July 3, 2018 pedalgoa

Beach Packing List: Beach extras to bring on your cruise vacation :: cruise packing tips

 

Cruise tips on Pinterest: Follow the Cruise Travel board!

 

Travel for a Caribbean cruise is not only a cruise vacation but it’s a beach vacation!

So you want to make sure to have those beach essentials, as well as some extra beach accessories on your cruise packing list!

Here are some cruise tips for the beach excursions part of your cruise, and some ideas to put on the beach part of your checklist!

This is adapted as the beach edition of cruise travel packing tips and takes the beach extras from the more complete cruise packing list.

Now, here are some beach accessories to consider putting on your cruise packing list when you’ve got beach time planned when you’re in port!

These may not necessarily be beach essentials or cruise essentials, but they surely have the potential to make your trip just a tiny bit better! 😉

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Beach packing checklist: What to pack for your beach excursion during a cruise

First…

Beach outfits: What to wear on your cruise

Have a look here!

Also see what to wear on cruise formal night!

what NOT to bring on a cruise – how to prevent seasickness

gift ideas for cruisers

And now, for the list of things for the beach…



Side note!
See about the best shoes for hiking in Hawaii and what to wear snorkeling in Hawaii! And for Hawaii vacation ideas, see the best things to do in Waikiki that will give you Hawaii vibes!


Waterproof case for smart phone

If you’re taking a Caribbean cruise or another cruise destination with warm temperatures, you surely won’t be missing out on opportunities for water-drenching fun with lots of possibilities to capture pictures of marine life.

Maybe it’s fun at a resort pool during a shore excursion, or at the beach on your own while at the different ports.

If you’ve got plans for water sports like snorkeling or scuba diving, or you’ll be swimming and splashing around at the beach, you probably want to capture those cruise memories.

So have a look at something like this waterproof phone case to cheaply waterproof your phone!

If you don’t care so much about taking pictures, but you still want to take your valuables in the water with you instead of leaving them on the beach unattended, give a try something like this waterproof waist pouch or this dry storage float so your stuff can be in the water with you.

It’s meant to be worn when you’re in the water so you don’t have to worry about your money and phone being stolen when you’re having fun splashing around!

Mesh beach bag for water activities

If you’re on a Caribbean cruise and you’ll be partaking in any sort of water-based activities in which you will be getting wet, either as a shore excursion or a self-planned beach trip, it might not be such a bad idea to have a mesh bag handy.

In particular, if you’ll have a bunch of wet items from swimming activities like your swimsuit, beach towel, goggles, snorkeling gear, water shoes, or more, having a mesh beach bag in which the wet items have a little breathing room can be helpful.

You have a quick turnaround time with the next time you’ll be using your beach bag fast approaching since your next port will probably be in a day or two.

So having something like this mesh tote bag as your beach bag can get the drying process started from the moment you leave the beach!

Once you get back to your stateroom on the cruise ship, you’ll want to properly dry out the wet items in your bag to have them ready to go for the next port!

Sun protection

Well, you know that you need to protect yourself from the sun.

Remember, the sun’s rays can be a bit more harsh than you’re used to if you’re coming from up north! So be sure to pack that sunscreen, and be sure to use it! But of course, you were planning on doing that anyway. 🙂

But, we know that sometimes even good intentions fail.

You think you’ve slathered enough sun screen lotion all over yourself. But you either missed a spot, or you didn’t reapply as you should have because you thought you had put on enough.

And so, red spot! Ow! You don’t want to be in pain for the rest of the cruise! It’s barely started!

Enter… aloe vera to the rescue!

Well, kind of.

At least it will help improve the situation a little bit since aloe vera can act as an anti-inflammatory for your inflamed (burned) skin. So having organic cold-pressed aloe vera gel poured into a travel-sized bottle may not be such a bad idea. (Noxzema cream is another popular remedy for sunburn with lots of positive testimonies.)

If you do get a bottle of aloe vera to use for sunburn, first test it out on a small patch of skin to make sure you won’t actually be making the situation worse. It’s also probably best to go for 100% aloe vera and as natural possible.

To be extra prepared and ready to tackle the sun in full force 😉 try this organic suncare travel kit that comes with a pina colada sunscreen spray, cucumber moisturizer, and lip balm, all with SPF protection, plus an after-sun lotion!

Snorkeling gear and water shoes

There are beaches in the Caribbean that will offer you opportunities to swim naturally with marine life.

Some beaches do offer snorkeling gear for rent, but having your own gear can add a lot of convenience. Plus, if you plan on spending more than one day at the beach, then having your own snorkeling gear can make it worth it.

And you will have no second thoughts about snorkeling at every single port knowing that you won’t have to pay for snorkeling gear rental each time! It’s not every day that you are in the Caribbean, so get a good look at that marine life! 🙂

Some ports may offer better views of marine life than others, so you first might consider checking the level of recommendation for the specific ports you’ll be visiting.

But generally speaking, most Caribbean cruise ports will offer up plenty of worthy opportunities for snorkeling! If you’re on a cruise that sails to Grand Turk, there’s a beach pretty much right where the cruise ship docks, and you’ll find many people snorkeling there.

It’s possible to buy a lightweight full snorkeling set that comes with a snorkeling mask, the snorkel that allows you to breathe underwater, and fins. You may also want to have a look at this full-face ninja mask!

One thing to note is that the fins can take up more space in your suitcase than you may like.

So you may want to consider leaving your fins at home, or buying a snorkeling set with just the mask and snorkel.

Fins will help you to swim farther faster, but the most important part is to be able to see underwater, right? 😉

So you will most likely find yourself having a good experience snorkeling even without the fins if you’ll be staying in shallow waters.

Taking your fins would be the number one option though! 😉

You can also get a prescription snorkeling mask if you wear glasses or contacts.

These water shoes are good to consider even if you don’t plan to snorkel but will be wading out into the water.

Some shorelines can be a little rocky, so having water shoes will allow you to walk freely in the water, and walk freely on the beach for that matter!

This way you won’t have to worry so much about having to use that first aid kit that you’ve come prepared with! 😉

If you have fins, the fins can act as a buffer (although they can be difficult to walk in), but without fins, water shoes might not be a bad idea at some beaches.

MORE: What to wear snorkeling + What NOT to wear

Portable beach blanket

In the case that you’ll be making your own beach trips during the cruise, as opposed to taking a shore excursion, beach chairs may not always be a given at the beach you go to.

In such cases, you may want to considering packing along something like this sand-proof beach blanket or beach mat.

Some beach blankets aren’t made of soft material like a normal blanket, but it’s a blanket with water resistant material on both sides of the blanket.

This can be helpful after a dip in the water when you’re looking for something to sit on that won’t get your skin or wet towel sandy from sitting directly on the sand.

This type of material also can be helpful in more easily getting rid of the sand from your blanket once you’re ready to head back to the cruise ship.

It can also help speed up the drying process of the blanket compared to a normal blanket so it’ll be ready to go for the next port!

Collapsible water bottle

If you’re taking a Caribbean cruise vacation during the cold winter months, the warmth of the Caribbean islands will feel really nice!

But if you live up north and you’re going from very cold to very warm, don’t drop your guard completely.

The heat you experience at home in the summer is something you are gradually accustomed to, weather anomalies notwithstanding. 🙂

But going from north to south in the winter months means your body isn’t used to the heat at all.

And your body has no time to adapt to the heat at all.

So it’s not unheard of for cruise passengers to be overcome with symptoms from overheating and become in need of medical attention.

And of course, things like this can happen during non-winter cruises when it’s even hotter in the Caribbean than your northern home.

Now this doesn’t mean you need to be utterly concerned about coming down with any sort of heat-related illness.

It just means that when you’re out on an island, you want to take extra precautions. And one of these precautions is making sure you have a way to stay adequately hydrated.

Same goes for on sea days if you’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors on the open deck, but it’s far easier to stay refreshed on board with a beverage machine just a short walk away!

So pack an empty water bottle in your suitcase especially if you’ll be cruising in hot weather! A collapsible water bottle like these will take up less space in your suitcase.

Then you can fill up your water bottle at one of the beverage machines before you get off the ship when you’re in port.

Depending on how active you’ll be and how long you’ll be out, you may want to have more than one water bottle per person.

Of course, staying hydrated is important no matter where your cruise destination is!

Another tip if you’re flying to your cruise embarkation port is to pack an empty water bottle in your easily accessible carry-on luggage.

That way you can fill up your water bottle at a drinking fountain once you get past security instead of having to pay for really expensive water at the airport.

And a water bottle can be great if you’re driving a long distance to your cruise port too, because you can stop to fill it up with water at gas stations or fast food restaurants you stop at along the way!

Floating camera strap

So maybe you’ll be swimming in the water with an abundance of marine life.

Maybe it’s swimming with stingrays all around you off the coast of Grand Cayman, or maybe it’s swimming with colorful tropical fish off the Hawaiian coast, or maybe it’s swimming in an area that you can spot a lobster or two off the coast of Mexico.

If you’ll be snorkeling or swimming at the surface with your camera at the ready to take some underwater pictures in water that’s so deep you can’t stand, surely you do not want to accidentally let go of your camera and have your camera sink to the bottom of the ocean!

And for that extra security, you can attach something like this floating camera strap to your camera or waterproof phone case so you can worry less about losing your camera with all those amazing vacation photos!

The floating strap can be used to keep other things like your lanyard afloat too.

Portable phone charger

If you’re planning on using your phone as you’re relaxing on the beach, you could end up sucking up a lot of the battery life and before you know it, the battery could be drained!

And as luck would have it, it’ll die just as you see some photo-worthy scene that you want to take a picture of with your phone!

But good thing you have a portable phone charger so you don’t ever have to worry about not being able to get that snapshot because of a dead phone!

Another reason having an extra charger may be useful is because most staterooms on the cruise ship have a limited amount of outlets.

So if you have a lot of gadgets and electronics to charge, you may like the idea of have that extra charging station.

So pack in your bag a charger like this lipstick phone charger so you’ll never have to worry about your phone running out of battery during your cruise at the beach or at the airport!

Travel-sized first aid kit

So you didn’t wear those watershoes and stepped on some rocks that you didn’t see because they were covered in sand on the ocean floor?!

And now the bottom of your foot has started bleeding. Well good thing you have a mini first aid kit! 😉

It’s a good idea to bring with you some sort of first aid kit or first aid supplies on any sort of travel or vacation, and that means it’s a good idea to bring it on your cruise vacation!

Just like in everyday life, things happen.

When you’re on a cruise vacation and being more active or out and about than you usually are at home, that risk for things happening might increase a tiny bit.

Maybe it’s at the beach stepping on a sharp sea shell or piece of glass and you start bleeding.

Good thing you can whip out your travel-sized first aid kit to come to the rescue!

Then after a couple of minutes of treating yourself, you can be back to enjoying your vacation!

At the very least, pack along a few first aid supplies you have laying around your house into a small ziplock bag!

There are affordable travel-sized first aid kits that you can conveniently pack in your suitcase that will take care of basic first aid needs.

The more expensive first aid kits tend to include items that will prepare you for more.

For a cruise, the most basic travel first aid kit should work out for minor ailments you are most likely to incur on a cruise vacation.

And pack it in your daypack on port days to bring the first aid kit along on your shore excursions or for your own activities when you’re on shore… just in case!

The more active your activities are, the better idea it is to have that first aid kit!

For ideas on a minimal DIY first aid kit, see the list of contents of this ultralight first aid kit.

HAPPY BEACH PACKING!

See the complete CRUISE PACKING LIST!

Don’t forget to check the list of what NOT to bring on your cruise!

And help to prevent your cruise luggage from getting lost on the cruise ship!

More cruise tips:

– Cruise insurance: Should you get travel insurance before your cruise?
– Cruise activities: Things to do for an evening at sea
– How to prevent seasickness

Cruise ports: nassau | san juan | cozumel | grand cayman stingrays | st maarten beaches

Cruise tips on Pinterest: Follow the Cruise Travel board!



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🐠 Here are things you must consider packing!


I also don't go snorkeling without a personal swim float buoy. Not only does it help to keep me visible, but it makes for a perfect way to rest out in deeper water! Oh, and it also serves as a dry bag so I can take stuff into the water with me.

Another way I have taken valuables into the water with me is to wear a travel money belt that I don't mind getting wet with salt water (it's not waterproof but I have several so I just use one of them) and then I put things in a ziplock freezer bag, and put that freezer bag in the money belt.

There are also designated waterproof waist pouches that you can store your valuables and take into the water with you.


see more:
- What to wear hiking
- What to wear snorkeling


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