exhausted after 4 night cruise

[iambrink]

We, DH, DD-9, DS-5, and myself, are just off from a 4 night cruise on the Dream last week and still trying to get over the exhaustion. It was our first cruise and we learned a lot from the experience, but I was surprised about how hard the time the late nights were on all of us.

I don't have any other cruises to compare, so my question is, I am I the only one that found the cruise experience very tiring?

We didn't even do an excursion at Nassau and just relaxed at Castaway Cay, but we were up till at least midnight almost every night. My kids were so tired. We did book another cruise, but does anyone feel that a 7 night cruise is a little less hectic than the shorter cruises?

Thanks

 

[uziel5000]

A cruise is really what you make of it in terms of activity. People who like to do stuff (as opposed to just relaxing) can have a hard time on a shorter cruise because the desire to take everything in can exceed their own stamina.lol

A seven day cruise can, in theory be more relaxing , especially if there are sea days, but only if you allow yourself the time for it.

 

[jerseygal]

Were you pleased with the Dream as a first time cruiser? Hope you had a GREAT EXPERIENCE!

We're also first time cruisers on the Dream this summer! Can't wait!

 

[ChristineandLiv]

We, DH, DD-9, DS-5, and myself, are just off from a 4 night cruise on the Dream last week and still trying to get over the exhaustion. It was our first cruise and we learned a lot from the experience, but I was surprised about how hard the time the late nights were on all of us.

I don't have any other cruises to compare, so my question is, I am I the only one that found the cruise experience very tiring?

We didn't even do an excursion at Nassau and just relaxed at Castaway Cay, but we were up till at least midnight almost every night. My kids were so tired. We did book another cruise, but does anyone feel that a 7 night cruise is a little less hectic than the shorter cruises?

Thanks

We were tired from staying up late as well. We slept until 9:30 am the morning after we left the ship!

 

[iambrink]

Were you pleased with the Dream as a first time cruiser? Hope you had a GREAT EXPERIENCE!

We're also first time cruisers on the Dream this summer! Can't wait!

I am trying to convince myself that I was so thrilled with my experience and don't want to say I didn't enjoy it...but I wasn't like OMG...it was the best experience ever. In retrospect now that a few days have passed, I enjoyed it more than I realized. My kids LOVED it. My husband wasn't thrilled, but agreed to go again. I learned many things that will make the next cruise a little easier and less hectic. The ship, rooms, restaurants...are all beautiful. Chasing characters got old really fast! The bed was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever experienced. I didn't like being held to a schedule with dinner and shows every day. My husband and I spent a week in Jamaica last November and did what we wanted when we wanted to do it, so the whole schedule thing on the ship was not for us.

I think these boards were very important for my planning. I was prepared for many of things that people have already complained about such as crowds and kids in the pool like sardines! I love the whole Disney experience so I will definitely go again, but I am glad I picked a shorter cruise for my first experience. Now I can use that experience to make a longer cruise even better.

 

[iambrink]

We were tired from staying up late as well. We slept until 9:30 am the morning after we left the ship!

We left the ship and drove to our hotel in Orlando. I was so tired that I was asleep by noon and warned everyone not to wake me!

 

[uziel5000]

I am trying to convince myself that I was so thrilled with my experience and don't want to say I didn't enjoy it...but I wasn't like OMG...it was the best experience ever. In retrospect now that a few days have passed, I enjoyed it more than I realized. My kids LOVED it. My husband wasn't thrilled, but agreed to go again. I learned many things that will make the next cruise a little easier and less hectic. The ship, rooms, restaurants...are all beautiful. Chasing characters got old really fast! The bed was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever experienced. I didn't like being held to a schedule with dinner and shows every day. My husband and I spent a week in Jamaica last November and did what we wanted when we wanted to do it, so the whole schedule thing on the ship was not for us.

I think these boards were very important for my planning. I was prepared for many of things that people have already complained about such as crowds and kids in the pool like sardines! I love the whole Disney experience so I will definitely go again, but I am glad I picked a shorter cruise for my first experience. Now I can use that experience to make a longer cruise even better.

This reminds me of a WDW vacation. I cannot think of something more tiring. Then a couple of weeks pass by and you don't remember the sweat and the long days and suddenly start planning your next trip.

 

[ESN]

Our first cruise was pretty exhausting -- mostly my fault - I tried to plan too much -- too many excursions and scheduled events... it became too much like work!! As my husband said-- "Step away from the Daily Navigator and put DOWN the highlighter!"

Learned my lesson - now - I may plan one excursion, a Palo dinner - and that is about it

We try not to rush from one event to another -
We spend time relaxing on the verandah- we don't go after characters or autographs, and if kids want to skip dinner and order room service - that is fine with me!


I must say - it is hard for someone like me to do that - but the whole family has had a much better time because of it

I suggest you try a longer cruise if you can swing it, and don't try to do too much - and you may find it more relaxing

 

[BelleProfHP]

My only two cruise experiences have been longer cruises (5 nights on Carnival, 7 nights on the Magic), so I don't have much to compare in the way of personal experience. That being said, I feel like I have read on the boards that 3- and 4-night cruises feel more hectic, with many people trying to fit everything into less time, whereas the 7-night cruises give more time and so the pace is a little less frenetic.

On our cruises, we try to schedule only the things that we want, not necessarily what others say we should do. Our only "must" on cruising, or on any vacation, is that we have fun. We try to have an outline of activities for each day, but if we're not feeling something when the time comes, or we run out of time because something else took longer than expected while still being enjoyable, we'll pass. We don't stick to a strict schedule.

On our last cruise, we made it to dinner every night in our scheduled restaurant. But we only went to breakfast on our scheduled character breakfast day, and the only time we went to lunch in a restaurant was on embarcation day. Breakfast was typically room service (one of my favorite memories!) and lunch was QS by the pool.

We never chased charcters, but that had more to do with our DS (then 5) than us - he liked seeing them, but didn't particularly care to have pics with them.

All that being said, there are things that I will change slightly on our next cruise and others that I relish being the same.

 

[bdink921]

Having now been on 2 4 night cruises and one 7 night cruise, I have to say that even the 7 night with 4 port stops was much more relaxed. On the 4 night cruises, there's just so little time to do and see everything you want to, especially on the Dream where there's so much to do. Combine that with a stay at WDW and it makes for an exhausting vacation.

 

[*TheWigs*]

I know the first time we did WDW we needed a vacation after the vacation!! You try to see EVERYTHING and do EVERYTHING...it makes for a "not so relaxing" vacation. Now that we have been to WDW several times and always know that we will be going back "soon" it isn't so exhausting. This Nov will be our first Disney CRUISE and I'm hoping we don't try to "do it all" and end up just plain whipped!

 

[tylerandalexsmom]

This reminds me of a WDW vacation. I cannot think of something more tiring. Then a couple of weeks pass by and you don't remember the sweat and the long days and suddenly start planning your next trip.

We do the same thing -- we go to WDW every other year and wear ourselves out (ok, it's ME -- I have the commando approach...), but then we start planning our next trip on the 11 hour drive back home!

 

[ACDSNY]

Our first DCL cruise was after a week at WDW and then we went back for a couple of more days at WDW. To top it off we had 20 of us on the cruise, 14 adults and 6 kids.

Our next cruise was just DH & I on the 15 night Panama cruise, oh what a difference. We loved the longer cruise and we were much more relaxed.

 

[fitnessmouse]

I find with the parks it is way easier to schedule mid day breaks. (and nap time if you have little ones)

On a cruise, if you have kids and have early dining at 6.00; want to take the family pictures ( or character pictures) at 5.00; we as a family have to start to get ready by 4.00 or so.

If it is a port day, I do want to go out and explore the port, so that doesn't leave much time for naps. My kids can stay up for the show 8.30-9.30, but not a couple nights in a row. They needed more nap/down time and I found it hard to schedule that.

 

[lbgraves]

We will not go on any cruise less than 7 days due to finding this out the hard way. After spending 36 nights on the Magic we figured that we could handle a 3 night since we knew the ship's layout and the system. WRONG!!! With no sea days it was a constant on the go three day event that never seemed to stop. We are used to having pirate night all by itself with nothing else going on but on the 3 night you also have a regular show to go to that night. I can't imagine doing a 3 night with kids anyway as your first cruise. I HAVE to have sea days.

 

[scootch]

Want to talk exhaustion? I took my girls on a 4 night/3 night B2B without hubby, got into airport at 6pm on a sunday night and then had to chaperone my dd's 5th grade Camp Fitch trip on frigid Lake Erie the next morning for three days! Came home from that and had Easter and First Holy Communion to get ready for for my youngest. What the heck was I thinking!!

I felt similar to you after my first cruise(Wonder 09)... but as time passed and we watched more of it on youtube, I too realized I enjoyed it more than I thought. I absolutely LOVED my 2nd/3rd cruises on the Dream. I am still obsessed on trying to figure out when to go in 2012!

 

[RedSox68]

Funny how vacations are NEVER relaxing for my family. We are not the sit around and relax type -- we are the "let's see every single thing there is to see and not miss ANYTHING" type We always need a vacation after the vacation.

I leave on Friday and am already exhausted doing the packing dance -- I stink at it and have accepted that over the years. Now with my foot problem, I need a minimum of four types of clunky shoes -- so there goes the extra space

And when we land on Friday, we hit the road running to Boardwalk Villas with dinner ressies at Raglan Road, all day at Epcot on Saturday and go to the ship on Sunday. I know the four days onboard will be spent exploring. When we get off, three days at Universal which you KNOW will not have any down time One good thing, I can sleep on the plane

Glad to hear that in the end you have good memories and plan to do it again. Our first cruise was four days on the Wonder and we love it so much we immediately booked 7 on the Magic, then another 7, then 14 on the Magic, then 10 on the Wonder, then 24 b2b on the Magic. So going back to a 4-day cruise is going to feel VERY short for us But I must admit, the excitement is amazing -- like when we took our first cruise

 

[IWannaBeAMousketeer]

I was exhausted after our last cruise, a 7 night. There were several thngs that led to this. Character chasing was a big problem. I had made these super-cute autograph books thanks to the Creative DISigns folks and my girls wanted to fill the pages. We didn't just have regular old Minnie in the book...there was Pirate Minnie, Beach Minnie, Formal Minnie! It became a drop everything and run to the atrium because Peter Pan is there and this will be our only chance to get his autograph. Never again! We are bringing a blank book this time so they can get autographs if it is convenient or if they REALLY want to meet someone (Princesses). My DD who was 7 at the time got much more into the nightime activities like the gameshows, etc. That led to several late nights and not a lot of nap time with early dinner. This time we decided to try late dining (we were up that late anyway) and try to make sure we take a daily rest in the stateroom. I am also planning next to nothing during the day.

 

[VeroBeach]

...still trying to get over the exhaustion. It was our first cruise and we learned a lot from the experience, but I was surprised about how hard the time the late nights were on all of us.

How late did you stay up? and how did that differ from your normal daily routine?

We've never been exhausted after a cruise - but we never felt like we had to stay up and fit in all of the night-time activities either.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am trying to convince myself that I was so thrilled with my experience and don't want to say I didn't enjoy it...but I wasn't like OMG...it was the best experience ever. In retrospect now that a few days have passed, I enjoyed it more than I realized. My kids LOVED it. My husband wasn't thrilled, but agreed to go again. I learned many things that will make the next cruise a little easier and less hectic. The ship, rooms, restaurants...are all beautiful. Chasing characters got old really fast! The bed was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever experienced. I didn't like being held to a schedule with dinner and shows every day. My husband and I spent a week in Jamaica last November and did what we wanted when we wanted to do it, so the whole schedule thing on the ship was not for us.
I think these boards were very important for my planning. I was prepared for many of things that people have already complained about such as crowds and kids in the pool like sardines! I love the whole Disney experience so I will definitely go again, but I am glad I picked a shorter cruise for my first experience. Now I can use that experience to make a longer cruise even better.

That's one reason why we don't plan TS ADR's at WDW for every single day. We like to "wing it" a little sometimes and ADR's ties you into having to be in a certain park by a certain time.

We do the late dinner seating on the cruises so we have more "day" to enjoy the ship & pools after our excursions and we don't feel like we were on such a tight "schedule". (FYI the pools empty out some when people leave to get ready for their early dinners.) We DO do an excursion in every port (we cruise for the destinations as much as the ship). We do not try to make every show though. We may go to one over the course of a week. Same for movies. We may hit one - and it may be a midnight show in our PJ's. We only go if it fits into our day and doesn't take away from something else we want to do.

Longer cruises are definitely more relaxing.