What is your day/night before cruise ritual

[lori450]

We live in a western suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, so the port is either 10 minutes away (Port Everglades) or 45 minutes away (Port of Miami). The day before our cruises I invariably have to work. So, after work I finish cleaning the houe, taking out the trash, making business arrangements and dropping off the dog. I have already been packing and have a packing list I use each cruise. I will have altered the list months before in anticipation of the new activities or historical lessons.

Although, the build up for the last couple of cruises has been less exciting, I still enjoy the process.

[Amink]

something notoriously goes wrong for us.

 

The day before Our last Cruise, Dh was supposed to be home from work early, I got home at 2pm, did some last minute packing/checking. But we still had to pick up the tux at men's warehouse.

 

At 1:30 DH calls me at work, someone had smashed the window on his truck and stolen his cell phone. So he had to go back to the office, report it to his boss, get the truck to the repair center, start the works for a new phone, get another company car and then make the 2 hour drive home, which was more like 4, because of the traffic.

 

He didn't get home till after 8:30pm, we had to quick run out to the Men's wharehouse get the tux, then we stopped at KFC for dinner.

 

Go back home, get the dogs ready to leave. Managed to get some sleep.

 

In the morning, the office calls, they need him to take care of a few jobs before we go on vacation. We were planning on trying to board by 11am, but found out the ship was 7 hours late, and not to get to the peir till between 6-8pm.

 

So we load up our luggage, the dogs and then hit the road for DH's customers. Do a few jobs, take the dogs to the inlaws, hang out for a an hour or two, grab dinner and head to the peir. We got there at 7pm and still waited 4 hours to get on the ship...

 

We always start our vacations off with a bang! Turned out to be our best vacation though!

[texancruzer]

We too arrive in port city at least a day early....

 

Galveston - we drove up the day before and had a nice dinner, walked along the waterfront, had a good nights sleep and leisurely breakfast before heading over the the ship.

 

San Juan - we arrived on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) for our Sat night 10 pm departure so had ALOT of fun exploring Old San Juan. Our best friends flew in Fri at noon and we also hit the salsa bars on Fri. night.

 

For my upcoming Tampa departure I am flying to Florida on Wed. to visiti my kids for a few days in Daytona and then dd and I will drive over to Tampa on Sat. morning.....

 

I usually have my bags packed a week ahead.....have hair and nails done 3 days ahead, grocery shop and clean house 2 days ahead for house/dog sitter and then last day I rest......

[sharpie13]

Pack!

[bdette4]

Well there is usually a group of us ladies going so we pick one persons house and have a pre-cruise party and stay over and have the limo come and pick us up the next morning for our trek to the airport.

[HHFamily]

I am definately with those who can't sleep the night before a cruise. Way too excited!

[leighj]

I'm typically made fun of for having at least laid everything out if not packed it anywhere from two weeks to a month ahead. :D But as the cruise approaches (BTW, I leave for Miami on Saturday for my Freedom cruise!!!!!), I turn into a nervous nellie about the paperwork, checking and rechecking. So the night before is a combination of going over that for the umpteenth time, setting three or four alarm clocks, cleaning up the house, and banging back how ever many gin and tonics it takes to relax enough to rest! ;)

[slotaddict]

I am packed days before its time to go, I just cannot leave it until the day before. I am up early because, who can sleep when you are cruising the next day. I usually clean a little, make sure the wash is done, then if I am cruising with friends, invite them over for cocktails.

[Treven]

The afternoon prior I take my dog to the vet's for boarding. That night late I pack. To fall asleep, I pop two Valium in addition to my normal sleeping pills; "better living through chemistry"!

Fortunately my next cruise is out of San Diego & Southwest has a flight down to there about every hour. Because of their frequency, I'm flying out late a.m. & arrive about noon for a 7 p.m. departure.

[lknight27]

To fall asleep, I pop two Valium in addition to my normal sleeping pills

 

Two Valium and sleeping pills :eek: :eek: :eek: ! It's any wonder if you actually wake up after taking all this. Have you ever had problems waking up the next morning or better yet missing your flight from over sleeping taking all that? I'm afraid to take aspirin on an empty stomach let alone valium on top of sleeping pills. I even hate taking Nyquil because the next morning I feel crappy and groggy, but I must admit I sleep like a baby after I take it. :)

 

I guess I'll just stick with my normal remedy of having a cocktail or two before the night before to help my nerves.

[bobbie0253]

Bobbie, you crack me up! I do the same thing.... Are you meeting us at Fishlips on Saturday!?

 

Kelly (wife of Waterrats...)

 

 

Kelly,

 

No we will probably just grab something to eat nearby that night. We will be by the pool when you guys get back....stop and say Hi :) I'll be the one with the wine glass :D

 

Bobbie

[cme]

Alexis I hope you and Walt have a wonderful time on your cruise. I have enjoyed reading your posts leading up to the big b2b.:) Just think you are going to be Diamond very soon:D Its such a good feeling.

 

Take care and have a safe journey to Miami.

 

Keith and Carrie

[lawsoncd3]

Seven days and counting. Hopefully, I'll be able to get off the boards to pack and clean! Hi, my name is Dona and I'm addicted to CC... there really should be a 12 step program for this!!

 

I've enjoyed reading all your posts! Did you guys ever notice that on RCI's website there isn't a FAQ marked: what to do the night before when I can't sleep?

 

D :)

[starlite713]

I go out to a movie the night before, just to TRY to get my mind off of it for a while. And if its not too late I just wonder around the mall, not to buy anything ((gotta save that money for the trip;) )) but to just keep busy. Then I come home and pack my carry on bag. ((Grandma does all the heavy packing..haha)) And a funny thing I do is clean my room, again, to take my mind off of it and not look at the clock so much and I like coming home to a clean room cause I KNOW I won't be in the mood to clean when I return. I just try ti stay busy that whole day until I feel that I can sleep. And as for as sleeping goes, its soooo hard. I must sleep for 30 mins each time before waking up, looking at the clock and seeing I still have hours to go. But thank God Miami is 6 hours away and I'm good at sleeping in cars;)

[CruisingCatherine]

I take a cruise every year with my Mother, Aunt, and sometimes a 4th person. Every year we book appt.s for a manicure and pedicure for the day before we fly out. After our pampering we head to the mall for any last minute buys (typically shoes, purses, or jewelry) After walking our legs off we have a very nice lunch. When we get back we add any last minute purchases to our bags and we load the car. By this time we have a nice dinner with some champagne, margaritas, or wine to toast our journey. After a jacuzzi bath we are relaxed and ready for bed.

 

No problem sleeping for our group!:p Course it just might be the alcohol with lunch and with dinner. Does it everytime.:eek:

[chelsea_gal]

Well this is my second cruise within a year so no real ritual's developed as yet. Other than eating out the night before as I also hate dirty dishes in the house.

 

All I can report is that it a week away from when we sail on MOS and I have packed already ( well pretty much most things are in the suitcases)

 

Suitcase is still open and are only half full... took the tips from the board here and have managed to reduce the amount of clothes we take.

 

We have left the cases open so that I can throw the last minute stuff in ( ie shoes, toiletbags) and pack the garment bag with formal clothes.

 

I have to say that we are flying into Orlando a few days early to get into the vacation mood. So I guess that could be our ritual from now on.

 

All that I can say is that flying in on the day was way too stressful... and I was tired for days.