Cruising 101, Part 4: What to Pack
- Nov 9, 2025
- 14 min read
Updated: Nov 13, 2025
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This blog series is for travelers who are beginners to cruising. Cruising 101
Part 4: What to Pack
Note (very important): Check the FAQs for the cruise line you will be on. Read what is not allowed on board to avoid unpleasant surprises. My blog is just general information, for beginners. We are not responsible for information you may have to obtain on your own. * Note (also very important): Many cruise lines do not allow your own bottled drinks except for one bottle of wine per adult per cabin. This includes water, even when you return on port days. You might be allowed to pre-purchase bottled water that will be waiting for you in your stateroom. You may be allowed to bring canned non-alcoholic beverages. Check with your cruise line.
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For some people, packing before a trip is not a process, requiring no thought. They take enough clothes for the days they will be away, take maybe one pair of shoes in addition to the ones they will wear and get going. I have seen people board a 7 day cruise with just a carry on, not even with an extra back pack. Then, I have seen the opposite: people struggling with two bags, a back pack, a carryon and kids. And I can't say that clearly, this may be these passengers' first cruise. It may not be.
Some people either do not travel often (to anywhere) or they do not reflect when they return as they are unpacking. Sometimes, people wait until the day before to start packing, others start either making a list or putting things aside a month before. When I am traveling with family and/or friends, we start communicating with each other usually about two weeks before we leave.
Some people may start chuckling when they read this, nodding their heads in agreement. Others will shake their heads in judgment: it's not that serious. Either they say: you don't need all that junk or they may think, whatever you don't have, you can always buy.
Packing for cruises is like packing for an airplane trip to another country. You have to pack light, practically and anticipate what you many need because buying something extra may not be practical. If you are not a seasoned traveler, here is a good way to figure what you may need for all of your trips. There are apps you can use, but it's cheaper to use a simple pad and pen or the notes feature in your phone. While you are getting dressed for a regular day at home, make a note of everything you use: underwear, socks, clothes, footwear, headwear, outerwear, toiletries, hair (and makeup) products. The, note prescription medicines, other meds (such as painkillers, allergy meds, vitamins and supplements, even lip balm, hand sanitizer and hand lotion). Next, note the extra and fun items you may use throughout a normal vacation day: do you exercise, swim, listen to music with headphones, use a handheld external video game unit, laptop, tablet? Decide what is needed for this category.
Next, pretend that you are going out to dinner each evening (we will give you some tips on this part further down in this blog article). But start big and pretend you will have a different outfit for most of the evenings. Don't worry, you'll take out most of the stuff, it's just the beginning.
Finally, for me, and an increasing number of people, what other electronics do you need? Remote working and social media bloggers may need some extra items, besides their phone. You may need a camera, action camera, memory cards, batteries, chargers, cables, external battery pack, and all of the accessories that go with them (again, you will reduce some of this stuff, just add it to your list).
Finally, you are ready to start packing and now you know why some people start two weeks before laying some items aside or just making a list.
Start with the cruise information: how many days and nights, where are you sailing from, the itinerary and where you will end the cruise if it is not round trip. I'm from New York, and we have sailed many times from Manhattan Cruise Terminal in the winter. The itinerary almost always is much further south, so we have to pack for two climates: two cold weather outfits at the very least.
Next, you may need something to wear to dinner every evening. Some people change for dinner each night, some people only change for dress up night, others do a variation. We only change for some of the nights: all of the evenings in between embarkation day and the day before we leave. For example, if we board on Sunday, and we are leaving on Saturday, we only bring dinner clothes for Monday-Thursday. Why not Friday? Stay tuned. We'll explain. So, we bring two extra pairs of dress pants (or skirts) and 4 tops. Why not two or three? Doing laundry is not practical on the majority of cruise ships. In our experience, only one cruise line had a passenger laundry room. Stay tuned again, we have a tip for that.
Now look at your itinerary: what ports are you going to and what are you going to do there. Are you active? Will you walk around and explore? Will you swim, snorkel, deep sea dive? Will you ride a bike or Segway scooter with an excursion? Many cruise ports are in rural type areas with uneven streets and sidewalks, so you need sturdy footwear: a good athletic shoe or even a light hiking boot (we have climbed many hills while exploring!). Even if the climate is warm, think about the evenings (light jacket) and finally, don't forget your headwear.
So, here are our tips for packing for your cruise based not only on our personal experience and research but our observations and conversations with other cruises.
* Basic Info: Your luggage is checked in at the curb (download your luggage tag, print it and attach it before you get to the port). Your bags may not be delivered to your stateroom until late afternoon. There are cruise luggage tags help to keep the printed tag on your bags. Just print out your luggage tag and insert it into the tag sleeve. Many people just loop the paper around the handle and either staple it or tape it together. If you do that, do it at the curb. It may get torn or lost while you're in transit to the cruise port. Unless you have an extra copy, it can be a little inconvenient when you do not have your luggage tags.
*You can actually roll your own luggage onto the ship. But be aware that it may be a bit of a journey. Ramps are connected from the cruise terminal to the ship. Some of these ramps are a little steep and the distance from the terminal to the ship varies from port to port. If you choose to bring your luggage on with you, walk to one side so that others can pass you in case you are moving a little slower. Also, this may not be a practical move if you have small children with you or people who cannot move and drag their luggage at the same time. The ramps are not a smooth surface and there may be gaps where they connect. It's not like an airport floor.
*When you board the ship, your room (cabin, stateroom) most likely will not be ready. They are cleaning it from the group that just disembarked. You can usually board about 1-4 hours before your stateroom is ready. If you have all of your luggage with you, you can relax in the lounging areas. Remember, you get lunch as soon as you board. It can be a bit awkward to bring it with you into the buffet or restaurants. Keep all of this in mind if you decide to carry your own luggage on.
* Take a small bag to board the ship, perhaps the same one you would take off the ship for excursions. This is called a day bag. If you are boarding during warm weather, you may either want to wear your swim suit or put it in your day bag. After lunch, if you want to go to the sun decks right away, you'll be able to swim. If not, the fitness room might be open already. You may want your workout clothes, music player (most people use their phones, but make sure you have your headphones), a book, camera and medication. When you board, most areas are available and you can have fun right away (except for your stateroom). Remember, you won't see your luggage until later, so make sure you have what you need for a couple of hours. All Aboard!
*Carry your electronics with you. If you have heavier articles, consider a rolling backpack or tote bag. Many people bring real cameras with them on cruises based on the itinerary. Do not pack any of this into your checked luggage: treat it like you're going on an airplane.
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* Medications/vitamins (check with the cruise line about oxygen tanks). Put important medications in your day bag and bring it with you personally when you board the ship. Bring your vitamins for the day, also. The rest of those can be packed in the checked luggage. But your entire prescription medication supply should always stay with you. You have a couple of options for supplements: pack each supplement's bottle or use one of those travel pill boxes and have it already compartmentalized. If you have to take medication while you are off the ship during the cruise, have a small container and just take what you need. Leave the rest on the ship. It is very difficult, if not almost impossible, to get an emergency supply. By the way, there is a medical office on the ship. They usually have a fee schedule posted outside of the door. You will have to pay and if your insurance covers it, you will most likely have to submit the bill to be reimbursed. Check with your medical and travel insurance for all details.
*They usually don't sell vitamins onboard of a ship, but they do sell painkillers, cold medicine and stomach stuff. No, you don't want to pack a whole pharmacy, but pack what you think you would normally use in the course of a week. A travel size of painkiller usually is enough. When you get back home, refill it for the next trip. Some people pack anti-diarrhea, antacid and cold medicine. Not the whole box, just take a couple of the blister packs.
*Clothing: Most ships have reasonable limits, but there are security and weight concerns. This blog entry will refer mostly to 5-10 day cruises. My tip: pack as if you were traveling on an airplane. With experience, you will realize how much stuff you don't need. Here are our recommendations:
* 2 outfits per day: casual wear for daytime and something slightly dressier for the evening, depending on your activity. Many excursions or areas that you are visiting can be dusty and you may think you're going to wear the same pants all day until you get back on the ship and figure it out. Having said that, some outfits (especially shorts/pants/skirts) can be repeated, it's OK. Everyone is a bit casual on most cruises and no one is clocking your outfit and being judgmental. Well, almost no one.
* Part of the cruising experience is dressing up for dinner. In fact, some people look forward to it. They used the opportunity to take photos since the photographers will be set up with various backdrops or located in picturesque areas of the ship. Your newsletter will tell you when it is an elegant/formal evening. Nowadays, that can simply mean a collared shirt with dress pants for the men and a skirt, dress or dress pants for the ladies. Or, go all out and dress formally (black tie). It can be great fun, especially for holiday cruises. It's a good night for portraits. It's a good idea to use a color scheme. This way, only one pair of shoes is needed. We use black or dark blue pants/skirts and vary the tops.
* There may be special days. Be prepared for all-white parties, pirate deck parties, ugly sweater parties at holiday time. There may also be themed parties, such as 1980s or 1990s night. The problem is that you never know and the website doesn't tell you in advance. So, how can you have fun for a themed night. Bring a fun T-shirt or a cap that may represent a decade. Look at the social media page of the cruise line and see what might have happened on previous cruisers. By the way, these fun nights are the ideas of the cruise directors. Since some of them are very popular, cruises ships don't announce who is on each ship. Do a hashtag search for your ship and you may get some ideas.
*Bring small laundry packets to rinse some things out if you want to. Or bring one of the laundry sticks to dab at unexpected stains until you get home to wash your clothes properly. Stains like pizza sauce and red wine need to be treated right away. There might be a passenger laundry, others have laundry service. Both will have a fee. If there is a passenger laundry room, you will most likely use your ship card to activate the machines and your account will be charged.
* You may want to exercise. Bring 2-4 changes of workout clothes. You can save space in your luggage if you do not pack too many workout clothes. You can rinse out some clothes using the small travel packets of detergent to rinse them out. Or use the ship-provided shampoo or shower gel, it works well (trust me). For footwear, you can consolidate space by using the same exercise shoe for your walking shoe when you are off the ship. Shoes can be heavy and carrying extra sneakers may not be necessary. Besides, you many not want to bring your very expensive running shoes on vacation anyway. Invest in a good all around shoe that can do double duty.
* Bring at least 2 swimsuits, 1 coverup (or t-shirt/shorts) and 1 pair flip flops/sandals/slides/water shoes. You will need to rinse out the suit after a day at the beach, so while one is drying, the other is ready to go. PS: as tempting as it is, do not hang your swimsuit on your balcony to dry. But, the bathrooms usually don't have much air circulating. It can take up to two days for your suit to dry (unless you don't mind putting on a wet, clammy suit from the day before). So, wring it out good, put a towel on the small vanity stool, and lay out your swimsuit. Or hang it on one of the hooks in the cabin. Not enough hooks? Bring your own. There are magnetic cruise hooks that you can put up when you board. Just don't forget them when you're packing to leave. By the way, we're repeating: do not hang your swim suit out on the balcony. They can blow away even when the ship is standing still in port.
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• Sunscreen, insect repellent, lip balm, hand sanitizer, pocket-sized tissues. You only need a travel size but bring two of sunscreen. You can judge how much you normally need when you're on vacation. Yes, these things are for sale on the ship and on each port, but needless to say the prices are high, sometimes almost double when you are back home. At ports, the prices will be higher and the brands may be different.
• Small umbrella (or poncho) and always, a versatile jacket/sweater. Some of the theaters can be really cold, even in the hottest climates. Ditto for the dining rooms. And if you are sailing on a cruise that goes to a cooler climate (Alaska, Iceland, Canada), you will need appropriate clothing. Keep the climate and weather in mind. Many people take cruises to go to warm climates but it does get cool in the evenings when you're at sea, even in the summer. If you are sensitive to that, have two types of jackets, one casual and maybe a dressier alternative for your dinner outfit.
• Small sizes of your favorite beauty items. Shower gel and shampoo are provided, but I prefer to bring my own. Save even more money by filling your own travel sized bottles.
There are plenty of options, but since I travel with body oil, it was a challenge to find a travel bottle that can handle oil, be leakproof, won't pop open while the luggage is being transferred (but put it in a sandwich bag anyway) and is not glass. There are some that you can buy. To make them extra spill-proof, they make silicone sleeves that slip over the tops of bottles. They look strange but it works. Also, containers with clips are always helpful. This way, you don't have to fumble around in your bag while you are out in town, making you vulnerable to losing something or someone seeing you go into your bag so often out in the street.
* Electronics: Staterooms on older ships generally will have one 120V outlet (USA) and one that may require an adapter, usually either a UK outlet or a western European outlet. The newer ships have been more generous. They will have more than one USA socket, one European and some USB A ports, not the C. Try to carry a cord that has a USB A at one end. Nowadays, many people only carry a cord with the USB C at both ends.
Still, I carry my voltage converter always. I also carry a USB hub so that I can charge more than one device. Extension cords and strips are usually not permitted. You might want: phone, camera, tablet/laptop. Blow dryers are provided, but curling/flat irons may or may not be allowed. You will go through security each time you board the ship. Anything that is not allowed will be confiscated. If you're at your port of embarkation, you may have to get your property back in the cruise terminal. If it is confiscated on the ship, ask at the customer service desk when your items may be collected.
* Other items: If you are very active, you will need your snorkeling mask and your scuba gear but you won't need workout gear beyond clothing. I bring my own mask and snorkel because a snorkel goes in one's mouth. Enough said. As for working out, there is a fitness room on the ship and a small track to jog or walk (usually on the lido deck, so go early). Or, if it is a beach day, run on the beach!
* Day packs: There are many day packs that can be worn across the body. Some people pack their money and cards under their clothing in a money belt. Every place warns against pickpockets, do not take these advisories lightly. A water bottle carrier with pockets is helpful.
* Kids: For little ones, excessive toys and books are not needed: the kids clubs have that. You may want a tablet for videos in the stateroom at night (download what you need before you leave, streaming packages are expensive and slow). For babies, try to bring what they need because the shops on board and at the ports can be pricey. However, some cruise lines will let you order diapers to be delivered to your stateroom on embarkation day.
* Finally: The ship's shops are open only at sea, not when the ship is docked. You can buy emergency items either on board or when you are in port. They tend to cost more, of course, but items are available. The key is to learn to live without some things and to remember you are not moving away from home, just vacationing.
This article is my personal opinion. I am a travel agent. I am an Amazon Associate. If you purchase something through a link, I might earn a commission at definitely no extra cost to you.
Happy Travels!
The NYC Traveler Presents Tips for Your Trips
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