On our second cruise of 2022, we decided to try a near impossible feat: to pack carry-on only for an 8 night trip (3 nights in Miami and 5 on a cruise ship). We do our best not to overpack when we travel, but even just fitting the essentials can be tough. Sacrifices must be made. Risks must be taken. Hearts must be broken.
Aside from being dramatic, we are here today to talk about what we packed for our trip to Miami and our cruise to Key West, Mexico and the Bahamas. Now, you probably already know the basics of what to pack for a tropical trip (swimsuits, shorts, toothbrush, PJs) and we’re not going to list everything we took. [If you’re interested in seeing everything, check out our YouTube channel for a pack with me video.] But we do want to talk about those must haves and along with items we do not recommend, especially when packing carry-on only.
Our Must Haves
Sunscreen. Do not underestimate the power of the sun, especially on a tropical vacation such as this one. Use sunscreen and use it often. If you need any motivation just know that we both got fried extra crispy in the Bahamas. Mal- My skin burned for days afterward and taking a shower was torture. Additionally all of my “tan” itched and peeled off over the course of two weeks, leaving me with wonky tan lines.
All of the NCL employees reminded us over and over about sunscreen and now we understand why. We actually purchased our sunscreen in Miami so we could bring a larger bottle. It probably cost more than it would have at home, but airline liquid limitations make it challenging to take enough sunscreen in a carry-on bag. If you are packing carry-on only, you may want to consider doing the same. We would, however, recommend that you purchase sunscreen before getting on the cruise ship.
Dry bags. If you’re going to spend time at the pool or the beach, and we assume you are if you are going on such a trip as this, consider packing dry bags. These are handy to carry with you to keep items dry (and mostly sand free) when you’re near the water. They’re also good to put damp swimsuits in if you have to pack them before they are dry. They keep the moisture in and prevent anything else in your suitcase from getting wet. These bags are easily packable and can double as a packing cube if need be.
Magnetic Hooks. Most cabins have very little hanging space outside of the closet. However, most of the walls are magnetic. We used magnetic hooks to hang a lot of our stuff to get it off the very little counter and floor space we had. These were very useful on this trip to hang our purses, backpacks, wet swimsuits, and jackets. In some cases, we did have to use two of the hooks to hold certain items (like backpacks). If you may be hanging heavier items, make sure to get stronger magnets.
A white shirt. (If you’re sailing with NCL) Norwegian has a few themed party nights, but the most famous is the glow party. A lot of people attend this blacklight event and we had a lot of fun. Take a white (or light color) shirt that you can wear on other occasions, so you’re not packing a shirt just for one night. If you’re interested, they do have a glow paint party ahead of time where you can decorate a shirt with neon paint (we assume they provide you with a shirt, but we’re not sure if there are extra costs involved with that).
Don’t Pack
An outfit for everyday. As a general rule, especially when packing carry-on only, you should never pack a different outfit for everyday of a trip. Instead take pieces you can mix and match. You won’t need as many day to night outfits as you might think. Take 2 nicer outfits/dresses for dinner (you won’t need them every night) and call it a day. Mal- I packed 7 shirts (though I only wore 5- see below), 3 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of pants and 2 dresses. That worked out great for me. Court- Linen shorts (like the kind at Old Navy, not fancy Linen) are a great bet. They look slightly nicer than blue jean shorts and go with many things. Also, if you pack a lot of basic color items, you can mix and match them a lot easier to create more outfits from different pieces. My rule of thumb is that if I cannot wear it at least twice, I do not need to take it.
Easily wrinkled fabrics. Mal- One of my biggest packing regrets was taking easily wrinkled fabrics. I detest wrinkles and, though I had my Downy wrinkle spray, it wasn’t enough for some of the shirts I brought. I ended up not wearing two of the shirts I took because they were too wrinkled. Rooms on cruise ships don’t have ironing boards and you’re not supposed to bring on irons or steamers as they are a fire hazard. You can send your laundry off for a fee, but we would recommend just leaving those easily wrinkled items at home.
A bunch of shoes. When packing light, shoes are one of the first items to be sacrificed. On a trip such as this one, when you are likely packing sandals and more compact shoes, you won’t have to worry as much about shoe space. However, keep in mind that some activities and excursions require closed-toed shoes. If you need to pack tennis shoes, for example, you will probably want to wear them on and off the ship to save space in your bags. We would recommend no more than 4 pairs of shoes, 3 if you can handle it.
Mal- I had three pairs of sandals (one for pool/beach, one nicer pair and one everyday pair) plus one pair of sneakers. This worked great for me and I wore all of these. Had I been more pressed for space, I could have swapped my pool sandals for rubber flip flops. Court- Pair up your shoes with your outfits ahead of time too so you can make sure the shoes go with a variety of outfits. You do also want to make sure that if you have wet or sandy shoes that you still have another pair to wear. While you want to limit your shoes, you want to be sure you have a pair to wear to dinner if one is covered with sand (we learned this on our trip out west when our sandals were covered in dust and we still had to wear them out to eat).
Formalwear. To save even more space, we opted not to pack any formalwear. Norwegian doesn’t have a captain’s dinner like we’ve heard other cruise lines do, but people do tend to get dressed up a night or two. It can be fun to get fancied up, but when you’re packing carry-on only you need to consider the space you’ll be losing. Not only will you have to pack another dress, suit, etc. but you will also probably have to pack another pair of shoes. To us, it was not worth losing more space. Court- I took a dress that doubled as my beach cover up and wore it to dinner on a night before we were in the Bahamas where I wore it off the boat over my bathing suit. I couldn’t wear it after that because it was wet, so make sure you time your outfits accordingly so you can get the most utility from them.
Packing carry-on only isn’t easy and, honestly, we don’t like to do it. (You will rarely see us pack carry-on only for trips that last more than a few days.) Unless you are required to take a smaller bag, we wouldn’t stress too much about it. The fee to check a bag is typically only $30-40 (unless it is overweight) per flight. If you don’t think you can make carry-on only work, budget in that extra $60 to check your luggage. And honestly, sometimes trying to pack super light is more trouble than it’s worth. There can be a middle ground between minimalist packing and overpacking.
Our McTravels 