Voyage Packs

Itinerary-specific cruise planning, in one document, free to download.

A Voyage Pack is what you'd get if a friend who knows cruise planning sat down for two evenings and wrote you everything they'd tell you about your specific cruise. Day-by-day rhythm, ship details, port-by-port practical advice, packing calibrated to that itinerary, an honest budget breakdown, and the contact information your family will need if something goes wrong at sea — all in one document, designed to print on paper and to work offline on your phone.

Each pack is built around one specific sailing. The packing list knows the climate. The ports section knows which ones are tender ports. The budget section knows the cruise line's auto-gratuity. The emergency-contacts section knows which embassies cover which port. Generic cruise advice can do none of those things.

Free to download. No subscription, no account, no email required. Yours to keep, and designed to be shared with one trusted person at home before you sail.

What's in every pack

Eight parts, each written for one specific sailing. Where the free site already covers the same ground, the card points you there, so you can see the kind of writing you would be paying for before you pay for it.

Offline-capable. After the first time you load a Voyage Pack, it's available without Wi-Fi. Useful at sea, in port, on a plane, or anywhere your family loses signal. The PWA caches the pack automatically.

Available now

Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas — Western Caribbean, 7 nights

Generic itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-05-06

For Symphony of the Seas sailings out of Miami on a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary (Roatán, Cozumel, Costa Maya, Perfect Day at CocoCay). Works for any sailing date that follows this itinerary — RCL has run this loop for years.

  • 1,184 ft Oasis-class ship details, neighborhood structure, cabin guidance
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights including the two sea days and three port days
  • Port profiles: Roatán (Mahogany Bay), Costa Maya, Cozumel, Perfect Day at CocoCay
  • Drink Package math (Deluxe vs Refreshment break-evens)
  • Emergency Contacts: U.S. State Dept, RCL ship-phone (with paid-per-minute caveat), embassies for Bahamas, Honduras, Mexico

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline HTML. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas — Eastern Caribbean, 7 nights

Generic itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-09-03

For Icon of the Seas sailings out of Miami on the 7-night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day product (Philipsburg, Charlotte Amalie, Perfect Day at CocoCay). Works for any sailing date that follows this itinerary. A CocoCay-first variant exists — confirm yours in the Cruise Planner. Companion PWA included.

  • Icon-class (248,663 GT, 20 decks) neighborhoods, cabin guidance, and the difference between Category 6 on the ship and Thrill Waterpark on CocoCay
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights: two sea days east to St. Maarten, St. Thomas, a westbound sea day, then CocoCay
  • Port profiles: PortMiami (Crown of Miami), Philipsburg (Dr. A.C. Wathey Pier), Charlotte Amalie (Havensight vs Crown Bay), Perfect Day at CocoCay
  • Drink-package math that points at the Cruise Planner instead of a stale daily rate
  • Emergency Contacts: U.S. State Dept, RCL ship-phone (paid-per-minute), jurisdictions for St. Maarten, the USVI, and the Bahamas
  • Companion PWA: sample Saturday–Saturday frame, live forecasts as dates approach, offline emergency card

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas — Alaska, 7 nights

Generic itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-09-05

For the 7-night Alaska round-trip from Seattle on Anthem of the Seas, calling at Sitka, Skagway, Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier (scenic cruising), Juneau, and Victoria. Works for any sailing date that follows this itinerary.

  • Quantum-class ship guidance calibrated for Alaska rather than the Caribbean: where the indoor spaces matter and when the open decks do not
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights, including the glacier-day scenic cruising that has no port call to plan around
  • Port profiles for Sitka, Skagway, Juneau, and Victoria, with the tender-versus-pier reality for each
  • Packing calibrated to an Alaska summer, which is the single thing a generic cruise packing list gets most wrong
  • Emergency Contacts: the fillable family handoff card, U.S. State Dept line, and the jurisdictions covering an Alaska round-trip with a Canadian call

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline HTML. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

NCL Prima — Western Caribbean Hosted Solo Group, September 27 – October 4, 2026

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-09-06

For the hosted solo-cruisers group sailing 7 nights round-trip from Port Canaveral on Norwegian Prima, September 27 to October 4, 2026, calling at Great Stirrup Cay, Falmouth (Jamaica), Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Organized and hosted on board by Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Booking through Tina is separate; this pack is the planning companion. Sails in peak hurricane season, and says so.

  • Norwegian Prima (lead ship of the Prima class, 2022) ship details, and the Solo Studio versus Balcony calculus at the group rates
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights — Port Canaveral · Great Stirrup Cay · Falmouth · Grand Cayman · Cozumel, with the tender and pier reality for each
  • Great Stirrup Cay as it stands for this sailing: the new pier, Great Tides Waterpark three weeks after opening, what is free and what is not
  • Hurricane-season playbook: what NCL refunds, what travel insurance covers, and how the host signals a reroute
  • Solo cruising: Studio Lounge rhythm, the unwritten rules of a hosted group, cabin and onboard safety
  • Emergency Contacts: the fillable family handoff card, U.S. State Dept line, NCL ship-phone (paid-per-minute caveat), and the consular contacts for Jamaica, the Caymans, and Mexico
  • Companion PWA: live map, port forecasts as the week approaches, offline emergency card

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

NCL Encore — Pacific Coast Hosted Solo Group, October 12 – 18, 2026

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-09-06

For the hosted solo-cruisers group sailing 6 nights one-way from Vancouver to Los Angeles on Norwegian Encore, October 12 to 18, 2026, with a day in Victoria and overnights in port at both Vancouver and San Francisco. Hosted on board by Allison Fishhead Burbank; booked through Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Booking through Tina is separate; this pack is the planning companion. A repositioning sailing in the Pacific shoulder season, and it says so.

  • Norwegian Encore (Breakaway Plus class, 2019) ship details, and the Solo Studio versus Ocean View versus Balcony calculus at the group rates
  • Day-by-day for 6 nights — Vancouver (overnight) · Victoria · at sea · San Francisco (overnight) · Los Angeles, with the Lions Gate and Golden Gate passages
  • Two overnights in port: dinner ashore in Gastown, the Ferry Building on a Saturday morning, and what all-aboard means on an overnight call
  • Pacific Northwest October rain plan, the one-way airfare problem, and what to do if the flight to Vancouver is cancelled
  • Solo cruising: Studio Lounge rhythm, the unwritten rules of a hosted group, cabin and after-hours safety
  • Emergency Contacts: the fillable family handoff card, U.S. State Dept line, NCL ship-phone (paid-per-minute caveat), and consular routing for British Columbia
  • Companion PWA: live map, port forecasts as the week approaches, offline emergency card

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

NCL Escape: Thanksgiving Caribbean Hosted Solo Group, November 20 to 27, 2026

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-10-13

For the hosted solo-cruisers group sailing 7 nights round-trip from Port Canaveral on Norwegian Escape, November 20 to 27, 2026, calling at Puerto Plata (Amber Cove), St. Thomas and Tortola, with Thanksgiving Day at Great Stirrup Cay. Hosted on board by Pam Walters; booked through Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Booking is separate; this pack is the planning companion. Rebuilt in October 2026 against NCL's own schedule for this sailing and other primary sources.

  • Norwegian Escape, the first Breakaway Plus ship, just out of a late-October 2026 refresh: what NCL lists on board, and the solo cabins that share the Studio Lounge
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights with NCL's own port times and all-aboard times: Port Canaveral · at sea · Puerto Plata · St. Thomas · Tortola (the short, early day) · at sea · Great Stirrup Cay · Port Canaveral
  • Great Stirrup Cay on Thanksgiving Day: the new pier, what is free and what is not
  • Thanksgiving aboard: what NCL actually says about it, and an honest page about the five o'clock hour for a solo cruiser
  • Emergency Contacts: the fillable family handoff card, the U.S. State Dept line, NCL's ship phone numbers, and the embassies for the Dominican Republic, the BVI and the Bahamas
  • Companion PWA: live map, port forecasts as the week approaches, offline emergency card, and a sourced FAQ

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady — Eastern Caribbean & Bimini Hosted Solo Group, November 30 – December 10, 2026

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-10-05

For the hosted solo-cruisers group sailing 10 nights round-trip from PortMiami on Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady, November 30 to December 10, 2026, calling at St. Maarten, Tortola, St. Croix, San Juan, Puerto Plata and the Beach Club at Bimini. Hosted by Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Booking is separate; this pack is the planning companion. Adults only, and Virgin does things differently, so the pack starts there.

  • Brilliant Lady, Virgin’s fourth ship and the one built to fit the Panama Canal: restaurants included, no drink packages (a pre-paid Bar Tab instead), and the gratuity change for bookings made from October 7, 2025
  • The solo calculation at the flyer prices, Interior against Balcony, and the question to ask Tina about Virgin’s Solo Insider cabins
  • Day-by-day for 10 nights — Miami · at sea · at sea · St. Maarten · Tortola · St. Croix · San Juan · Puerto Plata · at sea · Bimini · Miami, with times from Virgin’s itinerary and the 4:00 PM all-aboard in San Juan
  • Early-December weather for every stop from five years of records, and which stop is the wettest
  • Emergency Contacts: the fillable family handoff card, the U.S. State Dept line, Virgin Sailor Services, and consular routing for St. Maarten, the BVI, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas
  • Companion PWA: live map, port forecasts as the dates approach, a 12-question FAQ, offline emergency card

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Norwegian Jewel — Caribbean: Curaçao, Aruba & Dominican Republic, Solo Edition, November 29 – December 9, 2027

Solo itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-10-11

For someone sailing alone on NCL’s Norwegian Jewel, 10 nights round-trip from PortMiami, November 29 to December 9, 2027, calling at Great Stirrup Cay, Cabo Rojo (Dominican Republic), Aruba, Curaçao, Falmouth (Jamaica) and Grand Cayman. The sailing is more than a year out, so the pack says plainly which prices and policies to check again before you go.

  • Norwegian Jewel, the first ship of NCL’s Jewel class, refurbished in 2025: what’s included, what costs extra, and what she doesn’t have (no Studio cabins or Studio Lounge, no self-service laundry)
  • Sailing solo on NCL: Jewel’s Solo Inside, Oceanview and Balcony cabins against a regular cabin, and what Free at Sea includes for bookings from November 5, 2025
  • Day-by-day for 10 nights — Miami · Great Stirrup Cay · at sea · Cabo Rojo · Aruba · Curaçao · at sea · Falmouth · Grand Cayman · at sea · Miami, with NCL’s times and every all-aboard
  • Cabo Rojo, a newer port this site has no page for yet, described only from NCL and a dated report; the Grand Cayman tender; Curaçao’s 2025 currency change
  • Early-December weather for every stop from five years of records, with a plain note on what “days with rain” means
  • Emergency Contacts: a fillable handoff card with a daily check-in line, the U.S. State Dept line, NCL’s number for reaching someone aboard, and the embassy and consulate lines for every stop
  • Companion PWA: live map, port forecasts as the dates approach, a 12-question FAQ, offline emergency card

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Norwegian Sun — Panama Canal Hosted Group for Solo Cruisers, March 1 – 13, 2027

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-10-13

For Tina Maulsby’s Maulsby Travel Co. hosted group for solo cruisers on NCL’s Norwegian Sun, 12 nights round-trip from PortMiami, March 1 to 13, 2027, with Tina aboard. Calls at Great Stirrup Cay, Cabo Rojo (Dominican Republic), Aruba, Curaçao, Cartagena (Colombia), the Panama Canal at Gatun Lake, Colón (Panama) and Puerto Limón (Costa Rica). Booking through Tina is how you join the group; this pack is the planning companion.

  • Norwegian Sun, built 2001 and refurbished 2024: what’s included, what costs extra, and what she doesn’t have (no Studio cabins or Studio Lounge), plus her announced 2027 charter to Cordelia Cruises, from NCL’s parent company’s own release
  • The flyer’s solo rates and Tina’s note that the ocean view is currently cheaper than the inside, with a $150 coupon; what Free at Sea includes on a 12-night cruise
  • Day-by-day for 12 nights with NCL’s times and every all-aboard, including the canal morning: how far the locks lift you (Panama Canal Authority), and why only booked excursion guests go ashore at Gatun Lake
  • Cartagena told plainly: Colombia is State Department Level 3, and Cartagena sits outside its Do Not Travel areas; the evening stop in Colón and the short morning in Puerto Limón
  • Early-March weather for all nine stops from five years of records
  • Emergency Contacts: a fillable handoff card with Tina’s number, the U.S. State Dept line, NCL’s number for reaching someone aboard, and the embassy lines for Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and every other stop
  • Companion PWA: live map, port forecasts as the dates approach, a 10-question FAQ, offline emergency card

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

NCL Aqua — Veterans + Solo Cruisers Hosted Group, December 12–19, 2027

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-05-06

For the All Aboard, Veterans! hosted group cruise on Norwegian Aqua out of Port Canaveral, December 12–19, 2027. Hosted by Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Veterans-aware, solo-first content. Booking through Tina is separate; this pack is the planning companion.

  • Norwegian Aqua (Prima Plus class, 2025) ship details, Studio cabin guidance for solo cruisers
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights — Port Canaveral · Great Stirrup Cay · Ocho Rios · Grand Cayman · Cozumel
  • Veterans considerations: service animals, caregivers, accessibility, recovery and medication context
  • Solo cruising deep-dive: cabin safety, social rhythms, group dynamics
  • Emergency Contacts: U.S. State Dept, NCL ship-phone (with paid caveat), embassies for Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman, Mexico

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline HTML. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Sisters at Sea — Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady, February 14–21, 2027

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-05-10

For Sisters at Sea — A Valentine's Getaway for Solo Cruisers Who Love to Cruise, sailing on Virgin Voyages' Resilient Lady out of PortMiami, February 14–21, 2027. Hosted by Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Solo-women-first. Adults-only by design. Booking through Tina is separate; this pack is the planning companion.

  • Resilient Lady (Lady Class, delivered 2022) ship details, cabin guidance across Insider / Sea View / Sea Terrace at the flyer rates
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights — PortMiami · Freeport · Progreso (Mérida + Chichén Itzá) · The Beach Club at Bimini
  • Virgin Voyages structural difference: gratuities, basic Wi-Fi, all 20+ restaurants, soft drinks, fitness all included in fare — budget math worked through honestly
  • Solo female considerations: safety, the "come solo, leave with sisters" rhythm, pastoral notes for women carrying loss or transition
  • Emergency Contacts: U.S. State Dept (Virgin's own recommended path), embassies for Bahamas and Mexico, safety-honest framing on Virgin's lack of a public ship-phone

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline HTML. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Margaritaville at Sea Islander — Hosted Solo Group, January 9–16, 2027

Hosted-group itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-09-05

For the hosted solo-cruisers group sailing 7 nights round-trip from Tampa on Margaritaville at Sea Islander, January 9 to 16, 2027, calling at Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios (Jamaica), and Cozumel (Mexico). Organized and hosted on board by Tina Maulsby of Maulsby Travel Co. Booking through Tina is separate; this pack is the planning companion.

  • Ship guidance for a line most cruise content ignores, written for solo travellers rather than couples
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights, including how the group’s rhythm sits alongside the ship’s own schedule
  • Port profiles for Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, and Cozumel, with the winter-Caribbean caveats stated rather than glossed
  • An explicit note on what is first-hand and what is not, so you can weigh each section accordingly
  • Emergency Contacts: the fillable family handoff card, U.S. State Dept line, and the jurisdictions covering the Caymans, Jamaica, and Mexico

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline HTML. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

MSC World America — Western Caribbean, Solo Edition, December 5–12, 2026

Solo itinerary pack · Free · Last updated 2026-10-05

For the 7-night Western Caribbean round-trip from PortMiami on MSC World America, calling at Roatán (Honduras), Costa Maya (Mexico), Cozumel (Mexico), and Ocean Cay. Written for someone sailing alone, the week after hurricane season closes and before the Christmas-break crowds arrive.

  • World America’s Studio cabins built for one, and how to price one against a regular cabin with the single supplement
  • What is actually free and what is an upcharge on a line many Americans have not sailed: the Jaw Drop dry slide and Cliffhanger over-water swing, against Eataly and the specialty rooms
  • Day-by-day for 7 nights, with the solo rhythm: one message home a day, word left before going ashore, and the all-aboard time that is yours alone to keep
  • Port profiles for Roatán, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Ocean Cay, including where to swim and snorkel with other people around
  • An honest budget with nothing split, plus the roaming trap that quietly bills at sea
  • Emergency Contacts: a fillable handoff card with a daily check-in line, the U.S. State Dept line, and the consulates covering Honduras, Mexico and the Bahamas

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline HTML. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Holland America Volendam — 2028 Grand World Voyage, 129 days

World-cruise pack · Free · Last updated 2026-07-30

For Holland America's 2028 Grand World Voyage on ms Volendam — 129 days round-trip from Fort Lauderdale departing January 4, 2028: 45 ports across 26 countries and territories on six continents, a four-day Antarctic Experience, Easter Island, eight days across New Zealand, 65 hours in Cape Town, four equator crossings, and the Null Island sail-past. Our biggest pack, for the biggest kind of cruise there is.

  • Volendam (Rotterdam class, 61,214 GT) ship details and the world-cruise cabin calculus
  • The voyage leg by leg — all eight legs and 45 ports, with the site's port pages linked throughout
  • The pre-cruise year: passports, visas, travel-medicine consults, insurance with evacuation cover, and the house that runs itself for four months
  • Packing for four seasons in one trip — Antarctic cold kit through equatorial tropics — plus the whole world-cruise budget, worked through with current Crew Appreciation rates
  • Emergency Contacts for a six-continent route: the family handoff card, U.S. State Department 24/7 numbers, STEP enrollment, and the silence-math a 129-day voyage actually needs
  • Companion PWA: the leg-by-leg route on a live map, seasonal weather normals for every stop, live forecasts as each call approaches — offline-capable for use at sea

Download the pack (free) Free to download as PDF + offline-capable PWA companion. No account, no email. If it helps you, you can leave a tip; it is never required.

Not your sailing?

There are thousands of itineraries and one person writing these, so yours is probably not on the shelf yet. If it isn't, one can be written for it — same eight sections, calibrated to your ship, your ports, your dates, and the people travelling with you.

Free, like the packs above, with the same optional tip jar. Turnaround is normally about a week.

How a custom pack works, and what to send

To ask for one, write through the contact link with your cruise line, ship, sailing dates, and a sentence about who is travelling and anything specific you want addressed.

What you should know before you download

Format. Each pack is delivered as both a PDF (for printing and easy sharing) and an offline-capable HTML version (works in your phone or laptop browser without Wi-Fi after first load, via In the Wake's PWA). The HTML version contains the fillable Emergency Contacts handoff card with localStorage persistence — fill it in once, share the page with one trusted person at home, and they have it offline too.

Free, and yours to keep. No subscription, no upsell, no account, no email required. When In the Wake updates a pack with newly verified information (cruise-line policy changes, embassy phone updates, etc.), the updated file replaces the one on this page, so re-downloading always gives you the current version.

Refunds. Nothing here is sold, so there is nothing to refund. Published packs and custom packs are both free; a tip is a thank-you, not a purchase, and you are never charged for a pack.

What this is not. A Voyage Pack is not a travel agent service. It does not book your cruise. It does not coordinate transfers, excursions, dining reservations, or seating arrangements. (For booking on the v0.1.2 NCL Aqua hosted group pack, that's Maulsby Travel Co.'s job, separately.) The pack is a planning companion, not a concierge.

Why these are free. In the Wake is reader-supported. We don't take cruise-line affiliate commissions, we don't sell shore-excursion bookings, we don't run display advertising. The full posture lives in the affiliate disclosure. A pack in the hands of the family who needs it is worth more than the same pack behind a checkout, so the packs are free and the tip jar is optional. If you want to support the planning labor behind them, buymeacoffee.com/inthewake; custom packs remain a paid, commissioned service.

FAQ

How is this different from the free content on the rest of the site?

The free site is broad — 388 ports, 300+ ships, 9 planning tools, hundreds of articles. A Voyage Pack pulls the relevant subset of that knowledge into one calibrated document for your specific cruise, plus content that doesn't live on the public site (the family Emergency Contacts handoff card, the day-by-day rhythm, the budget breakdown for that specific sailing).

Will my pack be updated if cruise-line policies change?

Yes. When meaningful updates happen (cruise-line auto-gratuity changes, embassy contact-information updates, currency-handling changes, new accessibility infrastructure at a port), we update the pack and re-send to all buyers via the email on file.

What if my cruise gets cancelled?

Nothing to undo — you were never charged. Keep the pack; a good deal of it (the ship, the ports, the packing thinking) still applies if you rebook the same route later. If you had already tipped and the cruise falls through, write and we will sort it out; that is not a situation anyone should be out of pocket over.

Can I share my Voyage Pack with my travel companions?

Yes — please. The pack is designed to be shared with one trusted person at home (the family Emergency Contacts handoff is the entire point), and traveling parties can share within the household. We ask you not to redistribute the pack publicly — not because it is paid, it isn't, but because keeping it in one place is what lets it be corrected when a cruise line changes something. The packs include some content not duplicated on the free site, and tips are what fund the time that goes into it.

Why are the packs free?

Because we'd rather a pack be in the hands of every cruiser who'd benefit than behind a checkout that a few of them clear. The planning labor is real, so there is a tip jar at buymeacoffee.com/inthewake, but it is a tip, not a toll. Custom packs, written for one specific sailing on request, work the same way: free, about a week, tip what it was worth.

What about accessibility, neurodivergent, or sensitive-content considerations?

Each pack is written with the same calm voice as the free site. No urgency framing, no fear-based hooks, no banned-vocabulary "must-haves." Accessibility content is integrated throughout (it's not a separate section that pretends inclusion as an afterthought). If you have specific considerations you want addressed in a custom pack, mention them in your inquiry email — we adjust accordingly.