17 Essential Cruise Packing Tips You’ll Wish You Knew

By Angie & Jeff

May 30, 2025

If you make a purchase through an affiliate link on our website we might earn a small commission. There is no additional cost to you. Any and all Amazon purchases through our links can be helpful to us regardless of what you ultimately choose to purchase. Clicking through our links, and coming back to click through our links again each time before you start your shopping on Amazon, is a way you can help support our website and help us keep writing quality articles for YOU. We appreciate each and every one of you and we thank you for your support. ~ Angie & Jeff

We’ve now taken 25 cruises across 8 different cruise lines. Over 6 months of our lives we have now spent on cruise ships! We still remember trying to prepare for our very first cruise which was an island hopping adventure around the Hawaiian Islands during our honeymoon. And we’ve learned A LOT since then and have traveled much of the globe.

Over the course of so many trips, we’ve developed this list of cruise packing tips and essentials. These are the items that you’ll use again and again.

So read on for the 17 essential cruise packing tips you’ll find will make all your future trips the best they can be!

1. Pack Light Using an Intentional Packing List

If you only read this first tip, it may be the one we value most. Cruise ship cabins are small – so you don’t want a bunch of extra stuff you really don’t need taking up any of that precious storage space in the cruise cabin, especially if you’re going to have more than 2 people in your cruise cabin. Having more stuff than necessary also makes it more difficult to stay organized. We have truly found that when traveling, less stuff equals more enjoyment.

One of the best ways to stay focused during packing is to use a packing list. We’ve made a specific cruise packing list that we use for cruises. Using the cruise packing list helps us make sure everything we need with us on the ship instead of accidentally left in a drawer at home.

2. Use Quality Carry On Luggage

We usually each pack a backpack and a carry-on suitcase for every trip.

You know how a regular backpack stuffs from the top and everything just drops down into a blackhole to nowhere? And then you have to rifle through all your stuff just to find what you’re looking for after you’ve spent all that time packing it up?

Yeah – we used to really hate that too.

We have found a backpack that completely eliminates this problem. We each purchased one for ourselves and have found it’s given us a massive leap forward in staying organized on trips and being able to find things quicker without having to rummage through all our stuff and make a big mess. It’s called the Biaggi Carry Cube backpack and we have written a full review all about it here. We are confident it will help you stay more organized on your travels too.

We did a TON of research to find carry-on suitcases that won’t break the bank with lofty and ridiculous prices and purchased them ourselves. The carry-on suitcases we’re using have been on nearly all our trips over the past 2 years and are still going strong.  We think they are 2 of the best carry-on suitcases you’ll find for your hard-earned money. You can read all about them here.

3. Compression Packing Cubes Will Help You Save Space

We have become big, big fans of compression packing cubes because they help to save so much space in your bag. The NICOSHOW 6 pack of Compression Packing Cubes currently cost just a little over $20. There are lots of colors to pick from, but the grey color costs the least and it works so that’s what we have. We think these are the very best deal you will find for compression packing cubes. The price has barely changed at all in 3 years.

We split this 6 pack in half which gave each of us a small (8” x 12”), medium (10” x 14”), and large (12” x 16”) compression packing cube. Each cube expands to 4 inches of depth. And the compression zipper helps to shrink that depth to as little as 1.5 inches once you compress all the air out of the clothes!

The cubes are also a big time help in keeping your suitcase organized. We typically use the small cube for socks and underwear, the medium cube for shirts and tops, and the large cube for pants. We’ve been using this same set of NICOSHOW packing cubes for over 2 years now and they still function like new! One thing to keep in mind and to make them last much longer is to not overpack them. The compression zippers do their job, but keep in mind that everything has a breaking point. If you find yourself really struggling to get the zipper to compress, you’ve probably got way too much in the bag and are asking too much of the zipper.

4. Pack Essentials in a Bag to Stay with You on Embarkation Day

Ah … embarkation day … the day that 4000+ people – Nope, strike that. 5000+ people – Nope, start again. Ok 6000+ people …. Well, the cruise ships just keep getting bigger and bigger. The current largest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, carries 7600 passengers! (And an additional 2350 crew members.)

All these people line up to get on the cruise ship. We’re pretty used to this check in process after 25 sailings, but if you’ve never seen this before, it’s impressive to see the logistics to make it all work in just a few hours.

You will also see massive amounts of luggage piled together near the cruise terminal or inside the cruise terminal. If you’ve followed our advice and packed light, you’ll be able to keep your backpack and carry-on suitcase with you and take them right onto the ship. If not, you’ll be asked to check most of your baggage with the baggage porters outside the cruise terminal.

Trusting the baggage porters to load your bags onto the ship is a bit like checking a bag at the airport. Most times, the bags are probably going to get to your cruise cabin door just as they should. But – sometimes they can be delayed or misplaced.

IMPORTANT – If you’re going to check your bags, we highly suggest that you keep essential items with you on embarkation day expecting the worst.

We keep the following with us at all times: a change of clothes, swimsuits, electronics, and anything we deem difficult to replace. (Example – Angie’s size 11 shoes and expensive bras!)

Cruise lines warn about medications, but think about what is a must have for you to enjoy your cruise and also keep that with you on your person for embarkation day.

If you’ve just gotten off an airplane which only allowed you a certain number of bags, you may need to take some time to repack your essential items into a purse or day bag which can stay with you at all times once you head over to the cruise terminal from the airport. Allow some time to do this. You do not want to take a chance on being stuck on the cruise without the items you have determined you cannot enjoy your vacation without.

5. A Smart Hack for Extra Storage – Magnetic Hooks

Cruise cabins are small and we find they often lack hooks you might want to use for drying towels, bathing suits, or to store a purse or backpack.
In our experience, cruise cabin walls and doors have always been metal though. And that’s why these handy magnetic metal hooks work wonderfully to create additional ways to organize your space.

6. Don’t Miss These Must Have Cruise Items for a Tropical Cruise!

These floatie chairs have been on every trip we’ve taken for the past 2 years and we absolutely love them! We very regularly have strangers approach us when using them to ask where they can rent them for the day and we surprise the heck out of them with the purchase price to own their own set for far less than a one day rental cost.

They work great in the open ocean and equally well in a hotel pool. They pack down extremely small so they don’t take up much space in our Biaggi carry cube backpacks. Below are a few photos you can have a visual of just how small these floatie chairs get when you’re ready to pack up and go! They really pack up small!

We did some research and found these for a better price than we’ve ever seen before! This is a 2 pack of the floats.

There are a few other things we think are important to have for Europe cruises that you can check out here.

7. Consider Your Cruise Evening Wear

Some cruisers really go all out with their evening events and wear tuxedos and ball gowns during the fancy dinners on the cruise, but most don’t. We like dressing up too, but the thought of trying to pack a suit jacket and tie and fancy dresses into carry-on luggage and have them looking any good at all by the time we get to unpack in our cruise cabin is just not something we attempt to do.

Instead – we keep it easy on ourselves. We both wear wrinkle free fabrics so there’s no need for ironing. Jeff brings several different colors of a breathable wrinkle-free fabric polo shirt and nicer wrinkle-free pants for dinners and shows. Angie likes to sparkle a bit and a sequin top like this one helps bring the bling!

Angie will also pack a number of different colored scarves to pair with plain tops in neutral colors for our capsule travel wardrobes so that she can look a bit fancier for dinners. We prioritize packing light over dressing fancy, but you will have to decide what you value most.

On the 8 cruise lines we’ve sailed so far, we haven’t once run into issues with dress codes. We’ve found that the written dress codes are mostly a suggestion and have never witnessed ANY guest be refused service. With that said, we don’t wear shorts, sweat pants, or ripped clothing to dinner in the main dining room though we have seen others do it.

8. Pack With Theme Nights In Mind

Many cruise lines offer fun cruise theme nights. Norwegian Cruise LIne always has a White Hot Party. For that one, wear as much white as you can. The blacklights will do the rest to make you look good. Holland Cruise Line has Orange Night (a throwback to the Dutch heritage of the line and the orange color of the Dutch royal Family). Virgin Cruise LIne has Scarlet Night encouraging everyone to wear red which is a very fun experience that transforms the entire ship.

Check your pre-cruise communication from your cruise line to see what you might want to pack to be able to participate in cruise theme nights. But, sometimes cruise lines forget to tell you about this so it doesn’t hurt to do a quick search about the typical theme nights for your cruise line.

Did we miss any theme nights? – Tell us on our social media at Facebook and Instagram so that we can include it!

9. Consider Your Downtime Preferences When Packing

We find that cruises keep us plenty busy enjoying the different shows, games, views, and food. But, you will want to consider your preferences for leisure time, especially if your itinerary includes sea days or you’re sailing with kids who won’t participate in the kids programming offered by the ship.

At a minimum, you might want to toss a deck of cards into your bag, but you’ll probably want more entertainment than just that.

If you like to watch shows or movies, only a few cruise lines have a good selection without paying ridiculous pay per view rates. (Princess, Holland, and Virgin had a fantastic selection of movies for no extra cost. But, no other lines we have sailed had this.)

To avoid the high cost of pay per view movies and shows, consider bringing a tablet with movies and shows you’ve preloaded onto it. The latest, greatest Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet has a 14 hour battery life and 64GB of memory. And if that’s too much money for you, the Amazon Fire 10 tablet , while not quite as good, can save you quite a bit of money. Both of these tablets can expand to 1 terabyte of storage if you purchase a separate 1TB micro-SD card.

If you like reading, you may want to pack some books or a Kindle which can store several 1000’s of books in one place! The newest Kindle Paperwhite has a new, larger 7 inch glare-free display and faster processing. This is the 16GB version which will already hold nearly 16,000 e-books in one place, but you can also find the 32GB version for about $40 bucks more if you want that. The older Kindle is still plenty good too and has a lower price point. Decide which one is best for you.

The only impressive libraries we have seen at sea are the Holland America ships. They have an impressive array of books in all kinds of age ranges, different categories, offering multiple copies of newer titles. The other cruise lines range from no library at all or offering a space labeled as a library that offers a handful of books that remind us of a corner little free library or might have been curated from other guest’s forgotten items.

10. Pack With Your Power Needs In Mind

We have sailed in a few cruise cabins with ONE outlet or the whole cabin. Yes, one! Newer and refurbished ships are adding more power options but this is something to prepare for when packing so you’re not stuck rotating phones and devices through charging times. Bring a power strip but choose these carefully as certain types are not allowed by cruise ships because they deem them a fire hazard and they will confiscate them at boarding for the length of the sailing.

We are currently using this one which has a square design and so far it’s raised zero issues with cruise ship staff. It has 8 outlets, 3 USB ports, and 1 USB-C port. The USB and USB-C ports are handy for when you don’t want to have to go get your phone charger.

11. Think of Your Hydration!

With the exception of Virgin Voyages (Virgin currently gives you both sparkling H20 and still H20 in separate carafes on a desk in your stateroom.), you’re not likely to have access to drinking water in your cruise cabin unless you’re willing to drink from the bathroom tap. Due to this, we pack a set of reusable water bottles to refill as often as needed via glasses of water in the buffet area of the ship. We like this design because it collapses down to save space when not in use and it comes in a ton of different colors so you can choose the one you like the best. This is a 2 pack but a 3 pack is also available.

12. Get a Day Bag – You Will Use It Consistently for Port Days

We think it’s always a good idea to pack a day bag for any trip.

We have Eddie Bauer daypacks that we were lucky enough to purchase years ago when they were on a super sale and also combined with an Eddie Bauer Friends coupon.

We searched out this WATERFLY brand day bag and the ZOMAKE brand day bag and both are very similar to what we have and at a great price. We love both designs because they have mesh  pockets on both sides so you can carry a water bottle in each and when not in use the bag folds up into itself for super small packability. There’s also a bunch of different colors so you can pick your favorite.

We always have a day bag packed so we can bring items needed for a port day such as towels (if doing a water activity); extra layers of clothing; sunscreen; water; umbrellas for shade; hats; etc. A day bag is lightweight and makes it super easy to pack for a day out in port.

Be sure to check out our Must Have Items for Europe post if you’re taking a European cruise. And check out our beach resort post for ideas of what you might want to have with you for a beach day in port. Some items overlap with this article, but there are also specific items you’ll want to have with you for these travels.

13. Get Sunglasses with Polarized Lenses

You’re certainly going to want a good set of sunglasses to protect your eyes. We really prefer polarized lenses and if you’ve never tried polarized lenses we think you’ll be very surprised the 1st time you look through a polarized lens. It makes a massive amount of difference in clarity and sharpness of vision.

Polarized lenses are far more common now than in the past and they don’t need to cost you a fortune to get a good pair. We’ve both been using the Goodr brand  polarized sunglasses lately and love that they are extremely lightweight and don’t dig into our noses or ears. So many sunglasses become uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time and we are pleased to report that these Goodr sunglasses don’t do that.

The Goodr brand certainly keeps it fun with the naming of their sunglasses too. Jeff is currently wearing “A Gingers Soul” and Angie has “Bosley’s Basset Hound Dreams”.

But hey, pick whatever you like the best. Sunglasses are subjective and there are lots of different styles so pick some that look good to you. Just make sure the lenses are polarized! You’ll thank us later.

There’s a number of other items we really think you ought to have with you on a tropical cruise that we’ve also covered in our Ultimate Things to Pack for a Beach Resort post. So be sure to check out that list to get the things you’ll want to have with you to have a great cruise in a tropical climate.

14. Enhance Your Cruise Views With a Good Set of Binoculars

A good set of travel binoculars is something we always have with us on a cruise. We had the good luck to use them in Alaska to witness brown bears on the shore in Glacier Bay and also got to see the close ups of the sea otters floating in the seawater. We have also used them numerous times to spot the names of passing ships as we sailed on the open ocean and used them for whale watching from the shore during our time in Juneau, Alaska and from the cruise ship in the Mexican Riviera.

Instead of wondering what that fuzzy thing in the distance is, get a good set of travel binoculars so that you can find out the answer for yourself! The binoculars help you be present in the experience, seeing details that otherwise would not be possible.

There are two numbers on any set of binoculars. The first number is the magnification power and the second number is the lens diameter. The bigger the lens, the more light can get in resulting in a brighter image. As lens size increases, normally so does price and also weight.

There are lots of posts written about how to find the best binoculars for your needs. In our most recent research, we think the Bushnell PowerView 2 binoculars in the 10 x 42 size offer the best value under $100 while also being compact for travel. If you have a Costco membership, you may want to consider the Osprey 10 x 42 Green binoculars. Costco has them priced at $99 and reviews say they compare to binoculars easily costing twice that price.

15. Enjoy Cruise Ship Traditions – Ducks!

A cruise ship tradition that’s been going for many years is hiding little rubber duckies to be found by other cruisers. Most often the ducks come with a little tag to fill out your name, where you’re from, and your sailing date so that the person that finds the duck you hid knows a little bit about where the duck came from.

This can be a fun thing to do as a family, especially for kids. You might find that it helps build the excitement for going on your cruise as you could make a project of working together as a family to fill out the cards and get the ducks ready a number of weeks before you go on your cruise.

Simply place the ducks in such a way that they are hidden, but with at least a portion of the duck within line-of-sight of the searcher, if only they know where to point their eyes to find the hidden duck. Stick to common areas and not near food on the buffet, for example. Instead, that fake plant next to your table-a great place to set a duck! Have a talk with your kids before you start playing the game so that they know the guidelines of the game and know how to play the game respectfully.

With all that said, here are some of the ducks we’ve used on past sailings. We like that this kit has a good variety of different colors of ducks and it also includes nicely designed tags. Be mindful when you’re searching Amazon that many retailers are going to list piece counts which might seem like a good deal on the surface and get you excited. LIke, “Oh Wow, I’m Getting 180 pieces!” But realize they are counting every single item in the tally – it’s not just the ducks – but also the pieces of paper, the attaching strings and/or rubber bands, etc. Focus more on how many ducks you’re getting since that’s the most important part of the order.

Also keep in mind the size of the ducks you’re ordering – some of these can get pretty big – like the larger ducks you may have seen lined up across the dash in many Jeeps. Transporting a bunch of these larger size ducks might take up too much of that valuable real estate in your suitcase. And, on the flipside, some can become nearly microscopic. So be mindful of the size you’re ordering. We like the roughly 1.5 inch size ducks because they are easy to pack.

16. Pack for the Possibilities, Even Those That are Not Fun.

It’s time to talk about the things that might go wrong, even though we really hope they won’t for you and that you’ll have a great trip. It’s no joke – Some people do get seasick on a cruise ship. The rocking motion does affect some people and both of us did have 1 cruise out of the 25 we’ve been on where we were definitely not feeling great. Meclizine, wrist bands; and the little dot patches to place on your neck can really help with seasickness.

Make sure you have this stuff with you so you don’t have to pay the extremely high prices in the onboard cruise gift shops or deal with their tiny inventories.

Also – make sure to bring common ailment remedies for headache, cold, diarrhea, antacid, etc. These meds are all going to cost a fortune on the cruise ship so make sure you have a few of each of them with you.

17. Bring a Small First Aid Kit

We also always travel with a small first aid kit. It just makes sense to have this stuff with you so you aren’t in crisis in the event you’d need to have it. Most times, you’ll probably just need the standard Band-Aids, but get the first aid kit just to be safe.

You’re Now Ready to Have a Great Cruise

If you follow our advice we are pretty sure you’ll have a fan-tabulous cruise! We remember back to our very first cruise when we were nervous about getting everything right and making sure we prepared well for the journey. This list along with the Ultimate Things to Pack for a Beach Resort post for tropical cruises and Must Have Items for Travel to Europe post for European cruises should get you everything you need to have a great trip.

Did we forget anything ? – Please let us know on our Facebook or our Instagram so we can update the post and make it more useful. We want to make this list as inclusive as possible so that everyone can have a great time. Happy sailing!