What to Pack for a Cruise

We met our friend Steve over ten years ago when we lived in San Francisco. He's a true cruise expert, logging 13 trips in the past eight years and recently becoming a cruise travel agent. We asked him to let us know what to pack for a 7 day cruise with the caveat that his wife Elaine pitch in. Here's what he had to say:

Packing for a cruise is a little different than packing for a land vacation. One big distinction is that for a cruise, you’ve got to pack both casual clothes for daytime wear and dressy clothes, including formal wear, for the evenings. For a 7-night cruise, most mainstream cruise lines will have two formal nights. So ladies will need to dress to the nines, which means packing your best cocktail dresses or floor length gowns. Also, my wife always brings a wristlet purse, just big enough to fit her lipstick and her room key (which is used for all onboard purchases).

For men, you’ll need a nice suit, or you can do what I do – bring the tux! I realized right after my first cruise that I should add a tuxedo to my wardrobe for all of my future cruises. The tux really impresses the wife, and you feel like James Bond after dinner when you sit down at the blackjack table. I recently added the white dinner jacket to my repertoire, which gives me a different look on the 2nd formal night. For the rest of the cruise, the main dining room will have a “smart casual” dress code, which means no jeans or shorts. If you must wear jeans or shorts, you can eat at the lido buffet. So you’ll need to pack clothes that are appropriate for the casual nights in the main dining room. And I do highly recommend going to the dining room on most every night as it is by far a better alternative to the buffet.

So that handles the clothes, but what else should you pack? Here’s my list of other not-so-obvious things that I suggest you put in your suitcase:
Alarm clock. The only clock in the cabins is on the phone, and in the middle of the night, it is impossible to read the clock. This is especially important if you are booking an inside cabin, as there will be no sunlight coming into the room at all and you have no idea what time of day it is.
MP3 player and speakers: It’s nice to bring along your own tunes to enjoy in your cabin. I like using mine while the wife is putting herself together on formal nights.
Power strip: If you need to plug in your iPod, video camera, cell phone, or any other electronic gadgets, this is especially helpful as most cabins only have two plugs you can use at a time.
Drinks: The cruise line will usually allow you to bring on some sodas or waters. So if your favorite brand is not available to purchase on the ship (or if you want to avoid paying $2 for a can of Coke), bring your own onboard. Also, although it is definitely not allowed by the cruise lines, some of you might be inclined to bring onboard some alcohol that you can enjoy on your private balcony during sail aways. Now I am not suggesting you do this, but if you must, be sure to put your alcohol-contraband into your checked luggage, otherwise it will likely be confiscated from you if you attempt to carry it on. (One JSG bought liquor at the duty-free shop on board and kept it in her room.)
Costumes: This one is recommended for groups. Cruise lines don’t have official costume parties, but my friends and I have enjoyed creating our own theme nights. Pirate night was a lot of fun, and Gilligan’s Island won me a free trip to Mexico.
Your Passport: This is a given, you will need this for every cruise or else you will be denied boarding.

So now that you know what to pack, what are you waiting for? Gather you girlfriends, significant other, or whoever and plan a trip on the high seas. Bon voyage!

You can contact Steve at cruisersteveh@gmail.com if you're interested in booking a cruise, have some pressing questions or want more information on cruises in general.

Celebrity Solstice and Riedel Wine Glasses

Our favorite event on the Celebrity Solstice was a wine tasting guided by Max Riedel, whose family has been making crystal for over 250 years. Most notably, the Riedel wine glasses are of such quality and function that they are used almost exclusively for wine tasting and competitions world wide.

He entertained us with stories of his grandfather escaping the Russian army and falling in love with Italian women; but he also opened our eyes to the importance of the shape of the glass as a functional way to enjoy wine. We tasted four varieties from Sauvignon Blanc to Cabernet each in its appropriate glass but also in the wrong glass for that wine. It truly smelled, tasted and felt different in our mouth depending on the glass.

Mr. Riedel was so convincing that we're investigating the best places to find sets for our own homes. Williams-Sonoma has a large selection ranging in quality and price which we could use for special occasions. For Thanksgiving next week, we're going to stock up on the Pinot Noir glasses from Target. They aren't as high quality; but buying them in bulk is easier on the wallet and we usually break one between now and New Years.

Riedel Vinum Sauvignon Blanc from Williams-Sonoma (2 for $64):

Riedel Vivant Pinot Noir glasses from Target (4 for $40)

In the spirit of full disclosure, it's only fair we tell you what else we learned on the Celebrity Solstice. Bud Light is good drinking. Hear us out: one of the reasons JSG's Hope has never been on a cruise is her uncanny ability to get queasy by simply turning her head too quickly and riding in the front seat of a car definitely does it; so boats pose a serious problem. Short of the wine tasting, the only beverage that she could drink was Bud Light which was in fact a recommendation from our girlfriend Abby (2 Bud Lights and you'll feel better). You can imagine it was embarrassing to sit at the Solstice's Martini Bar and order a can of Bud Light ("in a glass please") when what we'd really like is Grey Goose martini. Life is full of compromises and surprises. Cheers!

Celebrity Solstice Review

We're back--and finally recovered--from our 2 night preview cruise from Ft. Lauderdale on the brand new Celebrity Solstice. It was a blast and certainly two days of bottomless banana daiquiris and Bud Lights (more on that later) had a lot to do with it. Freebies aside, we are now converts to the idea of cruising, particularly the idea of cruising with a big group of girls.

Annie has done these 2-night cruises before, but always with a SO. This trip was by far the best, because she had Hope, Julia and Eric (Hope's husband, who did his best to sit through conversations on gray nail polish and the like) to hang out with. There was always someone who wanted to do what I wanted to do--lie by the pool, get another round of daiquiris or snack on nachos.



Speaking of the food--it was good, but not fantastic. We were happy we were one of the chosen few to eat in Silk Harvest, the Pan Asian restaurant. We could have eaten the Solstice Roll (with salmon, cream cheese, and avocado) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That's the Murano restaurant below, where we sampled the silky mushroom cappuccino with Calvados. Delish!

We took a tour of the fitness center and the AquaSpa and though we don't workout on vacation; the 180 degree view of the Atlantic was an inspiration even to us. We didn't have a chance to get a spa treatments on this trip; but we're sure it's decadent because AquaSpa uses Elemis products. They also offer medi-spa treatments including Botox and Restylane; but we still advise against doing that on a ship.

Best of all, on a cruise, you never have to worry about drinking and driving or even taking a taxi for that matter. All you have to do is get yourself to an elevator, press "7" and you're home! It's easy for those who want to call it a night early and those who want to see the sun rise.

To book a cruise on Celebrity Solstice, visit the Celebrity site.

On our Radar - Celebrity Solstice

Today we’re off to sunny Ft. Lauderdale to set sail on the new Celebrity Solstice ship for a two night preview cruise. We’re not generally cruisers, but we were invited by Celebrity to attend this weekend’s festivities, including the naming ceremony today and some mysterious “white party” on Saturday.

Aside from the obvious benefits of warm weather, sea air and all the free pina coladas we can drink, we’re really looking forward to exploring the ship. Especially after reading USA Today’s Gene Sloan’s initial review of the ship, “First impressions of the ship? In a word, ‘wow’!” and “The design of the ship is exquisite, with space after space that makes you gasp with surprise and amazement.”

Celebrity Solstice has an actual lawn—we’re talking real grass—on its deck where cruisers can play croquet. There’s also a glass blowing studio where you can indulge your inner artisan. What makes this ship extra special is its AquaClass Staterooms, which share the deck with the Aqua Spa. Also high up on our list is the Master Class wine bar, the specialty restaurants, including an Italian steakhouse, a pan-Asian restaurant and a creperie and Fortunes Casino.

Gene was very impressed with some of the ship’s space-saving measures that made us think Celebrity is taking a cue from Apple. Stay with us—the ship raised the beds so you can store your luggage underneath, kind of like how the first iPod had a quick wheel that later generations did away with and the new MacBook Pro has the coolest touchpad we've ever seen. (Can you tell one member of JSG just got a new laptop?)

It sounds like internet service is pretty spotty on the high seas, so we’ll report back next week!