Weird/important stuff to bring on a cruise

[Akck]

YES! We try to pack lighter now and don't bring most of what we used to bring, but I do still want my sharpie. Hahaha!

I have reusable shopping bags that stay in my luggage. Use them for beach or pool tote, laundry bag, extra packing space on the way home, etc. They fold flat and take up almost no room. Tip--if I use one for a laundry bag, I often hang it on two hangers (each handle on a separate hanger so it hangs open in the closet). These go on every trip, not just cruises. So does the sharpie!

My wife started bringing several Disney shopping bags that we’ve bought. A medium sized Disney Springs bag is used for dirty laundry and a small Magic Kingdom bag for onboard gift shop purchases. They go on any trip we take.

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

I have been cruising DCL since 1998 (Maiden voyage of the Magic) and never brought a night light with me but someone in our FB group posted one they got on Amazon. I checked it out and bought it. Well, I have to say it really helped on my cruise last week. I was traveling with a friend and did not want to wake her when I visited the bathroom in the middle of the night. The cabin light switches are very close together and in the past, on several different times, I turned on the main cabin light instead of the bathroom light. The set of 2 night lights are motion activated and worked great. When I entered the bathroom it came on and stayed on for about 30 seconds. A simple wave turns it back on. No more accidentally turning on the overhead lights! I just placed it on the glass shelf in the bathroom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MHVTHQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have these and love them! Since the whole thing is magnetic I just stick it to the back of the bathroom door. Very small and easy to travel with.

 

[lovingeire]

I have these and love them! Since the whole thing is magnetic I just stick it to the back of the bathroom door. Very small and easy to travel with.

Thanks to both of you for sharing these! My kids have cute Mickey ones, but they turn them on and use them all night. (Thank God for the curtain!) They also require the circle batteries which are a pain to find. I'm going to get these to put on the bathroom door and maybe in the main part of the cabin. Or I'll just use it for the kids and leave the Mickey ones at home!

 

[anricat]

I have these and love them! Since the whole thing is magnetic I just stick it to the back of the bathroom door. Very small and easy to travel with.

Just don't forget it! I stuck a magnetic light to the back of the bathroom door once on the Wonder. I hope the next occupants of 2050 enjoyed their light!

 

[LeiaOfAlderaan]

Just don't forget it! I stuck a magnetic light to the back of the bathroom door once on the Wonder. I hope the next occupants of 2050 enjoyed their light!

Yes! I could totally see that happening, which is why I put a reminder in my phone to pack it the last morning. Same with the door magnets! I put reminders on my phone for everything since my brain doesn’t seem to hold as much information as it used to.

 

[Lillebelle]

Every stateroom I've ever been in has a laundry bag in the closet already. What's the benefit of bringing your own?

I want something I can just throw in my suitcase at the end of it without having to take the dirty clothes back out. We do not do laundry on the ship (which is what I always assumed the included bags were for).

 

[loislane]

Both carry ons and checked luggage get x-rayed. Checked luggage behind the scenes and carry ons in the terminal.

I have been cruising DCL since 1998 (Maiden voyage of the Magic) and never brought a night light with me but someone in our FB group posted one they got on Amazon. I checked it out and bought it. Well, I have to say it really helped on my cruise last week. I was traveling with a friend and did not want to wake her when I visited the bathroom in the middle of the night. The cabin light switches are very close together and in the past, on several different times, I turned on the main cabin light instead of the bathroom light. The set of 2 night lights are motion activated and worked great. When I entered the bathroom it came on and stayed on for about 30 seconds. A simple wave turns it back on. No more accidentally turning on the overhead lights! I just placed it on the glass shelf in the bathroom.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MHVTHQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

MJ

So.....I ordered these because it sounded like a good idea since I get up at least once a night to use the bathroom. Got them, charged them up and put them in my Disney trip drawer. Then....Monday night into Tuesday we got pounded with a spring snowstorm where I am in NY - we got a foot of snow and of course the power went out. And it stayed out for more than a day. I was VERY glad I had these lights. Put one in our bathroom and one in the kitchen to break up the complete darkness. They stayed lit all night and still had charge the next day! They are definitely handy for more than just cruises!

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

these would be needed if traveling with kids, bit I couldn’t imagine needing them if it were just dh and me: the hanging organizer (tied to a ribbon to hand on a hook), and those washcloths from the dollar store that soften when you wet them (or any cheap small washcloths that you can toss when you’re leaving). With kids dirty faces, multiple baths a day between pool, beaches, etc., the amount of washcloths given were lacking (plus theres no room to hang the huge thick ones provided). Also clothespins were handy.

 

[harleyquinn]

I want something I can just throw in my suitcase at the end of it without having to take the dirty clothes back out. We do not do laundry on the ship (which is what I always assumed the included bags were for).

Sounds like you want what I use. They are basically giant ziplocks that you push the air out of. I use a minimum of three between my daughter and I. We just unpack the clean clothes from the bags and then throw the dirty ones in the bag.once it’s full, I zip it closed, push the air out and throw it back in the suitcase. Then I just dump it in the washer when I get home. You could even separate colors if that’s your thing.

 

[KantLose]

For bathroom nightlights, we bring glow sticks. It was a tip from this board before our first cruise and we've brought them for every cruise since. They provide a nice subtle glow in the bathroom and you don't have to worry about batteries or lack of an outlet. (And the extras are fun for deck parties!)

 

[TreeFalls]

Those magnetic hooks damage the stateroom doors. Please, please, please bring a felt pad or some kind of other material to put in between the magnet and the door or you're going to damage the paint.

(I say this to appease my guilt of having not known this and just damaged the cabin door myself.)

Regarding the outlets, how much stuff are people plugging in? We have phones, tablets, a Nintendo Switch, a sound machine, and two power toothbrushes and we had more than enough outlets without extension cords or anything like that.

Did you take the Switch on board? Everywhere I looked said they are now allowed on board... we left ours in the car at the port.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Did you take the Switch on board? Everywhere I looked said they are now allowed on board... we left ours in the car at the port.

I brought it in December and again in April and had no trouble. I think they don't want you hooking them up to the TV so leave your cables and dock at home, but I had no trouble bringing it onboard with just a charger and game case.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We do take laundry bags if we are on a longer cruise, but not for 4 nights and under. Have never noticed "stanky" laundry with ship water - it's the same water we drink, so that's a mysterious one to me!

We don't drink much pop, so will just get those in small cups if someone absolutely wants, but we all have insulated water bottles for ice water. Hydroflask is great, but DCL also sells a Tervis stainless steel one on board that I bought this last trip and it is just as good. Fill with ice and water, lasts 24 hours plus.

Portable battery charging pack was helpful on shore excursions especially. We use our phones so much now what with looking at the app every few min

I did find the beach towel clips to be useful as we did use our balcony to dry out swimwear.

 

[Ed Burnett]

A collapsable shoe holder that you can attach to a closet rod, I think comes in handy.

 

[harleyquinn]

I love that this thread is still going!

 

[dvcgirl1]

We've been on 19 Disney cruises, and yet I still read through all of these posts (just to see what new ideas everyone has and make sure I'm not missing anything, Lol!) There are some great ideas here. I think it also depends on how old your kids are, along with how many people you are going to have in your room as to how much stuff you need to bring. The more people in the room, the more you have to think about storage space. I cant stand having stuff everywhere, so I tried to make sure I had a drawer or place for everything. The storage cubes that fold flat are good for the top of the closet, to put stuff in when you are out of drawers. When our kiddos were younger, we brought alot more things than we do now. The nightlight (or some type of small light) is definitely useful as the room is very dark. Clothespins because, as someone else said, pinning suits on the line dries them faster. Reusable cups because the paper cups seem to disinigrate too fast for me and I like to have water at night. A few extra reusable shopping bags (stores flat) to have just in case---we have never gotten off of the ship without having to cram some extra things into the bags at the last minute, including my son's dress shoes that he found under the desk! An air freshener (we use the cheap reunizit solid kind) for the bathroom because the bathroom can get a funny smell to it by cruise end), along with small travel lysol to sit in bathroom. That cabin can get really small if someone has to "go". We use the magnetic hooks to hang the boys toiletry bags on, as the bathroom walls are also magnetic. But, as someone said, remember to take them when you go. We left two of our once stuck on the wall. Ugh. Ziploc bags of various sizes. We wet 2 washcloths and put them in a bag to take on beach days for little guys hands, face, before eating...just make sure you bring them back on ship! Have a great trip!!

 

[mmouse37]

So.....I ordered these because it sounded like a good idea since I get up at least once a night to use the bathroom. Got them, charged them up and put them in my Disney trip drawer. Then....Monday night into Tuesday we got pounded with a spring snowstorm where I am in NY - we got a foot of snow and of course the power went out. And it stayed out for more than a day. I was VERY glad I had these lights. Put one in our bathroom and one in the kitchen to break up the complete darkness. They stayed lit all night and still had charge the next day! They are definitely handy for more than just cruises!

Awesome!!!! but sorry you lost power

MJ

 

[twopackages]

My cruise specific packing items:

Extra card for the light switch (Fantasy and Dream)
Magnetic hooks
A couple of battery operated tea lights for the bathroom at night
Big clothes pins (to keep towel in place while on deck, clothes on balcony, clip curtains closed)
White noise app on my phone
USB hub
Salty / crunchy snacks
Lanyard with a plastic pocket to put in Key to the World card (for first cruise)

That is all I can think of right now

 

[Foreveraprincess17]

Congratulations on your first cruise-so excited for you!!

We're Platinum cruisers so these are our packing tips:
-Portable Fan-it's always inspected at embarkation and then returned to our room. We like the Fan because it blocks out
some of the hallway noise.
- Small Flashlights with a cord for the bathroom. That way we don't wake each other up with turning on the light in the
middle of the night. We bring an extra spare of batteries for the Flashlights.
-Clothespins. for the Curtains. You especially will need them if you cruise to Alaska during the Summer solstice and we use
them for the swim suits.
- Ziplock bags.
-Laundry detergent for Swim suits.
-Sea Safe for Castaway Cay. Protects against the Sea Lice and the Jelly Fish. We've seen folks that have been stung by the Jelly Fish that don't have Sea Safe on. Ouch!!
-Tylenol and Advil.
-Per the recs of the wonderful Disboarders we purchased our own Full Face Snorkel Masks. So much better than a "regular'
snorkel.
-Waterproof camera with a "floatie" handle for the Castaway Cay Snorkel Lagoon. So much to find in the Lagoon
(including Mickey and Minnie).
-Pirate costumes (we go all out for Pirate Night).
-Small set of binoculars.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Every stateroom I've ever been in has a laundry bag in the closet already. What's the benefit of bringing your own?

I don't understand the benefit of USB outlets everywhere. Every single thing I own is either a normal plug or USB-C at this point. USB-A is just about obsolete, so I fail to understand why everyone pushes so hard for hotels, airlines, etc. to include USB-A chargers.

I never use professional cleaning for clothes at home and use the laundry bag to send out a few items while I sail. So need a plan b while bag is out of room.

And my husband has a New iPhone 5 it’s a SE I think. Sent free by ATT to replace the really really old iPhone that still works, but would no longer work with updated phone lines. So he now is not using the wide cord only with his iPad. If it’s obsolete, my husband owns and uses it religiously!