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"Life Hacks" Cruise edition


DeeDee316
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I always see the life hack videos online, and it got me thinking to see if there is a "Cruise life hack thread" here.. Just like little tips for packing, on board, whatever. I'm coming with littles, so im always interested in ideas for kids. I've seen some.great ideas already, but this will only be my 2nd cruise coming up. Please delete if there is such a thread already... I seem to have a hard time with the search function. lol. I'll start:

 

I thought about getting those vacuum seal bags to be able to fit more clothes in 1 suitcase.

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Packing cubes are great. Just search Amazon. The prices vary wildly but are worth it as they free up a lot of room. IMO vacuum bags are for long term storage, how will you use when leaving? The will have tons of things for kids. You will get 2nd cruise compass with kids stuff.

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1. Magnetic hooks to hang clothes, lanyard, hats, etc.

2. Magnetic clips to hold up planners, notes, etc.

3. Highlighter for the cruise compass.

4. Mini extension cord with USB outlets.

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Packing cubes are great. Just search Amazon. The prices vary wildly but are worth it as they free up a lot of room. IMO vacuum bags are for long term storage, how will you use when leaving? The will have tons of things for kids. You will get 2nd cruise compass with kids stuff.

 

The one I saw on Amazon has a travel thing that comes with it, so you can use it whenever.

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1) Over the door shoe organizer for storing everything from cameras, batteries, wet wipes, playing cards, band aids, etc.

 

2) Always bring your own pepto, Imodium and other stomach ailment meds. If you go to the ship doctor and ask for any of these you may be quarantined.

 

3) Cheap water bottles from the dollar store. Fill them up in the buffet and throw them away at the end of the cruise.

 

4) European power outlet adapter. Many staterooms have both a US outlet and a European outlet. If you bring your own adapter you get an extra power outlet to use.

 

 

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Buy a reusable, durable, washable, BPA-free water bottle - I like Gaiam brand bottles. Too many plastic bottles are not recyled and end up as litter and in oceans. Fill them from a tumbler at the buffet. Using the dispensers for your own bottle is not sanitary.

 

Bring shampoo, etc., in refillable tubes or bottles. Those trial-size tubes are not cost-effective unless you refill them over and over from home.

 

Pack lightly but smartly and you might not need any of the packing tools that in and of themselves take up room. I have generally never needed anything other than a well-packed carry-on and a backpack. I can see where traveling with kids would require more "stuff," though!

 

Bring your own reading material as the selection in ship libraries/shelves is uniformly lacking.

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1. Arrive the day before sailing and if time and location permit scout out the pier and see how its setup.

 

2. Arrive before 11 to return the car and avoid lines for check in and security.

 

3. Do venue hopping after boarding Sandwich at Park Cafe then hot items at Windjammer followed by Desserts at Cafe Promenade or Cafe Lattietudes.

 

4. Use House Phone right after boarding on embarkation day and ask Operator to help with Specialty Dining Reservations and My Time Dining etc.

 

5. Walk the track with a coffee and see the sea.

 

6. Use fitness center towels for pool towels or on shore excursion then return them when done.

 

7. Take tea battery operated lamps for interior staterooms

 

8 Ask Main Dining Room Server if they can cook a curry or local item from the Chef's home country one night

 

9. Order the dessert to go and grab a coffee before the show.

 

10 Reverse the order of your meal and start with Dessert and work backwards one night or just go for Dessert one night in the MDR after a big lunch. The cheese platter and two or three dessert options and coffee .

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Take a collapsible clothes hamper ( folds up and lies flat on the bottom of a suitcase) and place it in the closet for your dirty clothes. Empty into a jumbo ziplock and pack in a duffle for the trip home. This lightens up your luggage for your return trip and the laundry is ready to wash when you get home.

 

Pack outfits, underwear and socks in large zip locks. It helps keep your clothes organized in your luggage and things you don't need to hang can stay in the bags and you can stack them on shelves in the closet or place in drawers.

 

 

Bring travel packages of Lysol wipes for areas in your cabin such as the remote control , balcony door handles, light switches and drawers.

 

 

Purchase a logo t shirt on your cruise ship each cruise and pack those each time you cruise. They are great conversation starters as people may ask you about the ship or destination on your shirt.

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Wrap all your clothes in plastic, Did anyone know it rains in Florida? Royal Caribbean didn't. Put half of your clothes in each suitcase. Remember the crew are fellow human beings, please treat the as such.

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This is such a good idea.

 

 

Packing 2 suitcases with each one having half your clothes is a good idea until one goes missing. Then you may have to do two insurance claims and pay two lots of excess (if you are insured that is I am not starting that ball rolling)

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4) European power outlet adapter. Many staterooms have both a US outlet and a European outlet. If you bring your own adapter you get an extra power outlet to use.

 

 

 

That's a great idea. I will have to put my adapter in my luggage right now. Leaving in just over a week now.

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Pack outfits, underwear and socks in large zip locks. It helps keep your clothes organized in your luggage and things you don't need to hang can stay in the bags and you can stack them on shelves in the closet or place in drawers.

 

I do this for my little kids after our first cruise they wore all their clothes by day 3. I put a daytime and evening outfit in a ziplock bag and label it with the day to wear. They reuse evening outfits but I label that too on their bag.

 

Also at the end of the cruise you have a bunch of bags to use for dirty/clean clothes, etc.

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We always did the same with complete outfits in the large (3-gal) ziplocks which we purchased from the dollar store. When an outfit was dirty, it went back in the ziplock with a big X and was thrown into the suitcase under the bed. By the last day of the cruise, packing was a breeze and the dirty clothes didn't touch the clean clothes that weren't worn and still in the zip-locks. Always packed extra zip locks (x-tra lge sandwich size) for some snacks like crackers and cheese from the buffet. We also grabbed a box or two of cereal to have in the cabin for a quick snack. We would do this and grab a few of the reg or choc milk for the fridge in the cabin for snacks for the Grandson. Carry the towel clips. They work great out by the pool, but are also great to hang a wet swimsuit up to dry or something that got stained. We always carry a Tide Stain Stick (even for the adults) so a stain doesn't set. Carry band-aids neosporin, sunscreen and children's tylenol, etc. Buying these on the ship is expensive. If they are old enough to understand, set aside an amount of allowance or money for souvenirs. You'll be surprised how quickly they become "selective" in purchases if it's their money and they see it dwindling. Same for the arcade.

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Put something extremely obvious on your suitcase if it is black or navy! Luggage porters and some people do NOT pay any attention when they're grabbing bags at the end of your cruise. (AND, FYI, I had ribbon and 2 brightly colored tags on ours- and it was still taken by another family. Luckily, they returned it post-customs)

 

Don't accidentally pack all your kids footwear the night before you get off the boat.

 

If you have a kid under the age of 3, bring a stroller.

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If you are bringing wine onboard, make sure you pack it in carry on bag.

 

Carry on bag should include change of clothes, swimsuit if you want to hang out by pool, sunscreen and other essentials. You never know how long before your luggage makes it to your room.

 

If you want to take advantage of nighttime entertainment, take a nap during the day. Can’t tell you how many nights we were wiped out from fun in the sun and ready for sleep by 9:00.

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We use compression bags and large ziplocks for clothes. You have to be careful though, your suitcases can become too heavy as you are saving so much room!

We also use large Command hooks to hang backpacks, wet swimsuits, etc. We used these for our Alaska cruise and they held heavy wet coats to dry and the backpacks, no problem. We personally feel that these work better than magnetic hooks and you can reuse them also.

I also bought a cute little nightlight at the dollar store that looks like a sailboat for nighttime.

We take a charger port for our cell phones, iPads that have a couple of extra plugs in case we need them.

 

 

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1. I bring a small bottle of dawn dish soap! kids always get ketchup or something on their clothes that will stain and if I just throw it in our laundry bag my chances of getting it out at home aren't so great!

 

2. Extra pacifiers....we were weaning from ours on a trip and she lost it the last night and it was pretty miserable so now I bring an extra pack if we are traveling with our little one.

 

3.We always carry off our own luggage on the last day. I would rather wake early to pack on our last morning while everyone else is sleeping than take away from our last day.

 

 

4. On the big ships we try to plan our day or evening around a neighborhood.

For example....The night we plan Chops or one of the CP restaurants we have drinks at those bars.

On the night we go to the Fine Line we go to Sabor or whatever place is there for dinner and let the kids check out the arcade, carousel, etc.

Formal night we consider the places that we would like to spend time a little more dressed up!

 

 

5.Make a check list of the things you MUST do and HOPE to do and check them off as you go!

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1) Hanging Toiletry Bag. We use this one: http://amzn.to/2u6AmBR but there are a lot of options

 

We used to just use a basic toiletry bag that just had one single storage area, but there is so little room in most non-suite cabins. I absolutely love these hanging bags because they are easy to organize, and the hanging hook makes it easy to set it up out of the way, but still with easy access.

 

2) Magnetic Hooks - Most surfaces in the cabin are metallic, and magnetic hooks are great for hanging up lots of things. The ones we use are http://amzn.to/2HoeLGT

 

3) Compression bags. We used to use some packing cubes we got on Kickstarter but they aren't super useful; they are fine for keeping things organized but end up taking up more space. For our last cruise we got a pair of actual vacuum bags with an included hand pump so we could get the air out when the cruise was finished. Works WAY better than the ones that you just push on or roll to get rid of the air. The ones we got are http://amzn.to/2u8gGh2

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