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Worst Cruise Packing Mistakes


Brittany C
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Our first cruise and 10 year wedding anniversary was on the Freedom in 2007. We decided to renew our vows, I purchased a new wedding gown and Frank rented a tux that was just beautiful and matched my gown. As I was leaving the spa on our first sea day, after a very relaxing massage, Frank meets me at the entrance to the spa and asks "DID YOU PACK MY TUX?" to which I responded, "no, I carried a 20 pound wedding dress all over the airport, I thought YOU packed your tuxedo?" He had not, fortunately, he DID pack the shoes and shirt so he was able to rent a tuxedo on the ship.

 

He still looked very handsome but we ended up paying for two rentals. Since then, he purchased his own tuxedo and has only left the shirt at home once. :D

 

Wow...and I thought we were in trouble on the "Tux" issue. At least your DH was able to rent the tux! :) Since I now make my DH pack his own stuff (after too many complaints about what I did or did not pack ;) ) he packs along with me as I supervise. Seems to work pretty well now, and I think he actually enjoys the process.

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Wow...and I thought we were in trouble on the "Tux" issue. At least your DH was able to rent the tux! :) Since I now make my DH pack his own stuff (after too many complaints about what I did or did not pack ;) ) he packs along with me as I supervise. Seems to work pretty well now, and I think he actually enjoys the process.

 

As someone else mentioned, we now have a list and go through everything before leaving home :D

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This was more of an after the fact packing mistake....

 

We were all packed and in the cab on the way to the terminal. I had our cruise docs and passports in my hand in an envelope. In my anxiousness to get on the ship, without thinking, as we got out of the cab I slipped the envelope with all of the documentation we needed for embarkation into the flap of one of the suitcases and sent them off with the porter. I realized this 5 minutes later and ran towards where the porters were stacking the bags. It took only a few minutes to find my case, but that was a very anxious few minutes.

Edited by Sascol
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This was at the end of the cruise (and on DCL not Royal). I had set out shoes. Shoes to be packed and shoes to be worn off. They were separated. I did that in the morning, in a spot not messed with by the room attendant.

 

When we got back to the room to start actually packing before we had to set out the bags (and we were using their onboard checkin service where we put the bags out and saw them again at our home airport), DH started packing shoes. He asked some question but I thought I knew the correct answer and based on how I had left things, and things were packed based on that.

 

Either that evening after the bags were long gone, or the next morning...where are MY shoes for the morning?

 

Ah, hmm, packed. Because, it turns out, the attendant had straightened the shoes and closed the gap between to-be-packed shoes and to-be-worn-home shoes. This wasn't an issue for DH and DS, since DH knew what shoes he was wearing and DS really only has the one pair of shoes he likes for traveling. He thought I had taken care of my shoes. Which I had. Until the attendant moved them.

 

Cross country flight home to the Seattle area in January, wearing flip flops with no socks. Yay.

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One cruise I forgot any dress socks and on another I forgot ties, on another I forgot a belt. I pack myself, always the night before, so I can't blame my wife! She usually packs several days before. She jokes every time now wondering what we'll have to stop to pick up. Thankfully we fly in at least a day before. I'm beginning to wonder if she is taking stuff out of my bags so that we will HAVE to go shopping!

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One of our first cruises was a 10-day Mexican Riviera. I forgot my bathing suits. So I had to buy one in Manzanillo in a little shop attached to an all-inclusive resort. The change room was smaller than most cruise ship showers and was at least 100 humid degrees. It was tortuous getting the suit off and on it was so hot in there. I ended up buying a too-large, too-expensive, and honestly too ugly, bathing suit that I never wore again once I got home :(

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I usually put everything in piles before I pack - outfits that go together. When packing I picked up the piles and pkaced them in my luggage. Other piles on the bed were from laundry I had just done. Yup, packed all the long sleeved shirts in the luggage and put away all of the shirts I needed for the cruise - ugh!! I now have a list and check it twice. Perfect I thought until I was checking my list against what was packed. Had to take some of the packed items out of the luggage to check off all my items. Yup, everything was there - problem was I forgot to re-pack the things I took out!!

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Opening the case for our 25 nights cruise only to discover I had packed every single pair of cropped trousers I possessed, one skirt and 6 tops!! I had packed dresses, a couple of pairs of trousers and shorts as well but I could have cried with frustration. Spent several hours going through the case to find my white trousers (for smart casual nights) couldn't find them. They were on the back of the door in the bedroom when I got home. :eek:

 

Clearly I was somewhere else when I packed. Should also point out that it was a cruise to North America in November/December and didn't need the shorts anyway :(

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I'm an avid reader and hate being without a book. I finally decided it was time to buy a kIndle paper white( after months of trying to decide, I really like to hold an actual book). I spend hours loading it with books. I'm pretty pleased with myself, we drove to my sister's home outside of NYC spent the night. We get on the Splendor, I immediately go for the kindle, so excited to have it and a drink. Yep, somehow it got taken out of my bag and left at my sisters. I have since somehow Left/forgotten that Kindle on 3 other occasions. It has a mind of its own.

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Packed a spray can of sun screen, put it in a ziplock bag. However I did not turn the nozzle to the off position. The nozzle got depressed in transit and the liquid ate through the the ziplock. Most of my clothing was stained and it ate the finish off of a pair of dress sandals. You bet I check those spray nozzles now!

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Almost ended up with pj's only for disembark morning. A miscommunication between my "helpful" husband and myself had him pack pretty much everything, and place it in the hallway for pick up the night before. I don't recall now how I caught that one but I'm really glad I did, and very careful now.

 

I'd read somewhere about a passenger who resorted to asking by knocking on doors if others could donate clothing for him to disembark apparently his outfit was "interesting!". ;)

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I am fortunate enough never to have had a packing disaster. I am also fortunate to have a spare room with a closet with rod and hangers to put clothes before folding.

 

I start putting things in this room ahead of time. The bed is for items going into checked luggage. I set up a table for things going into carry on bags. Two chairs are for what we will wear when we depart.

 

Lists are there and items are checked and rechecked. I pack, but my DH checks what I have put out for him so he cannot complain later.

 

The morning we leave we double check the essentials and at our age they include lots: medicines, hearing aids, multiple pairs of glasses, money and plastic money and passports and etickets, charged phone and ebooks.

 

We cross pack and include spare change of clothes in carry on. However we had a close call flying from Sydney to Cairns two years ago when our luggage did not arrive in Cairns. We needed shorts and swim suits for early the next morning for our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Luckily a Target store in town had what we needed and on top of that our luggage was delivered to us around midnight. If you need special items for the next day I now know to pack essentials in the carry on bags.

Edited by maryann ns
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This happened to a friend of mine on my first cruise. A friend and her husband love to dress up, so they were looking forward to formal night. However, the husband is also extremely casual during the day so he basically packed, flip-flops and his dress shoes to wear with his tux. Unfortunately, he discovers when unpacking, he left his dress shoes :eek: at home and when he went to see if they had shoes available to rent, they didn't have his size. It was an interesting combination . . . !! :D

 

We still laugh about it to this day!

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On our first Alaska Cruise with the land portion (4 days) last, (I have since found land segment 1st to be more relaxing), When I packed my bags, the last night of the cruise, I packed ALL my shoes in one bag. Yep, that bag got lost and I had the one "cute" pair of shoes that I wore from the ship to the hotel, for the rugged, back country, Denali portion of our trip. When I stepped off the tour bus for our all terrain ride, the tour guide said, "what cute shoes" which translates, "how stupid is she??". We were NEVER near an area where I could buy anything other than UGG Boots at "Souvenir Stores" $$$$$.

My husband and I now each pack a suitcase and we have clothing and shoes for both in each.

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not really my own "mistake", but the airline lost my luggage. good thing we flew in the day before, as I was able to get some things from the K-Mart. it wasn't easy to find cruise wear at the store, but I was able to make it work.. but boy, was I angry at the airline! carnival helped out a bit by giving me about $75 to spend on the ship!

now I see why it is wise to cross-pack!

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I had mistakenly left my ATM card in the machine the day before we were set to leave. that day was thanksgiving eve, and we were taking off on thanksgiving day. I realized what I had done about 2 hours after most branches had closed! I was able to find a supermarket that had a bank branch that was about 45 minutes away, however, they were closing in 30 minutes. after explaining my dilemma, the manager waited for me to get there and I was able to withdraw all my money needed for the trip. that, of course, changed my onboard account from a credit/debit card to a cash account.

now when I travel, I check, double and triple check my credit/debit cards and money!!!

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