Top 10 reasons I
love to cruise... #4 - you only have to unpack once!
When we vacationed growing up, we always drove everywhere we
went, and usually tried to get to 2 or 3 different cities in one trip, which
meant packing the car when we left, unpacking the car when we got to the first
place, unpacking your suitcase if we were staying a couple of nights (or just
living out of the suitcase if not), packing the suitcase again in the morning,
packing the car up and heading to the next stop… lather, rinse, repeat….
One thing I love about cruising, when you drop your suitcase off on the pier with the porter, you don’t have to worry about lugging it to your room, they bring it to your door, you bring it in and unpack it ONE TIME! There is usually plenty of storage space in the room for all of your clothes (even if you over pack like I always seem to do!) .
The saddest part about a cruise is that last night, when you have to make sure your bags are packed and outside of your door for the staff to come by and pick it up for you. You know that it’s truly coming to an end soon…
Sorry, I don't have any pictures of my suit cases while on a ship, as they are normally stored under the beds, and pictures of my clothes are not too exciting, so I tend to skip taking them... Instead, I'll try and offer up some packing tips, and some items to pack that you might not think of, but that might come in handy on your next cruise!
First thing I always recommend, as I said in an earlier "reasons I love to cruise" is a Highlighter. When you get the next day's activity delivered to your room, you can go over it and highlight those activities that you think you might like to attend, and kind of plan out your whole day. There might be an early trivia, or a slot pull in the casino. And don't forget Bingo! If you pack a different color highlighter for each person, you can all mark the events you want to attend, and then you'll almost always know where to find someone that isn't with you! (although most cruise lines now have apps available that you can download to your phone, and you can instant message each other as well..)
Next thing I recommend, depending on where you are sailing to, is to pack some magnets and possibly a map of the area you are sailing. When I sailed to Alaska, it was great to have a map on the wall to see where we were, relative to the land, since you can pretty much see land the entire trip. They do have a channel on the TV that shows where you're currently sailing, but it's more fun (at least for me) to see where were're heading!
Princess also gave us a map of the glaciers in Glacier Bay and College Fjords, so when we were inside Glacier Bay National Park, we knew which glacier we were seeing, since the naturalist's microphone wasn't working very well. It also helped when I was taking my photos, I took a picture of the city, or the glacier name on the map before taking any photos for that day, and when I went back through my photos, I knew which glacier/city I was looking at.
Another nice thing to pack if you're one of those people who gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and you don't want to be blinded by the light inside, is to pack a little battery operated tea light, and leave it on inside the bathroom. The cabins get pretty dark at night, (or during the day if you have the curtains closed) and when you flip on that light in the bathroom, it can be pretty harsh! Having this little bit of ambient light on can save you from being wide awake!
One more thing I recommend packing is some kind of bag that you can take to shore with you. Depending on where you're sailing to, you're more than likely going to be on shore for at least a couple of days, and if you're heading somewhere warm, where there's a beach, you'll need to take towels with you, or somewhere that it might rain, you'll want to pack some rain gear. A simple backpack is always a great idea to have with you, as it makes it much easier to take along items you may need, or pack some snacks (as long as they are sealed containers, don't try to take fresh food off the ships!) and some bottles of water. We like to take along a refillable water bottle that we can fill up with ice and water before we leave, and then we have cold water on our excursion.
The list of things to pack could really be an endless list, especially if you are going somewhere that the weather could be not so pleasant all the time, (Alaska, New England/Canada, Norwegian Fjords etc.) Just pack what you think you'll need, and then take about 10% of that out of your suitcase before you leave! 😉
I know I can totally relate to this link here... Enjoy!
Let me know what your "must pack" items are for a cruise!
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