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Ultimate Packing List for the Newbies....

Janet Foster

By Janet Foster,
in First Time Cruisers

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tbbtravels

tbbtravels

Posted
Posted (edited)

Nice list michlev1974 and jane foster.

Thanks for the cruise diva .com info. I already did some of that. I believe in double duty clothes as well. Got me down to 2 suitcases. The splitting up of clothes is a great tip. Read where someone saw a forklift hit a metal cage of luggage and it went into the port water. Ouch, some people were def missing clothes.

Edited by tbbtravels
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  • 4 weeks later...
bmorecat

bmorecat

Posted
Posted (edited)

So I think we're about 30 days out from our first cruise!. I'm really over excited about it. So far this is our packing list (for both my husband and I), subject to change:

 

(we live ten minutes from the port in Baltimore, so no plane)

 

Clothes and shoes (not including a blow by blow, as we all kind of know we need clothes, we are prepared to do laundry if we have to)

Slippers for him

Shampoo, conditioner, body wash

Make up, perfume, lotion

A vat of sunscreen (I burn so much)

Deodorant

Tooth brushes, tooth paste

Personal meds incl motion sickness meds, ibuprofen and tums, chub rub cream

Carry on bag that can double as a beach bag

Disposable cameras for excursions

Camera w/ battery charger

Power strip (I've seen people get flack over this but my husband likes to travel with his 3DS, and I like to travel with my kindle, and my fitbit. Add to that the battery charger for my camera and I'll feel better bringing it)

A small fan (another one I see people get flack for. :) I'm bringing a fan because I really need air movement to sleep, and if the room gets warm I won't be able to sleep)

Anniversary gifts (small, both will fit in carry on)

1 bottle wine each

Pop up hamper

$1 bills for tips

Lanyards (we work conventions so we have a bunch)

All of our paperwork (govt IDs etc)

Crystal light for water. :)

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting small things but they sort of fit into what I've already described.

Edited by bmorecat
typos
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rj2k21

rj2k21

Posted
Posted

Don't forget to bring Extra eye Glasses or Contacts.

 

My glasses broke on the lastnight of our cruise I was so upset had a hard time seeing the shows. People were looking at me crazy from the way i had to rig them up to be able to see.

 

Bring 2 pair and extra Contact. You never know.

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LynnTTT

LynnTTT

Posted
Posted

Pop-up laundry hamper???? No- throw your dirty clothes into a corner of the closet.

Hair conditioner works fine as shaving cream

Never had my umbrella with me when I actually needed it

Ditto with binoculars, but I still take them

Take extra batteries for camera as well as storage thingies

Simplify your make-up and skin care- you don't need everything you have at home. Do without a night creme, just take a few lipsticks.

Bring a few insect repellent pads, rather than a whole bottle

Purex makes detergent sheets. A 1/3 sheet does a small sinkful of clothes

Take a lanyard and use it for your cruise card. Pop those sunglasses on top your head and have a good time.

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cruzilove

cruzilove

Posted
Posted

The best advice i can give about packing for a cruise........simplify.......don't get bogged down with packing all kinds of nonsense.....and remember, if you don't have it....and you really really really need it......you can always get it....:):):):D

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rene194215

rene194215

Posted
Posted
Pillows - First time cruiser on carnival. What's your experience with pillows? Do people take their own? Pretty attached to mine and thinking about taking it.

 

I have a small pillow that I put on top of my normal pillow. Im going to be 34 tomorrow and I cannot sleep without it :p But I find that the pillows are better then those at home. I actually want to buy some bedding from Carnival.

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Matman83

Matman83

Posted
Posted
Pop-up laundry hamper???? No- throw your dirty clothes into a corner of the closet.

Hair conditioner works fine as shaving cream

Never had my umbrella with me when I actually needed it

Ditto with binoculars, but I still take them

Take extra batteries for camera as well as storage thingies

Simplify your make-up and skin care- you don't need everything you have at home. Do without a night creme, just take a few lipsticks.

Bring a few insect repellent pads, rather than a whole bottle

Purex makes detergent sheets. A 1/3 sheet does a small sinkful of clothes

Take a lanyard and use it for your cruise card. Pop those sunglasses on top your head and have a good time.

 

I love your thinking LynnTTT!

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CWRob

CWRob

Posted
Posted

I haven't read all 67 pages, but I find that a few business/personal cards are handy to pass to a new acqainance with which you may want to keep in touch. Space in luggage almost nil!

 

Sent from my SM-T310 using Forums mobile app

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  • 2 weeks later...
websiteauthor

websiteauthor

Posted
Posted

Just got back from our cruise - many of the items recommended on this thread were very helpful! Some of those include:

 

Belkin plug adapter - used it all the time to charge Iphones, Ipods, Ipads, Kindles and camera batteries.

 

waterproof lanyard case - I put cash and our cards in this lanyard and it worked perfectly, even when we were wandering around in the water.

 

Waterproof camera bag - I took my NON waterproof camera out to Stingray City, but kept it, my Iphone and cash in the waterproof bag I purchased thru Amazon. At times the bag was literally laying in the water but everything inside stayed nice and dry. This was my most speculative purchase and it turned out to be a good one.

 

Swim shirts - I found some swim shirts on Amazon that offered sunscreen protection, and they also did the job. I am very sensitive to sunlight and the shirts blocked everything out.

 

Crocs - Love 'em or hate 'em, they worked very well for excursions and walking around the ship. Some of the deck areas WERE slick and the crocs helped a lot.

 

Highlighter - great idea, very helpful

 

Business cards - had them made for free thru vista print and handed several out over the cruise. I have plenty left for the next cruise as well.

 

I took a lot of things we didn't end up using - clothes pins, for example - so I'll be able to streamline my packing for the next trip.

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websiteauthor

websiteauthor

Posted
Posted
The waterproof bag you bought on Amazon - which one was it? Very good idea thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

The bag is the OverBoard Waterproof Pro-Sport Roll-Top SLR Camera Bag, Grey/Black, 15-Liter I bought it, planning to sell it on ebay after the trip. It worked so well I'm not going to sell it!

 

Here's a picture of me at Stingray City. You can see the bag on my back, partially submerged. I was there for an hour and everything stayed dry on the inside.

 

camera-bag.jpg

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jammen

jammen

Posted
Posted
I was asked to share a list, so here is my list.

 

Besides the list and talking about my list below, I have also attached a file that you can print and save to help you.

 

It is never too early to start gathering things up. I have started with a few things and just add to it as time goes by. Besides the obvious clothing items here are a few things I just can’t leave home without.

 

First, we have a clear over the door shoe organizer. I say clear because you would want to be able to see inside each of the pockets. This we would hang on the back of the bathroom door and place all of your little items in it to keep your counters free of clutter. This idea was passed down to me from another fellow cruiser so I don’t take the credit for it but I certainly think it is a great idea. I got mine online from Finger Hut.

 

http://www.fingerhut.com/ProductGroup.aspx?offergroupxid=92929&cmCategoryID =search

 

One of the first things we do when we get in the cabin is wipe down all the door knobs, handles, phone and remote control with those Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. If you think about it, but the time you get in your cabin, another couple or family has been living in it for a week and has touched everything. The cabin has been cleaned but who knows if they wipe every little thing down. This is for my own piece of mind. So I would add that to your shopping list. I carry my Clorox Wipes in my purse because once I get to the cabin I do it right away as the luggage won't appear for a couple of hours.

 

Other things I bring:

 

Ø Zip-lock bags – different sizes for many different things

Ø Hangers – I think you can ask your room attendant for extra but I always bring mine own. The room attendant may not get the hangers to you fast enough because they are generally still delivering things to the cabins, introducing themself and then they have to go to the life boat drill.

Ø Clothes Pins

Ø Power Strip – not many outlets in the room.

Ø Extension Cord - I will run an extension cord if I need to.

Ø Alarm Clock – Some people just use their cell phones.

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

Ø Bathroom Spray –

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.

Ø Bar Soap – I like to bring my own instead of using the small bars they give.

Ø Portable Ipod Speakers- so you can enjoy your downloaded Caribbean music as you sail.

Ø Motion Sickness Medicine – if you think you need it, some you need a written RX.

Ø Prescriptions and Medicine – the over the counter, Tums, Imodium, Pepto Bismol, aspirin

Ø Sudafed, tooth ache gel, band-aids, mole skin, aloe vera lotion for sunburns

 

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

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

 

Ø Extra camera batteries or rechargeable batteries and charger.

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.

Ø Small spray bottle.. use this up by the pool to spray myself when it is hot

Ø Walkie Talkies- we always bring them, keep the volume low.. Traveling with large groups on a large ship we sometimes need to find someone. Or if you need to find your kids. Please note this can be disturbing to other travelers so we really keep the volume very low!

Ø Binoculars –

Ø Rum Runners –

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

Ø Sports Bottles – We use these at the pool and around the ship for “special drinks”

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.

o Ritz Crackers

o Cheese in Can

o Nuts

o Cookies

o Candy

o Plastic Glasses as the ones in the cabin are too small.

o Powdered Crystal Light – for our bottled water

 

Ø Small Rolling Ice Chest – We bring this to keep our drinks really cold in our room. The room attendant will fill it with ice daily for us. Got mine on ebay.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/52-Can-Collapsible-Rolling-Cooler-Orange-Grey-W-Tags_W0QQitemZ140292469301QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item140292469301&_trksid=p3286. c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39 %3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

 

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.

 

v We bring lots of one dollar bills for tipping.

v We tie bright colored ribbon on our suitcases to help us identify them.

v Bungee Cord - Brought a bungee cord to secure a door that we wanted to keep open from banging. We once had all of our cabins next to each other and had the doors to the balconies opened up all the way. Our door kept banging.. so this helped it to stop.

 

They say that the cabins have hair dryers and robes in (some) them. AND get some water (aqua) shoes for going on shore, you will want them in the water. I think this is about all I have unless I forgot something. And I know that if you pack your clothes in dry cleaner bags that they will not wrinkle. Tips for packing: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_1449.html

 

Besides the copies of the passports I also call our credit card companies and give them the dates we will be traveling so they will not lock down our account thinking the card was stolen. If they tried to call us, we would not be home to answer the phone!! Sooooooo call your credit card companies and let them know.

 

Here is my packing list you can print....

[ATTACH]117538[/ATTACH]

 

Here is my review...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=985034

 

and FINALLY....

 

Don't go on your cruise without hearing from the CRUISE DIVA... I find all my best stuff here!!!

 

On the web you search for "cruisediva dot com".

 

Great list, I see you have in less than 300 days for your next one. Have a good one. Don't being too much, you have to take all that back with you.

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  • 4 months later...
mncrusin

mncrusin

Posted
Posted

My suggestion: leave-in hair conditioner.

I have shoulder length hair and pull it up with pony tail bands and it's up all day. Then we swim, bake in the sun, swim again, snorkel masks on and off, go fast in boats or open air vehicles etc. get back and shower before dinner and I am literally pulling my hair out of my head trying to get it down. (Even with the no tangle ones). So now I use a leave in treatment in the morning before heading out. It really has saved me. This is a product I only use on vacation.

Hope this helps someone else. My other must haves are insulated mugs, small cooler and bottle opener (our group will stop for local beer and bring to the beaches) and a small Baggie in the beach bag for emergency supplies you may want/need before getting back to the ship ie band-aid, Imodium, chap stick, eye glass cleaner.

Happy travels everyone!

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SugarStar00

SugarStar00

Posted
Posted
My suggestion: leave-in hair conditioner.

I have shoulder length hair and pull it up with pony tail bands and it's up all day. Then we swim, bake in the sun, swim again, snorkel masks on and off, go fast in boats or open air vehicles etc. get back and shower before dinner and I am literally pulling my hair out of my head trying to get it down. (Even with the no tangle ones). So now I use a leave in treatment in the morning before heading out. It really has saved me. This is a product I only use on vacation.

Hope this helps someone else. My other must haves are insulated mugs, small cooler and bottle opener (our group will stop for local beer and bring to the beaches) and a small Baggie in the beach bag for emergency supplies you may want/need before getting back to the ship ie band-aid, Imodium, chap stick, eye glass cleaner.

Happy travels everyone!

 

 

 

LOVE the leave in conditioner idea, my hair is very fine and gets horribly tangled and dried out. I literally see all the damage I caused after only one week once I get home. :( I've tried headbands and bandanna's but still didn't help. I'm trying this next month. Thanks for the idea!!

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