Important questions to help us enjoy our family cruise.

Hi, I am going on a cruise in November with my husband and daughter who will be 3 . I am looking for tips on things to pack. Maybe things seasoned cruisers never leave without. I have cruised once before in 2003 on Aurora This time it is on Ventura. My husband's first time cruising. I am hoping my husband loves the experience. So I want to be prepared. Any good motion motion sickness remedies/ pills would be also appreciated. We have an inside cabin on a select fare. We booked last May it what I thought we could afford. Our cabin is p244, I realise it's quite forward but we opted to be low down and close enough to go to the prom deck for air. Now I am worried about just about everything . I would love to chat to regular cruisers and get excited rather than worrying. Thanks in advance.

Our top items include magnets so that you can 'pin' copies of Horizon onto the cabin wall (makes them easy to find and read!), big crocodile clips for securing beach towels onto sun loungers (may not be needed in November depending on your itinerary), a four way power bar so that we can charge iPhones/kindle etc without constantly swapping adaptors and a bluetooth speaker so that we can have in-cabin tunes whilst dressing for the evening (oh and a bottle of Jameson whiskey for our ritual sail away drink) :D

Haha thank you. Remy Martin is our chosen treat for us. They are helpful tips. Thank you. I love music and wouldn't have thought about a speaker. Our itinerary is Lisbon, Valencia, Cartagena, Gibraltar, Cadiz. I was hoping it would be warmer than the uk but not too hot for our daughter. Will we need sun cream?

If you are going to use a speaker please be considerate to your neighbours. Bass sounds can be heard through the cabin walls very easily. Thump thump thump as we found to out on a cruise last year! :rolleyes:

Ah I will of course be respectful to my neighbours. I am in my mid 40s so my days of head banging music have passed. A speaker was something I hadn't thought of nor do I own yet. Nevertheless a great idea especially for lullabies for our daughter.

Lullabies sound lovely, what a brilliant idea for your child.

We are also music lovers, so we just attempted to play 'name that tune' every morning and evening. We didn't sing along in case we scared any of our corridor 😇.

I always take a pack of anti-bacterial wipes and wipe down the cabin when we get there. Clean things that probably never get cleaned between passengers such as door handles, TV remote and taps. I actually wipe down all the surfaces - I say I do, but I usually give the wipes to DH while I unpack. He's only be relaxing on the balcony otherwise!

Have a great cruise.

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Ginger capsules, take one every morning including sailing day

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Holland and Barrett GENIUS GINGER organic lumps of ginger for £5.99 plus delivery. A couple of these nuggets and anything you eat stays in the stomach. Some cruise lines put ginger outside MDR's for general sea sickness, however when the sea gets rough they are withdrawn as a norovirus precaution. I can swear by this product being extremely effective against severe sea swells. Originally put onto this by yacht people. Just eat a couple of the lumps if you start to feel sick.

Regards John

Take Stugeron to avoid sea sickness. Take 2 as you leave and one in the morning and one at night for the first day or two. We have tried several remedies and all have failed, bar Stugeron which has had a 100% success rate with all 4 family members. Minor downside = slight drowsiness (I find it a nice chilled feeling). Major upside = you can drink alcohol with no adverse affect!

Re speakers, please don't! The walls between cabins on all P&O ships have virtually no sound protection. We talk in hushed tones in our cabin as we can hear the conversations of our neighbours. On our recent cruise on Aurora (which was brilliant) we could hear the TV of the people one side, and were woken abruptly every morning by the chap the other side having a sneezing fit any time from 5.30am to 6.30am every morning. His wife had a loud penetrating voice and it was quite entertaining when she was nagging him. The highlight was when she called him a "selfish pig"! I don't think people who aren't naturally considerate appreciate just how clearly sound travels between cabins.

Antibacterial wipes. Fantastic. I wouldn't have thought of those. I am definitely stocking up. Hubby can clean the cabin ha.

Thank you for the ginger tips. I heard ginger but I was unsure what brand to buy. I have just been and had a look on Holland and Barrett.

The Stugeron sound ideal. I was thinking you couldn't have a drink with pills. So that's a great tip. Not that we drink anyway but we are hoping to treat ourselves and maybe relax when our daughter's in the club.

Thanks for your tips.

I am writing a list to stay organised:)

Yes I always clean the cabin as well also inside the drawers. The other thing I do reference cleanliness is take off those scatter cushions and the half throw thing on the bed and put on top shelf and then ask cabin steward not to bother to put back on every day. I'm sure they aren't washed very often and it also saves him time every day.

Back to tips:- read the Horizon every day ( delivered to your cabin the night before) for timings and what's on etc. It will give you the times the restaurants are open for breakfast and lunch and which ones. Remember you can use whichever MDR is open no matter what restaurant you have been allocated for your evening meal. There is also a kids tea served in one side of the buffet about 4.45 to 5 if you don't want to take your little one to the MDR for the evening meal, and then take them back to kids club while you eat.

The MDR is the main dinning room which is waiter service. You can also use the buffet of course if you prefer.

If you order a bottle of wine and don't finish it they will take it back and bring it out the next day and the next again if you still haven't finished it. Even if you are on freedom dining.

There is also a free pizza place and burger grill on the pool deck.

Haha thank you. Remy Martin is our chosen treat for us. They are helpful tips. Thank you. I love music and wouldn't have thought about a speaker. Our itinerary is Lisbon, Valencia, Cartagena, Gibraltar, Cadiz. I was hoping it would be warmer than the uk but not too hot for our daughter. Will we need sun cream?

We were on Ventura end of October 2015. We had a lovely hot day Lisbon and another half day in Spain which was sunny in the afternoon. The other days were warm but not sunny. You have the covered pool on Ventura which is great for kids.

Definitely agree with the ginger recommendations, but I always prefer CRYSTALLIZED ginger, if only for the actual taste.

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I usually take a nice essential oil with me on ships, something like pure lime or mandarin. There can sometimes be a "watery" smell in the bathrooms so it just makes it smell fresher. (It's also ace at covering the smell of sea sickness should you be afflicted)

As advised above we also take wipes to clean the bits that will get missed like the remote control etc. We take our own anti bacterial foam (Available in the main high street pharmacy) and use this.

You have some nice ports to visit, many you can just wander off on your own.

Remember that you can take as much as you like on the cruise. If in doubt,ie suncream or medicines, just take them anyway. Remember too that there are very few things that you can't get, either on the ship or in a port of call.

If you do get any problems, large or small, don't be shy to go to reception, they are there to help you and are happy to be able to do so.

Fresh Drop or similar toilet deodorant. Essential when two or more are using the same tiny bathroom. A tiny bottle lasts for years and keeps everything more pleasant

If you intend to do any washing (highly likely with a little one!) take some washing tablets for the machines - the stuff sold on board is rubbish & expensive. I also take a fold out hanger for the shower so you can hang any washing or swimming stuff out. Also take shoe hangers to save space in the cupboard.

I personally always take a medicine bag too with everything you would normally have at home for small people - Calpol, blister plasters, antiseptic cream, etc. Thankfully haven't needed it much the last couple of years, but definitely useful when they were younger (& when I broke my toe a couple of years ago!) Seeing the doctor on board is expensive so best to be prepared, although bear in mind that in the unfortunate event one of you gets ill, pharmacies in mainland Europe (including Gib) can prescribe antibiotics over the counter. I'm sure you won't need that though!

A few pegs to hang stuff on the line in the shower.

A new cuddly toy for your daughter. She will associate it with the cruise and will help you share memories with her for many years.

You will definitly need suncream, sun is reflected of the sea and I also get red by the wind too! I got a red face in the North Sea in April!!

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Yes I always clean the cabin as well also inside the drawers. The other thing I do reference cleanliness is take off those scatter cushions and the half throw thing on the bed and put on top shelf and then ask cabin steward not to bother to put back on every day. I'm sure they aren't washed very often and it also saves him time every day.

 

Back to tips:- read the Horizon every day ( delivered to your cabin the night before) for timings and what's on etc. It will give you the times the restaurants are open for breakfast and lunch and which ones. Remember you can use whichever MDR is open no matter what restaurant you have been allocated for your evening meal. There is also a kids tea served in one side of the buffet about 4.45 to 5 if you don't want to take your little one to the MDR for the evening meal, and then take them back to kids club while you eat.

 

The MDR is the main dinning room which is waiter service. You can also use the buffet of course if you prefer.

 

If you order a bottle of wine and don't finish it they will take it back and bring it out the next day and the next again if you still haven't finished it. Even if you are on freedom dining.

 

There is also a free pizza place and burger grill on the pool deck.

That's not true about the MDR's. On Ventura one is for Club dining and two for Freedom so you couldn't just turn up at the Club dining one when you are on Freedom dining!

EDIT - I see now you meant for lunch or breakfast! Sorry I skim read a bit!

Just to be clear my comments relate to the evening meal!

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Normally there is only a shower fixed fairly high on the wall, so if your little one isn't used to a shower it might be a bit scary. Take a blow up bath, not too expensive; and nappies if she is not yet dry at night, these are expensive on the ship.

Children are not allowed to use the pools unless they are toilet trained. You could use the blow up bath as a paddling pool for her on deck.

Thank you so much everybody for replying. I have gathered a lot of tips from your responses.

We have been getting are daughter to take showers so hopefully she won't mind so much by November. I had been thinking air freshener for cabin so the essential oils is great advice.

I had a look online last night and noticed a Ventura bear so that will be the cuddly toy ticked off.

I am starting to feel more excited now. I really hope my husband loves cruising.

I take a couple of very large carrier bags, the sort you get in the sales. They are really handy if you want to take a load of laundry to the laundrette.

I also take a small bottle of hand sanitiser, a tiny shoulder/cross-body bag for onboard, so I have a place for my cruise card, tissues, phone etc. A regular sized bag onboard isn't really needed as you don't need a purse etc. I actually use the same bag in the evening these days to avoid over packing.

I think in the daytime cruises are far more casual than people think they will be, take the comfortable clothes you wear everyday at home,

Have a great trip!

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