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There are things I no longer pack for a cruise as things have changed, others I pack different things to do the same task, things I have always packed for a cruise vacation and still do and some things I don’t understand why people pack for a cruise at all. Find out what they are and why you should rethink what you pack for a cruise
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ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 101 cruises I have done to date.
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00:00 Start
01:00 Stop packing these
02:49 Bring these on a cruise instead
06:32 Things I've always packed and still do
11:23 Whats most pack but I don't
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0:00
on
0:01
99.9% of my cruises I no longer take a
0:04
camera certainly a camera like this with
0:06
a big lens the reason I've got on this
0:09
particular trip is I'm on an expedition
0:11
Cruise we're going to be seeing polar
0:12
bears which we did see way off in the
0:14
distance and you need this camera I do
0:16
not take cameras to take pictures
0:18
anymore I literally only take my mobile
0:21
phone uh because that does the job which
0:23
got me thinking a little bit more about
0:26
what do I pack and not pack because I
0:28
realized I also take a dramatically
0:31
smaller suitcase than I used to take
0:33
when I first started cruising I'm Gary
0:35
benridge and I'm here to make it fun and
0:36
easy to discover plan enjoy incredible
0:39
Cruise vacations and I'm going to talk
0:40
about four things what I've stopped
0:42
packing and I think you should stop
0:44
packing what I pack differently to do
0:46
the same job but it's new things thirdly
0:49
things that I've always packed and still
0:50
pack and fourthly things that people
0:52
tell you to pack but I don't think you
0:54
should pack and I certainly don't pack
0:56
I'll come back to the camera a little
0:57
bit later but let's talk about things
0:59
that I do not pack anymore and that is
1:02
really around clothes I've dramatically
1:04
reduced the amount of clothes I bring
1:06
and particularly smart clothes when I
1:08
first started cruising on things like
1:10
card you had to bring a tuxedo you had
1:11
to bring a jacket and tie you had to
1:13
bring long sleeve shirts you had to
1:15
bring smart shoes ladies the equivalent
1:18
even on lines like kunard which is the
1:20
most dressy of all Cruise Lines they
1:22
don't have formal night they have Gara
1:23
nights and they encourage you to dress
1:25
up but you can pretty much get away with
1:27
the suit I hardly ever take a jacket on
1:31
any of my Cruisers even really smart
1:32
Cruisers and dress code has changed
1:35
dramatically and it's becoming much more
1:37
of a suggested rather than something
1:39
that's really strict so close
1:41
dramatically reduced and certainly
1:43
formal close just kind of smart casual
1:45
is the most I take of course the other
1:47
thing that we don't need to take so much
1:49
anymore that depends on which region
1:50
you're on is your uh vaccine
1:53
certificates and covid tests that kind
1:55
of stuff although there are a couple of
1:56
regions which I believe still needs them
1:58
based on what people are telling me one
2:00
thing that I do though nowadays pack
2:03
much more than I ever used to pack
2:05
before is patience patience patience and
2:08
a good sense of humor Cruisers have
2:11
changed dramatically and they have a
2:13
reputation for being a little bit more
2:15
Rowdy little bit more crazy uh they're
2:19
certainly full these days and the way
2:21
the people just act and behave is very
2:23
different to before so you do need to
2:24
bring much more patience much more sense
2:27
of humor and just be ready to go with
2:29
the flow things have changed quite a lot
2:31
and particularly also as I'm seeing more
2:33
and more families are cruising on all
2:35
lines not just the traditional Family
2:37
Lines like Norwegian roal Caribbean MSC
2:40
I've seen Lo of KS on H America on
2:42
Seaborn and so you just need to get used
2:45
to and adapt to that as well so you need
2:46
to pack a lot of that I want to talk now
2:49
about things that I packed differently
2:51
to before and let me come back to the
2:53
whole thing around cameras now when I
2:56
first started cruising you would take a
2:58
mobile phone perhaps with you but it'd
2:59
be switch Switched Off you didn't have
3:01
apps you didn't have Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is
3:03
crazy expensive but that has changed the
3:05
mobile phone has become an absolute
3:07
essential for cruising whether we kind
3:09
of like it or not and there's a couple
3:10
of things that it's fundamental for
3:12
first of all I already mentioned it is
3:14
my Prime camera I take all my
3:16
photographs with it in fact even more in
3:19
nowadays I use my mobile phone to even
3:21
video because it takes such good video
3:23
in fact this video I'm making is
3:26
actually being recorded on my phone most
3:28
Cruis lands now have an app app that you
3:30
need to check in online you look at the
3:32
daily program you look at your account
3:35
you need to book
3:36
dining entertainment whatever so you
3:39
kind of need the app and a mobile phone
3:42
the third thing that I do is I store all
3:44
my important documentation so I set up a
3:46
Dropbox on there and I set it to be uh
3:49
available offline and I put things like
3:51
my travel insurance I always travel with
3:53
travel insurance always pack that I put
3:55
actually my vaccine records I put a copy
3:57
of my passport in there and any kind of
4:00
important document that I think I might
4:01
need I keep a copy of that on Dropbox
4:04
which is available offline I also my
4:07
phone is really important for me to stay
4:09
in touch and particular with my mother
4:11
my mother doesn't have a mobile phone
4:12
she only uses a landline my mother is
4:15
poorly cited and uh I have to call on
4:18
the landline I like to call her as often
4:19
as I can so I actually put Skype and I
4:22
put some credit on Skype and it means
4:24
that I can actually phone her landline
4:25
so that becomes really really important
4:27
to be able to stay in touch with her cuz
4:28
I can't she doesn't see on social media
4:30
or whatever the mobile phone also is of
4:32
course it's the alarm it's the
4:34
NightLight and it's replaced all those
4:36
things that I used to bring along and
4:38
pack now of course because I make videos
4:41
uh camera equipment is kind of important
4:43
but I used to take these big cameras and
4:46
I used to have to take uh tripods and
4:48
all that stuff now I basically use my
4:50
mobile phone as I mentioned and I use
4:52
tiny little cameras so I use this one
4:55
for example which is a Sony RX 107 which
4:59
is a title camera has a really good lens
5:01
uh really good in low light I use that I
5:03
take this tiny little thing which is a
5:05
DGI osmo pocket which has got a built-in
5:08
gimbal uh stabilizer and I use that a
5:11
lot as well so basically I've take
5:13
cameras along with me but they are
5:16
higher quality they shoot in 4k not just
5:18
high definition and they're tiny and
5:19
discret one of the other things I pack
5:22
is the insta 360 X3 which enables me to
5:25
take kind of drone like stuff because I
5:27
can't pack a drone anymore so let's me
5:30
create those kind of effects but also
5:31
it's really good fun for posting on
5:33
social media and really cool funky kind
5:35
of stuff so it's all about bringing
5:37
small cameras these cameras take up less
5:40
space than my old camera used to take
5:42
Apple Air tags are also something that I
5:44
never used to pack and now bring along
5:46
because the technolog is available this
5:48
I put in my suitcase I put in my Ru sack
5:50
and it helps me track where my case is
5:52
these are proved absolutely invaluable
5:55
particularly when I'm changing flights
5:57
to perhaps join a cruise I can check the
5:59
the bag is making it all the way and it
6:01
really helped me once when I came back
6:02
from a cruise where my suitcase didn't
6:05
appear at all and I used this and
6:08
discovered they put it on the wrong belt
6:10
and it was actually in the hall another
6:11
thing that's really important for me is
6:13
I take my iPad with me and that's
6:15
because I can uh connect to Wi-Fi and
6:17
I'm a bit of a geek and I like to watch
6:19
my Star Trek or whatever and I with
6:21
great Wi-Fi I can now download those and
6:24
keep up to date with shows that are
6:25
really really important to me uh as my
6:27
kind of evening entertainment next I
6:29
want to talk about things that I've
6:30
always traveled with and I still take
6:33
these and I think they're really
6:34
important that everyone should think
6:35
about first of all I like to take a home
6:38
pleasure mark my partner likes to take
6:40
his own pillow he's really fussy about
6:42
his pillow for me it is these Bluetooth
6:45
speakers I love listening to music I
6:47
love listening to music all the time and
6:49
I bring these along with me that's my
6:51
kind of home pleasure other people bring
6:53
things like their favorite tea bags or
6:55
fluffy toys or whatever but bring
6:57
something that's really kind of you love
7:00
bringing and love having it it's going
7:01
to make it feel more homely of course
7:03
then there are medical things so I bring
7:05
along kind of my prescription stuff but
7:07
always importantly I bring it also in
7:09
the
7:10
original uh prescription bottle uh that
7:14
means that I can if I get any hassles
7:16
with immigration or Customs whatever you
7:18
can they can see that it's all kind of
7:20
right and proper I basically bring along
7:22
a month supply even if I'm going on a
7:24
week long cruise for me the other
7:27
medical thing is a spare pair of glasses
7:29
I can't read anything without those so I
7:31
bring that cuz that's a count in the
7:33
medical area so anything that's kind of
7:35
important from a medical perspective
7:37
which brings me on to my all-time
7:40
favorite thing which is my first aid kit
7:44
now it's just this little bag here but
7:46
there's some really really important
7:47
things that I bring in here that I
7:50
strongly kind of recommend one of the
7:52
most important and uh most undervalued
7:55
ones is uh the tooth repair kit you've
7:59
got a crown falls out or a filling falls
8:01
out it gives you a chance to just kind
8:03
of patch it up until you can see an
8:05
emergency dentist or until you can get
8:07
home because on cruise ships they do not
8:10
have any dentists any stuff for D
8:12
Dentistry at all and this has helped me
8:15
a couple of times when a tooth cracked I
8:16
was able to patch it up till we got to
8:18
Key West and it's s an emergency dentist
8:20
it's happened to mark my partner and
8:22
I've even lent it to friends on a cruise
8:24
plaster Band-Aids are really important
8:27
that's helped me so many times uh when I
8:28
was in the last trip I actually put my
8:30
hand into to my uh into my toiletry bag
8:33
and I cut my finger open really bad I
8:35
was able to plaster it up uh even on
8:37
this cruise I've kind of slightly dented
8:39
myself and ding myself taking off my
8:41
boots when going on a hike the plaster
8:43
are really important then I bring along
8:45
some basic medications so like Imodium
8:48
you know anti diarrheal really important
8:49
because on cruise ships if you can't buy
8:51
things like Imodium in the the cruise
8:54
shop uh you have to go to the medical
8:55
center because it's kind of a trigger
8:56
for a couple of things it's a trigger uh
8:58
for uh norovirus and it's also trigger
9:01
potentially for covid so I bring these
9:04
along of course then you know your
9:06
headache pill for me it's paracetamol uh
9:08
you know Tylenol whatever it is the
9:10
other thing that I bring of course is uh
9:13
seasick medication so I'm a big fan of
9:16
dramamine uh in the UK St Jiran 15 but I
9:20
was bring that as insurance touch with I
9:21
have never been seasick so I bring that
9:23
along kind of just to make sure I also
9:25
bring along melatonin because
9:27
particularly when I'm changing lots of
9:29
time zones melatonin is thing that helps
9:32
you kind of get back into kind of your
9:34
sleep into a sleep Zone I still bring
9:36
along Handel really helpful good way of
9:39
helping prevent things like norovirus
9:40
particularly when you're out and touring
9:42
so like when was in Egypt recently just
9:44
a way of kind of you handling notes and
9:45
stuff dirty notes stuff that's something
9:47
really really helpful then I also bring
9:50
along a couple of bits and pieces like
9:52
savlon you know if I've grazed myself a
9:55
bonella for mouth ulcers uh something
9:58
that I kind of uh find uh helpful and
10:01
then two other really important items
10:03
one of which is Sun cream I always bring
10:06
Sun cream with me and also uh mosquito
10:09
repellent and that's really important
10:10
it's really saved me quite a few times
10:12
as well so those are the key things I
10:14
have in my particular first head kit I'm
10:16
sure you'll have other things so I was
10:18
kind of keep a list of note things that
10:19
I use at home and then I pack those in
10:21
the kit I'm obsessed with light and
10:23
noise when I'm sleeping so I always
10:25
bring uh eye shades and uh you know
10:28
basically ear plugs I strongly recommend
10:30
that you bring those because you never
10:31
know what sort of cabin you're going to
10:32
get you never know what the situation is
10:34
going to be and this is a real real
10:36
Lifesaver of course then the thing I
10:38
always brought I have this bag of
10:39
adapters with us adapters Euro adapters
10:43
and multi-usb adapters so it can charge
10:46
everything up and uh lots of all the
10:49
cables and stuff that's kind of an
10:50
obvious one also what I bring is uh US
10:53
dollars in small denominations so that I
10:56
can then use those to tip uh crew or
10:59
when I'm out and about US dollars I
11:00
bring because no matter which line
11:02
you're on no matter where in the world
11:04
you are US dollars is always uh an easy
11:07
currency and a lot of the crew uh come
11:09
from countries where the US dollar is
11:11
either Prime currency or very easy to
11:14
exchange so always lots of small note US
11:17
Dollars and obviously of course travel
11:18
with my passport uh you know all those
11:20
kind of basic things that you need I
11:22
mentioned I was going to talk about a
11:23
whole bunch of things that people tell
11:25
you to bring that I never pack so I'm
11:27
not one of these people despite all my
11:28
cruises bring a lot of the cruise
11:31
paraphernalia so I don't bring a lanyard
11:32
for example but I know a lot of people
11:34
love those I don't bring clips for uh
11:37
clipping towels on on the pool deck or
11:40
closing uh you know the lights my eye
11:42
shades to do that door decorations I
11:45
don't bring over the door holders which
11:47
a lot of people like to sort out uh
11:49
stuff and a lot of people love those and
11:50
they uh find those really really helpful
11:53
um I I basically have my own little
11:55
system in the cupboards so I don't bring
11:57
a lot of that kind of stuff but I know a
11:58
lot of people people really do like
12:00
those so if that's important to you make
12:01
sure that you pack those the other thing
12:03
I don't do because I don't drink alcohol
12:05
but I strongly recommend if you do drink
12:06
alcohol is check what your allowance is
12:09
and bring that with you you know some
12:10
cruise lines you can bring multiple
12:12
bottles of wine some you can only bring
12:13
one per person but you may as well bring
12:16
along because it you know drinks are
12:17
getting more and more expensive on board
12:19
so that's I would strongly recommend it
12:21
and the other thing that I never bring
12:22
and I always check is anything on the
12:25
band list every single cruise line has a
12:27
band list and I get loads of people
12:28
sending me messages
12:29
around for example extension cords you
12:32
know you can't bring those with surge
12:34
protectors because of the way the system
12:36
uh on ships work you can't as I
12:38
mentioned earlier bring drones you can't
12:39
bring anything that looks like a weapon
12:41
in some cases you can't even bring
12:43
remote control toys for the kids so
12:45
always check the band list it's easy to
12:48
find just put in your Cruise Line Band
12:50
list and you will find it there so don't
12:52
bring any of that kind of stuff is there
12:54
anything that you used to pack for
12:56
cruise that you don't pack why don't you
12:58
let it every know by leaving a comment
13:00
but why you think about that and before
13:02
you do that why don't you watch this
13:03
video where I do talk about the biggest
13:06
mistakes that people make when packing
13:09
for a cruise see you over there
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