Our cruise is getting close now!!! I am so excited!!!
Before I was able to schedule our COVID tests and do our online check-in, I ordered a couple of items to have in our stateroom. Once I found out that you can order liquor and/or wine to have in your stateroom, it has been a must do for us. Not because we drink a lot, but because we are on vacation and we like to have a cocktail or two in our stateroom. This has truly kept my Sail N Sign card from sinking on many ocassions! I also purchased some water for our stateroom as well.
I was concerned about scheduling our Rapid COVID test but it was just as easy this time as it was when I scheduled our tests last August. The hardest part now is waiting to take the test then waiting for the results. Please keep your fingers crossed that my husband and I remain negative!
Another item I was able to complete was our online check-in. I love having an early arrival time! For us it means the line at Guys Burgers will be relatively short.
All that is left to do is our last minute check-off list but that will be in the next cruise blog!
I can’t believe how close the cruise is. We have decided to do all carry-on this cruise. We have said that many times before and it didn’t happen, but maybe it will this time!!!
In a garment bag we will attach to one of our carry-on bags will be the clothes we are wearing to the steakhouse for dinner of the day of embarkation and our clothes for cruise elegant night. We will also put our shoes for these dinners in the garment bag as well. Also in the garment bag is a dress I am planning on wearing for dinner on the day we are in Progreso, Mexico and the top and capri’s I plan on wearing to the last dinner before they kick everyone off.
Our carry-on duffle bag will contain our clothes, shoes, and of course, undergarments. I plan on taking 4 shirts, 4 pairs of shorts, 2 swimsuits with 2 cover-ups, 1 pairs of capri’s, 1 pairs of jeans, 1 dress (just in case), a navy cardigan sweater, and a light weight suit suit for the drive home. I have not cruise in February before so I want to make sure I’m warm hence the jeans!!!
Here’s the outfits I have decided to wear and when I will be wearing them.
Embarkation day: t-shirt purchased on the Carnival Vista last year, jeans, Valentine socks, Reeboks. This was discussed in a previous blog.
For our dinner in the steakhouse, I will be wearing a pink top, white pants/jeans, and pink and black heels. Jim will be wearing a pink with blue stripes Nautica golf shirt and navy pants. We are going to be casual, but not too casual.
Sea Day #1 during the daytime I will be wearing a pink top and black shorts with pink and black leopard print shoes. Jim will be wearing his t-shirt of the day and shorts.
If weather permits, we will definitely be wearing swimsuits during the day. These are the swimsuits and cover ups I will be bringing.
Cruise elegant night will find me wearing a red dress purchased and black heels. Both were purchased from Venus.com. Jim will be wearing a short sleeve red button down shirt and black slacks. No tie… unless I find something I want him to wear.
I have also included a golf shirt for him to wear after dinner while we are walking around trying to decide what we want to do.
Cozumel is our first port of call. We have reservations to go to Del Mar Latino Beach Club. It is within walking distance to the pier. During the day when not in a swimsuit, I will be wearing a blue top, white shorts, and blue and white Sperry’s. Of course, I will have walking shoes on while making our way to the beach club. I will also be wearing the same outfit to dinner. Afterall, who wants to get all dressed up after spending hours at an all-inclusive adults only beach club? Not me. I feel certain Jim will be wearing his t-shirt of the day and shorts while we are making our way to the beach club. For dinner, I planning on Jim wearing his blue and white stripe Izod golf shirt to dinner.
Progreso is our last port of call. We have decided to take the free bus to town and walk to the beach area. This area has changed a lot since the last time we have been there and we are looking forward to seeing the changes. I plan on wearing a short sleeve shirt, denim shorts, and my Reeboks while we are exploring the area. I’m sure Jim will be wearing another t-shirt of the day and shorts. Once it is time for dinner, I plan on wearing a dress with palm leaves on it and Jim will be wearing a light green golf shirt and most likely shorts.
Sea day #2 is always a sad day. When not trying to soak of the last bit of sunshine I can, I will be wearing a white shirt and blue and white shorts with my blue and white Sperry’s. Of course, Jim will be wearing his t-shirt of the day and shorts. For our last dinner on board, I will be wearing a black and white polka dot short sleeve top, white capri’s, and black sandals. Jim will be wearing a golf shirt and shorts.
When the make us leave the ship, I have decided to wear a light blue long sleeve light weight sweat suit with my Reeboks. I have no clue what Jim will be wearing.
As of today, all of my clothes that are not going in the garment bag have been put in packing cubes and are safely in a duffle bag.
The items not shown above that I am taking are denim capri’s, black jeans, and a navy cardigan. They have been put in a packing bag and are ready to go.
I have also selected my jewelry for this cruise and I have pack the pieces in a container for safe keeping. This container will be in my backpack when we board the ship.
All that is left at this point is getting the rest of Jim’s stuff together.
I did not know if I wanted to decorate our door or not. Then I decided I would!
I decided I would make a small rag wreath for the door. Of course it would be a nautical theme. I lucked out and found the perfect fat quarters with anchors on them at Walmart. I also purchased some fat quarters at Joanns along with some red fabric and white dots. I felt like I need an equal amount of patterned and solid fabrics to make it work.
While browsing on Party City, I just happened to find this banner that magically fell in my cart!!!!
There is one more item I purchased at Dollar Tree that I may or may not use. I can’t make up my mind. I will probably leave it at home as I don’t really like the idea of having glitter everywhere! It might just stay on my front door instead.
I will be using Command Strips to attach them to our stateroom door. I use command strips for EVERYTHING that needs to be hung in our stateroom, including the over-the-door shoe hanger. I strongly recommend them, hands down!!!!
This the extent of my stateroom door decorations. I will be sure to post of picture of our stateroom door when I start the cruise recap series.
Thanks for taking the time to read this short blog. I hope you will return to read my other blogs as well.
The easiest part of packing for a cruise is the overnight bag. The only thing that will go in it are the necessities for boarding day!!!!
For instance… our boarding attire
And, of course, our shoes and toiletries.
And everything fits!!!
So as far as I’m concerned, this bag is done. And 3 weeks early!
Now it is time to do other pre-cruise necessities such as scheduling hair and nail appointments and COVID test, and ordering water for our stateroom. You know. the other stuff that needs to be done before a cruise.
With 4 weeks to go, I have decided it is time to make the lists for this cruise. I will primarily be focusing on clothes and maybe shoes. But I will also include my excessive first aid kit. So lets get started.
Since my first aid kit seems to have more on it than the clothes I will be taking, lets start with it.
I know the list is long but in these times, I want to be prepared for anything and everything including taking a lot of face masks!
I do have a small first aid kit I keep in my purse, but it is very basic.
Now for the clothes. For every cruise I go on, I will make a chart of the days on the cruise and what will be going on those days. This year, I decided to use my handy dandy Plum Planner.
First, I wrote on each day what would be going on. This gives me an idea of what I will wear on that day.
On the opposite page, I wrote in pencil what I plan on wearing that day and evening.
Since I have written everything in pencil, it will be easy to change in my planner should I change my mind about something. And believe me, I already have.
For some reason, when I was putting the clothes together, it appears that I will be taking a lot less clothes than I normally do. This makes my husband so excited. But since it is still early, there may or may not be any changes made to the list. I guess the only way to find out will be to come back for the packing blog which will be up closer to cruise time.
When we travel, there are some items that we make sure we take on each and every trip. I would like to share with you what are essentials are for this cruise.
First and foremost are the fans. Yes, more than one. The large black one is for the room while the other two are for outside use. Well, mostly outside use any way. I say that because when we were on the Carnival Vista in August/September, our embarkation was at terminal 2. It was our first time embarking from that terminal so we did not know what to expect. What we found was that it was very hot. We used the necklace fans a lot while we were standing in line. I thought it was probably cooler outside!!!!
We bring an over-the-door shoe hanger on each trip. This time, I purchased a new one that is slender and came in a a package of 2. We do not use the hangers that come with it. Instead, we use Command Strips. They have never failed us!
Our first aid kit has everything we could possibly need and then some. Better safe than sorry.
Do NOT forget to bring some antacids. It is definitely a necessity. Any brand will do. These were purchased at Dollar Tree but the container has since been refilled with whatever we have on hand at the time.
We also bring plenty of hand sanitizer, both liquid and wipes. I keep wipes in my purse, beach bag, and back pack because you never know when you will need them.
Let’s not forget our beverage cups. Hubby brings a Bubba Mug he has had for years and years. I bring my trusty Tervis tumbler that I found a Bed Bath and Beyond many years ago.
Typically, we bring two bottles of wine on board with us at embarkation. So, we bring plastic, reusable wine and champagne classes to use. A corkscrew is kept with the wine and glasses so we do not forget it like we have done before. We also bring metal straws with us since plastic straws are no longer available and I do not like the straws they are now using.
We also bring a travel power strip that stays in camera bag when not in use. It has been awesome to have.
Also in the camera bag is spare batteries.
Do not forget face masks. We bring disposable ones as well as reusable ones. I am fully aware that I’m bringing more than I will probably use.
A battery operated night light works well when your room gets dark. Even the balcony rooms tend to get dark at night.
Water shoes and rain ponchos come in handy as well. I purchased these water shoes on Amazon several years ago and the rain poncho was purchased at Dollar Tree.
So that is it for now. I know there are some things I have left off. Anything not included here will be in a packing blog.
Embarkation day is always an exciting day. One that I am always looking forward to. Until this day arrives, I always always always worry about what I will be packing for this cruise. I have yet to overcome my over-packing habit. Only time will tell if I succeed this time.
I purchased our shirts while we were on our last cruise with the intention of wearing it on our next cruise. At that time, I did not realize our next cruise would be this soon. This shirt will likely be in the regular rotation for our embarkation shirts.
Since I am uncertain to what the weather will be like, I am planning on wearing jeans while boarding. But I will also be taking a pair of denim capri’s just in case. The jeans are KUT from the Kloth that was in a StitchFix box a few years ago. The capri’s were purchased at SteinMart several years ago as well.
Embarkation day is definitely the day to wear comfy shoes. I learned this the hard way when I decided to wear a brand new, never worn pair of Sperry’s. Luckily, I was able to switch into comfy shoes before we boarded the ship. For this cruise, I will be wearing my Reeboks. They are the best shoes for me as they offer a lot of arch support and are very comfortable.
Let’s not forget the socks!!! I found these at Target. Of course the socks must be a Valentine theme!!!!
I love jewelry and I really enjoyted finding the perfect pieces for my embarkation outfit. All of which were found by accident!!!!!
Also from Target are the red heart earrings an the gold heart necklace. Both are by the brand SugarFix by BaubleBar. I love their stuff!!
I found a red heart necklace on Oriental Trading online while I was searching for things for a Disney themed project. I love this one.
While shopping for Valentine decorations for my moms apartment, I found these heart bead necklaces at Dollar Tree. Might as well add them to the embarkation day outfit as well.
Unfortunately, I have waited until the last possible time to start my pre-cruise diet. I’m hoping to drop at least a few pounds. I want to make sure I have room to grow into the clothes I will be taking on this cruise. I’m sure the HydroxyCut I started taking on Monday will help. I will include a weekly diet update every Thursday.
I would say it happened by accident. And in a way, it sort of did. I blame Carnival Cruise Line. While we were on our Carnival Vista cruise, I received an email offer. I did not see the email until we returned home.
I opened the email on September 5th and who wouldn;t want to open an email that says Get $500 onboard credit and get back to FUN!! This sounds to good to be true but it definitely got my attention. The offer was really good, almost to good to be true. $99 deposit per person and $500 OBC to get back to FUN. Valid for sailings from January 2022 to December 2022, expires on October 31st. I told Jim about the offer and we both agreed that it was too soon to even consider booking a cruise. We had just returned the day before.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. For days I kept thinking about the OBC. I was secretly looking at cruises as well. And by secretly, I mean I did not mention anything to Jim. I’m the type of person that likes to have a plan in place or at least an idea of what I want to do, just in case. I knew I did not want to go on the Vista so soon so I began to wonder but if we did, I would want a different itinerary. The more I thought about it, the more I really did not want to go on the Vista, at least not just yet.
I started thinking I would really love to go on a birthday cruise. Jim regularly goes to Branson to play golf for his birthday, I should go on a cruise for mine. Its only fair, or so I kept telling myself!
I started to wonder if the $500 OBC applies to 5-day cruises. I decided I wanted to look for a 5-day cruise leaving Galveston fairly close to my birthday. It did not take long to find one that matched perfectly. Now, the only thing left to do was call my PVP and ask about the OBC. I sent him an email asking for him to call me and that it was not anything urgent. And, if at all possible to call me before Jim got home from work.
Unfortunately, he did not call before Jim got home. I let Jim know that I was expecting a call from our PVP because I wanted to find out about the OBC a and 5-day cruise. I also told Jim that I was looking at a cruise for my birthday and I would like to do it, but only if the OBC is as shown on the offer.
When I received the call from our PVP, he did some checking and found that the OBC for a 5-day cruise is $500. SOLD!!!! I already knew what ship, stateroom location, preferred dining time, prepaid gratuities, and insurance.
On September 10th, 6 days after our cruise on the Carnival Vista ended, I booked us on the Carnival Breeze. I will be on a cruise for my birthday!
By September 11th, I had made our parking reservation as well as pre-cruise hotel reservations, but that a story for another time!
our life reality 