Today is a ship day for me, so I thought this might be a good opportunity to pass along some tips on things to pack for those of you who might be considering a Mediterranean cruise at some point in the future. Michele and I were here eleven years ago, and between that cruise and this one we’ve spent more than three weeks in the Med, allowing me to develop some solid advice for future travelers. So without any further ado, here’s my list of ten things (not in any particular order) that you should consider bringing with you on a Mediterranean cruise.
Let’s start with the obvious. Sunglasses and a sun hat are a must here. It doesn’t rain here much in the summer, and the Mediterranean sun is relentless. If you don’t bring them with, you’ll buy them here. Trust me.
2. SPF 50 sunscreen. Like I said, the sun here is relentless, and its effect is magnified when it reflects off the water. I’m a fan of this product. It’s hypoallergenic, odorless, reef safe, goes on and rubs in easily (unusual for a mineral sunscreen), and has never failed me yet. That being said, bring whatever works for you.
3. Earbuds. It’s common for Mediterranean shore excursions to utilize small radio receivers that excursionists hang around their necks. The receivers are accompanied by cheap, one ear, single use earbuds, allowing the tour guides to speak into a microphone around their own necks and deliver information without having to shout to be heard. The problem is that the disposable earbuds are cheap, the sound quality is poor, and excursionists are out of luck if the earbuds don’t stay in their ears. Bringing your own earbuds will improve the sound quality and eliminate the possibility that the disposable ones won’t stay in your ear.
4. Snacks. Shore excursions can last several hours and often don’t include meal breaks. Pack some energy bars or other snacks of your choice to tide you over until your next meal. Equally important is a bottle of water or Gatorade. It’s hot here in the summer, and you can get dehydrated quickly.
5. Pay attention closely, because this one’s important. European public restrooms are often not free. The typical charge to use them ranges from fifty cents to one euro. All the countries you’re likely to visit use the euro as their currency. Never go ashore without some one euro coins and fifty cent coins in your pocket. Also, many public restroom soap dispensers are empty and toilet paper is iffy. Take hand sanitizer and toilet paper, or an alternative like Kleenex with you when you go ashore.
6. What are you going to carry all that stuff in? The answer is an over the shoulder bag, not a day pack. Why? Because it’s too easy for pickpockets to get into a daypack without your knowing it. I’m not kidding, it happened to a woman on one of my recent shore excursions. Nothing is 100 percent foolproof, but Michele and I have had no problems using over the shoulder bags.
7. Moving on to your cabin, bring magnets. You may not know it, but the walls and ceiling of your cabin are made of steel, and there’s enough iron in that steel to make them ferromagnetic, meaning that you can use magnets on them. Magnets are useful for putting important information on the walls like schedules, excursion checklists, reminders, etc., or simply decorating.
8. Magnetic hooks. Even better than plain magnets, magnetic hooks have a wide range of uses, including hanging wet clothes or swimsuits from the bathroom ceiling.
8A. Magnetic hooks on the walls are perfect for hang hats and all sorts of other things. Bring some, and you may still be sorry that you didn’t bring more.
9. Your magnetic hooks can be even more useful if you hang zip ties, baller bands, or other hoops from them, allowing you to use them to hang items like CPAP hoses and other things that can’t be hung directly from the hooks. Be creative.
10. Magnetic shelves. I got these on Amazon, and have found them to be incredibly useful. This one is holding hand sanitizer, Glide, bug spray, burn balm, tic tacs, Tums, and powdered Gatorade. I have other things on a second shelf.
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