What do you do prior to a cruise?

[adanaccruisers]

Here are a few things that we do to make coming home from vacation a lot easier.

 

1) I put the amount of money that we will need for the airport parking, in a sealed envelope in the locked glove-box of the car. We then don't have to worry about exact change to pay for our stay. Our airport has a cash line that runs pretty quick but the credit-card line is always backed up forever, so cash-ready to go, it is. I also put our parking lot# and row# in my cell phone. That way, after a week or so away, We will know what shuttle stop to get off at.

 

2) Starting a few weeks before vacation, I make a little extra on my dinners and then freeze some individual servings. This makes it easy for the first few days home. I also freeze a loaf of bread. By doing this, all we have to do is pop in the convenience store for fresh Milk and eggs. The grocery run can wait a few days.

 

3) The day before our vacation, I change the sheets on the bed. It is always nice to come home to a clean bed and not to have to worry about changing them again for a few days. I also do a good house cleaning before I leave as well.

 

4) I pre-buy gift cards and Thank-you cards for the neighbor-couple that are also my cat sitters. They always refuse any $ but I know that they love to eat at Cracker Barrel so I buy them a few gift cards so they can enjoy a few meals. I also pick them up a small something from one of our port stops.

 

5) I leave a take-out menu to our favorite Chinese restaurant in the car along with two $20 bills. It has become kind of a tradition to call in the order when we are a few miles away and then have Chinese take-out upon first returning home.

 

6) We dedicate one suitcase to our dirty laundry. We bring along a draw-string garbage bag and then just tuck the bag in the suitcase. When I get home, it is easy to empty it and sort out the colors from the whites and do a few quick loads of clothes.

 

7) Prior to leaving for the trip, I always make a list to stop the newspaper, hold the mail, notify my AmX card that I will be out of the country and to note which ports. Call my cell phone carrier and have them put on a temp. Global plan. Free for Verizon customers in good credit standing and leave the phone # of our vet with our cat sitter and then call the vet and tell them that my pet sitter has permission to bring in my cat(s), if necessary, and to bill my credit card for any treatment.

 

 

That about sums it up. I hate coming home to dissary so I really do try to do what I can in advance so I don't have any uneeded stress upon returning home.

 

 

:) :)

 

 

 

 

.

WOW, that is very impressive organization. Kudos to you!

[delily]

Here are a few things that we do to make coming home from vacation a lot easier.

 

1) I put the amount of money that we will need for the airport parking, in a sealed envelope in the locked glove-box of the car. We then don't have to worry about exact change to pay for our stay. Our airport has a cash line that runs pretty quick but the credit-card line is always backed up forever, so cash-ready to go, it is. I also put our parking lot# and row# in my cell phone. That way, after a week or so away, We will know what shuttle stop to get off at.

 

2) Starting a few weeks before vacation, I make a little extra on my dinners and then freeze some individual servings. This makes it easy for the first few days home. I also freeze a loaf of bread. By doing this, all we have to do is pop in the convenience store for fresh Milk and eggs. The grocery run can wait a few days.

 

3) The day before our vacation, I change the sheets on the bed. It is always nice to come home to a clean bed and not to have to worry about changing them again for a few days. I also do a good house cleaning before I leave as well.

 

4) I pre-buy gift cards and Thank-you cards for the neighbor-couple that are also my cat sitters. They always refuse any $ but I know that they love to eat at Cracker Barrel so I buy them a few gift cards so they can enjoy a few meals. I also pick them up a small something from one of our port stops.

 

5) I leave a take-out menu to our favorite Chinese restaurant in the car along with two $20 bills. It has become kind of a tradition to call in the order when we are a few miles away and then have Chinese take-out upon first returning home.

 

6) We dedicate one suitcase to our dirty laundry. We bring along a draw-string garbage bag and then just tuck the bag in the suitcase. When I get home, it is easy to empty it and sort out the colors from the whites and do a few quick loads of clothes.

 

7) Prior to leaving for the trip, I always make a list to stop the newspaper, hold the mail, notify my AmX card that I will be out of the country and to note which ports. Call my cell phone carrier and have them put on a temp. Global plan. Free for Verizon customers in good credit standing and leave the phone # of our vet with our cat sitter and then call the vet and tell them that my pet sitter has permission to bring in my cat(s), if necessary, and to bill my credit card for any treatment.

 

 

That about sums it up. I hate coming home to dissary so I really do try to do what I can in advance so I don't have any uneeded stress upon returning home.

 

 

:) :)

 

 

 

 

.

Me too! I can't stand coming home to a mess. I also change the sheets before leaving and I clean the house. I stash a frozen pizza and wings in the freezer and leave celery and blue cheese dip in the fridge so that I don't have to worry about what we'll eat the night we get home. The day we're expected home, my daughter drops off a carton of milk and a loaf of bread when she comes in to feed the cats. The last thing I want to do after a long flight and drive from the airport is stop at the store!

[ccruisequeen]

Me too! I can't stand coming home to a mess. I also change the sheets before leaving and I clean the house. I stash a frozen pizza and wings in the freezer and leave celery and blue cheese dip in the fridge so that I don't have to worry about what we'll eat the night we get home. The day we're expected home, my daughter drops off a carton of milk and a loaf of bread when she comes in to feed the cats. The last thing I want to do after a long flight and drive from the airport is stop at the store!

 

Do you leave a towel animal and mint on the pillow so they'll be waiting for you?

[Gunner22aa]

Confirm the reservations for the dog at the kennel. As the one I use is very popular it is likely I made the reservation the same time I booked the cruise which is typically a year or more in advance

Confirm the air as it was booked 330 days before the cruise, the day it became available

Same for the hotel as we always fly in a day or two early

Chat with members of our roll call. Maybe read the latest reviews written on our ship by previous passengers

Pack the day before we leave

Kiss the grandbabies goodbye the day we leave and thank my daughter for the ride to the airport

Enjoy the next 3-5 weeks on the ship

[Jiminy1955]

I have trouble staying off cruisecritic & tripadvisor planning and over planning :) And just reading about cruising!

Me too.......we don't sail until Feb 2014 & I've been on here since April!!

[mr green]

Other than help with the packing, I do two things.

First I plan the best, and easiest way to visit family, with the thought in mind of the best way of getting to the ship, and parking the car.

Second, if the ship is new to me, I study the deck plans in detail, so that we get lost as little as possible.

 

john

[JustinPlusLauren]

I end up reading Cruise Critic almost daily! Just the regular planning type of thing....starting a savings jar for my spending money for the trip...I think I might make luggage tags this year like some of the posters in this thread!

[ccruisequeen]

Keep checking the booking engine for price drips and drops! http://www.carnival.com/BookingEngine/FareViewer/#

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[kangaand2roos]

Do you leave a towel animal and mint on the pillow so they'll be waiting for you?

 

My next cruise is with my two kids. DH is staying behind. I may actually make a couple of towel animals before we leave and have DH put them on the kids' beds before we get home! I think they'd love that!

[griffy116]

Our next cruise is not until June 2014. I have the cruise booked and the hotel for pre and post cruise booked, as well as the lovely bed and breakfast spa for our little diva doggie. After I complete reservations for our flight and for our excursions, I'll go through the following:

 

Month Prior to Cruise:

Tanning

Double check all clothes for cruise and put in spare closet

 

Two Weeks Prior: Cruise documents completed, drink packages ordered.

 

Week before the Cruise:

Complete House cleaned top to bottom

All Bills paid, deposits made, etc.

Turn in Mail Stop card to Post Office

Notify neighbors we will be gone, give emergency numbers

Confirm ALL reservations and print all e-mail confirmations.

Check all Prescriptions to make sure there are plenty for cruise, extras for return.

 

Two Days from leaving:

Bank for Cash

Set aside tips at airport, etc. from other cash.

Clean all food that could spoil out of fridge.

Put meatloaf and a casserole in freezer for a couple of easy return meals.

Wash the last of the clothes that will be included.

Lay out clothes to be packed in spare room.

Lay out suitcases.

Get the dogs food and supplies packed in his bag.

 

Day Before leaving:

Wash bedclothes..love clean linens when I return home.

Last minute clean sweep through house.

Pack ALL bags, zip and sitting together ready to put in car.

Put passports, money, cosmetics, meds in carry-on, along with cruise docs, ready to go out the door.

Lay out clothes for flight.

Depending on time of flight, either take doggie to B&B or in a.m. of day.

Eat out..no dirty dishes or smelly garbage in house.

[goolia719]

Other than the usual last minute packing, and making sure the house is cleaned and sheets changed etc we'll drop the puppy off at my parents house (after a long day of doggy day care so he's good and worn out) and then I'm going to surprise DH with massages to kick off our vacation!

[dcwalker]

Like many Cruise Critic devotees, once we book a cruise I can't think of anything other than the fact that there is a cruise in our future. So here's what I have to do before a cruise: I play a game with myself - I challenge myself not to mention the cruise to anyone else in my family for a certain amount of time, like a day. I'm never successful, but I wake up every day trying.

[PeacefulHeart]

Well, if we've got several months to wait before our cruise, then we spend the time looking forward to it by joining the Meet and Greets and Cruise Forums! In that way you can touch base with others who are going on the same cruise! Then just before the cruise I get my nails done and do my hair, and then I pack.....and on the last night before we leave I'm too excited to sleep!!😊😊😊😊

[maywell]

On the financial front - I put $1-10, when I have clean / organize my wallet every other month that away in two envelopes label 'tips' and 'cruise ports'. So far for the upcoming 7 day trip this year, I have $24 in tips for the cabin steward and $75 for dining / stuff in ports and still 2 more months to go -I may not even have to go to the bank to get cash for the cruise at all.[emoji16]

Edited September 23, 2014 by maywell

[againin13]

We save all of our coins from the minute we get off of the last cruise .we sail November 15 .we just cashed in our coins yesterday and we had she had 88.54 and I had $261.06.pretty cool for just coins.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[PeacefulHeart]

Prior to a Cruise?? Get Excited!! See my Topic on Excitement!!😃😃

[Luvs2Crooze]

Hi

 

Apart from the usual.

 

We always go down the day before as usually sail from Southampton.

 

Set off 8am get to Southampton around 2pm go to the shopping centre then to mayflower park for ice cream to watch the ships leave if any are in. Nice meal.

 

We normally stay at the holiday in and have very good view of the ships coming in all very exciting.

 

Hayley

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[wrigley80]

As soon as we book our next cruise I start researching everything from excursions, hotels, airfare, rental cars, and restaurants. Part of the fun of cruising is doing the research to plan where you want to go next

[willtravel8090]

Spend way too much time on CC 😄

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[goolia719]

A day or so before we leave I usually go get a hair cut/deep conditioning treatment and then a mani/pedi. Normally DH and I will go get a massage as well, but I think we're doing that on the day we get home instead.

By this point I'll have had us packed except for the stuff we'll use up to the point we leave (phone chargers etc).

For the house I change the sheets the morning we leave so its all fresh and clean when we get home, take out the trash etc and then drop our puppy pupster off at my parents for his vacation from rules and regulations of any kind.... then its off to a magical tropical world with no work or cell service for a full week (this time with my 3 best friends from high school and their husbands/boyfriend which is going to be AMAZING)

[Kinkacruiser]

Come here a lot, research what to do in ports, book private tours if they're available, refresh our wardrobes (plus buy winter gear if cruising to cold environments).

It's all fun and helps fill in the wait.

[wanderlust lady]

This is my everyday life. I live for travel planning. If travel agent wasn't a nearly obsolete career, I'd be doing it.

 

So now I just do it for me, and brag about all the great deals I find by spending time doing research. It all works out in the end.

 

This IS me!!! :) A vacation is barely finished and I'm already researching and booking the next. I can't wait to get to where we are going next in this big beautiful world.

[pinoycruiser1995]

I pray everything in my trip goes well., like no cancelled flights, no bad weather, no lost luggage, no sicknesses. etc. Lol.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk