What do you do the night before your cruise

[krogerlady]

I am thinking I won't be able to sleep!! My flight does not leave until almost 6pm, and we are spending two nights in Vancouver, which will give us one whole day. I just hope by leaving later in the day I will have gotten a good 8 hours sleep, and maybe even a nap. I know i will have been totally packed for days with everything waiting in one place, so there will not be last minute getting things together.

[fue-fue]

We shall be travelling by car to Manchester airport (UK) & spending the night in a hotel.

 

The next day we will be travelling by coach to Sothampton to start our cruise. We fly back to Manchester!

[JosShavaughn]

The day before we are going to half way carry on as usual, I have class most of the morning, and my mom has to work until at least 12 or 1. But after she is done, we are packing the car and heading to Galveston to stay in a hotel until Saturday when we board.

[arlee]

We're sailing Norweigan Dawn out of Miami, so we'll leave the day before our cruise. Because we're from Montreal, there's no telling when a snow storm could hit, so it's always safer to go one day earlier. We booked a hotel near the airport and since we'll be getting in approx. 10 a.m., we plan on going to the Dolphin Mall. Canadians always love to shop in the U.S. - better prices, much more variety!

[luv2cruz25]

For this cruise in May we are flying to LAX the day before we sail, and as uaual like all Cruise eves, I can never sleep, because I am so excited, Tylenol PM does not even work, so I usually watch TV till I fall asleep. After so many cruises, you would think I would relax, well some day that might happen, I am not concerned about it. Just as long as I keep on booking those cruises, I am waiting for info on the Carnival Magic, so I can book that one. Does anyone know anything about the Magic?

Chris

[kescott98]

My family and I usually fly down the day before the cruise. That way we have time to explore the port city. For the most part, none of us sleep well that night because we're so excited.

[Roadtripster]

This cruise, we are flying in two days before, staying at a nice hotel, hitting the pool all day and visiting with friends at night. They live about 3 hours away and are going to meet us and stay the weekend with us. Then send us off to th beautiful Caribbean.

[Maxax]

Glad to see I'm not alone...my biggest challenge is getting some sleep!

[griffy]

After making sure the house is spotless and dropping the 2 dogs at the Pet Resort, our family goes one night early to the Port city...this time San Juan. We will arrive in the afternoon, and after check-in, a couple of drinks (E Suites Manger's reception), we will either eat at Outback or order in pizza..relax and try not to sound like a giddy fool while anxiously awaiting the time they let us in line to Board AOS. No matter where we stay or how nice the beds we get little sleep because we are sooooooo excited. Even after all the cruises we've been on, it is always exciting.

[traci28]

This upcoming cruise will be different as I have not told my children that we are going. Next weekend will be spent doing laundry and packing while they are away. I will then load the suitcases into my car and pray that they don't need anything the entire week. Then on the following Saturday we have a late flight out of Chicago so I will have my kids pack their "Road trip" bags and hop in the car. I plan to have their swim suits and such packed in the bag for the hotel and that way they can put them on Sunday morning before we leave for the boat. I will make up some excuse not to take out bags out of the rental car the night we arrive. :) I want to surprise them with the cruise by driving up to the port and telling them we have finally arrived at our vacation destination! :) I am so excited about this trip and it has been very hard to stay quiet since the beginning of February.

[corkyanige]

Traci - That sounds so cool.... I don't know how you haven't told your kids! My husband & I will be on our first cruise in May.... I am really hoping he enjoys it and then we could plan to cruise again with the kids... maybe over Christmas break or their spring break next year. I don't know that I'd be able to keep it a secret as you have though!

 

For our cruise in May, we are flying from Michigan to Tampa the day before... getting into Tampa about 7pm. So, I think we will just have dinner and try to get rested up for the next day.... I am thinking I might need to pack the tylenol PM though.

[sleepysnr]

This upcoming cruise will be different as I have not told my children that we are going. Next weekend will be spent doing laundry and packing while they are away. I will then load the suitcases into my car and pray that they don't need anything the entire week. Then on the following Saturday we have a late flight out of Chicago so I will have my kids pack their "Road trip" bags and hop in the car. I plan to have their swim suits and such packed in the bag for the hotel and that way they can put them on Sunday morning before we leave for the boat. I will make up some excuse not to take out bags out of the rental car the night we arrive. :) I want to surprise them with the cruise by driving up to the port and telling them we have finally arrived at our vacation destination! :) I am so excited about this trip and it has been very hard to stay quiet since the beginning of February.

 

 

that is going to be some surprise!! have fun on your cruise!! :):):)

[traci28]

Traci - That sounds so cool.... I don't know how you haven't told your kids! My husband & I will be on our first cruise in May.... I am really hoping he enjoys it and then we could plan to cruise again with the kids... maybe over Christmas break or their spring break next year. I don't know that I'd be able to keep it a secret as you have though!

 

For our cruise in May, we are flying from Michigan to Tampa the day before... getting into Tampa about 7pm. So, I think we will just have dinner and try to get rested up for the next day.... I am thinking I might need to pack the tylenol PM though.

 

 

If your husband likes to travel, I'm sure he will enjoy the cruise! What is there not to like about being on the ocean, all the food you can eat, and visiting different exotic places all in one week! That's my slice of heaven!!!

[Cologal49]

Watch Titanic

Good idea - gives you something to plan for???

[missou]

It is never the same for us. On 3 occasions, we drove to the port all the way from Montreal. First time we were already in Florida, second time we drove to New York and third time, we drove to Port Canaveral. For the other cruises, we flew in to Florida a day before the ship left or on the same day. As you can see, it is never the same.

[cruisinbuddy]

On our last cruise this past January, we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, in FLL and then back to the hotel. Grabbed a few beer and sat outside having a beer. All with the other 4 people we were sailing with. The most common topic of conversation was, it's Jan. 10th 9:00 pm, and we're sitting outside in shorts and not cold.

[krogerlady]

We are spending a day in Vancouver before we sail. Probably planning on doing too much, and will be tired, but we don't have to get up too early, and will be dealing with the affects of a 3 hour time change too, but will probably still have a hard time sleeping. Only 91 days to go!!

[Rock Chick]

This probably sounds stupid, but for me 'carrying the packed suitcases downstairs ready to be loaded into the car' is a momentous occasion! For some reason I like to vacuum the downstairs carpets before the cases come downstairs. It's as if seeing the luggage standing proudly upright in my hall is when reality hits that we're actually ready to go! :)

 

Carol

[cruisingirl75]

We arrive at the port the day before our cruise. I always request early check-in at the hotel. We shower, take a nap, and then get up and drive around the town and shop and eat. Sometimes we'll go to the beach for awhile if time permits. After dinner, we settle in for the night and I unpack and repack my suitcase (my husband thinks I'm nuts) and I make sure I have everything I need and then I do the same for my carry-on (again, why I am I doing this?) to make sure I have money, documents, passports, and Fun Pass ready to go for the next day. I don't sleep well as it is, so when we go to bed I'm too excited to sleep.:D

[traci28]

so the other night the Carnival "new ship smell" commercial came on the tv and my daughter says to me, "Mooommmmyyyy, wouldn't it be great if WE could smell that new ship smell too?" Now, I don't know if my paranoia was kicking in or not, but I'm SURE she knows about our cruise and was hinting around to see what my reaction would be. For those that thinks this doesn't make sense - read my first post about what I do the night before I cruise. :)

[junior 1]

When I am ready to go I check and recheck that I have all of the documents that I need to get on the ship, and then make a second set just to be sure. When we get to FLL and check into the hotel we have a drink to celebrate, get in the car and sightsee, go for a meal then at the end of the day the 4 of us will sit on the patio watch the sunset, enjoy another drink talk about our last Cruise, and anticipate how we will enjoy our next cruise, get up in the morning and will go to return the car take the shuttle and start to enjoy another vacation on these Beautiful Seas!!!!!!:cool:

[cruizinrican]

We are usually already at the Port of we are leaving out of it is in Miami or FLL bc they are 5 hours from us so we leave the day before and just stay the night. We arrive in the early afternoon to check-in and relax by the pool. Then its a shower and dinner with family that live in Miami. We return to watch some tv and read before retiring to bed. We usually are up and out of the room by 9:30 am the morning we are to board the ship to give us time to eat breakfast, check-out and catch shuttle to Port. That is, if we even sleep at all we are so excited!! :)

[chachi]

Depedending on where I am departing from, I get in between 1-3 days early to explore the town. This summer I am going to Vancouver 3 days early so that I can go whale watching and whitewater rafting. For my cruise out of Miami I am getting in about 11 the night before, so I will probably just head back to the hotel and go to bed.

[BroncosFan2010]

Watch Titanic

 

 

That is awesome! And something I would totally do!

[mr green]

I make sure that there is gas in the car, and later we have a beer.:)

 

john