Let the packing begin.

We usually travel with three bags, one large and  two small  with a collapsible inside the large one for “overflow” from the various items we pick up in visited ports.
On the right,  we are waiting for the airport shuttle at the Larkspur Landing in Renton.  So we will be returning with four.  This has worked well in the past.  Another thing that worked well for us in the past was the availability of self-serve laundry facilities onboard.   We especially loved the Prinsendam as all their machines were free.  Well, it’s a brand new ball game folks.  Noordam = no self serve laundry, instead they have the $20 bag deal, and how much can two people stuff in a nylon laundry bag.  Oh well, now I don’t have to go traipsing around in my bathrobe at 3 AM looking for empty washers and dryers.  On our last cruise I thought this young woman was going to bite my head off, because I removed her “FINISHED” laundry from a washer and put in a dryer, so I could use the machine.  “NOBODY TOUCHES MY STUFF!!!”  She shouted!! I will also miss the opportunity of finding some lady’s (?) thong that had been left in the dryer I was using and somehow got mixed in with our “stuff”! I had a tough time living that down with Barbara – she still brings it up  now and then.

This what our  travel bags looked like as we left the Prinsendam in Amsterdam. As you can see, we picked up some “stuff”. Luggage straps are the handiest – avoids a lot of problems and helps to identify your bags.as they come tumbling onto the baggage claim carousal.

So, back to the packing.  I learned long ago (because I am so computer literate) to build my packing list in a spreadsheet, and then all I have to do is make some adjustments here and there and I’M done.  Although Barbara does a masterful job of packing “my half” of the big RED suitcase, I still haven’t persuaded her to pack my small forty pounder.  One of the couples from our weekly coffee group can go away for three weeks, and the wife gets all they need in their carry-on!!!

Have you ever suffered the humility have having to shift items from a “just over the limit” bag to another “just under the limit” bag – at the check-in counter, with a hundred people behind you glaring on?  I have!

Barbara’s motto is “Always be prepared” for any eventuality.  The zipper on her most favorite carry-on bag gave up prior to our departure in Amsterdam.  I don’t know if the screeners thought this was a “designer piece” of luggage or what, but she only had to undo a few of the pins to take out the plastic bag with her toiletries. After her hair pins once again set off the alarms, the screeners just waved her on through; possibly the thinking was “I’m not even going there”.

This is the first time that we are going to be paying for the first and second bag, but that’s the price of getting to that wonderful cruise ship – I guess we could only take cruises out of Seattle, but where is the adventure in that?

Now all I need to do if find that spreadsheet file on this computer.

Barbara took all three of these photos.

Next: Pre-Cruise, The First Leg