I love reading your trip report and am enjoying your pics! Emme is so cute!
thank you! just returned from a 3 day surprise trip to disney with my parents! they haven't been in 20 years & they were so excited about the surprise trip. i will be updating soon!
Hi, my family (DH, DD12, DD15) are sailing on the Fantasy (Caribbean) on March 23rd. I am starting to pack/prepare. Any tips or advice? Did you use a room key necklace? Do you take you passports into the ports? Packing tips? None of us have been on a cruise before.
Thanks a lot!!
Sue
apologies for the delayed response as i'm returning from a trip to disney.
we cruised in january so the weather was all over the place. it was also my first cruise so i had no idea what to pack so i basically packed everything. in actuality, i only needed half of what i brought on the trip.
i wore 2 outfits a day. a day outfit and then changed for dinner. because i knew the weather would be a bit erractic (it went from being cool & windy to 85 degrees the next day), i over packed. i was really glad that i brought my hoody & yoga pants just to lounge around in.
we stayed in concierge so i didn't have to worry about water, soda etc. we also had access to sunscreen but i still brought 2 bottles of my own (yet i still managed to burn in san juan!
)
i really regretted bringing shampoo & conditioner as it took up precious space in my bag. the toiletries that were supplied were fantastic! i do recommend bringing your own face & body lotion however. the hair dryer supplied in our bathroom was awesome too!
i brought 6 pairs of shoes when i only needed three. i wore my running shoes, flip flops & dressy crocs for the entire cruise.
the room key necklace was really handy as you had easy & quick access to your room key for opening the door & picture moments. i also packed our drivers license inside the room key necklace which made it very accessible when we left for port. i did not take our passports as it took up space & i had a fear or losing it or getting it stolen. i've had my passport stolen before in canada of all places. once we scanned our KTTW to leave the ship for port, i took the necklace off & tucked it away in a safe space in my bag. once we got close to the ship, i put the necklace back on as you have to scan your KTTW card to re-board the ship.
my room was ready at 130pm but i still packed a day bag which had sunscreen, bathing suits, & a few other essentials for when we boarded the ship. a lot of people took advantage of the pool & aquaduck while the room was being prepared. you can also bring a bottle of wine or 2 with you in your carry on bag!
i'm assuming the weather for you will be really warm. if you go to san juan, brings lots of sunscreen & drink lots of water. i was slathering sunscreen on during my day (i didn't pay for an excursion, i did my own FREE tour of the fort which is in walking distance from the ship!) & drinking lots of water, but the sun in san juan was brutal in late january. there's also a CVS across the street from the port so you can stock up on essentials & bring them back on board with little ease since it's a very short walk from cvs to the boat.
i took advantage of the picture kiosks and made thank you photo cards for my concierge team while in san juan.
also for your castaway cay day...leave the ship bright & early! we made our way to castaway cay close to 10am and I feel like i wasted so much time as there was so much to do. given we had a cabana but i still wished i started my day just a tad earlier so i could have taken advantage of all there is to do.
in terms of food, don't be afraid to order more than one appetizer or entree. i didn't like most of the entrees during dinner so we ordered 3 or 4 entrees and split it between the two of us. 3/4 were usually bad so we split one and re-ordered if we were still hungry. also, cabanas has an awesome LUNCH. i really enjoyed my lunch at cabanas. it had great variety and i thought the food was great.
if you haven't already, try and book palo brunch. it was very delicious and for $20, it was a total steal.
for the captain's gala and formal night, don't feel the pressure to super dress up. i saw everything from ball gowns & tuxedos to shorts & polo tops to people in their sunday best. my mom and i just wore simple dresses both times and didn't feel under dressed or over dressed.
also, if your kids are into the characters, wake up early and meet the characters when they begin at 9. the lines are way short!
i will post some more packing tips as soon as i unpack from this trip.
just remember that when you enter the terminal, there is baggage check where you can just drop your bags off. however, once you leave customs, you have to take all your bags back to your car (there are people who can help you with your bags but work for tips) but the more you pack with you, it's a total pain to re-pack to go home.
your post has made me even more excited for our upcoming cruise- it's our first one!
