Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but things have been crazy around here! Fall is always super busy in our house, and blogging has definitely been neglected as a result. We leave for our Universal/Disney Cruise trip in less than 2 weeks and until yesterday, I had done NOTHING to prepare for it since my last Preparing For Cruise #7 post (click here to catch up from the beginning). We have a lot going on during the next 2 weeks as well, so I am going to try and do a little bit of packing each day so that the day before we leave isn’t too crazy. Since my last post, I have managed to check 2 more items off of my to do list:
Yesterday I gathered all of our documents together and made my cash envelopes. Whenever we travel, I print out all confirmation emails and email correspondence for anything pertaining to the vacation, as well as any required documents. Here is my pile for this trip:
I have 2 hotel confirmation emails, our signed DCL documents from our online check-in, our confirmation email for our VIP tour at Universal Studios, our Universal tickets, and our cruise booklets (we have 2 because we are sailing in 2 rooms). The day before we leave, I will add our passports to this pile and stash it all in my carry-on bag.
I also made all of our cash envelopes. Whenever we travel, I like to anticipate how much cash we will need for different things and then place the cash in labeled envelopes. This ensures that we 1) don’t run out of cash, and 2) have all of the correct bills for gratuities and don’t have to worry about getting change anywhere. For this vacation, I made the following envelopes:
I have a tip for our VIP tour guide, plenty of one dollar bills for the toll roads in Florida, two 10 dollar bills for the porters at the terminal (one for before the cruise, one for after), a few 5 dollar bills for any room service orders, some cash for food/other purchases on our Blue Lagoon excursion in Nassau, and a tip for the parasailing guys at Castaway Cay. I also make an empty envelope labeled “extra” and throughout the trip, I will place any extra cash that was not used in that envelope.
I carry the envelopes in a binder with our documents and passport wallet. The binder stays in my carry-on at all times. I don’t carry a purse on vacations like this, so my carry-on bag acts like my purse and has all of the important stuff in it.
I also want to share with you what arrived in the mail the other day: my new KYSS (Keep Your Stuff Safe) bag!
This is a bag that allows you to lock the zippers together as well as loop a chain around something like the arm of a chair or a pole. I’m sure a thief could get to your stuff if they tried really hard and took some time, but I think it is a deterrent for most thieves. I have thought about getting one of these for a while now, but never really saw the need until this vacation. I plan to use it at Castaway Cay, and at the pools on the ship right after we board. On our past visits to Castaway Cay, we have reserved a cabana on the family beach so our belongings were secure (you can read all about the cabanas here). This time, we won’t have a cabana and all of us plan to go snorkeling together, so I want a way to secure our belongings while they are unattended. Also, this will be our first cruise where we hit up the pools immediately after boarding (gotta get in that Aquaduck time!) and since we can’t get into our rooms beforehand, we will have ALL of our valuables with us – passports, cash, wallets, cameras, phones, etc. Chances are no one would bother them, but I am a worrier and don’t want to be thinking about it the whole time. The bag is available in 3 different sizes (mine is the largest) and several different colors. If you want more information about the KYSS bag, this is the link to their website:
I will post a detailed review of the bag after I have returned home from my trip. Today and tomorrow I hope to get the suitcases out of the storage room and start packing the things we won’t need/use until we leave. Hopefully I can get another post up by the end of the week.
Before I leave, I want to tell you about a great new website that just launched. Kidtripster is a an online magazine that provides expert information and inspiration to families traveling with children anywhere in the world. If you want information about a particular travel destination for your family, chances are you will find it there. The writers are parents who have actually traveled to the destination with their kids, and there are even articles written by teens to get their perspective. I am honored to be a contributor and think it is fabulous resource. Please check it out!
Up next: Preparing for Cruise #7 Part 5
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