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9:16 As a former airline employee who worked in the Bag Service Office (BSO), here is a valuable tip I have to offer, and I always do this with every trip I take. Always print off extra copies of your full airline itinerary and place one in each of your checked luggage and carry-on baggage. Write your name and phone number on it. DO NOT put your home address on the itinerary, nor on the outside ID tag for security reasons. This way, if the luggage bag tag and your ID tag falls off, and the bag ends up at an airport BSO office where it doesn't belong, the BSO agent will open the luggage to find any identifying items to try to contact the passenger or find out where the bag is supposed to go. If there is a printed itinerary inside the luggage, then the BSO agent can bring up the PNR to see where the bag belongs in this point of a passenger's trip, manually tag it and send it to the correct airport to arrange for delivery to the passenger. OR, if the bag actually belongs to another airline, the BSO agent may not receive a request on the printer with the other airline not knowing where the bag may have ended up, or they may not see the bag inquiry from the multitude of alerts that come in on the printer from other airlines, this tip is especially helpful for the BSO agent to determine which airline the bag belongs to who may be searching for it. If a passenger has written their home address on the ID tag and/or the printed itinerary inside the luggage, a BSO agent without discernment skills might be lazy and just return the bag to the home address without checking the PNR in the system to find out where the passenger actually is in their trip at any given time. It would suck if the lost bag was shipped back to a passenger's home instead of being forwarded to their destination, as the passenger would have to go their entire trip without their checked bag, because it's sitting at their home airport. (Yes, this has happened before!) On a current trip I am on, one piece of luggage didn't make it. The bag tag had fallen off somewhere in the origin airport (ticket counter agent didn't secure it well enough?). Thankfully I had my printed itinerary inside, they were able to determine where it belonged and put it on an evening flight to my current destination, with it being delivered the next afternoon.
Here’s a useful hack when you go on an excursion - costs nothing and save you a hassle. Before you climb aboard your bus/van/car, take a couple of seconds to take a couple of photos of the vehicle: one from the side, showing the whole vehicle, including any signs or logos, and one from the back or front showing the license number. When you get back to the pickup point, you can easily find your own vehicle in a large parking lot of similar vehicles.
I am a Travel Consultant and when I call in final payment I always recheck the price for my travelers before final payment... whenever I can get them more for less it shows my value as an agent and ensures they will choose to rebook with me :) FYI: for those who do not know... MOST travel agents do not charge for MOST services... we are paid by the Hotels, resorts and cruiselines. You are getting a person on your side who does all the research for you and helps direct you to the answers of your questions without paying anything more for it.
Can you tell me how long before the trip you would call for the final payment, please. I'm going on my 1st cruise in Jan 2024 with a tour group. They book everything for us (airline tickets, room at the departure port, stateroom on the cruise ship...). We haven't paid in full yet, just deposit.
You were talking about upgrading we were ready to go pretty much out. The door was like two days before Cruise and the phone rang and it was Princess Cruises asking us if we would change our cruising date three weeks later than what we had and they would give us the penthouse suite and an additional $1600 onboard credit could not believe it. My husband and I have our own business so we could make changes it was no problem. We waited to three weeks got our penthouse what an upgrade plus $1600. Thanks for all your podcasts. I love each and everyone of them.
For my first cruise I made little folded envelopes for tips. First though, I found the spelling for “thank you” in different languages. I repeated them over and over in small text on a page (on MS word) so the page was full. I then printed and cut them to appropriate sizes for origami envelopes. I put the tip in the envelope and handed it directly to the person with my thanks. This made tipping more personal and avoided the envelope being overlooked as a piece of scrap paper on a table or night stand etc. I don’t know why but handing people money makes me uncomfortable for some reason and I found this to be a good solution. It took a little time to make them but I’m retired with nothing but time on my hands so I enjoyed it. My sister who has cruised many times and was on this cruise with us asked me to make some for her too as she feels the same as I do.
My aunt, me and 2 others are cruising together on Norwegian Spirit out of Honolulu around Hawaii and French Polynesia. My aunt has a travel rewards credit card so we all gave her our payments for the cruise and excursions and she made the final payments on her credit card. We gained enough points to purchase two amazing premium beach front balcony rooms on Waikiki beach for the night before our cruise departure. My aunt was the brains behind that.
One more interesting fact/helpful tip: If you put the hook magnets on the ceiling, they will hold a heavier load. So- if you have a heavier item you want to put on a hook (like our jackets in Alaska), put the hook up there, instead of having it slide down the wall :)
Awesome ideas! Building on the Ziploc bag in the safe idea: you can often leave some of the bag hanging out of the door - just close the safe over the top of the bag. That way you have a visual indicator on the outside that the safe has not been emptied!
Or put something that is essential for the last morning in your safe--a shoe, toothbrush, or whatever. Guaranteed that you'll remember the safe when you need to look for that item.
More great tips! My favorite tip I learned from you was taking a picture of my luggage tag and setting it as the background to my Lock Screen. Whenever anyone asked for my room number a quick tap on the screen or just a shake to wake it up and everything I needed was right there. So helpful! Next cruise we’re taking collapsible Tupperware containers for the snack tip from the buffet and to have snacks for excursions. Also!! Wide mouth water bottle filled with ice before excursions. It’ll take a few hours to melt and we’ll have cold water to drink for later
@@amandareiche9083 May I ask why it would be a mistake to take food from the ship?? I'm only asking bc I'm going on my 1st ever cruise within the next few months & I'm so worried I'ma end up screwed for not doing enough or the right research that my trip gets ruined so I'm tryn to make sure I don't forget anything whatsoever bc I'm handicap & only bringing what cash/ money I can afford & a lot of things I can't really do anyways bc of handicap ya know. Any TIPS, SUGGESTIONS or whatever is VERY APPRECIATED.... SO PLEASE DO TELL, I'm desperate to get it right the 1st time bc it's definitely my only time it'll ever happen so I must get it right & have a very stress free, relaxing, Fun 1st Vacation EVER, 1st time outta America trip.... THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH IN ADVANCE 😊
@@tonyacutrell626 Only foods to take off are those in sealed packages---no produce or left-over food--in many foreign countries they fine for this because of agricultural laws--there are also strict laws on what can be imported on return to the US.
@@amandareiche9083 oh wow Thanks so much for sharing this information. I wouldn't have thought about that at all. I just assumed any food within reason of course with the exception of leftovers or fast foods & Alcohol I would have checked on beforehand if I was a drinker but I'm not due to medication. Do they go thru all your luggage for contraband or how do they know you don't have contraband or illegal drugs? I obviously won't do anything illegal or on purpose & I don't do drugs that aren't prescribed but like how do they enforce that issue? I'm curious if others will pull some dumb crap & I become effective by strangers actions like cabin neighbors & what have ya.
We love the magnet hooks. We have a string of LED lights that we attach to the ceiling of our cabin. It looks cool and provides light during the night making bathroom trips safe.
Hi! We normally use washing detergent sheets so it is an easy hack for us to bring a couple along to do that hand washing ...no spillage in the suitcase and you could easily tear them into smaller pieces to do just one or two items! The motion sensor light was a great item to have in our interior cabin...we set it up to face the bed so if we got up at night it would light the way. It's small light bounced off the mirrors in the room...so convenient!
This tip is in place of using a laundry hamper to use pillow cases for dirty clothes. We all have them, they take up very little room in your suitcase. You can separate into colors or his and hers, they can also be washed if you need to do laundry on your cruise. Kat from SoCal
I used to be able to purchase essay folders at the dollarama store. It had several pages of plastic sleeves. I use one to put all my paper copies of flights, hotels reservations before & after cruise, Eta information , excursion paper copies, proof of Covid vaccations, & of course, cruise information as well as any other information or ideas to check out ,once I reach the hotels .( We like a mini holiday of 4 to 5 days, before & after a cruise. Those essay/report booklets with clear plastic pockets/pages are all great to hold your daily intinary on the ship.( 12 sheets hold 24 daily intinary pages). I also try & buy a postcard of each port city. Then when I develop any pictures, I know the order to put them in. If I've forgotten where the picture was taken, the postcard with city's name on front is a great divder between each port.
One thing I learned a LONG time ago....if you have a shower curtain it can sway and stick to you on a moving ship. I take 4 extra old fashioned clothes pins and place them along the bottom edge of the curtain. It keeps it weighted down and off me. Then I throw them away the last morning. Cheap and easy.
@@theverch1 ships don’t usually sway that much, but the showers tend to be small and the curtain can easily move and stick to you. Enjoy your first cruise!
I love the idea of taking the picture of the names of the crew members. 👍 I am very big on good Customer Service and always compliment the staff and thank them for their great service.
I love the idea of plastic bags for the cookies. As an adult who often cruises alone, I always take a few cookies to eat at night before bed. I also have a small light from Target (about $5) that I keep near the bed. I use it to go back and forth to the bathroom at night. These are all great tips!
I leave my dresses on the hangers inside cleaner bags. Fold in half and put inside the suitcase last and hang up immediately. No wrinkles. I use a packing cube for my toiletries. I pull the covers back and spray with Lysol including pillows.
I always put one of my business cards inside my suitcases. That way, if my luggage tag breaks off of a bag that's being checked through, it's easy enough for my to get reunited with my stuff.
We booked our Mediterranean Cruise coming up in April when we were on our Alaskan cruise last May (HAL). We got the beverage package, $200 on board credit and a dining credit include for an outside cabin. I started seeing specials/discounts and without logging into my HAL account, I searched for prices with the new specials. I found prices for obstructed view Veranda cabins to be about $50 cheaper than my current booking. I emailed HAL and they upgraded me and gave me an extra $50 onboard credit. About 6 weeks before our Alaskan cruise I noticed HAL was sending me emails about upgrading cabins for a small fee. We had an inside cabin booked and thought about upgrading. I noticed every other week the prices for the upgrades were getting cheaper. finally 3 weeks before our cruise I took advantage of the upgrade and for an extra $50 we upgraded to an outside cabin on a better deck. Fingers crossed I get similar emails for the next cruise!
The sponge tips are great. Especially, the laundry soap since I have 'sensitive skin' & get rashes with regular laundry soap. I loaded one scrubby sponge with dish soap & a plain thin sponge with liquid laundry soap. I was drying them on a plate & turning daily to dry them. At first I only put soap as show on them. My husband suggested I saturate them. If you do, it takes two weeks for them to dry into the sponges. Unfortunately the dish sponges ( with scrubbies) dried like a white powder on them. Hope the airline staff don't confiscate them, thinking it might have drugs in them. They certainly smell like dish soap,so hopefully it won't be an issue. Great Idea!
Just got back from a cruise. Used an AirTag which I LOVED in my suitcase, also did the name/address/etc and put inside the suitcase. I also put TWO name tags on the outside and low and behold, one of the tags completely got destroyed. So that was a very good idea. Love the bag in the safe, never thought of that. My girlfriend convinced her necklace in a box had been stolen because the box just fit against the side of the safe, same colour, and she couldn't see it.
When off on excursions, take a photo of the vehicle you are travelling in - making sure it includes the license plate. When you are looking for that vehicle later on, maybe coming back from a restaurant, or a free time wander, it will be easier to pick in parking lot with similar vehicles.
If the ceiling in your cabin is metal, bring magnetic hooks and a shower curtain. Attach the hooks to the ceiling and hang the curtain between the bed and sofa area for a “privacy screen” so that 2 people can get dressed at once. (if your cabin doesn’t have a curtain there already) Much more room available by using the cabin space instead of the tiny bathroom!
I have done the packing with the plastic hangers and just hung up once arrived. I like the idea of the hanging organizer being prepackaged as well. I will use the sponge trick as well! I’ve been bringing biker shorts to wear under dresses for years, great tip! Wow that’s a really smart idea putting cruise planner in plastic sleeves and using dry erase marker’s! Yes please continue to share these tips and include viewers ideas as well!
One more thing that I do that really makes going on excursions better. I get the microfiber towels or the quick dry towels from Amazon and I carry those instead of the ship towels which are so heavy. Ours are as large as a large beach towel . Then when you get to your cabin you can just wash them out and hang them up and they are dry in two or three hours. Your land bag can certainly get heavy. Especially with wet towels in them.
I have some of these too. The corner has a zipper that holds personal items to so you don’t drop anything at the beach and you can hide things easier too.
We just booked our second cruise and I'm really enjoying your videos. We learned a couple of tips on our first cruise that I haven't heard yet, and wanted to share them. Relating to eyeglasses, throw in a small repair kit. I found one at the Dollar Store. My son's broke on the last cruise and no one had the tiny screwdriver/screws. We had to use scotch tape. With motion sickness, we found that laying in a hammock really helped give quick relief to my husband, as he acclimated to the motion.
FYI, I was held up and searched at Greek airport for the tiny screwdriver! I didn't even know that little repair case was rapped up in the lining of my purse. I had already passed 6 TSA screenings on that trip, so who's to know? They did confiscate it.
Instead of using a ziplock bag in the safe, a packing cube about the size of a small shoebox is perfect to hold all items in the safe, such as wallets or cash, passports, jewelry, excursion docs, etc. I don't even have to remove it from the safe to take something out or put something in; just open the safe door. unzip the cube (placed so that the opening is facing the door) do what is necessary, close the door and lock. At the end of the cruise just zip up and remove. Note: JUST TO BE SURE NOTHING HAS MISSED THIS PROCESS, CHECK THE EMPTY SAFE BEFORE YOU GO. EASY PEASY!!
My husband does this. I just use a travel-size jewelry box for my valuable jewelry, so it’s easy to see and nothing gets missed. On one cruise we took, we found a semi-valuable ring someone had left in the safe. We let the cruise staff know so that if the owner contacted them about it, they could get it back. Sadly, we never heard back (we don’t hand over valuable found items directly, as we are skeptical about them actually getting returned).
I use my passport pouch which has a clear pocket for my cabin key to carry my phone hands free around the ship. I don't need to take the key out to use it. No pockets, no problem. Call me lazy, but I wash things out in the shower with shampoo. I try not to take anything to wash out except bathing suits or quick drying undies. I have worn OneSole interchangeable shoes for years. You change the tops. I take one sole and different tops. They are very comfortable so I wear them at home and to travel. Great product. I love stuff that does not wrinkle and folds flat. We try to fly carry on even for a two week cruise. I love Ripskirts. You can use them as a cover up or put them on with a nice blouse and jewelry and go to dinner. They fold completely flat and don't wrinkle. I live in them. They are in four lengths. They wrap around and are very comfortable. I use either shoe bags or shower caps I have saved from hotels for shoes. I use compression packing cubes which squeezes out the air. I put red FRAGILE stickers all over any luggage that is handled by baggage carriers. I've not had anything broken and we brought back four bottles of Vodka from Russia in our checked baggage unbroken through JFK in 2019. Since we have traveled from the Artic Circle to the tropics, I have raincoats, and light down vests and jackets that are packable meaning they can ball up in their own small ball. Instead of one big coat, I will layer these together with shirts. I keep their bags on a hanger when I wear them when not traveling. I pick them up inexpensively at Costco and Amazon. We have tiny umbrellas in their own carrying cases we carry on every trip as well as ponchos. They are lightweight, but being wet is miserable. We always carry backpacks and small travel towel.
One extra tip, use a 3oz bottle to take Dawn dishwashing detergent with you to remove soils and grease marks out of clothing and other items. It works as good or if not better than the commercially made stain removing products.
My favorite hack is use my pockets in my clothes for bandaids , hair clips, travel bar soap etc. I put the stuff in ziplock bags. When I get to my destination an I’m unpacking then I pull it out and I also have Ziplock bags if need. I also use hair clip to help hang up in shower.
I have a small non-descript black suitcase. On my first cruise, it took forever to find it even with the red I.D. Tag. This time I bough a brightly colored package decoration made of curled ribbon and tied it to the handle. It worked. We spotted it from several feet away in an area I thought was for a different group. Big time saver.
Before I made my final payment for my December 2022 cruise, I checked with my travel planner and found out that my cruise price went down $2100. So, instead of my final payment being $2200, I only had to pay $100. Since I was already in a Penthouse Suite (on Norwegian), I did not try to get an upgrade to the Haven). I was extremely HAPPY!
Thank you so much for mentioning this. I am always amazed how some people think they need to swim in fragrance, what may smell good to them can be very offensive to others.
Great hacks, as always! I already do most of them, but always get something more. In addition to the hack With the garbage bag I 1st put the the white garbage bag along the bottom side of the suitcase for protection in case of rain or spillage when packing for the trip. Then when I use it for the dirty laundry after putting the laundry in the bag, at the end of the cruise, I sit on the bag and get all the air out and tie it and have much more room in the suitcase ( Making my own shrink bag.)
I will add a hack:) If you have ever stayed in a cabin with the fabric shower curtain you know that somehow it sucks into the shower and sticks to you while getting water all over the floor! I bring a Dollar Tree plastic shower curtain that I put on the inside of the fabric one. Problem solved and when the cruise is done I just throw it away. Cheap solution:)
Hi Ilana! We just wanted to say a super huge thank you for your tips, tricks & hacks videos. My partner & I just took our 2nd cruise using your tips & our cabin experience was SO much better this time because we were better organized & able to create more space - thanks to YOU! Bravo!
Another tip for saving space when traveling: I use a plastic contact lens case to keep my Mary Kay face wash and another contact lens case to keep my day time & night time face creams (one on the left & one on the right). It doesn't seem like much, but one case with the left & right filled with face wash has lasted me 7+ days...I haven't yet tested more than 7 days, but there was plenty left! Use a permanent marker to label the top & bottom. HUGE space saver compared to 3 oz bottles and money saver compared to purchasing travel size for expensive cosmetics.
I love these tips, especially the sponge and laundry/dish detergent one. Great ideas. For years I have kept certain clothing items on hangers, covered with plastic bags from the dry cleaners, and pack them right into my suitcase. I think that seems to give them a cushion of air which helps stop the wrinkling. Plus, no danger of not having enough hangers at a resort or on the ship. Thanks so much. Yes I enjoy these kind of posts - please keep them coming.
A good cruise laundry hack I use is to take your used dryer sheets, put laundry detergent on the, then let them dry. It can be used in the bathroom sink or in a large plastic ziploc. Kinda the same idea as the sponge hack. When you wash your item, it also has a little of fabric softener in it.
We use our luggage as a laundry hamper during our cruise. We set it up in the corner or under the counter and leave the very top unzipped. Once something is dirty we stick it in the suitcase. No need for a laundry basket if you don't have the room for it. Then at the end of the cruise, we sort it out and fold it up so it fits nicely.
You can also use one of those refillable travel bottles that you can place laundry detergent or woolight in that travel bottle and you can use that for hand washing garments or shirt in a pinch. I’ve been using the bags from the dry cleaning for my husband’s Business traveling for the last 25 years. I used the sponge technique for when I move or my daughter was moving in to her dorm and her apartment in college. If you need extra space for hanging drying there is a hanger on Amazon I have a metal one that I travel with it has metal pinchers under hanger for underwear bras that is also good for traveling. Thank you
I love your videos. Wish I had seen them before my first cruise, thought. I wanted to tell you about a couple of hacks I've found. First, sweet tea is hard to come by. I've got that figured out. 2 of those tiny drink cups, one filled with ice. the other with hot water and a tea bag (those are free). Add desired sugar (about 500 packets) and poor the hot into the ice, a little at a time. Free sweet tea. Second, I hang a laundry bag on the hook inside the bathroom and just add dirty clothes. Then take the whole bag and throw it in the suitcase with Febreeze. This might not work for flyers, but for us jumping in the car and taking off, it works really well.
Hi, Ilana- Your packing hack with plastic hangers was good. I use plastic coated wire hangers because they weigh less and take up less room as you stack the clothes in your suitcase. Plastic is good but they are pretty thick. I take a small LED flashlight along to see into the safe and drawers. We are going on a 29 day cruise on the Grand Princess in October and will review all your suggestions next week. There is always something useful that we can take away from your videos. We enjoy watching you.
I’ve been on well over 20 cruises but I still get great ideas from you. Love the idea of the hanging closet organizer. Very sweet to learn the ways to say thank you too.
Here's another useful idea that I use in my spare closet at home which would work on a cruise. Take one of those large hanging units like she showed . if it's the correct size you can get those foldable storage bins from the Dollar Tree and they will slide into the openings just like drawers. Wish I had thought to use that on my last cruise to Alaska. Would have packed another one for my cruise partner, and there would have been plenty of room to hang dresses in the middle.
My hack of hacks: If there is even the smallest possibility for leakage, it goes in a ziplock plastic bag. I promise, no matter how well you pack, it IS going to leak in your suitcase, and you will never know which one it is going to be. And bring more than you think you will need! Because you WILL need them. And I love the "thank you" in native language, as well as the photo of the name and face. There have been so many people I've wanted to complement, and just don't remember their names.
I always need more baggies when I pack to go home than when I leave home. There will surely be damp swimsuits, damp coverups, soggy shoes, or a list of other things I don't want sitting in a suitcase that I can't unpack for at least a day and a half. I take plenty because they seem to magically disappear for other uses on every cruise.
Great hack...experience has taught me to always bring extra (rolled up), and to DOUBLE ZIPLOCK BAG instead of using just one...partial to the freezer bags 😊
Thanks for these great practical tips. Taking cruise in October 2022 and I also picked up couple of Mr. Clean Eraser for use on shoes, back packs or tote bags that may get a little dirty. It never fails whenever you go somewhere with nice kicks or sneakers or them J's ppl always step on your feet, or wastes drink or wine all over your shoes!
I pack 4 pairs of slacks on huggable hangers and place 4 tops over each one and fold them into the suitcase alternating direction. It’s so easy to unpack and I can tuck a few tshirts rolled in any of the nooks and crannies.
I love your tips, I use or have tried a number of these. The document protector tip. I use WET erase markers. Dry erase markers rub off too easily, wet erase you need a damp cloth (or napkin or TP). They don't come off until you want them to. Also for laundry I use a Scrubba and laundry detergent sheets.
Hi. Just seeing this in January 2023 but still GREAT info! I thought I'd add, take along a few safety pins and a little needle and thread kit. Sometimes oops! happen,
I used the Price-Drop tip for Royal Caribbean. Dropped from $1672 to $1542 and since at the time I didn't pay the final amount, they decreased the overall trip price to to the lower cost. My partner and I love your videos! The Magnetic hook and snack-bag tricks were brilliant!
@@tootleloo2002 Call Royal Caribbean Customer service and let them know you see an overall price drop for your trip. You have to make sure it’s the same cabin type and guarantee-type
I have an excel file with everything I must pack for a trip - and I reuse it and customize it for my next trip (e.g cruise, weekend break, conference) - no need to print it out on paper as its electronically on my Samsung Tablet! One column is used to check/tick off if I've packed the item or not. I use color to mark certain important stuff e.g. medication.
I bought luggage tag sleeves from Amazon specifically for Royal Caribbean, for my entire family including grandchildren…but they are a pain to load because of static cling. Instead of tossing them, I used them to make my personal luggage tags to help distinguish them at airport carousels (my last name is Partridge so we use the Partridge Family intro logo 😃). I then bought luggage tags for Carnival , much larger and easier to load RC cabin tags into them. I also keep a bar of Irish Spring in each bag to help reduce any staleness.
I use the plastic sleeve/dry erase markers trick every day for my business. If the ink dries and doesn’t come off easily, use rubbing alcohol to wipe it off. If you can’t bring a bottle on the ship, bring first aid alcohol wipes (bring a lot of them!)
I was keeping my large valuables in my locked suitcase when I was in the University, and that was some years ago. Probably, I should have registered a Copyright for the trick if by now people still did not figure it out. 😆😆😆
I pack a couple of laundry pods for laundry days. I also pack wrinkle resist drier sheets and that helps saving money for buying laundry supplies on the ship. I also plan to pack some woolite in a 1 once bottle for hand washing delicate items. I safe the shampoo bottles from hotels to also pack some dish washing for washing thermos, water bottles and coffee cups.
I always learn something new from your videos! I love the idea of a plastic sleeve over pages of the cruise planner, which I have! Don’t forget dryer sheets in the suitcase then they can go into the dirty clothes bag!!
A baggie in the safe is a great idea. On our last cruise I opened the safe and found no less than 6 credit/debit cards ( Ithink there was a Costco members cars too). I immediately went to guest services and turned them in. Can you imagine the family who left them there attempting to get home, what a nightmare.
My husband accidentally locked all our stuff in the safe , without remembering what code number he'd used !!!, I couldn't wear my jewellery for a whole 10 days !!, we had to wait until we got to land before they could "fix", the safe lol 😅😅😅
I have used the hack about checking on the price before making the final payment. We normally cruise with a group of friends from our community, and we always share when we've found a decrease, so the rest of our party gets the decrease as well.
I use a roll up space saver ziplock bag for my dirty laundry. You can get fragranced ones e.g lavender , that will lock in dirty laundry plus, squash it down to create more space in your case to pack souvenirs.
We like to bring bottles of sparkling wine to have a glass on the balcony at days end. But we don't necessarily want to drink a whole bottle of champagne after we've been drinking fruity drinks. This past cruise we brought a stopper made for sparkling wine, so we were able to make the bottle stretch for a couple of nights. And we stored the borrowed champagne flutes in the fridge so they were chilled.
Tip: If you are flying to your cruise port and you have medical equipment/supplies to take with you, place all of them in the same bag/suitcase (if you can) and any additional personal items that are heavy or have extra weight. By law, airlines cannot count medical bags in your checked bag count, and they cannot charge a weight overage fee for these bags. But BEWARE: some airlines will demand to open the bag when you check in to ensure it really does hold "mostly" medical equipment and supplies.
To wash glasses, utensils, etc. when I travel, I usually cut a Bounty sheet into small squares, put some dishwashing liquid in the middle of each square and let them dry, and then keep them in a Ziplock bag. You can even let the paper towels dry out after washing and use them for spills and things.
I use a ziploc bag for my face wash or lotion instead of Saran Wrap. That way you can close the ziploc bag with the bottle inside, so if there is a spill, it’s inside the bag.
That happened to me on Norwegian. I booked an inside cabin and the price dropped a week after final payment so I called Norwegian, they couldn’t refund me bc I had already made the final payment but they did upgrade me to an oceanview which was equal to the pice I initially paid for the inside cabin. It pays to call and ask from my experience the cruise lines always try to make their guests happy, even if it’s some OBC anything is better then nothing so always call and see what they can do for you
I laminate the part of my cruise luggage tags that have my identifying data on them with clear packing tape before I fold and staple the tags around the handles of my luggage to make the tags rip and water resistant. (I attached at least 2 of these partially laminated tags to each piece of luggage.)
@@lindahays1157 Those Amazon tag covers do look nicer, but they are prone to accidentally being torn off you bags, by either the porters or the wind, because they are only attached to your bags by either a thin string or wire.
The tags we have are looped over the luggage handle and are very strong. There’s no way they will come off in the wind. It would be difficult to get them off if you tried. We use them over and over
One little hack is to buy water soluble paper, coat with hand soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Hang to let dry. Cut into strips and put in a waterproof container with the labels. This is also good for road trips and family outings (the hand soap)
A cruise hack I have is a sound machine app on my phone so that I can sleep to sound that I normally hear. This hack maybe more for families with kids, but using the app on my phone is way easier than carrying a sound machine. Once it goes on and I go to sleep, I don’t hear anything.
I ALWAYS check to see if the price dropped and get that refund. Actually, you can do this a couple times. On our last cruise (a transatlantic in April) I was refunded twice and they sent me a total of over $2,000! Seriously! Then even after I made my final payment when I saw the price drop more I contacted my personal cruise planner with NCL and got some onboard credit!
I order my athletic shoes online and they come in nifty gauze-type covers. I save them for my cruises to put each of my shoes in! Love the tip on the sponges!
Hi. We always check prior to the final payment for possible discounts or upgrades. Another tip for your more mature cruisers is to get AARP gift cards for your specific cruise. These cards save you 10% on the purchase through AARP (i.e. you pay $450 for a $500 Carnival gift card. Pay Carnival the full $500 and save $50 per card.) We actually carry an extra one on our Carnival cruises to use to pay the gratuities at the end of the trip. Hope this helps. Tricia McMaster
I bought some Princess gift cards from AARP earlier today and then had my travel agent apply them. They worked great! I have a long cruise coming up next year and plan to buy a couple gift cards each month. I figure I’ll shave at least $800 off my cruise cost by using them. Just remember to hold onto your gift card numbers & PIN numbers in case your cruise gets canceled-as the refund will go back to the original form of payment.
I absolutely LOVE your video's!!!!! I really enjoy it when you share all the other ideas that cruisers share with you. Keep up the good work, this cruiser loves you.
I've been using one of those waterproof waist bags for years now. My tip: For those who cruise on older ships were there are no outlets near the bed and need one for a cpap/medical equipment or cell phone you can use magnetic hooks or Command spring or cord clips to run a non-surge extension cord across the ceiling of your cabin from the outlet to the night stand. Many 3M Command products can be so useful on a cruise from bathroom organizers, spring clips to hold your important papers on the mirror or wall or the various hooks to hang your lanyards and hats by the door. When we were in Alaska back in June we had to wear mask so we hung them by the door on Command hooks.
I know of one hack while swimming at the beach, wrap your wallet, and small valuables in a wrapped diaper. Looking like a used diaper, no one will bother it.
I had to laugh when you mentioned wearing bike shorts under a dress. That's something I think every catholic shool girl knows because I remember doing.
Haha, I thought the same thing! I sent my 3 girls to catholic schools and they all still wear shorts under their dresses even though they're all married with kids of their own!
I would rather have all of your tips and hacks in one big long video. I got to say I've only learned a couple of things, but learning anything is always good. I've been in the travel industry for over 40 years so it's so nice to see all the stuff that I bring with me you bring as well. thank you so much.
Ilana is profiting from the number of 'videos' she issues and the number of followers she attracts to each. No one 'requires' those in the travel industry to do all of their bookings on a limited number of days in each month. New hacks come up constantly and each 'video' inspires new hacks and sharing, which is to every cruiser's benefit---thank you, Ilana for all you do!
I always have a few dryer sheets to put in my luggage to keep my luggage smelling fresh. Especially when packing at the end of my cruise. I also put a dryer sheets in my luggage when storing it.
I just saved $400 a few weeks ago! I'm periodically checking to see if the price of my upcoming cruise has come down and I saw that it did. All I had to do was call and they credited the difference to what I still owed on my trip. This was with Royal Caribbean :) And if the price goes down even further before final payment I can do a price adjustment again!
When I cruised with my 2 kids, I took a family photo and used the editing feature to write our name, phone number and cabin number on it. I then set the photo on all of our phones “locked screen” in case a phone or a kid got lost and we could be connected
If you don’t want the bulk of the hanging organizer shelves in your bags, you can get a hanging yoga pant organizer. You can roll up shorts, tee shirts, skirts, etc, and slide them into the slots. Since it’s soft (no shelves), you can fill it and have it run around the outside perimeter of your suitcase.
Great useful video. Always something new to find out about. I remember having to ask what dish soap was because here in U K has a completely different meaning. You wash yourself with soap and keep it in a dish. 😀 Love shower idea from comments. I didn’t know what a Mimosa so pleased to find out and know I would like one. Like a Bucks Fizz I think. So pleased to see you have reached 80,000 .You were under 10,000 when I first discovered your channel and can remember your live chat to celebrate.
Lol there are so many words that are different. I can’t get used to “jumper” for a sweater/sweatshirt 😂. Thanks very much! I remember 10K was just last year - I appreciate you being here from then to now :)
A mimosa is normally equal parts orange juice and champagne or sparkling wine. Of course you could substitute any other juice, for instance a pineapple mimosa.
Planning a cruise? Get The Ultimate Cruise Planner. It's a 47 page printable cruise travel planner with packing checklists, shore excursion planning forms and much more! ($10 off for a limited time). Here are the details: lifewellcruised.com/ultimate-cruise-planner
My favorite cruise hack is to forget my cares and troubles and have a great time 😎
👏👏👏
Oh hell yes they all stay at port !!!!
How do you do that? Lol
She lost me at sorting dirty laundry 😂
❤️🛳❤️⛴️❤️
9:16 As a former airline employee who worked in the Bag Service Office (BSO), here is a valuable tip I have to offer, and I always do this with every trip I take. Always print off extra copies of your full airline itinerary and place one in each of your checked luggage and carry-on baggage. Write your name and phone number on it. DO NOT put your home address on the itinerary, nor on the outside ID tag for security reasons. This way, if the luggage bag tag and your ID tag falls off, and the bag ends up at an airport BSO office where it doesn't belong, the BSO agent will open the luggage to find any identifying items to try to contact the passenger or find out where the bag is supposed to go. If there is a printed itinerary inside the luggage, then the BSO agent can bring up the PNR to see where the bag belongs in this point of a passenger's trip, manually tag it and send it to the correct airport to arrange for delivery to the passenger. OR, if the bag actually belongs to another airline, the BSO agent may not receive a request on the printer with the other airline not knowing where the bag may have ended up, or they may not see the bag inquiry from the multitude of alerts that come in on the printer from other airlines, this tip is especially helpful for the BSO agent to determine which airline the bag belongs to who may be searching for it.
If a passenger has written their home address on the ID tag and/or the printed itinerary inside the luggage, a BSO agent without discernment skills might be lazy and just return the bag to the home address without checking the PNR in the system to find out where the passenger actually is in their trip at any given time. It would suck if the lost bag was shipped back to a passenger's home instead of being forwarded to their destination, as the passenger would have to go their entire trip without their checked bag, because it's sitting at their home airport. (Yes, this has happened before!) On a current trip I am on, one piece of luggage didn't make it. The bag tag had fallen off somewhere in the origin airport (ticket counter agent didn't secure it well enough?). Thankfully I had my printed itinerary inside, they were able to determine where it belonged and put it on an evening flight to my current destination, with it being delivered the next afternoon.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing that info 👏
Brilliant! Thank you.
L
Excellent advice, thanks.
What info should I put on outside tag then?
Here’s a useful hack when you go on an excursion - costs nothing and save you a hassle. Before you climb aboard your bus/van/car, take a couple of seconds to take a couple of photos of the vehicle: one from the side, showing the whole vehicle, including any signs or logos, and one from the back or front showing the license number. When you get back to the pickup point, you can easily find your own vehicle in a large parking lot of similar vehicles.
I bought a pack of 8 clear shower caps at the Dollar Tree for only $1.25, these make perfect shoe covers to pack your shoes!
Very smart!!
Top life hack 😍
I just use the plastic grocery store bags. Keeps them out of the landfill and they are free!
I am a Travel Consultant and when I call in final payment I always recheck the price for my travelers before final payment... whenever I can get them more for less it shows my value as an agent and ensures they will choose to rebook with me :)
FYI: for those who do not know... MOST travel agents do not charge for MOST services... we are paid by the Hotels, resorts and cruiselines. You are getting a person on your side who does all the research for you and helps direct you to the answers of your questions without paying anything more for it.
Can you tell me how long before the trip you would call for the final payment, please.
I'm going on my 1st cruise in Jan 2024 with a tour group. They book everything for us (airline tickets, room at the departure port, stateroom on the cruise ship...).
We haven't paid in full yet, just deposit.
You were talking about upgrading we were ready to go pretty much out. The door was like two days before Cruise and the phone rang and it was Princess Cruises asking us if we would change our cruising date three weeks later than what we had and they would give us the penthouse suite and an additional $1600 onboard credit could not believe it. My husband and I have our own business so we could make changes it was no problem. We waited to three weeks got our penthouse what an upgrade plus $1600. Thanks for all your podcasts. I love each and everyone of them.
For my first cruise I made little folded envelopes for tips. First though, I found the spelling for “thank you” in different languages. I repeated them over and over in small text on a page (on MS word) so the page was full. I then printed and cut them to appropriate sizes for origami envelopes. I put the tip in the envelope and handed it directly to the person with my thanks. This made tipping more personal and avoided the envelope being overlooked as a piece of scrap paper on a table or night stand etc. I don’t know why but handing people money makes me uncomfortable for some reason and I found this to be a good solution. It took a little time to make them but I’m retired with nothing but time on my hands so I enjoyed it. My sister who has cruised many times and was on this cruise with us asked me to make some for her too as she feels the same as I do.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing
How very thoughtful!!!
You need to get a life.
I bet the employees were happy to receive this from you! How nice.
Such a nice idea!
My aunt, me and 2 others are cruising together on Norwegian Spirit out of Honolulu around Hawaii and French Polynesia. My aunt has a travel rewards credit card so we all gave her our payments for the cruise and excursions and she made the final payments on her credit card. We gained enough points to purchase two amazing premium beach front balcony rooms on Waikiki beach for the night before our cruise departure. My aunt was the brains behind that.
That was brilliant!!
One more interesting fact/helpful tip: If you put the hook magnets on the ceiling, they will hold a heavier load. So- if you have a heavier item you want to put on a hook (like our jackets in Alaska), put the hook up there, instead of having it slide down the wall :)
Great idea
Yes! We did exactly that on our 7 day cruise a week ago :)
I hang my laundry basket from the ceiling to free up floor space. The hooks work well up there.
I bought 2 small silicone containers at Dollar Tree. They are actually for salad dressing but they are perfect for taking dish and laundry soap.
Awesome ideas! Building on the Ziploc bag in the safe idea: you can often leave some of the bag hanging out of the door - just close the safe over the top of the bag. That way you have a visual indicator on the outside that the safe has not been emptied!
Or put something that is essential for the last morning in your safe--a shoe, toothbrush, or whatever. Guaranteed that you'll remember the safe when you need to look for that item.
More great tips! My favorite tip I learned from you was taking a picture of my luggage tag and setting it as the background to my Lock Screen. Whenever anyone asked for my room number a quick tap on the screen or just a shake to wake it up and everything I needed was right there. So helpful! Next cruise we’re taking collapsible Tupperware containers for the snack tip from the buffet and to have snacks for excursions.
Also!! Wide mouth water bottle filled with ice before excursions. It’ll take a few hours to melt and we’ll have cold water to drink for later
Great ideas!!
FYI------It would be a mistake to try to take food off the ship in foreign ports
@@amandareiche9083 May I ask why it would be a mistake to take food from the ship?? I'm only asking bc I'm going on my 1st ever cruise within the next few months & I'm so worried I'ma end up screwed for not doing enough or the right research that my trip gets ruined so I'm tryn to make sure I don't forget anything whatsoever bc I'm handicap & only bringing what cash/ money I can afford & a lot of things I can't really do anyways bc of handicap ya know. Any TIPS, SUGGESTIONS or whatever is VERY APPRECIATED.... SO PLEASE DO TELL, I'm desperate to get it right the 1st time bc it's definitely my only time it'll ever happen so I must get it right & have a very stress free, relaxing, Fun 1st Vacation EVER, 1st time outta America trip.... THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH IN ADVANCE 😊
@@tonyacutrell626 Only foods to take off are those in sealed packages---no produce or left-over food--in many foreign countries they fine for this because of agricultural laws--there are also strict laws on what can be imported on return to the US.
@@amandareiche9083 oh wow Thanks so much for sharing this information. I wouldn't have thought about that at all. I just assumed any food within reason of course with the exception of leftovers or fast foods & Alcohol I would have checked on beforehand if I was a drinker but I'm not due to medication. Do they go thru all your luggage for contraband or how do they know you don't have contraband or illegal drugs? I obviously won't do anything illegal or on purpose & I don't do drugs that aren't prescribed but like how do they enforce that issue? I'm curious if others will pull some dumb crap & I become effective by strangers actions like cabin neighbors & what have ya.
We love the magnet hooks. We have a string of LED lights that we attach to the ceiling of our cabin. It looks cool and provides light during the night making bathroom trips safe.
Great idea!
Link?
That’s awesome! I’m so doing that for our upcoming cruise.
I have battery operated, AA, with timer, string, that comes on same time every night and goes off , 6 hours later!
I always wear bike shorts or similar item (like Jockey ones) under a dress anyway, it avoids chafing injuries! 😂
Hi! We normally use washing detergent sheets so it is an easy hack for us to bring a couple along to do that hand washing ...no spillage in the suitcase and you could easily tear them into smaller pieces to do just one or two items!
The motion sensor light was a great item to have in our interior cabin...we set it up to face the bed so if we got up at night it would light the way. It's small light bounced off the mirrors in the room...so convenient!
I just started purchasing these and will be packing them.
We do that too and a 2 gallon zip lock bag.
This tip is in place of using a laundry hamper to use pillow cases for dirty clothes. We all have them, they take up very little room in your suitcase. You can separate into colors or his and hers, they can also be washed if you need to do laundry on your cruise. Kat from SoCal
I used to be able to purchase essay folders at the dollarama store. It had several pages of plastic sleeves. I use one to put all my paper copies of flights, hotels reservations before & after cruise, Eta information , excursion paper copies, proof of Covid vaccations, & of course, cruise information as well as any other information or ideas to check out ,once I reach the hotels .( We like a mini holiday of 4 to 5 days, before & after a cruise.
Those essay/report booklets with clear plastic pockets/pages are all great to hold your daily intinary on the ship.( 12 sheets hold 24 daily intinary pages). I also try & buy a postcard of each port city. Then when I develop any pictures, I know the order to put them in. If I've forgotten where the picture was taken, the postcard with city's name on front is a great divder
between each port.
One thing I learned a LONG time ago....if you have a shower curtain it can sway and stick to you on a moving ship. I take 4 extra old fashioned clothes pins and place them along the bottom edge of the curtain. It keeps it weighted down and off me. Then I throw them away the last morning. Cheap and easy.
Smart idea!
@@LifeWellCruised do the ships actually sway this much??? First time cruiser in 13 days…somewhat nervous.
@@theverch1 ships don’t usually sway that much, but the showers tend to be small and the curtain can easily move and stick to you. Enjoy your first cruise!
@@patriciakearns-michaelsen4140 thank you so much!
I love the idea of taking the picture of the names of the crew members. 👍 I am very big on good Customer Service and always compliment the staff and thank them for their great service.
I love the idea of plastic bags for the cookies. As an adult who often cruises alone, I always take a few cookies to eat at night before bed. I also have a small light from Target (about $5) that I keep near the bed. I use it to go back and forth to the bathroom at night. These are all great tips!
I leave my dresses on the hangers inside cleaner bags.
Fold in half and put inside the
suitcase last and hang up immediately. No wrinkles.
I use a packing cube for my toiletries.
I pull the covers back and spray with Lysol including pillows.
Same here. I also bring a bath n body plug in
@@patmcnair8895you can do that! Wow, great idea!
I always put one of my business cards inside my suitcases. That way, if my luggage tag breaks off of a bag that's being checked through, it's easy enough for my to get reunited with my stuff.
Great idea!
We booked our Mediterranean Cruise coming up in April when we were on our Alaskan cruise last May (HAL). We got the beverage package, $200 on board credit and a dining credit include for an outside cabin. I started seeing specials/discounts and without logging into my HAL account, I searched for prices with the new specials. I found prices for obstructed view Veranda cabins to be about $50 cheaper than my current booking. I emailed HAL and they upgraded me and gave me an extra $50 onboard credit. About 6 weeks before our Alaskan cruise I noticed HAL was sending me emails about upgrading cabins for a small fee. We had an inside cabin booked and thought about upgrading. I noticed every other week the prices for the upgrades were getting cheaper. finally 3 weeks before our cruise I took advantage of the upgrade and for an extra $50 we upgraded to an outside cabin on a better deck. Fingers crossed I get similar emails for the next cruise!
The sponge tips are great. Especially, the laundry soap since I have 'sensitive skin' & get rashes with regular laundry soap.
I loaded one scrubby sponge with dish soap & a plain thin sponge with liquid laundry soap.
I was drying them on a plate & turning daily to dry them. At first I only put soap as show on them. My husband suggested I saturate them. If you do, it takes two weeks for them to dry into the sponges. Unfortunately the dish sponges ( with scrubbies) dried like a white powder on them.
Hope the airline staff don't confiscate them, thinking it might have drugs in them. They certainly smell like dish soap,so hopefully it won't be an issue. Great Idea!
Just got back from a cruise. Used an AirTag which I LOVED in my suitcase, also did the name/address/etc and put inside the suitcase. I also put TWO name tags on the outside and low and behold, one of the tags completely got destroyed. So that was a very good idea. Love the bag in the safe, never thought of that. My girlfriend convinced her necklace in a box had been stolen because the box just fit against the side of the safe, same colour, and she couldn't see it.
When off on excursions, take a photo of the vehicle you are travelling in - making sure it includes the license plate. When you are looking for that vehicle later on, maybe coming back from a restaurant, or a free time wander, it will be easier to pick in parking lot with similar vehicles.
If the ceiling in your cabin is metal, bring magnetic hooks and a shower curtain. Attach the hooks to the ceiling and hang the curtain between the bed and sofa area for a “privacy screen” so that 2 people can get dressed at once. (if your cabin doesn’t have a curtain there already) Much more room available by using the cabin space instead of the tiny bathroom!
Great idea!! I’ve heard of parents doing this for the kids for naps ect too
I only cruise with people I can see naked.....💦👀
I have done the packing with the plastic hangers and just hung up once arrived. I like the idea of the hanging organizer being prepackaged as well. I will use the sponge trick as well! I’ve been bringing biker shorts to wear under dresses for years, great tip! Wow that’s a really smart idea putting cruise planner in plastic sleeves and using dry erase marker’s! Yes please continue to share these tips and include viewers ideas as well!
So glad to hear!!
I use Tru Earth laundry soap strips. No mess and light. No plastic involved.
Fantastic!
I use these type of laundry soap at home too. Cut into small strips for cruising!
@@docsmctink yes! The less plastic and waste the better!
Laundry detergent sheets! Game changer in cruising/traveling.
One more thing that I do that really makes going on excursions better. I get the microfiber towels or the quick dry towels from Amazon and I carry those instead of the ship towels which are so heavy. Ours are as large as a large beach towel . Then when you get to your cabin you can just wash them out and hang them up and they are dry in two or three hours. Your land bag can certainly get heavy. Especially with wet towels in them.
Great tip, I have those towels and never thought to take them
I have some of these too. The corner has a zipper that holds personal items to so you don’t drop anything at the beach and you can hide things easier too.
We just booked our second cruise and I'm really enjoying your videos. We learned a couple of tips on our first cruise that I haven't heard yet, and wanted to share them. Relating to eyeglasses, throw in a small repair kit. I found one at the Dollar Store. My son's broke on the last cruise and no one had the tiny screwdriver/screws. We had to use scotch tape. With motion sickness, we found that laying in a hammock really helped give quick relief to my husband, as he acclimated to the motion.
FYI, I was held up and searched at Greek airport for the tiny screwdriver! I didn't even know that little repair case was rapped up in the lining of my purse. I had already passed 6 TSA screenings on that trip, so who's to know? They did confiscate it.
Instead of using a ziplock bag in the safe, a packing cube about the size of a small shoebox is perfect to hold all items in the safe, such as wallets or cash, passports, jewelry, excursion docs, etc. I don't even have to remove it from the safe to take something out or put something in; just open the safe door. unzip the cube (placed so that the opening is facing the door) do what is necessary, close the door and lock. At the end of the cruise just zip up and remove. Note: JUST TO BE SURE NOTHING HAS MISSED THIS PROCESS, CHECK THE EMPTY SAFE BEFORE YOU GO. EASY PEASY!!
My husband does this. I just use a travel-size jewelry box for my valuable jewelry, so it’s easy to see and nothing gets missed. On one cruise we took, we found a semi-valuable ring someone had left in the safe. We let the cruise staff know so that if the owner contacted them about it, they could get it back. Sadly, we never heard back (we don’t hand over valuable found items directly, as we are skeptical about them actually getting returned).
I use my passport pouch which has a clear pocket for my cabin key to carry my phone hands free around the ship. I don't need to take the key out to use it. No pockets, no problem. Call me lazy, but I wash things out in the shower with shampoo. I try not to take anything to wash out except bathing suits or quick drying undies. I have worn OneSole interchangeable shoes for years. You change the tops. I take one sole and different tops. They are very comfortable so I wear them at home and to travel. Great product. I love stuff that does not wrinkle and folds flat. We try to fly carry on even for a two week cruise. I love Ripskirts. You can use them as a cover up or put them on with a nice blouse and jewelry and go to dinner. They fold completely flat and don't wrinkle. I live in them. They are in four lengths. They wrap around and are very comfortable. I use either shoe bags or shower caps I have saved from hotels for shoes. I use compression packing cubes which squeezes out the air. I put red FRAGILE stickers all over any luggage that is handled by baggage carriers. I've not had anything broken and we brought back four bottles of Vodka from Russia in our checked baggage unbroken through JFK in 2019. Since we have traveled from the Artic Circle to the tropics, I have raincoats, and light down vests and jackets that are packable meaning they can ball up in their own small ball. Instead of one big coat, I will layer these together with shirts. I keep their bags on a hanger when I wear them when not traveling. I pick them up inexpensively at Costco and Amazon. We have tiny umbrellas in their own carrying cases we carry on every trip as well as ponchos. They are lightweight, but being wet is miserable. We always carry backpacks and small travel towel.
Great ideas!! Thanks for sharing
One extra tip, use a 3oz bottle to take Dawn dishwashing detergent with you to remove soils and grease marks out of clothing and other items. It works as good or if not better than the commercially made stain removing products.
My favorite hack is use my pockets in my clothes for bandaids , hair clips, travel bar soap etc. I put the stuff in ziplock bags. When I get to my destination an I’m unpacking then I pull it out and I also have Ziplock bags if need. I also use hair clip to help hang up in shower.
I have a small non-descript black suitcase. On my first cruise, it took forever to find it even with the red I.D. Tag. This time I bough a brightly colored package decoration made of curled ribbon and tied it to the handle. It worked. We spotted it from several feet away in an area I thought was for a different group. Big time saver.
Great idea! 👏👏
I use colored nylon bath scrubbed. Easy to see, hold up great and really.tough.
Great tips. My husband queues up your videos every day. He hopes we have room in our luggage for all the hacks.
Awe thanks and love this!! Hehe tell him even I don’t bring everything (pick and choose 😉) 😂
Before I made my final payment for my December 2022 cruise, I checked with my travel planner and found out that my cruise price went down $2100. So, instead of my final payment being $2200, I only had to pay $100. Since I was already in a Penthouse Suite (on Norwegian), I did not try to get an upgrade to the Haven). I was extremely HAPPY!
Wow!! Insane price 😬👏
If you like wearing perfume or cologne, please use sparingly and lightly. 1 out 3 adults have fragrance sensitivity!
Thank you so much for mentioning this. I am always amazed how some people think they need to swim in fragrance, what may smell good to them can be very offensive to others.
Great hacks, as always! I already do most of them, but always get something more. In addition to the hack With the garbage bag I 1st put the the white garbage bag along the bottom side of the suitcase for protection in case of rain or spillage when packing for the trip. Then when I use it for the dirty laundry after putting the laundry in the bag, at the end of the cruise, I sit on the bag and get all the air out and tie it and have much more room in the suitcase ( Making my own shrink bag.)
Great ideas!
I will add a hack:) If you have ever stayed in a cabin with the fabric shower curtain you know that somehow it sucks into the shower and sticks to you while getting water all over the floor! I bring a Dollar Tree plastic shower curtain that I put on the inside of the fabric one. Problem solved and when the cruise is done I just throw it away. Cheap solution:)
Someone else mentioned they bring clothes pins to clip on the bottom to give it some weight and keep it from moving around.
Hi Ilana! We just wanted to say a super huge thank you for your tips, tricks & hacks videos. My partner & I just took our 2nd cruise using your tips & our cabin experience was SO much better this time because we were better organized & able to create more space - thanks to YOU! Bravo!
Another tip for saving space when traveling: I use a plastic contact lens case to keep my Mary Kay face wash and another contact lens case to keep my day time & night time face creams (one on the left & one on the right). It doesn't seem like much, but one case with the left & right filled with face wash has lasted me 7+ days...I haven't yet tested more than 7 days, but there was plenty left! Use a permanent marker to label the top & bottom. HUGE space saver compared to 3 oz bottles and money saver compared to purchasing travel size for expensive cosmetics.
Excellent ideas!!!
I love these tips, especially the sponge and laundry/dish detergent one. Great ideas. For years I have kept certain clothing items on hangers, covered with plastic bags from the dry cleaners, and pack them right into my suitcase. I think that seems to give them a cushion of air which helps stop the wrinkling. Plus, no danger of not having enough hangers at a resort or on the ship. Thanks so much. Yes I enjoy these kind of posts - please keep them coming.
Great idea! My cabin neighbour on my last cruise told me she did this too :)
You can ask your steward for more hangers
A good cruise laundry hack I use is to take your used dryer sheets, put laundry detergent on the, then let them dry. It can be used in the bathroom sink or in a large plastic ziploc. Kinda the same idea as the sponge hack. When you wash your item, it also has a little of fabric softener in it.
She discussed this in the video
Love this!! Smart
Using this idea on my trip this Saturday 😊
We use our luggage as a laundry hamper during our cruise. We set it up in the corner or under the counter and leave the very top unzipped. Once something is dirty we stick it in the suitcase. No need for a laundry basket if you don't have the room for it. Then at the end of the cruise, we sort it out and fold it up so it fits nicely.
You can also use one of those refillable travel bottles that you can place laundry detergent or woolight in that travel bottle and you can use that for hand washing garments or shirt in a pinch. I’ve been using the bags from the dry cleaning for my husband’s Business traveling for the last 25 years. I used the sponge technique for when I move or my daughter was moving in to her dorm and her apartment in college. If you need extra space for hanging drying there is a hanger on Amazon I have a metal one that I travel with it has metal pinchers under hanger for underwear bras that is also good for traveling. Thank you
Thanks for sharing! I should check that hanging thing out. I forgot about that one but I’m sure it’s handy
I love your videos. Wish I had seen them before my first cruise, thought. I wanted to tell you about a couple of hacks I've found. First, sweet tea is hard to come by. I've got that figured out. 2 of those tiny drink cups, one filled with ice. the other with hot water and a tea bag (those are free). Add desired sugar (about 500 packets) and poor the hot into the ice, a little at a time. Free sweet tea.
Second, I hang a laundry bag on the hook inside the bathroom and just add dirty clothes. Then take the whole bag and throw it in the suitcase with Febreeze. This might not work for flyers, but for us jumping in the car and taking off, it works really well.
Hi, Ilana- Your packing hack with plastic hangers was good. I use plastic coated wire hangers because they weigh less and take up less room as you stack the clothes in your suitcase. Plastic is good but they are pretty thick. I take a small LED flashlight along to see into the safe and drawers. We are going on a 29 day cruise on the Grand Princess in October and will review all your suggestions next week. There is always something useful that we can take away from your videos. We enjoy watching you.
I’ve been on well over 20 cruises but I still get great ideas from you. Love the idea of the hanging closet organizer. Very sweet to learn the ways to say thank you too.
So glad to hear!!
Here's another useful idea that I use in my spare closet at home which would work on a cruise. Take one of those large hanging units like she showed . if it's the correct size you can get those foldable storage bins from the Dollar Tree and they will slide into the openings just like drawers. Wish I had thought to use that on my last cruise to Alaska. Would have packed another one for my cruise partner, and there would have been plenty of room to hang dresses in the middle.
Hi, Royal Caribbean allows two bottles per cabin. Wine or champagne only, no hard liquor.
Thank you for your great tips!
My hack of hacks: If there is even the smallest possibility for leakage, it goes in a ziplock plastic bag. I promise, no matter how well you pack, it IS going to leak in your suitcase, and you will never know which one it is going to be. And bring more than you think you will need! Because you WILL need them. And I love the "thank you" in native language, as well as the photo of the name and face. There have been so many people I've wanted to complement, and just don't remember their names.
I always need more baggies when I pack to go home than when I leave home. There will surely be damp swimsuits, damp coverups, soggy shoes, or a list of other things I don't want sitting in a suitcase that I can't unpack for at least a day and a half. I take plenty because they seem to magically disappear for other uses on every cruise.
Great hack...experience has taught me to always bring extra (rolled up), and to DOUBLE ZIPLOCK BAG instead of using just one...partial to the freezer bags 😊
Thanks for these great practical tips. Taking cruise in October 2022 and I also picked up couple of Mr. Clean Eraser for use on shoes, back packs or tote bags that may get a little dirty. It never fails whenever you go somewhere with nice kicks or sneakers or them J's ppl always step on your feet, or wastes drink or wine all over your shoes!
Smart idea!
I pack 4 pairs of slacks on huggable hangers and place 4 tops over each one and fold them into the suitcase alternating direction. It’s so easy to unpack and I can tuck a few tshirts rolled in any of the nooks and crannies.
Hi Illana, great tips as always. I learned one thing new to do today 🤗…the sponges with soap on them….what a great idea!
So glad there was a new one for you. Lol I always find these fun
I love your tips, I use or have tried a number of these. The document protector tip. I use WET erase markers. Dry erase markers rub off too easily, wet erase you need a damp cloth (or napkin or TP). They don't come off until you want them to. Also for laundry I use a Scrubba and laundry detergent sheets.
Very smart!
Hi. Just seeing this in January 2023 but still GREAT info! I thought I'd add, take along a few safety pins and a little needle and thread kit. Sometimes oops! happen,
I use an old prescription bottle to make a traveling sewing kit. I keep it in my purse and it has been a lifesaver a few times now!
I used the Price-Drop tip for Royal Caribbean. Dropped from $1672 to $1542 and since at the time I didn't pay the final amount, they decreased the overall trip price to to the lower cost. My partner and I love your videos! The Magnetic hook and snack-bag tricks were brilliant!
That’s amazing!! Great to hear and thanks for sharing
How do I recheck for price drop
@@tootleloo2002 Call Royal Caribbean Customer service and let them know you see an overall price drop for your trip. You have to make sure it’s the same cabin type and guarantee-type
To add to the laundry hack i fold and roll my clothes in a towel and stomp on it to get all the water out hang up and in the morning It usually is dry
I have an excel file with everything I must pack for a trip - and I reuse it and customize it for my next trip (e.g cruise, weekend break, conference) - no need to print it out on paper as its electronically on my Samsung Tablet!
One column is used to check/tick off if I've packed the item or not. I use color to mark certain important stuff e.g. medication.
The dollar 25cent store has 2 1/2 gal.bags for washing
I just found these last week. You get 6 bags for $1.25 ❤
I bought luggage tag sleeves from Amazon specifically for Royal Caribbean, for my entire family including grandchildren…but they are a pain to load because of static cling. Instead of tossing them, I used them to make my personal luggage tags to help distinguish them at airport carousels (my last name is Partridge so we use the Partridge Family intro logo 😃). I then bought luggage tags for Carnival , much larger and easier to load RC cabin tags into them.
I also keep a bar of Irish Spring in each bag to help reduce any staleness.
Best advice was the sponges with soap. Great idea. Thanks
I use the plastic sleeve/dry erase markers trick every day for my business. If the ink dries and doesn’t come off easily, use rubbing alcohol to wipe it off. If you can’t bring a bottle on the ship, bring first aid alcohol wipes (bring a lot of them!)
Favorite hack..ZIPLOCK bags..Gallon & Quart size a must! Too many uses to list.
I was keeping my large valuables in my locked suitcase when I was in the University, and that was some years ago. Probably, I should have registered a Copyright for the trick if by now people still did not figure it out. 😆😆😆
Lol so smart!! 👏👏
I pack a couple of laundry pods for laundry days. I also pack wrinkle resist drier sheets and that helps saving money for buying laundry supplies on the ship. I also plan to pack some woolite in a 1 once bottle for hand washing delicate items. I safe the shampoo bottles from hotels to also pack some dish washing for washing thermos, water bottles and coffee cups.
I always learn something new from your videos! I love the idea of a plastic sleeve over pages of the cruise planner, which I have!
Don’t forget dryer sheets in the suitcase then they can go into the dirty clothes bag!!
Glad you enjoyed! Great idea for the dryer sheet
A baggie in the safe is a great idea. On our last cruise I opened the safe and found no less than 6 credit/debit cards ( Ithink there was a Costco members cars too). I immediately went to guest services and turned them in. Can you imagine the family who left them there attempting to get home, what a nightmare.
Wow!!! I can imagine a lot of people forget stuff in the safe 😬
My husband accidentally locked all our stuff in the safe , without remembering what code number he'd used !!!, I couldn't wear my jewellery for a whole 10 days !!, we had to wait until we got to land before they could "fix", the safe lol 😅😅😅
I have used the hack about checking on the price before making the final payment. We normally cruise with a group of friends from our community, and we always share when we've found a decrease, so the rest of our party gets the decrease as well.
I use a roll up space saver ziplock bag for my dirty laundry. You can get fragranced ones e.g lavender , that will lock in dirty laundry plus, squash it down to create more space in your case to pack souvenirs.
Soap on the paper towels works the same way on the sponge and more environmentally
I really like the sponge hack… never heard that one. great idea!
Lol I love that one too
We like to bring bottles of sparkling wine to have a glass on the balcony at days end. But we don't necessarily want to drink a whole bottle of champagne after we've been drinking fruity drinks. This past cruise we brought a stopper made for sparkling wine, so we were able to make the bottle stretch for a couple of nights. And we stored the borrowed champagne flutes in the fridge so they were chilled.
Tip: If you are flying to your cruise port and you have medical equipment/supplies to take with you, place all of them in the same bag/suitcase (if you can) and any additional personal items that are heavy or have extra weight. By law, airlines cannot count medical bags in your checked bag count, and they cannot charge a weight overage fee for these bags. But BEWARE: some airlines will demand to open the bag when you check in to ensure it really does hold "mostly" medical equipment and supplies.
Thanks for sharing this!
To wash glasses, utensils, etc. when I travel, I usually cut a Bounty sheet into small squares, put some dishwashing liquid in the middle of each square and let them dry, and then keep them in a Ziplock bag. You can even let the paper towels dry out after washing and use them for spills and things.
I use a ziploc bag for my face wash or lotion instead of Saran Wrap. That way you can close the ziploc bag with the bottle inside, so if there is a spill, it’s inside the bag.
Save some 'almost wanted throw away' underwear and use them while travel. Guilt free to throw them away after used
You can put the bags into the hamper and just lift it out when leaving for home
That happened to me on Norwegian. I booked an inside cabin and the price dropped a week after final payment so I called Norwegian, they couldn’t refund me bc I had already made the final payment but they did upgrade me to an oceanview which was equal to the pice I initially paid for the inside cabin. It pays to call and ask from my experience the cruise lines always try to make their guests happy, even if it’s some OBC anything is better then nothing so always call and see what they can do for you
I laminate the part of my cruise luggage tags that have my identifying data on them with clear packing tape before I fold and staple the tags around the handles of my luggage to make the tags rip and water resistant. (I attached at least 2 of these partially laminated tags to each piece of luggage.)
Great idea!
Better yet, get tag covers from Amazon. Much better, and looks nicer, too.
@@lindahays1157 Those Amazon tag covers do look nicer, but they are prone to accidentally being torn off you bags, by either the porters or the wind, because they are only attached to your bags by either a thin string or wire.
The tags we have are looped over the luggage handle and are very strong. There’s no way they will come off in the wind. It would be difficult to get them off if you tried. We use them over and over
One little hack is to buy water soluble paper, coat with hand soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Hang to let dry. Cut into strips and put in a waterproof container with the labels. This is also good for road trips and family outings (the hand soap)
Wow so smart!! Sounds silly, but where do you get water soluble paper?
A cruise hack I have is a sound machine app on my phone so that I can sleep to sound that I normally hear. This hack maybe more for families with kids, but using the app on my phone is way easier than carrying a sound machine. Once it goes on and I go to sleep, I don’t hear anything.
Great idea!!
I ALWAYS check to see if the price dropped and get that refund. Actually, you can do this a couple times. On our last cruise (a transatlantic in April) I was refunded twice and they sent me a total of over $2,000! Seriously! Then even after I made my final payment when I saw the price drop more I contacted my personal cruise planner with NCL and got some onboard credit!
I order my athletic shoes online and they come in nifty gauze-type covers. I save them for my cruises to put each of my shoes in! Love the tip on the sponges!
Smart!!
Those waterproof cell phone pouches are in a store called five below for $5.00.
Hi. We always check prior to the final payment for possible discounts or upgrades. Another tip for your more mature cruisers is to get AARP gift cards for your specific cruise. These cards save you 10% on the purchase through AARP (i.e. you pay $450 for a $500 Carnival gift card. Pay Carnival the full $500 and save $50 per card.) We actually carry an extra one on our Carnival cruises to use to pay the gratuities at the end of the trip. Hope this helps. Tricia McMaster
I bought some Princess gift cards from AARP earlier today and then had my travel agent apply them. They worked great! I have a long cruise coming up next year and plan to buy a couple gift cards each month. I figure I’ll shave at least $800 off my cruise cost by using them. Just remember to hold onto your gift card numbers & PIN numbers in case your cruise gets canceled-as the refund will go back to the original form of payment.
I absolutely LOVE your video's!!!!! I really enjoy it when you share all the other ideas that cruisers share with you. Keep up the good work, this cruiser loves you.
I've been using one of those waterproof waist bags for years now.
My tip: For those who cruise on older ships were there are no outlets near the bed and need one for a cpap/medical equipment or cell phone you can use magnetic hooks or Command spring or cord clips to run a non-surge extension cord across the ceiling of your cabin from the outlet to the night stand.
Many 3M Command products can be so useful on a cruise from bathroom organizers, spring clips to hold your important papers on the mirror or wall or the various hooks to hang your lanyards and hats by the door. When we were in Alaska back in June we had to wear mask so we hung them by the door on Command hooks.
Great idea and I’m glad to hear how you use command hooks!
I know of one hack while swimming at the beach, wrap your wallet, and small valuables in a wrapped diaper. Looking like a used diaper, no one will bother it.
I had to laugh when you mentioned wearing bike shorts under a dress. That's something I think every catholic shool girl knows because I remember doing.
Haha, I thought the same thing! I sent my 3 girls to catholic schools and they all still wear shorts under their dresses even though they're all married with kids of their own!
Lol I was out of the loop on this one
I was doing that even before there were bike shorts! My gym shorts did the trick even though they were bulkier.
I would rather have all of your tips and hacks in one big long video. I got to say I've only learned a couple of things, but learning anything is always good. I've been in the travel industry for over 40 years so it's so nice to see all the stuff that I bring with me you bring as well. thank you so much.
Ilana is profiting from the number of 'videos' she issues and the number of followers she attracts to each. No one 'requires' those in the travel industry to do all of their bookings on a limited number of days in each month. New hacks come up constantly and each 'video' inspires new hacks and sharing, which is to every cruiser's benefit---thank you, Ilana for all you do!
I always have a few dryer sheets to put in my luggage to keep my luggage smelling fresh. Especially when packing at the end of my cruise. I also put a dryer sheets in my luggage when storing it.
I just saved $400 a few weeks ago! I'm periodically checking to see if the price of my upcoming cruise has come down and I saw that it did. All I had to do was call and they credited the difference to what I still owed on my trip. This was with Royal Caribbean :) And if the price goes down even further before final payment I can do a price adjustment again!
When I cruised with my 2 kids, I took a family photo and used the editing feature to write our name, phone number and cabin number on it. I then set the photo on all of our phones “locked screen” in case a phone or a kid got lost and we could be connected
If you don’t want the bulk of the hanging organizer shelves in your bags, you can get a hanging yoga pant organizer. You can roll up shorts, tee shirts, skirts, etc, and slide them into the slots. Since it’s soft (no shelves), you can fill it and have it run around the outside perimeter of your suitcase.
I do have the waterproof pouch, works great. Question, do you take passport off ship with you? I'm so afraid of losing it. Thank for all the tips.
Great useful video. Always something new to find out about. I remember having to ask what dish soap was because here in U K has a completely different meaning. You wash yourself with soap and keep it in a dish. 😀 Love shower idea from comments. I didn’t know what a Mimosa so pleased to find out and know I would like one. Like a Bucks Fizz I think. So pleased to see you have reached 80,000 .You were under 10,000 when I first discovered your channel and can remember your live chat to celebrate.
Lol there are so many words that are different. I can’t get used to “jumper” for a sweater/sweatshirt 😂. Thanks very much! I remember 10K was just last year - I appreciate you being here from then to now :)
A mimosa is normally equal parts orange juice and champagne or sparkling wine. Of course you could substitute any other juice, for instance a pineapple mimosa.