The week before a cruise is always full of excitement, anticipation, and some preoccupation over final to-do’s. However, don’t forget to do these 7 things before you cruise!
1. Arrange Sitters
Whether it’s a babysitter, pet sitter, or house sitter, you’ll likely want a friend or relative to look in on things while you’re away. Leave behind some basic, easy-to-follow instructions for the sitter and be sure to include what they should do in case of an emergency. Also, you should always leave your full name, the ship’s name, your cabin number, and the sailing date in case they really need to get ahold of you. Or, if you plan to buy Internet access, let them know how they can contact you that way.
2. Pay Your Bills
If you know that any of your bills will be due while you’re out at sea, pay them beforehand so you can have peace of mind on your vacation. The last thing you want is to come home from your cruise only to get slammed with late fees from unpaid bills.
3. Go to the Bank
It’s always wise to call or stop by your bank before your cruise to let them know you will be traveling; that way, they won’t freeze your accounts for suspecting fraudulent activity when you buy souvenirs in all the exotic ports you visit. This is also a good time to exchange currency if you’re cruising to a country that doesn’t use American dollars.
4. Hold Mail and Newspaper Delivery
If your cruise is six nights or longer, you may want to call your post office and newspaper delivery service (if you use one) to put a hold on receiving them. This way, the postal worker won’t be forced to bend and cram your mail into your overstuffed mailbox, and you also won’t have a neglected newspaper sitting in your yard to tip off potential burglars that you’re not home.
5. Refill Prescriptions
I can’t stress enough how important it is to do this early. I once waited until the day before a cruise to refill a prescription, only to then find out that I was out of refills and the pharmacy had to call my doctor for approval. Needless to say my doctor wasn’t thrilled about being bothered about this at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon, but I wasn’t about to leave without my medicine. Learn from my mistake and refill your medication at least a week before your cruise.
6. Do Laundry
Whether you’re driving or flying to your embarkation port, that first day of travel is always full of excitement, stress, and probably a little chaos. Don’t add “lack of sleep” to the mix because you stayed up late the night before doing loads of laundry. Make it a point to get laundry done during the week before you leave and to have as much as possible packed and ready to go in advance.
7. Make a Travel Documents Folder
Before you go, print out and organize all of your travel documents and anything else you’ve booked for your cruise – flight info, parking reservations, cruise boarding passes, trip insurance policies, excursions, etc. Keep all these together in your carry-on with your wallet and passport or other ID so you won’t lose them.
What are your to-do’s the week before you sail away? Let us know!
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