"I wish I knew before..."

[Carrots85]

Just curious - how do you make those countdown clocks?

[Carrots85]

So far, every single useful tip I could share, I've seen already posted by another user...except this one:

 

On our first cruise, my husband and I kept seeing masses of land and wondering what each one was. So, on our next cruise, we brought the GPS unit from my car. It told us how fast we were going (land speed, of course), which direction we were traveling, and identified the nearest land masses and how far away they were. Yes, it was just another electronic doodad to take up outlet space in the stateroom, but we enjoyed having it with us. :D

 

I think my husband would love this. Glad you mentioned it - never would have thought of it!

[Underwatr]

Just curious - how do you make those countdown clocks?

On a lot of them (mine included) you click on the clock and it takes you to a page where you can set up your own.

 

EDIT: Looks like my style is at http://www.cruisetimetables.com/tickers.html

Edited August 5, 2016 by Underwatr

[Carrots85]

 

Can hardly wait!

Edited August 5, 2016 by Carrots85

[kruzkween]

My recommendation is to bring one suitcase per person (25"/26"/27"), plus a tote/carry-on/backpack/toiletry bag...whichever you prefer. Plenty of space to store bags under bed. You'll check your suitcase at the pier and won't see it again till your cabin steward delivers it to your room later in the afternoon. Your personal carry-on will stay with you till you drop it off in your cabin, then you can go explore the ship after you enjoy a delicious lunch.

 

All it takes in ONE cruise to get hooked!! Hope you have a fantastic time...enjoy!!!

 

kruzkween

[Sabbycat]

1. Wait until the last night before buying anything in the Fun Shops; they often mark things down.

2. Take a large insulated cup with a lid

3. You can take food out of the Lido buffet

4. Pack fewer clothes

5. You can get a free lanyard for your S&S card in the casino

 

For ships, I am tweeking your advise to the last night they are open. Some cruises end with an overnight in the port where you disembark; when this is the case the shops will be close the last night of the cruise - along with all other places to purchase goods!

[TenForward]

oops

Edited August 19, 2016 by TenForward

[suzyques]

We've always taken duffle bags with wheels. I purchased a 29" suitcase, in hopes to only take one this time. But it is thick. I'm hoping it will fit under the bed. Does anyone know what the maximum height is under the bed for one to fit?

[Underwatr]

We've always taken duffle bags with wheels. I purchased a 29" suitcase, in hopes to only take one this time. But it is thick. I'm hoping it will fit under the bed. Does anyone know what the maximum height is under the bed for one to fit?

On Carnival?

 

On Cunard I have no problem fitting a suitcase 10" think under the bed. I don't remember the details for our Carnival cruise (e.g., which suitcases).

[AdoraBelle]

We've always taken duffle bags with wheels. I purchased a 29" suitcase, in hopes to only take one this time. But it is thick. I'm hoping it will fit under the bed. Does anyone know what the maximum height is under the bed for one to fit?

 

 

I've sailed NCL, Disney and X. They were admittedly all newer ships, but I had no problems stashing my ginormous 29" hard shell suitcases under the bed in any of them, even the studio cabins on NCL. (The beds in those cabins have enough room for two of my suitcases and a couple of storage bins they use for life vests.)

Edited August 19, 2016 by AdoraBelle

[suzyques]

yes carnival is the ship I am asking about for the luggage.

[travelmatron]

When storing a suitcase (other than a duffle) under your bed you can save a couple of inches by leaving it open. It also becomes a good place to store things you hope not to need, like rain ponchos, things you may not need often, like snorkel equipment, and/or dirty clothes.

[suzyques]

When storing a suitcase (other than a duffle) under your bed you can save a couple of inches by leaving it open. It also becomes a good place to store things you hope not to need, like rain ponchos, things you may not need often, like snorkel equipment, and/or dirty clothes.

 

THANKS for this tip. I would have never thought of that!

[Sancho_proudfoot]

I always empty my pockets every night and put all my change in a jar. I just cashed it in and got $52 for our cruise this Sunday!

 

We do this. The cash saved - which is never missed day by day - is usually enough to pay for the fuel for the car to get us to and from the port.

[kruzkween]

I've been on many cruises & had problem only once, of suitcase not fitting under bed; that was Disney Wonder. I've never taken a huge bag; probably 26"-27"...have downsized even more & now take 24"-25" bag. Love the suggestion of leaving bag unzipped under bed & keep dirty clothes or less-used items in it. I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful ideas & suggestions from my fellow cruisers!!!

 

Have a blessed week-end and HAPPY CRUISING!!

 

~kruzkween

[Conshydot]

I love that, but am not brave enough to go to the IKEA in our city. a) it is a zoo at all hours and I cannot reason why! And b) it is a trek. It is a maze that you are almost obligated to go through as there are very few short cuts to deviate from the prescribed route!

y

 

 

Look in Amazon, I got mine from them.

 

I have just started using packing cubes, what a great thing. I left undies and sleepwear packed in one and put it in a drawer. As I wore clothing, I would put it back in the cube and I stored all of the extraneous counter stuff in one and left it on the counter. The last night, I just gathered up all the cubes, put them back in suitcases and Voila...packed.

 

I also put all of the items that I place in the safe in one large ziplock bag. That way every thing is in one place and nothing gets left behind.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Conshydot
Addition

[metermaid79]

We just returned from our 2nd cruise and had a wonderful time on Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas!!! I am missing it terribly today! And have been starving and wishing I had a drink in my hand!!

 

Things I learned:

1. Bathing suits and coverups were my dress for daytime. Even if I wasn't going to the pool, I was prepared in case I decided to stop by for a bit. I took a few pairs of shorts and tops, but brought most of them home unworn.

2. Loved dressing up for formal nights and wore cute sun dresses for dinner on other nights. Keep it simple and comfy...but cute of course! The dining rooms are beautiful, so at least take a little pride in how you look!

3. Over the door shoe hanger was very handy and kept all the suntan lotions/medicines/chapsticks/etc. in a handy out of the way spot.

4. The small popup hamper was great for collecting the dirty clothes.

5. Luggage all fit under the bed with no problem, and one of our suitcases was rather large.

6. Hanging makeup bag made it simple to use and put away and keep the tiny sink area uncluttered.

7. Limit your shoes, sandals and flats and one pair of nice shoes is plenty and believe me, this was hard for me, but worked!!

8. Room service coffee in the morning to sit out on the balcony was wonderful!

9. Whoever suggested a hammock for our balcony is my favorite suggestion. I found a light weight fold up hammock at Marshalls for $20. We hung it from corner to corner and all of us enjoyed it immensely!! Evening time to rest, morning to watch the sun rise, afternoon to get away and read/nap. All was great!! You won't regret this one!!

10. The rooms are small, but we had plenty of spots for clothing, suits, etc. Had plenty of hangers, shelving and cabinet space for the 2 of us. Don't stress

11. Drink package is great if you're a big drinker. My kids got our monies worth, but not sure I did, although it was nice not to have to worry about the $ adding up on the ship. We also brought the 2 bottles of wine per room and ended up coming back with 2 since we just drank the wine by the glass at dinner.

12. Go to the shows! It's worth it and always great productions.

13. Small activities such as trivia and game shows are a lot of fun and great way to meet people on the ship.

14. We had the late dining time and worked around seeing the shows earlier before dinner. We ran into a couple friends on the ship that said they had the earlier dining time and switched it because there were so many unhappy little ones at dinner. We had children around us at dinner, but they were all great, but I can see where parents of little ones want to get that early dinner time.

15. So many nooks and crannys of the ship to explore. Don't be shy, look around.

16. Be friendly!! Everyone is there to have a good time. Be patient with people and fun. I met some of the nicest people on the elevators!!

17. Take care of your room attendant! They work hard, you take care of them, they take care of you! I took someones suggestion to leave a little goodie bag with our tip and they loved it. Nothing expensive, (candies, gum) but just something to make them feel appreciated.

18. Have a plan for the excursions. It was so nice to go right to our planned excursion and not worry about it. We did two from outside sources and one from Royal Caribbean, all were great!

19. Plan your day over coffee in the morning and you'll relax the rest of the day!!

Hope this helps! Hope you love it as much as we did!!

[widallas]

Metermaid79 thanks for sharing such great info on Liberty!!! Can I ask how you hung the hammocks? We are on Liberty in November and would love to try it!!!

 

 

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[slhopper]

I hope I am not being redundant but I have a few suggestions I have not seen so far on this thread.

 

I took way too much on our first cruise.. two outfits a day since I assumed I'd change mid-day.... NOPE! From now on I am taking one casual outfit per day plus several maxi dresses for the evenings. 2 swimsuits because it takes more than a day to dry in the cabin.

 

I pack each out fit in a gallon sized ziplock bag. I then just put those in the drawers and each day I can just grab a bag and go. Great for saving space packing, plus no worries about something spilling in your bag and ruining everything.

 

I bought the JUMBO sized ziplock bags and we used one for my husbands suit (we enjoy dressing nice for dinner) and then put everything else in another. Then we just threw those into the suitcases and didn't have to worry about if it was raining when we checked in (It was, our clothes stayed dry even thought our suitcases got wet)

 

I bought a FLIPBELT and LOVED it. There are knockoffs too. It is a stretchy fabric band with slots or pockets in it. I put my cruise card and license, some cash in a baggie and my cell phone. It goes under your clothes and you can't tell you are wearing it. I didn't worry about pickpockets. My husband is even comfortable wearing it as it hides under clothes and does not look like a fanny pack while being almost as useful as one.

 

Last item we really used was those little drawstring backpacks. We took one with our sunscreen and our pillbox of OTC meds, small first aid kit and a second backpack folded up in it. These were great for all excursions and we used the second backpack for souvenirs.

 

Lastly, and this I have seen mentioned but feel it is the absolute most important thing...bring a good attitude. Things will go wrong. Nothing is perfect. But you are away from the normal responsibilities of life with people you care about... THAT is far more important than overcooked steak or a bad stage show. Enjoy the journey.

[metermaid79]

Hey Widallas,

The Hammock we used came with two ropes and carabiners, which worked perfect. We wrapped one rope around the front metal rod that divides the cabin patios and connected with the carabiner to the hammock and then stretched the hammock across the patio to the back metal rod so it basically divided our patio in half. Although the chairs would fit on either side of the hammock so one of us could still sit in the chairs and the table was handy for my glass of wine or book by the hammock. It was really wonderful! The hammock we used was light weight material, almost like windbreaker jacket material (sorry don't know what it's called). I'll check for the manufacturer and post when I can. And we just left it there all week. Hope this helps and that you have as much fun as we did!! Oh and if you're from Dallas, you probably love mexican food as much as we do, Sabor was really good!! Their jalapeno margarita and guacamole was wonderful!!

[widallas]

Thanks metermaid79 for answering my questions...your hammock sounds fabulous!!!

[TNShadyLady]

Binoculars. You never know when you'll spot dolphins! Also tiny private islands are interesting to check out. Someone actually lives there! I feel like a voyeur but what the heck. :p

 

For this next cruise I'll be taking only one rolling carryon. But I plan to use vacuum storage bags for clothing. They come in a pack of assorted sizes and normally you would use a vacuum cleaner hose, but the package also comes with a plastic hand pump for getting the air out. You'd be amazed at the extra room to be had when air isn't taking up space. Obviously this only works for clothing that is not cotton (unless you actually enjoy ironing). ;) But for underwear, swimsuits, synthetic tops and shorts, etc. you can save a LOT of room using the vacuum bags.

 

I travel with my two sisters and we share a cabin. So we plan ahead not to duplicate anything. The cabin has a hairdryer already, so we only need one curling iron or flat iron or whatever. A power strip is a must have. Also if you have a gadget that only takes up one outlet of a power strip but lets you plug in multiple USB charging cords, that helps too. This will be our first cruise using the Hub to keep in touch onboard, so we're leaving the highlighters and sticky notes at home this time. :)

 

On some lines there is a bathroom outlet that is oriented for European appliances. You can buy a converter that lets you use US appliances with that outlet. Anybody who's traveled to UK or Europe probably already has one. And the best thing is none of these are going to break the bank. Very affordable.

 

I may have to look into a portable hammock. We'll have an aft balcony in March, which would be plenty of room for a hammock, I'm thinking. :D

[MedicKenK]

Binoculars. You never know when you'll spot dolphins! Also tiny private islands are interesting to check out. Someone actually lives there! I feel like a voyeur but what the heck. :p

 

For this next cruise I'll be taking only one rolling carryon. But I plan to use vacuum storage bags for clothing. They come in a pack of assorted sizes and normally you would use a vacuum cleaner hose, but the package also comes with a plastic hand pump for getting the air out. You'd be amazed at the extra room to be had when air isn't taking up space. Obviously this only works for clothing that is not cotton (unless you actually enjoy ironing). ;) But for underwear, swimsuits, synthetic tops and shorts, etc. you can save a LOT of room using the vacuum bags.

 

I travel with my two sisters and we share a cabin. So we plan ahead not to duplicate anything. The cabin has a hairdryer already, so we only need one curling iron or flat iron or whatever. A power strip is a must have. Also if you have a gadget that only takes up one outlet of a power strip but lets you plug in multiple USB charging cords, that helps too. This will be our first cruise using the Hub to keep in touch onboard, so we're leaving the highlighters and sticky notes at home this time. :)

 

On some lines there is a bathroom outlet that is oriented for European appliances. You can buy a converter that lets you use US appliances with that outlet. Anybody who's traveled to UK or Europe probably already has one. And the best thing is none of these are going to break the bank. Very affordable.

 

I may have to look into a portable hammock. We'll have an aft balcony in March, which would be plenty of room for a hammock, I'm thinking. :D

The bathroom outlet of which you are referring is for electric shavers only. It cannot handle any other power load. Also, all the these sockets, I have seen, are non-plug specific and they loose power when the light is turned off. Please do not use this outlet for anything other than a shaver as doing so could lead to a dire outcome.

[cruise_mojo]

the bathroom outlets are low current

 

if there is a hair dryer in the cabin you'd want to plug the other in usually at the vanity table

 

curling irons, are ok but if you bring a real iron then don't leave it out!

 

so you'd have to leave time for it to cool off before storing:eek:

[NanciRDH]

I used to travel with a power strip/surge protector, but it's been confiscated on my last few cruises. It was OK for 10 years, but apparently the rules changed.