There is a store in almost every strip mall in America where a cruise gets cheaper before you ever reach the port, and it is the Dollar Tree. According to @CruisingWithCarlyt, senior cruisers who have done this a dozen times walk those aisles with a list, because the ship has a gift shop too, and that gift shop knows you forgot something.
A few items on the list are not the ones you would guess. One of them can stop a fall in a dark cabin at 3:00 in the morning, and another saves your suitcase from wandering off at the pier. Here is the full run of 13.
1. Clear Luggage Tag Holders And Zip Ties
Cruise lines send luggage tags to print at home, and many people fold the paper and staple it to the suitcase handle. Then the porter swings the bag onto a cart with hundreds of others and the paper tears through the staple. A bag without a tag goes to a holding area on the ship, and you spend your first afternoon at sea in line at guest services.
The fix is a plastic tag or clear badge holder from the office supply aisle, with a zip tie pulled tight around the handle. The sleeve keeps the paper dry if bags sit in the rain at the pier. She adds a second copy of the tag inside the suitcase on top of your clothes, in case the outside one goes missing.
2. Magnetic Hooks
On most cruise ships the cabin walls and ceilings are steel, so a magnet sticks almost anywhere. Magnetic hooks turn a bare wall into storage for a sun hat, a buffet day bag or the lanyard with your key card by the door. Two hooks near the shower with a little line strung between them make a spot for a dripping swimsuit.
She has two cautions. Test the strength in the store, because some magnets only hold a hat, and keep them away from your key card, phone and any medical device. If you have a pacemaker or other implanted device, ask your doctor first.
3. Chip Clips And Clothespins
Balcony cabin curtains often do not meet in the middle, and that sliver of light hits your face at 6:00 in the morning when the ship pulls into port. Two chip clips pinch the curtains closed so you sleep another hour. On the pool deck, a clothespin on each corner keeps your towel from blowing across the deck.
Inside the cabin, clothespins hang small laundry, close a bag of snacks from the port and clip your daily papers together so they stay put when the ship rocks.
4. A Lanyard And Retractable Badge Reel
Your cruise card opens your cabin door, pays for drinks and gets scanned at every port. Lose it and you are making a trip to guest services for a new one. The ship sells lanyards, but the Dollar Tree sells lanyards and badge reels in the office aisle for a fraction of the price.
A reel clipped to a belt or bag strap is her pick for seniors, since you just pull the card out, tap it and let it zip back. She also warns that on ships using magnetic stripe cards, a phone case with a magnet can wipe the card.
5. Zip-Top Bags In Every Size
If she could buy only one thing, it might be a box of zip-top bags. Gallon bags hold wet swimsuits on the last day, dirty shoes so beach sand stays out of clean shirts, and your passport, boarding documents and excursion tickets. Sandwich bags protect your phone on a beach day or catamaran trip while you can still take pictures through the plastic.
They also help on the last night, when your big suitcase goes outside the door and everything you need until morning must fit in your carry-on. Bags for medications and toothbrush keep you from digging around in the dark.
6. Disinfecting Wipes And Hand Sanitizer
When you first walk into your stateroom, she suggests taking 5 minutes with disinfecting wipes on the TV remote, light switches, door handles, phone, faucet handles and safe keypad. Every guest handles those spots, and they do not always get the same attention as the bathroom.
She also notes that the CDC says sanitizer does not work as well against norovirus, the stomach bug that shows up on ships now and then. For that, soap and warm water for 20 seconds is the better choice, especially before meals at the buffet.
7. Battery Tap Lights
This is the item she mentioned at the start, and she would put it at the top of the list for anyone over 60. An inside cabin is darker than any bedroom you have slept in, and even balcony cabins get very dark with the curtains closed. Add an unfamiliar room, a moving ship and the raised lip at many bathroom thresholds, and a stumble is easy.
The little round push lights give you light only when you need it. Set one on the nightstand and one inside the bathroom door. Pack fresh batteries, and put any stick-on tabs only on surfaces you can clean later.
8. A Weekly Pill Organizer
A cruise scrambles your routine, with different meal times, port days and late shows, so it is easy to forget whether you took the morning pills. A 7-day organizer with morning and evening compartments takes out the guessing, and she suggests filling it at home. Keep the original labeled bottles and pack everything in your carry-on, never the checked bag, which may not reach your cabin until late on embarkation day.
Bring a few extra days of medication in case a storm delays the ship or you miss a flight home, and snap a photo of each prescription label to speed up any refill.
9. Reading Glasses And A Spare Pair
Dinner is often dimly lit, menu print is small and the daily schedule has tiny text. Readers also get left behind on pool decks and tender boats. She suggests two or three pairs, one in the cabin, one in the day bag and one in a pocket, plus a cheap pair of sunglasses you will not cry over losing on a beach in St. Thomas.
10. Health Aisle Basics
The ship’s shop sells some over-the-counter medicine, but selection can be limited and prices are ship prices. Depending on the store, the Dollar Tree health aisle may carry pain relievers, antacids, allergy tablets, motion sickness tablets, bandages and anti-itch cream. Ginger candies are worth a look, since some people find ginger settles a queasy stomach.
Check expiration dates, and ask your doctor or pharmacist whether anything new is safe with your current medications. That matters for seniors, because some motion sickness medicines can cause drowsiness or interact with prescriptions.
11. A Reusable Water Bottle Or Tumbler
Sun on the pool deck, hot ports and cocktails at the sail away party make hydration a bigger deal than people think. Many cruise lines no longer let you bring cases of bottled water aboard, and ship water adds up over a week. Buffets and many bars have free water stations, so a lidded bottle lets you fill up at breakfast and again at lunch.
The lid matters on a moving ship, because an open glass tips over with one roll of the deck. Keep a full bottle on the nightstand too, since cabin air can feel dry.
12. A Foldable Tote Bag
On port days you carry more than you expect, including a towel, sunscreen, water bottle, readers, cruise card, photo ID and cash. A foldable tote packs flat and opens into a big bag, and it frees your hands on the stairs to the pool deck. If you take towels off the ship for an excursion, she notes that some lines charge your account for towels that do not come back, so keep them in the tote and count them before the gangway.
13. Door Magnets And A Small Dry Erase Board
Cruise hallways look alike on every deck, and after a big dinner and a late show plenty of people walk past their own cabin. A few colorful magnets on the outside of the door let you spot it from down the hall. Check your cruise line’s rules first and use magnets only, never tape.
A small dry erase board with a magnet on the back becomes a message center for a thank you note to your cabin steward or a note to your travel partner. Most of the list costs a dollar and a quarter, a few things a little more, and the whole bag fits in the corner of your suitcase.
More Stories You May Like
- Shopper Flips Over a 750 Gram Package That Looks Full From the Front and Shows It Is Barely Half Full Inside for the Exact Same Price as Before
- Lawyer Explains Why That Surprise 20 Percent Gratuity on Your Restaurant Bill May Be Legal If It Was Disclosed, and the One Question to Ask Before You Pay
- Grandpa Turned 100 and Heard His Family Say Surprise We Are Taking You to Hawaii and He Showed Up on the Plane in His Best Hawaiian Shirt
