Belt and Suspenders -: Redundancies For World Cruise

[SargassoPirate]

After watching some folks struggle with a wonky charger for their cellphone on an international trip, I started wondering about redundancies for a WC.  I already have a list of how much toiletries to pack, and now I've added an extra charger/cord for my cellphone.  I also added a set of reading glasses in case my regular glasses should get lost or damaged.  Yes, I know there are stores worldwide, but to avoid the inconvenience, what redundancies should one consider?

 

 

[sandiego1]

Batteries. I brought a few but missed that my E-stim used a 9-volt. Of course I didn’t have a spare. Luckily a friend had one to give me.

 

We brought spare chargers for all devices in case one of was quarantined for COVID and we had to split up. Luckily that didn’t happen.

[Jim Avery]

Extra chargers, extra readers, extra sun glasses. Extra meds in case of delays.  Seems we were always shopping for mouthwash.  And junk food.  We also have a couple of 10,000mah batteries that can re charge a phone or iPad 4 or 5 times.  And twice as much money as originally planned....🍹

[Timeflies]

Having lost one in one of the lounges I would add Spare cable for chargers

[SargassoPirate]

I just added another to my list.  Spare hearing aids.  I still have a functional, but older set.

[Haleca33]

Some smaller recharging  batteries and short cables to recharge your phone ipad etc on long day excursions when you won’t be near power plugs.

[Meander Ingwa]

I seem to have spare charging cables in all of my suitcases.  Every time you buy a device you get yet another cable, so some just live in my luggage.  hygiene and toiletry consumables can be purchased in any port, indeed I would not pack them at all but buy  in the embarkation port.  Buys a little more in the luggage space.  Unless you are super specific about a product you use it is easier to buy a full size product at your start point rather than pack them.  Portable device charger for sure, particularly in cold regions where batteries drain faster.   Extra image card for the camera.  Extra batteries for the camera if they are rechargable and swapable.I find no end of use for zip lock bags and a small sandwich size box for day trips.  They can really help organize the luggage and serve endlessly on port trips.  Packing for home these boxes can be useful for transporting a fragile souvenir. 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Meander Ingwa

[annxstitch]

I was wondering if you had lists you would share. We are hoping to go on our first world cruise Dec 2024.

[SargassoPirate]

Just now, annxstitch said:

I was wondering if you had lists you would share. We are hoping to go on our first world cruise Dec 2024.

That's a tough one as packing lists can be very person-specific.  I will say that my longest cruise so far was a month and a half and I packed the same amount of clothing as I do for a shorter cruise.  The variable is consumables, such as toiletries.  To prepare for my world cruise, I kept track of how long each of my toiletries would last and made note of those. 

 

My belt and suspenders list will include items that if lost or broken during the cruise would be difficult to replace - such as hearing aids.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Phone wires .

[topkatz]

On a recent WC we both broke our sunglasses at different times. Fortunately we each had a backup pair. While not our preferred brand/styles, they were absolutely necessary especially during excursions. We saw lots of locals selling sunglasses around ports as we traveled but we preferred having our own backups.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Medical supplies.

[BVILady]

On 6/29/2023 at 12:00 PM, topkatz said:

On a recent WC we both broke our sunglasses at different times. Fortunately we each had a backup pair. While not our preferred brand/styles, they were absolutely necessary especially during excursions. We saw lots of locals selling sunglasses around ports as we traveled but we preferred having our own backups.

spare sunglasses are essential to me, only want to use polarized glasses. Picking up any of my daughters fashion sun-glasses I can't believe using these, bad for your eyes. When you make your packing-list just look at each item and consider what problem it will be if you lose it or it breaks, that should help. I did have a second iPhone cable but it wasn't working, good thing I had only picked it up because I had two and didn't actually need it. I carry 3 back-up batteries to charge the phone or kindle - I know I am overdoing it :). I even carry my old iPhone to have as spare to take pictures. After I missed taking pictures in one port in Australia because my spare battery for my digital camera was not working, I need to make sure I have every back-up possible.

[SargassoPirate]

15 hours ago, BVILady said:

spare sunglasses are essential to me, only want to use polarized glasses. Picking up any of my daughters fashion sun-glasses I can't believe using these, bad for your eyes. When you make your packing-list just look at each item and consider what problem it will be if you lose it or it breaks, that should help. I did have a second iPhone cable but it wasn't working, good thing I had only picked it up because I had two and didn't actually need it. I carry 3 back-up batteries to charge the phone or kindle - I know I am overdoing it :). I even carry my old iPhone to have as spare to take pictures. After I missed taking pictures in one port in Australia because my spare battery for my digital camera was not working, I need to make sure I have every back-up possible.

For hard-to-replace items, it's better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have it.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Back up charger for your apple watch.   Extra hard drive to store digital pictures.

[BVILady]

On 7/6/2023 at 11:11 PM, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Back up charger for your apple watch.   Extra hard drive to store digital pictures.

My iPhone uploads pictures to oneDrive nightly and I have the full internet package. Being not very techy, that should be enough or should I still carry an extra hard drive? It did work perfectly on my 2023 World Cruise. Thanks for the watch advise, need to get another charging cable for my fit-bit.

[CruiserFromMaine]

I bring an eyeglasses repair kit and an emergency dental repair kit. True confession: haven’t done a world cruise but did a 54 night river cruise vacation. 

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

I bring an eyeglasses repair kit and an emergency dental repair kit. True confession: haven’t done a world cruise but did a 54 night river cruise vacation. 

The dental repair kit is a great suggestion.  On our first WC, about a month in, I had the thrill of losing a crown at the bar.  Fortunately there was a great just retired dentist onboard who brought his bag of tricks with him.  Came to our cabin and re installed the crown.  Would not accept any payment.  My  local dentist said it was a great job and saw no need to re do it.  Five years later still going strong.  Will have a kit with us on our upcoming Viking WC.

[CruiserFromMaine]

 

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Will have a kit with us on our upcoming Viking WC.

Hope you never need one again! We got ours through Amazon. It wasn’t expensive.  

[sandiego1]

My husband lost a crown (twice) while on our recent WC. I had a dental repair kit, but it was old and dried out so it didn’t work well.
 

We found a dentist in Papeete to cement it back in at a whopping cost of $18. It fell out again about 2 months later (he ate a gummy vitamin again!). He had it fixed again in the Canary Islands. Both times we had to find a dentist open on a Saturday. No more gummy vitamins! 

 

I’ll buy a new kit before our next cruise.

[SargassoPirate]

For your consideration, if you wear sneakers pack a tube of either Shoe Goo or Loctite Shoe Glue for your world cruise.

 

On a recent cruise I had a sneaker that started to separate the upper from the sole.  Left unattended it would have become a flapper.

 

In my standard travel tool kit was a brand new tube of Loctite Shoe Glue.  I repaired the separated area, and over the course of the trip had to do two more repairs.  

 

 

[BVILady]

5 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

For your consideration, if you wear sneakers pack a tube of either Shoe Goo or Loctite Shoe Glue for your world cruise.

 

On a recent cruise I had a sneaker that started to separate the upper from the sole.  Left unattended it would have become a flapper.

 

In my standard travel tool kit was a brand new tube of Loctite Shoe Glue.  I repaired the separated area, and over the course of the trip had to do two more repairs.  

 

 

Thanks for the advise, same thing happened to me visiting the Taj Mahal Good thing I was able to purchase a pair of sketchers at New Delhi airport as replacement. But being anywhere else I would have been in trouble.

[At7Seas]

4 hours ago, BVILady said:

Good thing I was able to purchase a pair of sketchers at New Delhi airport as replacement. But being anywhere else I would have been in trouble.

 

Lucky you! Finding something that fits can be quite challenging - also in India!

[Dcoy]

On 6/29/2023 at 12:00 PM, topkatz said:

On a recent WC we both broke our sunglasses at different times. Fortunately we each had a backup pair. While not our preferred brand/styles, they were absolutely necessary especially during excursions. We saw lots of locals selling sunglasses around ports as we traveled but we preferred having our own backups.

Agree, extra sunglasses. My good pair was crushed between the ship and wall as I was sailing through the Panama Canal.  I was taking a picture holding onto my glasses with my mouth. Slipped out just as the ship was being tied up at one of the locks. 

[At7Seas]

Not completely off topic: don’t forget to buy your sunblocker in time. At least where I live this is a seasonal article. Summer is over now and my world cruise will begin in the deepest winter just to head to a hot and sunny climate soon.