ALOHA!
So you are planning for a long cruise!
This will focus on a transpacific cruise to Hawaii.
So if you are going on a Hawaii cruise with Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, or another cruise line that’s around 15 days long, here are some ideas for you!
But even if you’re going on a Norwegian cruise starting and ending at the Honolulu cruise port, hopefully you will find some helpful tips here too on what to add to your cruise packing list!
Likewise, even if you’re going on a long cruise to somewhere that’s NOT Hawaii, hopefully you’ll find some cruise tips here for your checklist!
As you can imagine, the thinking process for a 15-day cruise to Hawaii is different from most cruises, and it can be different from most Hawaii vacations.
Naturally, this means that what to pack for your cruise is slightly different from packing for a Caribbean cruise, and it’s slightly different from packing for a one week Hawaii vacation!
So covered on this page:
But still, there are some similarities, so take a look at some of these things of what to pack for your cruise and Hawaii vacation:
- What NOT to pack for a cruise
- What to wear on a cruise formal night
- What to wear hiking in Hawaii
- What to wear snorkeling in Hawaii
Extras of what to pack for a 15 day long cruise
If you’re trying to pack light (and even if you’re not!), a 15 day cruise doesn’t have to mean that you need 15 different cruise outfits!
You can get creative and mix and match, or you can wear the exact same outfit again! 😉
Remember, everyone is in the same situation as you. And really, everyone else is on vacation too, so it’s doubtful that they care much about what you wear!
Of course, with this comes the issue of washing your dirty clothes.
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!
How much time do you want to spend doing laundry during vacation?
Probably zero! 😉 But if you do go the way of packing light, laundry will likely become a necessity.
In which case, you have a few options for laundry:
- Use the laundry room to wash and dry your clothes
- Put in a service to have your clothes washed and dried
- Wash and dry your clothes in your cabin
While the last option may seem like the one you want to avoid, in some ways, it can be the most convenient. (Aside from the hard labor part. ;))
You won’t have to worry about the potential of encountering lines in the laundry room (since everyone else also is trying to pack light). You don’t have to wait around for a washer or dryer to open up. And you don’t have to wait around the laundry room for your wash cycle or dry cycle to finish up. (Because if you leave and your cycle finishes up, you run the risk of an impatient fellow cruise passenger taking the liberty of removing your clothes from the machine!)
Tips for doing laundry in your stateroom
Wear quick-dry clothes on your cruise
It would also be helpful if you packed along quick-drying clothes to wear during your cruise.
This can be helpful for several reasons:
- Doing your laundry
- Clothes to wear on sea days
- Clothes to wear on hot port days in Hawaii!
For laundry, quick-dry clothes are helpful because this way you won’t be waiting forever for your clothes to dry in your room.
Or even if you wash your clothes in the laundry room, it can be helpful because it means less time that your clothes need in the dryer!
So, what types of clothes dry more quickly?
Moisture-wicking shirt – also good if you’ll be doing lots of walking in Hawaii
This type of shirt is designed to wick away your sweat when you’re active. That also means that it’s quicker to dry than cotton after getting fully drenched in water from doing laundry! If you’re going hiking in Hawaii, these types of shirts will be good to wear hiking and can work on a cruise too, so win-win!
These are what moisture-wicking shirts are like.
Nike makes these types of shirts as tank tops too, which can be perfect for casual cruise attire on all those sea days!
Board shorts – also good if you’ll be going snorkeling in Hawaii
Boards shorts are designed to be quick-dry. If you’ll be doing any sort of water activities like snorkeling in Hawaii, once again, this can be good to wear snorkeling and can work on a cruise too, so win-win!
These are what board shorts are like.
Kanu board shorts like these for women can be perfect!
Quick-dry underwear
This type of underwear can not only be helpful staying comfortable to wear in the hot tropical climate that you’re going, but it can also be helpful for doing laundry quickly!
These are are what quick-dry underwear are like.
How to more effectively wash clothes in the sink in your room
To clean your clothes better, consider:
- First rinsing your clothes in plain water. This can help to get some of the dirt out of your clothes, and make it so you’re washing clothes in less dirty water.
- Fill your sink with water, and add in detergent of your choice like these travel packets as the water is filling up so it will bubble up. You may also consider taking a sink stopper, just in case your sink doesn’t have one.
- Scrub-a-dub-dub your clothes! 😉
- You may consider leaving your clothes soaking for 30 minutes or so.
- Scrub-a-dub-dub! 😉
- Drain the sink, and rinse your clothes! You may want to fill your sink with water again and then scrub-a-dub-dub again to get the soap out.
- Wring your clothes as best you can to get excess water out. This will help your clothes to dry quicker. An alternative to wringing your clothes can be:
- Lay out a towel flat on your bed
- Lay a piece of your laundered clothing on top of it
- Press another towel on top of it to remove excess water
- Set your clothes out to dry! You may consider packing a simple clothes line for travel.
This can work generally for normal clothes, but of course you want to take care with clothes that require you to be more gentle.
Does this seem like a lot of work on vacation?!?! It’s not sooo bad… In the name of packing light for your cruise and avoiding time in the laundry room! 😉
Stay within the airline baggage weight limit
If you decide to go the ZERO LAUNDRY way and pack a ton of clothes, just don’t forget about the baggage weight! Most airlines consider anything over 50 pounds to be oversize luggage.
Here are some luggage sets you might want to take a look at! Check in one piece of baggage, carry on another onto your flight!
At home, you have your body weight scale that you can use to weigh your luggage. When you’re on your cruise and you’ve bought a bunch of stuff, you may consider using this travel luggage scale to take with you.
And you can use traditional space-saving methods to fit more into your suitcase like using packing cubes like these or compression bags like these and rolling your clothes. But again, watch out for the baggage weight!
Extras of what to pack for Hawaii
Now, when it comes to what to pack for your destination of Hawaii, what should you put on your packing list?!
SUNSCREEN!
This is one thing you absolutely NEED for your cruise to Hawaii!
The Hawaii sun is no joke, and you’ll probably have even more sun on all those sea days as you cross half of the Pacific Ocean.
Have a look here for a few different sunscreen types for Hawaii.
After sunscreen, much of what to pack will depend on what activities you’ll be doing in Hawaii.
If you’re going on shore excursions, you’ll want to pay attention to the recommendations made in the tour descriptions.
If you’ll be doing lots of walking like hiking or sightseeing shore excursions
When you have sightseeing planned that involves a lot of walking, or if you plan on going on a hike or two in Hawaii, consider wearing hiking sandals.
These types of sandals make it so that you don’t have to wear shoes, which makes your feet more breathable. They also will generally take up less space than shoes in your suitcase, and can also mean you need to pack less socks. (One less thing to pack!) Hiking sandals can give you good traction compared to regular sandals or flip flops, and for most popular hikes in Hawaii, they can work out well.
And as mentioned earlier, moisture-wicking shirts like these can be perfect for long hot days that you’ll be sweating a lot.
For more ideas on what to pack for your Hawaii cruise when it comes to hiking, have a look at what to wear hiking in Hawaii.
If you’ll be doing water activities like snorkeling shore excursions
When you have snorkeling activities planned as a shore excursion or on your own, there are a few extra things you may consider aside from a snorkeling set (check out a full-face snorkeling mask perfect for beginners!) and your swimsuit.
In addition to the quick-dry board shorts like these that were mentioned earlier, one of the best things that you can pack when it comes to snorkeling in Hawaii is clothing that will provide you with UV protection!
Once again, that Hawaii sun is no joke!
Wearing a shirt like one of these that offers UV protection from the sun provides a much better guarantee that you will be well-protected. And you don’t have to worry about getting sunburn and continually re-applying sunscreen every 60-90 minutes. When you’re out snorkeling in particular, your entire backside is exposed if you’re wearing just a normal swimsuit. Although you do want to make sure you still apply sunscreen to your exposed skin, the shirt will cover the parts of your body that are most vulnerable to sunburn.
Another item that can be helpful for a cruise to Hawaii is to wear beach shoes like these. This can help to protect your feet from hidden rocks under the sand both on the beach and in the water. It can also be an added layer of protection if you accidentally hit your feet with coral reef. Cuts from coral reef can HURT! Not to mention there’s a risk for getting an infection.
For more ideas on what to pack for your Hawaii cruise when it comes to snorkeling, have a look at what to wear snorkeling in Hawaii.
More things to do near Honolulu cruise port
Are you spending extra time on Oahu once you reach the Honolulu cruise port?
Here are more ways to explore the areas surrounding Honolulu!
More activities:
- Best snorkeling spot in Waikiki (Waikiki is pretty near Honolulu cruise port)
- Best snorkeling spots on Oahu
- Best hiking trails on Oahu
Things to do in…
HAPPY LONG CRUISING TO HAWAII!
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🐠 Here are things you must consider packing!
- Swimsuit or swimming shirt aka rash guard
- rash guard: swim set for women and swim shirt for men
- Water shoes
- Waterproof phone case (so you can capture pictures of fishies underwater!)
- cheapo phone case OR waterproof camera
- I also have this "camera" wrist float to attach to my cheapo waterproof phone case so my phone won't sink to the bottom of the ocean in case I somehow let go of it. (Mine does stay afloat - test this for yourself before completely trusting it!)
- Swimming goggles or snorkeling mask set
- Reef-safe(r) sunscreen
- lightweight travel towel:
- walking sandals:
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