Want to know the number one mistake travelers make when going on a cruise? That is aside from not hiring a travel agent? It’s over packing! You need less than you think you do while you’re on board. With this in mind below you’ll find things you simply should not pack for your next cruise:
Avoid bringing more outfits than the number of days on the ship. Only bring enough clothes for the duration of the trip. There’s no sense in bringing two weeks worth of clothes if you are going on a week long vacation. Speaking of too many clothes…
You don’t even need to bring one outfit for every day and one outfit for every night. Do you really need an entire wardrobe for morning, noon, and night? NO! The key to packing fewer clothes is to have lots of items that can be easily mixed and matched to create different looks. Perhaps you have a skirt that you can pair with multiple blouses for multiple dinners and a pair of shorts that can be re-worn at least twice during the day.
Leave liquor, beer and/or Swiss Army knives at home. None of these are allowed on the ship so don’t bring them. Also, don’t think you’re clever and try to smuggle booze on board in a mouthwash or some other bottle. Thanks to all those videos online and stories of ways to smuggle, ships know the tricks and look for them. Besides- do you think anyone will really believe you need 3 liter bottles of Listerine for a one week getaway? I didn’t think so!
Don’t pack lots of books and magazines. Not only are these things heavy, but you won’t get nearly as much reading done as you may be thinking you will. If you must bring books and magazines consider an ereader or download a reading app to your mobile device. Even though you might not want to pay for the Wi-Fi you can always download a bunch of stuff before you leave to read on board.
You won’t need to bring a lot of hair styling tools either. Your room will most likely have a hair dryer. As for other tools like flat irons, curling irons and the like: save the space and the time needed to use them. It’s your vacation after all; can’t you let it go for a week or two?
This is just a brief list, but I’m sure there are lots of other things you could get away with leaving at home. What did you bring on your last cruise that you wish you hadn’t? Let us know in the comments below.
