Packing for any cruise is a balance.  You don’t want to miss anything that will make your trip better, but you also don’t want to carry things with you that you don’t need - especially if you’re flying to your cruise.  As a frequent cruiser, some of the things I see folks pack on cruise ships shock me.  Whether missteps of first time cruisers, differences in priorities, or edge cases, we’re going to share 8 things that most of you don’t need to pack on your next cruise.

The beauty of social media is that anyone with a smartphone or tablet can get involved.  Want to share your day?  You're just clicks away.  How do I do this from cruise ships, or on the beach?  Because I do this every week, sometimes with somewhat challenging conditions, I've built up a collection of gear to make it a better experience for everyone, which has lead to many questions about what microphone I'm using, how I'm supporting the camera, etc.  Check out my collection below, where I explain why I use what I use.  I've included links to the exact pieces of gear on Amazon so you can up your game and share your adventures!  

Most cruises require that guests wear masks when indoors, but what kind of mask you choose for your cruise can not only add a layer of safety, but have other benefits as well...

When you pack for any trip, it’s important to keep in mind the things that are absolute musts, and at the top of that list should be any prescription medications that you need.  Cruising, however, usually involves leaving the country, and countries may have differing rules about prescription medications, especially, though not exclusively, controlled substances.  How you should pack your medications, what you should consider before you travel, and medical decisions you make abroad are all important parts of your trip-planning...

Packing is an important step when preparing for your cruise, but of course all your stuff needs to actually make it onto the ship.  There are several options for this, as similar to when you fly, bags can be carrier on or checked.  There are advantages and disadvantages to each – both at the start and end of your cruise...

There are a lot of gadgets out there – and I’ll admit, that sometimes I buy them just to play with.  A couple of experiences on recent cruises made me really see the value in one of these gadgets though, and it might just be invaluable to you one day...

Bringing extras with you on any trip can mean baggage fees and other inconveniences, and we're often struggling to pack less - not more.  There are, however, some items you can bring along which could save you money.  In many cases they're even things you already have at home...

One of the things I prefer about a cruise vacation over traveling by air is that your luggage travels with you. The risk of getting separated from your bag is much slimmer on a cruise than on a plane, but that doesn’t mean the risk is zero. Plus, you may be transferring bags from cabs, hotels, shuttles, and planes just to get to the cruise terminal.  Luckily there is a simple step you can take to reduce the risk of being separated from your bag...

We love travel tech, and have talked about how we pack for cruises.  If you’re looking to invest in luggage for your next trip you may have seen bags with built in batteries – but we think you should avoid them.  In addition to some conceptual flaws we’ve noticed, you may soon have trouble flying with these bags...

Airlines and other carriers restrict the size and weight of bags, have limits on the number of carry-on bags, etc.  What about cruise lines?  There is no shortage of advice about how to pack for a cruise, and we have a great cruise packing list you can use, but how much you can bring onboard?  Let's look at how much of your world you can bag up and bring on a cruise and what cruise line policies say about how lightly you need to travel...

We all make mistakes, but some come with a bigger serving of irony than others - yesterday I made one of those mistakes.  It cost me time and sleep, and contributed a lot of stress, but it could have been worse.  What was my mistake?  Well, despite writing, ranting, and preaching cruise tips ad nauseam, I failed to take my own advice and forgot something when preparing for our Cuba cruise...

Packing has become pretty automatic for us, but as we prepare for a sailing on Independence of the Seas we figured we should slow down and take a look at just how we pack for a short Caribbean cruise...