Customize Your Cruise Packing List PDF [Travel Advisor Packing Tips]
Congratulations. You’ve found the motherlode of cruise packing tips! Heading out for a more adventurous trip? A tropical getaway? A cold-weather tour of Nordic fjords? A river cruise? There are a lot of variables to consider. That’s why I consulted with people who know cruising best—travel advisors! They shared top cruise packing tips for every type of sailing.
But we don't stop there. We also have a cruise packing list pdf. What makes ours different? You can personalize your cruise packing list to include only what you want to bring on your trip.
Sure, you can fast-forward to customize a cruise packing list for your very own. But don't sleep on the tips offered in the article because they will help you discover what you never knew you needed in the first place!
⭐️ HAR Article Highlights! ⭐️
Customize Your Cruise Packing List!
7 Cruise Packing Tips from Travel Advisors
- Know how much space you have to work with.
- Budget for laundering on longer cruises
- BYO Organizers
- Luggage Tips
- Study up on your dress code
- Know what to leave home
- Don't forget to pack cash for tipping
Brand HAR's River Cruise Packing List for YOUR Site!
More Cruise Packing Lists (by type of cruise)
Heck, Why Not Become a Travel Agent?
To get your personalized cruise packing list pdf, all you need to do is answer a few questions about your cruise and deselect the items you don’t want to bring. Then, presto, a customized packing list lands in your inbox. Not too shabby.
You filled out your form, and you're probably checking out your nifty packing list now. But this is just the beginning. Next up we have packing tips from travel advisors who know cruise ships inside and out. Read on for insider cruise packing tips.
If you think you want to book your cruise on your own, think again! Here are 6 ways travel advisors can save you money on your vacation.
Customize Your Own Cruise Packing List!
If you needed to read this entire article to convince yourself to try it out, then you've arrived! Try out our customized cruise packing list below!
7 Cruise Packing Tips from Travel Advisors
One advantage of a cruise vacation is this: once you haul all your necessities into your cabin/suite/stateroom, you don’t need to schlep them around everywhere you go.
The challenge in packing for a cruise is getting everything you need to fit in your stateroom. These five travel advisor tips below will help you maximize precious space in your stateroom for those who aren't contortionists when it comes to storage. Their advice will give you a leg up on saving precious space.
How well a cruise line utilizes space is one of the many factors travel advisors will take into account on a cruise ship inspection.
1. Know HOW MUCH space you have to work with:
Our free cruise packing list generator is comprehensive. Frankly, it's more than most travelers need. Before you pack, get a sense of how much cabin space you'll have. What’s the storage situation? Are beds high enough to fit your suitcase underneath?
Michele Cartwright, President & Owner of Destinations by Designs, champions this strategy, “Use your suitcase as under-bed storage. Simply pull the suitcase out like a drawer when you need to access your clothes/items, then push it back in when you’re finished. This is especially great when three or more people are sharing a stateroom. “
2. Budget for laundering on longer cruises:
“I never take more than four to five days worth of clothes as you can get laundry done for a reasonable cost onboard." - Jean Paugh
Utilizing laundry services is a must for longer cruises. Jean Paugh, Owner of All About You Travel advises, “I never take more than four to five days worth of clothes as you can get laundry done for a reasonable cost onboard. The older I get, the less I want to hassle with too much luggage. I am not there for a fashion show; I am there to immerse myself in the local history, people, and cuisine.”
3. BYO Organizers
Cruise ships are essentially impressive hunks of well-distributed floating steel. What does that have to do with packing, you ask? More than you think: cruise cabins tend to offer magnetic surfaces. This opens up your world when it comes to cruise storage. Here's a list of organizing items can you can consider adding to your packing list:
Magnetic hooks are a great way to take advantage of a cabin's metal walls.
- Shoe Organizer: Cartwright points out that “a shoe organizer is great for toiletries, makeup, hairbrushes, jewelry, and all the little things that need a place. You may hang this in your bathroom on a towel hook or with your magnet hooks. (Note: please don’t bring over the door organizers — they scratch the doors and are generally no longer allowed.)”
- Collapsible Closet Organizer: Cartwright also recommends a collapsible closet organizer, “[Closet organizers that] are fully collapsible fit perfectly in your luggage while maximizing closet space in your stateroom.”
- Magnetic Hooks: These are a great way to take advantage of a cabin's metal walls. Magnetic hooks help organize many items on your cruise packing list, including shoes, clothing, accessories, towels, keys, toiletry bags, and more. (They also entertain kids and toddlers!)
- Standard Magnets: For odds and ends, pieces of paper, invites (and kids and toddler entertainment)
- Magnetic pouches: This is great for toiletries, jewelry, etc.
4. Luggage Tips
Packing starts with luggage. Here are a few ways you can leverage your suitcase space to have more cabin space:
Dry bags can help you organize clothing items and can be used as laundry bags for the way home.
- Stackable Luggage: If you can stack and store your luggage like nesting dolls, it will save you precious precious floor space in your cabin. (Does it have to be a fancy matching set? No. It just needs to be a carry-on that fits in your suitcase.)
- Packing Cubes: Jean Paugh recommends luggage cubes to keep packing simple. “I use packing cubes to separate my clothes and then roll my clothes as I pack. I take the cubes out and place them on the shelves or in the drawers. It takes seconds to unpack! Simply place the entire cube in a drawer. Super easy and so efficient!”
- Lightweight Dry Bags: Dry bags are a lightweight and versatile alternative to luggage cubes. They help you organize clothing items for the way there and help you schlep your laundry on the way home. They're also perfect for storing wet clothes or swimsuits. According to Nikki Miller, Travel Consultant-Owner of Travel With Nikki, drybags are “great for keeping water bottles from getting your day bag wet and good for any clothing that gets wet during a ride.
5. Study up on your dress codes:
Is it cruise casual? Resort casual? Cruise elegant? Smart casual? Evening chic? Optional formal? Is it straight-up casual? A mix of several? What do these things even MEAN?! What is the line between a nice t-shirt and a blouse?
The last thing you want is to be the only person donning your satin evening gown when everyone else is wearing resort casual button-ups and khakis.
The last thing you want is to be the only person donning your satin evening gown when everyone else is wearing resort casual button-ups and khakis. 1 Or, more likely, in HAR’s case, the risk of coming on board in an inflatable dino suit when no one else is wearing one. (Isn’t that smart casual?).
Every cruise line will have different verbiage for dress codes. Make sure you can decipher it to pack accordingly. Still confused? Ask your travel advisor.
Here's why we highly recommend booking your trip with a travel advisor instead of booking it online.
6. Know what to leave home
Check your cruise line’s policies before you customize your cruise packing list.
There are some pretty stringent rules for what not to bring on a cruise. Some of them are obvious: fireworks and explosive devices are prohibited. But some restrictions are less so. Some cruise lines may not permit power strips or food coolers.
Check your cruise line’s policies or ask your travel advisor before you customize your cruise packing list. That way, you’ll know what to leave at home to save you the pain of having it confiscated onboard.
Some river ships also have elevators to get between decks, but that might not include the top viewing deck
7. Don't forget to pack cash
Even if you pre-purchase onboard gratuities for a river cruise, you may need to pack some cash for local guides for excursions and/or drivers. While we’re on the topic of cash, you may want to bring local currency instead of relying on ATMs at port destinations. While most larger restaurants and cities will take plastic, small towns may not cater to that convenience.
How much to tip? Psimas recommends “Take small bills/coins in the local currency to use for gratuities to tour guides (the equivalent of $1-$2USD per guide per person per tour.)”
Rita Perez adds on tipping, "You may want to tip crew members directly for anyone that's had an extra impact on your cruise. One of my personal tips is to bring notecards to write a personal thank you note and hand the note with any extra tip directly to that crew member."
More Cruise Packing Lists (by type of cruise)
Are we extra? Yeah. But extra is fun :)
If one ginormous list is too much for your eyeballs, we also have packing lists for different types of cruises. You'll end up with the same list even if you did our biggie list, but the ones below are a little more targeted and might get you through it a bit faster!
- Alaska Cruise Packing List (or any adventure/expedition cruise)
- River Cruise Packing List
- Disney Cruise Packing List
- Caribbean Cruise Packing List
Heck, Why Not Become a Travel Agent?
Planning a cruise is hard work. And it's fun work. And sometimes, it's work that people are already doing for their friends or families or businesses or PTO (parent-teacher org). Whether you're cruise-curious or book them all, make sure you are getting compensated for your work!
Want to join their ranks of other cruise travel advisors so you can get a travel agent rate or earn a commission for that group cruise you’re planning for your friends/family/book club anyway?
A great place to start is with HAR’s 7DS Accelerator course. It gives you the lay of the land with seasoned industry experts, 80+ video tutorials, exclusive live course meetups, and so much more. For perspective, you’ll recoup the cost of the course after you earn the commission of your first ~$2,000-$4,000 cruise booking.
Brand HAR's Packing List for YOUR Site!
We think the customized packing list is pretty. We can't just keep it to ourselves! You can go ahead and download our cruise packing list for your site with YOUR branding on it! Here's how to do it:
- Reach out to JotForm directly and ask them to clone the form from this URL https://form.jotform.com/220334452993154
- Check out our video tutorial on how to customize forms (the example isn't this exact form, but the process is the same!)
- Autoresponder Emails: Take a look at the notification and/or autoresponder emails. You'll need to add your email/name and maybe some less template-y text.
- Thank you page: Add your logo or some thank you text specific to your agency.
- Embed to your site and/or share your link with your clients!
Questions? Just give us a holler at Hello@HostAgencyReveiws.com! If you want to use our form on your site, all we ask is that you link back to this article! Thank you!!
You’re Ready to Get Packing
One of the things that make our resource so unique is the ability to customize your cruise packing list! Using HAR’s packing list is painfully easy. In fact, you’ve probably already toyed around with it.
But if you haven't, go ahead and plug your email in below. It will take you to your very own customizable packing list. (The page will also walk you through how to use it!)
If you’re reading, thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know there were so many different options for types of cruises, let alone cruise lines. How will I ever decide?”
Want to know where else you can find travel advisors who specialize in cruises? We recommend ASTA’s (American Society of Travel Advisors) Travel Sense tool or CLIA’s (Cruise Line International Association) Agent Finder.
Questions? Comments? Packing tips? Favorite Marie Kondo YouTube video recommendations? Give us a holler in the comments below! We’d love to hear from you!
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2018. It was updated and republished on the publish date listed above!
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