<p>I found some places on the ship heavily air conditioned and was glad I brought a several lightweight, cotton cardigans. I also echo bringing a cover up you like enough to wear around the ship as I’d leave in the morning, headed for the pool but might end up being out longer than expected (lunch, a show, an activity, etc.) and wanted to feel I was appropriately dressed. Also echo the power strip recommendation. You can probably use your cell phone for this purpose but, cabins get very dark, especially inside ones and, if you wake in the middle of the night, it’s nice to be able to see what time it is so, if no cell, a small illuminated travel alarm clock. Also, I found having a tote-type bag for the ship very helpful – leave in the morning with my sunscreen, a magazine, my ipad/kindle, a sweater, etc.</p>
<p>On a travel site, one person recommended bringing a colorful ribbon that you put on the outside of your doorknob because it can be difficult to see exactly which door is yours when looking down a long corridor. I’ve never actually done that but thought the idea was a good one.</p>
<p>I always pack a few note cards in case there’s a staff person who’s especially helpful during our stay and I want to give a separate tip and thank you note to.</p>
<p>Lastly, hard as I try to prevent it, I generally get sunburned at some point and no longer can wear sleeveless shirts as my shoulders need to be protected. I try to remember to pack some shirts with cap or short sleeves for summer trips for that point in the trip when sleeveless won’t work and when it’s too hot to wear a sweater.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread. My cruise is only about 6 weeks away. Lots of great tips here–thanks.
Current issue for me: walking shoes. I have uber flat feet and need support. (Don’t you hate that your body is falling apart? In some ways, thought, I still think I’m in my 20s!) I’ll be walking and walking and walking on the excursions–uneven surfaces, cobblestones, etc. If I could just come up with a single pair of walking shoes that would go with any/everything…comparable to nude pumps that work with everything in my work wardrobe! Visiting the Vatican, other houses of worship and world-famous museums while wearing sneakers just doesn’t work for me even though I need that kind of support for my feet. On top of everything else, my feet are huge–size 10.5! Any thoughts, ideas, experiences?</p>
<p>Buy several that look like they might work at Zappos and try them on, walk around your home in them and decide We literally had mom try on about 4 dozen pairs of walking shoes and sandals before she settled on 2 pairs of each. I have found that nice black lace up leather shoes will take me from casual to dressy, with the right slacks and top. Have been wearing them most of the time over the past few decades.</p>
<p>I like SAS, Rockport, Easy Spirit. Mom likes Hush Puppies and some other brand I can’t recall at the moment. </p>
<p>Having comfy socks that you will use with the shoes is KEY. I swear by Thorlos–they wick moisture away and have super thick padding to help prevent blisters. Be sure to try your shoes on with the socks you intend to use, as it can change the fit of the footwear.</p>
<p>When we did I cruise to Western Med in early May 2012, we had 3 back-to-back intensive shore excursion days s. I actually wore sneakers for the Pompeii (cobblestone) / Sorrento day and the Florence day (warned ahead about 3.5 miles of walking). </p>
<p>Sounds like you’d like something a bit more fashionable than what we commonly call ‘walking shoes’. Could you wear these espadrilles or maybe deck shoes and possibly add an supportive insole insert? Probably either would work with skirts or capris.</p>
<p>It didn’t matter what we packed… we missed the boat last Friday!</p>
<p>Booked air through HAL from SFO (S.F.) to FCO (Rome), with a connection at ORD (Chicago-O’Hare). HAL had “easy pickings” on which airline to put us on (19 in all) and which airport to fly into, or just fly non-stop, so what do they do? They select American Airlines (worst major airline for delays) connecting in Chicago–O’Hare (the worst airport for delayed flights) and only allowing a 40 minute connection time. We didn’t have very many rebooking options at this airport and would have missed 2 full days of our Western Med cruise. Thank goodness for insurance. and, hopefully HAL will cover the cancellation fees and make us whole on all expenses.</p>
<p>HAL will accept no responsibility in booking our tight connection. Lesson learned here… book your own flights so you have complete control on airlines, airports, connections, layover times, etc.</p>
<p>We like to be sure to arrive a day or more BEFORE any scheduled tour or cruise, just because “life happens.” So glad you had insurance to help with the costs of catching up with your cruise and hope you have a GREAT time! </p>
<p>My dad chafes at the way I plan trips, as I try to be sure our layovers are at least 90 minutes long and that we have a LOT of time to get to the airport (when we were in Yellowstone, we drove the Bozeman the day before so the day of the flight all we had to do was drive fewer than 10 miles to fly out). It eases the stress level for me, and since I was the planner, I was able to make the trip comfortable for ME!</p>
<p>Have never had the cruiseline book any flights for me, as have read that they tend to do whatever is cheap for them, without concern about what is best for the passengers. Since you shared your experience, I will continue to book my own flights. ;)</p>
<p>Oh, my. So sorry to hear about the airline snafu. Thanks for sharing so that we can all keep that in mind for future planning. I hope your replanned trip goes well. </p>
<p>Didn’t mean to sabotage this thread on “what to pack” but our experience gets more interesting for anyone booking a cruise:</p>
<p>HAL had rebooked our air before we even knew we had missed our connection last week at ORD. The problem was that the new flight was not going out until the next day, this time connecting at JFK, but still with a tight connection time of just 50 minutes. It gets better… We were to arrive into Rome at 2 PM and then fly to Palermo to catch the ship. How the heck were we supposed to a) land at FCO, b) reconnect on another flight to Palermo, and c) transfer, check-in, and board our ship BEFORE the scheduled 4 PM departure? We had only a 2-hour window once we landed in Rome to get to Palermo and board the ship. Once we missed this port, we would now have to catch up with the ship in Tunisia. </p>
<p>Cruise policy basically says if a cruise line books your air and you miss a connection, or if a flight is cancelled, they will get you to the next AVAILABLE port. That is one loosely worded agreement!</p>
<p>As HImom suggests, arrive a day or 2 early…</p>
<p>In February, 2013, we needed to fly from Portland, Maine to Fort Lauderdale to get on a cruise boat. Our flight was Friday morning at 6 am, and the ship didn’t leave until 4 pm Saturday. We knew a huge storm was coming, but it looked like we would be fine. Well, it started snowing early. We had a hard time even driving to the airport. We got there and they said the flight was OK. We got on board and waited and waited while they de-iced the plane. The pilot came on and said it was looking iffy. Even if we got off, it looked as if we would miss our connecting flight in Atlanta. I got on my iPad and discovered there were NO other seats available from Atlanta to anyplace in Florida! We were thinking about renting a car and driving from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale - crazy!</p>
<p>The plane finally took off - we were the next to last flight out of Portland, and the airport then closed for a couple of days. It ended up being the BIGGEST SNOWFALL EVER in Portland, about 32 inches! We jumped off the plane in Atlanta and RAN to the connecting gate (I was so thankful I’d been running a lot!). We made it as boarding was just ending. I don’t think I’ve ever been that flustered. </p>
<p>So we made the cruise, but some people from the northeast didn’t, and had to board in the Bahamas. I guess we should have flown TWO days early!</p>
<p>jshain – what did you decide to do instead? (We heard plenty of horror stories like yours on cruisecritic, so we always picked either self-arranged flights (a day early) or paid for the custom flight arrangements…and, we were lucky.)</p>
<p>We planned to arrive in Barcelona 24 hours before our cruise. That part worked… but our luggage lagged behind. Kudos to our hotel clerk (who spoke Spanish and Catalan) and United and NCL for arranging to get the bags to the ship. We set sail not knowing if they had made it, but they did </p>
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