Transpacific Crossing: Anything you wished you'd packed?

[PandaBear62]

While it's still awhile away, I am doing a 29 day cruise, Seattle to Alaska to Tokyo and then two weeks (basically) through Japan and Southeast Asia. I believe there are 9 consecutive sea days after leaving Alaska. 

 

Are there things you wished you'd packed? I don't necessarily mean clothing (although that's okay as well). I meant more "stuff" since you have over a week just at sea. Anything you brought and didn't need?

 

I keep a master packing list, but want think about what I may need for a longer trip and when there are many days I can't run to Target!

 

Any advice is appreciated!

[CDNPolar]

Good question.  Looking forward to answers as we do our first TA cruise in October with 6 consecutive sea days.

[oldandgraying]

I wish I had brought more of the heavy duty magnetic hooks (the cabin walls are magnetic). I brought a few but often wished I had brought more of them. More “athletic type” fabric clothing because it dries faster than cotton as we washed clothes in the sink a couple of times. The cotton shirts and underwear took a day to dry and the other type dried in a couple of hours. If you get seasick easily, bring your anti-nausea prescription. We had smooth seas, but you never know!  Enjoy your trip! 

Edited June 29 by oldandgraying

[KKB]

14 hours ago, PandaBear62 said:

While it's still awhile away, I am doing a 29 day cruise, Seattle to Alaska to Tokyo and then two weeks (basically) through Japan and Southeast Asia. I believe there are 9 consecutive sea days after leaving Alaska. 

 

Are there things you wished you'd packed? I don't necessarily mean clothing (although that's okay as well). I meant more "stuff" since you have over a week just at sea. Anything you brought and didn't need?

 

I keep a master packing list, but want think about what I may need for a longer trip and when there are many days I can't run to Target!

 

Any advice is appreciated!

 

7 minutes ago, oldandgraying said:

I wish I had brought more of the heavy duty magnetic hooks (the cabin walls are magnetic). I brought a few but often wished I had brought more of them. More “athletic type” fabric clothing because it dries faster than cotton as we washed clothes in the sink a couple of times. The cotton shirts and underwear took a day to dry and the other type dried in a couple of hours. If you get seasick easily, bring your anti-nausea prescription. We had smooth seas, but you never know!  Enjoy your trip! 

Just did a TA in April--28 days total w/ UK.

Excellent advice from @oldandgraying.

1st time we actually used the hooks--they are quite heavy, so I always felt they weren't worth taking up precious weight in a suitcase. Did use them...tho, honestly, wasn't a deal breaker.

 

I agree with clothes that dry easily--especially if you are handwashing. 
Princess has a laundry room, so we bought Arm & Hammer laundry sheets plus brought dryer sheets--light, took up no room & helped keep suitcases fresh!

 

And ALWAYS have seasick meds on hand. They were used a couple days.

 

I do recommend asking doc for Tamiflu &/or antibiotics.

I always bring a COVID kit with cold meds/lozenges/boullion cubes. 

I battled bronchitis the month before we left so took a LOT of lozenges--still wasn't enough. And we didn't love the ones we found in the UK.

 

If there are any snacks you enjoy at home, bring them. You will appreciate a fav that you cannot get onboard.

 

Have a great time!

[Ray4Fun]

We take an over the Door Hanging Shoe Organizer. Hang off the bathroom door. Pockets for so much more than just shoes. 

[WisRiver]

We forgot to bring enough reef-safe sun screen.  https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html. The ship's store had one small tube, and no replacements.  The reef-safe sun screen was hard to find in French Polynesia (in tourist shops) and New Caledonia.  Had to wait to get to Australia to get a resupply.

[bedfordmom]

On my last TA wished I had taken a small cuddly blanket for afternoon naps or rests so wouldn’t mess up the bed. If I had done so I would have taken an old one ( or an airline blanket)  and simply left it at the end of the cruise. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

25 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

On my last TA wished I had taken a small cuddly blanket for afternoon naps or rests so wouldn’t mess up the bed. If I had done so I would have taken an old one ( or an airline blanket)  and simply left it at the end of the cruise. 

Why not ask the steward for a blanket ? 

[bedfordmom]

On 8/22/2024 at 9:40 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Why not ask the steward for a blanket ? 

I like small soft blankets

[jlawrence01]

On 6/28/2024 at 2:59 PM, PandaBear62 said:

While it's still awhile away, I am doing a 29 day cruise, Seattle to Alaska to Tokyo and then two weeks (basically) through Japan and Southeast Asia. I believe there are 9 consecutive sea days after leaving Alaska. 

 

Any advice is appreciated!

 

I am heading on the  29 day Seattle-Japan- Singapore cruise on the Discovery Princess.

 

What we are planning to do is to ship MOST of our "cold weather" clothes home when we reach the postal station in Whittier, AK.  After we complete the cold weather portion of the trip, we are planning to spend several weeks in Singapore and the Philippines and I will not need a lot of warm clothing.

 

In hindsight, it would have been a lot cheaper (and easier)  to take the LA - Hawaii - Sydney transpacific on Carnival and fly into Singapore.

[FlaMariner]

On 6/28/2024 at 5:59 PM, PandaBear62 said:

Are there things you wished you'd packed?

 

We did a TP last year....

 

We followed the Aleutian Islands and it was chilly after Juneau (early October).....You will need at least the windbreaker/lite jacket

 

Also, more books.....we are paper book people and I should have gone by the used bookstore and added two more Grisholm novels.

 

We only travel with a carry on roller bag and backpack each....So we are not into carrying lots of stuff...less is more.

 

Enjoy the TP....we enjoyed the sea days, crossing the international date line and arriving in Japan rested and ready to roll.....