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If you are taking a Caribbean cruise, you might be wondering what you should pack. From toiletries to outfits, and everything in between, we detail what we pack for our trips in this Complete Caribbean Cruise Packing Guide to help eliminate your pre-cruise stress. Even if you are a veteran cruiser, you might find a few additional items that will be helpful on your next cruise.
Our Caribbean Cruise Packing List
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Toiletries
In our downloadable Caribbean Cruise Packing List, we list all the toiletries we pack for our cruise vacations. Yes, many cruise lines do provide some essential shower products, but we still prefer to bring our own. Even if you don’t pack as extensively as we do, the essentials should include medications, suntan lotion, and hand sanitizer.
After all, you will probably be spending a lot of time in the sun and wouldn’t want to suffer from sunburn. Now more than ever, you will also want to help prevent the spread of germs to avoid getting sick on your vacation, so you can never have enough hand sanitizer. In 2021, you might also want to pack some disinfectant wipes and/or Lysol disinfectant spray to sanitize your cabin and other high traffic touchpoints.
Since irons or steamers are not allowed onboard cruise ships, we also find Downy wrinkle release very helpful for keeping our clothes as wrinkle-free as possible. Note: you will not need a hairdryer as one will be available in your cabin.
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Clothing
Our Caribbean cruise packing guide outlines all the potential clothing items you will want to pack for your next cruise vacation. Regardless of travel destination, we usually group outfits into daytime use and nighttime use. For a standard 7-day cruise with a pre-cruise hotel stay, we typically plan eight daytime and eight nighttime outfits, choosing items that can be re-purposed for a couple uses.
Of course, you should consider how you are going to be spending your days when packing for your cruise. For instance, if you plan to lounge around and beach it up the entire time, you will probably only pack bathing suits for daytime use. If you have shore excursions planned, like sightseeing tours, zip lines, or off-roading experiences, you will want to pack outfits to fit those requirements.
Most importantly, you will want to pack clothing items for your Caribbean cruise that are comfortable, lightweight, and multi-purpose. In the Caribbean, a raincoat is another essential item. You will also want to ensure you pack the appropriate footwear. This may include water shoes, sneakers, or flip flops.
A 7-night cruise typically has 1-2 “formal” nights depending on the cruise line, so you will want to pack your formal attire as well if you choose to dress for the occasion. Otherwise, “resort casual” outfits are appropriate for the main dining room. Woman should also pack a cardigan or light jacket as it could be a bit chilly on the ship.
Further, in 2021, you won’t want to forgot the newest fashion accessory- face masks!
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Other Useful Items
Besides the necessary travel documents and passports, we have accumulated a list over the years of other useful items for a cruise. Many of these products can be purchased relatively inexpensively on Amazon or at your local Target or Walmart.
Given that cruise ship cabins are small, you will want to maximize the space. Magnets(We use the 40 lb. ones) come in handy for hanging hats, beach bags, and other items in your cruise cabin. Additionally, we use an over the door shoe organizer, not for shoes, but rather to store toiletries and other small items to free up counter space.
Further, you’ll wonder why you ever spent a day on the windy pool deck without these handy towel clips. The clips will secure your towel to the lounge chair so it doesn’t blow away. It will also serve as a helpful visual reminder of where you were sitting upon your return from the pool bar or the restroom. We love our Yeti water bottles when lounging by the pool or the beach as well. These bottles will keep a drink cold the entire day even in the Caribbean sun!
Some other usual items for your cruise packing list are cruise luggage tags. These plastic sleeves help to protect those paper cruise tags on your suitcases, as lanyards or cell phone pockets are equally as important to store your room key card.
Ziploc bags are great for storing wet items, while trash bags are handy to store dirty laundry over the course of the week.
Of course, a travel luggage scale will ensure you are not over your airline’s weight limit on the return trip home.
Related Post: Household Items to Pack for a Cruise
Electronics
Admittedly, we pack much more in this category than most cruisers. So, our suggestion is to choose your essential devices whether they be smartphones, laptops, tablets, or cameras. Once you decide which gadgets you plan to take, you will find one of these cord organizers very helpful to keep all the chargers in one convenient location.
Speaking of all these electronics, amobile power chargeris essential as outlets are very limited in cruise cabins. You might also want to consider aportable power pack to keep your devices charged when going ashore.
Packing for a vacation shouldn’t be stressful. So, feel free todownload a copy of our complete Caribbean cruise packing list and use this as a check list while packing for your next cruise.
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