Cruise Packing Tips

Have everything you need and still have room to sleep in your cabin.

Cruise packing tips for wherever in the world your ship sails.

One of the exciting things about a cruise vacation is the variety of experiences, climates and weather conditions you encounter as the ship moves from one place to another.

Make sure you're ready to embrace every event and ease into the on-board and ashore life with our cruise packing tips and lists below.

Most cruise ship quarters are not known for their expansive closet space and our packing tips are just the ticket to make sure you have everything you need for a fabulous vacation, and not a thing more.

Our traveling lifestyle began with a Caribbean cruise in 1989 and we haven't stopped since.
Cruising really opened our eyes to the diversity of landscapes and lifestyles in a single trip.

We saw just enough of each place to tempt us back and
have re-visited many of our cruise destinations in our travels.

Cruise Ship Tips For More Fun

Tips

1- Most cruise ships have a (very expensive) small store on-board that carries essential drug store items.

2- Making use of laundry and dry cleaning services means you can travel light and still have everything you need.

Travel Light - here's how.

Comfortable Attire Only

Choose cruise attire that fills your needs and travels well.

Check out our air travel tips if you'll be flying to the ship.

Start by Packing a 3 or 4 Color Scheme

Color coordinating makes it easier to mix and match a few pieces into dozens of outfits.

Try black-cream-red combo or blue-green-copper, or maybe, taupe-fuchsia-black
or how about pink-white-plum or khaki-copper-black or ... whatever floats your boat.

Your inspiration can come from anywhere - a painting, nature, food or find a good color combination by choosing a patterned piece you adore and selecting three colors from it. That way you're sure that everything goes with your favorite item.

While you're going over our cruise packing tips, wear those new shoes that you plan to take on vacation.

Cruise Packing Tips and Checklists

Check your travel itinerary for formal nights or other events (masquerade ball, theme night, etc.) so that you can add special items to your list.

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Coordinate your outfits so that each item can be worn with at least 2 other pieces of clothing.

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Layers of easy care fabrics will provide the most comfort while you explore your destinations. Cotton, rayon, hemp and bamboo are most comfortable in the tropics. For cooler climates, layer clothing with soft fabrics next to your skin and thermal outer clothing (like polar fleece and wool) and wind resistant layers depending on conditions. Great for all-day excursions, just add or remove items as the weather changes throughout the day.

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Pack fewer items and take advantage of the ship's laundry and dry cleaning service.

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In order to be able to pack appropriate cruise attire for all aspects of your vacation, book tours and special events in advance.

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Sometimes an overnight stay is necessary when you're traveling to the ship. In a giant zip lock bag, pack each outfit you'll need while you're traveling, include undergarments and accessories. Another bag can carry a toothbrush, night clothes and all toiletries and medications you'll need while traveling.
These bags go on the very top of your luggage, they'll be the last things you pack.
When you're ready for a change of clothes everything you need should be handy and no tearing through your carefully packed luggage will be required.

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Soft luggage (duffels) can be unpacked, rolled up and stowed out of the way in the sometimes tiny cabins aboard ship.

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While many cruises host a Captain's dinner or other event at which formal cruise attire is required, a suit will work just as well as a tux. If he has a tux and is comfortable wearing it, include it on his cruise packing list along with all the accoutrements.
For the girls, pack one formal outfit with all the accessories ~ jewelry, belt, handbag, shoes, stockings, hair accessories.

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Comfortable walking shoes are a must if you intend to do any exploring.

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Don't forget to pack sun block as it can be expensive to pick up on board. My travel colleague at Best-Travel-Deals-Tips.com has more sun safety tips for your cruise vacation.

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It Can Get Even Better

cruise tips book

Secret Cruise Tips is a guide to saving hundreds of dollars on cruise vacations and it's backed by a money back guarantee (you won't see that in the conventional book market).

Tips on saving a ton of money - not just on booking but on the costs that pop up during the vacation.

This very reasonably priced guide (less than 10 bucks) will pay for itself the first time you use it and for years to come. Seriously, once you discover these secrets, you'll be spending a LOT more time on cruise ships.

The things that make it extra special often have extra costs tacked on to them...but not if you know a few secrets.

If you love having every need catered to while your vessel sails to yet another fabulous destination this book will help you get a whole lot more of that.

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