I've never been on a cruise before, and after looking at some of the blogs and scanned in daily sheets of available activities, well, I'm afraid I'm going to be quite bored out of my skull. Ice carving? Hairy chest contest? No, thanks. Trivia contests I can handle, but that's going to get repetetive after 3 or 4 of them.
I don't gamble, dislike shopping, don't drink alchohol, and we don't have the kind of money for shore excursions. Using the internet, is pohibitively costly. I can go a week without it. I think I'm going to watch a lot of movies on my laptop, and eat myself sick.
I was wondering what my odds would be if I were to try to scare up a few players for a D&D game. I'd probably have to DM, but it would something I would enjoy!
I've thought about posting something like this on a cruising message board, but wanted to check with other gamers first.
So here goes:
1: Have you ever been on a cruise ship before?
2: Ever play D&D during said cruise?
3: Ever try to scare up a game of D&D before with complete strangers on said cruise?
4: If you did scare up a game on said cruise, how did you do it? Post signs? Talk to the someone on board ship? Use a message board ahead of time?
5: Am I being unnecessarily pessimistic about being bored, and should I just forget this whole idea? :-)
Thanks in advance for any thoughts and ideas.
There are plenty of things you can do on a cruise ship to have fun.
Let's take this back a bit then.
Has anyone here been on a cruise ship? Say, within this year, 2009.
What are your thoughts about it? Would you go again?
From the sounds of it, and what I have read, the food is generally good, and the activities are little goofy on sea days. But when the ship is in port, it sounds like they want you off the boat, spending money. To the point that, there isn't much going on, on board.
We had planned some things to do in these places. Shore excursions, and what not, but thanks to a recent emergency car repair, we've had to drastically cut back our budget. Wife cancelled her spa appointments. We cut back our gambling budget, and cancelled the excursions we had planned. Also we removed the "all-you-can-drink-soda" card they offer. I don't want to say the amount, but it's safe to say we slashed our budget by 75%.
Now, I can hear the thoughts of why are we going then, if things were that bad. Well, the cruise was paid off back in April when we got our tax refund back. If we cancelled now, or even a short time ago, when we had the car fixed, we would've not have gotten a complete refund. About half, IIRC. So we decided to just cut our spending money budget to get the money we needed. Since it was going to be cash and traveler's checks it was easy to move the money to the car.
We have some money to spend, just not what we hoped we'd have. In one way, it's a good thing we had the money available to fix the car. At least we get to keep it running another year. If we hadn't had this money saved up, we might've been really in a jam.
Sorry rambled on a bit. What has been anyone 's experience on a cruise?
In my experience the cruise atmosphere wasn't really conducive to meeting new people unless you're willing to participate in the activities organized by the crew (hairy chest contests and the like). Most people were just doing their own thing. Although I know I went in order to have some time to spend chilling with my wife, not to meet random other people, so it might just be that my approach was all wrong.
You can try to get some people together to game. I would have joined in if you had been on my cruise. There's a good chance you'll end up with a bunch of kids whose parents drop them off for you to babysit, though. (Unless it's an adults-only cruise.)
Not sure what cruise line, where, or anything, so I'll just toss this out.
Some advice/considerations:
-Get a a cabin in the middle of the ship. 2 words, sea legs. You'll feel the pitch a lot elsewhere. Wait till you hit the shore...
-Awesome food. 1st time I had lobster & lobster bisque w/ steak. Fantastic.
-They will seat you w/ another family/group (dining hall)given space constraints. Make nice, you're stuck w/ them for the duaration. This might very well lead to other entertainment venues. Texan family we dined w/ for 4 nights was cool; went snorkling w/ us, to the movies, straw market on Nassau (Bahamas), little things that ate up the clock etc.
-Swim, sunbathe a lot. Sauna after, then back in the pool = weird hypnotic spell = awesome night's sleep.
-Many ship's have their own theatre. Use it. See movies, avoid kids.
-24 hr buffets are usually on more than 1 deck, you dust gotta' find them. Awesome. Point of order; raw coconut isn't what you think.
-Shuffleboard and legitimate cruise entertainment venues on board aren't that bad. Avoid the hairy chest BS and gimmicky crap. Sometiems, lounge acts, musical, comedic, magic or otherwise are pretty decent.
-Go to the bow or stern w/ your wife @ dusk [insert romantic moment here]. Genuine affection. Do not, I repeat, no not do anything "Titanic" related. Take a walk on the upper decks, small nightcap, back to cabin, rock the casbah. Be especially sure to tell us how that went upon return.
-In port, lounge @ the beach, poke through local markets (everything is negotiable in the Carribean). You won't need much $ at all for this anyway given budget concerns which I totally respect. Btw, dress down, blend, don't take lot's of $. Use plastic (paper trail) when possible. Duty free is your friend too.
-Take lots of pics. You'll want to remember this when you're old & gray.
I've been on one cruise and I wasn't particularly impressed. The boat will probably be big enough that you can ignore most of the activities you have no interest in. My week consisted of: Sitting on the deck reading and staring out at the the ocean, intermittently relaxing in the hot tub with my wife, and going on day hikes in the Alaskan wilderness.
In my experience the cruise atmosphere wasn't really conducive to meeting new people unless you're willing to participate in the activities organized by the crew (hairy chest contests and the like). Most people were just doing their own thing. Although I know I went in order to have some time to spend chilling with my wife, not to meet random other people, so it might just be that my approach was all wrong.
You can try to get some people together to game. I would have joined in if you had been on my cruise. There's a good chance you'll end up with a bunch of kids whose parents drop them off for you to babysit, though. (Unless it's an adults-only cruise.)
Yikes! Inever thought about that.OK Gaming is out!
I'm not much into socializing with people I don't know, so I expect I'm not going to be too friendly with most folks. I'm much more in my elemet at the D&D table,nnot sitting a bar.
I suspect you & I are going to have the same experience. :-)
Not to be a pest, but it's your anniversary, you know? The only role-playing you should really be doing is w/ your wife And, ahem, the DM is always right.
Not sure what cruise line, where, or anything, so I'll just toss this out.
Some advice/considerations:
-Get a a cabin in the middle of the ship. 2 words, sea legs. You'll feel the pitch a lot elsewhere. Wait till you hit the shore...
-Awesome food. 1st time I had lobster & lobster bisque w/ steak. Fantastic.
-They will seat you w/ another family/group (dining hall)given space constraints. Make nice, you're stuck w/ them for the duaration. This might very well lead to other entertainment venues. Texan family we dined w/ for 4 nights was cool; went snorkling w/ us, to the movies, straw market on Nassau (Bahamas), little things that ate up the clock etc.
-Swim, sunbathe a lot. Sauna after, then back in the pool = weird hypnotic spell = awesome night's sleep.
-Many ship's have their own theatre. Use it. See movies, avoid kids.
-24 hr buffets are usually on more than 1 deck, you dust gotta' find them. Awesome. Point of order; raw coconut isn't what you think.
-Shuffleboard and legitimate cruise entertainment venues on board aren't that bad. Avoid the hairy chest BS and gimmicky crap. Sometiems, lounge acts, musical, comedic, magic or otherwise are pretty decent.
-Go to the bow or stern w/ your wife @ dusk [insert romantic moment here]. Genuine affection. Do not, I repeat, no not do anything "Titanic" related. Take a walk on the upper decks, small nightcap, back to cabin, rock the casbah. Be especially sure to tell us how that went upon return.
-In port, lounge @ the beach, poke through local markets (everything is negotiable in the Carribean). You won't need much $ at all for this anyway given budget concerns which I totally respect. Btw, dress down, blend, don't take lot's of $. Use plastic (paper trail) when possible. Duty free is your friend too.
-Take lots of pics. You'll want to remember this when you're old & gray.
Well, my kids & in-laws are coming along, so this isn't so much a romantic trip, as it is the family vacation. We just decided to do a cruise this year because it was a special anniversary. We celebrated the event back in May. She said if I found a game,I could go to it. However, as lofgren mentioned above, I'd probably get stuck with a bunch of strange kids. No thanks!
We do already have a room at the middle. (We checked on cruising message boards for this.) I can sleep nearly anywhere. Nice little trick I picked up during my Army days while liberating Kuwait back in 1991.
Since my in-laws are coming to, we are going to ask to be seated together for dinner, if possible. Maybe that will mean we sit just in our little group or not? I previewed some menus, and things do look awesome! Can wait to have the Surf-n-Turf.
Our stops are Key West, Ocho Rios in Jamaica, and Grand Cayman Island. Since our budget is so tight, we're just going to get off at each stop, grab a souvenier, take a couple dozen pics, then get back on board. Too long off and we might start spending money we don't have to spend.
I do want to see some of the shows, but we'll see. Most of the reviews I read were for things I did not enjoy (musicals, dance routines). But I'll suffer through them if my wife wants to see them. I'll be interested in any stage magicians & adult comedians.
If I tried any of the romantic kitsch, my wife would wonder what alien kidnapped me, and is holding me below decks! :D Not my style, and she knows it, and has long ago accepted it.
I dress down every chance I get! If anything the wife is less looking forward to dressing up for "elegant night" than I am. She hates wearing heels.
All I have to wear is a suit.Thanks for the info, and keep it coming guys. (and gals!)
If I tried any of the romantic kitsch, my wife would wonder what alien kidnapped me, and is holding me below decks! Not my style, and she knows it, and has long ago accepted it.
All the more reason to do it.
I leave in 11 days, and I'm quite content now to have a relaxing trip. 1 week of doing little, might not be a bad idea. I'll get to explore a couple of new places. Even if only the tourist areas near the docks. I can at least say I was there.
Anyone else with other thoughts? I'd really like to hear from some folks who've been on cruises before. At least from those I share some common interests.
Anyone else with other thoughts? I'd really like to hear from some folks who've been on cruises before. At least from those I share some common interests.
Make sure you get a tour of the crew/machine parts of the ship. It would be good to see for games you will design in the future. ;)