Cruise Packing List

Yes, this is a hiking blog, but we also just went on a cruise. “Hiking” up and down the stairs in the cruise ship and along hot, sunny beaches counts as getting your steps in, right?? A few of you were wanting to see my packing notes, so here ya’ go!

We each took a carry-on sized rolling suitcase plus one other bag/book bag. It’s extremely helpful for everyone to be able to carry all their own bags. Matt perfected a rolling method for clothes to pack things in super efficiently. I spent hours ironing clothes before we packed and when we got there they were all wrinkled, so save yourself the trouble. There are ironing rooms on the boat, so wait and do it there!

Here are the extra things we packed in addition to our normal clothes and toiletries that we found helpful for our cruise.

Things You May Need To Buy

• Magnetic hooks – we stuck these to the metal cabin doors inside our room and bathroom. We hung wet bathing suits and our room key lanyards on them.
• Luggage tags and lanyard set – before your trip you will print out your luggage tags and these plastic holders keep them securely attached to your bags. The lanyards are great to have for each person in your group to keep your key card attached to. You will need to this with you at all times so it makes it easy to wear and go.
• Snorkels – we are big snorkel fans and will look for sea life at every beach we visit. We love having these on hand for quick and easy snorkeling without having to rent a set or do a separate excursion.
• Power strip – the rooms, in our experience, only have one or two plugs. Especially if you are traveling with a family, you will definitely want more room to plug things in. We like the slim design of this power strip that makes it easy to pack.
• Underwater camera and float strap – it’s always fun to get some underwater pics. We’ve had this camera for several years and it has held up very well and given us some fun photos to remember.
• Dramamine, motion patches, motion bracelets – fortunately, none of us ever felt sick, but it’s always great to have these on hand just in case someone needs them.
• Ducks to hide around the boat – we did not do this, but other families had hidden rubber ducks around the boat and our kids enjoyed finding them! We would bring some next time.
• Water phone bags – these pouches are great for keeping your phone in while visiting pools or beaches to keep them out of the water.
• Towel clips – these are nice to have on the boat to keep your towel clipped to your chair because it’s often breezy on the boat deck.

General Items To Bring

• Printed documents: your itinerary and excursion info, boarding passes, luggage tags
• Passports (or other travel ID)
• Cash – including small bills for tips
• Sunscreen and aloe 
• Any carry on drinks your cruise allows that you want to bring
• Some kind of day bag/beach bag that you can carry when you go off ship
• Sunglasses 
• Hats
• Medicines 
• Coffee creamer pods – the cruise has basic coffee supplies, but I like to bring my own flavored creamers.
• Crackers/chips – the cruise has plenty of food, of course, but my kids did miss having some crunchy carbs to much on in the room. A pack of Goldfish or Cheez-Its would have been nice to have.
• Ziploc bags – for storing random, general things and also for packing up anything wet on the way home.
• Inflatable float – we rented a float at one beach, but we saw many people who had brought their own float to blow up. We would do this next time!
• Water bottle – we would fill our bottles up with ice and water from the ship to have cold water with us anytime we wanted. Much easier than using the small plastic water cups on the ship.
• Coffee cup – I wish I had brought a travel coffee mug. I would get a coffee mug from the ship and walk *very* carefully back to our room to drink it on the balcony. A coffee cup with lid would have been so helpful!
• Sweatshirt and/or light jacket – you maybe packing mostly bathing suits and sundresses, but be sure to throw in at least one warm layer. Sometimes it’s cool in the evenings on the boat. It was nice to have a cozy sweatshirt to lounge in, and I also took a denim jacket to layer over dresses in the dining room.
• Door decorations – we did not do this, but next time we would bring something fun to decorate the outside of our cabin door. It makes it easy to spot which door is yours when walking down a long hallway of rooms, plus it’s just fun. 🙂

That’s it! We felt like we had everything we needed for our trip based off this list. Happy cruising!

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