World Cruise – Is it right for us?  

Prior to embarking on this spectacular adventure, our previous longest cruise was 35 days. While we are experienced cruisers, it is one heck of a jump from a 35 day cruise to 104 days. Therefore, we had way too many questions to determine if a World Cruise was right for us.

This is a sample of some of our questions:

• Could we handle 104 days at sea? – for Andy no problem as his longest time on a ship was 9 months when still a cadet. We always take longer cruises having completed a 32 day and a 35 day, and are currently nearing the end of an extended 3 month holiday. So Judi is also good with the number of days.
• Extended days at sea? – we have a number of extended sea passages with up to 7 continuous days at sea. As experienced cruisers we like the routine afforded by sea days, so this won’t be an issue. We don’t enjoy the new cruiser Caribbean specials of 6 ports on a 7 day cruise.
• Ocean passages with the associated bad weather and lumpy seas? – again not an issue for Andy, as he is warped and loves the ship rockin’ & a rollin’ – just like a baby’s cradle is his favourite comment. Judi different story, but she manages the problem with medications. So this one requires careful thought and eliminates any of the cruises departing UK in January. The English Channel, Bay of Biscay and Atlantic can to a tad lumpy in January.
• Weight gain? – you hear stories of people gaining 10 lbs on a 7 day cruise. Ouch – that translates into 150 lbs over the world cruise. We are one of the few people that actually tend to loose weight on cruises, so this one isn’t an issue.
• Constant clox changes? – We like most people don’t enjoy an hour less sleep at night, so an East bound cruise would be tiring. However, West bound cruises gain an extra hour most nights.
• Ports? – after a while you always seem to hit the same ports, so we are looking for new places, or in Andy’s case ports he hasn’t been to in 35+ years. This one will take careful planning and reviewing schedules.
• Cost? – you normally pay a premium for world cruises, as they tend to have a higher per diem rate than shorter cruises. So we could do it cheaper by designing segments on various ships with flights between the ships. Is that an option for us – NO, we will pay the premium to join the ship once, unpack once and basically relax for the next 104 days.
• Stuck on a ship with the same people for 104 days? – yes, you may meet some people you don’t connect with, but there are another up to 2,000 to meet. We enjoy this part of cruising and have many friends around the world we have met on previous cruises.

  Decision – Yes, a world cruise is for us, subject to itinerary and budget.