Pics of my OOT bag

[Nlackey917]

Question do you have to be doing your wedding thru Carnival to get this treatment? I am sailing Carnival but am getting married sea shore in Jamaica via a local wedding coordinator. :p

 

 

Nope! I didn't book my wedding through Carnival either. It's open to all groups.

[NL2134]

I have a year until my Carnival wedding (western caribbean cruise), but I'm already getting started on my OOT bags. Partially because I am having fun planning what to put in them, but also help spread out the cost. If I find a good deal on something, I'll buy it now. I'm anxious for the back to school sales to get some good deals. My FI already thinks I'm crazy & going overboard, but oh well. We are expecting about 40 adults and 10 kids. I've been debating one bag per room or per person. I think I'll do one per person, but a lot of stuff will only be included in one bag per room. I'm trying to keep it to items that people will actually use, preferable after the trip. I don't intend to personalize any items, since that may limit use after trip.

 

For my bags, I plan to do a convertable towel/tote bag (similar to the Itsa Towel-see photos). I love the combination concept of it and can definitely see it getting some use after the cruise. The ones I'm finding online are about $25-30 each, so I think I'm going to see if I can make them myself. When you get down to it, it's really just a towel with a couple pockets sewn on it and a strap. I'll probably make it a bit more simple than my example, since I don't think 6 side pockets are necessary. I'm still debating getting just fabric and starting from scratch on them or starting with beach towels so I don't have to hem the sides on them all. I expect them to cost about $10 each to make. If my sewing abilites don't pan out, I'll probably just do some canvas tote bags and include a beach towel in it. But, if I can make them successfully, the combo bags will be much cooler & cheaper.

 

I've already bought highlighters so people can highlight the daily activities (1 per room). I bought lanyard/holders for their cards & tips (Baumgartens #55120) (see photo) - 1 per person. The lanyards have zipper pocket in back also for tips or whatever. I got them at discountofficeitems.com for about $2.15 each (I bought 60 of them and found 15% off deal online).

 

Here are the other items I plan to put in the bags:

- Waterproof phone cases (see photo) - 1 per person

- First Aid Kit or maybe just a couple band-aids & antibiotic ointment - 1 per room

- Tylenol or Asprin

- Pepto-Bismul chewable tablets

- Imodium

- Dramamine

- Sunscreen

- After Sun Aloe Vera

- Chap Stick

- Pen & Post-It Notes (I think I'll do custom post-its through Vistaprint) - 1 per room

Reusable water bottles or mugs (20oz or larger) - 1 per person

- Snacks - I'm want to get items that go with the cruise theme (Chips Ahoy, Lifesavers, Sun Chips, Goldfish Crackers, Hersheys Kisses)

- Single Crystal Light drink mixes (probably 2 per person)

- Duct tape (about 4 feet long) & safety pins (1 per room)

- Hand sanitizer - travel bottle - 1 per person

- A few hand sanitizer wipes that they can put in their lanyard holder

- A spanish-english translation booklet - I'm printing this up myself. It's about 4 pages long & the size of business card, so they can put it in their pocket or lanyard. It has basic phrase translations (where is bathroom?, How much is this?, etc.) along with a few fun translations I hope they don't need (There is an eel in my pants!, I didn't do anything illegal!, Can I just pay a fine instead of jail?, etc.) - 1 per person

- Maybe disposable waterproof cameras (1 per room)

- Electric outlet splitter (1 per room)

- Deck of playing cards (1 per room)

- Color book & crayons for kids (1 each kid)

- Custom do not disturb door hangers (1 per room)

- Maps of the different destinations (1 per room)

 

I also plan to do a welcome letter, a list of guests & cabin numbers, trip schedule, and dining info. I'm also thinking of planning out a scavenger hunt for the first day. I may include the scavenger hunt list in the OOT bags and have prizes of Cruise gift cards for the winners.

 

About a month before the cruise, I also plan to mail everyone info on the destinations & excursion options. I will send them custom luggage tags. I'm also looking at Cruise tag holders (basically large plastic luggage tags to protect your cruise tags), but they seem rather pricey.

 

This list may grow or shrink depending on what I can actually afford over the next year.