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Well Packed Shore Excursion Bag For Cruisers

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You are cruising for your vacation and now you have committed to getting off the Cruise Ship and heading out onto dry land, how will you spend your day? Will you be shopping or touring or going on an adventure? Will you be headed to a Zipline? Cave Tubing or maybe even snorkeling? One thing is for certain, no matter what you do, you need to plan ahead, and take a few things with you when you venture off the ship to have the best experience you can.  We visit and tour every Port of Call.  We love seeing new places and learning about the cultures, and the kids love adventure, so an opportunity is knocking on our cabin door each time we reach our destinations.

So what is the well-packed shore excursions bag for cruisers including inside? I’d like to think we were well prepared.

Here’s what we pack in our bags to hit the Port of Call with all high notes as we lavishly live cruising and Ports Of Call out loud and share what we believe a well-packed shore excursion bag for cruisers should consist of!

What Kind Of Back For Shore Excursions 

Bags are truly a matter of taste and preference. DO you like shoulder sacks or do you prefer back packs? We honestly prefer to have our hands-free, and quite often that comes from a habit of holding our younger children’s hands.  We like being able to shop and pick items up without adjusting bags, so our answer is easy- a back pack, here’s why.

It’s quite simple, you will be off your home away from home for just a bit, so you need a few basics, but what should you take? First and foremost invest in a great backpack, one that is slash proof, heavy duty, and has many inside pockets to keep yourself organized.

After many bags, back packs, brands, etc.,  we just love on our PacSafe Backpacks, they are slash-proof, have reliable zippers, many pockets inside, RFID protectors, comfortable and adjustable straps and the outside pockets are plentiful, yet keep things in them.

I have had the best luck with this brand when traveling. You simply need a bag that you can carry, that is comfortable, not bulky and has several pockets in order to keep things compact yet organized.

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Shore Excursion Bag For Those With Medical Problems 

Next, plan for mini emergencies. In our situation, our son has many illnesses, as well as allergies, so EPI Pens were the first thing we tossed in our bag, as well as Latex Free bandages, and a mini medical pack, that included Acetaminophen.

Items That Everyone Should Have in Those Shore Excursion Bags

1) Pack that bottled water.  We made sure we got ours on the Cruise ship before we left, we filled our bottles, and took them with us for the day.  We each had one, and we each carried a bag.  We did find that we could purchase bottled water in the one Duty-Free Store, and it was only $1 and chilled, but this was the exception, as most places did not offer that option or that great price.

2) Make sure to pack your sunglasses

3) A Hat

4) And of course don’t forget your Towel (Carnival provides these in your room, no extra charge, unless of course, you don’t return them, then they will cost you $22 each) if you beach-bound, or doing any activity that involves water unless the excursion already states they provide towels.

4) We generally wore athletic shoes as we were hiking and visiting ruins, but flip flops fit quite easily into the backpacks without taking up space.

5) Make sure you pack either Repellant for Mosquitoes or find bands or tags that repel.  We tried a few brands of bands and stickers, both failed our needs and we did get a bite or two(Ouch).

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6) In your bag, have a way to carry your ID’s from the ship(Sign and Sail) as you need these to enter again and don’t forget your passports(if you are out of the country).

7) We additionally made sure we wore both a watch and used our phones, but remember to go into your phone settings and change your phone to maintain the time you have on the ship.

Settings —>General—>Date & Time —>Set Automatically (turn this off)

Otherwise, your phone will automatically turn  to the countries/island’s time and your chance missing your ship(trust me, we learned quickly through a mistake)

8) Pack Plenty of money($$$) 1’s for tips for anywhere you might be going(you can always break bills in the Casino on your ship) and make sure to have bigger bills as Credit Cards are not accepted everywhere.

9) A camera or your phone, whatever you are using to grab those photos.

10) And don’t forget a portable charger, as you may drain your phone.

A Well Packed Shore Excursion Bag For Cruisers

Just Little Extras For Your Shore Excursion Bag 

I always had one zip lock bag with us, carrying anything important and it kept things dry, however, the better backpacks are waterproof or at least water-resistant anyway.
Chocolate melts in the heat, gum gets gooey, so your best bet is hard mints if you are looking for something to enjoy.

Most of our adventures offered food, we just could not all eat as our son had food allergies so we passed on the option.  We also realized that we would only be off the ship for a while and had been eating so much a bit of non-eating was a welcome change(this was us, though, it may not be how everyone feels)

Packing a bag ahead makes the day go easy, as everything you need is at your fingertips.  You will see everyone you are around with some sort of bag, remember, that if you pack a heavy bag, you have to lug it, so pack wisely.  You might not need towels or flip flops but consider your days’ itinerary and then pack.

There was not a day that went by on our excursions that we were not thankful to have thought about our bags ahead.

Pack It Ahead Of Time

If I can offer one other piece of advice it is to unpack your bag as soon as you get in, and repack it immediately, because once you are back on the ship, you are busy, and the night’s activities will definitely get ahead of you and your best set intentions.

The ports of call roll in, early each day, and that little bit of sleep may leave you needing some much-needed items that are in your room! Here’s to lavishly living shore excursions out loud, and being a cruiser with a well-packed shore excursion bag! ~Dana

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Your advice to make sure you pack some lunch to bring with you sounds like a really good idea. I would imagine that most of the food provided on any excursion would be relatively expensive, so bringing some with you would help you save some money. I would also imagine that finding a shore excursion of your own would potentially be another way to save some money on an excursion.

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  6. I love your tips, I will take notes of this post. My son will be son on an excursion and this is a very helpful post for me.

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  9. I have never been on a cruise before but that bag would be awesome for my medical supplies. I need to get one to haul around all of my necessary items, it looks perfect for that! Thanks for sharing!

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  14. These are some really awesome tips to give when going on a excursion, you want to make sure you are packed for anything that may come you way and I believe about being ready.

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  15. Really helpful article, especially for someone who cruises! Thanks so much for sharing – a really important aspect of packing correctly 🙂

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  16. These are all great tips. The thing about cruises is that you have to pack differently for the cruises AND you have to think about the excursions. These are great tips.
    Paula Schuck recently posted..Lentil Bowl RecipeMy Profile

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    • It is true that you have to pack for the cruise and then break down into another excursion bag. We try to keep the excursions similar so we are not killing ourselves. Like beach day, snorkeling, etc. Or adventures, then that is a whole different bag–
      Dana Vento recently posted..Mechanic ResurrectionMy Profile

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  17. Repellant is the most important thing for me besides sunscreen – I seem to be constantly bitten wherever I go! Such a thorough list, I’m passing it to my mum as she is cruising for the first time in October!

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    • Funny story about repellent. We were in the heart of the Jungle, headed to a Pond (don’t ask) we had on Mosquito bracelets.. FYI they don’t work.. Bitten was an understatement.. It was Hello Benadryl..
      Dana Vento recently posted..Mechanic ResurrectionMy Profile

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  18. This would have been a great post a few months ago when I was on my cruise to Bermuda and Bahamas! I always forget my charger when I go on shore!

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  19. We haven’t been on a cruise yet so reading all these tips and information would be very helpful for us. But on all occasions that we have traveled it’s very important pack some water and snacks for the children!
    Tatanisha Pitts-Worthey recently posted..Kmart – May 1 – May 7My Profile

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  20. If you have multiple ports of call on your cruise, maybe make up a separate list for each day before you even leave home. Then when you’re on the ship packing for the next port day, pull out the packing list for that particular port. (This is particularly helpful for kids who will have their own bags- they can pack them themselves!)

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    • I supposed, but kids are kids and when they are excited to head off to the next adventure they often forget things (been there done this multiple times) — I just make sure to recheck the bags so we don’t have a day without an EPI Pen or the benadryl.
      Dana Vento recently posted..DIY Spring Cleaning House PlantsMy Profile

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  22. These are awesome tips for packing a excursion bag for any cruiser. It is so important to make sure you have the bottled water for everyone and cash just in case. There is some places that don’t take credit cards like you said so you should be prepared. I always carry a couple extra zip loc baggies with me. Thanks for the tips.

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  23. How timely! A lot of my extended family will be leaving for a cruise this weekend. I’m going to pass this post on to them. Thank you!

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  24. Yes packing water is a must!!! Why not bring free water instead of paying ridiculous tourist prices at shore!!

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  25. Yes packing water is a must!!! Why not bring free water instead of paying ridiculous tourist prices at shore!

    Reply

  30. Sounds like you know your stuff. We’ve never been on a cruise before, so when we do, I’ll make sure to pack all this stuff for an excursions. Thank you!

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  40. I am an overpacker. I pack extra for my extras! Haha. That’s how sure I want to be when I go out of town or anywhere else for that matter. These are awesome tips.

    Reply

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