Top 10 Cruise Must Have Accessories

For years I have had a trial and error learning curve with what I find worked and didn’t work for me while cruising. I have recommended many of these products/accessories to so many of you. Here I will summarize those products, include the links to these products and a bit of detail as to why I prefer each of these items.

1. Cruise Luggage Tags

The longer tags tend to work better for cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. The shorter tags work better for cruise lines such as Disney, Carnival, and Virgin Voyages. These aren’t required by any means, but a super convenient and reduces the possibility of your tag being ripped off and lost. I can’t recommend these enough!

2. Magnetic Hooks

Each room, on all cruises, are built individually into a ‘pod’ type of room and then inserted into their locations. These magnetic hooks are fantastic to have for keeping things organized and can be used anywhere in the room. I use them for hanging hats and jewelry on the walls, but you can also hang up backpacks so long as to get the heavy duty magnets. As a family of 5, even with the clothes line in the bathrooms, more hooks are convenience for hanging towels and wet suits.

3. Magnetic Ceiling Fan

Brutal honesty, it’s not great for major airflow, but for those who like some circulation this works. I suggest using rechargeable batteries that you can recharge during the day. The best thing is that this has a magnetic bottom so you can hang it from the ceiling, and not have to worry about a USB or wall plugin (those are limited anyway).

4. Power Strip

There are limited options for plugins in each room, this at least helps to give a few more options. Power strips aren’t typically allowed, but this is a bit different than the ones I see confiscated. If you need to have an extension cord, make sure to go to guest services right away and ask for one for your room as they have a limited supply.

5. Beach Towel Clips

There are a TON of fun, plastic variations of the towel clips, but I try to stick with more eco friendly items. I used to think these weren’t needed, but after so many fights with towels on windy days… lets just say these became my new best friend. I HIGHLY suggest investing in these clips.

6. Heavy Duty Card Holders

These are MUST HAVE’S. We have used the soft plastic ones they sell on the ship and end up breaking so many. The soft plastic holders just aren’t reliable, and I am constantly worrying about if I still have mine or not. These hard plastic holders are great, scanners can work through them and they stay attached to the lanyards 100% of the time. The first option is a top insert and the second option is a side insert (my preference), it’s really a matter of preference since the cards/passes will be secured in the holders.

*These are not needed for Virgin Voyages.

7. Lanyards

Lanyards are a must! While they have some for sale on the ship, many people like to bring their own with them and not pay for something they may not like on the ship. I don’t suggest one’s with extra quick clips that you can take apart from the lanyard because it’s just more moving parts that aren’t needed. Your old run of the mill lanyard will work just fine. I have had many clients purchase these cruise themed lanyards below. NOTE: These come with card holders but I do not suggest using them since these are a thin plastic that rip easily.

*These are not needed for Virgin Voyages.

8. Waterproof Floating Phone Pouch

I will ALWAYS recommend a water proof case, or phone pouch. However, so many water proof cases can be questionable and these pouches are very easy to use. I would only suggest one that floats because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen regular pouches go to the bottom of the water where we were snorkeling, or watched people struggle to recover them from around the beach area.

BONUS ITEM

If you’re like me, I love my fanny packs. This is one of my more favorite items.

9. Reusable Metal Straws

I tend to have some kind of metal straw with me everywhere. I won’t use plastic straws, but the paper straws that many of the ships carry now just doesn’t cut it either. Metal straws are easy to pack, take up little to no space and many have key rings so you can attach them to you lanyards.

I prefer these ones because they also come with a compactable cleaning brush [chef’s kiss].

10. Cup Holder Pouch

Last, but not least, are the cup holders. Juggling kids and cups just isn’t going to end well, these come with straps and clips so then you can attach them to the strollers with ease. Not only that, they fit most cups that come with drink packages on the ships and they help with insulation.

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One extra item, that I wouldn’t say is a necessity, but a preference of mine is to have a dry case. Dry bags are a go-to if you’re going to the beach, water park, etc., but I feel more secure having everything in a dry box. Here is what we use to carry our ID’s/passports, phones, cash, etc. It’s a key lock, made in the USA, and you can take this anywhere.