TOP 10 THINGS newbies forget to bring on their 1st Cruise...

[cravingthis]

Small travel-size steam iron. I didn't think to bring one on my first cruise. I thought there would be one in the cabin (like a hotel room). No iron, had to send things to be pressed, very pricey. Now, I always pack it. Our friends went with us after Thanksgiving and borrowed it. They didn't think to pack one either.

 

Have fun!

 

I know they don't allow irons, do they allow steam irons?

 

TIA! (thanks in advance)

[lvcruises]

In more than 10 years of cruising various p0rts in the world and traveling others parts of the world, sometimes extended stays of several weeks in both Europe and Australia when doing land travels, we've never notified our credit card company. We've never had a problem with them putting a hold on our account because of a charge from another country.

 

Last year we went to Mexico... We didn't inform Capital One... They put a hold on our card and we couldn't use it. We had 4 calls from them on our answering machine when we got home. They thought the card had been stolen. Needless to say.. We will call them this time around!

[shalibibi]

If you are packing for a week, how much clothing do you pack?

 

Do you "recycle" pants or skirts for dinners?

 

Even on our 4 & 5 day, it seems like I over pack clothing?

I use dress shields on my dinner outfits and on my daily tops. I buy the disposable ones for cruising and love them. Then when I recycle my shirt the second time it is as fresh as being laundered. They are inexpensive and a must have on my packing list. :D

[Litehouse9]

Things we like to bring:

1) 2 or 3 of those 99cent reusable cloth Grocery Bags for carrying souvenirs, carrying stuff on/off ship, taking beach stuff to the pool, etc. If your luggage is full at the end, you can just toss them. Or they make great holders for dirty laundry on the way home.

2) A small roll of black electrical tape.. great for patching things, like a broken strap on a sandal or a luggage handle, or a tear in luggage, etc.

3) 3M "Command" hooks that come off cleanly-- great to hold necklaces, earrings, bathing suits, etc.

4) Also, some cheap Magnetic Memo Clips from the office store.. the walls of the cabin are metal, so you can use the magnet clips to hold receipts, the Daily activity news, brochures, tickets, and also jewelry, etc.

5) Bar soap! (the cabins usually have liquid soap only)

6) Night Lite for the bathroom.. as others said, the overhead is too bright for middle of night bathroom runs.

7) Small suction clock for room-- attach to mirror or wall, easier to see in middle of night if one wakes up.

8) Sticky Notes and Pen-- so you can leave notes for your family like "Mom's gone to the Pool"

9) Highlighter pen-- to highlight things in the Daily activity paper that you dont want to miss!

 

and 10) a good attitude-- to roll with the punches and have fun no matter what-- heck, you're on VACATION!!! ;)

[rummagelady]

Small travel-size steam iron. I didn't think to bring one on my first cruise. I thought there would be one in the cabin (like a hotel room). No iron, had to send things to be pressed, very pricey. Now, I always pack it. Our friends went with us after Thanksgiving and borrowed it. They didn't think to pack one either.

 

Have fun!

hi they do not allow irons they do have a laundry room with an iron

[topcruiser16]

Great Tips everyone

The only thing that I hadn't seen was a small travel luggage scale. You would only need it for your flights where they charge huge fees for overweight luggage. Previously we hadn't needed anything like this but after I saw travelers getting charge hundreds of dollars for overweight luggage, I purchased one. Now I don't worry about how I repack everything in my luggage. I distribute what I have between our carry ons and our checked luggage. I got this idea from another passenger who had the same problem. I try to use as little luggage as possible and sometimes the weight is very close to the upper allowed limit. I have seen many people repacking luggage at the check in counter and I definitely don't want to be doing that.

Ear plugs have hardly been mentioned. I always take them. Almost divorced my husband after our first cruise because of his snoring and the paper-thin walls. lol.

[MarkMichaels]

oops, posted this on the wrong forum, sorry folks.

Edited October 6, 2010 by MarkMichaels

[chrisnleigh]

Great Tips everyone

The only thing that I hadn't seen was a small travel luggage scale. You would only need it for your flights where they charge huge fees for overweight luggage. Previously we hadn't needed anything like this but after I saw travelers getting charge hundreds of dollars for overweight luggage, I purchased one. Now I don't worry about how I repack everything in my luggage. I distribute what I have between our carry ons and our checked luggage. I got this idea from another passenger who had the same problem. I try to use as little luggage as possible and sometimes the weight is very close to the upper allowed limit. I have seen many people repacking luggage at the check in counter and I definitely don't want to be doing that.

Ear plugs have hardly been mentioned. I always take them. Almost divorced my husband after our first cruise because of his snoring and the paper-thin walls. lol.

 

 

If you are taking good jewellry, you might want to take the appraisals with you.The customs guys love to look for jewellry purchased in other ports. We always take ours.

Chris

[topcruiser16]

If you are taking good jewellry, you might want to take the appraisals with you.The customs guys love to look for jewellry purchased in other ports. We always take ours.

Chris

 

We always do that as well. We have purchased items on previous cruises and didn't want to be challenged about it when we make our claims at customs

[CJoyB]

--We learned the hard way that you should take off your long straps of your checked luggage when handing luggage over to Union luggage valet people. The straps disappeared and never were seen again. (We looked) Take them off of garment bags or whatever bag and keep them in your Carry On luggage with you. OR stow them down in bottom of pocket. (Complaint filled with Conquest Guest Services...they gave us a letter to get them fixed and send them the bill.)

 

--We stapled on two sets of our printed luggage tags (contains your room info on ship with bar code for Carnival, printed via cruise document pages: "luggage tags") to EACH piece of luggage PLUS put one inside each luggage in an outside pocket just in case both tags got torn off...and guess what...one suitcase had both tags missing but the pocket with the extra tag was open and that is how they got it to our son's room....also put your personal LAST name & first initials and State and Country with phone number inside each bag as a back up for all travel, air, sea or train. Don't include home address--this invites thieves to visit your home while you are gone...you might consider using a work number for your desk and asking a trusted co-worker to watch for messages (and a trusted neighbor to watch your house).

[Medtech2]

I brought a three-prong folder already filled w/ clear plastic pocket inserts. I had my documents in there, maps of the places we were going to visit, and a provisional schedule. Every day I put the dailies in there to keep. I put ALL receipts in the last pocket so I could easily pull them out and match them to my inboard charges...

[nebraskacruiser]

do i need to bring beach towels on a RC cruise?

[NMLady]

hi they do not allow irons they do have a laundry room with an iron

 

NCL ships do NOT have a laundry room. However, if you ask your cabin steward for an iron, he/she will loan you one for a couple hours or so.

 

Also, the first day there is usually a special on the ship's laundry's pressing cost, usually half-price.

[HKittee]

Just got off our first cruise today and had an AMAZING time :) The ONLY thing we forgot, thanks to cruise critic, was a few extra batteries. Paid $5 for 2 AAA batteries in the shop. Ugh!

 

I'll give you a short list of the things I found really useful on my first cruise :)

 

Power strip - This was by far the most useful item we brought with us. I would have never thought of it on my own and honestly, I wasn't sure we would even use it after I packed it. We used it constantly for all of our chargers, my flat iron, curling iron, alarm clock (if you forget batteries! lol), etc.

 

ID holder - I didn't want to wear a lanyard around my neck and look ultra dorky ;) I bought an ID holder with one of those retractable reel clips. This was SO handy to have and I bought them at the dollar store. If I didn't feel like carrying my bag with me to the gym or to lunch, I could put my key card, some receipts, a few small bills for tips and a hair tie in the plastic sleeve. I would clip it inside the pocket or on the waist of whatever I was wearing where no one could see it and I didn't have to worry about my things at all. My husband refused to wear his though lol Still too dorky for him :P

 

Travel mug or Reusable water bottle - I used this to refill those super small water glasses at the buffet. The glasses were so tiny. My husband did read that you are not supposed to fill personal containers from the water dispenser (although this didn't stop most people) I would just use a glass to fill my bottle each time and use the bottle for refills at the table. We drink A LOT of water so this saved us a ton of trips and many dirty glasses.

 

Clothes pins to pin our bathing suits on the back of the chairs on the balcony or on the clothesline in the shower.

 

and of course, the infamous over the door shoe rack to keep things off the very cramped sink area :) I didn't buy a shoe rack though. It was a craft organizer from the dollar store. It held all our things nicely.

[Swells1]

I haven't seen this posted yet- a power strip. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :D Seriously- especially if this is a special trip or not a place you plan on returning- you should divide your pictures between 2-3 memory cards. That way, if you lose one, you won't lose all of your important shots.

So, I think I'm not understanding this- you are telling me that someone goes through my TRASH?!?:confused: Even <bathroom> trash? That is the most unsettling thing I've ever heard! Well, for my home, I keep a stash of ice bucket liners (that I DID NOT steal from work :o) to dispose of certain...personal items. I guess I could ask the cabin steward for a supply.

About those Tide packets for doing laundry in the sink- I've got a bunch in my medicine chest that I've had for a few years. Does anyone know if they expire or go bad?

[lunaxmars]

I don't know if this was mentioned yet- but I am someone who does not wear sneakers regularly and did not pack them on one of my trips. When we did a hiking tour of El Yunque- I felt pretty dumb sliding all over the place in my flip flops. At least one pair of sneakers!

[bobmal99]

A lot of CC companies will decline purchases if they are in

a place far from where you live now because of an increase

of identity theft. Good idea the let them know. JIC.

 

 

 

I would wonder about your credit card company then.....

[bobmal99]

Times they are a changing, unfortunately!!

 

Good idea to let your CC companies know in the future..

 

In more than 10 years of cruising various p0rts in the world and traveling others parts of the world, sometimes extended stays of several weeks in both Europe and Australia when doing land travels, we've never notified our credit card company. We've never had a problem with them putting a hold on our account because of a charge from another country.

[Ms belp]

It's always good to let your bank and credit union know as well. Hate CC's.

[enchantedlady]

Does anyone know if it is safe to take excursions in Cozumel? And how safe is Grand Cayman and Jamaica ? Thanks Enchantedlady

[NMLady]

Does anyone know if it is safe to take excursions in Cozumel? And how safe is Grand Cayman and Jamaica ? Thanks Enchantedlady

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic. You have asked a question on a very old thread that has nothing to do with the subject of your question.

I'd recommend that you ask it in a brand new thread.

 

I think that you will find that answers will vary based on folks' opinions.

[SASA13]

If your hair is not short but not long enough to tie back, you might consider Detangle spray for your hair, sea days can be windy!

 

Over-door shoe holder - hang on bathroom door for all your odds 'n' bobs, which will always be at your fingertips, and keeps the room tidy

 

Water shoes or rubber flip-flops to wear around the pool and to go up to the water slide (if the ship has one) - the deck can be HOT!!

 

 

Leave the body lotion at home - your skin will be wonderful after a few days of sunscreen, aloe gel and salt water.

 

THANK YOU---I completely forgot about water shoes.

[SASA13]

Extra plastic bags or big ziploc bags for packing wet clothes.

 

Unless you want to carry off all of your luggage yourself, plan for a small bag to keep the last night, since all luggage will be taken early the last night onboard.

 

Favorite snacks for your kids--if they are partial to granola bars, or other packaged foods, these are especially useful on shore excursions or when you get back to the ship 1 1/2 hours before dinner.

 

If you are cold-natured, take a light sweater to wear in the evenings, show rooms tend to be cool.

 

We also travel with a whole pharmacy in our medical kit--every trip someone needs allergy meds (there will be smokers), immodium, bandaids (which cost $6 on board ;), antibiotic cream, manicure set, aloe vera gel, anything your family ever uses.

 

Pack everything you think you want, then take out half of the clothes (except shoes 'cause you can never have too many of those).

 

Relax and have fun!

 

I always bring sweaters and salty snacks ( chips, peanuts etc).

[SASA13]

My belt buckle will work in a pinch and if she is sleeping so will my wife's false teeth :)

 

Thanks for making me laugh ( reading this at work )

[canpass]

Small travel-size steam iron. I didn't think to bring one on my first cruise. I thought there would be one in the cabin (like a hotel room). No iron, had to send things to be pressed, very pricey. Now, I always pack it. Our friends went with us after Thanksgiving and borrowed it. They didn't think to pack one either.

 

Have fun!

We just called and had an iron brought to our room within five minutes and they came back to pick it up immediately upon calling.