
I think Margo and others have put it well. From what you've written you are much more active at home than we are with season ballet and symphony tickets and leading a very active home life. Our home life pales in comparison to yours. We don't have grandkids (yet) and our home life is more centered around our 5 pets and going out to dinner several times a month. (this past month of Go Go Go is an exception!) I do volunteer animal rescue work but this is on my time without any set commitment. Tom plays golf and "hold'em poker" at home (both of which he did on the ship too). The things you will miss and be disconected from are quite different than ours.

With this said, our ship life is quite a contrast to our home life with a lot more daily activities and socialization with fellow passengers. Although we are very seasoned travellers, I don't consider ourselves very good sightseers. We are more apt to enjoy taking in the local culture, food, strolling and people watching. The carefree ship life is very appealing to me. As much as we LOVED the port days, some of my favorite days and best memories were actually sea days!

For 5 years I took care of my Mom before she passed away so we were very tied to home (my siblings lived out of the area) so after my Mom passed away last year this was our first opportunity to really take advantage of lengthy trips. Prior to the WC the longest cruise we had been on was 11 days so this was a BIG LEAP and many would consider it taking a big risk. What I discovered is that we bonded with many (not all) fellow WCers and segment passengers and became a family in itself. Getting off the ship after close to 4 months was a "bitter sweet". I was so excited to come home to see our daughters and pets but it was tough saying good bye to my "new found family" of the past months and the daily life aboard I had grown to love.

I love my life at home, I really do but for me, it was a much tougher adjustment returning to my "real" life at home than living the life of a "princess" onboard a ship for 109 days.

Sorry, this ended up being so long! I may not have addressed any of your concerns so please feel free to ask me anything specific.

Marcie - I'm Ted.

Your thoughtful words remind me again of the wide range of diversity among the universe of dedicated travelers - differences in motivation, interests, expectations - all of which influence the choice of and assessment of travel experiences. When the heroic responsibilty of caring for your mother was completed, a WC was the perfect expression of freedom - the timing must have been perfect as well! Your description of travel expectations is suited to what an extended cruise offers.
Our travel focus, historically, has been split between our interest in the arts and our fascination with the natural world - our perfect day would be to observe behavior of African wildlife in tthe morning and spend the evening at the Vienna Musikverien - not too likely!

We are new to cruising and have discovered that it is truly magical to settle into a suite and sense that we are on a floating flying carpet that will take us on a "tasting menu" of wonderful places - both new and previously visited. We have come to appreciate sea days - at first, we viewed them as a waste of time! But, 53 is a bunch!

We have decided to do this as a capstone, of sorts, of travel experiences - of great variety and breadth. And assuming that our requirements of a suite can be met (that should be soon) we will start looking forward to it. The city of Charleston will just have to get along without us!

One further question: How many on the WC are repeats? Is that a closed society?

Thanks again for your insights.

Ted

Ted, Many of the WC passengers are repeat. I'm not sure of the percentage but I'm guessing maybe as high as 60%. To some it is their winter home. If it's January, I must be on the WC.

Tom and I got on in LA at the St. Regis Hotel gala party the night before boarding not knowing a soul! I remember looking at Tom saying "Well it's you and me kid!". It was obvious that many of the passengers knew each other from previous WCs and here we were, a couple of virgins not knowing anyone. Well, this didn't last long. When everyone started sitting down for dinner we just grabbed 2 seats at a table for 10. Ironically, the other 8 at our table were also first timers and from that night on, life long friendships were formed. (in fact we'll be with some of them for the next 3 days in Las Vegas).

It was actually good that our first 5 (or was it 6) days on the cruise were sea days. It gave us a chance to meet others and may not have been quite as easy had we been port intensive right off. I think there is a bit of a closed society with some of the previous WCers but that is the way they wanted it. Tom and I both made the attempt to interact and initiate conversations and found that 90% of the previous WCers were very open to new acquaintances and friendships. The other 10% wished to remain more isolated which was fine with us. We also became friendly with many of the segment guests. I found them refreshing and a very welcome addition.

As the days and weeks progressed the fact that you may or may not have been on a previous WC became pretty meaningless and insignificant. I consider myself quite "approachable" which may have helped as well. For someone who is shy and may not take the initiative to meet others, the story could sound different. As with any group, there will be some that you click with and some that although very nice, you may not have much in common with. It was very common to smile and say good morning as you got into elevators or passed in the halls to complete strangers. This friendliness was contagious! :)

There is one thing that I never did understand...those that NEVER got off the ship. We would be in absolutely fantastic ports and some would always remain on the ship (often playing cards on deck 5) and never leave the ship. NEVER! These passengers were not infirmed either, they just chose not to leave the ship. Many were paying "single supplements" too! Oh well, maybe they had been there so many times before that it was just ho-hum to them. Pretty expensive card games! I could offer them our CA home for 4 months at 1/2 the price! :D (then there was the sweetest man that we adored....93 year old Dr. Lloyd Tinkle, a retired law professor from Sioux City, Iowa, that was one of the first off the ship and never skipped a beat!)

As for sea days, just go with the flow (as if we have a choice!) Enjoy the sun by the pool, read a good book on your balcony, enjoy the great guest lecturers, go to the cooking or dancing lessons or whatever. There will be LOTS of activities to chose from, should you be interested. My problem was often having to decide between option A,B or C! :woh:

I'm hoping that Peggy will offer her insights as well as she's been on several RSSC WCs!

Good questions, Ted and informative answers, Marcie. In fact, you answered a concern that I had. As "segment" guests, I wondered how "included" Alan and I would feel. We won't be traveling with friends or family, just us (which we are eagerly anticipating). We are looking forward to meeting fellow travelers (not always as easy when going with a group of friends or family). Your response put those worries to rest. Thanks.

Donna, as sweet as you are you will be like a magnet! Kindness attracts kindness! You and Alan will have such a great time! How I wish I could be 2 places at once...SA and on the WC!

Never get off the ship on a 110 day cruise?? That stretches my "diversity of interests" proposition beyond belief!

Thanks again, Marcie, for your invaluable input. Now to wait for outcome of room availability. Have been told that it will not be known until some time in November.

Watch out for "Texas hold 'em" in Vegas!

Ted

Marcie, could you clone yourself? Would be so much fun to have you along. Oh well, one of these days we'll make the same cruise.

Congratulations on your decision, Ted. Hope you will be happy with your cabin choice. I know your WC will be awesome.

hrprof, if you get the suite that you want, don't be concerned about a world cruise. There is nothing like it. If you want to be with people, you can and, if you want to be alone, you can. There are many ways to meet other guests, such as trivia,cocktail parties,joining a table in the restaurants, sitting by the pool, etc. In 2006 there are suppose to be at least 350 full world cruisers so many will be 1st time full cruisers. After your first world cruise,I hope you will say,"If this is January, I hope I am on a world cruise."Once you have done it, I am sure you will agree with me.Incidentally, the sea days pass quickly and 53 really aren't that many.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Ted...I'm married to one of those "doesn't do shore" people. I can't explain it, but the beauty of cruising is we can travel together and both have a wonderful experience. I want to see EVERYTHING, he doesn't. We both love the sea days...and I'm sure you will too. Congratulations on booking your first world cruise!