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What's the most useful thing you pack?

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Meamat

Meamat

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Carrying Zip locks is a tip I got YEARS ago on CC and it's the only thing that I 100% have since then ALWAYS packed. .

 

I'm with you on this one! It depended on the situation, but packing outfits in singe ziplocks was invaluable when my kids were little and we were traveling without laundry facilities. Without them, my daughter's suitcase would have been a chaotic mess of clean and dirty clothes within a day!

 

I always have a few for taking things on beach excursions, too. It keeps sunscreens/cameras/phones/medications from getting all mixed up and messy. The last thing we need is a camera smeared with sunscreen and sand.

 

I did get a few ideas from you, too, thank you :-)

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Meamat

Meamat

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We travel with four in one cabin, so we need to be prepared and organised but efficient.

 

My highlights from what everyone has said:

poopourri/one drop deodoriser - life saver for sharing a bathroom!

magnets - we kept kids' programs and daily programs on the wall, one with a hook is good to create a spot for hanging lanyards all in one place

A decently stocked medicine/toiletry kit - we don't use much on each trip, but it's good to know that if someone needs an antihistamine or cough drop that it's easy to grab.

Conditioner - the shampoo was decent enough and we're not too fussy, but salt/wind/chlorine= straw hair.

Cleaning wipes - one pack to thoroughly wipe through the drawers/cupboards/remotes etc. Not for germs so much but we have allergies to dust and moulds in the family so it helps to freshen everything up, especially in an area that by design is always in a humid area!

Post it notes for the mirror in the cabin - keeps all four of us aware of who is where and when we're next meeting for meals/activities etc, as we are all back in the cabin off and on throughout the day.

 

There are other things I pack because they're useful. Those clips for beach towels are excellent for pegging swimmers or towels on lounge chairs. I actually bring a plastic laundry hangar that can clip into the shower to drip dry swimwear but can also be lifted out as one unit so we aren't always removing 8 pieces of swimwear every time someone needs a shower. That's probably the strangest/bulkiest thing we pack, but it's so useful I don't think I'd travel without it unless we were doing a 3 day cruise to nowhere or something. An extra set of swimwear for everyone likely to use it regularly is a huge plus.

 

 

A lot of others' essentials I try to just reuse stuff we already have on board - e.g. a suitcase tucked under the bed works as a laundry hamper and then is easy to wheel to the laundry if you want to wash while on board. I didn't bother with a shoe organiser, we had individual toiletry bags plus a couple of other small bags with sunscreens/medicines etc just stowed in cupboards or on the shelves in the bathroom and that was sufficient. Cups to bring drinks back to the cabin seemed unnecessary and I didn't want to be washing them out while I was on holiday, so I just brought regular cups down from the bars and drinks dispensers. To each their own, of course. You'll find certain things that you can't do without and other things that can't see why you brought it at all.

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luvs2beachit

luvs2beachit

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Over the years we have we have brought with us many of the "must have" items cited in this thread but have found that we just didn't need / use them so at this point our list of necessities is pretty streamlined. We do bring ziplock bags in various sizes, clips to keep our towels in place, Lysol wipes, extra glasses, small 1st aid kit, highlighter, some kind of tape, 2 magnetic clips,disposable large coffee cups with lids, (we like large cups of coffee in the morning and with the disposables we don't have to worry about losing them or carrying around the empties we can just toss them), individual packs of ID French vanilla creamer, sunscreen, shampoo / conditioner, corkscrew, room spray and downy wrinkle release. That's it for the must bring list.

If not flying to the cruise I use 25 in cases and pack all our clothes on hangers than put a large plastic bag over each hanger so the clothes don't wrinkle. Undies, cosmetics, medications etc. go in large ziplocks. Shoes go in plastic newspaper delivery bags So, so easy to unpack. Hang up the clothes, throw shoes in bottom of closet and toss the plastic bags into the drawers or in bathroom. I use one of those large plastic bags I put over the hangers for a laundry bag. If flying it's two carry-ons, clothes rolled. The one tip that I learned here on CC years ago that we still do to this day is to cross pack our clothes in the suitcases or carry-ons this way if one is lost or delivered late we each still have clothes..

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roothy123

roothy123

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Something to put my cruise key card in, because I often don't have pockets and don't want to carry a purse. I take a small cloth wrist wrap that runners wear to keep keys/money/credit card plus a tiny necklace I found at the thrift store. It has a tiny cloth envelope attached to a small rope. I go in and out of the room a lot, and on and off the ship a lot, so I like to have something for my key card.

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eleanola

eleanola

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....I've learned to bring things like a power strip, maybe a few clothes pins, and a spray bottle to spray clothes to help wrinkles fall out. .....

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I read somewhere that a power strip may be confiscated. Is that only if it is a surge protector?

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ExpatBride

ExpatBride

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Unless you book an inside cabin! Might come in handy in Norway in July!

 

Actually, we'd initally booked an inside so we could get a couple weeks of decent sleep, but we were assigned to a guarantee under the Lido deck and were able to upgrade to a balcony for $260 and a bit while adding $125 in OBC and specialty dining, so sleep mask it is!

 

After 7 years of living in Denmark, I don't think I'll ever get used to the 18 hours of daylight in summer or 18 hours of darkness in winter.

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toxicfairy

toxicfairy

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Clothes believe me NO ONE wants to see me naked😂. Other than that I'd say highlighters for marking the daily things we want to do ( one color for hubby one color for me). Stomach meds both pepto and Imodium. And electrical tape ( for tieing things together , keeping the hair dryer button in. Comes off much easier than duct tape and doesn't leave a residue). Oh and one more clothing tape ( aka beauty tape/ bra tape...) , for when a shirt or dress is showing a little too much or just keeps slipping from where it should be.

 

Sent from my SM-J700T1 using Forums mobile app

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telebax51

telebax51

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I read all the post but no one mention what we are going to take A LUGGAGE SCALE on our last cruise DW bought all her Christmas presents so we used the scale from the Hotel to check the weight two bags were overweight, problem corrected before we got to the airport, so i have purchased one for my upcoming cruiseclear.png?emoji-grin-1677

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frantic36 Holiday Sharing Rare

frantic36

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I read all the post but no one mention what we are going to take A LUGGAGE SCALE on our last cruise DW bought all her Christmas presents so we used the scale from the Hotel to check the weight two bags were overweight, problem corrected before we got to the airport, so i have purchased one for my upcoming cruiseclear.png?emoji-grin-1677

 

We always have a portable luggage scale packed and it has been useful many times over the years. Lots of helpful ideas in this thread.

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jimdicap

jimdicap

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Lots of good stuff here! My submissions:

Travel size disinfectant wipes--specifically to use for port bathrooms (cleaning seats) and public restrooms on the ship.

Casino cup--for keys, change, lanyards, etc --stuff that stockpiles that you need access to.

Refillable Coffee mug

Wine Charms

 

Probably more, but this is the best I can do off the top of my noggin.

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slidergirl

slidergirl

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Battery travel alarm clock with temperature display. Resolves all issues with the DW complaining the cabin is too hot or too cold. Took me twenty cruises to figure that out.

 

Sent from my B3-A30 using Forums mobile app

 

 

Be sure that temperature device has been calibrated before you leave, especially if you travel on HAL - some cheerleaders will not believe you were too hot or too cold even with a thermometer - they will say the temperature was correct but you were too hot or cold because of the climate you were experiencing on your cruise ;)

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FlyerTalker Excellent Advice! Rare

FlyerTalker

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I know they are banned, but they are all over the ship.

 

Depends on the cruiseline. I have never had a powerstrip or extension cord banned on Crystal, Silversea, Seabourn, Regent or Oceania.

 

In fact, on a trip to Europe, I bought a couple that had the two-prong Euro plug, just for use on cruise ships.

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cruzincurt

cruzincurt

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Be sure that temperature device has been calibrated before you leave, especially if you travel on HAL - some cheerleaders will not believe you were too hot or too cold even with a thermometer - they will say the temperature was correct but you were too hot or cold because of the climate you were experiencing on your cruise ;)

So true about the HAL cheerleaders, but our April cruise on the Oosterdam, recently out of drydock, we were able to crank the cabin down to 68deg in the Caribbean. Coldest Caribbean cruise cabin. Now if HAL could only figure out what my time dining and table for two means, they might see us again.

 

 

Sent from my B3-A30 using Forums mobile app

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