What's the one thing I forgot to put on my list?

duct tape

Small emergency sewing kit and eyeglass repair lit. Very small space wise but often comes in handy. Also a good small flashlight.

You have remembered the camera. But what about batteries, charges, and memory cards. I had brought my camera, but forgot to put a SD card in it. I have 3 batteries for each of my cameras now. One in the device, one on the charger and the last waiting to be used.

Be careful when using over the door anything. Many cruise lines are not allowing them as they mar the door. I found a smaller shoe holder at the $ store. It hooks to a hanger that you can put any where. I also bring two magnets to hook it to a wall if I want.

Depending on your hair and if it is difficult to dry, you may want to bring your hair dryer. After 45 mins attempting to dry my shoulder length very thick & curly hair, I gave up. Now I bring a small portable powerful hair dryer.

Did you remember your flat iron or curling wand? Limited makeup? Perfume or scented body spray? Small fan for white noise and air movement? Body moisturizer? Clear nail polish? Nail clippers? Address book to send post cards?

As for my toiletries, I put what I use everyday in a basket on my bathroom counter, also anything I might want to take. If if stays in the basket after use, it goes. If not, it is left behind.

Enjoy your cruise. Just remember to have fun!

I keep my pen clipped in passport for completing health questionnaire at boarding.

We use a very large reusable "grocery" bag for dirty clothes. It's actually plastic or plastic coated fabric so it both folds flat & will stay standing up on floor of closet.

Stain-stopping packets are a good idea too but I carry a stain removal pen as I only use amount of product needed. Was able to remove sangria splash from white pants (waiter slashed it on me!).

When it's time to get a new net sponge for our bath at home, I let the old one thoroughly dry & keep it for the next cruise. It may look a little ratty with parts of the netting pulling away from the center of the ball, but certainly an get a few extra days of use from it during a cruise. Then we trash it after the last bath. Certainly nicer to use than just washcloth & makes the small bottle of shower gel last the entire trip (more bubble w/ netting vs. washcloth).

We also bring some snack bars to take ashore. Sometimes just need the bit of energy they provide. Also handy having some of them in carry on in case embarkation is delayed.

Enjoying this thread!!

Wine is already packed, two bottles. Thank you for the advice on the extension cord. It's always been suggested for other cruises we've taken. Honestly, we don't always use it so no big deal leaving it home. The multi-outlet adapter is another story, though. That has always come in handy.

The adapters are fine. It's the power strips/surge protectors they have been confiscating.

Benadryl or an Epi-pen if your allergic to stuff. One thing is good that if you forget, they have a dispenser in the infirmary that has stuff like over the counter and I think only costs like $1 or so.

We made up personal magnets for our door with a sheet of inkjet printable magnets from Staples. Had a Caribbean background with our name. Everyone who came by our door commented how easy it was to personalize the door.

Bowtie for formal night. Men look sharp in a bowtie (especially if you wear one that is non-traditional of just black).

fluorescent glow stick (battery operated). Better to use at night to not wake up hubby by turning on the light near the bed. Put on nightstand.

Hi all,

Just back (today) from our trip! Thanks to all of you for your WONDERFUL suggestions! Here's a quick review of what we found most useful, and not. This is what worked for us, every trip and every person is different, so all suggestions had value - thank you all for contributing your ideas!

Useful:

Binoculars!! Thank you so much! We did see a school of dolphins, and got a closeup look at several schools of tiny flying fish. The binocs were also really valuable as we sailed into each port.

Multi-outlet plug: Ours has 4 outlets and 2 USB ports . Really important, since outlets are extremely limited on Empress (and we were in a suite).

Trash bag for dirty clothes and dryer sheets to keep them deodorized: Superb! We stuffed it under the bed, easy to keep all of our dirty clothes out of the way, and not commingle with out clean items.

Pen: Yup, the lowly pen! The one we brought was the only one we had!

Sunscreen: A must - and I wish I had stronger than 30. Even as a Floridian, the intense UV in Key West and Havana took a bit of a toll.

Hats: Ditto above, plus quick protection form little showers (had rain slickers in case of downpours, but didn't need).

Ziploc Bags: Great for keeping things that might leak or open, such as sunscreen (even in a spray bottle) away from passport, etc.

Clorox Wipes: Popped a few in a zip top sandwich bag and gave everything the once-over when we boarded.

Brought, but didn't use:

Magnets: No place in our room other than the ceiling, and we didn't need to hang anything .

Post-its: We traveled as a couple and stayed together essentially the whole time, so no need to leave notes for each other. We saw our cabin steward regularly, so no need to leave him notes either.

Lanyard: LOTS of people had them - but my little silicone cell phone wallet was perfect for holding my Seapass card, and my cell was my camera, so always with me. If I didn't have that, the lanyard would have been a useful item.

Bug repellant: Can you believe it - no mosquitos anywhere, even on our balcony during the overnight in Havana. I'll bet they all got that word that we packed the bug spray!;p

Wish I had:

Water! Really wish we had brought at least several bottles if not a case. We did not spring for the Evian package, but were given 2 bottles of a generic bottled water (we were in a suite) on day 1. Really missed having water readily available. The ships tap water was OK, but not great.

So that's it! Thanks again all!

Eyeglass repair kit.

Your cabin steward will bring you extra hangers. We always need extra.....

 

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they are too thick I like mine that are thinner and hold thing without slipping, more space!!

We like to throw a Potty Pack or 2 into our beach bag when going ashore. Comes in handy when nature calls and there's only 'questionable' restrooms available. It includes a seat cover, toilet paper, wet wipe and hand sanitizer.

This thread was really helpful for our first RCCL cruise! We are sailing on Serenade of the Seas this month.

Questions for all you veteran RC cruisers --

1. Are you allowed to bring bottled water or soft drinks onto the cruise? I thought you were not allowed.

2. Do we need to bring our own shampoo, body lotion and body wash? We are used to Holland America, and they provide super-fancy toiletries in the bathrooms.

Thanks for your help!!

Laurie

This thread was really helpful for our first RCCL cruise! We are sailing on Serenade of the Seas this month.

 

Questions for all you veteran RC cruisers --

1. Are you allowed to bring bottled water or soft drinks onto the cruise? I thought you were not allowed.

2. Do we need to bring our own shampoo, body lotion and body wash? We are used to Holland America, and they provide super-fancy toiletries in the bathrooms.

 

Thanks for your help!!

Laurie

Bringing any beverage other than two bottles of wine per stateroom is against their rules, but they usually don't enforce that rule in the case of water and soda. Unless you are in a suite, you may only get two bars of soap and a dispenser of combo shampoo/conditioner in the shower.

We bring a beach bag (Kyss that can be locked to a chair or pillar)

We keep in it;

our sun tan lotion,

visine in case we get something in our eyes.

Tylenol

comb

towels

travel baby wipes in case we need to freshen up or wash our hands after swimming.

extra pair sun glasses

small amount of money to tip

sea pass (if not in the DH water wallet).

Enjoy

I didn't see camera and charger. I know most people these days use their cell phones for pictures, but if you're like me and take 500 pictures, your cell phone may be inadequate.

I, too, take clip magnets for hanging important on the walls. I also take hand sanitizer for excursions. Never know when you might want to eat something and have been in the ocean, touching all kinds of dirty things on the beach, etc. And a plastic bag for dirty clothes. I keep it in the bottom drawer and we just throw the dirty stuff in it.

For excursions, a small tote bag for towels, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, bottles of water, money, camera, room key, etc. You may have mentioned this, and if so, sorry. I take a first aid kit with stomach relief meds, Ibuprofen, band aides, peroxide, bandages, antibiotic ointment, small scissors, etc. When my son was very young I always added children's cough syrup and children's Tylenol.

Just returned from a transatlantic with lots of sea days. My husband came down with a bad cold (caught from other passengers) and we had not brought Advil Cold and Sinus medicine. He ended up at the ship medical facility with a bill for US$400++. Being from Canada, we are absolutely shocked by the medical cost. We have added cold medicine to our packing list for our next cruise.

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I take a small hand sanitizer with a hanging loop for the outside of my excursion bag. I have an extra in the room to refill the tiny one with. I also take a wet washcloth from the room in a ziplock bag in my excursion bag. we use it for wiping of the excess sanitizer (it tastes nasty if we get something to eat where hand washing is unavailable) it is also handy for wiping burning eyes from too much sunscreen, etc. and as a peri-menopausal woman, I find the cloth nice for wiping my face when I am having "an energy surge". I return the cloth when we get back and wet a new one the next day. I re-wet it from my water bottle. (I don't steal them, only use them for the day) I also have a small japanese style folding fan for the "warm times" as they occur. they are small and don't take up much room. they also move a LOT of air!!! we use a small touch light in the room at night. We keep one on the bedside table to use as a flashlight when we get up and use it to dimly light the bathroom. they use standard size batteries so I just pack them without the batteries and pack the batteries in a ziplock. As you can tell, I use many ziplock in many sizes!!! Have a great cruize!!!