Welcome to part 3 in my 3 part series about packing for your Disney Cruise. If you missed the first 2, you can see Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Today I am going to wrap up the series with my Top 10 Disney cruise packing tips.
1. Strategize When Packing Your Carry-on Bag
Most likely, your main luggage will be making its way straight to the ship via DCL from the airport or hotel, or via the porters that you left it with at the curb upon arrival at the port. You should also plan to have a carry-on bag with you while boarding the ship (click here to see exactly what I put in mine). This is a great place to store travel documents (which you will need when checking in at the port), medications, cameras, and whatever else you want to have with you at all times. The reason I suggest that you think carefully about what you put in this bag is because it will be several hours before you are reunited with your luggage on the ship. Most people’s luggage arrives at their room between 2:00-4:00, but I have heard isolated reports of it not arriving until 6:00 or even later. I don’t think this is a common occurrence, but I suggest planning for it just in case. For this reason, I always make sure that I have everything my family will need for dinner the first night (if we are doing early dining at 5:45) in our carry on bag, if we are not already wearing it. Some people like to hit the pools immediately after boarding, before they get too crowded, so in this case you will need to have all of your swimming things (suits, goggles, sunscreen, etc) in your carry-on bag. If you wear your suit under your clothes when boarding the ship, I strongly suggest you have a change of clothes in your bag in case you have early dining and do not get your luggage before 5:45. And of course, keep anything valuable in your carry-on bag as well (expensive jewelry, electronics, etc). I don’t know if they open suitcases for security reasons or not, but I think it is reasonable to assume that they might and you definitely don’t want anything valuable to go “missing”.
2. Photograph Your Luggage
This is a tip I just read recently that I think is a great idea. I have never lost luggage while flying before, thank goodness, but I know it happens a lot! If you take a picture of each suitcase on your phone, you will have a much easier time trying to explain what it looks like to the person trying to track down your bag.
3. Bring Printed Address Labels
I have done this for a while now and it is an easy time saver. I bring along a sheet of pre-printed address labels when we travel so that I can quickly label a bag if needed. There are several situations when this can come in handy. If you would like your luggage taken off the ship on the last night of your cruise for you to claim in the terminal the next morning, DCL will give you special character luggage tags and make you fill one out for each of your bags. (You can read more details about the disembarking process here.) For my family this means filling out lots of separate luggage tags with our name and address, so just being able to stick an address label on instead is a major time saver. Another instance is if you need to gate check an item at the last minute. Instead of having to find a pen and trying to fill out a label while potentially holding up the boarding line, you can just slap an address label on the tag.
4. Bring Extra Camera Memory Cards
One of my worst vacation fears, which thankfully has never happened, is losing my camera and thus all of my pictures while on vacation. Can you imagine if this happened towards the end of your vacation and then all of a sudden all of your pictures are GONE? For this reason, I bring at least 2 extra memory cards with me and switch them out about 1/3 and 2/3 of the way through the vacation. This way, if I lose my camera, at least I still have some of the pictures that I took. You can shop for memory cards by clicking here.
5. Label Your Camera
On a related note, I always label my camera because of my aforementioned fear of losing my camera. I choose to wrap a piece of masking tape around the strap like this:
On the tape I use a Sharpie to write our last name, stateroom number and cell phone number so that it should be easy for someone who finds the camera to return it (hopefully they will want to). I do use my camera underwater (you can read about which camera I use here) and the Sharpie and tape still hold up just fine. Another method that I have heard about it to take a picture of your contact information with your camera. This, however, would require the person who finds it to turn it on and look through every image (which could be hundreds) so I prefer the first method.
6. Bring Copies of Important Documents
I always travel with copies of important documents like our driver’s licenses, passports, and birth certificates (along with the originals, of course). I don’t know for certain that copies would be helpful in case you lose the original, but I figure it can’t hurt. It’s easy to do and could possibly come in very handy. I also leave copies with family members back home, along with the emergency contact information provided by DCL.
7. If You Are Picky About Hair Dryers, Bring Your Own
Your stateroom will have a hair dryer in it, but a lot of people don’t think they are up to par. I have always been pleased with the hair dryer provided in the room, but I am not picky about hair dryers. If you are picky, you should bring your own.
8. Line Your Luggage with Plastic if there is a Chance of Rain
Unless you have hard-sided luggage, I suggest checking the forecast and if there is a chance of rain, line your suitcases with plastic trash bags to keep your stuff dry. As you can see in the picture above, your luggage will spend some time in the elements and if it is raining, it will get wet. This has never happened to me on a cruise, but it did happen to me at the airport on the way home from a cruise. There was a sudden downpour while my suitcase was waiting to be loaded on the plane and it got soaked. Even worse, when I got home I realized that my coral blouse had bled onto my white capri pants and I never did manage to get the color to all come out. All you have to do is take a plain old black trash bag and lay one flat in the bottom of your suitcase before you start putting stuff in, and then lay another on flat on top of everything. Then, take the sides and sort of fold/tuck them together around all of your stuff and you should be good to go.
9. Pack a Shoe Organizer that DOESN’T Go Over the Door
In the past, a lot of people used to bring over the door shoe organizers like this one as a way to keep their bathroom stuff organized despite the lack of counter space:
Then, at some point, DCL banned them because apparently the metal hooks were scratching the doors. There is now a fine for using these. I’m not sure if they enforce it or not, but I don’t want to find out. Instead, I found a way around it. You can still use a shoe organizer, just use one that hangs from a single hook, either in a closet or a bathroom wall hook or towel bar. Here are some that I have found:
Misslo Hanging Closet Dual-Sided Organizers
Pro-Mart DAZZ Smart Carousel Organizer
Clear Vinyl 12 Pocket Shoe Caddy with Hanger
Over the Door Closet Organizer, 2 Packs Wall Hanging Storage Bags
10. Things NOT to Bring
And finally, there are certain things that you SHOULD NOT bring on your Disney Cruise. Some are obvious (weapons, firearms, flammable liquids), while others aren’t. Here are a few:
irons (they are available on the ship in the laundry rooms, or, for a fee, you can send your items out to be cleaned and/or pressed)
over the door shoe organizers
beach towels (not banned, but not needed; they will hand you towels as you leave the ship in port, and have bins for used ones as you return)
power strips & extension cords
beach/pool floats & inflatable toys
perishable or opened pre-packaged food or drinks
You can see a complete list here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-cruise-line/packing.htm#notpermitted
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If you are interested in my other posts about packing, you can read them here:
How I Stay Organized While Traveling
How I Pack Our Princess Dresses
10 Things I Always Pack for a Disney Cruise
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Okay, first off, my usual “gush” for your post…as I have mentioned before, I LOVE list-making and researching stuff. I also enjoy finding “thinking outside of the box” solutions to typical problems/issues. I have read tons of information online for packing, cruise packing, and other related topics and yet I have never come across a post like yours. Honestly, I get so excited when I am researching something, hoping to find even one little scrap of “new” information that hasn’t been regurgitated 100 times before, but I am almost always disappointed This post does not disappoint. These are all great and original tips…a number of them I have not considered at all, like the address labels for the luggage tags (we use business cards on our personal luggage tags, but haven’t taken into account the necessity of needing to fill in the info for the Disney ones) and the switching out of memory cards.
Now, let me just say that it is kind of crazy how similar we seem to think in some areas which is why I enjoy reading your posts so much. I am so glad that I decided to click on your link on Disboards. I RARELY ever follow people’s links, as I am generally underwhelmed at best in most cases.
Thanks so much for sharing your packing tips!
Wow Michelle, I think we really are kindred souls! Thank you SO much for sharing that with me, sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading and if I am really helping anyone, and then comments like yours make me feel like all of the time and energy I put into my blog is worth it. I will try my hardest to keep providing great content, and I am always open to suggestions for new blog topics!
I have been pinning a number of your posts to my Pinterest page. Hopefully, that will attract a few more readers. Sometimes it takes awhile to build up a following (and keep in mind that out of all of the people who read, only a small percentage will actually comment after reading). You definitely have a broad range of knowledge and are passionate about the topic you have chosen to write about. I say, “Keep on writing!” You have at least one reader and I’m sure many more will follow as people begin to discover your site.
Thanks you so much for your encouraging words!!! I will keep it up! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks so much for this list! Our first cruise is in September and although I’m pretty sure how much stuff we’re going to bring and whatnot, it’s still a handy list (esp the part about what NOT to bring!) 🙂
You’re very welcome!
Thanks for the reminder! I usually try to be very strict about what to pack and to don’t forget anything. However there is some items that I always forget to pack like extra camera memory cards. Best regards
What tips can you give us. We are scheduled for an April Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy for seven days. My wife and I are 67 and we are taking our 5 year old twin grandchildren with us (a boy and a girl) I am reading your blog very carefully but we are concerned that many of the activities are best suited to parents/kids and not grandparents/kids. We have the standard room with a balcony and pull down beds for the kids. Concierge is not within our budget. Here are a few questions: can we do laundry on board. How many dress up clothes for kids. We won’t be packing princess outfits for our granddaughter. She’s more into Star Wars than Snow White. Thanks for any advise you can give us
Thanks for following the blog! Rest assured that there will be plenty of grandparents on the ship sailing with their grandchildren, and plenty of options for activities for you. Are you specifically wondering about onboard activities, or are you wondering more about the excursions? Let me know and I can give you advice for either. There are laundry rooms on every level of the ship that have staterooms, and you can also send your laundry out and have it done, and the prices are actually reasonable. There will be a laundry bag in your room as well as a piece of paper with the prices. As far as dressy clothes for the kids, I would just pack 1 dressy outfit each, or 2 at the most, if you have the space. There will be an optional formal night, as well as an optional semi-formal night. Not everyone on the ship participates, so you will feel comfortable no matter what you decide to wear. We have worn the same thing on both nights to save room in the suitcase. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
I am a grand parent taking my 6, 5 and 2 year old grandchildren by myself. I read that the two older kids can do the water roller coaster BUT they need to be with a person 14 or older. Can you think of a way this will work? I didn’t really want to put the 2 yr old in the child care but it seems that is what I may have to do so the older kids can ride. I was thinking one older child would have to go to a camp while I rode with the other child and then switch places. Send the 2 year old go to child care for 2 hours? Your thoughts? Any other tips are appreciated.
Hi Trudy! The only thing I can think that will work will be to put your 2 year old in the nursery like you suggested. For children 2 and under, reservations are required for the nursery and there is an hourly charge which I think is $6 per hour. I have only heard good things about the nursery so I’m sure he/she would be just fine in there for a couple of hours. Then you could take turns riding with the older 2. Hope this helps!
I like your post! I found a way to still use the over the door shoe organizer by getting about 4 magnetic hooks and hang it on the outside of the bathroom door.
Hello,
Thanks so much for your tips! This will be our first Disney cruise to the Bahamas. I have a 2 year old and 5 1/2 year old and would like to know about getting off the ship and exploring the islands. Will we need to get in a taxi or can we avoid that? Especially since we were not planning on bringing a booster or toddler car seat? I heard that the Disney resort there is quite a popular place to go but I have a feeling you need to drive there.
Thanks!
Lee
Hi Lee! Which ports will you be stopping at?
It is first at Nassau and then Castaway Cay. Would like to know if we need to worry about car seats. Also do you have any insider tips about what to do, what to bring, where to go when we get off the ship at these places (having in mind we have a 2 and 5 year old)? So much appreciated! I love your site by the way!
Lee
Nassau is not the best port to leave the ship in, especially with small kids. We prefer to stay on the ship there and enjoy the smaller crowds in the pools. But, if you do want to leave the ship, just about the only thing I would recommend is the Atlantis Resort (not affiliated with Disney) although it is expensive. They have a waterpark, beach area and small aquarium. It is possible to catch a cab and do it on your own, but then you have to worry about car seats and safety. I would recommend doing it through DCL. Check out the DCL website port adventures section for options and prices. These would likely transport you on a bus or ferry boat and therefore you would not need to worry about car seats. There is also a shopping area right at the port, but I have heard too many tales of armed guards, razor wire, extremely rude/pushy salespeople and offers to buy drugs that I personally would not do it. But, I know that some people do and report that they had no issues. For Castaway Cay, you just walk right off the ship and onto the island. There are port adventures you can do there also, but there are age requirements and your kids are too young for most, if not all, of them. I think you should just find some chairs on the family beach and let your kids play in the water. They serve lunch on the island (no charge) and there are shops, a splash pad and water slides as well. It is really just a great place to hang out and explore as much or as little as you like. You are even close enough to the ship to take the kids back for a nap or get something you forgot from your room. At any port, we usually take a backpack with our room keys, IDs, cash (except for Castaway Cay, where you just charge stuff to your room), water, sunscreen, our phones (mostly to tell the time), snacks for kids, sunglasses, etc. I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any more questions!
This has been so helpful, Diana! Thank you. I have had a few of your tabs open on my computer for like a month as we get ready for our European travels 🙂 We live in the UK (Americans living abroad for a few years), so I have had to do some of my own research in regards to brands and British versions of the same products. But, that’s okay. I love reading about all your tips!
So glad you have found it helpful! BTW, I am dying to visit the UK – maybe you could give me a few tips on that soon!
Absolutely! It’s amazing here. And, like you, I don’t love long flights. When we first moved out here, we took the boys to Disney World and then took a non-stop flight from Orlando to Manchester. It was nice to cut the flight time down while also easing the boys into the time change between California and England. Btw, we are capping off our European travels this summer with a Disney Mediterranean Cruise!! I’ll let you know about that, too 🙂
Yes, please come back and tell me all about it! And if you don’t mind taking a few photos of your stateroom for the blog, that would be great!
You got it!
What recommendations do you have when traveling with older kids? I have a 9yr daughter and a 18yr old daughter. .such. as activities? ???