I did it! I made a cover for my suitcase. I would have bought one online if I had thought of it earlier but I was afraid it wouldn’t arrive in time before we set sail so I went out and found some stretchy fabric to make my own cover. I found a 10% spandex print and naturally it was on clearance, so for $5 I thought I would give it a try. In the past, I have seen my luggage come back from airplane travel with black marks all over it so I wanted to protect my new suitcase ( finally broke down and bought one with spinners) and also be able to recognize it easily on the airport carousel. The DIY tutorials online had a separating zipper on the bottom but I was able to design one without a zipper. The top will stretch open enough to slide the cover down and off at the bottom. I cut holes to allow the spinner wheels to poke through. I also made padded handle covers to protect them and to add comfort when I need to pick up the suitcase. If it doesn’t survive this trip, that’s okay. It was a fun project.
Now to fill the suitcase. Friends suggested a few items to consider: a USB hub to charge my electronics since the ships generally don’t have but 1-2 outlets in the room, packing cubes to keep items together and organized, and to print out pictures of passport and other personal documents to keep on me at all times. I also checked out some suggestions on Pinterest and came up with a long list of items to consider. Bring a power adapter for your post cruise hotel, towel clips ( or bands) to hold your beach towel to the chair because the sea breeze might blow it around a bit, zip-lock bags to snag some treats for later, an over the door hanger because the closet space may not offer enough room to hang all your clothes, magnetic hooks to hold hats and other items, tea lights to use as nightlights, and a lanyard to hold your room key. These are small things that won’t take up much space in the suitcase but might make a big difference in our living arrangements.
One post suggested to bring post-it notes to leave messages for the staff if you need items replaced/fixed in your room and another suggested to bring thank you note cards to write a nice message to the staff at the end of your trip. If the cruise line has a daily newsletter with activities for the day, then a highlighter and a magnet might be useful so you can hang it up after highlighting what you plan to do that day. Most ships are metal, so magnets are great to use to “hang” things up.
I remember on one of my previous (land) trips that in order for the lights and air conditioning to work in your room, you had to put your room key in a slot near the door. I’ve seen this mentioned for cruise ships as well and it was suggested to bring an old hotel or rewards card ( with a magnetic strip) to put in the slot instead of your room key. That way you won’t be taking the room key out of your lanyard each time and, with my luck, forgetting to retrieve your room key from the slot on the way out of the room. Finally, an interesting tip I read was to put Vaseline on your feet before you put on your socks and shoes to help prevent blisters. I expect to do a lot of walking so I will definitely try this because there is nothing worse than going on a trip of a lifetime and not being able to enjoy it because of blisters.
Besides packing a suitcase, I need to stop the mail for the time I am gone, mow the grass before I leave, clean out the refrigerator of items that won’t keep until I return, etc. A long time ago, a friend said she liked to clean the house before a trip so when she came home it was to a clean house. Since then, I have tried to follow her advice. Now, where is my mop?
Adios por agora, au revoke pour le moment, ciao
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