First time cruisers who just got back....

[Sunshine2U]

Dreams or Castaway Club gave us a clock on a small carabiner-style clip that we kept on the pool bag. If you don't have that, you could strap an inexpensive watch to a bag's handle. It is essential.

Agree with the ziplocks. We took fruit from breakfast back to the room to use as healthy snack. Same with our tervis - we kept milk or apple juice in the frig. Our servers were great to fill my large tervis with "real" iced tea that I could sip on for a while.

You'll probably have too many clothes. You can recycle dinner outfits - no one cares or probably even notices if you repeat. I have a tendency to pack backups "just in case". Forget extras - in the event you run out, you can always get some laundered.

Water: the onboard water is filtered to the quality of bottled filtered water.

 

[muse7mom]

Ditto the beach bag. We used it on excursions too since I didn't want to carry a purse but we needed sunblock, etc.
Never used our mugs. The cups were fine. I guess I don't drink 16 oz at one time.
Never used the post it notes or extra $1s for room service. We only used room service twice. Plenty of food for us other times/places.
We did do laundry while on board and I had purchased the Purex all in one sheets before we left--no drip or spill or mess.
Take extra sunscreen. We definitely used more than we had thought.
Blister bandages.
Didn't take snacks for the terminal--the check in and boarding went very quickly.
Didn't need a nightlight but I'm used to moving around in the dark.
Air freshener for the bathroom did help.
Didn't use a shoe organizer. We seemed to have plenty of drawer and cabinet space.
I do journal every day so I wanted that with me. Didn't use a "real" camera--just my iPhone.
Just have fun!

 

[MunFam]

Oh yes! We used our tote bag so much! Even just waiting in line for characters. Its amazing the stuff you "collect" when you are a mom.

We used our tumblers every day (and our homemade drink caddy that DH thought was a waste but fell in love with it on the ship!)

We also used magnetic clips that hung on the back of our door. We each had one and we kept our lanyard on it and any important tickets for that day clipped in. We had one more to clip that day's navigator to the door.

I have a hanging makeup bag and I hung it on the back of the bathroom door. That was awesome...

and I asked for a bathrobe the day we got there and also 20 extra hangers. Those two things made my trip so much easier and were both free to use on board!

And a little tip: Use the showers in the gym/spa area. They are huge and you wont feel like a superhero with a shower curtain cape stuck to your back for your shower!

 

[PaMomofOne]

Oh yes! We used our tote bag so much! Even just waiting in line for characters. Its amazing the stuff you "collect" when you are a mom.

We used our tumblers every day (and our homemade drink caddy that DH thought was a waste but fell in love with it on the ship!)

We also used magnetic clips that hung on the back of our door. We each had one and we kept our lanyard on it and any important tickets for that day clipped in. We had one more to clip that day's navigator to the door.

I have a hanging makeup bag and I hung it on the back of the bathroom door. That was awesome...

and I asked for a bathrobe the day we got there and also 20 extra hangers. Those two things made my trip so much easier and were both free to use on board!

And a little tip: Use the showers in the gym/spa area. They are huge and you wont feel like a superhero with a shower curtain cape stuck to your back for your shower!

I'd love to hear more about or see the homemade drink caddy! Love the idea about the clips for the lanyards!

 

[MunFam]

I'd love to hear more about or see the homemade drink caddy! Love the idea about the clips for the lanyards!

It was a copycat of this one...I got my drink holder from In N Out. It was upcycled

http://www.disboards.com/threads/how-to-make-dcl-drink-carrier.3062710/#post-47467774

Edit: We were CONSTANTLY stopped by people asking which restaurant was giving them out or asking where they could buy one. I got some compliments, but most people were disappointed that they could not go get one of their own. It became a running joke. We have 3 in our family, so it held 3 24oz tumblers and the last one I stuffed with snacks or whatever for shows...or sunscreen. It also carried cups of icecream with lids back to the room.

One hack I learned, if you use two of the foam coffee cups to put soft serve in, the ice cream will still be frozen 20 minutes later! No melty mess.