Must Pack items for my Mediterranean Cruise?

What can you share about the items that have come in handy on your Mediterranean Cruise? I can't imagine packing for 12 days!!! :p All help is appreciated!!

What can you share about the items that have come in handy on your Mediterranean Cruise? I can't imagine packing for 12 days!!! :p All help is appreciated!!

My advice is to bring:

Sunscreen

Hat

Cool clothing (it gets very hot in the Mediterranean)

Good pair of walking shoes

Camera with lots of memory cards and batteries

Great question! We're going on our honeymoon on a 12-day Med. cruise on the Grand Princess in October. I can't wait to see the answers. Thanks for asking this.

Some zip lock baggies and a couple face cloths. Wet the face cloths and pack in zip lock baggies for excursions -- you will feel so much better if you can freshen up during hot days.

Comfortable shoes you have already worn so they are well broken in.

Lambs Wool to wrap around your toes, heel, foot to protect from blisters and to cushion blisters if you get any of them.

A very lightweight umbrella -- protection from sun and in case it rains.

Keep any waterbottles you get along the way to re-use for excursions (ship water is fine).

Small kit of medications and bandaids, e.g. rolaids, aspirin, pepto-bismal, etc. saves you trying to find something while in port.

Spare camera and batteries/battery charger for sure!

Good sun hat.

Lightweight bag to carry stuff comfortably while in port including little souvenirs you might buy. We each carry one for water bottles, face cloths, sun glasses, etc.

Under the clothing travel wallet to protect your credit cards, sea pass, ID, cash.

Few plastic clothes pins to hang your handwashed items.

Kathy:)

For me a MUST is an extention cord or power strip. We all know the lack of plug in's in our cabins and this helps tremendously!!! Also I was sure to take plenty of gum! Crazy I know but the selections on the ship and other countries are usually very different!!!

Plenty of spare cards for your digital camera. We took over 3,200 pictures on our Med. cruise last summer. It took us 2 weeks when we got back to edit the lot but we are really happy with the results. Review and photos in the links below.

Kathy:)

You probably know this, but airlines now have stiff penalties for going over the weight limit, so be sure to know what it is and what your suitcases weigh.

-small scale (Radio Shack)

-space bags (packing bags to compress clothes)

-manila envelope for pictures taken by ship photographer

-dollar bills for room service

-plastic poncho for rain

-windbreaker (can be cool on deck at night)

-sweatshirt/sweater (")

-Pouchsafe for copy of passport, Seapass, credit card and cash while ashore

-tote bag for souvenirs and things like rain poncho and water bottle

-photocopy of passport (Keep original in safe except in Croatia)

-Excel spreadsheet with important phone numbers (including international phone number for credit card company, travel agent, ship and airline) and names and addresses for post cards

-international phone card in case you want to call home (optional/you can Google & get one online)

-travel insurance (may need to do this with final payment-covers lost luggage, trip interruption, may cover family illness or traveler's illness-be sure to ask!)

Because of weight restrictions for the formal night I wear lightweight clingy outfits from Chico's and Coldwater Creek. (Some people get one skirt or pair of slacks and 2 or 3 coordinating very dressy tops!)

Be sure to tell your credit card company that you will be out of the country and let them know where you will be charging. Even though they knew, this year they put a security hold on our card because of one charge they considered suspicious, so the phone number was helpful.

Most of all just enjoy the cruise! Italy and Croatia were great!

2 things I take on all cruises are, seasick pills and a highlighter for the compass. :)

my DH:)

my close, close friends:):)

a good attitude:)

and xanax for the flights to and from!!!:o

Wearing shorts can be restricted on board for dining, and ashore at certain sites/itineraries, so I've obtained pants that have zippered legs. I can unzip them and use them as shorts (and swimshorts since they have built-ins), and keep them packed in the extra pockets. When I need pants, I can zip them back on. Columbia has a full line of these pants which are very light and washable/easily dry. I also got multi-pocket long and shortsleeve shirts of nylon/cotton mix which washup nicely.

Denny

Pack lightly. We were there for five weeks last summer, WONDERFUL!!

ATM machines are plentiful. Hand soap came in handy. We took a memory card for the different ports. We didn't want to lose a trip worth of pictures if anything happened to the camera. Must Sweatshirt. Paris was 55 degrees when there in July. Funny thing we took was a pedometer. Walked over 450 miles in five weeks. Kids thought it was fun.

Confused about the temps...I am leaving on my first for Med Barcelona to Lisbon on Crystal....2-3 formals and 5 rounds of golf...Spain and the Cnanary Islands...I feel like I need alot. Will be shipping my clubs and maybe one bag ahead. Will it really be that warm in early November? I assume the European Golf courses are pretty conservative...but trendy..I feel like I will need lots.

How about the alundry service on board?

Karen

Hubby and I were on a 12-day Med cruise on HAL Prinsendam in 2005. They had a great laundry service -- unlimited laundry for something ridiculously cheap like $75-$80 total!! Hubby especially liked that they brought the undergarments/socks in a little basket -- neatly folded in tissue paper! He actually thought he would get this service at home! Anyways, we were able to pack quite lightly!

#1 thing you need on a Med cruise....

BAND-AIDS!!

Tons of walking, so blisters have been known to join you while on your cruise.

--CeleBrat

There's some really excellent advice in these posts and you won't go wrong following what everyone says.

Surprised that no-one has mentioned 'unmentionables' though. I bought 4 pairs of 'Tilley' underwear for our Medit. cruise. That's a special travel brand of clothing here in Canada but I'm sure there are similar brands elsewhere. They had several styles and colours, even had sports bras.

They were perfect, wash 'em in the sink at night, hang them in the shower and they're dry by morning. Four pair works well as you will want a couple pairs/day (one for day, one for evening). If you're really desperate you could wash them, roll them in a towel and then use the hair dryer and within 15 minutes they were ready to use.

I found that the special 'travel' clothing like t-shirts, men's and ladies shirts, women's tops & skirts were great for this type of trip. They wick away moisture, don't wrinkle, look like silk and are very comfortable. I found it worth my while to buy several pieces that could be mixed over the 12 days.

One other thing - be sure to try on the clothes with the travel ouch underneath...make sure you've got some money and a copy of your passport in it so you'll know how big to buy your clothes. Another tip, if the outfit is a tiny bit snug, go for the next size up as many of us seem to gain some weight on these cruises!

Enjoy your cruise....calm seas and fair winds!

#1 thing you need on a Med cruise....

 

BAND-AIDS!!

 

Tons of walking, so blisters have been known to join you while on your cruise.

 

--CeleBrat

I always buy moleskin, as well...helps so much with blisters. I never travel without it.

In addition to notifying your credit card company be sure to let your bank know that you may be using your ATM card out of the country.