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

Personalize a slideshow

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"