Formal night is always the second night of a cruise, never the first night. Traditionally everyone went to dinner in their traveling clothes the first night. People brought huge amounts of luggage (see Titanic movie). All luggage would not be delivered by dinner time. It would be an extreme embarrassment to go to dinner under dressed without a tuxedo or gown. To prevent anyone from being embarrassed, everyone wore travel clothes the first night. Keep your first day’s clothes in your carry on.
The walls of cruise ships are magnetic. A few magnetic clips will help you keep all those daily bulletins organized and off your surfaces. I like to keep my sun hat hanging by the door on a magnetic hook.
I keep a night light, for bathrooms, in my toiletry kit. When I turn the bright bluish bathroom light on at night, it wakes me up and kills my night vision, making it hard to get back to the bed. The bathrooms on cruise ships do not have electrical outlets. Bring a soft battery powered light.
Please turn your outdoor balcony light off at night (unless you are using it), so cruisers can try to see some stars.
The extreme outdoor lighting and total lack of visible stars was my biggest disappointment on my first cruise.
The cruise ship charges a ridiculous amount of money for a bottle of water. Bring a refillable bottle to take on excursions. Liquid water is not allowed through airport security, but solid water is. Freeze your water bottle to take on the plane.
In the past, NCL has had “White Night”. Everyone is encouraged to wear all white.
If you take medication, be sure to bring a list of the generic names and dosages. Brand names change by country and you could get a completely different drug. The generic names will be the same all over the world. Write out anything a medical person treating you should know. Put all medication in your carry on. Even healthy people need a health care proxy. Discuss it with your family.
Put a color copy of the photo page of your passport in each suitcase, just in case.
