Started packing today

Krissie and I started packing today.  We don’t leave for the airport until Thursday morning, but we want to make sure that we have the right suitcases and that everything will fit.  We are each taking two suitcases and I will have a backpack (with my laptop and other electronics gear) and Krissie will have a purse.  Although two suitcases doesn’t sound like a lot for a 107 day trip, there is a laundry onboard where we can periodically wash our clothes, so only bringing enough clothes for about 10 days or so.  One of my suitcases has lots of extras beyond clothes.  I have a file folder for every port we will be visiting, with a printout of all of my research.  These files end up being almost 4” thick on their own and quite heavy.

Krissie is also bringing with her an artist set so that she can do painting on our balcony during the sea days.  There really isn’t much to see on the sea days other than water and occasional clouds, so she should get really good at painting seascapes by the end of the trip.  Rebekah (our resident family artist) gave Krissie some hints on what to pack.  I even checked with Princess to make sure it would be OK to bring it onboard and they said it would be fine.

The Princess Customer Service office is quite good.  I’ve had to call them sometimes almost daily (“It’s Brian again…”) to ask questions about different things in prep for the cruise.  Do they have an ATM onboard?  The answer, surprisingly, is no—yikes!  And their suggestion was even more surprising: bring along traveler’s checks.  Does anyone really use traveler’s checks anymore?  Or even go into a real bank?  I’ve been doing banking by Internet and mail for so long, I cannot remember the last time I actually brought traveler’s checks with me—maybe 10 years ago?  Anyway, I digress.  Customer Service is very on the ball about all of my questions, even when they aren’t the ideal answer (not their fault).  It’s nice to see really good customer service from any business.  Hats off to Princess.

I’ve also been prepping for the cruise by connecting with others at CruiseCritic.com.  I’ve been a member there since 2002 and it has worked out well to both plan for independent tours as well as meet some people in advance.  There is a specific forum thread for our world cruise.  I volunteered to keep the roll call (the listing of everyone going on the cruise on CruiseCritic) and will be helping to put together the Meet & Greet once we are onboard.  Everyone felt it would be helpful to have port meetups the a couple days before each port, so we are scheduling those meetings as well.

I have one suitcase packed, one to go!