| | Develop a checklist – categories to include: |
| | Financial Checklist |
| | oWhat is the overall budget |
| | Price of cruise |
| | Price of transportation |
| | Price of excursions |
| | Price of incidentals |
| | • Cocktails or sodas on ship |
| | o Some ships offer a “soda band”. This is a pre-paid item that allows you (or your children) to get unlimited drinks while on the cruise. |
| | • Souvenirs |
| | • On-board ship activities |
| | • Tips: At the end of the cruise, a good rule of thumb: $2 per day (5 days x $2 = $10), per person ($10per day x 4 people = $40), per cabin ($40 per cabin x 2 cabins = $80). We need to have extra money to tip the folks. I am planning for $200 in tips. |
| | • Hotels (before or after cruise) |
| | • Talk to your friends who have cruised before so you can avoid financial surprises! |
| | - What to Pack |
| | o Clothing (don’t forget shoes, undergarments, ties, jewelry and/or accessories, etc.) Think about what you are going to do each day and pack accordingly. To avoid over packing, try to think about the specific activities you are doing each day. |
| | o Additional things to take (i.e.: hats, Ipods, phone chargers, sunscreen, etc.) |
| | o Toiletries – with new airline restrictions, think about the impact to checked vs. carry on luggage. Also, think about the cost of forgetting something vs. thinking everything all the way through. |
| | - Itinerary - Devil is in the details: |
| | o how many days will we be gone (helps to know number of items to pack) |
| | o which days of the week and corresponding dates |
| | Will the trip take place during birthdays or anniversaries? If so, plan to have a celebration on the cruise! |
| | o Don’t forget to include travel days |
| | o List what is happening each day and what time it is scheduled (or how long) |
| | o This schedule will help you determine what to pack and how much money to plan to spend |
| | o Leave some flexibility in your itinerary |
| | This is a vacation, but if you have a good idea of what you are going to do, there will be tremendous relief that you have planned and prepared as well as you could! |
| | - Excursions |
| | o In the information the ship travel agents send out - or on the cruise web sites - there are lists of excursions. If you and your family review this prior to the cruise, it will help with building your itinerary, planning what to pack and planning what to spend. |
| | - |
| | - Travel Information |
| | o receipt from travel agent |
| | o credit card receipt |
| | o maps & driving directions |
| | o hotel names, addresses and confirmation numbers if staying in hotel before/after cruise |
| | o Rental car (is it more cost effective to rent a car or put miles on your car?) |
| | o proper identification (passports, birth certificates, drivers licenses, social security cards, etc) |
| | - Luggage |
| | o What kind of luggage are we taking? |
| | o Is it enough for all of us? |
| | o do we have a separate bag to put dirty laundry (yes - use several of the plastic bags we get from the grocery store) |
| | o put luggage tags on outside of bag - how can we differentiate our bag from others? |
| | o put identification inside of each bag - in case our tag gets lost or cut off |
| | o is there enough luggage in case we buy items on our vacation? Or do we ship items back? |