Traveling is fun they said. Visiting new places, learning new cultures, and trying different foods are all part of the fun. Getting there sometimes is not the most fun part. You as a crew member will become a traveler, like it or not (you should hopefully love it!) and by being a crew member working on a cruise ship, traveling will become a big part of your life. Wherever the ship is located, you will need to get there and for most of us, traveling by plane will be the only way.
Packing your life away to join a cruise ship for contracts up to 10 months, is tough. It’s hard to imagine what to bring, and even more difficult, to make sure it all fits inside your luggage.
These are some tips from years of traveling that can help you have a more pleasant flight experience. If you are a crew member or travel often, you might already have some of these items.
Table of Contents
Collapsible Luggage
Crew cabins are small and space is at a premium. If you are lucky, you might have your own cabin but the majority of the crew will share a cabin with 1, 2, or even 3 roommates. When it comes to space, cruise ship cabins for crew members will only have the essentials, and you have to be very creative with space. The first thing I recommend is to bring collapsible luggage. If you can, bring only one piece of luggage, but more than likely, due to weight constraints, the crew often brings two pieces. If that’s your case, bring one small case that can fit inside the other, so that way you only have to store one piece of luggage if both pieces are collapsible, great, even better because they can fit in tight corners where a hardback or non-collapsible luggage would not fit.
Example of Collapsible Luggage on Amazon:
You can find these luggage handy on Amazon and they can be delivered to the ship’s address if you need new luggage before signing off.
Packing Cubes
Packing cubes can make packing a breeze. When packing for a cruise ship contract, it’s hard to imagine what you might need. Your ship might be in the Caribbean for the winter season but then halfway through your contract, you switch itineraries and end up in Alaska. Although you would be in Alaska during the summer, it still gets chilly, and if you would need to be prepared.
Example of Packing Cubes on Amazon:
Packing light but smart is essential, and packing cubes can be a great way to organize your mess. Having packing cubes for different types of clothes can save precious space and keep your items organized in your limited-space luggage.
Vacuum Storage Bags
This is another great alternative to packing cubes. These airtight storage bags are great for big, bulky clothes like sweaters, jackets, or anything too fluffy. If you feel like your luggage hasn’t reached the weight limit but you have no more space, try one of these. You will be surprised to see how much more stuff you can fit in.
Example of Vaccum Storage Bags on Amazon:
Portable Luggage Scale
Oftentimes people don’t realize that their luggage is overweight, and who wants to rearrange it at the airport or spend that kind of money paying for overweight fees? It’s expensive!!
Example of Portable Luggage Scales on Amazon:
Finding out that your luggage is overweight at the airport is the worst thing it can happen before your flight. Having to open your luggage and rearrange things, or even worse, bring them as carry-on luggage is not a pleasant situation. To avoid this, either before joining the ship or before going on vacation at the end of your contract, have one of these handy luggage scale tools.
The worst thing is trying to find a scale around the ship to weigh your luggage, did I mention you will most likely have to bring the luggage upstairs more than once, just to weigh it?! These are small and they saved me a lot of time and anxiety before going to the airport, so make sure you have one.
Luggage Padlocks
If traveling with valuable things, be sure you have a luggage lock for your bag, and if traveling to the United States, make sure that you have a TSA (Transportation Security Administration) approved lock. These locks can be opened by security in case they need to inspect your luggage without damaging it.
“TSA has worked with several companies to develop locks that can be opened by security officers using universal “master” keys so that the locks may not have to be cut. These locks are available at most airports and many travel stores nationwide. The packaging on the locks indicates whether they can be opened by TSA.”
Source: TSA
Luggage Tags
In a world where thousands of people travel every day, the amount of luggage that can get lost is very small compared to the number of people that get their bags without problems but trust me, as an avid traveler, I had my bags lost on a few occasions. Having luggage that is very similar to every other luggage (black, grey, red) can be hard to recognize when trying to locate lost luggage. Make sure to add some stickers, some unique identification like ribbons, stickers, and of course, the trusty luggage tag with the ship’s address (Port Agent’s address) in case they get lost.
Check these out at Amazon:
Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones
Noise-canceling headphones are a must during long trips abroad. The peace you get when you turn these on is very relaxing. Not having to listen to the plane engine roaring, people talking, or baby crying, during those long flights where you are already cramped on a tiny seat, the food is mediocre and the air is dry. Long trips (for me, anything over 10 hours) can become very tiring and I always bring my trusty companion with me.
Get these on Amazon:
I currently use the Sony Headphones WH-1000XM3 but there are so many different models and prices for every budget. The best in the category is the Bose Headphones.
Neck Pilow and Eye Mask
Some people swear that travel pillows make their flight much more bearable and some say that they don’t notice much of a difference at all. For me, it helps initially, but after a while, you get tired and the body doesn’t respond to it at all. What I really like is having an eye mask that you can just put on and don’t have to worry about being disturbed when people turn the lights on. Although I can’t sleep for long stretches on planes, having these eye masks helps me to catch short naps to make the long flights more bearable.
Portable Travel Footrest
These footrests are amazing and can help you rest your legs during long flights. I have used these on many international, long-distance flights and it truly makes a difference. Sometimes you can’t get in a good enough position to relax and you notice your legs getting tired. These can help by having a mini “hammock” under your legs, helping to spread the pressure, and giving you some relief. Definitely recommended!
Ear Plugs for Sensitivity to Pressure “Airplane Ears.”
How many of you suffer from “airplane ears?” I used to be one of those people who every time the plane took off and also during landing, I would feel the pressure building up inside my ear. Sometimes it would hurt, I would hear pops and my hearing started to diminish, and sometimes I could not hear at all. You may also notice that some babies start crying during landings and take-offs due to this issue.
Sometimes this feeling of ears being clogged would last for days and I would try every technique available, yawning, chewing gum, trying to plug my nose and blowing slowly, etc. Now I don’t have this issue most of the time but when I start feeling like the pressure is building up, I use these little airplane earplugs that can help to stop the pressure from building up.
If you also suffer from the same issue, make sure that you have one of these with you in your luggage They can help you avoid feeling like your ears are going to burst up at any moment.
Electronics Bag
Traveling with electronics requires a lot of cables. Phone chargers, USB cables, laptop chargers, earbuds, and USB sticks among many other things. It can be hard to find what you are looking for when you are on the plane and the bags are stowed away. Having these little bags with you in your hand luggage makes it easier to find what you are looking for without hassle.
Extra Juice for your Electronics – Powerbank
In a world where we are connected to the internet 24/7, with more of our devices running on battery, there will be times when you will be desperately looking for an outlet to charge your devices. Some modern airplanes have outlets in the seats but you should never trust that the airplanes will have it. In order to avoid being out of power during a long flight, make sure that you have a trusty power bank charged and ready to go when you need it. Trust me you don’t want to be stuck on a plane for 10 hours without any entertainment.
This happened to me on a flight from Brazil to Miami. My seat was the lucky one where the entertainment system (movies, music, games) was not working and I didn’t have a laptop, iPhone, iPad, iNothing. That was the worst and longest flight of my life!
Final Words
Traveling is fun and the excitement of traveling to join your cruise ship, and your future home away from home is very exciting, especially if you’re going on an itinerary where the ports of call are places you’ve never been before. If you are getting ready to join your ship and have a long flight, make sure that you have everything ready with you to minimize the issues along the way, but trust me that issues will happen but at least you will be prepared for it. Enjoy the journey!
If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t walk run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means keep moving.
Martin Luther King Jr.