What do you wish you had left at home?

[cruzin2paradise]

I've copied this from a thread from two years ago which was taken from another thread. It's light and enjoyable and I thought this would be a good time to post/re-post it.

 

What do you wish you had left at home?

 

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This is reposted from the Celebrity board. I hope no one minds.

 

I am a planner by nature with almost military precision and frankly it is stressing me out. Between airline weight limits, packing in layers for Alaska (shorts or jeans, coats or shirt sleeves) and packing all the accountrements necessary for traveling with a 15 month old toddler, I have begun to lose site of the fact that this is SUPPOSED to be relaxing.

 

I have scanned all of the various lists, made several trips to Sprawl-mart, Target, the dollar store and finally said enough is enough with all of this $*%T!!! (Ok maybe the locks or zip ties before turning them into the porters is a good idea, what is one more trip), but I digress.

 

Whether you are a first time cruiser having recently gone on that first ship or someone who has quite a few days at sea under their belt, what are the items that you never used, wished you had left at home or said "Now why on earth did I bring that?"

 

Please share your tips on what should just stay home.

 

(and don't say you'd leave family members at home, that's just not nice :p )

[lovn2liv]

Great Question...

 

Half the clothes.

Medicinal products

Formal clothes & all that went along with it

[Greencruisers]

Yeah its really the variety of clothes... washer and dryers come in hannndy.

[cjh]

When we went to Alaksa my then 13 year old daughter!

[Ka Honu]

Good thing they asked "what" and not "who" or some people would get in real trouble. Come to think of it, some people may anyway (but I'm not going to be one of them - for a change).

[TinaLee]

All the laundry supplies. Smuggled booze (never even opened it).

[cruzin2paradise]

By the way, here's the link to the original thread -- it's kind of fun.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=72761

 

Enjoy!!!

 

(and remember, there are no wrong answers - this is just for fun!!)

[Nliedel]

I took too many shoes. There, I said it!

 

I WISH I had dragged my hairdryer along. Princess hairdryers are horrible for long thick hair.

[cruzinchris]

I WISH I had dragged my hairdryer along. Princess hairdryers are horrible for long thick hair.

 

Hello, Nancy Neighbor.

I seem to recall that I suggested prior to your Crown cruise that you might like to pack your own blow dryer because the ones on Princess ships are not particularly powerful.

 

Personally, I don't like the location of the blow dryers - next to the balcony door. I tend to bruise my elbow every time I dry my hair, so I usually end up using my own dryer - plugging it in someplace where there's more "elbow room."

Chris

[GoCruiseNC]

Things I brought, but didn't need:

 

Extension Cord

Power Strip

shorts (alaska cruise)

sandals (see above)

 

things I brought/or didn't bring, that I'm glad I did:

 

DH rented his tux....best thing we did.

The over the door organizer.

Hair dryer in mini suite was fine.

[Nliedel]

Hello, Nancy Neighbor.

I seem to recall that I suggested prior to your Crown cruise that you might like to pack your own blow dryer because the ones on Princess ships are not particularly powerful.

 

Personally, I don't like the location of the blow dryers - next to the balcony door. I tend to bruise my elbow every time I dry my hair, so I usually end up using my own dryer - plugging it in someplace where there's more "elbow room."

Chris

 

There just are no other plugs in the room! I am so glad Carol brought along her power strip! I also think her over the door shoe hanger, which I SWORE was a waste of shoe space, was brilliant!

 

We are neighbors! Too cool.

[IKE]

Half the clothes and accessories I packed and never used.

[Andee]

Bought an over the door thing with compartments, never could figure out what to do with the darn thing, and donated it to Goodwill when we got home.

[augie]

The "spare tire"! (The dang thing even GREW on the cruise) :eek:

[ockelly]

We didn't need to drag along our snorkle gear. Every place we went, from the beaches and excursions to snorkle boats, all had equipment available. Although, I guess it's nice to know you are the only one who has spit into your snorkle!:D

[DandyCandy]

The shoe holder we never used.

Those little plastic suction cup hanger hooks never got used, nor did the highlighters or post-it notes. Half the clothes, wish I had brought more comfy clothes instead of dress-up clothes, and also less of them.

I think we took rope to make a clothes line, ended up just using the chairs on the balcony or our bathroom. Hubby's laptop was a pain in the butt, wish we had left that home.

If recall right, I do believe we used the 999 other things we took quite regularly.

[tentativesailor]

THINGS WE PACKED AND DIDN"T NEED -

 

4 bottles of suntan lotion - used 2. My sister thought lotion would be pricey onboard ... wouldn't know.

Aloe vera for sunburn - never used ... Either couldn't find a lounge chair by the pool or lost the ones we snagged.

The patch, bonine, ginger gum, ginger cookies, peptobismol, milanta, gas-x, beano, zyrtec, and more - prepared for the worst ... never used.

Don't like a big pile of dirty clothes in the room, so did laundry - could have cut the packing by half. A little deja vue never hurts..

1 pound coffee with melita drip - only used 2 mornings. Princess coffee in the dining room was just fine.

4 bags of candy for the kids - forgot to give them on the cruise.

Big pile of barely worn hand-me-downs for my nephew - he was too big for the clothes. Offered them to our steward, but he doesn't have kids and not going home soon.

Bunch of walkie talkies - used only the first day, then not at all.

Night light for our inside cabin - just left the bathroom door partially open.

 

Packed this stuff to Florida and Packed this stuff back home.

 

DO I WIN?!? What's the prize?

[MaryPoppinz]

Shoes.

 

Every time I take a cruise in the summer, I take way too many shoes. In the fall, I take a lot of black clothing and get by with fewer shoes.

[Times Prince]

What do you wish you had left at home?

- Most of the T shirts I brought (you can always buy some more).

- Over half of the socks. (worn for about 2 hours in the evening, walked in for about 15 min.)

- Extras of slacks etc for the evenings, just in case I spill something :rolleyes:

- Somehow I always overpack for casual dinner shirts

 

I've never regretted having

- emergency meds, especially sunburn stuff.

- My own snorkel

- Camera and extra memory cards, battery and charger

[tentativesailor]

Has anyone read the lists on this thread??

 

I'm sorry to do this, but one more "list" question (1 2)

MetalManCPA

 

Someone really needs to go invade that thread with some "STOP DON'T PACK IT!" advice. :D

 

 

BTW, ... While on board, got gifts from my sweet mother - big binoculars, ugly summer dress, book I never read, vitamins

Didn't use ... but more to pack for the trip home

[Cindy]

I wish I hadn't packed the clothes that are seeing the world from the inside of my cabin closet! I've gotten better each time, but I still overpack. :(

[cruzin2paradise]

Ok, since I started this thread, I should probably add my 2 cents. On my last cruise, we had two, quite large, rolling duffle bags. One and a half and stuff for myself and DH and the other half was filled with stuff for our 2 DDs. We seriously went home with one duffel filled will still clean clothes . . . oy . . . did my DH curse me or what!

 

So, I would have to say, when you pack your clothes, lay everything out first and put half of it away. Will I follow that next time? Hmmm, probably not. Next one is a 9-dayer and my theory is you have at least 2 things to wear every day (even though you'll be in a bathing suit most of the time) and then you need something nice for the evenings, and then of course there's the what-if stuff . . . what if you have stomach problems, ok, pack the pepto and immodium . . . what if you have sinus trouble, ok, pack the sinus meds . . . uh oh, I have a headache, ok, pack the ibuprofin, . . . oh wait, don't forget the lotion, you know my skin gets dry . . . and so on and so on.

 

I am one of the worst offenders - I think I will start Overpackers Anonymous!

[annmarz]

I brought a Brita water bottle which had a filter on the top, figuring I would save money not buying bottled water. Didn't trust it, didn't use it. Plus, bottled water is really cheap onshore usually.

 

Travelers checks - no longer the best way to get money.

 

suction cup clothesline - unneccesary.

 

Things which some people may consider silly to bring but I ALWAYS use:

 

2 inflatable hangars - shirts dry in half the time.

mini-maglite flashlight - useful as a nightlite, looking under bed, even for looking in carryon on plane when lights are dim

those Pack-It cubes - I don't even unpack a lot of my clothes, just throw those under bed, on closet floor or shelf -- anywhere in cabin.

[annmarz]

Forgot to add:

 

I no longer pack nylons or any jewelry. Don't wear nylons any more and jewelry isn't worth the worry.

[steve20832]

I wish I left my wife at home. :rolleyes:

So many cute women on the ship and I can't flirt with them.