Compulsive cruise prep

[StampedersFans]

OMG after reading this I do not feel alone!  We booked our cruise around 50 days before departure, we sail on Epic Jan 12,2019) and I started packing that day.  I started a detailed spreadsheet so I don't forget anything and don't pack too much of something.  I find that this helps me relax,honestly, before the cruise.

[GUEST71919]

8 hours ago, Erinolearyjd said:

Me too!!!!! Lmao. 

Mine doesn’t do that, but he does wait until just as we are packing and then has the nerve to start asking this and that like suddenly the info is important. You know those 4,234,911,023 things I mentioned in the last 6-12 months?! 😼🤬😡🤯

[GUEST71919]

6 hours ago, lizp said:

 

 

 

A lot of us do the “too many earrings” thing, you are in good company; 5 swimsuits? Live and learn yes?; and that shampoo issue... it is hard to calculate shampoo and conditioner (to the point I may just start taking the regular bottles!). Glad your cruise went well and welcome home! 🤗

 

Lynn

[lizp]

16 hours ago, 2Beeze said:

 

A lot of us do the “too many earrings” thing, you are in good company; 5 swimsuits? Live and learn yes?; and that shampoo issue... it is hard to calculate shampoo and conditioner (to the point I may just start taking the regular bottles!). Glad your cruise went well and welcome home! 🤗

 

Lynn

 

I actually had on my list to bring 2 x 2oz bottles of shampoo.... it just didn't happen!  Would have been just enough for the two of us for two weeks.  

[Phaedrus78]

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.  

[StampedersFans]

When we travel I use solid shampoo bars and solid conditioner.  One solid bar of shampoo = 3 bottles of shampoo.  I am very particular about what shampoo I use.  Most shampoos bug my scalp.  Plus I can take them on my carry on as they are not liquids.

 

I keep my spreadsheet open on my computer and always check it to see if I've missed something or packed too much of something.

 

My parents have been cruising for years and my Dad has a CPAP machine.  He has the TA let the cruise line know in advance and when he gets to his stateroom there is always a extention cord and a gallon of distilled water for him.  They have cruised almost every other cruise line except for NCL.

[lizp]

14 minutes ago, 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.  

 

How many outlets do we really need anymore? 

 

I know when we did our first cruise 10 years ago, we needed a TON: hair appliances, laptops, camera batteries, iPod, etc etc.  But now..... We have a USB plug in brick with 4 USB outlets that can charge everything (phones and  iPads are all we travel with, plus a couple of external battery packs to take on excursions) except our camera battery and bluetooth speaker.  Curling iron and hair straightener only get plugged in when using them, CPAP only takes up one outlet.  We just got off the Pearl for 2 weeks and had zero issues with the number of power points (balcony cabin: one outlet at the vanity mirror beside the hair dryer, 2 power and 2 USB outlets under the TV, and 2 USB outlets in the wall sconces beside the bed), and we're heavy tech users.  The new USB outlets in the bedside sconce lights were VERY handy for charging our phones overnight, we didn't even use the USB brick!!  

Edited December 11, 2018 by lizp

[Phaedrus78]

22 minutes ago, lizp said:

 

How many outlets do we really need anymore? 

 

I know when we did our first cruise 10 years ago, we needed a TON: hair appliances, laptops, camera batteries, iPod, etc etc.  But now..... We have a USB plug in brick with 4 USB outlets that can charge everything (phones and  iPads are all we travel with, plus a couple of external battery packs to take on excursions) except our camera battery and bluetooth speaker.  Curling iron and hair straightener only get plugged in when using them, CPAP only takes up one outlet.  We just got off the Pearl for 2 weeks and had zero issues with the number of power points (balcony cabin: one outlet at the vanity mirror beside the hair dryer, 2 power and 2 USB outlets under the TV, and 2 USB outlets in the wall sconces beside the bed), and we're heavy tech users.  The new USB outlets in the bedside sconce lights were VERY handy for charging our phones overnight, we didn't even use the USB brick!!  

 

We're on the Epic, and one of the common complaints I've seen is that there are very few outlets, and they're in a very out-of-the-way location.  From what I'm hearing USB outlets aren't a thing on the Epic yet.  So we'll need to at least bring something to give us some additional USB ports, and maybe a couple additional power outlets.  

 

I've got some solutions at home already, but they have surge protectors on them as well.  Surge protectors are on the naughty list.  So off to Amazon I go...

[lizp]

1 hour ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

We're on the Epic, and one of the common complaints I've seen is that there are very few outlets, and they're in a very out-of-the-way location.  From what I'm hearing USB outlets aren't a thing on the Epic yet.  So we'll need to at least bring something to give us some additional USB ports, and maybe a couple additional power outlets.  

 

I've got some solutions at home already, but they have surge protectors on them as well.  Surge protectors are on the naughty list.  So off to Amazon I go...

 

We have and older version of this: https://www.amazon.ca/Anker-Charger-Foldable-PowerPort-Samsung/dp/B00VH8G1SY?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_7774590011

 

While it does say it has surge protection, We didn't have any issue bringing it on board.

 

It travels everywhere we go.  

Edited December 11, 2018 by lizp

[GUEST71919]

10 hours ago, 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.

 

Oh yes, I remember that you said you do that - I need to wrangle you into helping me do the same thing... you enjoy it so much, so doing it for me would be twice the fun!!! 😬. On plugs, we have had good luck with having enough, thankfully. But I know many of the Epic rooms have that odd shape/set up. I think the strips are ok, but the surge protectors aren’t... ?

 

when will you be on the Epic? We said toward the end of Jan.

Edited December 12, 2018 by 2Beeze

[Phaedrus78]

9 hours ago, lizp said:

 

We have and older version of this: https://www.amazon.ca/Anker-Charger-Foldable-PowerPort-Samsung/dp/B00VH8G1SY?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_7774590011

 

While it does say it has surge protection, We didn't have any issue bringing it on board.

 

It travels everywhere we go.  

 

I'm thinking about going with something like this.  It claims to be cruise ship compliant: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0773H94GR/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0773H94GR&pd_rd_w=FONLw&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=kHyqr&pf_rd_r=Q33TRB0GZ9XPKDVB62GE&pd_rd_r=c91d0d07-fdcc-11e8-b9c1-d922174ca744

[Phaedrus78]

1 hour ago, 2Beeze said:

Oh yes, I remember that you said you do that - I need to wrangle you into helping me do the same thing... you enjoy it so much, so doing it for me would be twice the fun!!! 😬. On plugs, we have had good luck with having enough, thankfully. But I know many of the Epic rooms have that odd shape/set up. I think the strips are ok, but the surge protectors aren’t... ?

 

when will you be on the Epic? We said toward the end of Jan.

 

I think we're on the same sailing, January 23 for 10 days.

 

For what it's worth, the only real movement in the past week and a half has been slight price drops on GUAR balcony and all things Haven, and a slight increase on GUAR mini-suites.  Inventory I can see is dropping slowly for all 3 categories, though a bunch of balcony rooms came available about a week ago that weren't showing before.  Not sure what's up with that.

 

And I have no idea what any of that means for upgrade changes.  Just because I'm obsessing over it doesn't mean I understand any of it.  

[GUEST71919]

8 hours ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

I think we're on the same sailing, January 23 for 10 days.

 

For what it's worth, the only real movement in the past week and a half has been slight price drops on GUAR balcony and all things Haven, and a slight increase on GUAR mini-suites.  Inventory I can see is dropping slowly for all 3 categories, though a bunch of balcony rooms came available about a week ago that weren't showing before.  Not sure what's up with that.

 

And I have no idea what any of that means for upgrade changes.  Just because I'm obsessing over it doesn't mean I understand any of it.  

Oh yes, I do recall now. That roll call was just the strangest I ever experienced so was no sense in staying around. We are looking forward to it. We cruise sometimes with my sister and when we do the 2 br 2 ba Haven is perfect for us and we book that directly. We have never done to “upgrade thing”, seems pretty stressful though 😑 I will cross my fingers that what you want happens! Look for us 😊

 

Lynn

Edited December 12, 2018 by 2Beeze

[marktwothousand]

I sicken myself prepping for cruises...literally. My mind gets so worn out by prep when the sailing time rolls around, I usually end up with a cold or severe mental fatigue by the time I board.

 

Also, major work out routines at the gym in the weeks leading up to the cruise usually lead to major weight loss, and then no clothes fit, and I never get time to buy them before the cruise because I'm too tired from all the stress. This round, I have lost somewhere pushing 35-40 pounds.

 

Also, because I tend to fall ill on cruises with sore throats (too much talking), congestion (bumming ciggies) or just general respiratory or digestive ailments, I have an entire bathroom bag just dedicated to medication.

 

Not to mention electronics and digital entertainment... loading up the iPad with movies for the plane and stateroom to help me fall asleep, games, downloading music for my portable speaker.

 

Any advice is welcome 😞 I have a list of shopping and packing to conquer and its overwhelming. I am set to leave next week and almost collapsed at the mall from the stress last night. I was just wide-eyed like a zombie looking for stuff for the cruise, but it was fruitless because I was braindead. Please help.

[Erinolearyjd]

1 minute ago, marktwothousand said:

I sicken myself prepping for cruises...literally. My mind gets so worn out by prep when the sailing time rolls around, I usually end up with a cold or severe mental fatigue by the time I board.

 

Also, major work out routines at the gym in the weeks leading up to the cruise usually lead to major weight loss, and then no clothes fit, and I never get time to buy them before the cruise because I'm too tired from all the stress. This round, I have lost somewhere pushing 35-40 pounds.

 

Also, because I tend to fall ill on cruises with sore throats (too much talking), congestion (bumming ciggies) or just general respiratory or digestive ailments, I have an entire bathroom bag just dedicated to medication.

 

Not to mention electronics and digital entertainment... loading up the iPad with movies for the plane and stateroom to help me fall asleep, games, downloading music for my portable speaker.

 

Any advice is welcome 😞 I have a list of shopping and packing to conquer and its overwhelming. I am set to leave next week and almost collapsed at the mall from the stress last night. I was just wide-eyed like a zombie looking for stuff for the cruise, but it was fruitless because I was braindead. Please help.

Being its my first cruise, I suspect my advise should be taken for what it is worth. I will NOT make "you're luck you can lose weight jokes" because for all of us, it is such a different thing!!!  That said, as an anxious person (who loves the planning and feeds into it) I recommend MEDITATION.  Literally five minutes a day.  No oms required, just get an app that does a guided 5 minute med (I love stop breathe think).  Best of luck! and here is to your health!

[cruiseagona]

I have the perfect project to keep all cruise planners busy for some time. I have an "Office Depot Bound Presentation Book with 12 Pockets". It has every bit of information one would ever need. The idea was that g-d forbid something happens to one of us, all the other person would need to do is pick up this booklet and everything would be in it. You print out your pages and then slip them in the clear pockets. I'll tell you what I have.

- Cover page has Itinerary listed. (We're spending 1-1/2 weeks in California before our 2 week Panama Canal cruise from Long Beach to Miami. So there is lots to list.

- Page 1 -Emergency Contact Information

- Page 2- Medications & Surgery listed for both of us

- Page 3 - Cruise Documents

- Page 4 - Tours/Excursions Listed

- Page 5 - Tours/Excursions Description (I broke it down this way because my husband can't remember what is going on. This way I can give him the "cruise bible" and he can read everything that he wants.)

- Page 6 - Luggage Tags

- Page 7 - Address of Cruise Boarding

(These next pages are very important. If you make this booklet, you'll only need to do this one time. Keep the booklet just for traveling.)

- Page 8 - Two Copies of my birth certificate

- Page 9 - Two copies of husband's birth certificate

(You should have two copies because if you need to give someone a copy, you still have a copy for yourself. You should also have a copy of your birth certificate on your phone. We learned this the hard way. Almost missed cruise cause passport was in suitcase which was sent on to ship. My brother had to "break into" our house and safe to email us copy of birth certificate. NCL would accept it. They will NOT accept a copy of your passport as proof.

- Page 10- Two copies of our driver's license

- Page 11 - Three copies of our passport. (We will be in South America. Passport will stay on ship. We will have one copy of our passport with us. Two other copies in this booklet. This way if ours is stolen and we need to give someone a copy, we still have one copy for ourself.

- Page 12 - Marriage Certificate - Just because it seems like we should have it in case of emergency.

- Page 13 - National Park Pass - We're traveling around California first. 

- Page 14 - Flight information

- Page 15- Receipts Pockets

(So there you have it. For all us overpackers, OCDers, and trip planning fanatics, this should keep you busy for a while. Enjoy. It was so much fun to make and I feel very safe having it. Any questions, just ask.

[BigNance]

33 minutes ago, cruiseagona said:

I have the perfect project to keep all cruise planners busy for some time. I have an "Office Depot Bound Presentation Book with 12 Pockets". It has every bit of information one would ever need. The idea was that g-d forbid something happens to one of us, all the other person would need to do is pick up this booklet and everything would be in it. You print out your pages and then slip them in the clear pockets. I'll tell you what I have.

- Cover page has Itinerary listed. (We're spending 1-1/2 weeks in California before our 2 week Panama Canal cruise from Long Beach to Miami. So there is lots to list.

- Page 1 -Emergency Contact Information

- Page 2- Medications & Surgery listed for both of us

- Page 3 - Cruise Documents

- Page 4 - Tours/Excursions Listed

- Page 5 - Tours/Excursions Description (I broke it down this way because my husband can't remember what is going on. This way I can give him the "cruise bible" and he can read everything that he wants.)

- Page 6 - Luggage Tags

- Page 7 - Address of Cruise Boarding

(These next pages are very important. If you make this booklet, you'll only need to do this one time. Keep the booklet just for traveling.)

- Page 8 - Two Copies of my birth certificate

- Page 9 - Two copies of husband's birth certificate

(You should have two copies because if you need to give someone a copy, you still have a copy for yourself. You should also have a copy of your birth certificate on your phone. We learned this the hard way. Almost missed cruise cause passport was in suitcase which was sent on to ship. My brother had to "break into" our house and safe to email us copy of birth certificate. NCL would accept it. They will NOT accept a copy of your passport as proof.

- Page 10- Two copies of our driver's license

- Page 11 - Three copies of our passport. (We will be in South America. Passport will stay on ship. We will have one copy of our passport with us. Two other copies in this booklet. This way if ours is stolen and we need to give someone a copy, we still have one copy for ourself.

- Page 12 - Marriage Certificate - Just because it seems like we should have it in case of emergency.

- Page 13 - National Park Pass - We're traveling around California first. 

- Page 14 - Flight information

- Page 15- Receipts Pockets

(So there you have it. For all us overpackers, OCDers, and trip planning fanatics, this should keep you busy for a while. Enjoy. It was so much fun to make and I feel very safe having it. Any questions, just ask.

Well, just WOW!

I don't have the bound booklet, but I do have packets of everything EXCEPT the birth certificates!!  (and the marriage certificate).  One more packet to make!!  And I think I am going to look for that book with pockets....

Thanks!

[GUEST71919]

8 hours ago, cruiseagona said:

I have the perfect project to keep all cruise planners busy for some time. I have an "Office Depot Bound Presentation Book with 12 Pockets". It has every bit of information one would ever need. The idea was that g-d forbid something happens to one of us, all the other person would need to do is pick up this booklet and everything would be in it. You print out your pages and then slip them in the clear pockets. I'll tell you what I have.......

Ok, I will now stop laughing at my husband for having a cardboard style folder with a pocket on each side holding all our papers as overkill 😂 I think you have succeeded in being safe, you may be the safest person on the entire ship!  funny part is that I am the prepper/organizer, but he is the one with the folder!!!  You definitely have the criteria met to join our little club 😊

 

Lynn

 

FYI - hotels once required couples to show a marriage license when checking into a hotel together (my parents had to show their freshly minted certificate at the hotel in St. Augustine, FL on their honeymoon). 🧐

Edited December 13, 2018 by 2Beeze

[sirenitas]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this site cruisetimetables (not sure if I am allowed to post a link).  Click on "Ports of Call", it shows how many ships are in port on specific dates. Another site that does this is cruisett.  Love it when it says we are the only ship in port that day!

[Phaedrus78]

54 minutes ago, sirenitas said:

I don't think anyone has mentioned this site cruisetimetables (not sure if I am allowed to post a link).  Click on "Ports of Call", it shows how many ships are in port on specific dates. Another site that does this is cruisett.  Love it when it says we are the only ship in port that day!

 

Nice, that's neat.

Holy cow, we're one of 6 ships in Cozumel on the same day.  😕

[BigNance]

I use Cruise TT.  It was nice to see we were the only ship going to Santorini on our October cruise!!  I could relax and not have to plan alternate routes up to Thira!

[RedwingHockeyFan]

15 minutes ago, Phaedrus78 said:

 

Nice, that's neat.

Holy cow, we're one of 6 ships in Cozumel on the same day.  😕

 

Yeah Cozumel gets packed.  Though there are two different ports that are about a mile apart or so.  I was there this past February on the Epic and I believe the Harmony of the Seas was one of the ships at the other port.  We drove right past the other port on an excursion to Playa Maya.  Might have been 6 ships there that day too, 4 and 2.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

Just checked my cruise on the Getaway in January and there will be 7 ships in Cozumel that day.

[GUEST71919]

1 hour ago, sirenitas said:

I don't think anyone has mentioned this site cruisetimetables (not sure if I am allowed to post a link).  Click on "Ports of Call", it shows how many ships are in port on specific dates. Another site that does this is cruisett.  Love it when it says we are the only ship in port that day!

 

I was so surprised the first time I realized that there were all these sites dedicated to the minute details of cruise ships!  Cruisemapper,  Cruisecal,  Crew-center .... at least one shows images from each  camera on most ships, others show where the ships is a given day/time (looking at the full cruise ship maps make it clear just how many are out there!). There is enough data for a long deep dive! Definitely a dream come true some compulsive preppers!

 

The site that I use neglected to show Jan 31st for our upcoming cruise... do you think it fell into the Bermuda Triangle?! 🤷🏼‍♀️🙇🏼‍♀️

 

Lynn

[By the Sea I’ll Be]

Up till now I’ve been silently lurking on this topic and feeling relieved to know that I am not alone in my obsessing over my upcoming cruise (this will be my first one).

 

BUT today is the magical day I’ve been waiting for....120 days to sailing. I got up two hours early so I could book all my dining and entertainment before heading out to work. But so far the only options that seem to be available for reservations are Taste and The Manhattan Room. Surely by 6 a.m. all of available slots had not been reserved, right???? I’m completely distressed! Was I wrong in thinking the specialty restaurants and shows would be available to book today?