181 Days Out is Not Too Soon to Start Packing Is It?

Awesome! I think that's going to be a great cruise! My DH vetoed, saying he wasn't going to Quebec in the fall, but hey, I will live vicariously through your excitement. :D

One thing it's not too early to do is figure out your travel to and from the cruise. Start watching prices, for sure and check out that other thread on the Canada cruise:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...-and-baie-comeau-cruise-ports-thread.3603793/

Full disclosure, we're only doing the 4-night cruise to New Brunswick, we're not headed for Quebec!
 
First lesson, from all the wonderful replies herein, I am not planning nearly enough!

Alexa, let's start a new list...
 
Alaska, right? Can I ask where you booked this far out? Everyone I’ve talked to told me no bookings for 2019 until September. Another crazy planner here.

We booked with independent contractors in Juneau and Ketchikan, a whale watching tour on a smaller boat in Juneau, and in Ketchikan a floatplane tour. I'm a little nervous about that one not being through Disney in case we have a problem and don't get back to the boat on time but I'm kind of willing to roll the dice since it's almost the end of the cruise anyway.
 


Ask Alexa if she has ever been on a Disney cruise. If not, tell her to ask for time off, book the Wonder and see/experience Alaska. She needs to get out more. Preparing lists all day has got to be a drag.

I'm sure it's a drag for her, but it's what's keeping me going as I count down these now 180 days!
 
Ah... well, it'll still be wonderful. :)

I am really looking forward to it, we've only done Caribbean cruises in the past and it will have been almost 3 years since our last by the time we go. Did I mention that that's in 180 days?
 


I’m semi-obsessively planning our cruise for 2020 :rolleyes1

I started out thinking we’d do a 7 day, but now we’re thinking a B2B 7 and 4 day :-D. So many ports, so much planning.
 
I’m semi-obsessively planning our cruise for 2020 :rolleyes1

I started out thinking we’d do a 7 day, but now we’re thinking a B2B 7 and 4 day :-D. So many ports, so much planning.
You mean, like Fantasy 7 day, Dream 4? Then you'd spend a couple of days in Orlando? Or am I getting it wrong?

I'm asking because I was trying to figure out how to make something like that work, but it seemed like being off one ship totally and having a break might lessen the excitement for the second ship. I don't know.
 
Welcome fellow over/early planner! I always have my notebook on hand with various cruise related lists lol. Maybe I need to upgrade to a spreadsheet too :scratchin
I have almost as much fun planning my cruises as I do going on them. Enjoy the planning! So....what's on your spreadsheet?
 
Thought I might make it through the day where the most obsessive thing I did was check this board to see what kind of replies I got to my original post, but this commercial just came on for Avenger-art Ziplocs and now I am headed to Amazon to see if i can buy them there, because, you know, I'm thinking I might be able to use them for Fish Extenders?
 
YES YES YES!! I am YOU. No one shares my joy. I tell everyone about my cruise. All my co-workers know i am a fanatic about the planning.

The pre-planning is just as much fun to me. I've got LOADS of spreadsheets ... and a mini guides for the ship and each port.

Shhh, don’t tell the kids, but I have booked our next Disney Cruise. We are scheduled to sail from NYC to Canada in October on the Magic. I am not keeping this great secret in anticipation of the wonderful surprise it will be for my teen-aged boys, but rather because my obsessive planning tends to…

...DRIVE THEM SO CRAZY THAT THEY HAVE TOLD ME THEY NEVER WANT TO GO ON A DISNEY VACATION AGAIN!

So, I am keeping my secret for a few more months, but, since my family consists only of my mom, the boys and me, it doesn’t really leave me anyone to share my obsession with. Mom, to her credit, will politely listen; even open up the spreadsheets and lists that I send her, but I don’t want to wear her out either, because I finally understand that this part is only fun for me and works to ruin the actual event for them!

I know they will enjoy the trip once we are there. My boys are both into nature and photography, so, from starting out in NYC, to heading north to Canada in the fall, I am confident they will love the trip itself, they might just wish obsessive mom could have stayed home!

So where to turn to vent the crazy? Well, what about right her?; with a group of people, many of whom I know will understand, sympathize and maybe even respond with something more than “that’s nice, dear, you do what you think is best and I am sure we will all enjoy it”?

I decided to post this and maybe even continue it as a blog when I found myself rummaging my room the other night for pen and paper so I could create a chart for the days of the cruise and what clothing I might want to bring. At the same time, I asked Alexa (my other confidant to the crazy) to start a “packing list” so I don’t forget vital things like Tide Pods, our Fish Extender pouches and the door magnet I bought for our first cruise, but have forgotten to bring on the next three! Help guys, what other vital items do I need to have listed 181 days out??

Well, back to my packing plans. Maybe next time I will introduce you to my multi-page spreadsheet!
 
It’s never too soon to start making list and packing. According to my countdown calendar, I’m 429 days away from sailing and I have a plastic storage box 1/2 full of stuff for the trip. Crazy, maybe but fun crazy. You have come to the right place. Welcome!
I love the storage box idea... i am really trying not to pull out the suitcases just yet!

How about researching the ports/excursions you plan to visit/take and note the highlights. Just do one each week to drag it out, but also so you cover all the bases. More door decorations are also a possibility. I change ours out daily, so I need a lot of material (Disney, on the internet, has a ton to work with).
Maybe, if your guys are into photography, you could scope out, via internet, some cool shots of places you will visit so that you know where to stand in advance for memorable photos of your own. Good luck!
I do mini-guides for each port..research best places to go (according to my interests), look for the highly rated excursions, find restaurants and shows.. I toss all the research I find into separate documents by port and then weekly I go through each to organize it.
 
You mean, like Fantasy 7 day, Dream 4? Then you'd spend a couple of days in Orlando? Or am I getting it wrong?

I'm asking because I was trying to figure out how to make something like that work, but it seemed like being off one ship totally and having a break might lessen the excitement for the second ship. I don't know.
The Wonder does a 7 day southern Caribbean out of San Juan and then a 4 day eastern Caribbean repo to PC.
 
As a reformed over-planner, I still have the packing lists (car/plane/resort prior) from previous years I tweak when looking at. Thinking back to our last cruise, we may have gone a little to far the other way...we starting packing an hour before picking up the youngest from school heading straight out to pick up the middle from university for the drive to where we were flying out from. I forgot to even check the packing list to see we had all we would need. Yes forgot a few minor things but I was surprised how stress free our departure was. This is not to say I was not obsessively cancelling and rebooking our rental almost daily leading up to arriving (saving each time rebooked) and planning the details to get us there, but packing...that can wait.
 
Mixed Emotions

For the first time in forever, as they say, it isn't completely freezing here, so the dog and I went for a "good walk". On the way home, one of the trees on our street was blooming and between the walk and the smell, I got that sensorial trigger - - "Ahhh, spring!". Spring leads to summer and, after a long, cold winter, I am really looking forward to summer.

This all helped to put into perspective that I don't want to hurry life along to get to the fall and this trip. It will come in time. Now, you may think that this would have lessened my need to plan, but, in reality, it just sharpened my understanding of why I plan. It's not to hurry the trip up, but to extend it, to enjoy it for as long as possible, to have 179 days of cruise related fun before the main event.

Oh, and as we were walking, I remembered that I need to add thank you notes to both the shopping and packing lists!
 
Mixed Emotions

For the first time in forever, as they say, it isn't completely freezing here, so the dog and I went for a "good walk". On the way home, one of the trees on our street was blooming and between the walk and the smell, I got that sensorial trigger - - "Ahhh, spring!". Spring leads to summer and, after a long, cold winter, I am really looking forward to summer.

This all helped to put into perspective that I don't want to hurry life along to get to the fall and this trip. It will come in time. Now, you may think that this would have lessened my need to plan, but, in reality, it just sharpened my understanding of why I plan. It's not to hurry the trip up, but to extend it, to enjoy it for as long as possible, to have 179 days of cruise related fun before the main event.

Oh, and as we were walking, I remembered that I need to add thank you notes to both the shopping and packing lists!

I completely get the mixed emotions. We have a countdown chain in our household to remind us to learn words (hello/thank you) in languages that are new to us amongst other things. But, at the same time, we've got playdates and baseball games and and regular life to lead too. I love what you said about it sharpening your understanding of why you plan. I plan because I may never get this chance again...you never know! And I plan so while I'm there, I am fully engaged in the trip rather than having to worry about making plans/decisions while I'm there. Good luck to you!!
 
There’s no shame in being an over planner. DH and I are heading to WDW in September. 161 days from now. I’ve got spreadsheets, lists, charts, everything. And here I am lurking in the DCL forum as I do a cost comparison and benefit analysis for our 2019/2020 trip -top contenders include Alaskan cruise, Caribbean cruise, DVC rental at Poly or cabins at FW. I’m the planner in the family, I love to go through all the options build a few different vacations and give DH the top choices for us to choose between. I consider it my hobby lol yep my hobby is spreadsheets and cost comparisons.
 

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