Towels on excursions

[nemofans]

Do you have to bring your own towels from the ship on excursions or are they provided to you during the excursions? I am trying to figure out how big of a beach bag I need to bring on the cruise & it all depends on whether I have to carry towels for all of us.
What else do you recommend bringing in my beach bag for excursions? Do you bring your passports?

 

[brucechase]

Whether you take your own towels or use DCL's, you will still have to transport them to your excursion from the ship, so I would plan on a beach bag big enough to carry towels.

We were given towels for our DCL excursion while waiting in line to get off the ship. They just brought down a big rack of pool towels and let you take what you wanted. If you do an excursion on your own (like we have done too), then you can just go to the pool area and pick up some towels to take with you - just make sure you bring them back. There has always been a big bin to put the used towels in as you return from your excursions. On Castaway Cay, there are towels as soon as you get off the ship and a bin when you get back on (aong with hot washcloths).

As for passports, there has been many discussions on this (especially since passports are not required for the cruise). The purpose of having a passport is to make it easier if you have to leave a foreign port on a plane in an emergency. That said, if your passports are on the ship when you need them (like locked in the safe), then you might not be able to get them off if there is a true emergency late in the day. If you take them with you, there is always a chance of losing them or getting them stolen. It is your decision.

As for other stuff, since we don't know where you are going, it is kinda hard to suggest things. I would always take sunscreen, a small first aid kit (a couple of band-aids and neosporin), sunglasses, money (I keep in several places just in case), ship's contact information from that port (on the navigator usually), insurance information (since I always get private insurance), swim goggles, a small bottle of contact lens solution, and a small sealed snack (like a trailmix bar - if allowed). For the insurance information, I always make a small card before I leave home and laminate it to keep with me.

Hope this helps.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Whether you take your own towels or use DCL's, you will still have to transport them to your excursion from the ship, so I would plan on a beach bag big enough to carry towels.

We were given towels for our DCL excursion while waiting in line to get off the ship. They just brought down a big rack of pool towels and let you take what you wanted. If you do an excursion on your own (like we have done too), then you can just go to the pool area and pick up some towels to take with you - just make sure you bring them back. There has always been a big bin to put the used towels in as you return from your excursions. On Castaway Cay, there are towels as soon as you get off the ship and a bin when you get back on (aong with hot washcloths).

As for passports, there has been many discussions on this (especially since passports are not required for the cruise). The purpose of having a passport is to make it easier if you have to leave a foreign port on a plane in an emergency. That said, if your passports are on the ship when you need them (like locked in the safe), then you might not be able to get them off if there is a true emergency late in the day. If you take them with you, there is always a chance of losing them or getting them stolen. It is your decision.

As for other stuff, since we don't know where you are going, it is kinda hard to suggest things. I would always take sunscreen, a small first aid kit (a couple of band-aids and neosporin), sunglasses, money (I keep in several places just in case), ship's contact information from that port (on the navigator usually), insurance information (since I always get private insurance), swim goggles, a small bottle of contact lens solution, and a small sealed snack (like a trailmix bar - if allowed). For the insurance information, I always make a small card before I leave home and laminate it to keep with me.

Hope this helps.

We were given cold ones while we waited to reboard the ship. It was so refreshing on a hot day.

 

[clten]

One thing I would take with me (especially if I was leaving the passports on the ship) is the name of the port agent and phone number (they put it on the front of the navigator but a lot of people don't take the navigator ashore). If an emergency does happen while you are on shore and not on a DCL excursion, you can contact them and they can help coordinate things with the ship (like having someone secure your passports before the ship leaves!)

Don't forget sunscreen and smaller bills for tip money (it's easy to forget since everything is cashless on board) if you are on an excursion either through Disney or on your own.