Cruise Critic Recommendations

Several friends on the Cruise Critic World Cruise thread have recommended additional items to bring along.  The Cruise Maniac (David and Linda) suggest that you bring along a flashlight; small screw driver kit; stapler/staples; luggage scale--to weigh at end of cruise; clock with light; single dollar bills for tips; power converter kit, and extension cord.  We use our IPad with Dream Clock app to have a clock and night light at night.  It also serves as an alarm clock.

Another Cruise Critic member, ssbeagle suggests that you bring a laundry bag from the Dollar Store.

All of these are great ideas.  You just have to remember to not overpack and keep things as small and light as possible.

Happy Holidays

Why Magnets?

Many years ago we learned about the benefit of using magnets on our cruises.  They are a great way to make the most of  the limited space in your ship's stateroom.  We use them to hold maps on the wall; keep the Princess Patter available; hold clothes on hangers; hold excursion tickets, etc., etc....The walls of the stateroom are steel that are covered with a thin wall covering.  The magnets stick to these walls without any problem.  Here are some of the magnets we use when  traveling.

(To enlarge, CLICK on the photo)

The "Tiny Mighties" shown on the metal plate are some of the best we have ever found.  The measure only 0.125 inches in diameter (about the size of a pencil eraser), but they are super strong.  You can purchase these in a 16 pack for around $10 on Amazon.  The larger magnets with the hooks are great for holding a jacket, lanyard, or something like a small camera.  They are about two inches in diameter and available on Amazon for about $4.95 for two.  Be sure that you get the ones described by users as strong or very strong.

On previous World Cruises we tried using the metal baskets held to the wall by magnets, but found them to be lacking in magnetic strength and not a good choice.

Two warning about magnets.  First, keep them away from your credit cards and sensitive electronic equipment.  This includes your Princess Cruise Card.  Also, be prepared to have TSA inspect your luggage or carry on bags that contain the magnets.  We have never lost any during inspection and TSA has always left a note in the luggage saying the bags had been inspected.

Surge Protection

One of the most important things we have learned over the years is you really need to protect items connected to the electrical system on a cruise ship.  Items such as camera chargers, laptops, tablets, readers, ipads/ipods, MP3 players, portable hard drives etc., need to be protected from high voltage power surges. We lost a laptop on our first World Cruise because of this and we were on another cruise when the Internet Cafe lost all of their PCs because of a massive power surge.  An easy and inexpensive way to protect your sensitive high tech items is by using a state-of-the-art surge protector.  When traveling, we always have our Belkin Mini Surge Protector with us.

(CLICK on photo to enlarge)

There are two models of this surge protector.  One rated at 5 watts and one at 10 watts.  Each unit has two USB charging outlets and three 120V outlets for charging.  Both are rated at 918 joules to help handle voltage fluctuations, energy spikes, and surges.  Its prong power rotates 360 degrees so it can fit into almost any location.  The best part is that one model is $10 and the other is $19.  Each are available locally or through companies like Amazon.  

Temporary Change of Address

This morning an interesting discussion appeared on the Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for this world cruise.  The item discussed was what do USA passengers do with their mail, since the US Postal Service will only hold mail for 30 days.

What we have done on previous world cruises is to setup a Temporary Change of Address to our daughter's home.  The mail gets delivered to her place and upon return we change everything back to our address.  This has worked for us.  Thanks for our daughter getting all that extra mail!!!

World Cruise Slide Show

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Finalized Our Booking and Made Payment

Today, we finalized our booking for the 2015 World Cruise.  Princess Cruises is offering a 3 percent discount for payment-in-full at the time of deposit and an additional 3 percent discount for utilizing Future Cruise Deposits.  This is in addition to normal travel agent discounting.  Now we will have to watch to see if prices decrease in the coming months.  Should the price decrease prior to the Final Payment Date in September 2014, we can take advantage of any future reductions.

We are now ready to "Escape Completely"

World Cruise Internet Minutes

I had previously Posted that you may purchase additional Internet minutes for the World Cruise at a discount.  Here is the link to where you may obtain additional information about the minutes. To place an order, call 1-800-PRINCESS or 1-800-774-6237.

Link to World Cruise Internet Minutes

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

We have learned a few things from previous World Cruises that might be helpful to others.  One of the biggest things is this isn’t your typical cruise.  Many, many, many things are different and call for a little prior planning. 

·        Over packing—We did this on both the previous World Cruises.  Too many clothes were packed for our cruise.  Looking at the upcoming itinerary, almost all of it is to relatively warm weather and won’t require different clothing (warm and cold).  Second, many passengers purchase clothing as we visit unique ports of call.  DON’T FORGET to leave some extra room in your luggage to bring home all the little items you may pick up along the 111-day journey.

·        Best Side of Ship—On this cruise, we chose the Starboard side, since we prefer not having to deal with the afternoon sun over heating the stateroom.  This will apply to most of the itinerary.

Pacific Princess in Aruba

·        Laundry Room—The one laundry room on Deck 7 of the Pacific Princess can get a little busy, especially on sea days.  Plan on doing laundry at off times or while in port.  The laundry room has been expanded to include 8 complete washer/dryer sets.  In this photo the second set of 4 washer/dryer units is behind Cindy.

·        Closet Storage—This is one of the biggest limitations to the Pacific Princess.  One closet contains the mini fridge.  What we did was relocate this fridge and put it below the desk so we could regain some storage space.  

Also, we utilized metal cascading hangers to hold more clothing.

·        Stateroom Walls—The walls of the staterooms are metal.  This will allow you to utilize small magnets to hold maps, papers, etc.  We use larger magnets to hold a small cloth shoe hanger for Band-Aids, medical supplies, sun screen, scissors, eyeglass repair kit, etc., etc., etc.  Some of the newer magnets are the size of pencil erasers and can hold lots of weight. 

·        Passport Pages and Expiration—We have found that you really need lots of unused Passport pages.  It seems that the immigration officials in many countries like to stamp on a new page instead of using a partially full page.  Most countries require that you have 6 open pages, but we highly recommend many more.  Also, your Passport should be valid for a minimum of 6 months prior to entering some countries.

·        Travel Insurance—Can’t recommend travel insurance enough.  On the 2012 World Cruise, Cindy broke her foot in Shanghai, China.  The ship was gracious enough to allow us to continue on the World Cruise and not return home.  Our expenses utilizing the Ship Medical Facilities far exceeded the price of the Princess Insurance.  We utilized Princess Travel Protection, which we have found is less expensive and gives you double the protection if you are a Princess Ruby, Platinum, or Elite passenger.  Additionally, you can expect that some passengers will come on board with upper respiratory infections and it spreads rapidly.  In 2012 almost everyone got this and most went to see the Ship Doctor. 

·        Discounted Internet Minutes---Beside the Internet minutes you receive as a Platinum or Elite passenger, you can purchase, prior to departure 1100 minutes at a substantial discount.  This package is only available for the World Cruise and you must contact Princess to purchase this package.

·        Excursions—If you plan to use excursions offered by Princess, it is a good idea to book these as soon as they become available.  The most popular excursions will get sold out almost immediately.

Visa Requirements

Today we checked out the Visa requirements for the World Cruise.  Looks like this year the Visa requirements are minimal and won't be too expensive.  Princess Cruises is currently showing the following:

AUSTRALIA : NON AU/NZ CITIZENS MUST OBTAIN VISA IN ADVANCE
PRINCESS OFFERS VISA PROCESSING FOR A FEE

VIETNAM : VISA ISSUED UPON SHIP'S ARRIVAL. FEE CHARGED
TO PASSENGER'S STATEROOM ACCOUNT.

INDIA : OBTAIN VISA PRIOR TO CRUISE FROM CONSULATE
OR VISA SERVICE

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES : VISA REQUIRED FOR CANADIAN PASSPORT HOLDERS
GOING ASHORE. SEE NOTIFICATIONS FOR DETAILS.

JORDAN : VISA ISSUED UPON SHIP'S ARRIVAL. FEE CHARGED
TO PASSENGER'S STATEROOM ACCOUNT.

We obtained a 10-year Visa for India a few years ago, so we are good to go.  All other Visas will be obtained by the ship.

Booked Our 3rd World Cruise

On Tuesday, May 28, 2013, shortly after Princess Cruises released for booking the 2015 World Cruise we decided to take this trip.  Without hesitation we contacted our Travel Agent, Cruises-N-More and got the ball rolling for our 3rd World Cruise.  Although this cruise is 605 days or 1 year, 7 months, and 26 days away; we are ready to begin preparation for this global adventure.  Unique to this trip are the embarkation and disembarkation ports.  Unlike previous years, this next World Cruise will begin and end in Los Angeles, California.  This is really good.  We won't have to fly to or from a distant port.  Now begins the preparation for this trip around the world.