Saturday, September 18, 2010

Packing for a Cruise to Panama

What to bring?

For every cruise about a month before sailing we start are lists. Yup lists, and it is a saving grace because in all our travels I don't recall ever forgetting something that was needed.

There a few lists. One list of things to pack. One list of things we need to buy for the trip. One list of things to do before we go away.

On our things to do before we go are the following items:

- Call credit card company to let them know that you are travelling out of the country, they ask what countries you are visiting and that is it. It is a must to do this, because if you don't be prepared to have to call them anyways from wherever you are when your card is refussed for security reasons.
- Ironing, this is an ongoing processes, but it starts by us pulling out any and all clothes that we may take on the cruise. Then it is a process of trying everything on, yup everything. When I try the clothes on I then have to say does this fit? Do I like it? Do I have to bring it? Then once I have what I want to bring then I put the clothes on the bed and then check to see what tops go with which bottoms, and each item must intermatch with at least three tops or bottoms. Also this is the type to rule out clothes too -- do I really need 3 white tops? Nope.
- Getting our neighbour the key so they can watch the place and check the mail. Some days it is an advantage to live in an apartment.


For the things to not forget, well here is our list:

- a plastic cup like holder that has suction cups that is great for the shower to hold soap, the shampoo etc and really comes in handy in those small showers
- power bar, we picked up a smaller power bar as many cabins only have one plug with two place to plug something in, and nowadays with camera chargers, ipod charger, blow dryer, etc it is a must
- over the door caddy, ours is one that hooks over the bathroom door and is made of plastic and holds baseball caps but we use it on board to hold everything like deodarant, perfumes, sunscreen, ball caps, you name it. It comes in very handy when sailing this way you can easily locate items especially if one person is in the washroom and you can't get in.
- air freshner, we bring a small spray type - reason is self explanatory.
- Bernie loves bringing a coffee mug for his large cup of tea in the morning and it keeps it warm and he can move around the ship with it without worrying about breaking it.
- binoculars, especially for the Panama
- small umbrella
- for us we also bring a small Canadian Flag that we fly from our balcony

One thing for sure - write a list, you will thank me.

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