25 Things You Should Never Pack for a Cruise (Most First-Timers Bring All of Them)
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Mike and I spent weeks planning our first cruise. Port schedules, excursion bookings, dinner reservations, you know the drill.
And then we packed in about two hours. Womp, womp! I’m sure you can guess what happened..
Cruise ships have rules most people never look up. And cruise security is not messing around (if you know, you know).
Some of your items get confiscated at the terminal, some will get you denied boarding entirely. And some are just dead weight you’ll drag through three airports for no reason.
Here’s what you should leave at home:
#25: YOUR OWN BEACH TOWELS
I packed two full-size beach towels on our first cruise. Took up half a bag.
Every major cruise line provides beach towels, including for shore excursions. Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, etc. etc.
You check them out with your room card and return them when you’re back. If you don’t return one, they charge you around $25, so don’t be that person at the pool bar who “forgot.”
Leave your towels at home.
✈️ Planning a trip? Let us do it for you. Click here!#24: A FULL-SIZE HAIR DRYER FROM HOME
Cruise cabins have hair dryers. They aren’t the world’s most powerful hair dryers, but they work.
I get it, the ones in hotel bathrooms are notoriously sad. But cruise ship dryers are actually decent on most major lines now, and hauling a full-size dryer through embarkation is just dead weight.
If you have very thick hair and know from experience that a low-watt dryer won’t cut it, fine, bring a travel-size one.
But your salon dryer from home.. you can leave it behind.
#23: HEAVY HARDCOVER BOOKS
I love a physical book as much as anyone. But a 600-page hardcover is a brick in your suitcase, and you’re going on a cruise, not a monastery retreat.
Bring a Kindle, or load up your phone’s reading app before you leave. You’re going to be at the pool, on shore excursions, at dinner. The odds that you finish one book, let alone pack three, are low.
Mike always thinks he’s going to read on vacation. HA yeah right!
Our Kindle Recommendation: Amazon Kindle 16 GB
#22: MORE DRESS SHOES THAN YOU HAVE FORMAL NIGHTS
Most cruises have one or two formal nights.
People pack three pairs of dress shoes “just in case.” Just in case of what? A spontaneous black-tie event in international waters?
One good pair handles any formal night on the ship. Everything else is flip flops, sneakers, and one pair of comfortable walking shoes for ports.
Shoes are the heaviest thing in a suitcase and the most overpacked. Every single time. Ask my husband how he knows 🙄
#21: COINS AND CASH FOR ONBOARD PURCHASES
You won’t need cash on the ship. Almost nothing on a cruise is a cash transaction.
Everything goes on your room key card, which links to your credit card. Drinks, spa services, specialty dining, shore excursion bookings, all of it.
I had a pocket full of coins on our first cruise thinking I’d need them for something. Nope.
The only place you might use cash is at ports, and even then, most popular tourist spots take cards. Bring a small amount for port days, that’s it.
#20: MORE FORMAL OUTFITS THAN THERE ARE FORMAL NIGHTS
This pairs with the dress shoes problem. People over-pack formal wear, and I get why.
Count the formal nights on your itinerary, typically one or two, and pack exactly that many outfits. Cruise formal nights are also way more relaxed than people expect.
A nice dress or a blazer with dress pants is completely fine. You don’t need a ball gown. I promise you that.
✈️ Planning a trip? Let us do it for you. Click here!#19: YOUR ENTIRE MEDICINE CABINET
Look, I understand the instinct. You’re going far from home, you want to be prepared. But there’s a limit.
Pack what you take regularly, plus a small amount of basics.
Antacids, seasickness meds, pain reliever, any prescription medication with a few extra days built in. Ships have a medical center onboard and stock common over-the-counter items.
Packing every cold remedy and every vitamin bottle you own is just unnecessary weight.
Seasickness meds.. that’s a different topic entirely. Don’t skip those if you’re prone to it. Pack them in your carry-on, not your checked bag.
Quick Tip: Grab some motion sickness patches here, and throw in some Dramamine, too.
#18: OUTSIDE FOOD IN LARGE QUANTITIES
Bringing a bag of snacks from home is generally fine. But packing a full duffel of outside food is going to be a problem at customs.
Ships have strict agriculture and customs rules, and depending on your embarkation port and itinerary, whole fruits, meats, and large quantities of sealed food can get flagged or confiscated.
Also, and I say this as someone who loves a snack, cruise ships have an almost absurd amount of food available around the clock.
You are not going to go hungry. The midnight buffet is very real.
#17: FULL-SIZE TOILETRIES WHEN TRAVEL-SIZE DOES THE JOB
This is basic but people still do it. Cruise cabins are small and counter space is limited.
Travel-size everything for a 7-night cruise. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, all of it.
Most ships also provide basic toiletries in the cabin.
Save the space, save the weight. Your future self lifting that bag into the overhead bin on the flight home will genuinely thank you.
#16: EXPENSIVE OR IRREPLACEABLE JEWELRY
Leave the nice stuff at home. I know that feels like a bummer if you were planning a fancy cruise wardrobe, but hear me out.
Cabins are not high-security vaults. Ports are busy and crowded. Things get lost, things get stolen, and saltwater is not kind to fine jewelry.
The ship’s safe is a small lockbox. Bring costume jewelry or simple pieces you won’t stress about. Save the family heirlooms for a different trip.
#15: A SELFIE STICK
Okay, selfie sticks aren’t universally banned on ships, but they are restricted in more places than you’d think.
Many theaters, shows, and ship venues don’t allow them. Several popular port attractions and museums ban them.
And honestly, they’re just annoying in crowded spaces.
Mike brought one on our first cruise and used it exactly once before realizing it was more trouble than it was worth.
Your phone propped on a railing or a fellow cruiser’s good will works just as well.
#14: SNORKELING GEAR IF YOU’RE A CASUAL CRUISER
If you’re a serious snorkeler with your own gear you love, bring it. For everyone else, skip it.
Almost every snorkeling excursion provides gear, and the quality is generally fine. Fins and a mask take up space in a bag.
If you’re the type who snorkels once or twice a trip and doesn’t need your exact preferred mask, just use what the excursion provides.
The cruisers I’ve talked to who packed full snorkel gear usually said they wished they hadn’t.
#13: A PORTABLE CLOTHES STEAMER
This one catches people off guard. I had no idea steamers were banned until I almost packed mine.
They’re banned on all major cruise lines, for the same reason irons are.. they are a fire hazard in a small, enclosed stateroom.
Ships take fire risk extremely seriously (obviously), and a portable steamer is exactly the kind of thing security is watching for.
If you have wrinkled clothes, the ship has laundry and pressing services. Use those instead.
✈️ Planning a trip? Let us do it for you. Click here!#12: A DRONE WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CRUISE LINE APPROVAL
Most major cruise lines have completely banned guest drone use onboard.
Lines like Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, and Disney classify drones as prohibited items. A handful of others, like Royal Caribbean and MSC, technically allow you to bring one but ban flying it from the ship entirely.
And private islands definitely don’t allow drones. Operating a drone near a moving vessel with hundreds of passengers is genuinely dangerous, and many port cities have their own strict airspace rules on top of that.
Unless you have written approval from your specific cruise line for a very specific purpose, leave it home.
Plus, it’s always better to air on the side of caution. Mike was warned not to bring our drone into a volcano we toured back in 2019 and he didn’t listen.
Sure enough, our brand new $1200 drone was gone in an instant. When people warn you of this stuff, believe them!
#11: OUTSIDE SPIRITS OR LIQUOR BEYOND WHAT’S ALLOWED
People try to sneak liquor onboard all the time and it almost never works.
Most major lines allow each adult to bring one 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne at embarkation only. That does NOT mean a bottle of rum, a flask, a bag of mini shooters, etc.
Security x-rays every bag, and confiscated bottles don’t get returned until the end of the voyage, if at all.
The cruise line wants you buying drinks from their bars. They are very motivated to enforce this one.
#10: HOVERBOARDS OR PERSONAL ELECTRIC SCOOTERS
I doubt many people are considering bringing a hoverboard, but you’d be surprised.
Both hoverboards and personal electric scooters are banned across virtually all major cruise lines, and it comes down to lithium batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries can overheat and catch fire, especially in warm, enclosed spaces like a stateroom or baggage hold.
Hoverboards specifically have a rough history of battery fires, and cruise lines decided the risk was not worth it.
If you need a mobility scooter for accessibility reasons, that’s a completely different situation and you should contact your cruise line directly. But a recreational hoverboard or personal e-scooter won’t make it past security.
#9: AN EXTENSION CORD WITH SURGE PROTECTION
This one trips people up because the nuance matters.
A basic power strip without surge protection is allowed on some lines. It’s the surge protector component that’s the problem.
Cruise ship electrical systems use a different wiring setup than what you have at home, and surge protectors can interact with that wiring and create a fire risk.
If you need more outlets in your cabin, look for a cruise-approved, non-surge-protected power strip before you leave.
Pro-Tip: Click here for our favorite cruise-approved “power strip”.
#8: WEAPONS OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THINGS PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT
This seems obvious until you realize how many things qualify.
Firearms, knives over a certain length, and self-defense sprays are all banned. But people forget about things like certain pepper sprays that are banned at specific ports, weighted gloves, and other items they tossed in “just in case.”
The security screening at cruise terminals is thorough, and anything flagged gets confiscated.
Some ports also have their own weapons restrictions that layer on top of the ship’s rules.
#7: HEMP-DERIVED PRODUCTS
This one trips people up all the time. I hear about it constantly from cruisers I’ve talked to, and it’s almost always a genuine surprise.
While it is federally legal in the U.S, it is not allowed on a cruise ship.
Cruise lines ban all of these products because ships operate under federal maritime law and travel to ports in countries where it is illegal.
The cruise line has no way to verify the content, so a blanket ban is easier to enforce.
Getting caught can mean confiscation, disembarkation at the next port at your own expense, or in international ports, involvement of local law enforcement. It is not worth the risk.
✈️ Planning a trip? Let us do it for you. Click here!#6: MORE LUGGAGE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE ALONE
Nobody told us this before our first cruise, and we paid for it.
There are long stretches of embarkation day where you are completely on your own with your bags.
Porters help at the terminal, but between the parking lot, the check-in line, the security screening, and finding your cabin, you may be hauling everything yourself through crowded corridors.
Disembarkation can be just as chaotic. If you can’t move all your bags alone at a brisk pace, you’ve overpacked.
#5: A CLOTHES IRON
Clothes irons are banned on all major cruise lines.
Irons are one of the most commonly confiscated items at embarkation security, right alongside surge protectors. The fire hazard in a small cabin is obvious.
Every ship has a laundry facility and pressing services. Some higher-end cabins include complimentary pressing.
There is no reason to bring your own iron, and yet.. people keep packing them.
#4: CANDLES OR WAX WARMERS
Open flames on a ship are about as welcome as you’d imagine.
Candles are banned across all major cruise lines. This includes electric wax warmers that use a heating element, which also fall under fire hazard policies at many lines.
I’ve talked to cruisers who said they “just wanted ambiance” or “always travel with a candle.” The ship says no way, Jose.
Fire spreads fast in tight corridors, and cruise lines treat this with zero tolerance. And your confiscated candle is not getting returned.
#3: A POWER STRIP OR SURGE PROTECTOR
This is reportedly the single most confiscated item at cruise ship security checkpoints.
Almost everyone packs one. It seems like such a reasonable thing to bring.
But surge protectors are banned across virtually all major lines because of how cruise ship electrical systems work, and even non-surge power strips are restricted on some lines.
People who didn’t know this rule discover it at the security table during embarkation, which is a stressful time to be learning it.
Check your cruise line’s specific policy before you pack, and if you need one, buy a cruise-approved non-surge strip in advance.
Pro-Tip: Click here for our favorite cruise-approved “power strip”.
#2: EDIBLES, VAPES, OR ANY CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
Cruise ships operate under federal maritime law regardless of what state you depart from and regardless of your personal medical situation. Every major cruise line has a zero-tolerance policy.
Edibles, vapes with oil, and other controlled substances are all prohibited.
Getting caught can mean being removed from the ship at the next port of call, at your own expense, and potentially handed over to local authorities.
In some international ports, that means dealing with a foreign country’s laws. NOT worth it.
✈️ Planning a trip? Let us do it for you. Click here!#1: ANYTHING ON THE CRUISE LINE’S OFFICIAL PROHIBITED ITEMS LIST YOU ASSUMED WAS “PROBABLY FINE”
Every major cruise line publishes a prohibited items list. Almost nobody reads it, but it exists.
The most common thing I hear from cruisers who had items confiscated is some version of “I figured it would be okay” or “I didn’t think they’d enforce that.”
They will.
Cruise ship security sees thousands of bags. They know exactly what they’re looking for. Your situation is not an exception.
Spend ten minutes on your cruise line’s website before you pack and read the list. It’s the best thing you can do to start your cruise without a problem at the terminal.
The Wrap-Up
We’ve made most of these mistakes ourselves, or watched other people make them at embarkation.
The good news is none of this is complicated once you know it, and knowing it means you get to spend your energy enjoying the trip instead of arguing with a security agent about your power strip.
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