wnoble1967

i was Stationed at Coast Guard Station Juneau years back. one of the tours people do not think about is all of the mining this town in known for.
 
  AJ Mine Gastineau Mill Tours

I still have two of my old ones from 30+ years ago  
I wonder what kind of looks I’d get boarding the ship with one of them on my shoulder?

Well, I decided to give them a try. I bought a set of Amazon's own brand and will probably entertain myself doing a practice pack in the next few days. ?

There are a few good videos showing ways to pack for a trip where clothing is less likely to be mussed or wrinkled…especially my sport coat and dress shirt for formal night. Also, I try to find clothing…in particular shirts and polos…that are made with wrinkle-resistant materials. Just unpack, shake out and hang up.
Luggage choice is also important. Try to find the right bags…roomy, light but strong, with wheels. Rain proof matters, too. So many times I have seen full luggage carts on the pier waiting to be loaded aboard while sitting in a sudden downpour. I have a large bag with four wheels and my carry-on attaches to the top so I can easily roll them with one hand. This is important for me as I always do walk-off at the end of the cruise. The carry-on also has wheels and an expandable handle. Luggage needs to be strong enough to endure being tossed around by luggage handlers, or being on the bottom of the pile on a cart. Remember, you get what you pay for. My friend’s bargain luggage had wheels which snapped off on day one and the zipper jammed. Lesson learned!
Sorry about veering off topic but packing was an easy segue to luggage choice. Have a great cruise!😎

Packing cubes! Yes! Love them.
Another tip I have is colors... pack a color scheme, so that you can mix and match into several outfits. I use a website https://coolors.co/ (if that link doesn't work, it's coolors dot co) It works best on a computer, not cell or tablet, although the creator has been working on apps for phones, so maybe that works now. Anyway, if you have a favorite piece, say a patterned scarf, you can either play with the color generator or take a pick of the scarf and select colors from it. You'll end up with a palette. Bring items from that palette to coordinate. It makes for easy clothing choices. Here is a favorite palette of mine from the site:

Happy traveling... and packing. 😉
~Debbie
 

Oh my goodness, yes! My SIL and her family's luggage got soaked through sitting on the tarmac at Miami airport in a downpour. Luckily they were on their way home because everything inside was wet. I admit to not having rainproof luggage but I do usually line my case with a plastic bin liner to help prevent the stuff inside getting wet.
One thing that I am very curious about is that sometimes when I am unpacking after a trip I find sand in my suitcase even if I haven't been near a beach. I just can't figure out how it gets in there.
As for wheels... well, I maintain that every set of luggage wheels comes with a notice attached saying "Bag handlers, please do your best to break me off"! 😆

Thank you so much for your sharing your experience. With Cruising changing day by day this gives us an opportunity to see how it was for you on the ship. For Everyone still going on Harmony if you can share your experiences for the rest of us that would be amazing. 
For the rest of us who have not gone on Harmony yet, and our concerned about the Covid test we receive before you get onboard you might want to check out this link below, a friend of mine who works in a Covid unit uses this everyday and swears by it. I ordered it myself but has not gotten here yet. In my mind every little bit of protection cant hurt.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Q8V26P?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Thank you so much for your sharing your experience. With Cruising changing day by day this gives us an opportunity to see how it was for you on the ship. For Everyone still going on Harmony if you can share your experiences for the rest of us that would be amazing. 
For the rest of us who have not gone on Harmony yet, and our concerned about the Covid test we receive before you get onboard you might want to check out this link below, a friend of mine who works in a Covid unit uses this everyday and swears by it. I ordered it myself but has not gotten here yet. In my mind every little bit of protection cant hurt.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Q8V26P?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Was just on Symphony last week:
Demographic - For a cruise sailing a week before school restarts, there were very very few children and teens. But i didn’t find the cruise average age to be high. A lot of late 30s - late 50s, mostly couples or small groups friends/family
capacity - symphony holds around 6500 guest on a full load. We sailed at 1800 guest. Originally capped booking number for that ship was 40% capacity, but a little more than 10% canceled/moved their sailing last minute due to delta variant fear. It was a little spooky at times, and the casino energy (fully vaccinated area) wasn’t  exciting, but there was never a line or jam for anything. To put it in perspective for those of us who have cruised before, you could make your way to the pool deck at 11 am and still find ample chairs (and they have distanced and reduced seating)

I've been on 2 cruises and have a couple observations. 
First, almost everyone on both cruises were experienced,  frequent cruisers. I only met one couple that was on their first cruise. 
Second, nearly everyone on board couldn't possibly care less about cdc advice.

THIS! Our October Med cruise ranged from 45F/7C in Nice to 80F/27C in Athens

So much great information. Thank you all so much....

One trick is to plan to wear certain clothes more than one day. Granted, that works for all regions, not just Europe.

I bought 4 pair of travel pants and 3 travel skirts/skort.  Marshall’s and TJMaxx have lots of them in their active wear section. They fold up into about an 8” stack. 
 
We have a 12 night on Odyssey out of Rome next October (was supposed to be this October but it was cancelled), so I completely get the whole packing thing! 
 
You can also use those ziplock bags that you suck the air out of to compress everything. We’re definitely using those for our Alaska cruise since that requires bulky/heavy clothing. 
 
The pants are similar to these. I have differing lengths on mine. 

I've always factored in onboard laundry services into my planning.  I'm not really into dressing up so since I've made cruising my R&R of choice, the clothes I buy are the "laundry-friendly" ones.  Goodbye fancy linens!

As Matt says, definitely plan on wearing some outfits on more than one day. Let's face it, when you're at home would you wear an outfit just once and then wash it immediately afterwards? Or would you wear it 2 or 3 times before washing? Mix and match outfits make this very doable.
Other than that, you need to take the weather into account. In the Med in October it can be changeable. One day could be warm and sunny, the next raining and the next after that windy and cold. All of which means you're going to need layers, although it shouldn't be so cold that you need to bring winter wear, but an umbrella or rain capes are a must!
Forward planning is your friend when it comes to avoiding overpacking. I find it helps to create a kind of chart. Some people use spreadsheets but I'm not a fan of those so I create a table in Word like this one: 

That lets me see at a glance what we'll be doing on any given day so I can then plan what days outfits can be doubled up. The trick is to stick to the plan when it comes to actually putting the stuff in the suitcase and resist the temptation to start throwing in extra items at the last minute "just in case".
Bear in mind that port days in the Med will be long and tiring, so plan for comfort rather than style, especially where footwear is concerned. Bring something tried and trusted that you can be sure will still be comfortable after traipsing around a city centre for a whole day. This is not the time for strappy sandals or a brand new pair of sneakers you have not worn before!
Also since a significant part of sightseeing in the Med is likely to involve religious sites, be sure to plan on wearing something that covers shoulders and knees on those days to avoid the very real risk of being denied entry. I witnessed a lady having to go and buy a cover-up from a stall-holder at the Vatican because she was wearing a sleeveless top and they weren't going to let her in!
I hope this helps. Have fun planning and feel free to ask if you have any more questions. ?

I agree with Jason Oasis, I had Covid bad, back in December, I had the Moderna Vaccine and I am finding a way to coexist. I am so done living 
In fear. The only way I am not going on my cruise to the Mediterranean mid October is if country's shut down and we can't go. Spain's numbers were horrific at the beginning of July, and now their in the down turn. Infection rate will continue to fluctuate for a long time. Until we get to some kind of heard immunity we will continue to see delta foxtrot golf India Lima or any other variant they can name with the phonetic alphabet until we get to where we need to be to stop the spread. It is what it is. Long story short I just need a vacation.....

I agree with Jason Oasis, I had Covid bad, back in December, I had the Moderna Vaccine and I am finding a way to coexist. I am so done living 
In fear. The only way I am not going on my cruise to the Mediterranean mid October is if country's shut down and we can't go. Spain's numbers were horrific at the beginning of July, and now their in the down turn. Infection rate will continue to fluctuate for a long time. Until we get to some kind of heard immunity we will continue to see delta foxtrot golf India Lima or any other variant they can name with the phonetic alphabet until we get to where we need to be to stop the spread. It is what it is. Long story short I just need a vacation.....

I agree with Jason Oasis, I had Covid bad, back in December, I had the Moderna Vaccine and I am finding a way to coexist. I am so done living 
In fear. The only way I am not going on my cruise to the Mediterranean mid October is if country's shut down and we can't go. Spain's numbers were horrific at the beginning of July, and now their in the down turn. Infection rate will continue to fluctuate for a long time. Until we get to some kind of heard immunity we will continue to see delta foxtrot golf India Lima or any other variant they can name with the phonetic alphabet until we get to where we need to be to stop the spread. It is what it is. Long story short I just need a vacation.....

No I'm not changing any of my cruises scheduled COVID isn't going anywhere and neither am I.  At this point the way I see it we both are going to have to learn to coexist and I don't see cruise lines shutting down again over COVID concerns.
I'm fully vaccinated, I still exercise caution and mask up when I think it is necessary and as my October cruise get closer I'll take even more precautions to make sure I protect myself from Delta and don't pop positive days before my cruise I refuse to live in fear of this virus.  I respect the virus but I will not live in fear of it I'm not changing anything.

All of you that posted our amazing people, thank you so much for your help. This being my first cruise we booked it in January for the October 17th cruise, because the prices were amazing, and of course i am thinking quote "The Pandemic will surly be over By October" end quote... LOL....Once again Thank You Everyone.

All of you that posted our amazing people, thank you so much for your help. This being my first cruise we booked it in January for the October 17th cruise, because the prices were amazing, and of course i am thinking quote "The Pandemic will surly be over By October" end quote... LOL....Once again Thank You Everyone.

Using the app to book before boarding, no. Pre-boarding everything has to be booked with the Cruise Planner website. Note reservations at restaurants will have to be paid in advance.
Once onboard you can use the app to book restaurants and shows. Restaurants booked onboard don't have to be paid for in advance but are subject to cancellation policies.

Just to add to the previous posters' answers, you can have a look at the menus for the specialty restaurants beforehand in both the cruise planner and the app to get an idea of which ones you would most like to do. Then draw up a plan for your desired restaurants, times and days and take it with you. It will make the whole reservations process much quicker if you have your list to hand. Do have an alternative so you can flexible if a particular restaurant is not available for the day/time you want it. For example, we once wanted a particular restaurant one night when they were not taking reservations because there was an event, so we had to switch.
Once your reservations have been made they should show up in the app, which is a helpful reminder if you forget where you've booked for a particular evening. 
Bear in mind that you can eat at any given restaurant more than once and you can skip others completely if the food they serve is not to your liking. You're not obliged to go to every single one. Sometimes too you may be able to switch your booking at the last minute, if you change your mind about that evening's plans, so it's always worth asking.
And, lastly, you can still eat in the main dining room (commonly abbreviated to MDR here on the boards) if you wish, for example if you spot something on the menu that you particularly like. There is no charge for this as it is where the meals included with your cruise fare are served.

You should go to a specialty restaurant or a kiosk in the Promenade and make your reservations once you get onboard.  I believe they make a courtesy reservation for the first day only and they choose the restaurant. However you do not have to keep that reservation.  You can only secure reservations based on space available, so it is first come first serve when making the reservations.