As the excitement of booking a cruise holiday sets in, the next big task is getting ready for the trip – whether that be sunglasses and cover-ups for the sunny islands of the Caribbean or parkas and gloves as you head northwards to the jaw-dropping glacial landscapes of the Arctic.
However, before you toss everything into your suitcase and head to the port, it is crucial to know what you should and shouldn’t pack for your upcoming cruise holiday.
Cruises are unique vacations with specific rules, restrictions, and lifestyle requirements that can make or break your experience if you’re not fully prepared.
But it doesn’t just come down to items that are allowed or not – when packing for a cruise holiday, travellers should be mindful of their choices also from the point of view of the environment and convenience.
Upcoming cruise passengers have been advised to leave one common set of travel items at home when packing for their next voyage.
While the single-use travel-sized toiletries section of your local supermarket or drugstore may be the epitome of holiday excitement and get you in the mood for your upcoming travels, they are considered wasteful due to the extra plastic packaging.
On top of this, you may end up throwing away a significant portion of the product if you don’t finish it before you return home.
So, for your next cruise, ditch the travel-sized toiletries and buy a set of reusable travel-sized bottles instead to fill with your favourite products at home, an expert has urged.
Sue Bryant, a cruise expert with 20 years of experience, said on CelebrityXCruises: “Small bottles are generally environmentally unsound, so buy a set of reusable travel-sized bottles and decant your favorite products before leaving home if you like to travel with a particular brand. Shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, and soap bars are provided, in any case.”
She also advised to “double wrap in plastic” any big bottles containing liquid to avoid any “gooey” surprise in the luggage, should the packaging break.
She added: “Aromatherapy oils, too, have a habit of leaking, and while tea tree is great for insect bites, and lavender for sleep and soothing sunburn, wrap them tightly unless you want to wander around the ship smelling like an intense herbal aroma.”
The world’s top cruise lines regularly update their lists of banned items on board, so it is always worth consulting these before beginning packing.
One passenger has been reportedly banned for life from Carnival Cruises after unwittingly breaking the new rules.
Products containing CBD (Cannabidiol) have also recently been added to the banned list, including CBD gummies and other products even though they are often used for medicinal and therapeutic purposes.
This rule change came at a huge cost to mother-of-two Melinda Erin Van Veldhuizen. She was stopped at security at Port Miami for carrying CBD sleep gummies and denied boarding with no refund, leaving her out-of-pocket $10,000 (£8,120). She also received a lifetime ban from the cruise line.