travelislife Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 We are cruising for the first time in August on Adventure of the Seas, heading to Bermuda. We are a family of 5 (kids ages 7, 4, and 2), plus my 70+ dad is coming with. What do folks recommend we bring (someone suggested walkie-talkies) or, conversely, leave behind (eg. do we have to bring beach towels, or are those provided?) Any pro-tips are most welcome and appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 You don't need to pack towels. The ship has them for use on the pool or on an a shore excursion. I don't recommend walkie talkies. They are annoying to other people and dont work well onboard due to a lot of metal and interference. Buy a Voom internet package instead and use texting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 CrimsonCruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Diego Garrett Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 Cabin must haves for us: Heavy duty magnet hooks. Battery powered night lights. Pocket shelves that hang on door. Small fan. Toiletry bag. Collapsible mesh laundry bag. WAAAYTOOO and Moby Dick 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 If your cabins are close to each other a pack of sticky notes and a marker ex of notes: 9:00am going to breakfast main dining room 11:00 going to pool 1:00 baby and momma are napping dinner is always together when I travel with my family. At the table we discuss our evening plans (game show, theater etc) I recommend you check out the cruise compass section of these boards so you can familiarize yourself with the ship activities this is one of the “smaller” (mid size?) ships, so going to put notes on the door is a non issue. if you purchased an internet package for 2 devices you can essentially share it between the 3 adults. Only 2 devices logged in at any time. Or spend the $ and be able to have 3 devices and all 3 adults logged in at the same time. My must have when I traveled with my niece (age 9) something to keep her occupied at the dinner table while we waited on our order we had travel boggle, Yahtzee uno and a deck of cards. Something as simple as playing boxes on a sheet of paper would have worked as well I’ve seen kids with leap pads or other electronics. I think an extra “catch all bag” is always good to have somewhere to put 5/6 pool towels if taking them off the ship for an excursion. The older kids might be trusted to carry their own string bag with sunblock/hat/sun shirt/sunglasses-give the adult break from rummaging through one big bag looking for things! for beaches, I had packed my own “Tommy Bahamas “ tent…it was fairly small it’s it’s carry bag, fit into my luggage and provided great shade for the littles (or one adult) to sit in it was also pretty easy to put together and take apart. Sand toys or plastic cup/spoon is also nice as are an assortment of snack bags from home (so expensive onboard)….pre packaged chips/ pretzels, granola bars) could make any child/or my husband happy at a beach. Don’t forget reusable water bottles if you don’t have the drink package to be able to get bottled water or you’ll be buying bottled water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 Battery operated night light (primarily for the bathroom but also great if you have an interior room) Dry erase board (I put it in the room instead of outside, but for the same purpose of telling my travel companions where I am or leaving notes for my room steward) Snacks! Call me crazy but simple midnight munchies snacks like chips or candy cost an arm and a leg on the ship so we bring just one bag to nosh on after a late night. A backpack. Seriously. even if you don't plan on doing anything more than going to the beaches at port backpack is easier to carry and less awkward than a tote or purse. Travel clock. I swear it's intentional that there are no clocks in the room. I hate taking the extra seconds to find and check my phone while running around trying to get ready for something. A small battery operated clock for a central area changed my life. A boring ol' watch. Your cell phone will most likely (unless you want to pay for roaming charges) be in airplane mode the whole cruise and shouldn't change to match the timezones in port but you don't want to risk it and miss the ship. a boring ol wristwatch (or pocket watch if you're fancy) that isn't affected by satellites will keep you on ship's time. And this is my own personal must have just because I am paranoid and don't want to lose my phone - an old or cheap point and shoot digital camera. Something under 80 bucks that takes nice enough photos but you also won't care too much if it gets lost, damaged or stolen. teddy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan79 Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 PLEASE do not be one of those annoying and obnoxious people who being walkie talkies on a cruise!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AandD Posted July 12, 2022 Report Share Posted July 12, 2022 Some clips to clip your towels to your chairs. Bring some $1s, $10s and $20s. $1s for the porters at the dock and its nice to tip a for a drink. And we have started tipping our cabin steward some cash at the start and end of the trip. This is on top of the 18% charged to you by the ship for the gratuity. Also you might want a lanyard with something on the end to hold your Seapass card. They use to punch a hole in the card but wont anymore. You can buy these on board also. Sea Squirrel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordell1 Posted July 13, 2022 Report Share Posted July 13, 2022 6 hours ago, travelislife said: We are cruising for the first time in August on Adventure of the Seas, heading to Bermuda. We are a family of 5 (kids ages 7, 4, and 2), plus my 70+ dad is coming with. What do folks recommend we bring (someone suggested walkie-talkies) or, conversely, leave behind (eg. do we have to bring beach towels, or are those provided?) Any pro-tips are most welcome and appreciated! Thanks! My must have is this website. You have already taken the first step. Do some research, Matt has articles about everything you can think of. Ask questions if you aren't sure. Cruises are a unique, but awesome vacation. All of us started just like you and are willing to answer your questions. Don't plan every minute, but learn what is available on the ship you are sailing. Also do some research on the ports you are visiting and have a plan for those (as an example, you can often have a better time for less money by using a private tour company or just doing your own thing) Matt, michaelp1446, KristiZ and 2 others 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUFAN Posted July 13, 2022 Report Share Posted July 13, 2022 We just grabbed some things on Amazon during "Prime Days". I got some magnetic hooks. Luggage tags specifically for RCL. An outlet adapter that has several USB ports. I'd like to get a small fan. If you have an Amazon Prime account, just search for cruise items. Most of what people are suggesting will show up in your search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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