Getting Ready for Our Next Cruise!

Today, I worked half day and then came home to finish packing.  I'm not sure why I did that as I normally take the whole day off.  It doesn't help that today I'm feeling a bit stressed.

I have been packing for our upcoming cruise for about a week now.  Hubby packed last night and this afternoon I'm doing a final pack to make sure the weight of each luggage is under 50 lbs.  So far, they are around 42 lbs each.

I double-check to make I have the required documents:  passports for each of us, boarding passes for our flight, boarding passes for our cruise, and other cruise related documents.  Also copies of our passports that I take with me when we're in port and on our excursions.  I have a plastic waterproof box that I wear around my neck like a big necklace.  In this box I have our passport copies, small bills for tipping, and cruise cards (when we get them on the ship).  This plastic box goes with into the water with me when we're snorkeling or just swimming at the beach.  Sorry to digress.

This will be our ninth cruise with Princess.  We've been on the Golden, Sea, Emerald, and Crown.  This Saturday, we'll be back on the Emerald Princess, one of our favorite ships.  We will be sailing the Eastern Caribbean itinerary:  Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, St Kitts/Nevis, St Thomas and ending with Grand Turk. We haven't done this itinerary in years and look forward to re-visiting the islands again.

Normally, I'm pinching pennies and looking for an inexpensive snorkeling/beach excursion around $50 pp.  After a couple of ports with excursions...they start to add up.  This year, we're splurging a bit on our excursions.  Yes, I've picked out expensive ones starting around $100 pp.  Hubby agreed with me that we need to have fun and enjoy ourselves.  We work hard, we should play hard!

While we save up for our cruises, I also save up for our tipping money.  When we come home from a cruise with extra tipping money, I save it for the next cruise.  During the year, when I go out to lunch at work I take my change money and put it towards the tipping  money.  Yes, I use cash whenever I go out to lunch.  That way I don't spend too much on food and I know the change is going to a good cause...our cruise!

Are we big tippers?  Yes!  We tip when we get great service.  We have been to over 20 islands in the Caribbean.  Didn't think there were that many, huh?  We see many islanders working hard for very little pay. While we think they live in poor conditions, that is their normal way of life.  Many don't live the lifestyle we live.  Many don't know what we know.  It's our way of giving something back.  Saying thank you.  Again, I digress.

We are so looking forward to our vacation.  We are tired from work and hustle and bustle of our everyday schedule.  We know it will take a few days to do some serious unwinding.  That's why we have two days in Fort Lauderdale before getting on our ship.  I have a funny feeling it will take me longer to unwind.  So many details and things keep going through my head.  Like right now...have I forgotten to pack something?

After many cruises under our belt, I have learned to keep a packing list.  It's written in a little notebook I keep as well as on my iPhone.  The packing list has been refined over the years.  Some things get removed, some things get added.

We've also learned to take one luggage per person and under the 50 lb limit.  I do all the packing as I know where things should go in the suitcase.  We no longer do formal nights on the ship.  That's at least 10 lbs of clothes right there.  Instead, we pack our snorkel gear:  fins, masks, and snorkels.  Everything fits in each luggage like a puzzle piece.

For carry-on, we each have one backpack.  That's it!  Hubby carries all the P&S cameras (there are 3 of them now!), the rechargers and cables, underwater housing for one of the P&S, his iPad, and magazines.

I found a really cool camera combo backpack.  On the bottom is a special zippered area that houses a padded box-like pouch that contains my DSLR with lens, small flash, and an extra lens.  The upper part of my backpack holds my rechargeable batteries (for all the cameras), all the media cards we need, my quart-sized zip-lock bag for hand sanitizer and other lotions, contact lens (Hubby and myself), and my sunglasses and eyeglasses. In the front area of my backpack I have my ultra-portable laptop and iPad.  It's a bit heavy, but I've managed to get everything into one single bag for myself.

We are all packed and ready to go.

We get a text message in the evening that our transportation will arrive shortly to pick us up and take us to our hotel near the airport.  It's been awhile since I've had to use a taxi and getting a text message was a nice surprise.

We arrive at the hotel near Reagan National airport.  I'm exhausted and we haven't started our real travel and vacation.  It must be an age-thing!