Packing mistakes

[crusinpsychRN]

My kids cruised with me before college. My son and I had gone on one and a year later another. 2 weeks before the 2nd cruise I nagged him about getting his clothes ready. "Yeah, yeah! I know!" Cruise day he put his clothes in the suitcase and off we go. The first night he put on his long pants for the MDR--they were 3 inches too short! The waist was too big and he forgot a belt. He wanted to wear a new pair of jeans but in those days I wouldn't let him. We had to get a bit creative.

 

He'd grown so much taller and his weight had stayed close to the same. He'd never tried on those things before we left.

 

On the way to dinner every 5th person was in jeans including 2 guys in overalls (!) so he wore those the rest of the trip.

[queenschick9b]

:DLOL I paid $6.00 for small bottle of nail polish remover on Grand Cayman

 

I bring those nail polish wipes. They don't work that well and you have to use multiple, but I'm not scared it is going to open and ruin my clothing..

[Breezy72]

My kids cruised with me before college. My son and I had gone on one and a year later another. 2 weeks before the 2nd cruise I nagged him about getting his clothes ready. "Yeah, yeah! I know!" Cruise day he put his clothes in the suitcase and off we go. The first night he put on his long pants for the MDR--they were 3 inches too short! The waist was too big and he forgot a belt. He wanted to wear a new pair of jeans but in those days I wouldn't let him. We had to get a bit creative.

 

He'd grown so much taller and his weight had stayed close to the same. He'd never tried on those things before we left.

 

On the way to dinner every 5th person was in jeans including 2 guys in overalls (!) so he wore those the rest of the trip.

 

hahahahaha.... I was just on the phone with DH (works out of country) and reiterating the importance of him packing his own clothes.... and TRYING THEM ON before we leave! I had the same scenario running through my head, but it's more along the lines of his waistband being tighter, hence, making the slacks shorter! :p

[oldrailfan]

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned these, I'm not going to try reading 11+ pages of responses, but...

 

Your favorite headache remedy, be it Tylenol, aspirin or one of the other NSAIDs; Bonine or Dramamine of you're subject to motion sickness; Tums and/or one of the acid-pump inhibitors such as Zantac... all of these are outrageous in the ship's store if you can find them.

 

Don't forget to bring your various maintenance medications. (In their original prescription containers for Customs purposes, especially if they're controlled substances)

 

Ones and Fives for tipping.

[LibratPDX]

I have so many lotions and cream for face AND body that I don't even count them. On my last cruise, I had probably half a dozen facial creams & serums (travel sized of course!) but somehow forgot body lotion........'doh!

[BK512]

For our last cruise, I went to the dollar store and bought a small collapsible storage bin, cloth with a removable bottom, that folds flat. I used it to store a lot of our little incidentals--deck of cards, phone charger, camera charger, post its and pens, unneeded OTC drugs--on a shelf in the closet.

 

I also bought a small organizer bag, similar to a shoe bag, that went on the hook of the bathroom door. It only had five or six pockets, and we put our toiletries in that.

 

I left the organizer bag in the cabin when we left the ship, but I did remember to bring home the small storage bin, so that will be packed for my next cruise in April.

 

I'll be bringing OTC meds for sure, as I had to miss Belize entirely due to a cold on our last trip.

 

And finally, I bring a string backpack for port excursions. Room for a wallet and beach towel, camera, etc.

[cruiseonthebrain]

This is the stuff of pre cruise nightmares! And the guy with no underwear! Yikes!:eek:

 

 

We had to buy the UW onboard- and trust me they were not the ones he would have preferred :-) The kicker is we had ten bags packed (long long story) and I still forgot his UW for a second cruise in a row. He says he's packing himself next time:-)

[shellsd]

These are great tips, and I live by the boy scout motto - be prepared! My husband always grumbles at my packing lists! Anyway, I am driving so planes are not a concern. Has anyone used a rubbermaid bin for all this misc stuff and do you think it would get delivered to the room OK? I can get it to port on a luggage trolley without much hassle but wasn't sure if it would make it to the cabin ok?

[SadieN]

These are great tips, and I live by the boy scout motto - be prepared! My husband always grumbles at my packing lists! Anyway, I am driving so planes are not a concern. Has anyone used a rubbermaid bin for all this misc stuff and do you think it would get delivered to the room OK? I can get it to port on a luggage trolley without much hassle but wasn't sure if it would make it to the cabin ok?

 

It would depend on the type of bin. The luggage gets stacked on top of each other.

I have seen pax come with their stuff in clear office bins (into the VIP lounge). Didn't have the chutzpah to ask what happened to their luggage.

 

This could be the new steamer trunk but it would be hard to store in the cabin-

It's a Stanley Mobile Storage. (I don't have any concern with the company.)

[cc5649]

We have hosted scrapbooking cruises and had totes delivered to our room without any problems. Just had to tape the luggage tag on it.

[skoeper]

After making friends on one cruise who had lost luggage (which took 4 days to get to the ship!), we now pack half & half. That means - each suitcase has half DH and half my stuff. We also try to divide evening wear and day wear evenly between the suitcases. That way, if one suitcase is missing, we still have something to wear for day or night, even if we have to wear it twice.

 

All the really important stuff like cameras and meds go in our carryons. We also pack old pairs of prescription glasses. If you wear hearing aids, it's nice to have old ones as back ups.

[cruiseonthebrain]

After making friends on one cruise who had lost luggage (which took 4 days to get to the ship!), we now pack half & half. That means - each suitcase has half DH and half my stuff. We also try to divide evening wear and day wear evenly between the suitcases. That way, if one suitcase is missing, we still have something to wear for day or night, even if we have to wear it twice.

 

All the really important stuff like cameras and meds go in our carryons. We also pack old pairs of prescription glasses. If you wear hearing aids, it's nice to have old ones as back ups.

 

 

These are great tips!!!!

[Jasonmom]

Birth control. Nine months later little Destiny arrived at the pier.

 

 

I'm going to finish reading this thread, but had to comment here. This is great and wondering if it's true? My Aunt & Uncle came home from trip to Disney World with same advice (only they named her Alexandra).

[Breezy72]

nail clippers. I can't tell you how many times that I have had a toe bleeding from wearing sneakers (used to flip flops in summer) and have a toenail cutting into my toe! So much for pretty manicured toenails, but comfort comes first on a busy walking day!

[Jasonmom]

Thanks for all the advise. I'd like to give one thing to do in the instant something is lost or forgotten. My new thing learned this last year.

 

Scan all important information (ie. passport, drivers licence, confirmation #s, ect.) and then E-mail it to yourself. Keep it in quick to get to place in E-mail. That way if lost / forgotten, you can get on-line and look information up.

 

:D

[JaniceB]

Love this scanning tip. I always leave backups at home but this way we can get to them fast if we need a copy. Thanks!

 

Love the picture of the tote on wheels!

[Mizzouaholic]

#1 packing mistake= packing to much!(mainly shoe). Just ask my wife!

[terri910]

Thanks for all the advise. I'd like to give one thing to do in the instant something is lost or forgotten. My new thing learned this last year.

 

Scan all important information (ie. passport' date=' drivers licence, confirmation #s, ect.) and then E-mail it to yourself. Keep it in quick to get to place in E-mail. That way if lost / forgotten, you can get on-line and look information up.

 

:D[/quote']

Yes.....I create a separate folder for the cruise (like "Med Cruise 2007) and everything that has to do with that cruise gets scanned (unless it is a word or excel document that doesn't need to be scanned) and sent to my email and then that email transferred to that folder. Whenever we need to find some info about the cruise, it's there.

 

That, and a small power strip have been the best tips we've heard and utilized!

[Disney180]

I was just on Carnival's site and this is what they said about power strips:

 

• Electrical devices such as fans, power strips, multi plug box outlets/adaptors, and extension cords will be removed if determined to pose a hazard and returned the last day of the cruise prior to debark.

 

 

I need to bring a power strip and extension cord because my mom is on a cpap machine.

 

Last summer we were on a cruise with friends and the husband has sleep apnea and ask for a power cord from our steward and got one right away. So I am sure one could be provided for your mom. :)

[Gazelle2]

Great thread. I read every post to make sure that I did not repeat things that other folks recommended. In the process, I learned a lot and added several items to my pre-cruise checklist.

 

The items I was going to suggest have already been mentioned and include:

 

1) Bag clips for holding drapes together for afternoon naps.

2) Small LED flashlight for the bedside table.

3) Spare eyeglasses and sunglasses.

 

Please excuse me, now. I have to go add some more items to my checklist.

[JaniceB]

....and I have to finish packing!

[ncshp955]

So many great replies and so little room to pack it all. I have already gone out and gotten a few of the items and have started a cruise box. It might end up being a cruise crate before it is over with. Thanks for all who have posted their ideas.

[PomSaysOm]

There are a lot of great ideas on here that I hadn't thought of. On my first cruise, I took a shoe bag for the bathroom door and it was a lifesaver, since there were two girls in the room and all our hair and beauty products weren't just overflowing everywhere. I don't remember if we took a power strip or not, but probably since we had a blow dryer, a hair straightener, cameras to charge, laptop, and iPod charger.

I love the idea for the folder wroth cardboard to keep pictures or other paper mementos from wrinkling.

I'm going to try not to over pack clothes this time.... I'm at least not taking five formal gowns, that's for sure. :D

[cruzfiend]

Batteries.

[davids68girl]

As an aside - one thing I ALWAYS do is type out my name, address, ship and stateroom and take a photo of it. If you found a camera what are you going to do... turn it on and look at the photos! Hopefully someone would return the camera or minimally mail the memory card back to you.

 

This is what I was going to suggest also. That way if someone finds it they can get it back to you.