Makin' a List & Checkin' it Twice

"The human animal differs from lesser primates in his passion for lists."

~ H. Allen Smith

We have 200 and some odd days until we board the Pacific Princess and set off on our grand adventure. That sounds like a long time until I start thinking about all the things I need to do before then. And when I start thinking about those things, I realize I'm bound to forget something, so I'm not taking any chances. 

I'm writing it all down. Here's what I have so far:

1. Passports—We need to make sure all our travel documents are in agreement. My DH is in the process of getting his corrected. Our passports also need to be valid for at least six months after we finish the cruise and have enough blank pages for the trip. Our travel agent says my 18 blanks should be fine because not all countries required a completely fresh page. 
2. Visas—Princess can get the necessary travel visas for us at most of our ports of call, for a nominal fee which will show up on our shipboard account. The exceptions are India, Australia, and Jordan. We need to procure these in advance or we will be denied boarding in Los Angeles. (I'm shivering in horror!) 
3. Vaccinations—
   
   I spent a little time on the CDC site and put in our itinerary. Looks like my DH will have to have a measles shot, because he's never had either the disease or the vaccination. In addition, we'll both need vaccinations for Hepatitis A (we don't need one for Hep B because we don't plan on having unprotected sex with strangers or getting a tattoo during our travels!). We'll get a shot for Typhoid. I'll also need one for Tetanus since I'm long overdue for one. Of course, we'll get our yearly flu shot this fall, so we'll be covered for that.
4. Travel Insurance—Our travel agent presented a couple of options to us and we have already chosen one. I'm sad to report that the Princess travel insurance was by far the most expensive policy. Aside from wanting to protect our investment should we--shudder--have to cancel our plans, I'm most interested in coverage should we need emergency medical repatriation. The policy we bought will spend up to $1,000,000 to get us home. We plan to print a copy of the policy and coverages to take with us.
5. Communications—We intend to pre-purchase some internet minutes on the Princess site (which offers some bonus minutes for buying ahead of time. I also intend to explore TMobile texting plans. I've heard you can text internationally for free, but don't quote me. That's why finding out the straight skinny is on the to-do list. 
6. Money—We will notify our credit card companies and banks of our travel plans, as well as Lifelock. (If you haven't signed up for this service, I highly recommend it. Identity thieves can ruin your whole day.) We'll also be taking some cash, including a lot of $1's and $5's for incidental tips to the crewmen who deliver our room service coffee in the morning and a roll of quarters or two for laundry. But one of the things I love most about cruising is that once you board, you don't really have to spend much more unless you want to. Gratuities for the lovely crew who will be pampering us for three months are pre-paid, but we always budget an extra tip for our cabin stewards, dining room servers, and any member of the crew who has gone out of their way to make our voyage more enjoyable. I suspect that will be a long list! 
7. Pets—
   
   We have two rescue dogs, Mack and Charlie. They are both bundles of love with feet and we will miss them, but we won't worry about them. Daughter #2 is taking care of them. However, we will have to make sure the pet pantry is full. Mack (the bigger one) is on a special diet to deal with his unique health issues. And our daughter will need enough flea & tick and heartworm meds to give them while we're gone. We'll also check on whether the boys are due for any shots prior to our departure. We're thankful our daughter will be with them and thankful she'll also be taking care of the house, the mail and all other incidentals connected with our life ashore.
8. Contact Princess & American Airline re: my portable O2 concentrator and bipap machine. I have a chronic lung condition called NSIP but these little machines help keep me going. The O2 concentrator is FAA approved for me to use on our flights to and from the ports. I'll need Princess to provide distilled water on board for use with the bipap machine. Holland America is great about this. We'll see if Princess lives up to her sister line. 
9. Reserve a pre-cruise hotel room. I don't truly relax until I'm on the ship, because as the time for departure nears, I'm afraid of missing the boat. Getting to the embarkation port city a day ahead of time helps me not worry that I'll be stuck in the Midwest while my ship heads for Hawai'i. The DH is hoping to use the points he's been accruing on his credit card to pay for this, which will be a win for him. After 41 years of marriage, the poor man has finally figured out I am not a cheap date!
10. Prescriptions—The DH takes a couple, I take two handfuls of pills every day. We'll need to contact our insurance carrier and get what's called a vacation waiver so we can be advanced about four months worth of our meds. In addition, I intend to ask our family doc to prescribe some broad spectrum antibiotics to take with us in case one or both of us get sick. He was willing to do that for us when we took a 30 day cruise to the South Pacific--of course, that may have been because I made him laugh by telling him we were boarding a floating petri dish.
11. OTC Meds--
    
    There is an infirmary on board the Pacific Princess, but we'd rather not make use of it unless we have to. I plan to pack Mucinex D, real Sudafed (if we can get it!), Coricidin cough & cold, Azo Standard, Exedrine, Advil, topical antibiotic, bandages, anti-fungal cream, Theraflu, cough drops, antacids, back pain pads, baby wipes, tooth paste, and assorted other personal care items...the list goes ever on and on. Obviously, I'll need to find a Walgreens before we embark in LA. And maybe pick up another rolling bag... 
12. Odds & Ends--I hope to bring a little sewing kit, a package of small safety pins, laundry soap, magnets to affix things to our cabin walls (which I recently discovered are metal under the ordinary looking wallpaper), over the door hooks, clippers and nail file, extra hangers, and a few clothes pins. I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
13. Electrical gear—We need to bring: 2 laptops, 2 tablets, (plus power cords for all of the above), my spare oxygen concentrator, extra batteries (3), regular power cord, battery recharger & its power cord, 13 cannulas and 3 filters for my O2 concentrator, my bipap machine with its power cord, back up hose & headpiece, spare nose pieces & filters, So Clean to keep the bipap daisy fresh, along with its tubes, spare filter & of course yet another power cord, a converter so we can use the 220 European outlet as well as a surge protecting power strip to plug into the 110 American outlet, (Cruise ship cabins aren't overburdened with a lot of electrical outlets so we need to make the ones we'll have work overtime.) a digital camera with spare batteries. And while we're on the subject, I'll also need spare batteries for my oximeters & a small fan. Where, oh where, am I going to put everything?
14. Plan Port Activities--I've been perusing the Princess site to see what the cruise line offers. It's tempting to stick with them instead of venturing on our own. We've seen sad and sorry fellow passengers running down the pier, flailing their arms as the ship pulls away from the dock. With a ship's excursion, you're guaranteed they'll wait for you should your tour be delayed. That said, some of our best travel experiences in the past have been independent. What to do?

We're going all the way around the world. I'd hate to misplace my ship. Maybe I should take this video I found  to heart...

I'm sure I've left some important things off this rough to-do list. If you think of any, please leave a comment! I'd appreciate your help.