All-Inclusive Packing Must Haves for 2024

I made my cruise packing favorites post, so now I wanted to talk about what I pack with an all-inclusive resort in mind! Packing for an all-inclusive versus a cruise isn't much different for me, because I tend to go to the same types of places for both. But, on a cruise I'm anticipating being on a boat all day for a few days, and being away from my room for an extended period of time on port days, so what I pack is centered on those factors. At an all-inclusive, I'm betting that I'll always be within a few minutes of my room, and that my room will be a bigger size to work with than a cruise. 

Insulated Cups

For me, the biggest difference between an all-inclusive and a cruise is that "pace yourself" is not a concept that I consider when it comes to my drinks. So, I need something that will keep me from always asking for a refill either because I ran out of my drink or my drink got too hot. For bottled or canned beers, my favorite is the BruMate Hopsulator Trio. I love that it fits both drinks and it is the easiest koozie I've ever used for a canned beer because the beers just slide right out without you having to twist the lid off to remove. It's also great that it has a wide non-slid bottom to help your drink not spill over so easily, and it's indented on the sides to make it more comfortable to hold. These won my husband over when he was able to take a beach nap and wake up to a still-cold beer that wasn't sweating all over the table. 

A lot of resorts are going straw free, or are only offering paper straws or weird candy straws, all which aren't great options, so I prefer to bring a cup that has a straw built in rather than try to keep up with a reusable straw. While the Hopsulator trio comes with a lid so you can actually turn your koozie into a sealed cup (which we have done for many years), the problem with using it for mixed drinks is that it doesn't hold all that much so you have to get a lot of refills. That's why we've added the Brumate Era cups into our packing list. We got the 30 ounces which is a good-sized drink, and it's completely leak-proof which is always great. 

Yes, the resort will have cups so you technically don't have to bring your own, but I personally think it's a much better experience. Their cups won't have a lid so you'll risk your drink spilling and if it's a sweet drink, you might spend all day fighting bugs to stay out of your drink. When you're in the pool or ocean, you'll inevitably end up with water in your cup if there's not a lid. Personally I think it's preferred by the waitstaff because it's less often that they have to come by for refills, there's no empty cups that are left behind for them to pick up at the end of the day, and it's less dishwashing they have to do. It feels like a win-win for me. More and more people are BYOC their all-inclusive stays.

Insulated Water Bottle

Okay, you have to drink something non-alcoholic on your trip, too! Your hotel will probably leave water bottles in your room daily (remember, it's all free here so raid that mini bar). Personally, I prefer to keep mine in my insulated straw bottle. I don't feel comfortable using ice in foreign countries, so I just pop the plastic water bottles in the fridge for a few hours to chill them, and then pour them into my insulated drink to keep them cold all day. I love my water bottle because it has a straw to make it easy to drink while you're reclined on a beach lounger, but it still doesn't spill if I toss it into my beach bag.

Hangover Remedies

I always pack two things when I know I'm going to be doing a lot of drinking and being out in the sun all day: hangover prevention pills for before I drink and liquid IV for after I drink. These two help out a LOT more than you'd think! Don't forget that being in the sun dehydrates you, and drinking dehydrates you, so if you're not careful then you can get in a bad shape really easily!

Travel Sun Hat

Normal sun hats are a pain to travel with because you have to carefully revolve all of your belongings around the whole hat, or have it dangle from a bag, or have to wear it through the airport. I have two travel sun hats that I absolutely love because I can pack them up really small, and being crumpled doesn't bother them one bit. I have the more traditional straw hat that is perfect for days when all I want to do is park in a chair and read while I stay dry, and then I have a sporty sun hat that is made to get wet so it's perfect to wear if I'm spending all day floating in the ocean or the pool. 

One thing about these though, is they both are open on the top, so if you have thin or light hair, you will want to put your hair in a top not to keep your scalp extra protected. I have thick hair, so I actually like the open tops so I can have my hair in any style and it works great. Oh, and these make great gifts for the family member that is hard to buy for. 

Solar Phone Chargers

I won't go down to the beach without a solar phone charger. It's so nice that you can charge up your phone and then just sit this out by your chair when it's dead, and then it's good to go again! The one I have comes with the cords built in, so this is all I have to remember to bring. And, it can do wireless charging too! Lastly, it has a flashlight so if you're coming back to your room after watching the sunset, you can have a little light to help you find your way back. 

Beach Shoes

Flip flops and strappy sandals will technically work, but there's better options. I prefer beach sandals instead. The ones I wear have a small platform to keep your feet from being buried in the sand, which is how most people tear their sandals when walking on the beach because the sand will weigh down their shoe and as they pull their leg to get their foot unburied, the shoe rips. Other shoes can also easily get ripped away from your feet by the current of the waves if you get in the water. And barefoot is a no-go because you'll burn your feet on the sand, and sometimes the shores will have sharp shells that can cut your feet. Beach sandals are made to go in the water so you can wear them straight from the pool to the beach to the ocean, and then because these are so cute I just wear them all day and to dinner as well. 

Towel Clips

There is nothing worse than burning your calves on a hot lounge chair because your towel doesn't cover the whole chair since half of it is draped over the back to keep the towel in place. Well, I guess maybe your towel blowing away and landing in the water leaving you without a towel might be worse. So, I bring towel clips. We actually just have a little vacation bag that we keep our Brumates and towel clips together so that we can always remember to bring them both!

Pool Float

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is just float in the water and chill with a drink in my hand. You can bring inflatable pool floats that don't take up a lot of room, but allow you to relax in the pool without having to sit or stand the whole time. Depending on how calm the ocean is near your resort, you can chill in these out there too. You just need to be paying more attention if you're floating in the ocean, because the tide can take you away without you even noticing. My husband prefers to stand instead of float, so he'll just keep an arm on my float to keep me nearby. 

I've also taken a whale tail float to sit on in the water. These are for when you don't necessarily want to be reclining, but you don't want to be sitting either. It's great for situations when you're with several people and you want to be involved in the conversation, but still sitting down. 

Sunscreen

I saved the most important for last. Even if you want to get a vacation tan, still wear sunscreen! Trust me when I say that even with sunscreen, you probably won't re-apply it often enough so you'll still get a tan. But I once had an entire vacation ruined because I got a second-degree sunburn on day 1 and will never forget how miserable I was with bubbling and peeling skin (use cool tea bags if this happens to you). 

I really recommend you do your first layer with sunscreen lotion, and then you can follow up with the spray if you're covered in sand and can't re-apply with lotion. I recommend starting with lotion (per my derm) because the breeze off the ocean usually will blow away of lot of the spray sunscreen, leaving you with basically no coverage. Starting off with the lotion at least gives you a good base layer of protection. I also use sunscreen stickers that change color to let me know when to reapply so I won't burn. 

Resort Wear

Lastly, I pack a swimsuit for each day, a coverup, comfy outfits for the day and a dinner outfit for each night. That's basically it! If we're planning on doing anything on the trip, I might pack more outfit. But mostly, I just live in bikinis and coverups for my trip, which makes for easy packing because like a true millennial I overpack on the drinkware. 

Travel Guide | Garza Blanca in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

My husband's family takes an annual family trip together, and after how expensive Disney Aulani in Hawaii was for our last trip, we decided to choose an all-inclusive for our next family trip. We have all been to the Cozumel/Cancun area a lot and wanted to expand out to somewhere different, and also needed a resort that was baby-friendly for my 1-year-old to come with. We were really trying to decide between Cabo and Puerto Vallarta when I came across Garza Blanca. What worked great for us was that this resort had locations in both Cabo and Puerto Vallarta. The deciding factor for us between the two locations was that it's just not safe to get in the water in Cabo, and we wanted the option to sit on the beach with our toes in the water if we were going to Mexico, so Puerto Vallarta it was. We definitely made the right choice! Our resort looked like it could have been in Hawaii with the trees surrounding one side and the ocean on the other. We all loved this resort so much and spoiler, I definitely recommend it. Garza Blanca has been one of my top favorite resorts we've been to. 

Garza Blanca Preserve Resort & Spa Review

Let's start with this: this place felt very luxurious, and yet was family-friendly at the same time. Garza Blanca is on the smaller side, which made it feel less touristy and overcrowded (although we did go there the week of Labor Day which is apparently off-peak season). Right across from the street is its sister resort Hotel Mousasi, which you have full access to, but it is adults only so kids aren't allowed in the restaurants or pools over there. There's a trolley that goes between the two resorts and I really recommend that you take it, because Hotel Mousai is up on a cliff and it is a very steep walk to get up there. 

The views from the lobby of the resort are unreal! This is seriously one of the most beautiful resorts I've stayed at. There is a huge infinity pool that overlooks the beach down below and has mountains behind it and off to the side. It was seriously gorgeous! 

One negative about Garza Blanca is that they do have timeshares. They aren't pushy about it at all and they don't make you sit through a presentation, but it did seem to be a lot of ads in the elevators for this and you can tell who is  and isn't a timeshare member by their wristbands that they give you.

I wanted to point out that technically you could go "European" where you don't do the all-inclusive package and just pay for food and drinks as you go. While the room rates for this are much cheaper than all-inclusive, this is a luxury resort so the prices add up fast. If you're only there for a few days, maybe pay-as-you-go is cheaper, but for most people I would recommend the all-inclusive package. 

The rooms at Garza Blanca

The rooms at Garza Blanca are great! The room was spacious with a large bedroom with a living room that had a couch and coffee table, but with pretty room to walk around the furniture. Our bathroom had a jetted tub, roomy shower, and a connecting walk-in closet that had plenty of storage for our week stay. Our room had a really long balcony that went the entire width of the bedroom and overlooked the ocean. 

Eating at Garza Blanca

There's room service, plus a breakfast buffet, poolside service, and 3 all-ages restaurant options and 3 adults-only restaurants. There's a pool-side restaurant called Aquazul that has lunch/snack options. 

The breakfast buffet is all in the main building, which turns into a reservation-only restaurant for dinner, called Blanca Blue. 

The all-ages steakhouse Bocados sits at the top of a hill and has amazing views at sunset. Everyone raves about the Japanese restaurant Hiroshi on the Hotel Mousai, but it's notoriously always booked up so we didn't get to make it. 

Instead, we went to the Chinese restaurant Dao over by Hotel Mousai and my mother in law stayed back to watch my daughter and they ordered room service so we could go to the adults-only side. We also ate at the Italian restaurant Noi and just booked an in-room baby sitter for our daughter so we could all eat together. All the restaurants were included in the price except for Karuma grill, which is another steakhouse but the steaks are an extra cost. 

All of the food that we had was amazing. Even the buffets didn't feel like "buffet" food and there was a good variety of food and the options were great. You do have to make dinner reservations everywhere, so I recommend you do that right after you reserve your room so that you have the most options. There is a dress code, so pack business casual clothes to wear for dinner.

What to do at Garza Blanca

Between the two resorts is a cute little shopping center with a carousel! This was the highlight of the trip for my daughter, and is such an Instragram-able spot. 

The resort has 2 pools- an upper-deck pool that has a splash shelf for little kids and then a lower-deck pool that is their infinity pool. There's also a adults-only rooftop bar at Hotel Mousai, but we didn't go to that. We spent most of our time in the infinity pool. It has a sitting shelf basically the entire length of it so a lot of people can comfortably sit in the pool. It has waitstaff who keep your drinks full and will grab you a quick bite from Aquazul. 

There's also a small beach. Similar to Aulani, this beach actually has a public part of the beach that is shared with the resort-only beach, so don't be surprised to see locals bring umbrellas and coolers to set up on the beach. The beach is beautiful and there's a beach bar with waitstaff who come by to take your drink/lunch order. The resort provides free kayaks for you to go out into the water with, and they have a free snorkeling expedition every morning at 8 am. The shoreline itself is very rocky, so I was very happy I packet my water sandals. Everyone who was barefoot didn't last long in the water, but what is nice is that they have a little breakwater to keep the water near the beach nice and calm. 

There aren't a whole lot of activities at Garza Blanca. Think of this as more of a R & R vacation spot than an adventurous place. 

Overall thoughts of Garza Blanca

Absolutely loved Garza Blanca, and really loved Puerto Vallarta! The view is just breathtaking! Similar to what we did at Aulani, rather than book 3 separate rooms, we booked a 3-room suite. And it was sweet! Our room had 2 stories, a private balcony hottub, a wraparound balcony, a full kitchen and wet bar, a dining room, and a living room bigger than my living room at home. The suite came with a butler service that we could just text to reserve seats down at the pool or beach, make dinner reservations, and book the babysitter through. The kitchen in our suite was stocked every day with water, beer, and snacks. 

The highlight of the trip is that the suite comes with a private chef for one night, which was the most luxurious part of the trip. The chef sat down with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and myself to get an idea of the menu for the night, and then a whole team of servers came and helped him prepare an epic like 7 course meal. The food was absolutely delicious and it was great to share a family-style meal on vacation.  

It was the perfect lavish trip to just relax and eat good food and drink good drinks while looking at an amazing view. 

How to Choose Between a Cruise and an All-Inclusive Vacation

I love going on cruises, and I also love staying at all-inclusive resorts! In some ways, it's like choosing a blue between lapis, azure, and cerulean (if you know, you know). Each one is the "perfect vacation" on its own, but there are a few pro's and con's to each that might help you decide which is better for your specific trip. 

Cruises: 

Cruises are synonymous with floating resorts that take travelers to multiple destinations. One of the primary advantages of a cruise is the opportunity to explore different locations without the hassle of having to coordinate multiple bookings and frequent packing and unpacking. 

Related link: All my favorite cruise blog posts.

All-Inclusive Resorts:

On the other hand, all-inclusive resorts are centered around the idea of ultimate relaxation. These resorts typically include your room, meals, drinks, and activities all included in one price, letting you enjoy your vacation without always needing to reach for your wallet. All-inclusive resorts focus on a laid-back escape. 

Related link: All my favorite all-inclusive blog posts.

Destinations and Itinerary

Cruise

The big draw for cruises is that you can visit a lot of places in a short amount of time, because most cruises go to a different port a day. This can make it easy for you to check several countries off your bucket list in just a week. However, the biggest downside for this is that you're usually only at a port for 4-8 hours a day. So while I can technically say I've been to Jamaica, I was only actually there for about 6 hours. And unless you go on an excursion, you'll spend your entire time at the port. Cruising can be a great way to get introduced to new countries, but you don't always get the full experience of the country in such a short time on a cruise. 

All-Inclusive

On the other hand, an all-inclusive resort gives you at least the opportunity to see more of the country you're in, but you're probably limited to just that one country. When we went to the Dominican Republic, we took a helicopter tour around the island and loved getting to see different parts of the country. But, sometimes you just don't leave your resort. Each time I've been to Cancun so far, I've never left our resort. Regardless of whether you leave your resort or not to go explore, you'll likely end up experiencing your country for longer than a cruise just by the sheer nature of staying overnight. 

Activities and Entertainment

Cruise

One thing cruises are known for is their on-board activities. The biggest ships have TONS of activities-- think surfing, high-dive performers, Broadway-level shows, ice skating,  movie theaters, rock-wall climbing and go-karting. Even medium-sized ships will usually have some waterslides, putt-putt, obstacle course, and an arcade. And that's just the "adventure" activities. There's always something happening on a cruise! Bingo, trivia, game shows happen throughout the day. There's also usually areas with board and card games, billiards, and live music. At the pool, they usually have a DJ set up during the afternoons and the cruise director will surely have a belly flop contest and a dance-off at some point. 

All-Inclusive

All-inclusive resorts usually have their own activities, just more toned down. Resorts tend to be more of a "I'm just here to relax" vibe, so that's what you can expect to find.  The Grand at Moon Palace has been the one resort that had a TON of activities for everyone. But, usually they'll have some night parties or day parties around the pool, cooking or cocktail-making classes, maybe a kids-only area for elementary through teens age, maybe an arcade, and sometimes some water activities like kayaking or snorkeling in front of the resort. If your resort doesn't have a lot of activities, they'll usually have some off-resort excursions you can book through the resort, like the helicopter ride I mentioned earlier, or our resort in the Dominican also helped us get day passes to a local water park that was a lot of fun. 

Accommodations

Cruise

What's a big selling point for cruises is you get a different view every day from your room (unless you have an interior cabin). You get the opportunity to watch the sunrise and sunset over the ocean at sea days, and you get a beautiful new scene at each port day. One drawback for cruisers is that even if you splurge for a suite on board, your room will still be smaller than your typical hotel room. My favorite cruise room is a balcony so you can have the benefit of the warm ocean breeze in the privacy of your own room.

All-Inclusive

All-inclusive resorts have great options that can include swim-up rooms which have their own private pools, or ocean-facing rooms with huge windows that overlook the beach. Some resorts have balconies on every room, and more and more resorts are putting bathtubs on the balcony for a really great view. We've even stayed in a beach-access room, where you literally walk out of a sliding glass door in your room and onto the beach. 

Dining Experiences

Cruise

Cruises are known for their food! Almost all cruises will have a standard buffet that has long hours, a formal dining room for nightly dinners, breakfast room service, and lots of specialty options throughout the ship with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options. The cruise will require you to choose when you book your cruise whether you want reservations for early dining, late dining, or a "flexible time" dining. Just because you've made this decision doesn't bind you to eating in the formal dining room each night, you can always eat somewhere else on the ship. While almost all of this food is included for free, it's common for cruises to have specialty restaurants on board that aren't free (but check to see if they are free for lunch). However, you will have to pay for your food and drinks ashore on port days, unless you book an excursion that has these included in the price. For drinks tap water, milk, lemonade, tea, and plain coffee are generally free. You can have the option to buy a soda package or an alcohol package, or you can pay-as-you-go. 

All-Inclusive

What's great about an all-inclusive is that it really is all-inclusive. Meals and alcohol are all included in the price. Sometimes you might have to pay extra if you want top-shelf liquor, but usually you can just walk up to any bar and grab a drink without the need to make a purchase. Similar to a cruise, some resorts also have specialty dining where the meal costs extra and certain wines are purchase-only. You also usually will get breakfast room service included at your resort as well. Bigger resorts with multiple restaurants will usually require you to make dinner reservations, so just keep that in mind. Lunches are typically a buffet option or a more casual lunch restaurant option. 

Budget Considerations

Cruise

Cruises are weird because you can make the trip really cheap, or expenses can add up quickly. Obviously inside rooms are cheaper than rooms with a window, and those rooms are cheaper than a balcony room. But Wi-Fi is an extra charge per day if you want access to the internet while you're at sea (most cruise apps will allow you to instant message other cruisers through the app for free though). Like I mentioned before, anything other than a standard drink will cost you, and if you go the drink package price, that also charges you per day. While going to the port at each stop is free, meals and excursions off the boat will be another extra cost. Games on the cruise like Bingo or Deal or No Deal will cost if you want to participate. Really, you're paying for the experience of the cruise. 

All-Inclusive

Resorts tend to be cheaper overall. Wi-Fi and all drinks tend to be included in the price, and many resorts offer free activities. Usually, your biggest expenses will be paying for transportation from the airport to the hotel and back (hotels are usually about an hour away from the airport due to beach locations). If you chose to leave your resort, you'll have to spend some money while you're out and about. 

Travel Companions

Cruise

Cruises really shine for families and large groups like family reunions or even weddings. Because a cruise offers SO MUCH to do, it can be the perfect vacation solution! Think of someone in your group, and there's probably a section on the cruise made to cater to their demographic. My husband and I enjoyed our childless cruise for our 2nd anniversary just as much as we enjoyed our 3rd anniversary cruise with our daughter around. Most cruises will also have an adults-only section that is usually one of the quieter locations on the ship. 

All-Inclusive

Most all-inclusives are family friendly. We've even stayed at resorts that have a special kids-only waterpark or pool where kids can play and scream, and a lot of resorts also have an adults-only pool that is secluded and quiet. If you want a kids-free resort, that won't be hard to find either. Some adults-only resorts are more for partying, while others are known to be more quiet, so you can pick which one fits your vibe. 

How to Choose

It's hard, honestly! My husband and I are actually taking an anniversary trip without our daughter to an all inclusive in April, and then brining our daughter with us on a cruise in May. We chose the all inclusive for our kid-free trip since that's the option that has the free alcohol so we can just get drunk on a beach and take a nap under the sun without having to worry about a 1 year old running into the water. It also was significantly cheaper than the cruise since we'll end up spending money on excursions, Wi-Fi, and alcohol for a cruise. 

 We chose to do the cruise with our daughter because it just has more options of things to do in the day. It can feel like 90% of the activities that a resort offers all day is just being at either the pool or the beach, which gets old fast for a toddler. A cruise, on the other hand has several decks full of activities that we can take our daughter to when we need to wear her out, and each port stop is it's own adventure in itself. 

I think the main deciding factor will be a cost-entertainment analysis. You can definitely chill all day by the pool at either a cruise or a resort, and then go chill all day at the beach on either a cruise or resort. But, a cruise will have more options for what you can do if you're bored of chilling. 

How to Spend 3 Days at Disney World

We're going back to Disney World this fall, and in my planning I came across our schedule from our last trip to Disney and thought I would share what we did to help anyone getting started on planning their trip. For reference, on this trip we had 6 adults (my husband and I (late 20's), my sister-in-law and brother-in-law (late 20's), and my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law (late 50's). We went in November, but this could work for any time of the year.

Day 1

Animal Kingdom

1. Kilimanjaro Safari
2. Avatar Flight of Passage
3. Na'vi River Journey - fast pass
4. Kali River Rapids - fast pass
5. Expedition Everest - fast pass
6. Dinosaur
7. It's Tough to be a Bug!
8. Dinner at Yak and Yeti - sign up for Landry's Club ahead of time to get pushed to the front of the waitlist

Epcot

1. Mission: Space
2. Test Track - fast pass
3. Soarin' Around the World - fast pass
4. Spaceship Earth - fast pass
5. Drinking around the world
6. Luminous the Symphony of Us Fireworks

Day 2

Hollywood Studios

1. Slinky Dog Dash
2. Star Wars Launch Bay
3. Twilight Tower of Terror - fast pass
4. Toy Story Mania - fast pass
5. Star Tours
6. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster - fast pass
7. Dinner at 50's Prime Time Café
8. Fantasmic Fireworks 

Day 3

Magic Kingdom

1. Sever Dwarfs Mine Train
2. Peter Pan's Flight
3. Space Mountain - fast pass
4. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
5. Haunted Mansion
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Big Thunder Railroad - fast pass
8. Mad Tea Party
9. It's a Small World
10. The Barnstormer

Fort Wilderness Resort

1. Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue

How to Get Pinnacle Status on Royal Caribbean Fast

If you sailed on a ten-night Royal Caribbean cruise ship every year, it would take you 70 years to reach the Pinnacle Club. Even if you sailed on a Royal Caribbean cruise every single night, it would still take you 2 years to reach Pinnacle. That sound out-of-reach for most people's lifetimes, but it's actually easier to reach Pinnacle much faster, but it's not cheap. 

How do you become a Pinnacle member on Royal Caribbean? Each night you stay on a cruise (that you pay for, free cruises don't count), you get a point. The points add up to the different statuses on Royal Caribbean: 3 points gets you to Gold Status, 30 points is Platinum Status, 55 points is Emerald Status, 80 points is Diamond Status (what I'm currently working towards), 175 points is Diamond Plus Status, and then there's the exclusive 700 points is the Pinnacle Club Status.

So, why should you reach Pinnacle status anyways? Besides the fact of being the most elite thing you can do as a Royal Caribbean cruiser, it comes with a lot of perks. You get exclusive breakfasts every day, free unlimited Wi-Fi for the entire cruise, upgraded toiletries in your bathroom, 6 free drinks per day, free laundry, free gifts, exclusive dinner options, plus 1 free 7-night balcony cruise and then 1 free junior suite cruise. You know the special treatment celebrities get when they go to Disneyland with their family? Yeah, that's basically a Pinnacle member on a Royal Caribbean cruise. 

What's the fastest way to get to the Pinnacle Club on Royal Caribbean? The answer is: double points! If you were to book a Suite, for example a Junior Suite, you get double the points! So the timelines above instantly getting halved. Another way to earn double points? Solo cruising. Some family friends actually did this during the pandemic when cruise prices were ridiculously cheap. One person would get a Junior Suite for themselves, (Junior Suite and a solo booking, you can imaging the points!), and then the other person would just get a cheap interior room for themselves (solo booking double points for them!), and then they would use the interior room for luggage and drying wet clothes, and both sleep/get ready in the Junior Suite. Now, the obvious downside is that you would have to do a lot of room-key sharing. It also really only works for a couple. And again, a Junior Suite ain't cheap. But, if you plan on cruising a lot in your future (hello, retirement), then being a Pinnacle Member can really help you save money from having to pay for the internet and drink packages. 

Cruising with an 8 month old

We took our 8 month old daughter on her first cruise last year, and just booked her second cruise for this year. She absolutely loved it and it was such a great trip! Her last trip was on Carnival, and our upcoming trip is on Royal Caribbean. I get so excited thinking about the status for each cruise line that she'll have by the time she's sailing off into the sunset for retirement since she's starting so young. The cost to add a baby to our room actually wasn't that much. Most cruises have a discount for the 3rd passenger in a room, and sometimes you can catch a kids-sale-free promotion to offset the cost of your room.

Honestly the hardest part about cruising with a baby is that we've been spoiled by daycare and used to just keeping her all day for the weekends only, so we forgot how exhausting it was to be on parent duty all day. Traveling with a baby wasn't much different than being at home with her, but that's probably because we tried to be as thoughtful as we could with what we brought with us.

Baby passports for cruises

Depending on your itinerary, you might not need a passport for your baby. You can call customer service for your cruise and confirm if a birth certificate is enough for your stops. However, I HIGHLY recommend you get your baby a passport if you have the time before your cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation days go SIGNIFCANTLY faster if everyone has a passport. I'm talking the difference between security being under 30 minutes if you all have a passport, and over 2 hours if someone has a birth certificate. 

Baby age requirements for cruises

For most cruises, the general rule of thumb is that a baby has to be at least 6 months old by the first day of the cruise. In general, cruises that have two back-to-back sea days in a row will require a baby to be one year old for the cruise. Other than that, there's not a lot of restrictions for cruising with your baby, and most cruises are very welcoming to babies. 

Baby activities on ships

One thing to keep in mind is that most cruises won't allow drop-off for children under 3 in their free kids centers. Many have paid baby-sitting hours in the evenings where you can take your baby to the kids center for a baby-free dinner and show, most have paid baby-sitting hours during port days where you can go ashore without your baby, and it's common for the kids center to have organized activities for parents to bring their babies to and stay and play with them in the kids center. I recommend you go to the kids center first thing when you get on the ship to see what is and isn't offered, the times, and the prices so you can plan your trip around that. Personally, we took our daughter with us at each stop because we wanted her to get the full travel experience. We didn't do any "excursions" other than reserving clamshells ahead of time when available, and spent each stop on the beach or walking around the port.

Diaper changes on ships

When we went on our trip, she was sitting up and just starting to crawl here and there. She had also just begun baby-led weaning, but mostly still preferred bottles. They had high chairs in the dining area, and the wait staff were always so sweet to try to think of different foods my daughter might like and bring out samples for her to try out. On the Carnival Conquest, there weren't changing tables in any bathrooms that I went in to on the ship, so plan on going back to your stateroom to change any dirty diapers. The gift shop on the Carnival Conquest had like 3 packs of Size 2 diapers, wipes, and no formula, so I would plan to have more packed then you need. Most likely, if you need to you can find items at the port, but it might not be the brand your baby is used to and it will definitely be overpriced. 

Sleeping

You're going to want to bring your own crib sheets. I recommend you bring 2 sets so that you can swap them out if your baby gets one set dirty. Royal Caribbean provides you with a pack-n-play, and at least on the Carnival Conquest we were offered a metal rollaway crib, but neither provide sheets. Bring crib sheets that are colorful or have a pattern and avoid plain white sheets so that your sheets don't get mistaken for the cruise's bedding and get taken away by housekeeping. Having your own sheets is actually nice because you can wash it with your own detergent and know that 1) it's free from any harsh chemicals or perfumes that your baby's sensitive skin might not be used to and 2) it will smell like home and can be comforting to your baby being in a strange place. I knew ahead of time that I didn't want to use Carnival's metal crib, so we actually brought our own travel play yard that my daughter is used to sleeping in and had mesh sides so she wouldn't hurt herself rolling around into the sides. This travel crib is absolutely amazing! It is SO lightweight and SO easy to put together. One of the reasons why I didn't want the rollaway crib in our room is because I wanted the flexibility to easily tear down my daughter's bed to give us more floor room for her to crawl around while we were getting ready. We also got a mesh blackout cover to fit over her bed so that we could keep the lights on while she slept. At night, my favorite travel sound machine has a built-in night light so we could see if we had to get up to feed her.

Bottle feeds while traveling

Bottle feeding my daughter on the cruise was actually simple. We only brought a travel bottle bag filled with her usual bottles (labeled with her name, in case we lost one), an insulated water bottle to hold just her water (we ordered filtered water through the ship for I think $2 a gallon?), and we brought the big tubs of formula in our suitcase and then just measured out the formula into a travel formula dispenser. This was all we needed and we were able to make her bottles when we were up on deck or out on shore at the port, easy peasy. 

Strollers on cruises

Leaving our stateroom actually didn't require that much effort. We had the GB pockit travel stroller which was perfect because we could fold it up and store it under our bed when we didn't need it, and it was lightweight enough that my husband could carry the stroller with our daughter in it when the elevators were taking too long. Out at port this stroller worked great because it has a good-sized canopy to keep the sun off her, and the seat reclined so she could easily take stroller naps while we walked around. We brought a stroller fan for our daughter to keep her cool.

Although we could have brought our normal stroller, the Uppababy Vista, from home, and we did see a few families having big strollers like this, I would avoid them if you can. There's a good chance that the normal-sized stroller will be wider than the cabin door, making it really difficult to get your stroller in and out of your room, and you can't leave your stroller in the hallway. Even if you can get it in your room, you likely won't have anywhere to put a stroller that doesn't fold up. Remember, cruise rooms are much smaller than hotel rooms to begin with, and what little free space you'll have in your room will likely be taken up by the baby's bed. A cheaper alternative to the GB pockit is the Summer Infant 3D lite stroller, which is like an upgraded umbrella stroller because it can recline and has storage. If you want to go the cheapest route, make sure you at least get an umbrella stroller with a canopy to keep you kid shaded.

Travel items for cruises

The bottle bag could hold bottles and formula and could fit with the water bottle in the basket under the seat. I didn't even bring a diaper bag, just a diaper fanny pack loaded with wipes, diapers, a paci (on a paci strap with her name on it in case it got lost), and a burp cloth that can convert into a bib. Yes, even at port, I didn't take her diaper bag off with us! I actually never used her diaper bag once we got on the ship. When we got off the ship at port, I just added a little stroller caddy on the handles so that we could have a place to store our drinks and things within reach. I also kept a little hand-held fan in our stroller caddy to fan off our daughter (or us!) on hot days, I just made sure to choose a fan that had the blades covered so she couldn't hurt herself on it. 

Beach items

For the beach, I was a little less minimalist and a little more overboard mom. I packed this travel beach bag that folds up so tiny, yet is HUGE when you unfold it, and is completely mesh so you're not brining a ton of sand and water back with you. In it, I packed a simple baby float for the water and this little portable pool with shade and also a travel beach toys set with a collapsible beach bucket. What was nice with the baby pool is that found chairs away from the crowds and so we were able to dig her a little hole in the sand so that she could play in the water while shaded and away from drunk people and kids getting in her way and splashing her because there's nothing worse than saltwater in a baby's eyes (after trial and error, my husband recommends to pack a folding travel shovel to easily dig the hole and to ask a bartender for an empty beer bucket to fill up the pool with ocean water). I chose to put our daughter in a full-body swimsuit because it's easier to keep her covered than to constantly reapply sunscreen. And I know that people say you can air dry a disposable swim diaper and re-use them (swim diapers only hold poop, not pee), but I've found that re-usable swim diapers are easier to take on and off, dry faster, and hold up better throughout the day. What worked for our daughter is getting off the boat and going into the water to play first thing, then changing her into a dry diaper for lunch and nap while her swimsuit and swim diaper dried in the sun, and then either changing her back into her swim outfit for more playtime, before going back into a dry diaper and dry clothes to get on the boat. One thing we found out the hard way is that because swim diapers don't hold pee, if you put your baby in a swim diaper while you're getting dressed on the ship and then your baby pees in the time it takes you to get off the ship, your baby will pee through their swim diaper, just FYI. 

Room entertainment

To keep our baby entertained back on the ship, we brought suction cup spinner toys to stick to doors for her to sit on the floor and play with while we got dressed. For meals, we had a suction cup toy holder loaded with her favorite toys that we could stick to her high chair to keep her busy while we ate. Your cruise won't let your baby into the ship pool if they're still in a swim diaper, but some have splash pads that will allow all ages to play on. For us, we brought a mini baby pool for her to play with. You can either set this up in the shower, or if you have a balcony then you can set it up out there. I took an empty trashcan and filled it with warm water to fill up her pool. We had this tiny travel air pump which made inflating and deflating the pool take about a minute, so I didn't mind setting this up every day for her and then taking it down at night. I brought some cheap foam bath letters for her to play with in the pool, and she loved it!

Baby medicine at sea

Adding a baby to your cruise doesn't necessarily wreck havoc on your room. We had disposable diaper pails that we would fill up throughout the day and then the room keepers would toss it each day. We set up a shoe organizer filled with diapers, wipes, pacifiers, medicine, and baby clothes. My biggest fear was that my daughter would teeth or get sick on this trip and wake up our neighbors screaming, so I packed travel acetaminophen and teething drops just in case. I did pack travel laundry detergent and I'm glad I did because we ran out of clean burp cloths quicker than I anticipated so I did a quick load of laundry in the bathroom sink.

Baby cruise outfits

For packing, I would recommend one burp cloth per day of the trip plus a spare. We just brought one swimsuit per day, 2 reusable swim diapers, one pack of disposable swim diapers, pj's and socks for each night, a romper for each day, and one dress for the formal night. We calculated how many diapers she wore each day, and packed that amount plus 2 extra days' worth, and did 1 package of wipes plus a travel set of wipes for the fanny pack. We did the same thing to calculate how much formula we needed. 

How can getting 

a passport for my baby enhance the cruise embarkation process?  What age restrictions should I be aware of when cruising with a baby? Why is it important to bring my own crib sheets on a cruise? What are practical tips for bottle feeding my baby during the cruise? How can I make leaving the stateroom with a baby effortless? What are creative ways to keep my baby entertained on a cruise ship? How can I manage baby essentials in the stateroom without disrupting neighbors? What beach essentials should I pack for a cruise with my baby? How do I calculate diaper and formula needs for my baby during the cruise? What's the best way to handle potential diaper emergencies on a cruise?

Cruise Packing Favorites for 2023

I just booked my next cruise, so obviously all I can think about is the planning and packing for it! One thing that has made cruising easier is that we have a "cruise bag," which is essentially a packing cube with all of our cruise-specific items that stays packed year-round in storage. This makes packing for a cruise great because all I have to do is toss in the packing cube and all of our cruise essentials are coming with us without me having to remember what to pack so nothing is left behind. Add in clothes and toiletries, and we're all packed! Here's what's in my bag...

Luggage accessories

First of all, I highly recommend compression packing cubes! I've been a fan of packing cubes ever since I once had a zipper break on my bag and my clothes went everywhere. Packing cubes keeps everything nice and tidy. And a bonus is that if you have to do the dreaded weight re-distribution at baggage drop because one suitcase is overweight, this makes it very easy to quickly grab a cube or two and move it between bags. But not all packing cubes are the same. Your basic packing cubes just keep everything organized, which is nice, but I always say to make sure your cubes can compress. You know how a lot of suitcases have an extra zipper so you can expand them if you need to? Compression packing cubes are the exact same, but in reverse. You put your clothes in them and seal it with the first zipper in one direction, then the second zipper goes in the other direction to compress out any air and make the cube much smaller. You can get so much more items in your suitcase this way! 

But head my warning from before. Just because it fits doesn't mean it's under 50 pounds, so always weigh your bags with a luggage scale if you can. 

Not necessary, but something new cruisers aren't often aware of are cruise luggage tag holders. Make sure you get the size for your specific cruise line, because some print out short and fat, while others print out long and skinny, and you'll want to make sure your luggage tag will fit. About a month before your cruise, you'll be able to go online to your cruise line's website and print out your luggage tags. Your luggage tag will indicate which side of the ship you're on and your room number. Even if you aren't flying to your cruise, you'll need luggage tags. When you check in for your cruise, they will take all of your luggage from you and board them onto the ship for you and deliver them to your room for you. If you don't get a holder for them, you can just staple them, but then you run the risk of the tag getting ripped off, which will delay your luggage being delivered to your room. 

Travel hamper

One thing that is easily overlooked, but a major game changer is a pop-up hamper for dirty clothes. There is little floor space in a cruise stateroom to kick dirty clothes into a pile, and after a few days it's easy for your room to be overwhelmed with clothes everywhere. A pop-up hamper is small enough to take up little room in your suitcase, and little room in your stateroom, but will keep your room so much more manageable. 

Reusable straws

You're going to want to bring your own straws for your cruise. Many cruises now only use paper or candy straws, which won't last long in your sweating drink. I personally love retractable metal straws that come on a keychain. They are so tiny since they are retractable, and the keychain makes it easy to clip them onto your beach bag or lanyard so you always have one nearby. 

Lightweight travel towels

This is a hot take: but I actually suggest you do bring your own towel for a cruise! Yes, you don't need to bring your own bath towels because your stateroom will have towels in the bathroom; and, yes, you don't need to bring your own beach towels because the pools on the cruise will have towels. And technically, yes, you can take these towels off the ship to have on shore to dry off when you get out of the ocean. But, a camping towel is so much better at port! Even the largest camping towel is only about a third of the weight and size of a cruise-issued towel. This is important to me because we usually end up having to haul two beach bags down- one for beach essentials and one just for towels! And don't even get me started on how heavy it is to haul back a sopping wet cruise-issued towel on your way back to the ship. Camping towels are microfiber so they dry much faster. An extra perk is that since literally everyone from your ship has the same cruise-issued towels, you can find your chairs on the beach so much easier with the colorful camping towels. 

Packable backpack

While you're at the port, there's always so many shopping options right where you get off the ship. Because of this, I love to pack an extra foldable backpack into my beach bag. This doesn't take up a lot of room in my beach bag when we don't need it, but can hold so many items on the way back (hi, oversized souvenir cups!). This one is mesh so that if anything is wet, it can air dry on the walk back to the ship and avoid a musty smell following you back to your stateroom.

Cruise phone case

If you're planning on doing any excursions or even being in the water all day at port, then I would recommend you get a waterproof phone case. Its' great to have your phone in an accessible place so you can take all the photos you want, especially if you're only wearing a swimsuit and don't have pockets. It also will keep your phone with you at all times so that you don't have to worry about it being stolen if you leave it behind on your beach chair. 

For my phone, I switch out my normal phone case for a phone case with a strap and card storage. This makes it easy to hold on to my phone if I'm only wearing a swimsuit and coverup and have no pockets. It also keeps my keycard with me so that I don't walk all the way back to my room just to realize that I forgot my keycard at my lounge chair. 

Waterproof wallet

It's a rite of passage for first-time cruisers (men particularly) to go into the ocean with their wallet in their pocket and then completely ruin the leather wallet and have all of their money soaked and the cards sticky from salt water. How you can avoid that is with a waterproof travel wallet. These zip up to keep money/cards from falling out and to keep it waterproof. It's perfect because all you need at port is your ID, your ship card, a credit card, and some cash for tipping/bartering/buying things from merchants on the beach, so you can leave everything else in a regular wallet in your stateroom safe that way if your wallet gets lost/stolen, you didn't just lose all the cash you brought for the trip and all of your credit cards. 

Extra plugs

I love this little cruise-approved power strip (note, they won't let you take the big surge-protector strips onboard). This one has a small extension cord, 2 regular plugs, and 2 USB-A plugs and 1 USB-C plug. It is designed for travel so the cord wraps up really small and the prongs of the plug don't extend. 

Foldable hangers

There's not a lot of hangers in a cruise closet, and the ones that they have are a pain to take on and off the rack. That's why I always bring my own foldable travel hangers for a cruise. They can easily double the amount of clothes that I can fit in the stateroom closet, which is great because there's usually not a whole lot of drawers so you need to hang as many shirts/dresses/jackets as you can so that you can save the drawers for underwear and swim.

Toothbrush holder

A small and maybe unnecessary, but helpful item is a silicone wall-mount toothbrush holder. The silicone sticks to the mirror in the bathroom as a place to hold your toothbrushes, so that you can save the cups in the bathroom for rinsing after you brush your teeth. Yes, the cups can hold your toothbrushes just fine, but the first time we used these while traveling my husband said he liked this so much better. 

Door décor

We always pack stateroom door decorations for our rooms. Cruise ships can be big so after passing hundreds of rooms that look the same, it's actually very easy to walk right past your room without even realizing it (especially if you've been drinking, or it's just been a long day under the sun). You'll see a lot of other cruisers decorating their doors too, because the whole point of a cruise is just to have fun. 

Magnetic accessories 

The walls on cruises are metal, so I put a Bagnet on all of my bags. It is a really strong magnet keychain that is strong enough to hold your bag up to 8 pounds. This works both on the walls in your room and around the ship such as the bathrooms and metal tables.

Of course, there's the classic hanging shoe organizer. Although these are designed to go over-the-door, I've found that the seal on the bathroom and closet doors are such that you can't easily hang this on the door. Instead, it's much easier to get metal hooks to stick to the magnetic walls and hang this on the wall. There's so much empty space on the walls in your room anyways, that there's lots of places to stick magnets to get some storage in.

Insulated drink tumbler

Lastly, just because I use this often enough that it doesn't even make it into my cruise bag, is a drink tumbler. A travel tumbler can be filled up with water before you leave the ship on shore days to save you from paying for overpriced water bottles at the port, and then can be filled with your favorite drink and will stay cold even when you're out in the sun all day. You definitely want a drink with a lid and straw that won't spill so that you can just toss it in your bag while you're walking around, but then will keep sand and water out of your drink. Back on the ship, since these hold so much more than your standard 8-ounce glass, you can save yourself from having to make multiple trips just to get a refill.