Skip to main content

20 Days Until We Set Sail

We're really coming down to the wire with just 20 days to go before we set sail.

Amazon has been making daily deliveries ... not for the holidays ... but delivering 'must have' items that we've ordered for our trip.

Many of our excursions are booked but there are still a decent number that need to be researched and reserved. We're taking some tours offered by Crystal and some that we've booked privately. Although we usually prefer private tours, for this trip there are a number of places - particularly in Africa - where we're opting to go with a Crystal offering. One or two are for safety's sake. A couple of others are day safaris which are a distance from the port so by taking a Crystal excursion there won't be a problem if we return late.

We've both made the rounds of doctor appointments over the past couple of months - dermatologists, dentists, eye doctors & general physicians as well as a couple of other specialists. Hopefully since we checked out ok, we'll be good for at least the next 3 months. We've also had 3 months' worth of prescription medication ordered and filled. We aren't on many 'regular' medications but have gotten prescriptions for infection, nausea, migraines, diarrhea and a host of other medical conditions we might run into during our voyage. These are being stored in a large bowl in our bedroom -

Both of us have lists of non-prescription items to bring that will last us 3 months - things like contact lens solution, razor blades, suntan lotion, band-aids. over the counter medications and toiletry items. We're also bringing extra pairs of prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses. These are currently living in our bath tub -
In preparation for this trip I've spent a lot of time reading blog posts written by people who've taken world cruises as well as reading the 'World Cruise' thread on the Cruise Critic website. There are lots of interesting and helpful tips - many of them geared toward making the most use of the space in our cabin/closet/bathroom.

Did you know that cruise ship cabins are made of metal? By bringing heavy duty magnetic hooks, we can give ourselves more places to hang things. Apparently one of the other things we may want to hang are dry erase boards so we can leave messages for each other.

One other tip was to bring thin, metal hangars to replace the bulky wood ones provided by the ship. I love this suggestion as I wasn't sure we'd have enough space to hang all our clothes. There were so many helpful ideas that I now have 3 boxes in a spare bedroom filled with these hopefully useful items!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventure Begins - Part One

It's now less than 24 hours before we head out on our adventure! We are so grateful to have wonderful friends who are sending us off in style. Steve and Tresa planned a lovely Bon Voyage dinner for our last night on the Ranch. The dinner included a signature blue drink (yummy!) and a Bon Voyage cake. Kim and Don sent us off with a fun and super creative touch ... personalized Bon Voyage napkins! We used some of them but the rest are coming with us on the ship. I wonder if the butler for our cabin has ever had someone provide their own personalized napkins! Signature Drink Bon Voyage cake, signature drink and gifts! Bon Voyage Cake & Napkins Other friends have called or sent emails and e-cards to wish us bon voyage - too many to mention individually, but it means so much to us. Thanks to each and every one of you! Now that we're ready to head out I can finally answer the question - "how many suitcases are you taking?" The answer is 5 large ...

We're On Our Way!

Guests who are not on the world cruise boarded the ship on Monday. Since we boarded on Sunday and were already unpacked, we spent much of the day exploring the ship and going to the gym. At 5:15 there was a 'Muster Drill'. Fortunately we didn't need to bring our life jackets with us. At 6pm we set sail and the USC Marching Band played as we sailed off. After dinner we went to a variety show called 'Crystal in Motion' and from there we headed to the Atrium to watch the balloon drop. The balloon drop is the final part of the Bon Voyage World Cruise Countdown. Waiters handed out champagne while a quartet played music and a singer belted out tunes. The captain gave a toast and then balloons dropped as confetti rained down. Quite a fun end to the World Cruise Countdown Party! The Captain making a toast. Balloons starting to drop Lots of balloons and lots of confetti flying.. Today is Wednesday and we're on our 2nd of 5 sea days. Our fir...

A Week At Sea / Thu Feb 21 - Wed Feb 27

We have 7 full sea days crossing the Indian Ocean until we reach our next destination which is Port Louis, Mauritius. When we docked in Freemantle our butler (Marcelo) left the ship. His contract ended and he flew home to Brazil for a well deserved vacation. We're so sad to see him go as we had grown quite fond of his cheerful greetings and lovely manner. Our new butler is Jean - also from Brazil.  When we began the cruise we weren't sure what to do with the butler service that came with our cabin but it turns out that they can be very helpful with just about everything!  Each day around 5pm our butler arrives with a variety of canapes to snack on before dinner. Jean really out did himself one day with this display (partially eaten before I took the photo) of crab claws, lobster meat, cheese and crackers!   It's hard to imagine but the days at sea fly by. We're keeping busy with lots of activities including some excellent enrichment lectures and bri...