Compulsive cruise prep

Reading this thread makes me Greene with envy. I have a cruise booked for March. Befor and after hotels are booked as well as two excursions but I can't find a decent non stop airfare so I have stopped planning for now in case I need to cancel. Its like having withdrawal symptoms. I NEED TO BE PLANNING!!

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First of all: YOU ARE MY PEOPLE! HUGS ALL ROUND!

Second of all: I love planning. Love love love. It doesn't matter how far out a trip is, the lists start as soon as we book it!

Third of all: SCIENCE: Just planning or anticipating your trip can make you happier than actually taking it! (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-make-the-most-of-vacation_us_5755b42ae4b0eb20fa0e906d) So to all the critics and naysayers..... :p We (over) planners are HAPPY as all hell!

My planning consists of a living document that is my packing/planning spreadsheet. I constantly update to-do lists and shopping lists, configure my daily wardrobes based on sea days, dinner plans and port activities, and lay out packing plans for every little item that goes in my suitcase. This is the big beastie document. It's a spreadsheet but it lives in my Google Drive (Sheets app on mobile) so I can access it from anywhere.

I also do up a formal word document with a page for each day, with that day's particular schedule and need-to-know-at-a-glance information. Before the ease of mobile data access in ports, this document would also have walking or transit directions spelled out VERY CLEARLY, often with screenshots of maps inserted (now I just put down the basics and rely on my Google Maps app to get me where I'm going). I usually put port name, port hours, local time, average daily high temperatures (air and sea, if relevant!), and sunrise/sunset times, then fill in our particular excursion data or other reservations. This document gets finalized, printed, PDFd and uploaded to my Google Drive for on-the-go reference.

I use a GREAT travel folio I picked up on amazon.ca (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01JIM402Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1) that holds all the relevant travel info and passports handy in my carry-on bag for quick access. This has been a game-changer for me, travel-wise, as now the passports and boarding passes have a "spot" to go, instead of random pockets in my purse or bag.

I get a lot of anxiety related to travel, especially the "getting there" portion of travel, and the nagging what-did-I-forget-feeling. I find having everything very well planned out eases a lot of that stress. I can remind myself to trust the process, and that anything I am worried about I thought of and addressed weeks or months ago.

@AmyJA - Daily spread sheet? Does it count if I hate spread sheets, but I do have a typed and detailed daily itinerary almost completed for BOTH the Oct and Jan sailings!?

@2oldpeopleinlove. FYI, I love your nickname here - my parents were so in love, my father as crazy and caring about my mother as she was about him (and never in my life did I hear them say a negative word about the other, nor side against the other...). So, although my father has been gone since 1994, whenever I see a couple of near their age holding hands or so clearly in love, I think of them and wish they could be together doing that.<3:D:(

What I am doing -

* We use a guest bedroom to pre-stage (so if I order something for a cruise, it goes in there, as do the clothes as I pull those together (easier here closer to the end of the season - I’ve started adding clothes recently, especially formal wear)

* Testing equipment that we don’t use often, like the underwater camera and the various goodies that I have purchased to go with it (magenta and other specialty lens for use in blue ocean water)

*Brushing up on the 2 years of college Spanish that I took in the mid 1980’s - we will be doing some volunteering in San Juan and it was past time to do some remedial work (FYI - Babble was my choice, super low priced for 3 months - Quizlet is an amazing app that I have found very useful in this brush up also!)

* Making Itinerary outline for family/pet sitters/ etc.

* If you have enough of necessary meds and supplements, you could go ahead set those up. I use cheap snack baggies (not sandwich bags, although those would work), set the required number up in a row, and then sort the pills into those (for daily or / am and pm doses). I type notes like like “P.M. for N” etc to ID each dose and put those in the applicable baggies. Then I cut the baggy into a square that allows room for the pills (calcium is huge, just sayin...) and then use a lighter to “seal” the edges (in essence you melt it together - and if you were born anywhere between 1950-1975 and this sounds familiar to you, I won’t tell ;) I then group each dose “type” into a quart baggie to make use easier and then all of them into a gallon baggie. Not to painful and it makes life and packing a great deal easier!

Have fun!

Lynn

Aw darn! not even on the cabin door? I bought magnets for the sole purpose of leaving my DH messages in the stateroom door. We're in the Haven...

There is virtually no where in the Haven to use them, little in the way of metal in those walls and there are zero locations in the bathroom in the 2 br (but then you don’t need them there anyway!).

We did take some 40 lb ones and found them useful on the back of the main door that opens to the den (and the front of the 2nd bedroom door). Those magnets won’t hold a big coat, but they are fantastic for holding hats, light jackets, and lanyards!!! But I would leave home all but maybe 8 max and also leave the clear shoe bag.

happy travels - Lynn

* If you have enough of necessary meds and supplements, you could go ahead set those up. I use cheap snack baggies (not sandwich bags, although those would work), set the required number up in a row, and then sort the pills into those (for daily or / am and pm doses). I type notes like like “P.M. for N” etc to ID each dose and put those in the applicable baggies. Then I cut the baggy into a square that allows room for the pills (calcium is huge, just sayin...) and then use a lighter to “seal” the edges (in essence you melt it together - and if you were born anywhere between 1950-1975 and this sounds familiar to you, I won’t tell ;) I then group each dose “type” into a quart baggie to make use easier and then all of them into a gallon baggie. Not to painful and it makes life and packing a great deal easier!

This seems like a lot of unnecessary work. Why not buy pill holders at the dollar store? They sell 7 day ones - singular, or AM and PM and I have also seen holders with individual three compartment labeled for each day. For a 2 week cruise you could by two for $2.

This seems like a lot of unnecessary work. Why not buy pill holders at the dollar store? They sell 7 day ones - singular, or AM and PM and I have also seen holders with individual three compartment labeled for each day. For a 2 week cruise you could by two for $2.

Several reasons -

1. I have day and night meds and supplements and most of those are for a single daily dose (I use them at home and have had to search for ones that work relatively often).

2. These aren’t small - calcium and a number of other supplements and meds are very large. When you add multiple ones, it requires a large pill well (and there are very few of THOSE options and fewer still that have am/pm)

3. Back to size, it begins to take up more space than you might realize in a suitcase. When we are going to be gone 1.5-2 weeks, that means we are taking 4 of these.

3. They come open very easily - we tried using very taping etc and that usually ended up a huge pain.

4. The cheapie versions you suggest tend to have all the problems that I just mentioned (e.g., they don’t close tightly and they do not have all those options on the ones at the dollar store that I have seen (and not often even at the larger drug stores since we usually end up having to buy from Amazon).

I could go on, but these are some of the reasons that I go to what you call “unnecessary work.”

I might pass out if I had gotten a non-critical or positive response or one that said something like “thanks for your effort to type all that out just in case it would be helpful to someone, it’s a good additional option.” But luckily, no passing out required!

Aw darn! not even on the cabin door? I bought magnets for the sole purpose of leaving my DH messages in the stateroom door. We're in the Haven...

@Niffernay And @Georgia_Peaches ...

No, no :) The main doors are! But no walls, no areas in the bathrooms, etc. As I said, take some, but just don’t expect to have the kind of use that you might have in an interior room (nor the need). They do help us, but in a smaller area and smaller items to keep things a bit nearer,

And as @GA_Dave said, you won’t be disappointed in the Haven :D

Lynn

Hello...my name is Amy....and I am a compulsive vacation planner.

 

Do you have a daily spread sheet done?

 

haha....I do.

me too...and my cruise is in March. May i join the planners anonymous group? :cool:

Several reasons -

1. I have day and night meds and supplements and most of those are for a single daily dose (I use them at home and have had to search for ones that work relatively often).

2. These aren’t small - calcium and a number of other supplements and meds are very large. When you add multiple ones, it requires a large pill well (and there are very few of THOSE options and fewer still that have am/pm)

3. Back to size, it begins to take up more space than you might realize in a suitcase. When we are going to be gone 1.5-2 weeks, that means we are taking 4 of these.

3. They come open very easily - we tried using very taping etc and that usually ended up a huge pain.

4. The cheapie versions you suggest tend to have all the problems that I just mentioned (e.g., they don’t close tightly and they do not have all those options on the ones at the dollar store that I have seen (and not often even at the larger drug stores since we usually end up having to buy from Amazon).

 

I could go on, but these are some of the reasons that I go to what you call “unnecessary work.”

 

I might pass out if I had gotten a non-critical or positive response or one that said something like “thanks for your effort to type all that out just in case it would be helpful to someone, it’s a good additional option.” But luckily, no passing out required!

Wow - Was my comment/suggestion snarky? I certainly did not have that intention! I was honestly trying to help. I take 15 pills a day split over three different times. In addition to prescription meds, I take Mucinex, iron pills, and fish oil - none small. Dollar store or Walmart containers have always worked for me. By all means carry on with your plastic bags.

Lynn, typed and detailed daily itinerary? My spread sheet?

Toe-may-toe.....Ta-ma-toe.... same-o....same-o... haha

me too...and my cruise is in March. May i join the planners anonymous group? :cool:

Always can use more....planners and plans....

Our cruise isn't until January and I have both suitcases full of items on our packing list. I am a obsessive planner. So I have been ready for this cruise for almost a month now.

I copied all of my travel info 3 times. And put it in my luggage.

But I found the best travel app yet. Google Trips!

It automatically adds all your reservations, hotel, cruise and air with seat info and confirmation numbers. All I had to do was add my ports. You can download all your info so it is available offline.

I did add the cities our ports and it provided detailed information including discounts, things to do, and maps.

It is awesome!

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Wow - Was my comment/suggestion snarky? I certainly did not have that intention! I was honestly trying to help. I take 15 pills a day split over three different times. In addition to prescription meds, I take Mucinex, iron pills, and fish oil - none small. Dollar store or Walmart containers have always worked for me. By all means carry on with your plastic bags.

It’s just I think that most reasonably bright people know there are pill minders - they don’t work for everything. If you look back, you might see that the comment was basically one of why are you so stupid when there is the easy way to do it. If you had completed a project that needed doing and a spouse walked in, grimaced, and said “why did you do it that way?!” few of us would be thrilled as the criticism is clear. The OP asked what people were doing ahead of time, I answered it. I don’t like feeling like I shouldn’t have bothered. Hopefully all that makes sense :-)

It’s just I think that most reasonably bright people know there are pill minders - they don’t work for everything. If you look back, you might see that the comment was basically one of why are you so stupid when there is the easy way to do it. If you had completed a project that needed doing and a spouse walked in, grimaced, and said “why did you do it that way?!” few of us would be thrilled as the criticism is clear. The OP asked what people were doing ahead of time, I answered it. I don’t like feeling like I shouldn’t have bothered. Hopefully all that makes sense :-)

And WOW again - reasonably bright people???? Continue on I have nothing left to say to you.

This! Glad to find my people here, because it really is true: anticipating/planning something absolutely does deepen our enjoyment of it.

Third of all: SCIENCE: Just planning or anticipating your trip can make you happier than actually taking it! (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-make-the-most-of-vacation_us_5755b42ae4b0eb20fa0e906d) So to all the critics and naysayers..... [emoji14] We (over) planners are HAPPY as all hell!

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Oh, and I meant to mention that I also use Sheets. Super convenient that I can access/edit/download on my computer and on my phone.

This! Glad to find my people here, because it really is true: anticipating/planning something absolutely does deepen our enjoyment of it.

 

 

 

 

 

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I have found my people! I love this thread.

Lynn, typed and detailed daily itinerary? My spread sheet?

 

Toe-may-toe.....Ta-ma-toe.... same-o....same-o... haha

Hush! ;p;):')

(I just hate the spreadsheet software, not the idea of it LOL)

Actually, I was been trying to locate a really good trip itinerary app. Doesn’t exist At least how I would like one to be. We have been disappointed in trip adviser (itinerary layout in the app isn’t great, the emailed itinerary pulled up in email worked better!). I tried various others, and they are either just apps for reservations or map apps ....

Sorry to add this to the thread, but does anyone have an app that will 1. Keep reservations (all types), 2. Let you see in activities such as excursions, 3. Have maps and directions or auto connect to google maps and 4. Shows an resulting itinerary that is easy to see and follow (and organize). I am pretty sure that I tried them all, but....?!

Lynn

This! Glad to find my people here, because it really is true: anticipating/planning something absolutely does deepen our enjoyment of it.

 

 

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This will sound super nerdy so I apologize (feel free to skip ahead), but there is a great deal of psychological research on the emotional, cognitive, and other value of vacations. As you were saying, it is not simply the time we spend ON the vacation that brings value to our lives, but it’s in addition to the enjoyment that we get planning it and thinking about it (as well as the positive emotions related to remembering it and talking about it when we return home). So those people who say it isn’t worth the money for “a week” are missing the true value.

And those of us who spend even more time planning then clearly get super nova joy!?! ;p:halo::evilsmile::D

Lynn

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I use Tripit too, but sometimes its linear layout is not useful. I like to see an overview of the whole cruise too.

This is my simple spreadsheet.[ATTACH]426527[/ATTACH]

This looks almost identical to my spreadsheet!! Glad to know I'm not alone!! ;)

And WOW again - reasonably bright people???? Continue on I have nothing left to say to you.

I was referring to ME (it wasn’t an insult to someone else).

If you are going to be incensed, at least read what was written. Geez!

The point was that the post toward me seemed to take the opinion that I was so stupid I would not know basic information (and I think most people who can afford cruises know basics, I just think that would be basic). It was not an insult at the poster, the point was the post seemed to suggest that I could possibly not find my way out of a sack. I was the one being “called” stupid in other words, in an around about way. So you see, there was no WOW there.

Again, at least read what is written before getting angry as it may be over nothing.

This! Glad to find my people here, because it really is true: anticipating/planning something absolutely does deepen our enjoyment of it.

 

 

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Oh snap sorry, I didn’t even see you posted this before I did a following post on the same topic. GMTA ;)It’s my area of study, strange little facts like this run through my head! And yours too clearly!

Lynn,

I posted the google trips app earlier in this thread. It is great. If you have a android phone it automatically adds your reservations. If not you can add them manually.

It has my reservations. Then for the cruise it allows you to add your cities or ports of call. When you click on a city after added, it has excursions, maps, discounts and emergency services.

Here is a screen shot of my upcoming vacation...

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I am not sure why it sent my photos twice. Sorry!

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