Compulsive cruise prep

[TrpngBilly]

On 8/10/2018 at 11:38 AM, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

When it gets this close—less than a month away—I’m so ready to go that I keep looking for ways to prepare. So far I’ve set aside all my clothes and toiletries and bought a minifan recommended here and compostable plastic straws.

 

Keep me off Amazon! Tell me what else I can do, like downloading music on my iPad last night, that won't cost anything but keep my cruise compulsion satisfied!

I'm guilty as well.  From researching which other ships will be in ports with us when we are in port to checking local newspapers for our ports for any possible coupons or bonus information, I start planning long before the cruise.  At the earliest possible moment, I book dinner reservations and order the on board amenities that we like in the cabin.

 

At 30 days out I transfer all my cruise paperwork including confirmation emails, cruise edocs, etc. from a plain manila folder to a 1" binder that has sections for each leg of our trip (flights, hotels, transfers, cruise, return flight, etc.).

 

Over the last few years we've persuaded several friends to either join us or go on NCL cruises on their own and I've been unofficially nicknamed "Isley" which is a combination of Isaac and Julie from The Love Boat.

 

Happy cruising everyone!

[F19810]

On 8/10/2018 at 2:09 PM, AmyJA said:

Hello...my name is Amy....and I am a compulsive vacation planner.

 

Do you have a daily spread sheet done?

 

haha....I do.

So do I and my cruise isn't until May!

 

[Freeholder]

For our first cruise, wife and I have decided to split up the planning. I do the spreadsheets and she does the binder. Seems fair no?

[bjcruiser]

On 8/15/2018 at 12:38 PM, AmyJA said:

 

 

Agreed!

AGREED!!!!!!

[calmpets]

Whew! I just finished reading all 22 pages of this thread, and am happy to say I've found my people! My husband thinks I'm nuts. I am currently organizing a cruise for me and my cousins. It's a total of eight staterooms, and I've been having a blast getting everything put together. I started simple, with a timeline spreadsheet so I wouldn't miss anything that needed to be done, and a cost prediction. My dad is picking up the tab for everything, so he wanted a guesstimate of what it would all total up to. About half of my cousins have never cruised before, so I've been trying to provide info on what to expect, but not to be overwhelming about it, so the timeline has been really helpful. Other docs include a detailed shore excursion spreadsheet, a guest list spreadsheet with all the online check in info, individual itineraries to be put in folders (I have a binder with copies of everything included), a list of what to include in the folders, a sample packing list, etc. I am also creating business card size lists of room numbers per guest, so everyone can find everyone else once onboard. I ordered lanyards & luggage tag holders for everyone. Norwegian, in an effort to keep me on my toes, has changed my itinerary three times since the trip was booked, so that was fun. At the moment I have everything under control, right down to the edocs being printed, which just makes me feel like I am missing something, so this thread was an amazing find.

[cruiseagona]

4 minutes ago, calmpets said:

Whew! I just finished reading all 22 pages of this thread, and am happy to say I've found my people! My husband thinks I'm nuts. I am currently organizing a cruise for me and my cousins. It's a total of eight staterooms, and I've been having a blast getting everything put together. I started simple, with a timeline spreadsheet so I wouldn't miss anything that needed to be done, and a cost prediction. My dad is picking up the tab for everything, so he wanted a guesstimate of what it would all total up to. About half of my cousins have never cruised before, so I've been trying to provide info on what to expect, but not to be overwhelming about it, so the timeline has been really helpful. Other docs include a detailed shore excursion spreadsheet, a guest list spreadsheet with all the online check in info, individual itineraries to be put in folders (I have a binder with copies of everything included), a list of what to include in the folders, a sample packing list, etc. I am also creating business card size lists of room numbers per guest, so everyone can find everyone else once onboard. I ordered lanyards & luggage tag holders for everyone. Norwegian, in an effort to keep me on my toes, has changed my itinerary three times since the trip was booked, so that was fun. At the moment I have everything under control, right down to the edocs being printed, which just makes me feel like I am missing something, so this thread was an amazing find.

If you go to the Dollar Tree, they have dollar packs of the cutest removable wall stickers. You can get a pack for each room. They can put them on their outside door and also inside to personalize the room. The pack is a long rectangular shape. Not sure of the exact name, but they are removable wall decals. We just got off a cruise and I bought the arrows pack. They were very decorative and they helped us to remember which way was the front of the ship.

[bjcruiser]

On 9/22/2018 at 11:52 AM, Bjpontalion said:

After you create trip. Then you can add destinations, change the name...oh and for the person who said reservations didn't add well...here is the screen shot of our cruise reservations.

 

And then the info that is stored. Obviously I have paper copies of everything but is they are left at home at least I have all the confirmation #s.

 

 

Sent from my SM-T820 using Forums mobile app

 

How did you get the cruise reservation on there?  I can not figure it out. My email is forwarding but for some reason its not showing up

 

Bobbie

[bjcruiser]

On 9/25/2018 at 9:43 AM, nigeldcat said:

 

I use packing cubes when I pack and throw in several extra empty cubes into them when they are packed. As I use clothes, I pack the dirty clothes back into the unused cubes. By the end of the trip all the dirty clothes are packed in cubes, and takes no time to repack at the end of the cruise. I use one cube at end of the trip for travel clothes, so when its time to depart all I have left is a travel cube with the last nights clothes in it and a toiletry bag to take off the ship and those go back into the suitcase for the flight home.

I love this idea of the packing cubes for dirty laundry!!! I would have never thought to do that.  I see that you are in Portland. I'm in Hood River, nice to see some west coast cruisers.

 

Bobbie

[cincicruisers]

I am cruising in a couple of weeks.  Just spent the last hour and a half to get my cloths together.  I match each item with accessories, iron as needed, and then take a picture of each outfit so I know what goes with what.  

 

[michelle-nh]

I so LOVE this thread! I’ve found my tribe! Cruising is fairly new to us (one 18 years ago) but we have 4 booked in the next 18 months. Mediterranean this June, work-related conference Caribbean cruise in September, family Caribbean cruise in November (all siblings and spouses), and Alaska in June 2020. I have a separate folder and am compulsively planning for each. I’ve done the same for every trip I’ve ever taken. Rarely does everything work out to plan, but that totally okay. Planning is just so much fun!

[kscarpetta2]

On 8/15/2018 at 7:09 AM, Desert_ Dweller said:

 

bmwman,

What up with you ?? You are usually far more supportive to others comments.....really !

Maybe you just didn't have a good day.

Remember, people do things for their reasons..not ours.

 

Planning is part of travel in general. There is the anticipation, the cruise, and the memories.

 

It's just fun !!!!:cool:

 

Want to see some over the top planning ?? Have a look at the spreadsheet (below) for our roll call set up for October 2019. Port by Port by Port.

So excited to have found this thread! I feel right at home. New to CC and I can't figure out how to see your referenced spreadsheet.  Thanks!

[twoznuff2]

On 12/11/2018 at 9:52 AM, Phaedrus78 said:

We're at 6 weeks to go until our cruise, and I've been in obsessive planning mode for months now.  I'm watching room inventories every day and keeping a spreadsheet of quantities and price changes to try to get a sense of our odds for the upgrade bids we've made to go through, and I'm trying to decide what I might need to order from Amazon before we leave.

 

The current concerns are power strips, extension cords and desk fans.  We have a couple of battery-powered fans we use for camping we'll be bringing (though they do have AC adapters... shhhhhh), and I'm trying to find some kind of power strips we can use to expand our available outlets.  I also use a CPAP machine, so I need to make sure I have a way to get that plugged in at night as well.  

Care to share your spreadsheet for cabin inventory? I love a good spreadsheet. 😃

[PelicanBill]

On 8/13/2018 at 2:37 PM, PelicanBill said:

[bTW, I am in Rochester NY!]

 

As promised, Here's a link to the excessive preparations that I share with my friends on our roll call.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Hr3ItuE9WGjIqcnSANSOBZ43dXRsAQjv

 

There are several versions of the itinerary such as port schedule with ships in port with us, and a sailing legs itinerary,

and average temperatures, and more. There a list of links to weather forecasts for closest location mid day each day and marine forecasts, and ocean buoy wave conditions. Also I show what you will likely be able to see on each side of the ship and there is a sailway guide for NY/NJ for our NCL Breakway cruises. I also do a currency conversaion chart for any local currencies, and a language guide for Mexican Spanish for those ports. Oh and a list of drinks to try with the unlimited beverage plan when we have it on NCL.

 

My own personal itinerary is much like the rest of you - daily plans and options. I copy/paste all possible excursions I am interested from the cruise line and local, until we finalize our choice and then I delete what I don't need. I also copy in local maps and info on food and shopping I can find in each port. Oh, and the location of Starbucks, if any, so I can get a hit of good coffee!

 

I also have a document for my travel to my embarkation port (Train to NYC), food options and local maps for NYC, and the same for my 2 days in New Orleans after the cruise.

 

And I'm not done yet... must find more to do...

Oh and you are all welcome to steal or adapt any of my stuff. There are PDFs for some of the spreadsheets but not all files have PDFs yet.

Glad to see people are still talking here and using the things we all contribute!  I have repeated my planning for Anthem of the Seas leaving this Thursday and will again for NCL Breakaway November 2020.  Here's my promise: I have been adding sources to all my materials and adding more of my over the top shenanigans to my tool kit.  After this trip, I will publish all my stuff well enough that others could duplicate any pieces they like.  

[styme123]

1 hour ago, PelicanBill said:

Glad to see people are still talking here and using the things we all contribute!  I have repeated my planning for Anthem of the Seas leaving this Thursday and will again for NCL Breakaway November 2020.  Here's my promise: I have been adding sources to all my materials and adding more of my over the top shenanigans to my tool kit.  After this trip, I will publish all my stuff well enough that others could duplicate any pieces they like.  

I have this whole tread bookmarked as well as just rereading all of the 22 pages as I get ready for planning my next cruise. So many good ideas and knowing I'm not the only one who is OCD about planning. It just makes me more relaxed when I know all the details and options.

[texasgirl29]

Just read all 22 pages. I'm the family planner and I do the reasearch, mostly make the decisions on hotels, excursions etc. This spring I was happy to see my 21 year old daughter planning out a spring break road trip with a binder and print outs for reservations. She did learn something! 

 

I think I do just about everything mentioned here.

 

We are going on the Epic in November 2020 transatlantic. First time on NCL (previously Princess, Disney & Celebrity) so I'm obsessively eat watching YouTube videos about the ship. I sometimes feel like I have to hide it from the family -- like watching cruise porn. 

 

 

[styme123]

26 minutes ago, texasgirl29 said:

We are going on the Epic in November 2020 transatlantic. First time on NCL (previously Princess, Disney & Celebrity) so I'm obsessively eat watching YouTube videos about the ship. I sometimes feel like I have to hide it from the family -- like watching cruise porn. 

 

 

Hilarious 🤣 and yet so true!

[Morty_Mouse]

Best thread ever.  

 

I keep amazon "wishlists" for vacations, and then order something off it each time.  This is my first cruise, so that list was a little long!

 

I use box drive and make the documents viewable offline, never have to worry about wifi.  I assume it works the same on google drive.  Fourteen days to go!  (I was supposed to be on a Cuba cruise and had seen dailies for that, but now that the itinerary has switched I'm hoping to see new dailies!)

[PelicanBill]

Well this was a favorite thread of mine and it's been quiet for almost a year. Since we have noting to do BUT plan, now is a good time to share once again how we all plan!  

 

Tagging some friends on my next cruise here too:  @Bcrc3  @paradiseawaitsme 

Here's some things I do regularly to share with others on cruises with me:

* Itinerary sheet with averages hi/lo temps in F and C, and times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset.

* Careful itinerary time zone explanations, showing local time, and if possible, researching a recent cruise of same itinerary showing which days ship time will change to match local time

* Weather links for ports and maritime zones

* Port guides with maps and what do do if you just want to walk around

* Route map... example here! November 9 Breakaway reposition from NYC to New Orleans.

I post my files on Google Drive with public share links to make it easy for people and I post my documents as PDF to be most easily printed but provide the original docs for others who want to customize.

[TSUmom]

4 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

Well this was a favorite thread of mine and it's been quiet for almost a year. Since we have noting to do BUT plan, now is a good time to share once again how we all plan!  

 

Tagging some friends on my next cruise here too:  @Bcrc3  @paradiseawaitsme 

Here's some things I do regularly to share with others on cruises with me:

* Itinerary sheet with averages hi/lo temps in F and C, and times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset.

* Careful itinerary time zone explanations, showing local time, and if possible, researching a recent cruise of same itinerary showing which days ship time will change to match local time

* Weather links for ports and maritime zones

* Port guides with maps and what do do if you just want to walk around

* Route map... example here! November 9 Breakaway reposition from NYC to New Orleans.

I post my files on Google Drive with public share links to make it easy for people and I post my documents as PDF to be most easily printed but provide the original docs for others who want to customize.

Oh my you are awesome!  My planning is at a stand still right now...waiting for my August Alaska to cancel then I can put 100% in my April 2021 and May 2022.  A few new ports for us on those two so it will be fun to plan and look forward to something other than all the planning I have done for August.  

[DuckTollerFans]

So we just booked something for June 2021 and I created my usual spreadsheet where we plan things like dinners, shows, excursions.   My husband warned me not to peak too soon.    It's like he forgot who he married. :/

[BigNance]

 

So glad to see this is active again!  and some planning pointers!

Since Our Viking Russian cruise (due to leave tomorrow) was cancelled by Viking, we received a nice cruise credit.  We just rebooked the other day and now the planning can begin!! 

Here come the folders, sticky notes, and charts!

N

[cruisekitty22]

I plan the same way!  I've had my folder out since the day we re-booked our cancelled cruise in March 2020 for next February. Its pretty full already with my notes, ect.

[Petoonya]

I think I win. Usually have many to most things in the large case at 4-6 months. We take 3 week cruises so I justify it by pretending I'm really taking half the household. Had an 18 day Tahiti planned for April that was cancelled (I was fully packed 2 weeks prior) and rebooked the same cruise for April 2021. My Tahiti suitcases are still packed and I may not unpack them.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Petoonya

[mugtech]

So when you get to Tahiti in April, 2021, you will be opening suitcases that had been packed 13 months before?  Sounds like a science project.

[Petoonya]

3 hours ago, mugtech said:

So when you get to Tahiti in April, 2021, you will be opening suitcases that had been packed 13 months before?  Sounds like a science project.

Time capsule more like it!