Duct Tape, Collapsible Water Bottles, Hi-lite Pens, Anything Else?

[lovestowrite]

Another great idea for a cruise is a sport bottle water filter from Aquasana. They are fairly inexpensive and are very good portable items.

[Jazzfman]

Thanks but I will bring CLEAN undies fo each day plus a few more!!!!:p

[thecoop]

I always stick my room key in my bra.

 

I do too but my wife compains about me doing this. LOL:D

[WebStir4]

I take my clothes out of the closet on their hangers and pack them in my suitcase. When I unpack, I pick up the clothes on their hangers from the suitcase and hang them in the closet. It takes me about ten minutes to pack and unpack my clothes. As far as shoes, I take as few as possible. I try to wear some of the same shoes with more than one outfit.

[JeriNP]

I didn't have time to read every post, but I swear by Shout Wipes. They really work well, especially on protein stains - food, blood, etc. Amazing and easy to pack.

 

Night light, power strip, alarm clock, hi-liters, small Jansport back packs, three-ring binder w/our entire itinerary, including port information; clothes steamer; international phone cards; door decoration to make identifying easier; lots of singles ($1) for room service/bell hop/deck chair/etc. A sincere "thanks" and $2 goes a long way...(in that same vein - I ALWAYS tip my room steward the moment we meet him/her - about $40 for a seven-day cruise, exponentially more for a longer cruise - generates good vibes for the duration, as well as extra consideration).

 

Packing clothes - I make a list, lay everything we could possibly need to wear out on the bed...and put half of it back. Then I put the rest in the bags, on hangers, with lots of tissue paper and drycleaning plastic in between. There are NO wrinkles when I unpack. One pair flipflops, one pair knock-around clogs or topsiders, one pair killer black stilettos, one pair black flats, one pair sneakers for the gym, and that's all the shoes I need. Really, who's looking at my feet on vacation? I don't intend to be wearing shoes a whole lot during the day!

[Fergus]

I was in the Dollar Tree (looking for the over-the-door shoe holder!) and saw that they have heavy duty luggage straps (72 in. I think) in several color combinations. Saw several other items listed here too.....bungee packets, small duct tape rolls, door stoppers, laundry bags, etc. I picked up a pkg of the velcro cable ties - thought those might come in handy for something.

[loosey]

The worst part about a balcony is that the sea spray will obscure your view when it gets on the glass. Take a small squeegee and keep it clean every time you want to look out!

[Snapshot19]

I pack priority mail envelopes from the post office. They are free, made of cardboard and don't bend too easily. I put papers I want to save for my scrapbook, pictures and things like that into these sturdy envelopes before packing them. They don't get bent or crinkled on the journey home.

[Dr. Crash]

I take a Credit Card to pay my sail and sign:D

[Indea88]

Collapsable hamper, roll of one dollar bills, wrinkle release spray, travel shower gel for rinsing bathing suits, back lit travel alarm. Visit www.cruisecrates.com, for delivery to your stateroom, don't have to bringit all with you, will be waiting for you on the ship!!!:)

[ecs66]

I took generic Tagamet for my daily heartburn, but never had any heartburn during a cruise. Obviously it's stress-related!

 

Also for me, a lighted makup mirror.

 

Before leaving for Mexico, I had Verizon activate our cells for international calling, which is a free service. Of course, you'd pay any roaming or long distance, but the option is there if you're desperate. We did call our house sitter from the cabin balcony while in Puerto Vallarta, and the connection was clearer than when we're both in the same town.

[webecruisen]

We have taken walkie talkies to communicate on the ship. They work well for locating or the other half.

 

Don't forget to take a copy of all of your id, and credit cards just in case.

 

Bring postage. What is really fun is to send a post card home from every port and/or just once a day to yourself. Write about the day or send future message to yourself. They come sometimes days and even weeks after you are home. But it's a great reminder of how much fun you had and put's a smile on your face after the cruise. Post cruising depression usually sets in as soon as you get home and will last for about a week.

 

 

Webecruisen

[claudia814]

Okay, just back from our cruise... things that I found I did NOT need that I took & things that I found invaluable:

 

Power strip - did not need. Unless you are going to have more than 2 things going at once you don't need it. They have a hairdryer in most cabins so that was the only thing I needed to plug in & a phone charger. We could simply unplug something for 5 minutes if you needed the outlet, but we never had to.

 

Bungee cord - did not need. Took it, in case, to hold the door open, but there was nowhere to hook it onto the balcony. If we had wanted the door open we could have just stuck the foot rest in the door or there was a door jam too. But didn't end up leaving the door open at day/night.

 

Suction hooks - did not need. There was a 'dryer line' in the shower that I used to dry my bathing suit & didn't find anything else that needed to be hooked up.

 

Over the door clear shoe holder - DEFINITELY the BEST thing we took with us. We hung it over the closet door & put our cameras, suntan lotion, cell phones, clothes roller etc. in it. Pack it!

 

Duct tape - used it for a scavenger hunt competition (had to get a partridge in a pear tree, so creatively made one... well it kind of looked like one anyway! lol). But didn't use it for anything else. But I would recommend it, just in case.

 

Thermos/cooler sports bottle - used it during the day on ship. They had free iced tea. So I would fill it up with the crushed ice, ice tea, throw a couple of splendas in, shake it up & voila. Would wonder around the ship with it & didn't have to keep going up to the lido deck to get a free drink. The kind I bought had a zippered insulated shell on the plastic sports bottle. Then a handle stitched down the side - it worked perfectly.

 

Ziploc bags - useful to have. Took some of 3 different sized bags & used them for bringing snacks off the ship (cookies, fruit, sandwiches), then a bunch of splenda for home. ;)

 

Laundry detergent - we packed our own liquid detergent in an empty 12oz coke bottle & that worked great, didn't leak at all. Then put dryer sheets in a ziploc bag.

 

Think that's all.

 

~Sharon~

I'm confused! Although I'd love to bring a sandwich off the ship for an excursion, I've read where you're not allowed to remove food from the ship other than a power bar or something similar. Can someone please clear this up. I'll be on NOS going to Western Caribbean. Thank you.

[DALSAL]

Your not suppose to be unwrapped food (power bars and other wrapped bars are ok) or fruit,but,Ive never had them search my bag.My sister in law is diabetic and always has something,and shes never been questioned.

[claudia814]

Thanks for your rapid response. I appreciate it and will take a wrapped sandwich from room service off ship in collapsible cooler.

[ZigNKat]

WOW!!!

 

I just spent three days (off and on) reading all of these posts!! Thanks!

 

We travel a lot, and thought I'd thought of everything (DH thinks I WAY over pack, until he needs something I brought!).

 

My suggestion for cruises is a multi-pocket portfolio -- one pocket for every port, plus one for the ship and one for document copies. We're collecting so much information before our cruise in July that it will come in handy to sort everything for each stop we make!

 

Happy Cruising!!!

 

:D :D

[daney825]

I don't know about any other ladies here, but I won't forget my Intuition razor. That thing is great. Especially in those tiny showers, struggling to get shaving cream on without it washing off before I can use it. I love it, one easy step!!

Oh, don't forget a great attitude. It's a vacation, if you forget something don't worry about it!! Have a blast!

[funat55]

We bring small kleenix tissue packets for use in the facilities when we go on shore excursions. Some of the public restrooms (especially in Mexico) don't always have toilet paper, so the kleenix comes in handy.

[3 Kitty Mommy]

Not sure if these have been mentioned yet but I bring a plug-in air freshner with a built in night light (it really helped after my DH had the vegetable curry for dinner:p ).

 

Also, we carry a compass. We like to rent a car when visiting an island and road signs are not always easy to find. With a compass you can at least find the general direction you want to go.

[WKM]

Take Tide to Go. Takes stains out. Easy to carry in purse, fanny pack, etc.

 

Take small notepad and take notes of where you went, who you met, what you did. You would be surprised how much is forgotten. Fun to go back and read your notes as you look at your pictures.

[NewYorker@Heart]

We also include a small air freshner for the bathroom...one that can be opened or closed as needed. Extension cords are a must and a power strip is a great idea.

 

bimosgal - Do you know how many outlets are in an inside cabin? Is is possible to overload the circuit if I bring a power strip? Don't want to do that.

 

Thanks

[keysguy]

I am leaving for my 6th cruise in about 3 weeks, and I have Overpacked EVRY TIME I have gone. So much of the time you want to be totally prepared for anything, and totally self sufficient, you can lose sight of the fact you are not going to the australian outback for a week. You Cabin steward can get you almost anything you need that you would have forgotten, the gift shop has a lot of stuff (and not too expensive ) as well. If you like to pack an extra suitcase to carry all the extra stuff, thats fine, but anytime I have overpacked, and NOT had what I needed, someone who I met on the cruise was able to help out.

 

For my money, the top "things to bring" are (iin no paticular order):

 

A Big, insulated, cup with a spill proof lid (Great for people like me who drink like a GALLON of coffee in the morning, and don't drink alcohol, so I can fill it with Ice and Water while lying on the pool deck)

 

A clear plastic over the door shoe organizer, that has like 9 or 12 pockets. great for thebottles of sunscreen, toiletries, etc that there is just NO room for in the bathroom medicine chest.

 

A small plastic or bamboo "Cafeteria" tray. If you like to go to the buffett, and bring your sleepy loved one back some hot breakfast in bed, and are not thrilled by the room service menu, a small tray is invaluable., As a rule the ships dont have them, and just try to carry a glas of juice, two cups of coffee, two plates of eggs, fruit..... you get the idea. Dollar store or pier one for the tray.

 

Just my two cents worth. Ill be packing a swimsuit and a t shirt for my next cruise, so I might be bumming something from you! Look out!

[montekat]

"A small plastic or bamboo "Cafeteria" tray. If you like to go to the buffett, and bring your sleepy loved one back some hot breakfast in bed, and are not thrilled by the room service menu, a small tray is invaluable., As a rule the ships dont have them, and just try to carry a glass of juice, two cups of coffee, two plates of eggs, fruit..... you get the idea. Dollar store or pier one for the tray."

 

A tray is a great idea. Now if I can just find a small, lightweight one. We always bring the insulated mugs, can't sail without them.

[berniemom]

HI,

IF WHILE SNORKELING/OR JUST IN THE WATER GENERALLY AND YOU GET STUNG BY A JELLY FISH, THE MEAT TENDERIZER WORKS.

I HAVE ALSO HEARD U CAN P ON IT BUT ,,,,THIS MIGHT BE PRETTY TRICKY.:o

I LOVE THE SHOE THING ON THE DOOR, IT WAS INCREDIBLE HELP.

BOUNCE FABRIC SHEETS RUBBED ON U (NOT USED IN THE DRYER FIRST) WILL KEEP THE MOSQUITOS AWAY.

[berniemom]

HI,

U WILL WANT TO KEEP TRACK OF ANY TOWELS YOU TAKE OUT OF YOUR ROOM, AS U WILL B CHARGED ABOUT 25.00 FOR EACH TOWEL.:o