Important Items to Take on a Cruise
Packing for a cruise adventure can be a stressful experience, and making sure you have all the essential items – things like your travel documents and any medication, just to name a few – is important enough to take up a lot of time. Although, beyond these, there's a lot of cruise gear out there that can make a huge difference to your cruise experience – both onboard and ashore.
From something as simple as a reusable water bottle to luggage packing cubes and more, there's a whole host of useful travel items available that can greatly improve your time sailing the high seas; and, these are things you might not necessarily think about when it comes to packing your suitcases ahead of embarkation.
But, that's where we come in. Whether you're sailing to the sunny islands in the Caribbean, the rugged wilderness of Alaska, some of the most breathtaking Mediterranean destinations, or anywhere else in the world, if you want to make sure you're as prepared as possible for your next cruise, keep reading for a run-through of the top must-have cruise items out there and why you should consider making a little extra room in your luggage for them.
Cruise Gear and Items You Won't Want To Forget
Without further ado, let's get stuck into some things that will make your cruise experience even better than it already will be.
High-Capacity Portable Charger
With mobile phones becoming more and more important when it comes to making the most of your onboard experience, from booking tables at specialty restaurants to checking activity schedules and more, it’s vital that you make sure your mobile is always charged up and ready to be used during a cruise holiday. That’s why bringing a high-capacity portable charger with you on your cruise – along with all the relevant charging cables and the right plug adapters, of course – is useful.
Finding power outlets for charging your mobile device outside your cabin can be tricky, and you should certainly never assume you’ll have the chance to recharge while adventuring ashore either, so being able to keep your device topped up and powered throughout the day yourself is important. Smaller portable chargers may be able to charge your device once or twice before needing to be charged themselves, but higher-capacity portable chargers will last much longer – and they often come with multiple outlets, allowing you to charge multiple devices at once.
A stress of daily life that follows you when you head off on a cruise adventure, combatting dwindling mobile phone batteries is important; with a portable charger, you’ll be able to do just that while continuing to use your mobile phone without worry – whether you’re taking photos, listening to music, making wireless payments, or more.
Magnetic Clothing Hooks
If you’re worried about your cruise cabin feeling cluttered, or that an outfit you’ve packed will be creased and crumpled when you want to wear it, getting your hands on some magnetic clothing hooks ahead of your next cruise getaway is a must.
With most cruise accommodation walls being magnetic, at least in parts, you’ll be able to use these portable hooks to hang up lighter clothing directly on the walls of your accommodation; not only will this improve the storage space you have access to – some cabins can suffer from not having nearly enough hanging space – but it will also give you the chance to air out any crease-prone clothing items ahead of wearing them.
You won’t have access to an iron or ironing board in your cabin, and you’re not allowed to bring your own onboard, so this can be particularly useful for formalwear. However, even if you’re not worried about creases, magnetic clothing hooks can help you organise your outfits and de-clutter your cabin during a longer voyage – and, they don’t weigh much at all.
Portable White Noise Machine
Getting a good night’s sleep and making sure you’re well-rested is always important, but especially so on a cruise holiday. However, a cruise ship isn’t always the easiest place to grab some shut-eye, especially if your cabin is near a late-night venue onboard and you prefer ending your evenings earlier. Thankfully, a portable white noise machine can work wonders when it comes to drowning out disruptive sounds. So, it’s never an idea to pick one up ahead of your next cruise adventure.
Whether you’re dealing with noisy neighbours, the sound of a dancefloor from the deck above, or mechanical sounds from the ship itself, you might find your sleep interrupted by an unavoidable sound from outside your cabin while on a cruise. It’s far from ideal if you’re looking to make sure you’re well-rested for a shore excursion the next day, or travelling with a baby who’s prone to wake up at the slightest disturbance, and might feel like something that will ruin your experience.
However, that doesn’t always have to be the case. Even if you don’t use white noise to fall asleep usually, a portable white noise machine can mask these sounds with something much easier to ignore and fall asleep to. This will mean that everyone can get a good night’s sleep, and then wake up well-rested and ready for the excitement of the day ahead, whatever that might entail.
Compression Socks
You may not think special socks are necessary, but compression socks can be incredibly useful when travelling – especially when flying, but even on a no-fly cruise getaway. Not only will these socks keep your feet warm and dry, which is certainly never a bad thing in cooler climates, but they can also prevent health issues and injuries; you’re definitely not going to want to suffer from an injury or develop a health issue while you’re trying to enjoy a cruise adventure somewhere exciting.
By applying gentle pressure to your ankles and legs, compression socks can improve blood flow from your legs to your heart. This is something that can decrease swelling and pain, which you might suffer from when flying or after a string of busy days ashore. They can also help combat the low blood pressure you might suffer from once you stand after sitting for an extended period of time.
While you will have plenty of chances to wander around during sea days, if you feel the need to, long haul flights to destinations far and wide ahead of embarkation and at the end of your cruise itinerary can cause issues for some. So, a couple pairs of compression socks will ensure you can enjoy your holiday comfortably without worry.
Travel Alarm Clock
While cruise holidays do afford you a lot of freedom when it comes to how you spend your time onboard, what cuisines you indulge in, and how you spend your time ashore, one aspect of a cruise that is often strict is the arrival time and departure time at each port of call. With a busy schedule to keep, and itineraries often only affording you one day at each destination, you’ll only have a certain amount of time to explore the incredible destinations you’re travelling to. So, making sure you’re up and ready to go when disembarkation time rolls around at each port of call is important if you want to make the most of each stop on your sailing. That’s where a travel alarm clock can be very useful.
Even if you don’t usually have any trouble waking up early in the morning, there are several factors which may throw you off when at sea – be that the changing time zones, busier days exploring exciting destinations, or late nights enjoying the onboard entertainment. So, if you want to make sure you’re not missing out and giving yourself enough time to prepare for a day ashore, having a travel alarm clock you can easily change to the local time is useful.
You’ll also be able to use your mobile phone as an alarm clock, if you don’t want to bother with a travel alarm clock. In any case, setting alarms to the local time will prove invaluable when it comes to making the most of your cruise adventure.
Day Trip Backpack
The destinations you’ll visit are often the highlight of a cruise adventure, with some of the best shore excursions available affording you unique opportunities to immerse yourself in exciting cultures and experience these incredible holiday hotspots in new and exciting ways. So, making sure you’re well-prepared for trips ashore and shore excursions is important when on a cruise. That’s why you should consider bringing a quality day trip backpack with you when you head off on your cruise getaway.
While having a good pair of pockets might feel like enough, the usefulness of a good backpack when out and about can’t be underestimated. You won’t need a particularly large backpack, as you’re not going to want to carry around too much with you, but having a backpack big enough for the essentials will be useful when exploring new destinations around the world – especially if you’re doing so on an active shore excursion and you need your hands free.
With things like travel documents, water bottles, sun cream, and portable chargers all useful things to have to hand when exploring, a day trip backpack will ensure you never have to worry about not having something you might need. And, if you’re worried about security, you can always add small luggage locks to the zips, making it even more secure.
Portable Luggage Scale
Whether you’re on a last-minute adventure to Asia, an Australasia cruise you’ve been planning for months, or any other cruise getaway, you may find yourself picking up a few souvenirs when you’re on holiday; cruises are always filled with chances to splash your cash on something exciting, after all. While this is far from a bad thing in isolation, you will need to consider the weight of your luggage if you’re flying – particularly if you’re flying back from your final destination with a few extras in your suitcase. This is when a portable luggage scale comes in handy.
Not only can you use this bit of kit to make sure your luggage is light enough for your outbound flight, but a portable luggage scale will help you manage the weight of your luggage ahead of your return, something which is certainly useful if you’ve picked up a few extra items on your travels.
Small, lightweight, and relatively inexpensive, a portable luggage scale will help you avoid any unwanted additional charges on your return flight and ensure everything goes smoothly – and there’s nothing wrong with a hassle-free end to your incredible holiday.
Luggage Packing Cubes
If you want to keep your luggage organised, whether you’re on a longer voyage with multiple suitcases or a short break somewhere sunny where one suitcase will suffice, packing cubes are an understated addition to your holiday packing and you won’t regret picking some up ahead of your next cruise adventure.
Available in a variety of shapes and sizes, these cubes (which are more rectangular in shape, rather than being cube-shaped) will help you make the most of your luggage space – ensuring every tiny bit of extra space is being used. Packing cubes will also help you stay organised, which is more useful than you might think when it comes to a cruise. As easy as it seems to just chuck all your clothing and travel items into one suitcase, packing cubes will help you keep important items and specific clothing separate inside the same suitcase.
A great example of where this would be useful is during a formal night on your cruise. If you have a specific formal outfit you want to wear during these elevated evenings, you’ll be able to grab the right packing cube (with your formal outfit in) easily without needing to dig through the rest of your luggage to find it. And, you’ll be able to use these packing cubes to keep your formal footwear separate, minimizing the risk of getting dirt on your clothing while it’s all packed up.
Ereader
Whether you’re sailing on one of the biggest cruise ships in the world right now, or on a voyage aboard a smaller luxury cruise ship overflowing with elegance, you’ll find that there’s always something entertaining to do while at sea. However, when you have a little downtime during sea days, there’s sometimes nothing better than finding a poolside sun lounger to relax on and diving into a good book. If that sounds like the ideal way to spend an afternoon at sea, you really should consider bringing an ereader on your cruise getaway.
Squeezing a single small paperback into your suitcase might not sound so impossible, but it’s easy to forget how much space books can actually take up – and how much weight they can add to your luggage. When you’re packing for a cruise holiday, it’s important to make the most of your luggage space; and, if you’re on a fly cruise – meaning you need to take a flight to catch your cruise ship somewhere abroad – it’s also important to manage the weight of your suitcases. With an ereader, you’ll be able to bring hundreds of books with you on your cruise, and they’ll all be compressed into a thin, lightweight device.
Not only will this mean you have more space in your suitcase for other important items, it also means you will have more options when it comes to what you might want to read without worrying about finding space in your suitcase.
Reusable Water Bottle
Staying hydrated is important, no matter what you’re doing, and bringing a reusable water bottle with you on your next cruise adventure really is a fantastic idea – and not necessarily something you’ll think about when packing.
With cruise lines continuing to cut-back on single-use plastics (like water bottles) to lessen the environmental impact of cruising, having a reusable water bottle onboard is becoming more and more useful. However, you’ll also find this a useful thing to bring with you when you head ashore – especially if it’s on an active shore excursion. The temperatures you encounter on your adventures can be quite a bit higher than what you might be used to at home, so having water to hand while you’re out and about is far from a bad thing.
While any reusable water bottle will do, a collapsible one is ideal when travelling – cruising around the world or otherwise. It’s always important to make the most of your luggage space, and a collapsible reusable water bottle will make it even easier to bring with you when it’s empty.
What is Banned and Restricted on a Cruise?
While you’ll be able to bring a lot on a cruise holiday, there are some items which are banned – meaning you won’t be able to bring them on board, unless there is a medical exemption in place. So, if you’re wondering what you’re not allowed to bring on a cruise, here’s a list of common items banned on cruise ships:
- Alcohol
- Illegal drugs
- Weapons, imitation or otherwise, and ammunition
- Knives, scissors, and blades longer than four inches
- Irons and steamers
- Extension leads
- Kettles, coffee machines, and other kitchen appliances
- Candles and incense burners
- Highly flammable liquids
This list is not extensive, and it’s always worth double-checking with the cruise line you’re sailing with if you’re planning on bringing something that might be restricted.
Birthday balloons are a fantastic example of this. While frowned upon, due to the fact that plastic balloons can cause ocean pollution, they’re not universally banned on all cruise lines – though, we would advise bringing any with you, anyway. So, it’s always worth checking ahead of embarkation.
Beyond this, you will find the following among the items that are likely to be banned on your cruise ship, but not always:
- Musical instruments
- Drones
- Sports equipment
- Perishable food products
- Smoking equipment, like hookah pipes
- Bleach, and other cleaning products
- Paints
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