Packing

The photo below has items that always get packed for long trips on a cruise ship. We’re moving from a 3000q ft. house into a 350q ft suite that we’ll live in for 38 days. Being organized and minimizing clutter is critical.

Beginning with the lint roller and moving clockwise: the lint roller serves its usual purpose, but also works to clean off furniture, pick up particles in drawers, a sheet torn off and folded with the sticky side out cleans inside the case of AirPods wonderfully….a portable speaker just makes music in the cabin sound better…bleach and stain stick does what you’d expect…a multiple port charger with a long cord means we can use the plug behind the bed or desk and only have to reach back there once…post-it notes come in handy to leave messages for each other on the mirror over the desk…universal plug…green plastic pill box (we have an assortment in several sizes) corals any thing in addition to pills…bug spray…an assortment of wall hooks, command removable ones and magnetic, the walls of the ship are metal, these we use all over the suite to hold stuff off the floor and give us more hanging space for clothes so we’re not both trying to move around in the closet at the same time; Swiss army knife for all the unexpected needs, just don’t put it in a carryon…duct tape has come in handy to fix a tear in a leather jacket, repair luggage, attach the sparkle decoration on a dress shoe, hold cabin dresser drawers shut during uncomfortably high seas…the blue mesh shower bag we hang inside the shower and store toiletries, there’s never enough space for shampoo and such…the battery operated candle makes for a wonderful night light and it can be romantic…over-the-door hook for hats, jackets, beach bags, whatever…pink highlighter keeps important information in the ship’s newsletter front and center like what time the ship will leave dock so we don’t end up watching it sail away…clothes pins, remember the days of hanging laundry outdoors, they work on the clothes line in the bathroom but also keep curtains closed tight and hold silky or thin strap dresses and tops on the hanger…metal clips do the same and gather up all the paper items the ship delivers to the room…we use hand sanitizer wipes everywhere, all the time, the best defense to avoid getting sick on a cruise ship is keeping your hands and surfaces clean…not in this photo is a white 12 pocket over-the-door shoe hanger that we don’t use for shoes but as a place to store various sundry things. Organized and getting excited about the trip…