In case you missed Part one of the Vacationing with your kids series you can find it HERE and I started chatting about cruises and all of our cruise adventures.  Ill be continuing the cruise talk talk today and address my top 8 things to tings to pack on your cruise vacation with kids ….and spoiler: I’m not talking about packing enough undies here y’all!  I’m talking about the good stuff, the weird stuff and the stuff you don’t even think about!

If you saw the TWO VIDEOS I posted of our room set up then you saw a few of the top things to bring so we are going to start there.

1. the rollable/foldable shoe organizer:  THIS is the exact one we have and it has done well on all of 7 cruises.  The hanging hooks on the top fit perfectly over the cabinet door and its the perfect number of spaces for our family of 4 allowing for extra room for “family  rows” as well.  The main reason for bringing this is to keep the teeny tiny bathroom counter space clear  (I’m not sure if this is even considered counter space its so tiny) but this also allows everyone to know exactly where their toothbrush or vitamins or sunscreen is without having to search through bags of stuff.  So if you didn’t watch the video the way that I set this up is to pack a large ziplock bag for each family member with their toiletries, then several “family bags” with sunscreen bug spray etc and then a general medicine bag with any meds you might need or want on the ship (antacids, fever reducer, allergy meds, etc, basically a personal walgreens on the cruise hip hahaha)

2. MAGNETIC HOOKS!  This was another one you saw if you watched the room set up videos.  But be sure to check the rules for magnets and having magnetic walls for your particular cruise ship.  I know carnival has magnetic walls in all of their ships but Im not sure all cruise lines have this.  So we have a good mix of these heavy duty magnets from home depot that we use for backpacks and heavier items all the way down to these smaller ones that we use for the girls to hang their lanyards with their cruise card on everytime they are in the room as well as several in between sizes that we use to hang wet swimsuits, goggles and hats on.

3.  TOWEL CLIPS:  Listen this is the biggest and most important tip yet!  If you want a layout chair on the top deck in the sun in a prime people watching location as well as a location that you can easily get to your towel after your kids make you ride the slides and play int he waterpark then you need to remember this!  BRING YOUR OWN TOWEL CLIPS!  On seas days you will need to wake up early (i usually head out there around 730 to choose our chairs and having these chip clips make this possible!  The wind is no joke on some days so having those slips allows you to clip your towels (no you don’t need to bring your own towels they are provided on most cruise ships) and then go back to your room for a bit.  or ensures your spot is saved if you need to go get a drink or have a break from the sun or even hang wit your kids in the pool.  The thing is most of the fun “guest driven” activities such as the Lip Sync Battle tryouts, Hairy Chest Contest etc are all out on the Lido Deck in front of the pool so having a spot up on the top deck is the best spectating viewpoint.  Caution: Some cruises will remove your towels if you are away from your chair for over an hour so be sure you are using your chairs at some point.

4.  BYOC – bring your own cup!  Our family is from texas so duh we are all about RTIC Cups and each take one on the ship and its totally worth the extra room is takes up.  The cups on the ship are small and depending on where your room is you may be quite a ways from a drink machine so having the ability to fill up your cup with more than a sip is a must, especially if you drink alcohol and need to water it down with ice water before bedtime 😉 Plus having a cup that keeps your drinks cold for more than 2 second is a super bonus.

5.  CHIP CLIPS: yes i already said towel clips and now I’m saying you ALSO need CHIP CLIPS!  Wide mouth and plastic ones are a must!  Why you ask?  well let me tell you a little thing about cruise ship showers…imagien the smallest shower you have ever been in.  Now cut it in half!  yep thats what cruise ships showers feels like ha and they have shower curtains!  yes teeny tiny want-to-stick-to-yout-body-plastic shower curtains!  GROSS right!?  well you take your little wide mouth plastic chip clips and you you hang them along the bottom of your shower curtain and voila!  no more peek and stick!!!!!!!

6.  DOWNLOAD A NOISE MACHINE AP TO YOUR PHONE:  there are floors of people above you and floors of people below you, oh and drunk people trying to walk on a moving ship in a hallway that looks like its been copied and pasted over and over!  Download a noise machine ap to your phone in case the noise level interrupts your nightly beauty sleep.  Lets me side note here and say that I am legit the lightest sleeper on the entire planet!  the ship it’s really that loud but honestly it wouldn’t hurt to have the option to use or not use.

7.  Keepsakes: I sort of already addressed this in my top tips but in case you missed it check out my suggestions for making the staff feel loved.  We typically take magnets, shot glasses or keychains that say Houston or Texas because remember the majority of the staff is not from the home state of the ship or possibly not even from the United States.

8.  DOOR DECOR:  Remember when i said the hallways look as though they have been coped and pasted 5 million times?!  yeah they really all do look the same and lets just say having your door decorated doesn’t just help you quickly spot your room on the fly but also if you are a said guy stumbling down the hall late night 🙂 We typically bring a birthday party tablecloth to cover the entire door and then buy a cute pack of party decor or Photo Booth props that fit the theme my girls want to roll with.  We have had this one a few times and this tablecloth.  but DONT FORGET THE TAPE to actually hang it up!!!!!

BONUS TIP: The carnival help desk on board had small fans (if your room is too hot or you forget to download the white noise ap) as well as decks of playing cards that they give to you if you want to sit in the main areas and play some family card games.

Just like last time be sure to email or comment with any questions you want to see addressed in the vacationing with your kids series.