We never thought we’d say it, but we’ll be glad when this cruise is over. Two weeks were great, even the start of week three was okay. But about mid-week #3, we realized we were done. Too many people, too many kids, too much noise, too much everything.
Why is this different than a long cruise? We had to think about it before we realized that going on three seven day cruises meant three different sets of passengers. On a longer cruise, you have time to get to know other passengers. We did have 200 B2B passengers between weeks one and two. And there were 100 B2B passengers between weeks two and three. But on a ship that holds over 4000 passengers, that’s just a drop in the bucket.
We still love cruising but agree we will now stick to cruises 10 days or longer. In fact, we may not cruise next year and save our money for a longer European cruise in 2026. We have picked out an itinerary we like on Holland America with stops in Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Ireland, and the Netherlands. It is round trip out of Boston. Time will tell…
In the meantime, we have a lot of other things to do. Repairs and maintenance to the house, work in the pole barn (backendofnowheregarage.com), visiting family, keeping health tip-top, and maybe even buying a new car this fall. Our 2011 Jeep Patriot has done well by us, especially for a used car when we bought it. But we’d like something just a bit bigger as well as newer. We can’t update the entertainment center, so the maps are very outdated. We like some of the features in newer cars like Apple CarPlay, backup cameras, better ride, and other improvements that have been added to newer vehicles.
Stu is in charge of checking out reviews for reliability. We will most probably buy used unless there is a great deal on a new car. Besides reliability, we are looking at gas mileage and warranty. Right now, Toyota and Hyundai mid-size SUVs are at the top of our list.
10 thoughts on “When three weeks is too long…”
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I agree with you about the longer cruises. I never take one that is less that 13 days. I also tend to go at times when the kids are in school. I have been there, done that with my own children. I love Holland America and have been on multiple cruises with them I have over 200+ days sailing with them. I have tried others but always come back to HA. As for cars I recently bought a used Hyundai Elantra. I bought it from the dealership. It is a 2020. I love it. I has a lot of the bells and whistles you talked about. Love your blog as well as you FB page.
Hi Leslie, thanks so much for your comment (and readership). Right now, Hyundai is at the top of our list but it will be fall before we pull the trigger. We have contacted our vacation planner at HAL and are putting a future cruise hold on the trip. It’s refundable and she has placed a booking to hold a spot until the cruise is released. Phew! All the drama…LOL!
I agree with you about multiple short cruises b2b. It’s hard to make connections, and just as you start to feel really comfortable with people they’re getting off the ship and you have to a start again with a new group of dining mates.
Hey Caroline, I know you’re off cruising now. Enjoy! It took us a while to figure out why it just wasn’t working. Yup, while we love the longer cruises, we’re done with 7 days unless a HUGE deal comes up.
Yup same thing happened to us when cruising Carnival. So glad we moved over to HAL…we are of the age the kids thing while we love kids is just not how we opt to spend our cruising vacations. We also have learned that we prefer the small ships, the bigger and better just do not work for us with all those people.
Over on the CC HAL boards you should check out @Travelbluebird she is from Florida and an avid Carnival cruiser who is on HAL to Antartica and WOW what a review specatcular photos.
At least you can retreat to your balcony weather permitting! We board our 18 day Hawaii cruise on the 30th!
Hi Susan, sorry for the late reply. We just got home today. While we have really enjoyed Carnival to this point, we are at an age where we want a bit more (but less noise). We stuck with Carnival so Stu could scuba dive and now that is almost non-existent as an offering. We have good friends who love HAL. I rarely visit CC but will see if I can find her. And yes, the balcony is a MUST! I hope all goes well on your cruise to Hawaii!
We are in the process of booking our first cruise since 1988. This is going to be a test of if we want to do more cruising. I found, with my 1988 cruise, that I suffer from seasickness so I didn’t want to start out with cruises with long stretches at sea but that cruise for 2026 you describe-in the meantime, our seven day cruise this year will help educate us. Alana ramblinwitham
I was worried about getting seasick but we always try to book mid-ship and mid-deck (that’s where there is the least amount of movement). My first cruise was 1989 with my late husband – those ships were much smaller and didn’t have stabilizers. Bring along Dramamine, Bonine, etc. but you may not need it. Let me know how you make out!
I know I don’t comment often, but I do love keeping up with your adventures. Just remember when shopping for cars, that so many cars have been flooded this year. The cruise out of Boston sounds like fun.
We may even opt for new if we can get zero percent financing…time will tell. Stu is a gear-head, so he will be real careful about any used cars. Hugs!!!