Mum2Mercury

I would not apply for the passport now. Why? Because you'd have to send in your old passport. I would bring the old passport (which may or may not be accepted) AND ALSO my birth certificate and government ID. This feels safer to me than trusting the expedited service -- remember, the holidays are coming up and a lot of employees will be taking off, so you're likely to get the longer time frame. Immediately after the cruise (assuming no more travel in the next couple months), I'd apply for a new passport.

I don't want to sell! I've only owned this stock 2-3 months, and I'm up almost $2000 -- plus I'm (hopefully) about to get OBC for the second time. I bought at the right time! On our September cruise, we had NO PROBLEM. Sent in the info, immediately saw the credit on our account. Easy-peasy. We're leaving on Monday for a cruise, and I have contacted Royal SIX TIMES about OBC over the course of THREE WEEKS. Right now I'm on the phone -- I was on hold for 90 minutes before I spoke to anyone, and now I've passed the two hour mark. They keep asking me the same information over and over. They keep acting like it's my fault that they haven't credited my account.

When my kids were this size, we used to take along a couple pool noodles. We'd put them UNDER the bedsheets, creating a small "bumper" that'd keep the kids from rolling out accidentally.

True. If you choose Balcony Guarantee, you could get - Central Park View - Oceanview Balcony - Connecting Oceanview Balcony - Spacious Oceanview Balcony Personally, I wouldn't do guarantee with a balcony, even though the price difference can be as much as $150/person. On the other hand, if you're looking at an inside room, a guarantee is a pretty good value -- the difference in the available rooms is small: - We sailed in September, and booking an interior guarantee saved us about $300 total. We had a standard inside room in an excellent mid-ship location. - We're sailing Monday and again we're in an interior guarantee. At the point we booked, we saved about $120 by booking a guarantee -- but I just checked it, and if you were to book today, it'd only save you about $40. Incidentally, this time we're in a Promenade View room.

That's true. Here's an example: "They" want to demonize cigarettes -- and I hate cigarettes, even without the health negatives, so I feel bad and don't mean to defend cigarettes, but here goes. My grandmother was 99 years/5 months old, and she developed a blood clot in her leg -- what do they call them? DVT? Deep Vein Thrombosis? Anyway, in the process of treating this thing, they discovered that she had a small, small bit of lung cancer -- the very beginnings of lung cancer. (She herself was not a smoker, but she lived with two smoking husbands most of her life.) What really killed her: she had a small procedure to put a "mesh screen" in her leg to prevent the clot from moving to her heart -- it exhausted her. She could not bounce back, and she developed pneumonia. Pneumonia killed her. But her death certificate says she died of lung cancer. It's a lie: She only knew about the lung cancer for about two weeks, and she didn't even have time to discuss treatment. So why did the docs say it was lung cancer? Because anyone who has lung cancer dies of lung cancer, even if -- like my grandmother -- it's not the thing that kills them.

Yes, all the doctor's offices around here are still quite strict about masking. I've been to three in the last 3-4 months, and they all enforced masking /gave out masks at the door. To be argumentative, I'd point out that it might not be JUST the age. Older people are more likely to have a co-morbidity issue: Diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, etc. I mean, the older you are, the more years you've had to develop these problems. A story about whether boosters work: My whole family went to a child's birthday party in August. My grandson had picked up Covid at daycare but wasn't showing symptoms yet. Every person at that party who "was boosted" escaped the virus, while every person who wasn't boosted fell sick -- some with minor cases, some with moderate cases. Personally, I'll take the booster every time it's offered. I understand they're working on a combo flu-Covid booster shot. That'll be a positive in getting people to comply. 40 people would disagree.

Oh. That's not what I was thinking at all. In my mind, the picture below is a cardigan -- a sweater that gives real warmth /takes real space in the suitcase. I have a ton of them in a variety of colors because I live in the Carolinas and just retired from teaching. I have about a dozen simple Land's End dresses -- sleeveless or short sleeved -- that I wear in spring "as is" and in winter covered with a cardigan. What you're picturing, I'd term an accessory more than an article of clothing. Now my opinion is changing a bit. I still wouldn't bring more than one in black. Anyway, OP, I think your dress game is strong -- and well thought out with your personal choice to wear the bike shorts under. The dresses will be worn indoors /won't really get dirty /can be worn multiple times. Also, I think your shorts /tops idea is good -- though I'd personally ditch the capris and leggings for additional shorts. I'd add a nightgown because you're relying on those poor bike shorts to "work" day and night. And I'd think about one gym-outfit -- like yoga pants and a sloppy tee -- for wearing around the room after a shower or walking down to the Promenade to get a drink to take back to the room. Overall, you're off to a very good start. That's not unlike what I do: I pick my bottoms first, then I pick 2-3 tops to match each bottom. I think of each "set" as a "pod", but I don't make any attempt to coordinate between pods. I usually bring white slip-on Keds or Vans, which will go with everything ... and simple brown walking sandals that match everything. Those two pair of shoes are my daytime workhorses.

Oh, no! Another tip: Try on everything as you pack it. You don't want to discover that the shorts you haven't worn in 6 months are missing a button or that the fancy pants you rarely wear are now too tight. A friend of mine cruised mid-winter /only brought one swimsuit. On the ship, she discovered that the swimsuit's elastic had gone bad -- you know how elastic can get really old (fast) and it's all crackle-y. So her suit bottoms were constantly falling down.

Officially self-disembarkation tends to start at 7:00. We sailed out of Miami in September, and this was our experience: We joined the disembarkation line, which snaked through the dining room and out onto the promenade deck about 6:45 -- about 75 people were ahead of us. The line started moving (quickly) about 7:15. We exited the terminal about 7:30 and were through Customs and in our car driving towards home about 7:40. The whole thing was quick and efficient. I personally wouldn't count on it being that quick -- you just never know. I would not want a flight any earlier than 9:00. Your comfort zone might vary.

Yes! It seems Royal is doing more shorter cruises and is hitting more lackluster islands. Personally, I'm hoping for better choices in February-March when 2024 schedules come out. Do you think this is some kind of "hold over" from the pandemic? I'm trying to see a reason, and I can't. Well, I know they want to push their own Perfect Day at CocoCay -- I'm sure it's a big money day for them -- but, aside from that, I just can't see any reasons.

Friend, it's not the start -- we've been on this road for a while. Come on, spelling and grammar are elementary school skills.

I agree that -- assuming packing light is your goal, and it certainly is mine -- packing one pair of shoes for all your dinner dresses is a good goal. But I don't agree that this means all your dresses must be the same color. On our last cruise I packed brown /gold wedges, which matched all my dinner dresses. Our next cruise is 3 nights (which tends to be extremely casual), and I'm sticking with simple brown sandals. Spilled coffee. Really? Well now I want to see that movie, but I can't say I'm ga-ga over her clothes based upon these pictures -- but they do suit the actress' body type well, and they're classic. RDJ's outfit looks "dated" -- makes me nostalgic for my college days -- but hers would still work today.

I don't have a real suggestion about which of the major lines you should choose, but -- if you're planning to "return" to cruising, I suggest you do a lot of reading and decide for yourself which of the big lines you want to claim as "your own". Why? Because sticking with one cruise line means you'll build up points /days and will earn financial rewards. - Personally, we have decided we'll stick with Royal because we'll get to "Diamond level" and will get 4 free drinks/day (as much as we'd ever drink anyway). If we were to split our cruises across other lines, we'd never get to that level on any of the cruise lines. - We also bought 100 shares of RC stock so we get On Board Credit every time we sail; we aren't going to buy into allll the lines. Consider that prices go up and down. If you're thrifty (or stingy like me) you can watch and call in for a price drop. For example, we signed up for our 3-day short cruise next week because it was only $99. It went up-up-up before Thanksgiving to something like $675, and now it's $535. There's a website that tracks historical costs /gives you hints about what you might find. You probably know that this website doesn't allow other websites to be mentioned by name ... but look up Cruise + the name of the thing you wear on your wrist to tell the time. I'm very analytical myself, and I do admire a good spreadsheet. I disagree about cruising at Christmas. We sailed a holiday once and said "never again"; the price was high, and the ship was crowded.

This isn't about packing, but -- OP, since it's your first cruise, you may not know -- you'll have a clothesline in the shower where you can dry your swimsuit.

I don't know that it's in my top 20, but I definitely dislike it! Whereas I find all black to be ... basic and clone-ish. It's not that the color doesn't look good on me (and most people); it's that it's just too common. I mean, on a cruise formal night, for example, it seems that 80%+ of the ladies are wearing black, and they all blend together. I also have never quite understood the idea 1-2 colors for traveling. Once you've worn the pink shorts twice, and they're in the dirty clothes, what does it matter if the rest of your shirts match them? Rather, for travel, I think of clothes in "pods" ... maybe a pair of pink shorts + 2-3 shirts that match them, then a gray skirt + 2-3 shirts that match it. Makes sense to me.

Yeah, I wear bike shorts for modesty. Pool thoughts: I'd say add a ball cap to wear while swimming. Or a bucket hat. You can't really wear a pretty straw hat while swimming, but either of these will help with the sunshine. I don't like to wear the same swimsuit over and over. I like to mix up the tan lines, and -- no -- I don't like to put on a suit that's still damp from its last use. We tend to choose water-based excursions, so we wear our "swimmies" often. I just mentioned the night clothes and the gym clothes so you wouldn't arrive and say, "Oh, no!" I won't take gym clothes for a 3-day, but I'm going to eat dessert every day, so -- for a longer cruise -- I'd bring them. Would you want something like gym clothes to toss on late at night to make a Promenade pizza run? Askin', not tellin'. Maybe you could compromise with two cardigans, one being the one you wear for travel? They're bulky, and I don't think they'll "earn their space" in your suitcase.

So you have 5 dresses to wear to 9 dinners. This is good. Most of these dresses could "double" as afternoon-around-the-ship dresses as well. The thing that started this discussion: I think three cardigans is overkill + another that you're wearing during travel. Pick one. 3 bottom pieces + 5-6 tops. With 9 days, I'd be tempted to add another pair of shorts + 1 more shirt. Of course, you have the maxi dresses too. I'd be afraid capris would be too hot in the Caribbean. I don't think the leggings will be useful in the Caribbean -- and you've already identified your travel pants. I sometimes wear bike shorts under dresses too, especially during the day on the ship -- the wind can whip your skirt up, giving everyone "a show". But three of your four non-dress-ups are maxis -- you wouldn't wear bike shorts under a maxi dress, would you? I think you could drop to one. I'm getting the idea you're not a water person? For 9 days, for sure I'd bring 3 swimsuits & 3 coverups. What about water shoes for beach days? I'd bring them only if you're doing some sort of a water-based excursion OR if you know you're going to a rocky beach. You're bringing one pair of black sandals that can dress up or down -- I think you're light here. I'd go with a pair of dressy shoes to finish off your dinner dresses nicely + a pair of walking sandals. Travel outfit: I'd go with a short sleeved shirt under the cardigan -- when you arrive in Florida, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt will be pretty hot. I don't take any socks on the ship, but I don't wear a lot of socks at home. Also, I'm coming from the Carolinas, where the temp will be 50-60ish /will wear slip-on Keds for travel. You didn't mention a nightgown. What about gym clothes?

Today I'm packing for our next-week cruise, which is only three days. As an example, here's what I'm packing /how I'm thinking it through. When we cruised in September, I had exactly enough clothes -- I used everything /didn't take home a single thing un-used. Driving day: Wear yoga pants, tee shirt, lightweight jacket, slip-on tennis shoes Packed in the shared night-before-hotel-tote: Nightgown, boarding outfit ... this will stay in the car /along with the dirty clothes from the drive. Day 1, boarding day: Orange print shorts, blousey-blue top, slip-on tennis shoes ... we will not swim on the first day, so this will be my around-the-ship outfit. Day 1, Dinner -- theme: casual: Same outfit Day 2, on board morning: Swimsuit, cover up, sandals. Day 2, Bahamas afternoon: Same orange print shorts, white blousey-top, slip-on tennis shoes. Day 2, Dinner -- theme: dressy: Blue dress, sandals ... have a blue chambray shirt, which works for a light jacket if needed for the evening Day 3, Cocoa Cay: Same swimsuit, cover up, sandals Day 3, afternoon onboard: White stripe tee-dress, sandals Day 3, dinner -- theme: tropical: White stripe tee-dress ... same blue chambray shirt if needed as a jacket Day 4, Disembarkation: Blue chambray shirt, bright print leggings, slip-on tennis shoes Total clothes -- 10 items of clothing + 2 pairs of shoes - 1 pair shorts - 1 pair leggings - 3 tops - 2 dresses - 1 swimsuit & 1 cover up - 2 pairs shoes -- a better-dressed woman would bring dressier shoes for the blue dress, but since they'd only be worn once, I'm just not doing it for a three-day cruise. - 1 night gown Do you know the 5-4-3-2-1 packing pattern? Check out Pinterest, and you'll find lots of examples. It really works, though I always end up tweaking it a bit.

"Stuff I already own" is a great starting place. I don't do capris, but starting with your bottom pieces makes sense ... add 2-3 tops that'll match each bottom. I'll re-use a pair of shorts ... unless they've been worn off the ship for an island day /are too sweaty. I plan carefully and wear already-worn-once shorts for a day of walking around the islands.

You say it's your first cruise ... you're probably not considering that, unlike at home, you don't have a washing machine at your fingertips. Yes, thin /light /packable is the key. Also folding things well makes a big difference. And watch your shoes -- they are such space hogs.

I know I'm in the minority, but I just don't get the default to black clothing thing. In addition to being somber, it shows dirt and doesn't look great with no-tan skin. I've never understood the LBD concept. Personally, I have one black dress, and it's for funerals.

Think it through ... you've been at the pool a couple hours. Your swimsuit is wet. You put on your cover up to walk back to the room ... now it's wet too. I can't see the cover up being okay for dinner or the theater in the evening. If they're heading off the ship for a beach day, most people will wear a swimsuit /cover up (or swim trunks /matching tee for a guy) off the ship and at the beach. Upon returning to the ship, most people will shower and change into shorts or other comfortable day clothes. BUT the cover up will be wet and sweaty and fit only for the dirty clothes bin. Personally, I'd re-wear shorts that've just been "around the ship", and I'd re-wear a dress that'd only been to dinner ... but I wouldn't rewear a cover up that'd been off the ship for a beach day.

I'm 4'11", so yes -- love heels. I have a pretty strong case of plantar fasciitis, but I can still wear carefully chosen heels. I lean towards wedges for cruises. Expanding on that thought: the cheap ones are never comfortable or a good fit.

Since I drive from NC, I have the option to leave my lightweight jacket in the car -- but, since we're all traveling from different starting spots, this is really one of those things that isn't "one size fits all".

I can't imagine a swim cover-up doubling as a wrap for the evenings. I mean, it's going to get hot and sweaty. You've heard the saying: Pack what you think you need, then take out half of it.