So you just landed a job on a cruise ship and now you need to know what to bring with you, right? If this is your first time away from home for months at a time, trying to figure out how to pack is incredibly daunting.

For my first contract, they told me they would supply uniforms onboard. I packed a single duffle bag of clothing and toiletries and hopped onboard.

I packed totally wrong.

Odds are good you’re flying out to meet this ship. Hopefully you’re getting your luggage reimbursed, but even then, they don’t usually reimburse overweight fees. Additionally, you’ve got to drag all that stuff from the airport to the ship, so I always managed to pack a large suitcase, a carry on suitcase and a backpack.

Also, packing right usually saves you some money in the long run, and that’s what we’re all about here, right?

I started by splitting the essentials and the extras.

Essentials

1. Two Weeks of Socks and Underwear – Ship life is kind of intense and you really don’t want to find you’re down to your last pair after a 16 hour shift of everything breaking and going wrong…. because it will happen. Or you’ll have a wonderful, calm day and go to throw in your laundry and find every other crew member on the ship is trying to do their wash too. Be prepared.

2. Travel Sized Toiletries for USA home ports, Full Sized Toiletries for foreign home ports – If your turn around ports are in the USA, you can find a store to stock up on the full size items when you get there, as long as your travel sized items will last about a week (especially if you’re not American, because you can’t get off the ship until you’ve been through immigration the next time the ship goes back to it’s home port and you receive and I-95). If you’re headed out of the USA, it’s probably worth stocking up on all your favorites, you won’t find them abroad or they’ll cost an arm and a leg.

3. 4-6 T-Shirts – You are going to spent most of your time in your work uniform, but there are crew bars where everyone spends the evenings. That being said, you don’t have to be super fashionable there. Everyone is recycling their outfits before long anyway – unless you’re cast, but to be honest, I’ve never understood how the heck they pack so much.

4. 2 Pairs of Jeans – See note about t-shirts.

5. Sweatshirt – Ships are freezing. The A/C never gets shut off. Bring a sweatshirt.

6. Bathing Suit – For Caribbean/European/South Pacific itineraries.

7. 3 Pairs of Uniform Pants
8. 3 Black Polo Shirts
9. 1 Black Cardigan
10. 1 Belt
11. Steel Toed Shoes – I always wore these while I traveled since they weigh a ton and I didn’t want all that weight in my suitcase.
12. Sneakers
13. Flip Flops
14. 1 Formal Dress – Ships have formal nights. If you are in a position that allows you to hang out in public areas, you may need to bring your own formal dress. They may also issue you what you have to wear. They tried that with a hideous blue wrap around dress for a while at HAL that made all the girls look like they were wearing polyester tarps – they went back to letting us wear our own pretty quickly. Officers often have dress uniforms supplied to them. Ask the office about this when you ask about your regular uniform.
15. High Heels
16. Stockings
17. Gym Clothing/PJs – I try to pick clothes that can do double duty.
18. 1 Pair of Shorts
19. Work Tools (Gloves, Crescent Wrench, Flashlight, Multi-tool) – Fun fact, you can carry on any crescent wrench under 7”. A standard crescent wrench is 8”. Also, make sure you check your multi-tool! If you’re a stage manager, leave your kit at home. All the office supplies, medical supplies and basic tools are already onboard for you to use.
20. Hard Drives with TV shows and Movies – Don’t drag a ton of DVDs around with you. Buy a hard drive and rip them. It’s way easier and you’ll make friends onboard by trading shows. Going to the bar and watching TV are about the only thing to do in the evenings.
21. Winter Jacket – for cold itineraries, including Alaska in the summer.

Extras:

1. Extra Shirts
2. Wii
3. Keurig – So, full disclosure, Keurigs are not allowed in your room. So I would hide mine during cabin inspections. You can’t buy one in port and walk onboard with it; it will be taken away. Having one shipped to you is iffy. However, I was never stopped bringing one onboard in my initial luggage (3 different times).

4. Keurig Pods
5. Books
6. Notecards and Stamps for Writing Home
7. Hand Soap – Arguably, this shouldn’t be an extra. You’ll want it in your bathroom pretty shortly after you get onboard.

8. Laundry Detergent
9. Laundry Basket – definitely the pop up kind.
10. Any extra clothing I kind of wanted to bring – sundresses, extra pair of high heels, etc.

It’s really worth Googling to see if there’s a shopping center or grocery store near your home port in the US. I know Fort Lauderdale has a Publix and Marshalls that are accessible by a crew van from that terminal. You can get to a K-Mart in New York City pretty easily. If you’re on an Alaskan run, Juneau and Ketchikan both have Walmarts with shuttles to them (though it’s easier to get to the Juneau Walmart).

My final piece of advice is to put a bottle of water into your luggage. By the time you drag all that stuff into your cabin, you’ll be parched and if it’s your first contract, you don’t want to be trying to figure out where you can get a glass of water in a crew area before you even unpack. It’s a miserable feeling.

Happy sailing!