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Take A Cruise!
The best gift ever you can give yourself is going on a luxury cruise! This is probably one of the most fun and relaxing holiday trips you can take. From tropical cruises in the Caribbean and South Pacific to the elegant Mediterranean and the colder latitudes like Alaska and the North Sea, there’s the perfect cruise for you!
The thought of docking at different ports around the world, ready to disembark and go exploring at places you’ve only dreamed of touring is very exciting. Yet, the real destination is the luxury cruise ship itself! These floating cities have so much to offer in terms of entertainment, things to do, parties to attend and fine dining meals to be enjoyed. When you combine exotic ports of call with all the onboard fun and activities, you the recipe for an incredible vacation experience!
While all the excitement above is part of a fun cruise experience, I’m one who likes to plan all parts of my vacations. Most of all I stress about packing the things I will need to make my trip as fun as possible. So here is a a list I jotted down. Please free to add an item or two in the comments area. You may think of an item that will really helps someone on their cruise.
Helpful Packing Tips for Your Cruise
You finally booked that dream cruise destination. You worked with your Travel Agent to book the right cruise, the best cabin accommodations and prearrange the optional tours; however, you have not packed your luggage for this upcoming trip! Preparing a list of things you will need to pack for your holiday trip is as important as booking your cruise. Check out below the ultimate packing list for your perfect getaway experience.
#1 Beauty and Toiletries & Essentials
When traveling on a longer journey such as a one or two week cruise, it is a must to always pack your toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, soap, lotion, sunscreen, tissue, sanitizers, insect repellent. Notice we included sunscreen! The ocean reflects the sun’s rays and intensifies them which makes your skin sunburn twice as fast. Additionally, if you are cruising in the tropics the sun is much stronger near the equator than in the northern areas of Europe or Alaska. Be careful, were 30spf sunscreen or higher to protect your skin.
If you are prone to motion sickness, you may want to bring seasick prevention medication. We won’t recommend a specific medicine, but will say to ask your personal physician for the right prescription.
The different cruise lines each have different ambience, but onboard dining is generally a semi-formal affair which you will want to look nice. Women are sure to bring their beauty and personal products. Many women bring a basic make up kit that includes lip gloss, eye liner and powder. Men will need mouthwash, toothpaste, deodorant, razor, shaving cream a hair brush and body spray.
#2 Emergency Kit
Although your cruise ship and hotels have emergency kits by law, travelers should also carry their own basic emergency kit to be prepared. Your emergency kit should contain disinfectant, band aids, anti-allergy medication and aspirin of Ibuprofen headache/fever medicines, a vomit bag. You will of course bring all your prescription medicine, but make sure to bring the necessary prescription documentation from your physician. For young women, be sure to include some feminine products in the emergency kit as well.
#3 Accessories and Extra Bags
You will need sunglasses on your cruise. The sun’s glare off the ocean can be quite intense. Protect your eyes with a good quality pair of sunglasses. Speaking of the sun, women will want to bring a shawl to protect your shoulders from sunburn if you like to wear sleeveless tops. Of course, an attractive shawl can be a nice way to accessorize too!
Bring some extra bags to organize! Separate your dirty clothes. Put all the cool tourist items you got shopping on the shore trips in a bag. Use them to store wet bathing suits while you are traveling back home. Also, you may wish to bring an extra pouch, tote or sling bag which can be easier to walk around with while exploring a new port of call.
Note: While it may be tempting to put your camera, wallet and travel documents in a sling bag or tote, I recommend you be careful and hold on to your camera tightly. Put your wallet in your front pocket. As your cruise concierge for the best options to store your Passport and other travel documents onboard.
#4 Footwear
Bring two different shoes, one nice pair of shoes for the formal event and another comfortable pair of walking shoes for exploring. So you will need shoes for both formal dining occasions and for walking around the ports of call.
Also, pack slip on Slippers (or flip flops) and sandals in your luggage. You needed flip flops for walking on beaches, parks, or in with the cruise ship areas.
#5 Pack the Right Clothes
Count the nights away and pack your personal undergarments first so you know you’re good on that issue. You can never be wrong in bring extra underwear. You just never know. You can wear your outer garments twice or so, but a shower, deodorant and clean undies will ensure your best personal hygiene.
Bring a variety of clothes that can be worn on different occasions, at different times. Pack tank tops or shirts (possibly plain ones), shorts (for warm days), dress or any semi-formal apparel (for formal events like dinner on a fancy restaurant), sleeping wear (like pajama), and pants or jeans (for terrain tourist spots).
Jackets and other additional protective clothing items are a must during winter months or cold weather cruise itineraries. For holiday vacations in northern territories or an Antarctic cruise which get a lot of freezing snow make sure to bring a top-coat, trench coat which has a thick protective layer to help keep you warm. This is the type of apparel which you should purchase before you travel.
For more tropical cruises, you will need outfits for the night parties which may be held outdoor on deck or indoors in the dining rooms or theaters. Consider clothes that are light weight and less bulgy but are still able to protect you from the heat of the sun. You will want to bring some plain clothes and collar shirts which look best for photos. Plan your outfits so you can mix and match with other pieces of clothes and accessories so you dont’s look the same in all your vacation photos.
Make sure to bring a swimsuit for some pool time and hanging around on deck. Whether or not you will take a dip in the ocean or swim on the ships’s pool, it pays to prepare an outfit for hanging out with other passengers.
#6 Food Stack
Although Cruises include your meals – it is always smart to pack a light snack and bottle of water for your air travel to meet your cruise at the port.
When the management from Nerdywriters recently rewarded their employees with a weekend cruise, the HR department insisted everyone to bring a quick snack regardless. This will allow them to have small food intake preventing them to be irritated in worst case scenarios because they are always full. In relation to this, you do not want to ruin your vacation feeling moody and irritated just because you missed a meal for few minutes or hour.
#7 Camera, and other Electronic Essentials
Your dream vacation should be documented. Pictures will help you recall all the great memories and fun activities you experienced and the places you visited. Take as many photos as you can without interfering with your enjoyment. Bring a camera with you with enough memory storage so you can keep all your memories alive.
Smartphones can serve two purposes – one as an emergency tool for contacting other people and the other for entertainment. You can carry books with you so you can read when traveling but electronic gadgets now can provide you digital copies of books you like. You can even install different apps on your phones like games, maps, or check your emails in the event your boss needs something from you while you are on vacation.
#8 Important Documents
Lastly, you should always bring some cash with you along with your valid identification, credit and debit cards, valid passport, any required entry visas and travel tickets or other necessary documents for traveling.
As the consultants from NinjaEssays strictly warn tourists to make sure they bring all required travel documentation including proof of funds, entry visas and your valid passport with at least six (6) months of validity remaining so you won’t have any problems with customs authorities as you enter foreign counties.
Are You Ready to Cruise?
Now, that you have the ultimate packing list; it is also very important to research about the weather conditions, natural elements of the destination and other factors that may affect how you dress. If you are able to organize everything in your list… You have nothing to worry, just enjoy!