Ultimate Packing List for the Newbies....

[spunks]

The laundry rooms on Princess are very nice....several washers/dryers on each floor on the larger ships......I think the washer is 1.00 or 1.25 each.....the dryer is about the same depending on how dry you want your clothes.....there are dispensers for soap, etc......but, you can bring your own..... laundry sheets are very convenient with soap and softner built in and take up very little room in your suitcase......Annie

[PrincessMelody]

Thanks for all 23 pages of tips! To cut down on packing, I plan to use the laundromat on the 12-day Princess cruise I've booked for May, 2012. Does anyone have experience with doing laundry on board? Are there many machines/are they likely to be available? How much per load, etc.? Thanks in advance.

 

We've used the laundry rooms on our last few cruises, and the washers and dryers are $1.00, and there are vending machines that have detergent and fabric softeners...although we brought a ziplock bag with a few of the Purex all in one sheets that have the detergent and softener built in. We used the laundry on several occasions, and we were always the only ones in there.

[CraftyEC]

We've used the laundry rooms on our last few cruises, and the washers and dryers are $1.00, and there are vending machines that have detergent and fabric softeners...although we brought a ziplock bag with a few of the Purex all in one sheets that have the detergent and softener built in. We used the laundry on several occasions, and we were always the only ones in there.

We had two rooms right across from a laundry room on the Emerald Princess, which was very convenient, but could sometimes get a bit noisy! The laundry was generally in use during the full opening hours and for some reason the early birds were the noisiest - the room got very hot with the dryers and a queue of people, so folks used to wedge the door open (or just stand in it if there was a line) and a few inconsiderate ones used to be quite loud. I still think the convenience (travelling with teens so more laundry) of the location was higher than the inconvenience of the occasional noise.

 

Just be sure to be back in time to empty your machine at busy times. If I was waiting to use a washer (or dryer) which was finished and there was a line waiting I would take out the clothes and 'roughly' fold them, but some folks are not so considerate, so you could find your dried (and therefore almost ironed IYKWIM!) clothes scrunched up in a pile.

[cupofcathay]

Thanks very much for these speedy replies! Will take laundry sheets and be ready to grab clothes when cycles are done. Do the machines say how long they take? We also have a cabin fairly near the laundry room and I considered the noise but felt the convenience would be worth it. We'll be either out of the cabin or on the balcony when not off the ship, so I'm hoping it will be fine.

 

Again, I love how responsive those "who have gone before" are! I've been on many Yangtze cruises but they can't compare with a 3,000-passenger ship for four times as long. My best to you all, Jean

[Janet Foster]

Thanks very much for these speedy replies! Will take laundry sheets and be ready to grab clothes when cycles are done. Do the machines say how long they take? We also have a cabin fairly near the laundry room and I considered the noise but felt the convenience would be worth it. We'll be either out of the cabin or on the balcony when not off the ship, so I'm hoping it will be fine.

 

Again, I love how responsive those "who have gone before" are! I've been on many Yangtze cruises but they can't compare with a 3,000-passenger ship for four times as long. My best to you all, Jean

There is a sign in the laudry room that tells you exactly how many minutes it takes per wash and per dry which is on the dot! So I take my cellphone and use it as timer. Be sure to take lots of quarters. I took about two rolls. There is always someone needing change when you are in there and I am always glad to help!

 

You will be fine as far as the noise level goes!

[CraftyEC]

You can get quarters from a change machine or the Purser's Office (oops, showing my age there - Customer Services or whatever) as some of us on t'other side of the pond have difficulty getting our hands on rolls of quarters!

[Denese96]

Just wondering, the folk who pack all this stuff, how long are you going away for?

 

The weekend...of course! Lol

 

I am a recovering over-packer. I had a relapse on my three day to an indoor water park. :)

 

I love to see what people bring. Truly I have used things I never knew or thought I needed.

 

The airlines stop some of the over packing.

 

I am glad everyone on both sides of the packing issue are being entertained and informed.

 

My thanks to all the contributors and the thread starters.

 

I am going to finish my Amazon order for the Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB suggested by another poster!

[Janet Foster]

The weekend...of course! Lol

 

I am a recovering over-packer. I had a relapse on my three day to an indoor water park. :)

 

I love to see what people bring. Truly I have used things I never knew or thought I needed.

 

The airlines stop some of the over packing.

 

I am glad everyone on both sides of the packing issue are being entertained and informed.

 

My thanks to all the contributors and the thread starters.

 

I am going to finish my Amazon order for the Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB suggested by another poster!

Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB

 

One of my favorite items. I take it when we go on week trips as well.

 

Have fun!

[karid08]

First of all, thanks alot to all the people who have taken the time to write down these amazing lists!

Whenever we travel I always try to bring with me anything I think we might need, because I hate being caught unprepared or having to run to the store to buy something. That's just me though.

We are sailing next week on our first cruise (can't wait! :D) and I've been wondering about this for a while. We're going to the western caribbean and the day we're at Cozumel we're planning to go to a park. It's not an all inclusive and it's not an RCCL offshore excursion. Since the park has a beach, we'll need towels, but I haven't seen towels on the packing lists.

Are you allowed to take the towels off the ship, or are you supposed to bring you own from home for these cases?

Thanks so much for your help!

[Janet Foster]

First of all, thanks alot to all the people who have taken the time to write down these amazing lists!

Whenever we travel I always try to bring with me anything I think we might need, because I hate being caught unprepared or having to run to the store to buy something. That's just me though.

We are sailing next week on our first cruise (can't wait! :D) and I've been wondering about this for a while. We're going to the western caribbean and the day we're at Cozumel we're planning to go to a park. It's not an all inclusive and it's not an RCCL offshore excursion. Since the park has a beach, we'll need towels, but I haven't seen towels on the packing lists.

Are you allowed to take the towels off the ship, or are you supposed to bring you own from home for these cases?

Thanks so much for your help!

The ship has beach towels for you. You are allowed to take them off ship. Bring a small container of baby powder, it helps get the sand off if you are going to the beach!! Have fun!

[scapel]

First of all, thanks alot to all the people who have taken the time to write down these amazing lists!

Whenever we travel I always try to bring with me anything I think we might need, because I hate being caught unprepared or having to run to the store to buy something. That's just me though.

We are sailing next week on our first cruise (can't wait! :D) and I've been wondering about this for a while. We're going to the western caribbean and the day we're at Cozumel we're planning to go to a park. It's not an all inclusive and it's not an RCCL offshore excursion. Since the park has a beach, we'll need towels, but I haven't seen towels on the packing lists.

Are you allowed to take the towels off the ship, or are you supposed to bring you own from home for these cases?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Go to the “address bar” in your browser and type “cruisediva” without the quotes. Hold down the “CTRL” key and hit “ENTER”. Then click the “Articles & Advice” drop down menu and click on “Hints for New Cruisers”.

 

Also on Cruise Critic at http://www.cruisecritic.com/ftc/

Edited August 17, 2011 by scapel

[trendy cruiser]

Thanks for all this great information in this thread.

I'm a first time cruiser and I'm going to be glad I didn't leave some of this stuff home.

I'm sure we will be needing some tums sometime along the criuse

 

trendy

[karid08]

Thank you so much for your help! I'm so excited and looking forward to our trip! 5 days to go!!! Oh, I was just wondering, how do you take your suits onboard? We don't have one of those garment luggage pieces. I have DH's suit in the bag we got from the store and that's it. So do you take it onboard as a carry on and carry it until you're allowed in the cabin? Seems like newsense to me but can't think of anything else! I definilely don't want to pack it since there are no irons onboard!

Thanks again for your help!

[margaretevanescence]

Very helpful thread...thanks :)

[scapel]

Thank you so much for your help! I'm so excited and looking forward to our trip! 5 days to go!!! Oh, I was just wondering, how do you take your suits onboard? We don't have one of those garment luggage pieces. I have DH's suit in the bag we got from the store and that's it. So do you take it onboard as a carry on and carry it until you're allowed in the cabin? Seems like newsense to me but can't think of anything else! I definilely don't want to pack it since there are no irons onboard!

Thanks again for your help!

 

I just pack mine with the celephone around it and fold it as best I can. Take it out on board. If it is wrinkled too much to wear have the ship press it.

[citrusflorida]

Thank you !

[jt_83]

Every thread I read pretty much says "less is more" when it comes to packing, and then I read this one. There's no way in hell you could take all of that stuff on an airplane unless you're flying first class or really love paying baggage fees.

[Janet Foster]

SWA = no baggage fees...

[lizuhd]

We just returned from our 6 night cruise on the Conquest through Carnival. We are a family of 4 with kids ages 3 and 5. We stayed in the most economical inside stateroom (i.e. the smallest), so space was at a premium. We used Janet's list, combined with MICHLEV1974's list. So glad I read this before I left. I wouldn't have thought of any of these! Thanks to you both.

 

Ø Zip-lock bags - This was a must for us as we packed lunches for our excursions, packed wet bathing suits, etc. We brought both Gallon and Quart sizes.

Ø Clothes Pins - Did not bring but wish I would have brought to help hang more swim suits on the clothesline.

Ø Power Strip – not many outlets in the room. Also a must for us, we just had ONE outlet near the vanity. We plugged in our phones,which doubled as alarm clocks and flashlights for us, my tablet, and camera chargers.

Ø Extension Cord - Brought it but didn't need it.

Ø Alarm Clock – Some people just use their cell phones. That's what we did.

Ø Night Light – Cabin is dark, if you don’t use your cell phone for light then bring one. We brought one and used it.

Ø Bathroom Spray – Didn't bring it but wished we had.:rolleyes:

Ø Landyards – these are those things you wear around your neck and attach your Sea Pass card to it. Front desk will hole punch your card or bring your own hole puncher. We went to the casino and they punched holes and provided us with those springy landyard thingies. Worked perfectly. They couldn't provide them for the kids but our kids didn't need it anyway.

Ø Bar Soap – I like to bring my own instead of using the small bars they give. Didn't bring. They had plenty of samples of body wash, ladies razors, lotion, etc.

Ø Portable Ipod Speakers- so you can enjoy your downloaded Caribbean music as you sail. Didn't bring.

Ø Motion Sickness Medicine – if you think you need it, some you need a written RX. Brought this and Sea Bands and did not use. Highly recommend still though.

Ø Prescriptions and Medicine – the over the counter, Tums, Imodium, Pepto Bismol, aspirin. Brought this as well.

Ø Sudafed, tooth ache gel, band-aids, mole skin, aloe vera lotion for sunburns. Only brought band-aids (did not use) and Aloe Vera gel which my husband did use.

Ø Cell Phone charger – you will need to charge up before we get home! Yes.

Ø Extra Camera Memory Card - Last thing you want to do is run out of memory!!! Yes!

Ø Extra camera batteries or rechargeable batteries and charger. Yes!

Ø Small roll of duct tape – many uses. One is we tape our luggage tags on our cases of water, soda or whatever else we bring that we buy at the store before we go to port. Duct tape has many uses. Did not bring and was fortunate enough to not need.

Ø Small spray bottle.. use this up by the pool to spray myself when it is hot. Did not bring nor felt it was needed.

Ø Walkie Talkies- Did not bring but could def see it be useful. When we used the Kids Club, they provided us with a cell phone and we used it for our personal use a few times (trying to locate each other). Will def consider walkie talkies for next cruise.

Ø Binoculars – Did not bring nor need.

Ø Rum Runners – Did not bring nor need. We're not big drinkers.

Ø Hand sanitizers – small kind to put in pocket purse or clip on landyards. Brought this.

Ø Sports Bottles – We use these at the pool and around the ship for “special drinks” We did bring these and filled them up with ice and water prior to going to our excursions. Highly recommend.

Ø Snack Items We have cocktail parties in our cabins with our friends so we munch on snack or salty items. We buy these at the store before we go to the port. We brought cereal bars and sandwich crackers for the kids, power bars and Fiber One bars for the adults.

o Plastic Glasses as the ones in the cabin are too small. Did not bring. The glasses in the rest room were small but the water glasses in our cabin were full size.

o Powdered Crystal Light – for our bottled water. Did not bring.

Ø Small Rolling Ice Chest – Did not bring. However, next time I do plan on bringing one of those small insulated lunch bags that can hold at least 4 sandwiches for the excursions.

Ø Suitcase Scale – We bring one of those luggage weight scales to we can make sure we are within our weight limits as we fly. Did not bring as we didn't fly.

 

We also brought the shoe thingy which was a godsend and we filled up all the pockets. We also brought floaties for the kids and were so glad we did. The highlighter was a wonderful idea as well as a couple of pens. We also brought and used the post-its.

 

We were able to fit everything in 2 medium sized suitcases, 2 carryon suitcases, and one manly backpack with plenty of pockets. There was plenty of room to store everything under the bed. I would probably bring less clothes next time!

 

Thanks again to all for compiling these lists. They were definitely useful for our family!

 

Elizabeth

[scapel]

Elizabeth,

Thanks you very much for posting this. It is a great reminder. I carried duct tape for years and only used once, but it was an emergency and I couldn't have done without it to repair a bag on an Antarctcic trip.

[Happy ks]

SWA = no baggage fees...

 

Not entirely true. First 2 bags no fee, 3rd or more bag $50 each. Bags weighing over 50 lbs. have a $50 charge, that's $15 more than some other airlines overweight fees. This is on the SWA online site.

 

A couple months back I read an article regarding baggage fees collected. SWA collects fees just like other airlines.

 

I just think accurate information is important, no surprises for people showing up with heavy bags or more than the allowed no charge bags.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Happy ks

[juliawinston]

 

 

When everything's assembled, spend an hour doing a try-on of each outfit to MAKE SURE that everything's in good repair, still fits well, and is complete -- this also assures you that you won't reach the port without socks or a slip. If you need to buy something, WRITE IT DOWN.

 

This is such a great suggestion, thank you!

 

And that you to the OP for sharing your list, and to others who shared their feedback and _their_ lists. I really enjoy reading everyone's thoughts/suggestions. :)

[Blueboss]

My DS gave me a list for our first cruise and I followed it. I was overpacked, but we drove to the port, so no big deal. Our next cruise will involve a flight and I'm cutting down on EVERYTHING! I found a diaper bag that has enough outside pockets to carry my travel documents and leave the inside for a change of clothes and my camera gear. My "must have" is Downey Wrinkle Release! That stuff works great! I use a Gal. zip lock bag for my hardware, small zip ties, miniature flashlight, extra lighters, 3 outlet plug adapter and sewing kit. I use a hanging personal care bag for both of us. Mine is military issue and ugly as sin, but works great. Repackage anything you can. Benedryl pills, I take out of the box, cut the dosage instructions from the package and now have a flatter way to pack them. Most OTC meds have the name of the product on the foil backing so you won't be trying to remember what each pill looks like. Any 'pop up' wipes, buy travel size or take a few out and put in small zip lock bag. I usually use plastic hangers at home, but pack the metal dry cleaner hangers for a cruise. More hangers in the same space as the plastic ones and clothes pins work better on them. They also don't break if luggage handlers get rough. We also pack thermal mugs so we aren't making as many trips to the coffee machine. A back pack with water bottle is great for port days.

[summerbabies]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful lists and great tips!!! This will be my first cruise, and your lists and comments are wonderful!! I definitely would NOT have known to bring an extension cord or a night light, among other things.

 

I've already started assembling our cruise stuff in the guest room. I bought the Britax bottles with the filter for water, and I'll pack two of our plastic Starbucks mugs for coffee. SO grateful for all the tips! I'm pretty good at planning clothes, but all the other stuff...whew.

[PJG061073]

Great list(s) we combined them and scaled down to what meets our needs..

 

Again Thank you..