Why didn't I think to pack that!

[travelbug11]

Do you pack the hand warmers in your checked luggage? I wouldn't want them to activate ahead of time.

 

D

 

The hand warmers cannot be activated until you remove them from their packaging and hold them to your skin. They will last up to 8 hrs.

[dorisis]

WOW!!! I've packed all that stuff and now can't find room for clothing.

[luvlake]

This thread is getting ready to disappear to old posts and I have the ultimate packing item. Make sure your PASSPORT is with your purse or wallet upon departing for your cruise! Also make sure it does not expire within 6 months of your cruise!!!

 

Have read many post of forgotten passports or expired passports and I cannot imagine the feeling of watching the ship sailing away without me!:eek:

Edited January 15, 2014 by luvlake

[misty57]

This thread is getting ready to disappear to old posts and I have the ultimate packing item. Make sure your PASSPORT is with your purse or wallet upon departing for your cruise! Also make sure it does not expire within 6 months of your cruise!!!

 

Have read many post of forgotten passports or expired passports and I cannot imagine the feeling of watching the ship sailing away without me!:eek:

 

I have had nightmares about that! I always keep ours in the same pocket of the same carry on. No last minute panics for me!

[ebedore]

I have had nightmares about that! I always keep ours in the same pocket of the same carry on. No last minute panics for me!

 

I have also had a nightmare that I forgot my passport. :eek:

[bea&DD]

i never forget my "over the door shoe organizer", the kind with the clear pouches to hold shoes.. i hang it inside the bathroom on the bathroom door.. the pouches hold everything.. toiletries, curling irons, makeup.. dollar bills for room service tips.. you name it..no bathroom counter clutter, and you can readily see everything at a glance. :)

 

How do you hang the "over the door shoe organizer"? I love this idea and tried it, but the hooks that came with the organizer do not fit on the door.

[Happy ks]

We don't travel often, but when we do we need the exact same things as always. I have a travel kit packed with those things at all times, all I need to do is to refill liquids from our large home bottles.

 

Different things work for everyone. The over the door holder was a waste of space for me. But, I do have 3 separate, small toiletry bags instead. One is the type that hangs, I put it on the towel rack in hotel or cruise ship bathroom. It's good for items only used in the bathroom. Another is just for makeup, I don't use the bathroom for makeup application, too steamy and hot, so I do that at the desk. The third is for hair stuff, again I don't do my hair in the bathroom. After trial and error, this works better than having to hunt and fetch from one room to another and takes up far less space in the suitcase than the OTTDSH.

 

Since I already have my bag packed and ready, the only item in recent years I have forgotten was my contact lens case for storage. I don't know why it wasn't there, it's always packed in my contact lens travel kit. What a hassle that was to replace, the ship that time had none.

 

I keep a permanent list and make a quick check through a couple weeks ahead. Some of the mentioned items in this thread I take, some I don't bother with.

 

A couple of the best items we have discovered that work for us is a tap light in the bathroom (hotel or cruise ship), leave it on at night for bathroom visits. No more bright lights in the middle of the night and no banging doors if the ocean is active. Another item is this:http://www.magellans.com/magellan-s-travel-tray

It keeps small items on the desk rather than scattered, unsnaps to lie flat in a suitcase, weighs nothing. It's large enough for keys, sunglasses, change, receipts, etc… We liked it so much I got my husband one in leather for home use.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Happy ks

[martovic]

I have posted this warning before but it warrants repeating. Depends on where you are travelling and through which security system. I learned my lesson in 2000 when on a flight home from Heathrow one of my pieces of luggage had been slashed open by security when looking for the source of the ticking!! Of course it was a dollar store travel alarm. The luggage arrived home a day later, basically destroyed, but I did get a new piece as a replacement as the original was not reparable. No travelling clocks for me anymore!

[Sherlock43031]

if you have the usual assortment of electronics you have to have something like this.

 

 

and of course the proper assortment of cables. chargers, etc.. I pack each charger/cable combo in a zip-lock and label them.

[crystalspin]

I bought this for last month's cruise! It was great and will be in our permanent "electronics" bag.

 

I took almost as much non-clothes stuff as clothes, and there are quite a few things I wouldn't take again, but of the things I didn't use but *would* take again, anywhere there might be rain and wet raincoats, are these specific over the door hooks:

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODcyWDEwMDA=/z/81sAAOxy63FSxhtx/$_57.GIF

 

The important thing is the narrow-ness of the over the door part: they gripped the thin doors of the closet perfectly and the depth (or length?) of the hook would hold a wet jacket away from the door to dry. Fortunately, we had no rain! On the cabin crawl I heard someone say: "Hey we don't have those in our room!"

 

ETA: You'll have to copy-n-paste the URL to your browser to see the pic.

 

Edited January 16, 2014 by crystalspin

[t60]

I have posted this warning before but it warrants repeating. Depends on where you are travelling and through which security system. I learned my lesson in 2000 when on a flight home from Heathrow one of my pieces of luggage had been slashed open by security when looking for the source of the ticking!! Of course it was a dollar store travel alarm. The luggage arrived home a day later, basically destroyed, but I did get a new piece as a replacement as the original was not reparable. No travelling clocks for me anymore!

 

We just take out the battery when clock is in the suitcase

 

Sandy in Spain

Edited January 16, 2014 by t60

[t60]

snip... but *would* take again, anywhere there might be rain and wet raincoats, are these specific over the door hooks:

 

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODcyWDEwMDA=/z/81sAAOxy63FSxhtx/$_57.GIF

 

The important thing is the narrow-ness of the over the door part: they gripped the thin doors of the closet perfectly and the depth (or length?) of the hook would hold a wet jacket away from the door to dry. Fortunately, we had no rain! On the cabin crawl I heard someone say: "Hey we don't have those in our room!" snip

 

I´ve never seen these mentioned before ... I had something similar to use at home, but there was not enough gap between the door frame and the top of the door for it to fit...we couldn´t close the door without some DIY

 

Sandy in Spain

[Afettster]

I just returned from my first cruise and I tried to pack light. The only things I wish I would have packed are binoculars, a clothes pin or two to hang wet clothes on the balcony to dry, a power strip, and a few large zip lock bags for last minute wet swimming suits. We did just fine without these things, but if you have the room in your luggage you might include them. Also, we spent an additional week in California and ended up needing to do laundry before getting on the ship. Those sample size packages of laundry detergent would have been way cheaper than what we bought from the hotel. Happy cruising everyone! I can't wait to do it again.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[crystalspin]

@ t60

 

I don't think they would have fit over the bathroom door -- too fat and too tight at the top, but they were perfect for the (thin, tall) closet door on the Norwegian Star.

 

Some ships (I've been looking at Princess floorplans) may not HAVE a door on the closet (!) -- Princess seems to arrange the closets open but angled as a sort of dressing room or entrance to the bathroom! But they also seem to have a longer hanging rail in most rooms as well. Even the insides on the Grand class rooms seem to have more hanging space than the Norwegian Star balconies, although we were fine on the Star.

[diamond forever]

had to buy one on the last 2 cruises.... with my cell phone in the safe I needed one

[mmgs5]

I just returned from my first cruise and I tried to pack light. The only things I wish I would have packed are binoculars, a clothes pin or two to hang wet clothes on the balcony to dry, a power strip, and a few large zip lock bags for last minute wet swimming suits. We did just fine without these things, but if you have the room in your luggage you might include them. Also, we spent an additional week in California and ended up needing to do laundry before getting on the ship. Those sample size packages of laundry detergent would have been way cheaper than what we bought from the hotel. Happy cruising everyone! I can't wait to do it again.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Great tips, thanks! I'm planning on the pins & power strip!

 

Sent from my KFAPWA using Forums mobile app

[Sunshine1023]

Thank you so much for this thread...going on my first cruise in 23 days and getting more excited/nervous by the second :) Some of these things I would have never thought of so it is very much appreciated

[luvlake]

I leave in three days and this is the latest I have ever packed for the trip. I think it is because I feel like I have lived out of a suit case off and on the last 6 months. I am really excited about the cruise but my mind is going "what, you are packing again"!!!

 

Hope this thread helps the new cruisers! If you are going to the Caribbean don't forget your hat, sunscreen and sun glasses!!:cool:

 

Happy Cruising!!!:)

Edited January 16, 2014 by luvlake

[mikewrit]

After having to repack three cases on the floor in front of the airline counter at JFK, we bought a luggage scale. Soon saved more than the cost in overweight charges, and it includes a clock and LED flashlight.

[NancyL2]

A small sewing kit...the kind that some upscale hotels give as an ammenity.

[cruz4evr]

We always take a couple bars of our favorite soap. :)

[t60]

A small sewing kit...the kind that some upscale hotels give as an ammenity.

 

If you needed some thread or a button, I would ask the room steward, I would imagine most cruise lines have a complementary sewking kit, they would give out.

 

Sandy in Spain

[screwsmcernst]

If you are going to the Caribbean these days, DON'T forget the insect repellant.

Edited January 17, 2014 by screwsmcernst

[cruisemom42]

"Why didn't I think to pack"....less ;).

 

+1

 

It's no wonder people say they have no room to pack formal clothes anymore! :eek:

 

I prefer to travel light. My suitcase is filled with....clothes. I don't need a gigantic coffee mug or over-the-door organizer or pop-up hamper or a fan or a pillow from home or door decorations or all of the other zillion things people bring on cruises, apparently.

 

I guess I am very adaptable. I don't need to have all the same things that I would have at home when I travel. (And since I travel solo, I cannot lug all that stuff anyway.)

 

My biggest space and weight taker used to be books. Since the advent of e-Readers, even that is no longer a big deal.

[Happy ks]

Everyone has their own packing style. My tried and true style is that I consider what I use at home prior to getting out the door every morning…and I take that, only in small travel sizes. If I can find sample sizes, all the better.

 

There are only a handful of "extra" things we take along, but over the years find we use these same items whether we go for a night or several weeks at a time.

 

Our first cruise, I read a forum similar to this and took to heart every suggestion made. We were so overpacked and by today's standards, suitcases overweight it was ridiculous. The worst part was that much of it went unused and eventually found its way to the trash or Goodwill bag. I wish someone had been the voice of reason on that forum and reeled it in. On some of these ultimate packing list threads I read here, there is so much encouragement to take so many crazy things. But you say anything negative and some will just attack you, silly.

 

I pack for 5 days, max. No matter how long we're going for. Clothes can be laundered or dry cleaned. You are not camping and much will be supplied, including storage space. Contrary to what some of the ladies think, it's not a fashion show and *gasp* no one on the ship will remember you had on the same _______ 3 days ago.

 

It's interesting when we disembark the ship and see the suitcases that many have. You'll see couples with 3 huge suitcases, plus a rolling carry on each, then tote bags on top of that. Reading these lists it's no wonder. We have learned that we just don't pack any more than what the 2 of us can handle by ourselves with no assistance.