One thing I love about cruise ships is that they combine a hotel, a resort lifestyle, the great outdoors, and travel to exciting new locations all in one convenient floating vessel. Of course, that means you have to pack for all those things, too! This is especially true if you’re heading out of a chilly port for warmer weather (like we did when left Texas in December for warmer caribbean temps). We’ve done enough cruises now that I feel pretty competent when it comes to cruise prep, and I today I want to share this printable cruise packing list for kids with you (scroll to the bottom to check it out).
Printable Cruise Packing List for Kids
I’m excited to partner with Carnival Cruiselines on this cruising series. All opinions and experiences are my own.
I also have a list of things you’ll want to make sure you remember to pack. Print your packing planner out, along with my Cruise Budget Planner and Cruise Excursion Planner, and you’ll be good to go!
If this is your first Carnival cruise with kids, you’ll also want to read this guide to cruising with kids on Carnival.
Based on our experiences, here’s a list of things you might want to take on your cruise if you’re cruising with little kids and/or babies:
- Sunscreen (I know, DUH, but it’s expensive when you forget it and have to buy it on the boat)
- Jackets (even if the weather’s going to be warm – it’s windy on the high seas, folks! And don’t forget about weather in the port you depart from – the weather will be similar for the first day, at least, as you sail into warmer weather…unless you’re going to Alaska – which is totally on my “must do” list!)
- Baby carrier
- Umbrella Stroller (super handy for excursions, where a big stroller can be cumbersome)
- Entertainment for the kids (we went tech-free this time, but you might want to load some movies onto a device – streaming is next to impossible on the boat and your TV options will be limited)
- Sippy cups and reusable water bottles
- A watch (the ship operate on SHIP TIME, not necessarily the actual time…so you can set your watch to match the time on board – if your kids will be spending any amount of time alone, put a watch on them)
- Inflatable tub if you need to bathe your baby
- Comfy clothes for playing and traveling
- Back pack or big pool bag – many excursions require you to bring your own towels, water and sunscreen – you’ll need something big to carry them all in.
- Hats & sunglasses
- An extra bathing suit (or two)
- A trash bag to keep dirty clothes in (you can do laundry on the ship, but it’s expensive) – we found that a trash bag gave us a place to keep all the dirty clothes in one place, and then we could just shove it in the suitcase on the way home and dump it right into the washing machine!
- Outfits for Elegant Night (might be called Formal Night) – on a 7-day cruise, there are two of these nights. They’re optional, and the term “elegant” is loosely defined, so don’t stress if you don’t want to buy super fancy outfits…just bring something nice! 🙂 You can read more about the dress codes for these events online.
Those are a few must-haves from my list. I’ve also created a printable cruise packing list that you can download below, too – print one out for each person that you need to pack for!
I hope you’ll use this planning page along with the printable excursion planner and the budget planner to help plan your trip!
I also think you’ll like the posts below if you’ve got cruising on your mind:
