Going on a European cruise sounds like the perfect way to see the world, but if you're flying across the Atlantic, it's critical you start the trip on the right foot.
I flew from my home in Florida to London in order to board an Anthem of the Seas cruise departing from Southampton. It's a new itinerary with lots of firsts for me.
The problem is fighting jetlag before it hits so that you're not sleeping away half the cruise while getting acclimated to local time.
Prior to my trip, I read the same piece of advice over and over again: don't sleep until it's bed time so you can adjust to local time.
It's a solid strategy, but you have to consider what time you'll arrive in Europe and how feasible it is to stay awake.
Flight times matter
I thought I hit the jackpot by having a direct flight between Orlando and London, because flying internationally and catching connecting flights seems like a recipe for a disaster.
What I did not take into account was what time I'd arrive in London and how difficult it would be to follow everyone's advice.
My flight departed Florida at 5:30pm (actually it was 6:30pm due to weather and traffic delays), which got me into London at a few minutes before 7am.
This meant I would have to stay awake for about 36 hours in order to follow the strategy.
Oh but Matt, you can sleep on the airplane!
While there might be unconfirmed cases of human beings able to sleep on an airplane, I am not that person. Moreover, the departure time meant my brain thought it was still too early to go to sleep, and I only really started to get drowsy in the final two hours of the flight.
I'm sure some would point out different drug and alcohol cocktails to make me sleepy, but I really hate feeling out of control on a plane.
Ultimately, the flight time is what mattes the most. Ideally, you'll get a flight that gets you into Europe in the afternoon or evening, so there are just a few hours to remain awake.
Ignoring jetlag could lead to missing too much of the cruise
The longer you put off adjusting to local time, the harder it is to break the cycle of waking up too early and going to sleep too early.
For an itinerary that's brand new to me visiting the northern coast of Spain and France, I did not want to squander the opportunity by sleeping.
On other trips when I've been jetlagged, I recall how frustrating it would be to wake up around 3 or 4am, and then want to go to sleep for the night in the afternoon. You feel helpless and it spirals quickly.
Plan multiple days before your cruise
While I may have picked the wrong flight, I did make a good decision in how early I arrived before my cruise departed.
Instead of the usual flying in one day before a cruise rule, I arrived in London a full two days before my cruise began.
The idea is to give myself more time to acclimate. Sure, seeing the sights around London is good too, but the cruise is what I'm most concerned about.
Heck, if you have plenty of vacation days, you could fly in earlier than two days and let jetlag happen, but work through it.
Fighting jetlag takes discipline
The experts are right. No matter how hard it is, you really want to force yourself to stay awake on the day you arrive until it's bed time in that country.
Unless you're someone who can really get solid sleep in while on an airplane, you should be prepared to acclimate to local time as quickly as possible.
If you're flying many hours for a cruise, that last thing you want to do is sleep it all away. And you definitely don't want to feel tired and groggy when you're awake.
Pick a flight that gets you in closer to bed time, and give your body plenty of time to adjust.
