The Genius Things to Pack

[ChicosWife]

We are going on our 3rd DCL cruise and we have seen a few things that you wouldn't think to pack, but can be extremely helpful. For example, we bring 2 collapsible hampers, for our dirty clothes. I have seen somewhere to bring magnetic hooks for bathing suits, etc. What else do you all pack, that are helpful, but you wouldn't necessarily think of?

 

[kj2mom]

We will be going on our first next year and I love these kinds of threads to learn new things. One thing that I put on my list was a little credit card sized, laminated info sheet about the ship we are on. I had put them on the list but couldn't remember how to find them so the other day I went looking for them and I found them on etsy. They basically are a little cheat sheet of where the important things are and it can slide right into your lanyard. As a first timer, so far in my collection I have lanyards, some jumbo clothespins, a few pop up hampers and last week I was looking at the plastic info cards and magnets for the doors. I have also been thinking about metal straws and/or hydroflask type bottles.

 

[diznymom]

• Clothes pins. To hang wet swim suits on the line above the shower. Also to hold curtains closed to block the morning sun
• Glow stick. Great for parties and make awesome night lights. The bathrooms are super dark at night
• Collapsible boxes to put on the desk to collect odds and ends. These fold pretty flat for packing and snap together to make a box.
• Pre-made envelopes for room service tips. I stuff them w/ a couple of dollars each at home so they are ready to go once on the ship.
• Magnets to decorate the door. Makes your door easier to find.
• Highlighters to mark what on the Personal Navigators what all you want to do.
• Pack 1/2 the clothes you think you will wear and twice the money you think you will spend.

 

[ChicosWife]

Good ideas, so far!

 

[lindsay0526]

• Pack 1/2 the clothes you think you will wear and twice the money you think you will spend.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Add magnetic clips for holding paper items (tastings tickets, receipts, etc.) Hooks are great for lanyards, hats, etc. also. Small medicine "cabinet" baggy for what ails you (tummy trouble, sun burn, band aids for blisters, head ache) what ever you go to at home to fix your biological problem, take a few with you in a ziplock, multi port USB charger, binoculars (if you have a veranda), night light.

 

[LoveMickey]

I always pack half my clothes in one suitcase and half in the other, just in case one gets delayed.

 

[CaLuCa]

For some reason, multiple members of my family are completely incapable of packing a toothbrush. This has happened to us on many occasions. So I finally gave up and bought a 6 pack of kids toothbrushes from Wal-Mart for $1! (Even better I put in in my online order along with hand sanitizer and they brought it out to my car, never having to go inside the Wal-Mart.) The brand new pack of toothbrushes was packed in their bags and now no one can say, "I think I forgot my toothbrush."

 

[JARNJ3]

• Clothes pins. To hang wet swim suits on the line above the shower. Also to hold curtains closed to block the morning sun
• Glow stick. Great for parties and make awesome night lights. The bathrooms are super dark at night
• Collapsible boxes to put on the desk to collect odds and ends. These fold pretty flat for packing and snap together to make a box.
• Pre-made envelopes for room service tips. I stuff them w/ a couple of dollars each at home so they are ready to go once on the ship.
• Magnets to decorate the door. Makes your door easier to find.
• Highlighters to mark what on the Personal Navigators what all you want to do.
• Pack 1/2 the clothes you think you will wear and twice the money you think you will spend.

I am confused - I thought tips were charged straight to your account?

 

[ChicosWife]

I am confused - I thought tips were charged straight to your account?

Ours were automatically charged.

 

[ChicosWife]

multi port USB charger

That's a good one that I hadn't thought of.

 

[diznymom]

I am confused - I thought tips were charged straight to your account?

Tips for your waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter and room host are automatically charged.

Tips for room service are not. We tip a couple of dollars for room service coffee.

 

[LizGirl]

We have the magnetic hooks and strong magnets for keeping tickets and Navigators in easy reach. I attach a shoe organizer to the wall using magnetic hooks to keep all of our small stuff up and out of the way. I found a canvas shower caddy that I hang on one of the bathroom hooks to keep my toiletries off the counter when I'm not using them. We use a collapsible hamper for dirties and I found a collapsible basket with handles incase we need to do laundry.

I recently added towel clips for beach towels to my list and they are really helpful (duh!) on deck when the ship movement tries to send your towel flying away.

 

[anricat]

I have two things I pack that I love and can't live without. The first is this reusable drink carrier. This way I can easily bring back all kinds of drinks to the room.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0754ZNJJH/

The second is a flat suction cup shower caddy. No more balancing things on the edges of the tub. This isn't the exact one I have, but it's similar:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X5ZXM8

 

[BCV23]

anricat, thanks for the link about the reusable carrier. My one must for cruises has been a cardboard carrier from a fast food place for tea and coffee in the morning but reusable is even better. Collapsible makes it that much sweeter.

 

[Dug720]

I am confused - I thought tips were charged straight to your account?

Not room service. Unless you're quick enough to get them to stop so you can sign the slip and add it there.

 

[Peaseblossom36]

I am confused - I thought tips were charged straight to your account?

Not for room service. Just the dining room servers, room steward and bar tenders.

ETA. I was beat to it, should have scrolled further down.

 

[SoozCruise]

Laundry detergent pods, small baggie of laundry powder (if you need to wash undies in the room)
Sun relief gel (put it into the fridge in the room and it will be lovely and cold if/when you need it)
String bags or small crossbody bags to hold phone/wave phone/stuff; my kids do not take theirs off during the day
Multiport USB charger
Water bottles to fill before you go on excursions

 

[g_ppetto]

I checked with DCL to make sure this was an approved item before I purchased it - Anker 60W 6 Port USB Wall Charger - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P93618...olid=1KZAAS3A6OM0X&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

These were handy for moving around the room / bathroom late at night - Motion Sensing LED Night Lights - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G1LFS08/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I still took our chargers as backup, but they stayed in the ziplock bag.

We have a softsided insulated bag that holds four bottles of water and has some pockets for ponchos, hand sanitizer, sun block. As we were walking down the path to CC, we encountered an CM setting up to sell beverages. We asked and he was kind enough to put a couple scoops of ice into our bag.

 

[CM Dad]

Add magnetic clips for holding paper items (tastings tickets, receipts, etc.)

Just a quick note. I was surprised on our trip on the Wonder at the end of January, we did not have tasting tickets in our room. I asked when we would receive them and was told that they no longer give you them, You just need to rely on the app.