Ultimate Cruise Packing List

Packing guide & tips for a Royal Caribbean cruise

My cruise is only a few days away! After weeks of planning and researching, I have created an extensive packing list based on cruise experts' advice and cruising community forums. Read below for the best packing tips and a downloadable ultimate packing list to make your next cruise with Royal Caribbean even more amazing!

P.S. did you know my upcoming cruise was fully booked by an expert travel agent? If you want a hands-on, kind and helpful travel agent to help you book your next cruise, be sure to check out Vacays with Kay at vacayswithkay.com. Fill out a travel inquiry form so she can build the ultimate vacation for you! Happy traveling!

Tip #1: Packing your carry-on like a pro

When you first arrive at the cruise port terminal on departure day, you'll either be checking in your luggage to be delivered to your room later that day, or you can carry on your bags. Per their website, Royal Caribbean only allows bags that can fit through their screening machines to be carried on by passengers (the size requirements may vary by port, but typically follows the same standard as an average sized airport security screening machine). So you'll check in your larger luggage items, but you'll definitely want to bring a carry-on bag with you. This can be a backpack, duffel bag, small suitcase, whatever bag you have that would fit the size requirements.

Inside that carry-on you'll want to keep all travel documents with you such as your passport, ID, set sail pass and any other important documents. You should also include a bathing suit, sunblock, and whatever else you may need for any water activities that day (ladies, if you plan to do the FlowRider that first day be sure to keep an extra swim shirt in your carry-on as it's often required for women). Have a change of clothes for that evening's dinner and any necessary toiletries and medications. You often won't get your checked suitcases until later that evening (sometimes not until after dinner), so you'll want your essentials with you to fully enjoy your first day onboard.

Also, if you plan to take advantage of bringing on a bottle of wine or champagne (1 per passenger of drinking age, max of 2 per stateroom) or non-alcoholic beverages (pack of 12 standard sodas, bottled waters, or other non-alcoholic drinks allowed per stateroom), be sure to pack them in your carry-on. If you don't, your bag will likely be flagged for further screening and will be further delayed from being delivered or you might have to track it down and pick it up once onboard. So, if you are able to, I'd bring a roll-on carry on for your beverages to make it easier to keep with you until your room is ready (the rooms are usually opened by around 1pm or 2pm on embarkation day but that time can vary and be earlier or later depending on the ship).

Tip #2: Medications & Seasickness

Many essentials can be purchased on the ship should you forget something (trust me I've done a shopping spree after my luggage didn't make it with my plane and was left with nothing but my travel documents and bare necessities). While these items come at a much higher cost than what you likely can purchase them at from home, they're at least there if you need it. One thing you don't want to depend on the ship having is medications or seasickness prevention/remedies. Be sure to pack all of your prescribed medications (and keep them in your carry-on!). While they may have certain over the counter medications and seasickness options that you use at home, it's not guaranteed that they will have the specific brand you want or even that type of medication at all onboard, so you don't want to have to rely on their selection. Set reminders and pack that medication!

Tip #3: Essentials you might not think of

People who've been on many cruises love to give tips to future travelers on what to bring that they might not think of otherwise. Based on their advice I've easily ordered these items from Amazon so that I can have the most ease and fun on the ship! Among these are an outlet power strip (non-surge protector per cruise requirements) as recommended by my auntie who just came back from her cruise. This will give you more plug options for your stateroom as they often only have around 2-3 in the room.

Another common recommendation is magnetic travel hooks to attach to your magnetic stateroom wall or ceiling so you can hang dirty clothes, wet bathing suits and more. The last two are a cruise lanyard with a holder for your sea pass card once you get it onboard, and a cruise luggage tag holder for the bag tags you can print out before you go to the terminal from your account online (if not, they will have some for you at the terminal, but printing them out at home can save you some time at check-in). You can easily search specifically for 'cruise' options for these items so you can make sure they'll fit what you need. For a full list of essentials go to the bottom of this post to find a downloadable packing list!

Tip #4 : Have some fun with your packing

While not essential to making your cruise more practical and easier, there are some things you should be sure to pack to just make it a more fun experience. For one, you can buy some magnets (like these Naruto themed ones I got for our trip!) to go on the outside of your stateroom door to both decorate it and to make it easier to find as you wander the halls filled with identical doors! You can also consider purchasing a magnetic white board to put outside, especially when traveling with a group, as you can leave each other messages such as where you can find each other, or you can just leave cheeky and fun messages for one another.

Often, Royal Caribbean will have different theme nights for dinnertime onboard. While it's not mandatory to follow the theme, it can be a fun time to all dress up to match the theme. I didn't know until about a week before my sail date what the theme nights would be, so if you do plan to pack accordingly, you might not be able to plan for those until closer to your trip. However, the one theme that is done at least once per voyage on most trips is a formal dinner night. Again, it's not required to dress completely fancy in a tux and floor-length gown, but it's a fun night to dress nice and get some pictures taken. Getting all of the necessities for your cruise is important, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't leave some room in your bag for the more fun items that can just help take your trip to the next level.

For a full packing list for your next cruise, click on the link below to download it!

Download Packing List

If you have any recommendations for what to bring on a cruise, leave a comment below! Be sure to like this post and subscribe below to stay up to date on all future travel posts! Don't forget to check out my previous post 'You booked your cruise, now what?' for the top 4 ways to start planning the best Royal Caribbean cruise! And keep an eye out for even more blogs about Royal Caribbean cruises as I share my experience and best tips from my upcoming trip! Thanks for reading!