Packing for a 7 Days Caribbean Cruise

 Hey everyone! Today I'm finally sharing what I packed for my 7 day Caribbean cruise. If you've been following the travel series I've been doing, you probably know that the cruise went to Grand Turk, Saint-Thomas, San Juan and Half Moon Cay.

While I have a bit of experience packing for backpacking and for week trips in the city, I have never been on a cruise and didn't know what to expect at first. I usually try my best to pack as light as possible, which I quickly understood can be a challenge when cruising. As per my usual, I did loads of research before the trip to know what I should pack, what mistakes to avoid, what to expect, etc. I really like the cruisecritic site for that. It has helped tremendously.

Now if you're not familiar with cruises, you should know that some cruise lines have a dress code at dinner and hold formal nights in the dinning room. Therefore, the planning and packing is a little different. Basically, in my case with Holland America, there were 2 formal nights, a smart casual dress code at dinner and we did 4 tropical port stops. We did 2 beach days, 1 sightseeing /walking day and 1 snorkeling day. So for me, I needed active wear, beachwear, formal wear, smart casual clothes, etc. Also the ships are quite cool because of the air-conditioning, which means I had to plan a few cardigans as well so that I wouldn't be cold. With all this being said I found myself in need to pack a bunch of stuff in a relatively small suitcase (medium size).  To make sure I had everything, I also tweaked my usual packing list to include my cruising necessities. Here's what I packed :

Here is my full cruise packing list. I suggest clicking on the image to enlarge it and see the full version. 

Notes :

- The thermal cups were intended to be filled at the buffet with water or coffee so that I could bring them with me around the ship. That didn't end up happening, but I'll explain that soon.

- We always bring a dry bag whenever we go snorkeling or to the beach. The proximity of water to our electronics stresses me out (especially on boats) so it's always nice to have them secure in the bag.

- The extra towel I brought was for my hair. I always put my hair up in a towel after I shower and I need two towels for that. In most hotels (and on cruise ships) they only provide you with 1 towel per person. I didn't want to be inconsiderate and make another person's towel cold and wet with my hair so I brought an extra one. This one is on the thinner side meaning that it doesn't take that much space. Also I prefer a thinner towel for that purpose anyway.

- The over the door shoe organizer was to store small items in the bathroom. I've seen this tip on multiple websites and it's been a life saver. There isn't all that much counter space in the tiny bathroom of the cabin. Therefore, with two grown women in one cabin, it could easily have become a disaster zone. The over the door shoe organizer kept everything neat and easy to reach. I would recommend this tip to everyone!

- I made a cruise folder containing our travel information, cruise boarding passes, a packing list, deck maps, etc. I also brought a dry erase marker for the checklist.

I think I did pretty good on this. Considering everything I packed, I didn't overpack a whole lot. I guess planning does pay off in the end! I had planned most dinner outfits in advance, something I never do, but it was well worth it for the cruise.

- I didn't use the thermal cups because they reeked of plastic. I should have tested them out beforehand. I totally would've used them otherwise.
- I didn't wear 1 bikini top, 2 t-shirts, 2 tank tops, 1 pair of jean shorts and a fabric bra. I knew going in that there were probably too many of those in my suitcase to begin with. I decided to go a little over since I didn't know how hot it would be, how often I would get wet, etc. Also I wanted a little more options. Thankfully all these items pack quite small meaning it wasn't a huge waste of space.
- I didn't need my rain jacket, yay! We got lucky and had only about 5 minutes of rain in Grand Turk and that was it for the whole week!
- I didn't use my travel pillow because it was a 4 hour direct flight. I wouldn't bring it next time unless it was a long haul flight.
- I didn't use my crocs and my fancier flip-flops. I found that my other four pairs of shoes were more than enough.
- I didn't use the small camera, I ended up using my phone instead when I didn't want to bring my big camera.
- I brought way too much sunscreen, but looking on the bright side, I didn't burn which means better safe than sorry! That's also why I didn't use my after-sun lotion.
- I didn't wear three pieces of jewelry. I just never found a moment to wear those particular pieces.

So as you can see, I always come prepared when it comes to medication. I guess you could expect nothing else from a pharmacy student :p I also brought some prescription anti-histamine, but since it has all my info on it I left it out of the picture. Also, I have Zantac in the Tylenol bottle, not Tylenol. I couldn't find a small travel container of Zantac so I just put it in there.

Since cruises are quite a bit more formal than the type of travel I usually do, I brought a lot more makeup than I normally would. I found that both small palettes worked really well for my needs. In hindsight, I could've brought only one blush, and a few less makeup brushes and I would've been just fine. Oh well, live and learn!

Toiletries

Last but not least, toiletries! I brought a Sonia Kashuk bag to put my toiletries in right before I left. It was half off (score!) so I decided to give it a try. I haven't had this style of bag in the past, but I have found that I really enjoy how many pockets they have. It's really easy to find everything and the smaller pockets hold small items very nicely. This way, they aren't swimming around with the larger items. Note :  I also brought a nail clipper, but it's back in the bathroom already.

Again, I'm pretty happy to see that I used most of what I had packed! Let's review what I didn't use :
- Blotting sheets : my skin simply wasn't that oily this week. I guess I couldn't have known that in advance.
- Nail file : I didn't need it this week. Always good to have one in case though.
- Bubble bath : I was planning on taking a bath during the week since we had one in the cabin. It didn't end up happening since I didn't find the bathroom all that inviting.
- Cuticle butter and nail polishes : I decided to only paint my toe nails during the cruise. I felt like I didn't want to spend time messing around with polish on my fingers and stuff. I only changed it once so I only used 1 nail polish.
- Makeup remover : I never did anything extreme enough with my eyes that the Bioderma couldn't take care of.
- Lipikar and Cicaplast : My skin was not itchy this week and I didn't get hurt so these weren't necessary.
- Face scrub : I'm lazy what can I say!
- Hair clip : One was enough.

---

That's it! That's all I brought with me on my cruise! I hope this detailed post has helped any of you who might be cruising soon! If you have any tips for my next cruise I'd love it if you could leave them in the comments! Let me know if you'd like to see more posts like this one in the future.

Backpacking tips : how to pack for South East Asia

So I'm leaving for a 10 weeks backpacking trip to South East Asia in less than twelve hours. This means that my bag is ready to go, so I thought I would share how I fit all the stuff I need in there! :D

Backpack
First, here is my backpack. It's an Outbound 55L backpack I got from Canadian Tire. I think it was around 79$. It has a front load pocket which I can access the bottom of the pack through, ajustable straps, padded back, internal frame and side pockets, to only name a few. It's perfect for a female's size in my opinion and it is very comfortable and affordable. It fits all my stuff perfectly, even though I have a tendency to over pack in terms of clothing.

This is everything I am packing into my back. Only thing that will not go into the pack is what I'm wearing on the plane (number 8 + a pair of leggings and a cami) and number 9, which will go into my boyfriend's pack.

As you can see, I divide my clothing into large freezer bags for easy packing and to help me find what I'm looking for quickly. It's neat and efficient when packing. I also divide the clothes by type, in this case : underwear, tops and bottoms.

What I'm bringing

1) Toiletry bag, if you want to see what's in there, check out the detailed post I made about it here

2) This a clothing bag, it contains all my tops

3) Hiking shoes

4) This bag holds yarn to make friendship bracelets to keep me entertained

5) Rain jacket, there is also my hoodie to the right, but you can't really see it because it's black

6) Toilet paper in a ziplock bag. Trust me, you will need it in South East Asia :P

7) This is another clothing bag containing underwear, socks, pjs and bathing suits

8) Croc shoes; those will be worn on the plane

9) First aid kit

10) Travel towel

11) Last clothing bag containing bottoms

12) Flip Flops

13) Sunscreen

A Closer Look 

First Aid Kit

This is my first aid kit, including medication, other useful accessories and insect repellent. It's quite large, but considering the duration of the trip, I don't think it's too much. We pretty much have everything covered.

I put everything in two makeup bags for easy packing. The larger the items you put in your pack, the trickier it will be since it doesn't leave many options. This way we can pretty much jam these in any available corners of the pack. We can also put only bare necessities in one of them for treks and day trips, which means we don't carry a bulky first aid kit everywhere.

Clothes

As I mentioned, I divided all my clothes by category into freezer bags. I rolled everything up in the bags to make them as compact as possible.

I have three bathing suit tops, 2 bottoms, 1 pair of pj bottoms, two tube tops. Not pictured : I also have 18 pairs of underwear in there (perhaps overkill, but I'm leaving for 72 days and hopefully I won't need to do the laundry too many times), 7 pairs of socks and 5 bras

I'm bringing 3 pairs of shorts (two of which are jeans material), a pair of hiking capris, a pair of black leggings, a jeans skirt and a pair of jeggings.

I might be bringing too many tops here, but again, 10 weeks is a long time and it all fits :P These are all tank tops. I also have a short sleeved shirt, but I was wearing it when I took the pictures. I figured since it will be really hot in SE Asia I don't really want to wear too many times the same shirt before washing it. These are all cotton and quite light weight.

How to pack it all in a backpack

It might seem like a lot to put inside my small backpack, so I thought I'd show you all how you can achieve the same :) 

First, I fit my toiletry bag at the bottom of the bag. It's the heaviest item in my pack and I like to have quick access to it. Since my pack has a front load pocket, I can still reach it easily even though it's at the bottom of the pack.

Then, I fit my hiking shoes on top before I zip up the pocket. They are heavy and kinda dirty so I don't want them in contact with my clothes. I don't mind having them touch my toiletry bag since it's plastified.

Then, I start filling the upper part of my pack through the opening at the top. I start by placing two of the freezer bags containing the clothing standing up side by side. 

Then, I place the third freezer bag flat over the two other bags. I also add my sunscreen (which is protected by a cosmetic bag in case it explodes) on top.

Then I just keep adding lighter things over until the pack is completely filled. Here, I added the yarn and my rain jacket which I rolled up.

Lastly, before I close the pack, I added my backpacking towel on top. (I can't wait to give it a try, I brought and extra large and was really surprised of how big it is even though it packs really tiny).

Now that the main compartment is filled, I place the toilet paper in the pocket inside the hood of my pack. That way I can reach it really easily at all time. Last thing you want is to dig inside your pack every bathroom break!

As of right now, I only have one of the side pockets filled. It contains my flip flops. Again, easily accessible, which is great.

This is how the pack looks when it's finished and full. I weighs 20,4 pounds which I think is very reasonable for a 10 weeks trip. Last time I went on a backpacking trip, I stayed 1 month and my pack weighed 17 pounds (at the time I also thought it was quite light). Anyhow, 20 pounds is quite easy for me to manage and doesn't block my movements, so it's perfect.

Plane Necessities

Here is my carry-on for the 29 hour flight ahead of me! It contains all my long haul flight necessities for comfort and entertainment.

I chose this cross body shoulder bag I got in Honduras a couple years back. I love it because it's lightweight, can contain a lot and it's festive for travelling, but most of all, because it's cross body, making it safer to keep your belongings when you're on the go!

In my carry-on :
-Plaid bag : Ipod, charger, ear phones
-Pink bag :  Camera and kindle chargers
-Zebra and red holders : Passeports (this way they are protected from humidity in SE Asia)
-Fuzzy socks (I hate getting cold and I'm wearing open shoes)
-Camera in Hello Kitty case
-Pen
-Ear plugs in case things get noisy
-My glasses in their case and my sunglasses
-Pink notebook
-Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and Pseudoephedrine (oral decongestant in case I get a runny nose, it's also useful if your ears are sensitive to the quick altitude variation when landing since it's often related to your airways being congested, which I often am)
-Kindle with tons of books
-Inhaler
-Tissues
-Inflatable neck pillow with fuzzy cover (it's really soft and packs up tiny)
-Baby wipes and makeup wipes to freshen up during and after the flight
-Eye cream
-Hand Salve
-Antibacterial gel
-Toothbrush and tooth paste
-Lip balm

That's all my must haves on a long haul flight! Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything and will be able to be comfy during the flight. I also have my immunisation booklet (not a clue how it's called in english), IDs, credit cards, plane tickets and all that good stuff in there as well.

And this is all I'm bringing on my 10 weeks trip to SE Asia! Hope you enjoyed and that it helped :) I will start updating with my trip soon, since I'm leaving in 6 hours!

Big thanks to my mom for helping me make this post happen! She helped me loads with pictures since I was a little short of time :)

My Packing List Series : Part 5 (Electronics)

And here comes the last part of my mini packing series : electronics! These are all the electronics I personally bring while backpacking for entertainment purposes.

Hope you all liked this series and have a better idea of what to pack for a backpacking trip! I will post a picture of all of it once I'm almost done packing up so you can see how it looks and fits into my 65L backpack :)

My Packing List Series : Part 4 (Travel Essentials)

Here comes the fourth part of the packing list : travel essentials. This category includes all other items which are necessary when backpacking!

My Packing List Series : Part 3 (Fashion)

This is the third part of my packing mini-series : fashion and accessories. These are all the clothes I am bringing with me backpacking for a two months trip. So far, this has always been plenty for me, meaning I didn't have to do the laundry too often and had quite a lot to choose for, but didn't have a super heavy pack.

Hope this helps :)

My Packing List Series : part 1 (toiletry items)

I'm starting this backpacking mini-series in anticipation of my next backpacking trip! I have compiled a pretty thorough packing list over the years and I decided to share it with you all, one category at a time. Hopefully this will help anyone leaving for a backpacking trip or any kind of trip get inspired for their own packing!

This first part includes all the toiletry items I bring with me on a two month long backpacking trip. The toiletries are also divided into subcategories for easier reading.

Reducing the size of your toiletries for backpacking /traveling + what to pack!

Lately, I've been searching for ways to reduce the weight and size of my toiletry bag when I travel. Now, since I backpack, I don't have access to shampoo, lotion or soap in hotels so I have to carry everything I need. I also usually leave for a month or two, so I need a good supply to keep me going for a while. Of course, you can buy most products wherever you are to replace products that run out, but I find that travel sized products are more expensive in other countries I've been to and I can't always find the products I like.

That's why I like to concentrate on finding ways to bring everything I need without ending up with half my pack filled with products. I've been refining my strategy for a couple year now and I think I've developped some valuable techniques that could help someone packing either for backpacking, or for any trip longer than a week. I thought I would share some of my tips!

I've been preparing for a potential trip this summer and even though I'm not leaving for at least two months, my toiletry bag is completly ready so I'll show you what's in it and explain more in detail how I managed to make some of the items smaller to fit my needs.

First, this is my toiletry bag :

Why I love this bag :

- The exterior is covered in plastic which is perfect in case it gets wet in the bathroom.
- It has an handle at the top for easy transport.
- It unfolds completly and has a metal hook to suspend it in the bathroom or shower. This is especially important, since it allows easy acces to all your products even when there isn't any counter surface.
- The three pockets are made out of mesh to help the products dry incase you place them wet inside the toiletry bag.
- It's big enough to fit all my products
- It's cute

Where I got it : Zellers

How much : About 17$ CAD


What I'm bringing :

First compartment 

Here is what I keep in the first compartment. This one is pretty flat and not very tall so I keep smaller products that would be loose in the other bigger compartments. You have to be careful not to add products that are too wide or it will make the toiletry bag harder to close.

- Burt's Bees Hand Salve which I use as hand cream. Instead of bringing a much bulkier travel sized hand  lotion, I chose this waxy formula which comes in a tiny tin.
-Chapstick with SPF 15
- Bad Gal Lash Mascara Deluxe Sample from Sephora. I don't intend on wearing mascara everyday so I didn't need it to be waterproof. I definitely won't need any more than this.
- Concealer
- Nail clippers
- Stila brown eyeliner (waterproof)
- Hoola Bronzer (deluxe sample). A little goes a long way with this so I should have more than enough
- Travel sized nail file. It's less than half the size of a regular file and takes barely any space at all.
- Tweezers

Second compartment

Here is what I keep in the second compartment. It had a lot more widht that the first one, but still less than the last one so I use it to store products that are not too tall. As you can tell, quite a lot fits in here. This one can still fit even more products if I wanted so if I pick up something along the way I can squeeze it in here.

- Spot treatment from Clean & Clear. I might depot this and place it in a little jar like the one on the lower right corner. I definitely won't need all of this. If I decide to got for it, I'll need to label my little jars so I don't get mixed up.
- Travel sized deodorant
- Small bottle of Chi Silk Infusion
- Aussie Leave in conditioner in an  Aussie Hair Spray bottle which I emptied. I wanted a really small spray bottle for it and I found this to be my ideal option.
-Colgate foldable toothbrush
-Venus Spa Breeze Razor with two blades. This is supposed to act as shaving cream which is why I am not bringing any. Saves me quite a bit of space since even travel sized shaving cream is pretty bulky.
-Travel sized St-Ives face scrub.
-Travel sized tooth paste.
-Face moisturizer in a tiny jar I got from the dollar store. My face cream is very thin and I only need a little bit so this should be enough for my entire trip and is much smaller than any other container I could have chosen.
-Hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works because it's the smallest I could find. You can't always wash your hands when traveling so this is more than necessary.

Third compartment

Finally, this is what I keep in the last compartment. It's the most wide and tall compartment so I fit the biggest items in it. I try to layer large thin items on top of each other to make more fit in as well which is why you can't really see most of the products in here on the picture on the right.

- Travel straightener in zebra heat protection pouch. Perfect in a hurry so you don't burn anything.
- Plastic bottles (currently empty) for my fave shampoo and conditionner. I have super long hair so I can't bring the smaller bottles since they run out much too quickly.
- Aveeno travel sized body wash
- Ardène Neon Pink polish because it looks good on tan skin (mostly for my toes, wearing polish on your nails while backpacking is pretty useless because it will get ruined almost instantly).
- Pre-moistened makeup removing rounds because bringing separate coton pads and makep remover not only takes much more space, but it can also leak in your bag.
- Travel sized hair brush. I might get a pop up brush with a miror though. It will save me even more space and give me the added benefit of a portable miror. I couldn't find one yet though.
- Equate facial cleansing towelettes because they are great and easy to pick up on the go. (face wash is just to much hassle especially if you don't always have access to a sink)
- Cotton buds
- Wet n Wild Eyeshadow trio in Silent Treatment. It's my smallest trio, it's super versatile and compact.
- Nail polish removing pads because just like for makeup remover, bringing around coton pads and polish remover would take more place and increase the potential for damaging your belongings in case of leakage.
- Makeup brushes in small hemp pouch.

Close up of the brushes I am bringing : a powder brush, two blending brushes, two shading brushes. These are all the short handle brushes from Eco Tools. Love them!

This is the biggest brush compared to my hand to show the size of the brushes. They apply product very well and are super soft. Eco Tools brushes are definetely my favorite brushes and they're super affordable!

This is the straightener compared to my hand to show its size. It's barely bigger than my hand! It's ceramic and dual voltage which is perfect for travel. It won't do a perfect job of straightening my super long hair, but it will at least help me tame it a little! I chose to bring a flat iron instead of a blow drier for two reasons : (1) it's much smaller, (2) walls are paper thin in hostels and guesthouses and a drier is really loud.

Sorry for the long post, I hope my tips helped get an idea how to reduce the size of your toiletries as well as know what to bring when you know nothing will be provided where you are going! Let me know in the comments what you think of this post and if you have any other requests :) I would love to hear them!