Anal, Compulsive, or good Planner

[CruisingTexans]

This thread is like the mother ship has landed!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooo glad to have people of my own kind. My cruise is 11-11-11 and I have my suitcase(s) open in the guest room and have already started piling things in. Yes, I pile then organize, then verify ALL of my lists and pack again, until hubby says are you really taking all of that??? To which I reply, of course, then pack some more. IMO it is never to early to pack and plan!!!

 

G and G is Gifts and Gear

 

Michelle

[kmorg1234]

Thanks for defining G & G- will definitely use it for the next cruise!

[volleyballmom87]

:cool: 71 Days before leaving Baltimore on Enchantment for Bermuda. My daughter got married last summer, and new SIL has never been on a cruise. My wife and I decided to give our kids a cruise for a Christmas present. Got a D1 for oldest daughter and new hubby. Got a GS for myself, DW, and other DD. Been in JS, first real suite. Booking early, I got good prices.

 

Have ordered champagne and strawberries for DD and SIL in their cabin. For us, flowers for DW, two orders of wine and cheese and crackers, and five additional bottles thru G & G, sitting in cabin when I get there. Have booked Chops for dinner one night for all of us, and have got a 7-bottle wine package prepaid. Now the compulsive part. Have tips for all of us already in envelopes. Have gambling money set aside and ready to go, and spending money for cruise all sitting and ready. If I told my DW all of this, she would say I'm crazy. I just believe excited, and well planned. Am I nuts?????:cool:

 

My DH brags to all of his friends that I do this stuff for our cruises and more. I also have an envelope for each port. Every morning the safe opens and that day's envelope comes out and off we go. I do all of my planning and thinking ahead of time so all we have to do is show up and have fun. ;)

[Greghouseo]

You are clearly all Loonytoons.............. but then again, so am I.

 

I even go so far as to work out alternative routes to the port in the case of traffic or public transport hiccups.

 

Anyone who doesn't realise how much fun there is in the planning of a holiday hasn't lived.

 

I check on the likely menu for the amount of nights the cruise is taking and work out a back up choice should my first choice not be available.

[firstimer2009]

I already posted to this thread about my compulsions and picked up some great tips, like spread sheets for clothing and jewelry. I always stress about the clothing on any type of Euro vacation, so a Med Cruise will be no exception.

 

We went to Alaska two years ago with "friends" (that we will never go on a cruise with again..has that happened to alot of people?) who were not ACPs, so I had a color coded Excel sheet with all the ports, arrival times, departure times and possible excursions and other highlights of the days both on ship and in ports. They scoffed at me in the beginning, but used it every day.

 

Many people worry about us ACPs that we will be no fun on the trip, and it's just the opposite. As my DH tells everyone as soon as the vacation begins, I let go, because I know everything is under control!!!

 

Should RCCL hire us all as cruise consultants??? I think YES!

[volleyballmom87]

You are clearly all Loonytoons.............. but then again, so am I.

 

I even go so far as to work out alternative routes to the port in the case of traffic or public transport hiccups.

 

I start watching the weather 10 days out since we cruise in the winter. 2 days or so before we fly I check all of the flights around ours to see if there are still seats... just in case something happens and we need to rebook for some reason or miss a connection.

[Greghouseo]

I start watching the weather 10 days out since we cruise in the winter. 2 days or so before we fly I check all of the flights around ours to see if there are still seats... just in case something happens and we need to rebook for some reason or miss a connection.

 

Absolutely.

That is a given.

Will be in Amsterdam on Saturday 30th April so I am going to be on Amsterdam weather web sites tomorrow morning...... and then every morning up until our cruise departs from Southampton on 29th April......... Tis important that I know. It is a Bank Holiday in Amsterdam I I need to know what to pack to accommodate the weather

[ozzy77]

Thanks to CC I was SOOO prepared for our last cruise! (well that and i had a broken wrist for 3 months where i couldnt work so i just prepped for the trip) I had the underwater camera from walmart.....they were selling them for $21 on cocoacay:eek: thats robbery....i even found super cheap inflatable mats to bring we brought water bottles and a backback just things that made everything better... i was on top of it all and my hubby who thought i was loco appreciated my months of research that week:p

[midnightferret]

Am I nuts?????:cool:

 

Yes!

 

But is is it awesome? Yes!

 

I'm a planner. Our group won't make a decision yet, so we haven't booked (which is driving me crazy). However, I have already researched a minimum of 2 activities at every *possible* port of call on our *possible* itineraries. I have looked at (but not saved or printed) deck plans for the two ships. I have made notes from CC threads about each ship and each itinerary for later use.

 

You can't ditch the plan and be spontaneous if there is no plan to begin with, you know! :D

[sjb317]

You mock our spreadsheets!

 

So do my cruise companions, but you know what, they so quickly become dependent on them! My color coded itinerary, with arrival, departure, planned excursions, dinner reservations, floor plans, and even the cruise map gets taped to the cabin wall. That way, I'm not the only one who knows what is going on, and I'm not constantly being asked those questions.

 

We don't need help, we just need more cruises! Do you think there's a market for this service :o ?

 

Seriously? Color coded itinerary taped to cabin wall? Thanks for a great laugh!:D

 

You probably could market your services, I think it's called being a travel agent!

 

Sherri

[Goes Cruising]

Seriously? Color coded itinerary taped to cabin wall? Thanks for a great laugh!:D

 

Sherri

 

You laugh, but once you're been organized by me, you'll never go back :D

[need2travel]

I booked a Med Cruise last Friday that leaves September 22, 2012 from Barcelona and do feel I walked into a room of Soulmates, too.

 

 

firstimer ~ Well, you're going to have the last laugh by booking so early. The La Merce Festival takes place on Barcelona during the week you'll be there and the place will be packed. You'll be glad you got a hotel room and paid a reasonable price for it, while others are scurrying about for a place to rest their weary heads and paying top price for it.

 

Good on you! Have a blast.

[sjb317]

You laugh, but once you're been organized by me, you'll never go back :D

 

I think my husband would divorce me if I ever put a color coded itinerary up on the wall:D.

 

Sherri:)

[boingy300]

He's not Elvis.... I'M ELVIS!!!!

 

Settle down hound dog-lol

Karen

[firstimer2009]

firstimer ~ Well, you're going to have the last laugh by booking so early. The La Merce Festival takes place on Barcelona during the week you'll be there and the place will be packed. You'll be glad you got a hotel room and paid a reasonable price for it, while others are scurrying about for a place to rest their weary heads and paying top price for it.

 

Good on you! Have a blast.

Really???? Bless you bless you!!!!! I'm so happy for my ACP disorder!

 

I googled major conferences for Sept 2012 and saw many of them but didn't know how big they would be, so I decided to book now. I am NOT a 5 Star Ritz Carlton girl, but I also don't want to be in some funky marginal hotel in a foreign country.

 

What in the world is the La Merce Festival? I guess I'll need to find out. That will be fun to research!

 

Thank you so much! You've made my day.

[need2travel]

I am NOT a 5 Star Ritz Carlton girl, but I also don't want to be in some funky marginal hotel in a foreign country.

 

What in the world is the La Merce Festival? I guess I'll need to find out. That will be fun to research!

 

 

I'd like to be a 5 Star Riz Carlton girl, but the budget won't handle that and cruising at the same time. We stayed at the Hotel Continental, balcony, facing Las Ramblas. It was a fabulous location and came with a European type breakfast and free beer and wine. There are pro and con reviews on this board about it, but the pink decor didn't bother us a bit and it was very safe. We paid about $135.00 per night. Watching the Parade of Giants from our balcony was completely and totally awesome.

 

Glad I could make your day.

[firstimer2009]

I'd like to be a 5 Star Riz Carlton girl, but the budget won't handle that and cruising at the same time. We stayed at the Hotel Continental, balcony, facing Las Ramblas. It was a fabulous location and came with a European type breakfast and free beer and wine. There are pro and con reviews on this board about it, but the pink decor didn't bother us a bit and it was very safe. We paid about $135.00 per night. Watching the Parade of Giants from our balcony was completely and totally awesome.

 

Glad I could make your day.

Were you there for La Merce???? Fantastic!!! I have done lots of reading in the meantime. That looks like the Mardi Gras of Barcelona. Incredible!

 

We're booked at Hotel 1898 right now, but because of La Merce I am thinking of moving to a hotel near Port Vell because of the fireworks and CAVA festival. I love Cava! Our ship leaves on Saturday so we will miss some of it, including the firecrackers through the street. I'm sad about that, but the cruise comes first.

 

We were also in Paris last July right after the World Cup and didn't sleep for days because of the revelry, even with earplugs. I am a girl that really needs her sleep or it's going to get ugly. So I was a little worried about a hotel on Las Ramblas during the festival.

 

I seriously considered Hotel Continental (and don't mind pink) but was a little worried after seeing a negative Youtube video on it. Maybe it was a lie, but it wasn't good. I'm glad you had a good experience! If that video was fabrication, the hotel should sue.

 

You made my day twice. Now I have La Merce to look forward to, too! Can you imagine the shock on the DH and my face if we had not known this was going on????

[Lady Marion]

I'm the long distance planner; my husband is not. While he gets excited ahead of time, he packs the day before. The trouble was, he was having major teeth problems before our last trip which required a root canal when we returned. He was so out of it with Vicodin & pain, he did all sorts of no-no's of packing: putting some meds in suitcase, putting rechargers for all electronics in suitcase.... Of course, that's the 1 time we never got our luggage, resulting in lots of hassle to replace items that should *never* have been put in his suitcase!

 

Moral of story: pack or at least lay out things ahead of time!!!