Less than a month before sailing and I have figured out one thing, our new best friend is going to be the red cap! I can easily do a two week vacation in one bag but this more like moving somewhere for 3 or 4 months where the only easy shopping is aboard, at Neiman Marcus prices. Of course, you can shop in port, but I don't want to waste our limited time ashore shopping for hair spray and deodorant in a port where you have to first locate a store, find the word for deodorant in Thai and you are working in a foreign currency. My solution has been to try to take it all! We are allowed to ship three bags a piece for free, so surely that should more than do it. I doubt Jim will even fill two - that is a man thing - but I feel that the bag with the computer, cameras, surge protector, books, sunscreen etc. is a community bag and really shouldn't be counted as all mine! That bag also holds my big ice tea jug and 100 decaf tea bags. Those who know me well will understand, those that don't - lets just say the last time I ate out, after refilling my ice tea glass for the 4th time, the waitress asked me if I would prefer to just take it by I.V. I guess more to the point, I wasn't insulted and gave it some thought.
The next problem is, when you get it all aboard, where do you unpack it? I am thinking the space under the beds will become my supply closet. If Jim can't find me I will tell him to always check under the beds first where I suspect I will be spending a great deal of my time searching for my extra tube of moisturizer, new batteries or the umbrella. I am already wondering if I can just toss those bulky life jackets overboard to make room for the really important stuff.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
World Cruise 2012
November 19, 2011
Since I don't have a Facebook page - several friends suggested I set up a blog as an easy way for them to follow our upcoming world cruise. This made sense to me as you could just read it - when or if - we were in any port that interested to you. This is mainly journaling, as a reminder for me - as my kids will tell you, I can't remember being in Cozumel if we make more than one stop on the way home ... so don't expect brilliance. Since we were told contact would be expensive and difficult much of the trip, I thought I would give this a try. Please note - I cannot proof my own writing so just add, subtract, change or fill in words as needed!
First, the getting ready concerns
The first challenge of course is how you pack for a trip lasting from January to May. I understand layering - but hot, cold, formal, casual, swim wear, remembering to take a head scarf for Muslim countries as I have no hijab in my current wardrobe etc. There is a site for people taking this particular cruise. Imagine my surprise when I read that quite a number of couples have taken this “once in a lifetime" cruise 2 or 3 times before! They are the ones saying be sure to remember to pack power strips, tape, a night light etc. A night light? I haven't even figured out the basics yet like how many bottles of vitamins and fish oil do I need to pack? Will my black slacks still fit after the first month of cruise dining? I do have a weakness for shoes, so this is a problem. For someone who once owned a closet full of shoes - packing 5 or 6 pairs will be a challenge. Of course I had shoes dating back to the 70's, in colors they have known better than to make for last 30 years. I finally made a Goodwill run and am down to a reasonable number to select from now. Do you take the shampoo you like or make do with what they have in your stateroom? (Stateroom - that sounds sooo much larger than it is.) Do you try to take toiletries for the whole trip or just until the next "shoppable" port? Does Shanghai or Mumbai carry Arid extra dry? Can you buy Crossword Puzzle books in Slovenia? These are just some of the questions I am pondering. Having lived overseas I pretty much got over brand loyalties so I suspect these won't be my biggest concerns. I am saving my real worries for the more crucial things – like, is the cabin size going to shrink a little with every passing week? Could I decorate the balcony and make it into a sitting room? It is a long trip, what if, we realize we have heard our table mates best stories - twice already - and we are still in week one of the cruise. So this then becomes my first attempt at blogging. There is only about a 50/50 chance that I will be able to find this site again to continue. Should I find it again - I will post more later.
Since I don't have a Facebook page - several friends suggested I set up a blog as an easy way for them to follow our upcoming world cruise. This made sense to me as you could just read it - when or if - we were in any port that interested to you. This is mainly journaling, as a reminder for me - as my kids will tell you, I can't remember being in Cozumel if we make more than one stop on the way home ... so don't expect brilliance. Since we were told contact would be expensive and difficult much of the trip, I thought I would give this a try. Please note - I cannot proof my own writing so just add, subtract, change or fill in words as needed!
First, the getting ready concerns
The first challenge of course is how you pack for a trip lasting from January to May. I understand layering - but hot, cold, formal, casual, swim wear, remembering to take a head scarf for Muslim countries as I have no hijab in my current wardrobe etc. There is a site for people taking this particular cruise. Imagine my surprise when I read that quite a number of couples have taken this “once in a lifetime" cruise 2 or 3 times before! They are the ones saying be sure to remember to pack power strips, tape, a night light etc. A night light? I haven't even figured out the basics yet like how many bottles of vitamins and fish oil do I need to pack? Will my black slacks still fit after the first month of cruise dining? I do have a weakness for shoes, so this is a problem. For someone who once owned a closet full of shoes - packing 5 or 6 pairs will be a challenge. Of course I had shoes dating back to the 70's, in colors they have known better than to make for last 30 years. I finally made a Goodwill run and am down to a reasonable number to select from now. Do you take the shampoo you like or make do with what they have in your stateroom? (Stateroom - that sounds sooo much larger than it is.) Do you try to take toiletries for the whole trip or just until the next "shoppable" port? Does Shanghai or Mumbai carry Arid extra dry? Can you buy Crossword Puzzle books in Slovenia? These are just some of the questions I am pondering. Having lived overseas I pretty much got over brand loyalties so I suspect these won't be my biggest concerns. I am saving my real worries for the more crucial things – like, is the cabin size going to shrink a little with every passing week? Could I decorate the balcony and make it into a sitting room? It is a long trip, what if, we realize we have heard our table mates best stories - twice already - and we are still in week one of the cruise. So this then becomes my first attempt at blogging. There is only about a 50/50 chance that I will be able to find this site again to continue. Should I find it again - I will post more later.
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