Planning A Cruise – Here Is Your Guide To Helpful Tips and Staying Organized
Going on a cruise is an exciting and unforgettable experience but staying organized can make your trip even more enjoyable. With limited cabin space and packed itineraries, having the right travel essentials can help keep everything in order. Here’s a guide to helpful tips and staying organized while cruising, so you can focus on relaxation and adventure.
Helpful Tip - I recommend booking your shore excursions in advance to save money and to ensure you get to do the activities that you want before they get booked up. Download the ship’s app to keep up to date on the ship’s activities, entertainment, dining, shore excursions, embarkation and disembarkation information. You will need to select your embarkation time via the app and make sure you show up at the port promptly with your boarding documents, identification, and passport if required. I recommend booking an early embarkation time so you can get on the ship and begin your vacation. I do not advise flying to your cruise port location on the same day that your ship departs. If you arrive late for any reason your cruise ship will not wait, and you will be out the cost of the cruise. It’s a good idea to book your flight for the day before in case you have flight delays or other travel disruptions.
Helpful Tip - On the day before your embarkation decide how you plan to get to the port. Does your hotel offer a shuttle, or do you need to book a taxi or an Uber? Make sure that all the pieces of your luggage have a preprinted cruise tag attached. These will be emailed to you along with your cruise documents. I highly recommend purchasing clear plastic cruise tag protecters, so your paper tags don’t get ripped off your luggage.
1. Luggage – Pick luggage that is lightweight and offers durability, expandability, and smooth spinner wheels that will help you navigate busy ports and cruise terminals with ease.
Helpful Tip – Embarkation Day - You will check in your luggage at the cruise port. The porters will deliver your luggage and place it right outside of your cabin door. I would recommend keeping a small carry-on rolling suitcase or a small tote bag with you and not checking it in with the luggage porter. You will not be able to enter your cabin until your cabin steward has thoroughly cleaned it from the previous cruise. You should be able to get into your cabin around 2:00pm.
While you are waiting to get into your cabin you are more than welcome to explore the ship, have lunch, schedule your dining time, and relax at the pool. The bars and the pools will be open so start enjoying yourself. In your embarkation day carry-on or tote bag, pack your swimsuit, swimsuit cover-up, flip flops, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat so you can easily get changed and relax at the pool.
2. Packing - Packing with packing cubes is a very useful way to keep your clothes from getting too wrinkled. I like to pre-plan my outfits by the day and put them into separate packing cubes. This is a huge time saver and helps take the guess work out of what to put on for the day. Every evening on the cruise there is typically a theme for dinner and evening dress attire. It’s up to you if you want to participate. Some of the popular themes are Caribbean night, formal night, white night, and casual night. The longer your cruise the theme nights will probably repeat. Depending on what excursions, activities, and evening attire that you decide on, will determine how to pack for each day.
Helpful Tip – You are not allowed to bring clothing irons or steamers on the ship so bring a bottle of wrinkle release spray.
3. Lanyards – Wearing a lanyard is a really easy way to keep track of your sea pass card. You will need this card to open your cabin door, make additional purchases on the ship, and it will identify you as you come and go from the ship.
4. Magnetic Hooks – All the walls and doors in your cabin are made of metal which makes using magnetic hooks the easiest way to keep you gear off the floor and visible. I like to buy a pack of 10 and use them all over the room to hang hats, beach bags, backpacks, lanyards, charging cords and anything else you can think of. You may need to use more than one depending on the weight of the bag. You can even use them in the shower to hang up your swimsuits or toiletries bags.
Helpful Tip – Your cruise ship cabins are rather small so do what you can to keep your stuff off the floor. This is super helpful for the cabin stewards, who routinely come in to make up the beds and tidy up the space.
5. Excursion Bag – I prefer to use a lightweight, waterproof, durable backpack for my excursions at the ports. I like to prepack my excursion backpack with these items - sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, bug spray, rain poncho, battery pack for phone charging, contact solution, small first aid kit, headache medicine, map of the port, single dollar bills for tipping tour guides and drivers, change of dry clothes and a beach towel if swimming is involved. There are so many fun things to do when you’re out and about sightseeing, shopping, hanging out at the beach or enjoying the local cuisine and culture, so enjoy every minute.
Helpful Tip – Attend the port informational talk the night before of each of your port days to get the best advice on duty free shopping, maps, restaurants, language, culture and customs. When you come and go from the ship have your sea pass card ready to be scanned by the ship’s personnel.
Take a picture of the sign that says, “Return to Ship Time”, when you are leaving the ship. The ship will not wait for you, so make sure you watch your time carefully and get return to the ship before the time stated.
If you need a beach towel for your excursion, pick up one from the towel station on the ship. They are free to use, just remember to bring them back or you will be charged for the towel.
6. Handbag – During the days when you are cruising at sea, or if you choose not to leave the ship on your port days, you will want to have a medium-sized casual handbag or beach bag to carry with you around the ship. I recommend having sunscreen, sunglasses, SPF lip balm, hat, phone, windbreaker if needed, and a bottle of water with you.
During the evening. I recommend that you switch out your medium-sized handbag for a small one that is dressy, especially if you are attending the formal or white dinner. I typically will carry a small black handbag that will go with all my evening outfits. I like to carry my phone, sea pass card, and lip stick.
7. Hanging Toiletry Bag – Countertop space and is certainly limited in cruise ship bathrooms so opting for a hanging toiletry bag is the way to go. Your cabin stewards will appreciate you also doing this because it will make cleaning the countertops much easier for them.
Helpful Tip - The walls in your bathroom are made of metal so use your magnetic hooks to hang up your toiletry bag.
8. Over-The-Counter-Medications – When you are on a cruise it’s a good idea to pack a variety of over-the-counter medications with you. The ship’s gift shop will typically offer a few options but may not have the brand that you normally use. Plus, you will be paying three times the price of what you normally would. If you decide to wait and buy what you need when you are docked at port you still may not find the brand or type of medication that you need and the instructions could be in a different language. It’s best to eliminate the stress over it and bring a variety of options from home. I like to use this pill organizer with stick-on labels. I bought two of these pill organizers and loved how many different brand sticker labels that they came with.
Helpful Tip – If you are prone to sea sickness, there are multiple over the counter medications available you can use while cruising. I have found the behind-the-ear patches very effective for me, and they stay on even while swimming or showering.
9. Prescription Medications – When you are traveling out of the country it’s a good idea to keep your prescription medications in their original bottles, and you should always have at least two additional days of your medication with you, just in case your travel plans change for any reason. I really liked this prescription bottle organizer because each bottle was held securely in place by elastic bands.
Helpful Tip – I like to take a picture of my prescription bottles just in case my medications were to get misplaced, or if I needed emergent medical attention, I could easily reference them.
Happy Travels!
- Kelli Siebenahler
