Can you seasoned cruisers share with me what you suggest as must haves for a packing list and what you suggest we leave at home? I've been reading books and websites and have come up with the following. Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

Oh - we'll be on the Carnival Glory in a balcony room on the lido deck. Our room description says: "Twin Bed/King and Single Convertible Sofa and Upper."

The list thus far:

• Aloe
• Sunscreen
• Laundry detergent
• Healing salve
• Bandaids
• Adoption papers (daughter was adopted and name is different on birth certificate)
• Birth certificates
• Licenses
• Ziplock bags
• Pedialite
• Sippy cups
• Over the door shoe hanger (for sunscreen, toiletries, etc)
• Clothes pins
• Gum
• Books
• Blow dryer (do they have these in the cabins?)
• White noise machine (Our room is right by an elevator. This helps the baby sleep.)
• Juice boxes
• Beach toys
• Bottles
• Baby Tylenol/feverall
• Rain ponchos
• Laundry bag
• Bug spray
• Lysol
• Walkie talkies
• ID bands for emma (4 year old)
• Hangers
• Camera batteries
• Wipes

The obvious things - clothes, toiletries, etc - are not listed.

Thanks!

I trust that you have checked and know that the Carnival Glory has a passenger laundry. If it does not then all the laundry stuff can be left behind. We have been on 3 cruises and only one had a laundry that the passengers could use; the other two had laundry as an expersive service that the ship provided. I presume that you are planning to hang any clothes you wash somewhere in your cabin. The shower on the RC Jewell was about 2 1/2 feet long at its widest point which is not much room to hang much of anything (unless you are going to hang it on the balcony?). I would email Carnival about the hair dryer; all of the ships we have been on had one in each room although I read a review recently of someone who had been on a ship that did not provide this and 15 people shared one hair dryer!! If you camera uses rechargable batteries take the charger. If you are using film - take a lot of it. You might want to purchase an underwater camera (or two-three of these) that you can take to the beach and/or pool and not worry about water or sand. If you take camera film remember to keep it in your carry-on until it is developed.

Hope this helps.

Nancy,
You have a good list started. This site has a good packing list to review as well. Travelling with children always involves lots of extras. With luggage space being a premium, I think you could not bring:hangers, the hairdryer(although I always bring mine as I do not like the one they supply), the white noise machine (? is it large? You could use the tv music channel if it was noisy),laundry detergent(they sell it).
I always have an assortment of medicines, antibiotics, pepto bismol, tylenol, sudafed, etc. Ziplock baggies are key. I use them for all of my shampoos, etc. & reuse them. The "law of umbrellas" always bring one. I usually bring a travel clock, although most ships have something in the phone now. I bring stamps from home for postcards (mail from US ports). Sunglasses, spare glasses. Lots of film, batteries. (better to have more than run out).

Have a great time

Here is a link to the packing list that sunprincess referred to. I hope it helps.

http://www.cruisereviews.com/PackingList.htm

Tom

Looked everywhere for this post today TOM thanks! Thought the new guys might want to see it.

Dear Moses Family:

What really worked well for me on my cruise, was to use the Ziploc bags in the packing process. [LIST]Catagorize your belongings: Medicines, Music and listening devices(CDs, CD player, MP3 player) , reading matierials (books,magazines,paperbacks), stationary(writing matierials) etc.

Then, put each catagorized item in separate ziploc bags before packing them.
This made unpacking and acessing each item so much faster and easier. Also, it will protect other items in the unfortunate even of a spill or leak inside the bag. The ziploc bags may even serve to contain the leak or spill, making the cleanup process considerably easier.

Definately all the items which protect you from the harshness of the sun are a must:
Sunscreen, Hat, Sunglasses, etc.

If you like casino gambling, bring along a few rolls of coins (quaters, dimes, nickels) for the slot machines.

There was no self-service laudry mat on my Royal Carribean cruise. I am not sure if Carnival Glory is different. Call ahead and ask.

Make sure you got all your paperwork done before you get to Port Canaveral. Have it handy. This includes the print-out of that special Fast Pass (or similar words) that Carnival says will speed up the boarding process (you can print it out on the Carnival website). Use the passport holders that hang around your neck, and have the documents inside of it.

During the boarding process: have a few pens handy: one you will use, the others your lesser prepared fellow passengers will borrow from you.

Bring along a nightlight (if you use one at home). Also bring along a multi-strip outlet if you will be bringing along allot of things that use electricity.

ESPECIALLY: DO NOT FORGET ANY PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES IF YOU TAKE THEM FOR A SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITION. ALso, do not forget an electric extension chord at least 15' in length, if you use a nebulizer, C-PAP, BI-PAP, or other electronic medical device.

Like Sunprincess said, bring along extra film. You will pass through airport-stlye screening before entering the ship (both at the Canaveral pier and just after re-entering the ship at the ports of call). Don't worry about the X-ray screening machine damaging your photographic film. I sent my film through numerous times and it never was. If you still don't believe me, you can purchase a lead-lined film bag at your local camera shop. Sima is a popular brand name of such a bag. Or buy a digital camera and you won't have to worry. And besides, digital has so many atvantages over film, and only a careful trained eye will notice differences in the quality of film VS digital (if there are any).

I traveled solo on my cruise. I heard that if you are traveling with a group, bring along those walkie-talkies that have a 2+ mile range (or greater). Keep in mind that they might not always work, because the ship's steel hull might block the radio signal. Also, use them in a descrete manner. Some passengers expecting peace and quiet become very annoyed by other passengers using those walkie talkies. So if you bring them and use them, keep the volume setting and your voice turned down low.

There are two things you do not need to pack:

A hairdryer: there should be one included in your cabin (attached to the wall). The Glory is a new ship and is almost certain to have a hairdryer in each and every cabin. Only bring it if you can't stand those little bitty hairdryers that are attached to the wall with the curly electric chords.

A cellphone: I brought along mine so I could keep in touch with my family at home. Unfortunately, as soon as the ship departed and entered open sea, my cellphone was out of range and completely useless (except for maybe as a paperweight). They do have a phone in your cabin you could use to call home, as well as Internet computers you could use to email home. But use them quickly, because they are really pricey $$$$$$$$. YOu could also phone home while at your port of call. YOu may find it much less expensive than the phone in your cabin.

So, that is all I can think of right now. I hope that this helped you. Good luck on your cruise.

-Frase

Read and post cruise reviews

If you plan on using your cell phone while in port check with your service provider first. Some plans may require activation to work outside the country. The GSM phones have the best chance of working in more places.

I am a first time cruiser getting ready to leave June 26th. The one thing that I packed, that I didn't find on any list was a pocket sized pouch of toilet seat covers. It is for when we are off the ship. You never know what the bathrooms will be like!

You must bring a power strip. You might have (2) power outlets if you're lucky. (1) for sure by the vanity. That way, you can plug in multiple things at one time. And charge cell phones prior to your return.

Also, bring a bungee cord in case you want to tie your balcony door open. The doors to the balconies do not stay open, as they are on a spring hinge.

Lastly, bring slip-on water shoes with the rubber souls. Target has them for very good price.

Have a great time!! The Glory is an excellent/beautiful ship. Take care.

Billy

As a general rule. If you don't absouletly need it, don't pack it.

As another general rule, until you are an experienced cruiser, pack what you think you'll need, and then remove half of what you've packed. That should leave you with just a little more than you'll actually use.

Sandy

My stock answer to this question - - - eyeglass repair kit ($1.99 at most stores). Also, Pepto chewable tablets. Also, if you have an older camera, you will probably want to bring extra batteries - the ship's store will have everything but basic AA or AAA.....

Id probably leave the hairdryer, the kids, lysol, walkie talkies, all the kids crap. Then you should be good to go.

LEAVE THE KIDS AT HOME, I HAD ONE COME UP AND KICK ME AND I TOSSED HIS ASS IN THE POOL! HE WAS LUCKY I ONLY HAD A COUPLE DRINKS, OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE SNUFFED HIM OUT LIKE A PHILLY BLUNT!