Cruising: What to Bring?

I've seen so many people asking what they have to bring when they're on a cruise, I am definitely not a pro at cruising, but I decided to put together a list just for future reference because like many others I love cruises, I think it's the best way to see a lot of places in a short amount of time.

• Itinerary/Tour Plans for Port
• Passport/Orders/Important Documents & Extra Copies (I put it in a different place from the originals)
• Hand Sanitizer (Stations are all over the ship but when you're off the ship it's great to have)
• Travel Clock
• Travel Books (I love Rick Steve's books)
• Rain Coat/ Umbrella/Ponchos (Weather is so unpredictable)
• Sun Hat
• Swim Suit
• Sunglasses
• Camera/Batteries/SD Card
• Phone /Chargers (Free WiFi at port, it's a thing)
• Tide Pen (For the little stains)
• Mini bags Powder Detergent (in case you want to do some laundry for those longer cruises)
• Electronics & Chargers/Books to read (For those days at sea, you need something to keep yourself occupied)
• Power Strips (If you have lots of electronics this would be great for you)
• Refillable Water bottle (When you're at port, fill up your bottle with ice and you'll have water off the ship)
• Travel Tissues 
• Ziplock Bags/ Plastic forks and paper napkins too (If you wanna take some food from the Buffet off ship)
• Sunscreen
• Aloe Vera / Lotion
• Dry Snacks (For when you're at port and need a boost)
• Medication: (Nausea, Ibuprofen, Pepto, Eye Drops, Chapstick  etc.)
• Toiletries: 
• Tooth brush & Paste
• Hair/ Body Wash (They provide it on the ship but it dries your skin out)
• Comfortable shoes
• Socks
• Extra Underwear (You can never have too much)
• Dressy Clothing/Shoes, for Formal night (It's always nice to dress up)
• Females:
• Make-up Bag
• Feminine Products (You never know!)
• Little Purse

• Other Interesting Suggestions:
• Travel Mug
• Post It Notes / Dry Erase Marker /Painters Tape (To leave family members notes)
• Over the door Shoe holder
• Outlet covers (For those with little ones)
• Lanyard (To carry your cruise card)
• Toilet Seat Covers
• Mini First-Aid Kit

*These are just some ideas, it isn't necessary to pack everything on this list. Make sure to leave room for some souvenirs too.

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MSC Sinfonia: Athens, Greece

I'm jumping a head of myself with these cruise blogs, this was our second cruise in 2014, Eastern Mediterranean. I finally finished editing the pictures and got inspired to write the post.

Athens was the 3rd stop on our Christmas Cruise through the Mediterranean in December 2014.

This was the first stop that we booked an excursion with MSC. Usually we follow the Rick Steves book (this time I remembered the books!) but since MSC was having a special and Drew's always trying to talk me into "going with the flow", we decided to splurge (it actually saved us money) and do a tour with the company.

We started off at the Port of Piraeus, which is outside of the Athens, got on the bus and headed the the most famous point in all of Greece, the Parthenon.

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MSC Orchestra: Copenhagen, Denmark

Our first stop on our Baltic Sea cruise was Copenhagen! The ship set sail at 5pm the night before and we woke up at 8:00a in Denmark! That's the best way to travel.

We woke up later than expected, actually I'm pretty sure we would've slept through the day if it wasn't for the fact that I had ordered us breakfast the first day. I had booked it with the travel agent and completely forgot about it! It was a nice surprise, especially since we probably would've had to fight our way through the buffet.

The night before when we were unpacking, we had realized that we had left our Rick Steve's Book at home! :( Drew had mistakenly thought he packed the book, but he actually put it away! So we had no plan for our cruise (those who know me know this drove me nuts!) 

After enjoying our lovely breakfast, we got dressed and decided to head off the ship to explore. We had the WHOLE day in Copenhagen. It is another port of call, so people were getting off and coming on board the ship. We didn't have to travel far, once off the ship there was a Hop On Hop Off Bus waiting to take people around to the city. We saw people walking to the town, but since we had no idea what we were going to do or even where all the sights were we decided to use the HOHO Bus. I think it was money well spent. We got to hear the history of Copenhagen and enjoy the beautiful day.

We stayed on the bus for a bit, looking at the map and trying to figure out where all the sites were.

Sidles' @ Copenhagen 2014

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MSC Orchestra, Baltic Cruise

In July 2014, we headed off on our first cruise together! I've gone on a 3-day cruise before to the Bahamas, with Royal Caribbean. But Drew's never been on a cruise before and we figured we should do something fun for our anniversary! It was the first anniversary we were able to spend together. Our first anniversary Drew was deployed, our 2nd Drew was in the hospital, but this time we were going to do something fun!

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