If you’re planning on taking a cruise, trust me when I say that cruisecritic.com will be your new best friend. We spent hours on that site (the forums are addicting) looking up everything. Here’s what we learned from our first cruise:

How big is your stateroom?

This should be the first thing you figure out, and a quick google will pull up not only the exact square footage, but photos of the interiors of specific stateroom numbers (you should get this when you book your cruise). Our room included:

  • Total of 170 SF
  • Bed: 2 twins pushed together (this is the norm for “queen” beds)
  • Small couch and table
  • Closet with 24 hangers
  • 2nd closet with 6 shallow drawers and some space above
  • Safe that would fit my ipad air, but not Ry’s (15″) laptop
  • Under TV cabinet with mini fridge and drawer
  • Bathroom:
    • Two small shelves on the counter
    • 1 cabinet with 2 shelves (the other cabinet was for trash)

Protips

If you only read one section, read this one:

  • Pack a suitcase in a suitcase, or bring a foldable duffel – For the omiyage/shopping space
  • Dramamine / Ginger pills / those pressure point wrist things – we had 2 days of some pretty rough sea (17 foot waves!) and lots of people were sick. You can bet they were selling and not giving away the dramamine.
  • Take a photo of your luggage – This came in handy when we disembarked since one of our bags went missing. I showed them the pic and they pointed us toward where it was (the tag fell off and it was off in some random area).
  • Bring a pen – Every country has some sort of form to fill out and it’s always when there’s only one pen for 100 people to share.
  • Something to hold your room key in that isn’t your phone – Your room key doubles as your charge card on the ship, so you need it all the time. Mine demagnetized a bunch and was a huge pain (they blamed my cell phone).
  • Bring on Wine and Soda/Water – You can bring on up to 2 bottles of wine when you embark (per room). If you’re into soda/bottled water, this is a much cheaper route.
  • Downey wrinkle release – You can’t bring an iron, and getting your things pressed will cost you a pretty penny.

Note: these are tips specific to the Celebrity Millenium and may not apply if you’re on another cruise line or ship.


Our packing list

Won’t be detailing all the clothes, because when it comes to fashion, I’m probably the LAST person you should be taking notes from.

General

  • Extra hangers – on longer cruises, this is a lifesaver. I brought along 10 of those cheap ones from walmart and left them onboard when we disembarked.
  • Over the door storage – Because you’d be surprised what you can lose in 170 SF. This help beanies, umbrellas, lotions and all the random things we brought along. It was also only $5 at Ross, but I saw some hanger versions on Amazon that were like $2.
  • Hydroflask – for water because you’ll feel bad calling room service for water, but you also won’t want to walk up 8 decks to get it.
  • Hand sanitizer – For when you’re not on the boat. There are literally hand sanitizer machines at every turn when you’re on board.
  • Curling iron – for the fancy nights, also doubled as a make shift iron to get out some stubborn creases.
  • Silicone Makeup Applicator – I wasn’t a huge fan of these until I took them on this trip. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I LOVE them. Saves on so much product and super easy to clean.
  • First Aid Kit
    • Immodium / Claritin / Benadryl (Since we were in China, but we ended up not needing at all)
    • Cold pills (Lifesaver, since I got sick then promptly spread my sick to Ry)
    • Cough drops
    • Thermometer (because I overpack)
    • Band aids (mostly used to cover up blisters from epic walking)
  • Febreeze – for when you don’t wash your clothes. KIDDDING. I brought because I hate smoke in my clothes and I thought we might go to an arcade in Asia.
  • Travel sized detergent – I hate paying for laundry and I hate overpacking so I washed some things in the sink. There was a line to hang things in the shower.
  • Razor / Shaving Gel / Shampoo / Conditioner / Bath Soap – Because I couldn’t just not shave for 14 days (haha). My hair is destroyed from coloring and my skin gets crazy dry in winter, so didn’t want to bother with the generic stuff. I just threw some half-empty bottles in my checked bags and tossed them at the end of the trip (more room for shopping!)
  • Covered coffee mug – Good in theory, but we only used it a couple times. If you’re an all day coffee drinker, I still suggest it. Or you’ll be carrying around hot water in those 6 oz mugs while you curse the rough water with burnt fingers.

Tech

  • Extra batteryThe power bank we brought was old, but this is a similar one. . It’s heavy, but it charged everyone’s things all day (3 phones, 2 pocket WiFi) without a problem.
  • International adapters – You don’t need this for the ship, as it includes 2 North American 110V outlets and 2 circular European 220V outlets, but we brought it for our nights in Hong Kong/China/Korea.
  • USB / Power strip – Most ships won’t allow you to bring a surge protector on board, but you can bring smaller extension cords. We brought this USB extension cord without incident.

Other Notes

When we were looking things up, there were a few things that I couldn’t find, so including those here.