Introduction to Cruise Series + How I Plan For Long Vacations
Happy July everyone! With summer well underway, I thought it would be the perfect time to begin my Cruise Series, which will consist of a series of posts that will be travel themed in preparation for my vacation. I will be going on a Carribbean cruise with my grandpa, his wife, my aunt, her fiancee, my two cousins, as well as my mom, dad, and brother. We're going for my grandpa's 80th birthday (which was back in May) to celebrate!
My goal for this series is to obviously help myself mentally and physically prepare for my trip, as well as help you out! If you are traveling at all this summer, may it be for ten days and out of the country or a small trip to Grandma's, my hope is that you can draw some inspiration from these posts and maybe even learn a few organization tips and tricks. Even if you are not traveling at all this summer, these posts may still interest you and even assist you in the future. Since today is July 1, the countdown begins now!
Let's get started with the basics: how I like to plan for long vacations.
It's no secret that traveling can be stressful. You want to make sure you're going to get the most out of your vacation and at the same time, you have to make sure you have everything with you in order to have that ultimate and memorable experience. More importantly, when you know you will be out of town for awhile (although that term is relative) the burden of it all gets heavier the longer you are going to be gone. So, with all that said, I'm going to take you through the steps of how I will plan for my week long cruise vacation to the Caribbean!
The first thing I need to mentally plan out is how I'm going to physically plan it out. I am an extremely visual person, so to feel mentally prepared, I need to see visuals of what I will be doing. This means that my planner, paper, and pen will be my brain's best friend up until my vacation.
So here's my first tip to prepare for an impending vacation: do some research. Whether you're going to Disney World or Europe, there is a ton of information floating around on the web to help you plan everything out. In my case, we'll be heading over to my cruise line's website to get the information. But be aware, that is not all the research I'll be doing for the entirety of my planning. Although I have been on cruise vacations in the past, I like to refresh my memory because there are a few things to remember the day you board the ship as well as when you disembark, and of course, everything in between.
This will be my first time cruising with NCL, or Norwegian Cruise Line. The ship I'm going on is called the Norwegian Getaway. Now, let's get on that website.
Right away, you'll see a bunch of tabs on the homepage. "Get Ready for Your Cruise" seems to be the most fitting, so after hovering over that tab, some subpages show up. The "Prepare for Your Cruise" option is the most applicable, so let's see what shows up.
Great! Now this is the time where I get out my planner and take a few notes. For this section, I made a note to remind myself to make a checklist of all the essentials I'll need to get on board. This includes my luggage tags, boarding pass, passport, and wallet which carries my driver's license, credit cards, and cash I may need while in port (because you never pay in cash or with a debit card on the actual cruise ship for anything).
The next section I explored talks about packing. I took note that I didn't need any formal wear for this crusie, and wrote down what is considered appropriate in the dining room and for more fine dining. My aunt planned out where we'll be dining already each night on the ship, and I know for a fact I will need to take some nicer clothing, but nothing too formal (like a cocktail dress). I also took note to pack my Nike running shoes, because I may need them for onboard activities, such as the rope course and rock wall. Since I am familiar with what's on the ship, I didn't have to do that kind of research, but if you're a first-time cruiser you will definitely want to. Even though I'm going on a Caribbean cruise in the summertime when it's always likely to be extremely hot and humid outside, it's recommended (on the site) to pack a sweater. When it's nighttime, and you're outside on the ship, it can be really windy! If you've ever gone to the beach at night, you'll know what I mean. For that, I'll take my two different colored cardigans because their light, still provide functional purposes, and look cute with my nighttime apparel. I'm also going to pack my Wildfox sweatshirt (which is SUPER COMFY) because I tend to get cold indoors after I've been out in the sun all day.
If we scroll down a bit, the website talks about personal items, like medications and electronics. Since I have cruised in the past, I'm kind of experienced in what electronics should be packed and what should not. Laptop computers are honestly pointless to bring. You do not get free wifi on the ship because you are not within the realms of the country- you're just in the middle of nowhere with the beautiful blue ocean in every direction. There is internet access, however, but it costs a lot of money, so most people obviously don't use it. Besides, when you're on a ship, you're usually very busy all day until you go to bed- there's just so much to do! As for my iPhone, I usually keep it on but put it in airplane mode so that I don't get charged for roaming (again, international travel downfalls) so that I have a clock to look at, games to play, and music to listen to. Of course, I will pack my charger too. Now for this trip, I will have to decide whether I bring my iPad or not. Since my iPad is considered a valuable to me, it's a big decision whether to take it or not. The only thing I can do on it is play games, watch predownloaded media, or listen to music, so I probably won't bring it. Additionally, I had completely forgotten that you are instructed to leave your large luggage outside your cabin the night before you disembark, which reminded me to take a small overnight bag. This means I will need a big enough bag to stuff my toiletries, makeup, and outfit in, in addition to my regular purse necessities that I'll need for the day we disembark (or get off the ship). My Longchamp Le Pliage Large Tote is definitely big enough yet portable to use as an overnight bag. The best part about Longchamp bags is that they fold up, so I can use it as my carry-on the day we board, and then fold it up into my suitcase until I need it the night before the cruise ends. I will go more into depth about that later.
Lastly, departure day is the day we will board the ship. This explains the two different times on the boarding pass quite nicely, however it is the least of my worries. My parents will let me know when to be ready and obviously provide transportation for me. The boarding checklist on the side is a helpful little tip, though.
YouTube can also be a great tool to help you prep for a vacation. Simply search whatever you feel you may need preparation for. From packing tips to where to get the best meal, there are plenty of videos that provide visual help that you may need to assist you in your planning. This is a great way for me to de-stress when I'm feeling overwhelmed because I'm educating myself about my trip while relaxing and lifting the anxitey about it at the same time.
Now for the fun part. For the next half of the post, I will be giving you a visual tour of what my planner looks like when I begin to plan for a vacation.
The first thing I like to do when planning my vacation is to mark it off in both my monthly and weekly calendar. I usually like to make it stand out because it's the most exciting thing happening that month/week:
You're probably wondering what all those flags and post-its signify. Well, the little coral colored post-its are helping me outfit plan. The green flags signify land ho!- aka what port we will be in that day. Since I already have a good idea of what I'll be doing at each port, these days are easiest to plan. It's the "At Sea" days where I'll be doing more spontaneous, moment to moment activities. I will definitely be getting more in depth on daytime outfit planning in a later post.
After I finish marking of the calendar, I head into my lined notepages for multi-dimensional in-depth planning! I know, it sounds crazy and tedious, but it's undoubtedly helpful. The first thing I like to do is have a brain dump session where I write down anything that comes to mind. This will be the cover page for where my lengthy lists will follow. On the back of that page, I've attatched a Master To Do List with some washi tape. This will be the catch-all for things I need to do before we leave. The nice part about it is that I can tear it off when I've finished most of the things and add new ones as the trip comes closer.
To go along with a Master To Do List, I have also punched in another page in the "to do" format from a Kikki.K A5 list pad. It fits perfectly in my mini binder planner! Here, you'll see two individual lists on the same page- one for me and one for my brother. It basically is a catch-all for what we both need for the trip. So, if my mom mentions to me that my brother needs something, I can jot it down here, and tick it off as we get the items. It helps me keep her updated on what we still need to do and get him, as well as myself, but I can obviously write what I need down without her help.
Lastly, these are some of the things I like to use to plan:
- Page flags - to signify the heading for a list or mark as important
- Sticky notes - for quick notes on a specific list
- Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens - to erase mistakes! these are my favorite pens of all time
I hope you enjoyed the first of many posts in this up and coming summer travel series! I will be updating this post with more photos of each list I make as I get them done. From here on out, I will link this post in the proceeding related posts so you can see my progress!
Until next time,
~Alexa~
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