Your pre-cruise traditions...

Bob Evans is a restaurant??? I love their packaged mashed potatoes!

Us too!! Very yummy!

We drive to Galveston the day before the cruise, but we always eat a HUGE breakfast at IHOP on the way out of town. We eat dinner at one of the wharf restaurants in Galveston right beside the cruise dock and have drinks and dream of tomorrow.

Bob Evans is a restaurant??? I love their packaged mashed potatoes!

ABSOLUTELY! Great restaurant, with reasonable prices. (Love the"Bob Evans" sausage in the mornings, and in their chili!) :D We eat there quite often, but never EARLY unless we're heading out to one of the Florida ports to board our ship. :cool:

"SKY"

We get to the port super-early to be one of the first on the ship and go wandering the halls until we get told that area isn't yet open. Love to peek in the cabins before anyone is in them and see the nice suites.

Since we discovered how much more enjoyable a cruise vacation is when you fly in a day early, that has now become our new tradition. Plus when we get to the airport, we head to the Delta Sky Club (or the Red Carpet Room when we lived in Chicago and flew United) and have a pre-flight libation no matter what time the flight is!

Other than that, we don't really do anything special every time. When we took the boys on a Spring Break cruise (their first one ever and the first time we flew in a day early), when I picked them up from school, we cranked what ever happened to be playing on my radio at the time. I think Margaritaville was for the middle schooler and Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" was for the grade schooler! The teachers LOVED me - they were dancing in the parking lot that day! :D:eek:

We eat out the night before we depart from home for the cruise (fly or drive) and also eat out the first evening home.

I can tell you something I DON'T do and that is eat shell fish about a week out.

The chances are very low but I'd hate to eat a bad shrimp and get sick before the cruise.

Not sure how this tradition started, but 23 cruises later we are still doing it. We park the car and do pre cruise shots! Now even when I go on cruises with friends I bring the shot glasses and morning flavored shots, orange, pineapple etc:D... Never had a bad boarding!

Dinner night before cruise with friends to say goodbye till I return

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I hang out on these boards for a few months before my cruise!

I so do this one... :D

I watch Titanic every year before our cruise without fail!!! :eek:

Me too!!! So glad to know I'm not alone because let's face it, that's a little twisted!! :eek:

Get out of bed about 5:00 a.m., in car for the 3 hour drive to Port Everglades before 6:00 a.m., by 9:00 a.m. were parked in front of "Grampa's Bakery and Restaurant" in Dania for our official cruise breakfast.

We eat and head for someplace to see the ships in port, look at the ships, take the exact photos we take every time. Head for the port about 10:45, park and enjoy the self imposed waiting until we can check in. That wait time is amazing. People getting on a cruise ship are the friendliest folks and it is just a joy to people watch.

110 days until we can enjoy it again.

Dave

Me too!!! So glad to know I'm not alone because let's face it, that's a little twisted!! :eek:

I also watch Poseidon Adventure, and The Legend of 1900.

I used to always watch titanic

Love that movie

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I am cracking up at all the food and eating traditions the morning of the cruise. We are the opposite. Only coffee and try to board first so we can eat until we are sick on the ship. :p One thing we do is try to get to the place we are cruising from 1-2 nights in advance, if possible we book a room high enough so we can watch the ships come in and out, especially they one we are leaving on the morning it comes in all light up. Not only does this build up the excitement, but we can relax and know that we are already where we need to be. We have heard so many stories from friends who fly to their destination day of and almost missed the ship. That just starts your trip off with fighting and panic.

I also hang out on these boards for weeks/months before the cruise. For me, half the fun is the planning and anticipation! Since we always have to fly to our embarkation port, I spend the night before our flight packing and stressing out, mainly over which clothes to take. And I'm terrified I'll forget something that's really important.....just a little OCD! :) I also have a tradition of NOT getting much, if any, sleep that night. :)

I make sure my fridge is empty which means eating some type of take out the night before.

I clean my house top to bottom and put new sheets on the bed. Nothing better than coming home to a clean house and fresh bed after a long flight then bus ride home. :D

Nothing better than coming home to a clean house and fresh bed after a long flight then bus ride home. :D

Bus ride home - do you use a local tour company for cruising? There's one here in LR that provides a bus ride to/from embarkation point, 1 night pre-cruise hotel, and the cruise. Just wondering if you do how was the experience?

DH and I do massages the night before we leave town, (and I do a mani/pedi, he has so far declined to join me for this portion of my ritual), and we eat out usually a day or two before we leave. (this is mostly bc the trash goes out on wednesday and the goal is to have nothing that will rot while we're away for over a week).

The combo moment of "ahhhh vacation has started" for us is dropping our dog off for the 9 days we'll be gone and then going to get massages. I try my best to make sure we're all packed before the massages and that we dont have to do much "stuff" after so we stay nice and relaxed!

DH and I do massages the night before we leave town, (and I do a mani/pedi, he has so far declined to join me for this portion of my ritual), and we eat out usually a day or two before we leave. (this is mostly bc the trash goes out on wednesday and the goal is to have nothing that will rot while we're away for over a week).

The combo moment of "ahhhh vacation has started" for us is dropping our dog off for the 9 days we'll be gone and then going to get massages. I try my best to make sure we're all packed before the massages and that we dont have to do much "stuff" after so we stay nice and relaxed!

I usually do a massage the day before or the day that we leave as well. And, like you, I try to have all of my heavy lifting/bending/etc. done before the massage so that I can just veg after the massage until we leave. :p

I am not sure of a set tradition other than Starbucks as a must on the drive to the airport or pier. Love the island music and beach cocktails packing night, we tend to be more morbid so we watch all the YouTube videos of cruises in rough water and say it will never happen to us. This year I am looking for reruns of the love boat to make my daughter laugh.

The last cruise we took (Dec '13) we stopped on the way to the pier for Cuban coffees, we have plans to do the same again this year (last time it was another couple going on a diff cruise and friends who live in Miami that we all crashed with the night before our trip) this year its the same 6 people and another couple and we're all cruising together. I dont know if you can call 2x a ritual just yet, but its on the way to becoming one!

We do the single digit dance when we get to day 9 in the count down which is coming soon :D

 

We then plan a night to pack and play island/party cruise music

My children are getting old enough that they can start packing, or at least gathering some of their items. I really like your idea of playing island music while packing, it gets the mind in the right place. Maybe add in a pina colada too...

Turn off Water Heater.

Furnace down to 60.

Water intake Off.

Arrange for mail and paper pick up.

Set TV to tun on and off in evening, and record best programs.

Set alarm and light timers.

Pay off incoming bills in advance and inform credit card companies ones travel plans. This last paid off big time when I lost a card. Take at least two with you. AND take all important documents!!!!

john

Take a Limo to (and from) airport. :p