New Cruiser: WHat to bring... what not to bring?

[TAK]

Yep. Last night I tried "But you HATE water!!" He just stared at me. (He really does love his cat sitter though. She took video when she was playing with him while I was in Alaska and he was having the time of his life.)

Our boys love their cat sitter too -- which I remind them EVERY time they sulk at the closed-up suitcases.

Sorry to derail this thread, OP. But I had to concur, do not pack your cats.

You've gotten a lot of good tips here -- me, the thing I'm going to do differently is bring more comfortable shoes. I had all kinds of pretty sandals and my feet were tired all the time. I tried to find something in the gift shop onboard but I wear a size 11 -- no luck. So I'm bringing less fancy shoes and more comfortable ones. Sneakers. Crocs. Something.

 

[KBinCO]

We packed WAY too much. We spent every day in swimsuits or gym clothes. My kids had about a week's worth of clothes they never wore. Basically, we just needed swimsuits, coverups, gym clothes, and dinner clothes. I also packed too many shoes. We had 3 large suitcases and 3 small suitcases for 4 people and it was quite ridiculous. I would pack half as much next time.

 

[butsy113]

This is the first cruise for our family of four. We are staying 2 nights before and 2 nights after our cruise at the parks. Any suggestions on how to make the switch from villa, to stateroom, and back again a little easier?

I was thinking of packing cruise attire in a couple suitcases for all of us. Then using a couple suitcases for all the park stuff. has anyone done this?

 

[MunFam]

Not necessary, but fun are door decorations/magnets.

We always pack a pop up laundry bag from Dollar Tree. Its great for collecting laundry and for carrying it to the laundry room if needed.

My DD has food allergies, so we are all about sanitizing the room from top to bottom when we arrive.

I also pack nail polish because sand and pool water really wreck a mani/pedi.

Our passports always come along, also copies of our credit cards, medical cards, travel plans, etc.

We pack tumblers and my coffee mug...and lots of wine, water and mixers too. I mean, the kiddo needs her in room happy hour mocktail too!

The normal amount of medicine I think we might need and double it. Yup. After reading about a cruise where they ran out of a lot of different children's meds after a nasty bug swept through the kid's club, I now pack way more than we need.

For foreign ports, a phrase card with key phrases on one side and a little map on the other. Also, phone number(s) for the local cab company in case we ever end up in a pickle.

A collapsible tote/shopping bag for any extra "stuff" we end up needing to carry on the plane for the return flight home...a la, "we bought too many souvenirs!" I have used this tote on about 70% of our trips...in the airport when a bag or five was a pound or two heavy...just pull it out, load it up and carry it on. (Because its a shopping bag, it has never counted against my personal item or carry on item. Passengers are allowed to carry on all shopping items from the airport so its almost the same thing)

Last, I pack our Multi-Port USB Charger and our external charger (which is great for charging phones on the go!). We run our cell phone all night long (with white noise app going) and charging, we also charge the tablet, another cell phone, run a mini USB fan and charge the external charger...all with one outlet.

I work out of the country often, so I have packing down to a science.

 

[MunFam]

This is the first cruise for our family of four. We are staying 2 nights before and 2 nights after our cruise at the parks. Any suggestions on how to make the switch from villa, to stateroom, and back again a little easier?

I was thinking of packing cruise attire in a couple suitcases for all of us. Then using a couple suitcases for all the park stuff. has anyone done this?

If you are flying, make sure you spread your stuff out...in case a bag goes missing, you do not want all the shoes in one bag or all the swimwear in one bag. Repacking once you arrive at your hotel would work great. Depending on the hotel, they may let you leave a bag behind for a small fee while you cruise. (Usually about $5 a week)

 

[butsy113]

If you are flying, make sure you spread your stuff out...in case a bag goes missing, you do not want all the shoes in one bag or all the swimwear in one bag. Repacking once you arrive at your hotel would work great. Depending on the hotel, they may let you leave a bag behind for a small fee while you cruise. (Usually about $5 a week)

That's a great idea! I will ask at the desk when we check in. We will be at VWL before the cruise and hopefully BWV after.

 

[ahain]

This is the first cruise for our family of four. We are staying 2 nights before and 2 nights after our cruise at the parks. Any suggestions on how to make the switch from villa, to stateroom, and back again a little easier?

I was thinking of packing cruise attire in a couple suitcases for all of us. Then using a couple suitcases for all the park stuff. has anyone done this?

I would think that most of your park attire & cruise attire are interchangeable, except for your dressy/formal outfits.

 

[jlynch924]

Several cruises ago, I scoured these boards for exactly the type of information you're looking for and compiled a personal list that I keep on my phone of the things I don't want to forget each time we cruise. Here's my go-to list:

magnetic clips to hang lanyards on back of door
baby powder
snacks for shows
goodies for stateroom host/ess with notecards
collapsible laundry basket
ibuprofin/benedryl
Purell
tissues
alcohol (the drinking kind - usually the ready-to-serve frozen drinks you pop into the fridge)
larger cups for beverages
Downey wrinkle release spray
Febreeze
multi-port USB charger
Notepad to keep track of FE gifts received
highlighter to highlight what we want to do on the Navigator (we used the new Navigator app A LOT on our last cruise, but still liked picking out what we wanted to do the next day when we got the printed Nav every night)
sunscreen

Have fun!!

 

[Shannon Aldworth]

I'll be taking a 7-day cruise on the Disney Fantasy in April 2015. Any advice on the number of "formal attire" outfits to bring? And how formal is formal? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[DressmakerJ]

I'll be taking a 7-day cruise on the Disney Fantasy in April 2015. Any advice on the number of "formal attire" outfits to bring? And how formal is formal? Thanks in advance!!!

How dressed up would you like to be? I've seen men in tuxes and ladies in floor-length evening gowns, men in suits and ladies in cocktail dresses for formal night and semi formal night. It's all your personal preference as to how you'd like to dress up. (And how much luggage you'd like to bring.)

My first cruise, I brought four dresses; the second cruise I brought two. (Nothing fancy or sparkly--just dresses that I felt pretty in.) My husband brought one dress shirt and one aloha shirt that he could pair with the same khakis.

You will find many heated opinions on the boards from people who prefer to dress up for dinner every night to people who wear casual clothes every night. To each their own!!

 

[Shannon Aldworth]

How dressed up would you like to be? I've seen men in tuxes and ladies in floor-length evening gowns, men in suits and ladies in cocktail dresses for formal night and semi formal night. It's all your personal preference as to how you'd like to dress up. (And how much luggage you'd like to bring.)

My first cruise, I brought four dresses; the second cruise I brought two. (Nothing fancy or sparkly--just dresses that I felt pretty in.) My husband brought one dress shirt and one aloha shirt that he could pair with the same khakis.

You will find many heated opinions on the boards from people who prefer to dress up for dinner every night to people who wear casual clothes every night. To each their own!!

Thanks for the feedback!! I have a bad habit of being overdressed--mostly because of my love for fashion. Just wanted to be sure formal meant formal and not dress pants and a shirt for women!

 

[MunFam]

Thanks for the feedback!! I have a bad habit of being overdressed--mostly because of my love for fashion. Just wanted to be sure formal meant formal and not dress pants and a shirt for women!

Unfortunately, on DCL, "formal optional" tends to translate in to wear whatever the heck you feel like wearing. I, personally wear a ball gown, husband in a tux and DD in her Disney Princess finest because that's how we roll. Its fun and when else are we going to dress like that?

 

[diznymom]

I bring blue jean pockets w/ magnets on the back for things like tip envelopes for room service.

DH has worn out jeans. I cut the back pockets out - close the stitching around the pocket and about 1/2 inch above the pocket opening. I fold down the top towards the inside and secure w/ some kind of bonding agent such as "stitch witchery". I glue magnets to the back. You can decorate the pockets. I use iron on embellishments.

 

[aggiedog]

We packed light-ish, but we did a land portion in Iceland and Copenhagen before getting on our 7 day cruise. We are a family of 6, kids ages 15-9. We used the stateroom laundry service the first day. It was obviously way more expensive than doing it myself, but I'll be darned if I'm going to spend my first day on the ship hanging around trying to get an open washer/dryer. And in the overall cost of the cruise it was very minor.

Everyone brought 2 pair of shoes - good walking shoes for port excursions and sandals that could double as pool shoes.
We are not formal people. We had a casual dress for the females, button down shirt for the guys with jeans.
Definitely a small pharmacy - so much easier to have what you need than go hunting for it.
Bathroom air freshener for sure!

I wish I would have brought a dry erase board to try to keep track of my kids. The texting app does not work well and the wave phones are bulky.

Our next cruise is out of a port we can drive to, and will be over Christmas. I'm sure we'll be bringing plenty of extra stuff that would never have made it on our European cruise.