Packing for a 10 Day Family Cruise in a Carry-On: Tips and Tricks
You’re ready for the family cruise of a lifetime, and you have 10 days of adventure ahead of you! But before you take in the sunshine and hit the buffet, there’s one daunting task that stands in your way: packing.
Packing for a trip can be stressful enough without having to worry about whether or not your checked bag will arrive at your departure point when you do.
You’re probably thinking that it’s nearly impossible to get everything you need for a cruise in a carry-on bag! How do you make sure your kids have everything they need when all their belongings must fit in one small suitcase?
Well, worry no more; we are here to help. In this article, we will provide travel tested tips and tricks on how to pack for each family member in just a carry-on suitcase. We will explain what items you and your kids should bring with you, as well as some useful hacks to ensure everyone has their necessities without overstuffing the bag.
5 Things to Know About Packing for Your Next Family Cruise
Planning ahead is the key to this challenge!
Plan to hand over your luggage to the porter when you arrive at the cruise terminal instead of navigating your first few hours on the cruise ship with your luggage
Bring a smaller carry-on with you for embarkation day that you will keep with you
Remember to keep medicines and electronic devices with you on embarkation day
Certain items are prohibited on a cruise ship; be sure to check your cruises lines website for a complete list
Embarkation Day Cruise Carry-On Tips
Before we jump in, don’t forget that once you arrive at the port you will have a choice to make. You can either keep your carry-on with you or hand it over to the porters to be delivered to your cabin later in the day.
We suggest that you hand your carry-on to the porters. While your suitcase is on wheels, trust us when we say you won’t want to wheel it around while you’re getting your first look at and exploring the cruise ship. The elevators to the upper floors are usually packed and navigating the stairs with your luggage will not be fun.
Instead, bring a smaller more easy-to-manage overnight bag or backpack with you as well. You can put your most essential items in this smaller bag. Here are some things we suggest that you hold onto on embarkation day.
Your travel documents; including passports
Any medicines that you may need
Electronic devices should never be checked; keep them with you
Bathing suits to change into on the warm-weather cruises
Change of clothes; just in case you need to change your littles or your bag is delayed to your cabin
Let’s Get Packing! Start Here: Packing Cubes
One of the best investments you can make will be in a set of packing cubes. If you want to maximize the space in your carry-on, packing cubes are the way to go.
Packing Cubes
Packing cubes are great because they keep your family’s items organized and in place. You can usually fit the essentials for a 10-day cruise into two packing cubes per person; one large and one medium.
Fully Packed Packing Cube; a Self-Contained Drawer
Plus, they act as their own self-contained drawers. You can drop them right onto a shelf when drawer space is at a premium.
Clothing for a Family Cruise: Mix and Match
This is your chance to let your clothes work hard for you! For each of your family members, pack a few mix-and-match items that can be used multiple times on the family cruise.
Choose bottoms that can easily transition from casual activities during the day to more dressy occasions in the evening—think chinos, linen pants, dressier shorts, and skirts. We tend to pack a few neutral bottoms and pair them with multiple tops.
As for tops, bring at least two tops for each pair of bottoms that you pack. This will give you versatility in your wardrobe and you'll get more mileage out of your clothing pieces.
As for your dressier items, you should understand before packing how often you plan to dress up so that you can plan accordingly. This might include a nice top or two with dressier shorts for the kids, and slacks or a skirt for the adults.
When selecting these items, particularly your dressier items, choose pieces that are easy to pack and more resistant to wrinkles such as rayon, polyester, or acrylic fabrics.
Toiletries and Medications: Pack Only the Essentials
The key to bringing only a carry-on for a 10 day cruise is to pack light on toiletries and medications; especially the toiletries. It may be tempting to pack a full-size bottle of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, or any of your other favorite products; but, don't do it.
Go with travel-size portions of these. If you're flying to meet the ship, you'll want to pay extra attention to the liquid restrictions imposed by the airline.
Medicine and First Aid Kit
That means bringing only what you must have on the flight—sunscreen, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, etc. can all be ordered ahead of time or are readily available at the port of departure, so don't worry about packing those bulky items!
This brings us to another point; we strongly suggest that you fly into the city that your cruise is departing from at least one day in advance. Two is more comfortable if you can swing it. This allows time for the most unexpected flight issues and delays.
Your medications should stay in their original containers and be placed in your carry-on in case of an emergency. Finally, do bring basic medications like headache and fever relievers. It's better to have them handy just in case you (or one of your littles) need them in the middle of the night.
Entertaining the Kids: Blankets, Books, and Games. Oh My!
When you're packing for the whole family, you can't forget about the extras for the little ones!
Travel Games
We all have our favorite items that we can't do without when we travel, and it's no different for kids. For the littles, consider bringing a book or two to entertain them at bed time or for down time in the cabin. Also, a few small easily-packable travel games are nice to have and can keep the littles occupied.
Books and Blankets for Down Time
Our little guy won't leave home without at least one of his favorite blankets. Be sure to save room if this is important to your little too.
Don't Forget These Important Extras: Chargers, Cash and Credit Cards
There are a few extras you'll want to keep in mind while packing for a 10-day family cruise. First, chargers. You won't be able to bring an extension cord but be sure to bring a multi-plug charger.
On our last cruise, the cabin only had two outlets at the vanity. Yep, you heard that right, only two outlets and placed way across the room from the bed. The multi-plug charger made it possible for us to keep all of our devices charged.
Second, cash. You won't need it on board the ship, but bringing some with you will come in handy for tips and smaller purchases while shopping at the ports of call.
Lastly, check with your bank or credit card companies before you leave. Find out if they have a procedure to alert them that you are traveling out of the country. This will help when you're making a purchase at foreign ports in that the bank won't stop your charge as suspected fraud.
Stay warm! Bring a Jacket
Cruise ships tend to be over-air-conditioned, so it's a good idea to plan ahead and bring something warm. On our last cruise, depending on the day and where we were on the ship, we ranged from needing a light sweater to a fleece.
Jackets to Keep Warm
It's also best to choose items that are versatile and can be layered. Bring light weight sweaters or windbreakers. Not only do they take up less space, but they can also be taken off if things warm up as the day goes on.
Magnets are Our Friends
When packing for a cruise, it pays to make use of everything, including the metal interior of your cabin! Use magnets to your advantage and bring a few magnetic hooks with you to hang up lanyards and important documents near the door.
Magnets for your Cabin
Lanyards and a Card to Keep the Lights On
One of the must-haves for any cruise is a lanyard for everyone in your family. Your room key doubles as your charge card during the cruise as cash is not accepted. For this reason, you'll want to keep your room key handy to pay for any items you'd like to purchase.
Lanyards are great for keeping track of your room key. Just hang it around your neck and it's always there when you need it.
Lanyards for your Room Key
You should also bring an extra card, like an old hotel room key or check out Etsy for a shop that sells plastic cards with ship directories, and that doubles as the 'key' to turn on the lights in your room.
Key Card to Keep the Lights on and a Directory
To save energy, the card is removed when you leave the room, turning off power to the entire cabin.
An Extra Bag for the Souvenirs
The last thing you want to think about when packing for your family cruise is packing for the trip home. However, you should plan ahead and bring an extra bag in case the souvenirs you pick up along the way won't fit into your bags.
Souvenir Bag
We suggest bringing an extra bag with a zipper top that folds and can easily be packed at the bottom of your carry-on suitcase. You never know what amazing finds you'll pick up on vacation and having a way to get them home is invaluable.
Clear the Air in Your Cabin
To keep the air fresh for 10 days, be sure to pack a travel-sized bottle of air freshener. Even though your cabin on the cruise ship is likely smaller than the smallest room in your home, it will probably have 3+ people sharing the space, which means you'll want to freshen up the air.
Travel Size Air Freshener
We're not just talking about for the bathroom either. Spray a little in your closets, drawers, and the cabin when the air gets a little stale.
Your family will thank you!
Cleaning Products - Hey you Never Know!
Who wants to clean on vacation? Well, no one. But you never know when you'll need to clean up a spill or a mess in your cabin.
Especially if you have kids, cleaning wipes will come in handy for sanitizing surfaces and cleaning up spills.
Cleaning Wipes, Laundry Detergent and a Laundry Bag
The vanity in our room was our everything surface. We ended up placing plates, glasses, and other items there. Having the wipes available to clean the surface was just what we needed.
In addition to cleaning wipes, we suggest a small travel-sized bottle of laundry detergent. We've found that having a little detergent comes in handy to clean small stains on clothing. You can always hang items to dry using the clothing line in your shower.
Beware of Overpacking!
On a 10-day family cruise, packing light is essential. But it can also be tricky! We learned from our last family trip that it's easy to overpack for our little.
We overestimated the need for dressier outfits and ended up bringing too many. While our little guy certainly needed 2 or 3 tops for nice dinners, he didn't need the 4 or so we packed and the bowties.
We are glad that we decided against bringing a suit jacket for him. It would have been too much and would have taken up space that we could have used for something else.
Things you CAN'T Bring on a Cruise
Let's cover a few things that you should definitely leave off of your packing list.
Perishable Foods
This is especially important for your younger littles. Any food brought through security must be sealed in its original packaging and non-perishable. Keep this in mind as you plan snacks for your family.
Steamers
Items like this are considered a fire hazard and are not allowed on board. Luckily my mom showed me a travel steamer she was planning to purchase to bring with us on our last cruise, and we ended up not making the purchase.
Extension Cords
With so few outlets available in some cabins, it's tempting to consider bringing an extension cord or power strip with you. Similar to the Steamer, these are also considered fire hazards.
This is a very basic list; although, the list of items that are excluded on a cruise is quite extensive. Be sure to check your cruise line’s website if you have any doubt whether the item you're packing is prohibited.
One last point here, if you were to bring an item that is prohibited, you will either not make it through security with the item, or if the item is in your checked luggage, the cruise line will hold your luggage and have you come to retrieve your bag minus the prohibited item.
Bonus Packing Tips For Your Next Cruise
Here are a few extra items that we suggest you bring along with you on your next cruise.
Passport and Document Holder
On our last cruise, we tried a passport and document holder for the first time. This was a nice addition to our essentials. Normally, when we're checking in, I'm juggling a few things in my hands and gathering passports from everyone at the same time.
Not anymore! I pulled out the holder and handed the agent each of our passports and cruise documents in one fell swoop. Nice!
Door Magnets
Don't forget to bring a few magnets for your cabin room door. Since all the cabins doors look the same, these will help you spot your cabin. Door magnets can come in handy during those first few days of the cruise when it can be easy to get turned around.
Get creative with your magnets! Celebrate special occasions, decorate for a holiday or decorate just for the fun of it.
Hangers
You never know how many hangers you’re going to get in your cabin, so bring a few extra with you. If there are more than two people in the cabin, chances are the room will be light on hangers so bring them for at least the dressier items.
Are these Essential? Here Are Some Items We're Going to Put to the Test
There were a couple of items that we considered bringing with us when packing for our last cruise but decided to pass on. However, on our next cruise, we're going to put these items to the test.
Reusable Water Bottles
We had our eye on these as a way to stay hydrated. Once we realized that we would have complimentary water delivered to our cabin, we decided to pass. On our next trip, we won't have the luxury of free water being delivered to our cabin so we will give these a try.
Luggage Tracker
We purchased Air Tags for this last cruise but decided not to use them since we were not flying, there was a much lower chance that we'd be separated from our luggage before arriving at the cruise terminal.
For our next cruise, we will be flying to meet our ship and will try these. Just in case...
Final Thoughts
When packing for each member of your family in a carry-on for your next cruise, the best way to make sure that you'll have everything that you need is to plan ahead. Plan out the number of days you'll be away and coordinate outfits for yourself and your littles.
Consider whether or not you'll do formal nights and how many. Also, don't forget to research your destinations and plan out the outfits you'll need for the activities you're planning.
Ultimately, a 10-day cruise with your family is an unforgettable experience, and packing the right essentials can make it a more pleasant experience. With the help of these tips and tricks, you can make sure your trip is hassle-free.
Until next time, enjoy the journey!
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