Struggling with packing for 1st cruise

[polyqueen]

I REALLY do need the curlers...and thank you, you've answered a number of my questions regarding our upcoming family trip.

 

[MonoMan]

We had no problem storing two large suitcases under the bed. I actually keep one unzipped and treated it like a dresser drawer so it saves on closet and drawer space and is really accessible. I just pull it out, get what I need then push it back in.

 

[kiford]

If we're doing a Caribbean cruise, I'll make sure that I have at least one nice dress because we always do Palo's, one formal and semi-formal night (DH brings a suit) with matching shoes (if I bring two dresses I have to pick a pair of shoes that work for both). For most dinners, I'll wear nice but casual pants like linen pants or harem pants in soft cotton or knit fabric. I travel in jeans and bring a pair of cotton or khaki-type pants for excursions. Tops mix and match with all of the pants. Two bathing suits and one coverup with sandals. Walking shoes that I wear to travel and for day-to-day off the ship. One or two pairs of shorts. That pretty much takes me through everything from travel to excursions to pool side to sea days to CC beach to formal dining to cruise casual dining. And it doesn't take much suitcase or storage space. Same for DH.

We've managed to winnow us down to two small-ish suitcases that have space left in them so that DH can buy more DCL shirts on board and maybe a few additional things and still have space left and they're not too heavy to manage.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

If we're doing a Caribbean cruise, I'll make sure that I have at least one nice dress because we always do Palo's, one formal and semi-formal night (DH brings a suit) with matching shoes (if I bring two dresses I have to pick a pair of shoes that work for both). For most dinners, I'll wear nice but casual pants like linen pants or harem pants in soft cotton or knit fabric. I travel in jeans and bring a pair of cotton or khaki-type pants for excursions. Tops mix and match with all of the pants. Two bathing suits and one coverup with sandals. Walking shoes that I wear to travel and for day-to-day off the ship. One or two pairs of shorts. That pretty much takes me through everything from travel to excursions to pool side to sea days to CC beach to formal dining to cruise casual dining. And it doesn't take much suitcase or storage space. Same for DH.

We've managed to winnow us down to two small-ish suitcases that have space left in them so that DH can buy more DCL shirts on board and maybe a few additional things and still have space left and they're not too heavy to manage.

Thanks!! Surprised to hear long pants for excursions... I would have thought we'd be too hot! Not sure I have something like that... thin-ish material long pants...??

 

[tink too]

Thanks!! Surprised to hear long pants for excursions... I would have thought we'd be too hot! Not sure I have something like that... thin-ish material long pants...??

I would say it depends where in the world you're from and what type of excursion you are taking for this. We're not used to really hot weather, so shorts it is for us (even on our winter cruise as the Bahamas was warmer than most of our summer days at home!). Long pants are suggested for some excursions, for example - horse riding.

We are a family of 3 and manage to store our 3 large cases under the bed when we cruise. We've always managed to store all our clothes (including our backpack and shoes) in the provided closet space, too.

 

[kiford]

Thanks!! Surprised to hear long pants for excursions... I would have thought we'd be too hot! Not sure I have something like that... thin-ish material long pants...??

Some of it depends on the time of year but I burn easily so I don't like to wear shorts even with sunscreen other than when I'm on deck where I can sit in the shade. I am talking about thin cotton pants. I also find it uncomfortable going in and out of air conditioned places with shorts because I get cold when I'm going from one extreme to another. It also depends on the kind of excursions you do. We don't do beaches so that's not an issue. But even when we did a hike from the top of the mountain on St. Martins to the bottom through the rainforest, I wore long pants to protect my legs from scratches and bugs (not that we saw many). When it's really hot, I don't find that shorts are any cooler than thin cotton pants.

 

[TrySomethingNew]

For our first cruise we packed a lot, but used it all. We packed coordinating clothes for evening pics (same color family/non clashing). We had casual clothes too. So, we could have packed less, but our pics looked great!!
I packed a few things I was willing to part with if I needed the space on the way home: an older pair of dress shoes that looked ok, but were stretched out and already replaced at home, as an example. Yes, I did throw away a few of these items on the ship (in our trash can do as not to seem like a forgotten item).
Don't forget a few meds you might need: pain/headache meds, kid meds, whatever might be common to your household.
I've done laundry on board - the machines were bigger than expected. I brought a few dryer sheets, and a few detergent pouches (liquid) in our checked bag. The only detergent and softener they had on board (that I saw) was powder and I prefer to use liquid generally. If your cruise is shorter it is not likely you'll need to worry about this.
We've used the laundry service as well. We had several days pre cruise and when we boarded we bagged up all our jeans/pants and sent them in- one pair of white jeans were pretty dirty (exuberant 8 yo). They had them back to us next day -clean, pressed, on hangers! My jeans have never been treated so well! We also had them press a couple of dress clothes to remove packing wrinkles - they came back perfect. Don't be afraid to use this service if desired, or if doing laundry/ironing is not worth your vacation time.
Have fun!!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thank you all so much for your feedback -- so helpful to a first time cruiser!

I think we're going to err on the side of packing a bit more than we do for our WDW trips, because we are DVC and always rely on doing laundry a couple of times on those. I'm including long pants for an excursion (forest/beach trek), lots of pairs of shorts, lots of t-shirts and tank tops, sweatshirts/sweaters for all for the A/C areas, running clothes (still training for the Dark Side Half!), bathing suits and cover-ups, thin rain jackets, etc.

I like the advice of using the laundry services if necessary. While I don't USUALLY do this, for what this trip costs, we may as well add a bit of laundry cost rather than worry about it or take up too much time doing the laundry ourselves.

Thanks again all... now it's back to packing to leave THIS SATURDAY!!!

 

[Jkpark]

I am an over-packer. Family of 4 (2 adults and 2 young girls). I bring 3-4 pjs each, 2-3 bathing suits each, 2 cover ups, I have pirate costumes. I have dresses for every night, with fancier dresses for formal and semi formal. I have pants and shirts for my husband and we rent a tux which doubles as his suit for semi formal. We bring a few outfits to run in. I have other tees/tanks and shorts. When we ziplined we needed pants. All of it fits in the room. and all of our suitcases fit under the bed. Including the suitcase full of fish extender gifts. We get the normal stateroom with veranda - not the larger family room. Pack what makes sense for you and your family, but in my experience you do not have to worry about over packing and not having room.

 

[CScott095]

I know... What a tough problem to have, right?!?

Given the small quarters of the stateroom, I'm trying to figure out how much to pack for a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise departing in one week!! It's out first cruise ever, and I just don't have a good sense of how much is needed.

Can a couple of pretty big suitcases fit under the bed??

I know I can wash clothes onboard, but would really prefer not to have to do that. We have a Remy reservation, so I know DH and I need one nicer outfit. Is it enough to just pack a few pairs of shorts, a bunch of tank tops, one pair of jeans, and a bathing suit for each of us?? Is it the kind of thing where we might want two outfits in one day (I'm thinking about WDW in Aug where I love to change midday after a quick shower!)??

Am I overthinking this?!

So we have only ever done 7 night for the three of us. (Husband, myself, DD who just turned 12) We each bring dinner clothes for all 7 nights, day clothes for all 7 days, pjs, swimsuits, and last year, our scuba stuff. Our suitcases fit inside each other and go under the bed. I pack our dresses on the throw away hangers from the dry cleaners and leave them behind, giving me some room and reducing some weight for souvenirs on the way back. DD and pack our dresses in our suitcases on the top so they are easily pulled out when we get our luggage and the humidity helps remove wrinkles. Most important - be comfortable and carefree!

 

[TrySomethingNew]

Also agree that you will have enough room for pretty much whatever you will pack. We did 11 nights on Magic, inside, family of 4. Cold weather clothes (Iceland), and warm weather clothes as it was summer. And dress shoes, hiking boots, sandals, running shoes -you get the idea. We had plenty of room for all our stuff, which we unpacked all of it into available shelves/closet/drawers/cabinets.

 

[Passholder]

I take an absurd amount of swimsuits. Do I need all of it? Absolutely not... but I enjoy it!

I take one swimsuit for each day. I know it's a waste of packing space to some.

 

[Passholder]

do you know how much they charge for the laundry service? like kids clothes

On our last cruise (only a four night) we only packed one pair of khaki pants for our son, thinking it would be okay and he could wear them four nights for 2 hours at a time. The first night he spilled BBQ sauce on them. Our room steward took them for us that same night to be cleaned. I don't remember exactly how much we were charged, only that it was half of the listed prices (our guess was because they were kids). Whatever the cost, we thought it was worth every penny.

 

[Passholder]

I am famous for packing light.

I think I'm the opposite. I always seem to come home with a few too many clean items.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I have these lightweight pants that unzip in 3 places on the leg. They can be full quite smart pants, shorts or 3/4 lengths! You can take them on excursions and be covered no matter the weather. Saves room on packing. Loads of room for 2 suitcases under the bed. I like the post to bring mix and match items. If anything we have only ever over packed. If you hit laundry first thing in the morning it really doesn't take long and it's worth it to pack less. But generally as long as you rotate what you where with what your good! I find I pack too much in the way of accessory. Purses etc then only use one. Too much jewellery etc. They supply body wash and shampoo etc. You can always ask for more.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

My packing list (I'm assuming it is just you and DH, since you did not mention kids):
An outfit for each day, depending on what our plans are (sea day or beach day, or wine tasting, etc.)
Nicer outfit for evening (again, depending on the day's activities)
Formal and semi-formal dresses
Dress shoes
Flip-flops
Undergarments
5 bathing suits, 1 or 2 cover-ups
Sun hat
Pjs, if you wish
Rx meds, as well as anti-nausea, Bonine/Dramamine, ear drops, eye drops, Advil, headache meds
Clothes pins for wet bathing suits
Towel clamps
Books or Kindle
Pirate outfit
Nice camera as well as waterproof camera with chargers and extra memory cards
Cell phone
Make-up
Shower gel and poof (Disney provides bar soap)
Flat iron
Jewelry
Laundry pods and dryer sheets, mesh pop-up hamper
Over-the-door organizer (I hang with ribbon over the door and tie onto the towel hook)

Each person has their own suitcase. I do use packing cubes and Ziploc bags with the air pressed out to help condense.

 

[MomtheSaint]

Thank you for this thread! Lol. We are leaving on our first Disney Cruise in only SIX days and I have been worried that I am packing too much for myself, DH and our DS, who is 7. We are traveling for 13 days total, even though only 7 days will be spent on the Fantasy. I have definitely decided to cut back the amount of clothes we're bringing, and possibly do some laundry half way through!!! I have also invested in some Tide powder packets for "in the sink washing" on board...we'll see if those work. Probably end up paying for the laundry service, in the end!! And thanks for the price list, as well @PrincessShmoo

 

[soniam]

We like to dress nice for dinner. We don't always wear formal wear, but we usually wear slacks, Hawaiian shirt, "church" dress. I found that some days we would wear 3 outfits Depending upon what I wore to dinner, I could sometimes wear that during the day the next day. We usually took showers before dinner but not again in the morning. Some days though, we had an outfit in the morning, one for dinner, and one after dinner, that would get worn the next morning. I tried to cut down clothes by bringing a very nice skirt and two dressy blouses for formal night/Remy. If your DH plans to wear dressy shoes, you might want to consider renting them onboard. Men's shoes just take up so much space in a suitcase. We have never done it, but it seems like such a waste for a couple of nights. Apparently, you can rent shoes from the same place that rents the tuxes. Have a great trip. It's addictive

 

[jrabbit]

for the Caribbean ...

I do pack two sets of clothes per day.

BUT ...

I wear Polo shirts to dinner - I put on a clean one for dinner, then wear it around the ship the next day. Still wearing it the same amount of time but it looks like I am wearing it two days in a row

Formal Night, Pirate Night and Palo can "mess" up this plan, but you can work around it. This planning saves me about 1/3 of the number of shirts to pack.

I wear slacks to dinner, sometimes to the shows and late nights, sometimes i change back into shorts. Slacks I plan on wearing 2 or 3 times.

I bring about 3 pairs of resort casual shorts for a 7 night cruise, and i will throw in one or two "nylon" athletic type shorts as well. 2 Swimming suits (DW brings 3) - as others have mentioned - putting on a wet / damp swimsuit is no bueno.

and for a guy I might go overboard with shoes - but it really depends upon when, where and how long we are sailing. Dress shoes for MDR & Palo, Flip Flops for up on the pool decks, and then either or both: tennis shoes and sturdy sandals (Keens, Tivas)

If we are going to the Caribbean in June - Sept ... I bring two or more underwear per day - the heat and humidity you know.

 

[tinydancr06]

We honeymooned on the Fantasy immediately after our Disney wedding and I was RIDICULOUSLY overpacked. We still had plenty of room so you should be fine on storage. We very comfortably fit two large suitcases and multiple other bags under the bed. When it comes to clothes I find that I, personally, change A LOT on a cruise. My husband actually does, too. On a typical day I could need:

- a pool/beach outfit (bathing suit along with cover-up) for the morning which is typically when we swim or lay out
- a day-time casual outfit because we don't always stay by the pool all day and I like to feel clean and change out of my swim stuff; this may also be the outfit you wear for an excursion that doesn't involve swimming
- an outfit for dinner. We like to dress up a bit for dinner but nothing crazy. How nicely you dress for each dinner can change based on weather you're in a main dining room, Palo/Remy, if it's Pirate Night, etc. We always do Palo brunch so we need an additional nicer outfit for that

It seems like a lot but for me it's all pretty necessary. No one ever accused me of packing light!

Disney Bounding is always fun too if you feel like it!