Who the heck is Lord Carrington?

As you will see by the sidebar, I am following several other cruising blogs. It’s quite interesting to read what they are going through and how they planned for their cruise. One couple is bringing 11—yes, ELEVEN—suitcases for a 70-some day cruise! And Randy & I are worried about possibly having 4 suitcases. We managed once to fly around the world with just two carry-on bags, but going around the world on a cruise ship is just a teeny bit different. The wife in one couple on an earlier 70-day cruise brought 17 pairs of shoes! SEVENTEEN! Another was noting the poundage of their baggage: over 500 pounds! The mind reels!

I’m definitely getting into the we’re-actually-going-on-this-cruise-so-I’d-better-get-my-act-in-gear mode! I’m making spreadsheets:

• with the names of the CruiseCritic members who have told me their surnames and cabins for the Meet & Greet on the first sea day;

• of all the tours I’ve already signed us up for;

• for the checklists I’m gathering (I’m a pilot’s wife—of course I have checklists; I have checklists of my checklists!);

• of the tours I’m organizing (so far only one, but I’m working on another out of Le Havre if I can only get Randy to tell me what he wants to do!).

This is a sample of my checklist format. I’ll keep it in the kitchen and Randy & I can check off what we’ve acquired and what we still need to get. Some of the stuff we’ll pick up in Sydney so we don’t have to carry it with us on the plane. Am I too compulsive?

Have	Need
Clothing & Accessories
		Clothing & Shoes – formal, casual, gym
		Lightweight rain ponchos
		Sweater &/or jacket
		Umbrella
		Poncho
		Visor/hat
		Snorkels & masks (2)

For our anniversary I have organized a stay at an old hotel that I was told about by the CruiseCritic members, the Carrington in Katoomba (check out the location on googlemaps.com, 15-47 Katoomba St, Katoomba Blue Mountains, Australia). It’s an old, historic, majestic hotel in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney and we’re going to stay in the Lord Carrington Suite for our 50^th anniversary. Now I’ll have to find a nice restaurant for dinner! We’ll stay there the 11^th and 12^th (our actual anniversary) so we’ll have lots of time to wander around the area and see what there is to see. There is lots to see! I’m really looking forward to it! Not as much as the cruise, of course, but our week in Sydney and Katoomba should be a lot of fun, too!

Now, back to those checklists...