Top 10 Items We Will Never Cruise Without

1. Passport

Regardless of the itinerary, every single staffer at Cruise Critic brings their passport with them when they cruise. Not only are passports required for all sailings outside of our home countries but they also provide us peace of mind even on sailings for which they're not required. Should anything go wrong and we find ourselves outside of our country, we have the one document we'll need to get home.

Additionally, the REAL I.D.-compliant driver's license requirement is on its way -- in May 2023, you'll have to have a REAL I.D. or passport to fly. Save yourself some time in the DMV. If you've already got a passport, it's much easier to bring it and not have to worry about whether you'll be allowed on your plane or not.

Find out if you really need a passport to go on a cruise.

2. Travel Wallet

While we love to push the boundaries (or at least our suitcase seams) by cramming as much as we can into our bags, we know that paring down our wallets is essential when traveling. No reason to bring four credit cards, all the business cards for every doctor we've ever seen and a wallet-sized photo of everyone we know.

Instead, we pick two credit cards (just in case our preferred card doesn't work), a bank card, our driver's license (to use as I.D. in port so that we don't have to take our passport off the ship) and our insurance card and transfer it to a small travel wallet that can fit easily into a front pocket or a small bag.

3. Bathing Suit

A bathing suit is an obvious choice if you're going on a warm-weather cruise. But, cruisers on cold-weather and port day-intensive cruises often choose to leave their swimwear behind, thinking there's no point. Often, they end up regretting it. Hot tubs are awfully inviting when it's cold outside, and what's better than soaking your sore footsies in a massaging whirlpool after a long day exploring ashore?

For cruisers with pre- or post-hotel stays, there might even be a chance to go swimming at your hotel. One swimsuit and a pair of swim trunks don't take up much space, and you just never know when you'll want 'em.

4. Medicine Kit

We may not all have been Boy or Girl Scouts, but we all cruise by the motto "Always be prepared." A good medicine kit, with seasick pills, Advil, diarrhea and cold meds Band-Aids, is never a bad idea, and it'd be fair to say we hit up our kits at least once every cruise.

Leave the kit at home and you may end up paying too much at the cruise ship's sundries store or wasting time in port tracking down a pharmacy. (FYI, we're including personal hygiene items in this category as well; bring plenty of your favorite brand of tampons, pads, etc.)

5. Magnetic Hook

One of our most consistent complaints about cruise ship cabins is the lack of hooks for hanging things, such as sweaters, jackets and baseball caps. Rather than curse the proverbial darkness, we bring our own hooks, little magnetic ones that can hold about 10 pounds or so.

While more and more ships are being created with less steel, you can always find somewhere metallic -- particularly the cabin door -- to stock a hook and voila, you've just increased the cabin's storage!

For more storage ideas, check out the cruise cabin hacks that will change the way you cruise forever.

6. Snacks

We doubt you'll ever need your own snacks on a cruise sea day, but port days are another story. snacks, such as nuts, chips and trail mix, are perfect to carry with you on a long port day. Even if you're doing a lunch-included excursion, you'll often have to wait longer than you'd like before that meal is served. What if you hit traffic or have that are hungry every 20 minutes? We never travel anywhere without a granola bar or bag of M&Ms because you just never know.

7. Night-light

We envy you if you're one of those lucky people who never has to get up in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom. We're not so lucky, and too many stubbed toes have taught us to bring a night-light to keep in the bathroom. Believe us, it's no fun going snorkeling the day after you've smacked your foot against the step into the bathroom. Throbbing toes and snorkel fins do not mix well.

Here are more bathroom hacks to make your cruise ship cabin more livable.

8. Tumbler

One of the most common mistakes people make, wellness-wise, when traveling, is allowing themselves to get dehydrated. We're no exceptions to this and, as a result, we've started carrying a tumbler with us whenever we travel, including on cruise ships.

It's easy to fill with water and ice in the buffet. We can even throw in some Crystal Light mix if we want something other than plain water. It's less expensive than purchasing water, healthier for us than soda and we feel like we're doing good by the planet, too.