Ultimate Packing List for the Newbies....

[Happy ks]

Sara, you're driving to port and that's a whole different story. I know when we drive to port I will take a bit more and take my own pillow along. But the vast majority of cruisers no longer have the advantage of overpacking, the costs for luggage have skyrocketed and if people packed like you, the charges would be upwards of $85 each way...possibly more.

 

The last time we required a porter at the terminal when we drove was when I decided to pack light enough to never use one of them again. He was so rude and just dumped our bags off the cart. We prefer to pass right by them and easily handle our own bags.

[simplelife]

Just how much space does your underwear take? (kidding, of course)

 

I've read about people doing this and can't imagine wearing old clothes on a cruise. The only clothes I take are clothes I love, I don't buy them if I don't love them. I don't go out and buy cruise clothes, either, I shop and pack from my closet.

 

It's not a space issue (in fact, underwear is the one thing I pack more of than I think I'll need). It's the idea of having to store dirty underwear and take it home that I want to avoid. The less laundry I have to do when I get home, the better (leaving the ship is traumatic emough:):D)

 

My London trip was cancelled :(, so I have not gotten to try out my idea yet, but plan to next time I travel.

 

I, too, only bring things that I love to wear on a cruise. That's probably why I don't mind wearing them more than once.

[PharmerFaye]

i like the list..I hadn't thought of the clorox wipes for the doors and stuff, so thanks...might save me some grief ;)

[Desilin]

Thanks for the info what a great list would never have thought of some of those things!

[Happy ks]

It's not a space issue (in fact, underwear is the one thing I pack more of than I think I'll need). It's the idea of having to store dirty underwear and take it home that I want to avoid. The less laundry I have to do when I get home, the better (leaving the ship is traumatic emough:):D)

 

My London trip was cancelled :(, so I have not gotten to try out my idea yet, but plan to next time I travel.

 

I, too, only bring things that I love to wear on a cruise. That's probably why I don't mind wearing them more than once.

 

 

 

I just throw them in the sink with some of the mystery shampoo every few days, let them soak while I'm in the shower, rinse and hang in the shower to dry. We send the husbands out to the laundry.

 

We even do this for just a 7 night cruise as I agree with you, I don't want a weeks worth of dirty underwear in our suitcases, yuck.

[GlendaleCruiser]

 

Mini Touchlights are also available for $1 if you so desire. I'm just taking a small night light for the bathroom ($1) and will most likely do without the touch light.

I took a nightlight but it didn't plug into the bathroom. I will take a touchlight this time.

 

If you don't need extensions but just more outlets I found a very small plug in outlet that turns one outlet into three or six for $1 at Dollar Tree also. Very minimual space. We'll throw one in just in case.

I found that my chargers (and the plug multiplier) would not plug in because the plug was located just between the vanity and the mirror. Ships are all different, though.

 

I decided to take my own shampoo and conditioner as I just colored my hair (please don't tell, the greys were showing) and ship shampoo may not be mosterized enough. The shampoo bottles for carry on were expensive at the department stores and I needed a little larger bottle for the 12 nights we will be away. (but my regular soap bottles were way to heavy to lug around) I found some 5 OZ kids pump bottle soaps at the dollar store 2 for $1. I took them home, dumped out the soap and refilled with my shampoo, conditioner and also got one for my favorite shower Gel. My label maker quickly labeled them and they look nice. I reduced the weight by 1/3 and only invest $2.

Great idea. I always take my own and am always looking for moderate to small containers (not tiny, though).

 

We never leave home without our popup hampers. They have a permanent place in the outside pocket of our luggage. We have one floor hamper ($1 at a flea market) and one over the door hamper (Found at Walmart for $3). (they both fit very nicely in the outside pockets and lie very flat)

 

I found a folding digital travel alarm clock for about $7. It is no bigger then a credit card (about a quarter of an inch thick). I really did like the suggestion of using the television, but this clock was inexpensive and so small I believe it will find a permanent place in one of the pockets of our luggage.

Love both of these items.

[Denese96]

Janet as (IMO) an experienced cruiser, I really appreciated your list. When I first started cruising I had to depend on the ship's suggestions. Of course, I over-packed on clothes and shoes!! But sadly, he things that would have made my trips more enjoyable did not occur to me. Now,I always bring the over the shoe door hanger, the power strip AND an extension cord. Even when I am on vacation there are things I like such as music from home via iPod, being able to curl or blow dry my hair wherever in he cabin I want to, using rechargeable batteries whose charger does not take one of the precious outlets in the room, and I do bring my laptop strictly for pleasure. I am going on the Oasis this fall and I understand the outlet is inconveniently located under the vanity.

 

With that said I am sure the newbies will take what they want and can afford to bring (lol) and leave the rest. If not the first cruise, definiely by the next cruise! I did!!

 

Any advice would be appreciated regarding walkie talkies.

 

I bought walkie talkies that never worked right. I thought it was us, but way after the time to return them, I decided it was the devices. What brand(s) do you recommend? What features should I be looking for to have an enjoyable experience with them

 

PS I like the items others added to the list and the categorized take wih you list.

 

Thanks

 

Natalie

[terez155]

Hi eveyone, I'm new to this forum & so far, love it!! Thanks for the info from everyone. I have written down a lot of suggestions from everyone. We are flying, so we have to be mindful of the weight of our luggage. We will stay in orlando 4 days after the cruise, so I will need other things for after the cruise.This is my husband first cruise & my 2nd (cruised over 20 yrs ago, don't remember much, as I was in my 20's). We travel the Islands every year by plane & I have tried for 6 years to get him on a cruise, this time it was his suggestion :D:D, so let's keep our fingers crossed. It's only a 3 day cruise, but w/any luck it woun't be our last!! I appreciate all the list!!

 

PS: Unless I missed it, can I pack a travel iron?

 

 

Monarch of The Seas March 2010

Edited March 10, 2010 by terez155

[diane.in.ny]

I have found this thread really interesting. As a newbie cruiser I had a different dress for each formal night. My husband had a tux.

 

Now I travel with a backpack and a carry one. I have two sizes of carry ons...one a bit smaller than the other. The smaller one will be coming with us on a 10 day river cruise. And the bit larger one I'll use on our upcoming 12 night Med cruise, w/ 5 days each pre and post cruise. Very little difference on what we take for the 10 day vs 22 day trip - adding bathing suits and jacket for DH - gosh that jacket takes up a LOT of space :(

 

I, too, use the mystery shampoo to wash out clothes. Our daytime clothes are all quick dry. Which reminds me...I don't know if I missed it but I also take one of those rubber jar openers...great for sealing the sink drain if needed.

 

As for the folding laundry baskets, I find the bottom of one of the closets works just fine for the dirty laundry :D

Edited March 10, 2010 by diane.in.ny

[ballawana13]

Denese96 -- We used walkie-talkies on a family reunion tour of Ireland in 2000. My family with 3 kids was traveling around the country with my sister and her family including 2 kids. We each rented cars and drove doing a circle of the country starting in Dublin. We stayed at B&B's along the way and didn't plan where we were going to stay until we got to a town we liked. The walkie-talkies were great as we were driving as we tended to get lost quite a bit. They had a range of about 2 miles and kept us in touch. None of us brought cell phones with us at that time, although now none of us including all 5 kids would be caught dead without at least one cell phone. The cells are great for the US but not so great when traveling outside the country. Radio Shack used to have a good selection of inexpensive walkie-talkies.

[SuitCaseBears]

PS: Unless I missed it, can I pack a travel iron?

 

No, I've never seen a cruise line that allows them (although I'm not that experienced) but there are laundry rooms for passengers that have irons.

[Trendy00bett]

Walkie Talkies for SURE!

 

 

 

The one item you will forget is here =) http://www.ehow.com/how_6013460_create-cruise-vacation-atlantis-bahamas.html

[anxiousforvacation]

The list turned out to be invaluable. So many things proved useful. We just got back from 11 day cruise this last weekend. I used this thread as my packing guide.

 

Here is the list of items we did and did not use. Of course this will vary for everybody, but if you need to delete some items for luggage room this may prove helpful. Please be wise and don't forget the Pepto! especially when traveling to Mexico.

 

Things I brought from List & Used

Zip-lock bags

Clorox Wipes (Used and made friends with extra’s on shore excursions)

Hangers

Clothes Pins (Brought five should have brought about eight)

Power Strip

Alarm Clock –Used

Night Light – (Used one in the bathroom instead of turning bright light on at night) Also used Touch light by Bedside at night.

Bathroom Spray – (Brought a room deodorizer we used)

Landyards – I used mine, Husband did not use his.

Motion Sickness Medicine Used because we did not bring the Imodium or Pepto which we could have used after a day of eating in Cabo.

Sudafed, tooth ache gel, band-aids, mole skin, aloe vera lotion for sunburns _ Didn’t use but will keep on my list

Small roll of duct tape – (used, along with small pair of scissors)

Binoculars – Used

Rum Runners – Should have had one for friend who couldn’t get open container back on ship.

Sports Bottles –Used

one dollar bills for tipping. This suggestion was invaluable. We brought lots of one’s, Fives and Tens so we didn’t need to hassle with the change in pesos. If I had it to do again I would get a couple hundred dollars in pesos at the first port as many places only gave you a 10 to 1 exchange. Bank was about 13.5 to 1.

colored ribbon on suitcases (saved us at the end of the cruise).

Hair Dryer (brought our own because we are used to it)

Aqua Shoes - Used

copies of the passports – Didn’t need but felt safer going to shore with them.

call credit card company - Good reminder as this is a must. After calling they sent us an email with valuable information for international use of our card.

 

 

Items On List we did not Use

Shoe Organizer (did not use, ship had medicine cabinet & lots of Storage)

Extension Cord Did not Need

Bar Soap – Provided by Ship

Cell Phone charger Did not use (Turned them off and had plenty of power when we got back to port.

Ipod Speakers – No time to listen to music in cabin.

Extra Camera Memory Card – Did not use, just buy larger card.

Extra camera batteries or rechargeable batteries. (Did not need, recharged the one we had every other night –Did use Charger).

Small spray bottle.. Did not use

Walkie Talkies – Did not use, simply because we did not want to carry them around.

Hand sanitizers – Did not use, Ship provided and had Clorox wipes individual packets for shore excursions

Snack Items (No Use for Us, but did note no salty snacks)

Glasses as the ones in the cabin are too small.- We made use of the cabin classes and sports bottles, did not need.

Powdered Crystal Light – (We just watered down the Leamon-ade)

Small Rolling Ice Chest – Did not bring. We had them empty the stuff out of the fridge to put our sodas in.

Suitcase Scale – Did not need as we were not flying

Bungee Cord – Did not use

Things I should have brought from list but didn’t

Tums, Imodium, Pepto Bismol, aspirin (Brought Asprin, but should have brought Imodium and Pepto) Had to buy Imodium at port and used sea sick pill to calm a troubled stomach after our first Mexican port. 24 Hours of getting to know the cabin and bathroom quite well.

[Janet Foster]

The list turned out to be invaluable. So many things proved useful. We just got back from 11 day cruise this last weekend. I used this thread as my packing guide.

 

Here is the list of items we did and did not use. Of course this will vary for everybody, but if you need to delete some items for luggage room this may prove helpful. Please be wise and don't forget the Pepto! especially when traveling to Mexico.

 

Things I brought from List & Used

Zip-lock bags

Clorox Wipes (Used and made friends with extra’s on shore excursions)

Hangers

Clothes Pins (Brought five should have brought about eight)

Power Strip

Alarm Clock –Used

Night Light – (Used one in the bathroom instead of turning bright light on at night) Also used Touch light by Bedside at night.

Bathroom Spray – (Brought a room deodorizer we used)

Landyards – I used mine, Husband did not use his.

Motion Sickness Medicine Used because we did not bring the Imodium or Pepto which we could have used after a day of eating in Cabo.

Sudafed, tooth ache gel, band-aids, mole skin, aloe vera lotion for sunburns _ Didn’t use but will keep on my list

Small roll of duct tape – (used, along with small pair of scissors)

Binoculars – Used

Rum Runners – Should have had one for friend who couldn’t get open container back on ship.

Sports Bottles –Used

one dollar bills for tipping. This suggestion was invaluable. We brought lots of one’s, Fives and Tens so we didn’t need to hassle with the change in pesos. If I had it to do again I would get a couple hundred dollars in pesos at the first port as many places only gave you a 10 to 1 exchange. Bank was about 13.5 to 1.

colored ribbon on suitcases (saved us at the end of the cruise).

Hair Dryer (brought our own because we are used to it)

Aqua Shoes - Used

copies of the passports – Didn’t need but felt safer going to shore with them.

call credit card company - Good reminder as this is a must. After calling they sent us an email with valuable information for international use of our card.

 

 

Items On List we did not Use

Shoe Organizer (did not use, ship had medicine cabinet & lots of Storage)

Extension Cord Did not Need

Bar Soap – Provided by Ship

Cell Phone charger Did not use (Turned them off and had plenty of power when we got back to port.

Ipod Speakers – No time to listen to music in cabin.

Extra Camera Memory Card – Did not use, just buy larger card.

Extra camera batteries or rechargeable batteries. (Did not need, recharged the one we had every other night –Did use Charger).

Small spray bottle.. Did not use

Walkie Talkies – Did not use, simply because we did not want to carry them around.

Hand sanitizers – Did not use, Ship provided and had Clorox wipes individual packets for shore excursions

Snack Items (No Use for Us, but did note no salty snacks)

Glasses as the ones in the cabin are too small.- We made use of the cabin classes and sports bottles, did not need.

Powdered Crystal Light – (We just watered down the Leamon-ade)

Small Rolling Ice Chest – Did not bring. We had them empty the stuff out of the fridge to put our sodas in.

Suitcase Scale – Did not need as we were not flying

Bungee Cord – Did not use

Things I should have brought from list but didn’t

Tums, Imodium, Pepto Bismol, aspirin (Brought Asprin, but should have brought Imodium and Pepto) Had to buy Imodium at port and used sea sick pill to calm a troubled stomach after our first Mexican port. 24 Hours of getting to know the cabin and bathroom quite well.

I am so happy you wrote. I haven't been on here in awhile. Glad you liked the packing list. When I wrote it I put down everything I could think of. I know that everyone will use bits and pieces from it and if it proved useful then it makes me happy.

 

Sorry you had that upset stomach. I am sure that was no fun at all

 

Best Regards!

Janet

[Janet Foster]

Janet as (IMO) an experienced cruiser, I really appreciated your list. When I first started cruising I had to depend on the ship's suggestions. Of course, I over-packed on clothes and shoes!! But sadly, he things that would have made my trips more enjoyable did not occur to me. Now,I always bring the over the shoe door hanger, the power strip AND an extension cord. Even when I am on vacation there are things I like such as music from home via iPod, being able to curl or blow dry my hair wherever in he cabin I want to, using rechargeable batteries whose charger does not take one of the precious outlets in the room, and I do bring my laptop strictly for pleasure. I am going on the Oasis this fall and I understand the outlet is inconveniently located under the vanity.

 

With that said I am sure the newbies will take what they want and can afford to bring (lol) and leave the rest. If not the first cruise, definiely by the next cruise! I did!!

 

Any advice would be appreciated regarding walkie talkies.

 

I bought walkie talkies that never worked right. I thought it was us, but way after the time to return them, I decided it was the devices. What brand(s) do you recommend? What features should I be looking for to have an enjoyable experience with them

 

PS I like the items others added to the list and the categorized take wih you list.

 

Thanks

 

Natalie

I have motorola walkie talkies and they work just fine. I keep the volume down low and being that we cruise with lots of people it proved helful when we all wanted to meet up or changed plans. I believe we bought them at Fry's.

 

Let me know if you need anything else.

 

Janet

[Janet Foster]

google rum runner flasks

We have always brought case of water and soda on board with us and even a case of red bull. I think I could have sold the Red Bull easy.. We just put a room luggage tag on the cases and stacked it up with our luggage for the baggage handlers to take.

 

Never had a problem. We kept them iced down and it was very refreshing to come back to the cabin and get an ice cold drink. If you went to the bar and got a soda, the small glasses they are served in are so small you would drink it down in one gulp. Plus I am not a big fan of fountain drinks. They taste watered down. By all means bring your own!!

 

Glad you enjoyed the list.

[shelltherunner]

Great list. We are planning a Medi cruise in July 2011 and this will come in handy.

 

 

We go on charter cruises and if you brought a walkie talkie you might find yourself in the bottom of the pool! We travel in a group of at least 25 and are fortunate enough to travel WITH our travel agent. TO keep track of who is where, we pick up one of those small dry erase boards they make for school lockers and the 3M sticky stuff that you can put it up with. We put it up on the outside of our doors and leave notes as to who is where. It is also fun to see what kinds of crazy, silly messages our friends leave us! It is also helpful for the friends you make on board.

[Janet Foster]

The white board and or sticky notes wouldn't have gone over well with our group because we all had AFT CABINS on different levels and if we had been up at the front of the ship I am telling ya.. no one would have wanted to walk all the way back to the aft just to read a note.. so the walkie talkies proved very useful.

 

We would love to do a Med Cruise... I think our next one is scheduled next year for Alaska whenever they decide to open the block... LOL..

 

Best Regards!!!!

 

Janet

[MrsPete]

Good way to look at things -- what one person's actually used is a good hint for new cruisers. Here's my list of what I've actually used.

 

Things I brought from List & Used

 

Zip-lock bags -- we pack all toiletries and anything else questionable in ziplocks, and then have those bags available for use in the room; those few are plenty

Lanyards – works great for the kids, they hang them on their doorknob when they come into the room, and their keys are NEVER lost

one dollar bills for tipping.

Extra camera batteries -- although they're slightly more bulky, I prefer cameras that use AAs -- you can always have an extra set of AAs in your pocket, but you don't always have electricity (i.e., on an excursion), nor do you always have four hours to leave your camera charging

Also, although I've never used any of that list of medicines, it's a good idea to bring a small quantity of what you might want along with you. I'd downsize by bringing only a few pills of each description, perhaps storing them in one of those little plastic organizers that is supposed to help you remember to take pills every day.

[Janet Foster]

I really do enjoy reading what helped everyone... it is what makes this board fun!!

[SuitCaseBears]

I love that people are reporting back what they used and didn't use. And I love this thread.

 

But, although this has been said before, it may be buried in the middle and bears repeating, everyone is different. I read one post that said "Why bring all that stuff, there are stores in every port, you can always find a store and buy what you need, or buy on board.

 

I'm sure that person would feel like it was a fun adventure to wander around and get to see the port from a local's point of view. When I fly places, I love just wandering around looking in local stores.

 

But on a cruise I, on the other hand would hate spending even 10 minutes of my vacation doing that.

 

Neither is right or wrong - just different.

 

I over pack. I know I over pack. My husband loves my over packing and my excessive planning, and laughs at (but is happy for) all of my lists. Plus he's willing to carry the extra suitcase.

 

Knowing your own tastes and preferences is an important part of this list. So maybe we should add "know your travel preferences" to the list.

[Janet Foster]

I love that people are reporting back what they used and didn't use. And I love this thread.

 

But, although this has been said before, it may be buried in the middle and bears repeating, everyone is different. I read one post that said "Why bring all that stuff, there are stores in every port, you can always find a store and buy what you need, or buy on board.

 

I'm sure that person would feel like it was a fun adventure to wander around and get to see the port from a local's point of view. When I fly places, I love just wandering around looking in local stores.

 

But on a cruise I, on the other hand would hate spending even 10 minutes of my vacation doing that.

 

Neither is right or wrong - just different.

 

I over pack. I know I over pack. My husband loves my over packing and my excessive planning, and laughs at (but is happy for) all of my lists. Plus he's willing to carry the extra suitcase.

 

Knowing your own tastes and preferences is an important part of this list. So maybe we should add "know your travel preferences" to the list.

I over pack. I know I over pack. My husband loves my over packing and my excessive planning, and laughs at (but is happy for) all of my lists. Plus he's willing to carry the extra suitcase.

 

OUR HUSBANDS MUST BE TWINS.... LOL.... he laughs at me all the time but he sure is appreciative when he is looking for eye drops or toothache gel and I have it ready at hand.

[popstarmom]

I just returned from my first cruise. Because of this thread, I packed an extension cord with several outlets on the end. That was so helpful! I never could have kept my camera batteries charged to film this video!:

I used it to charge my iphone, and play my bose sound dock. And since I couldn't get the outlet in the bathroom to work, I used it plenty for my blowdryer.

[Janet Foster]

I just returned from my first cruise. Because of this thread, I packed an extension cord with several outlets on the end. That was so helpful! I never could have kept my camera batteries charged to film this video!:

I used it to charge my iphone, and play my bose sound dock. And since I couldn't get the outlet in the bathroom to work, I used it plenty for my blowdryer.

OMG i love your video you made... HOW COOL... I have forwarded it to all my friends!!

It's great!!

 

Glad to hear the extension cord/list helped. I learned from my first cruise that an extension cord was needed for the 2nd cruise.. so I am glad my list helped you had a more enjoyable first cruise! Sure looks like you had a good time!! HAAAA

 

We had to bring the power strip because we also brought our little MAGIC BULLET blender to make frozen drinks!..HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

 

So hopefully you will get to go on another soon, Pop Star Mom??? :-)

I will be looking for your video to catch onto something in the future.. like GOOD MORNING AMERICA or a commercial??

[popstarmom]

Thanks Janet! My BFF and I just booked our next one for August! I think we're hooked!

I like the magic bullet idea....