If you are flying to the starting port of your cruise, one of the biggest challengers for any cruiser is to keep under the weight limit of your airline for your luggage.

You pack everything you think you will need, find out you are over the limit, then repack to be under the limit before adding a couple more items and then when you are right at the limit you start to panic that you have forgot to pack something you will need.

Despite going through all of that, and worse for my wife who finds the whole packing process incredibly stressful, you still end up coming home with things you never wore and with the clean stuff been in your suitcase next to you dirty stuff, you end up having to wash it as well when you get home.

You don’t need to be flying to worry about overpacking however as if you are traveling as a family, just getting all of your luggage into your car can be a struggle or getting it all into a taxi without needing to shell out for a minibus can make or break your budget.

Thankfully, it is something that I have gotten better with over time and come back with far fewer unworn clothing that when I first started and I also take less things that I pack that I think I may need but never quite use, such as a spare hat or extra charging wire.

So based on my own experience, tips I have been given by other cruisers and from researching this list, here are my top 10 tips for avoiding overpacking on a cruise.

Our Top 10 Tips for Avoiding Overpacking on a Cruise

Plan Your Days

This can really be a game breaker when it comes to packing, as if you think about things in vague terms such as it’s a 14 nights cruise so I need 14-day outfits and 14-night outfits, that will likely be way way too much.

You can easily re-wear things such as jumpers and trousers and night items will often be only worn for a few hours, with much of it sitting eating or drinking, so again you can easily re-wear those.

If you know you are having a bit of down day, or you will be spending it mostly in swimwear relaxing around the pool, the clothes don’t need to pack much if anything for that day.

Sometimes it can work the other way and if you are planning on going on a hike when in port, you will probably want a full change when back onboard so having at least a rough idea of what you are going to be doing non holiday can really help you to pack what you need for it- that may seem like a simple idea but it is something so many overlook.

Check the Weather

This can be difficult as, well I’m sure you will know this, but even the best weather services are still guessing the future and struggle to get it right constantly.

I would never recommend going exactly by what your favourite weather service predict the weather will be but what you can do is get a good sense of how things will be.

If it is excpeted to be warm and dry, there’s no point in packing cold weather clothing and if it expecting to be wet and windy, you will want more coats and outer wear than t-shirts.

There are lots of places where common sense can be used for this sort of thing, such as sailing in the Caribbean or Med will be warm and sunny or sailing in the Arctic of Alaska will be cold and wet but I am sailed in those regions, and it isn’t always the case.

I have been in Alaska and the Arctic when it is blue skies, sunny and hot whilst I have been in the Med when it is cold and wet.

As the saying goes, there is no such things as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothes so make sure you don’t spoilt your holiday by having the wrong clothes or for the purposes of this list, pack everything including things you just won’t need by keeping an eye on weather trend sin the region you are heading to.

Check Dress Attire Schedules

The best cruise line apps have lots of information on them that can help with all aspects of your getaway and have been a really great addition to the cruise experience.

That includes your ships schedule been uploaded usually a couple of weeks or so before you set sail and that not only allows you to really start looking forward to your adventure and plan what activities an entertainment you are going to enjoy, but the better ones will show you the nightly attire for each night of your cruise.

Knowing the number of formal nights and any special nights such as white night, Caribbean night on Royal Caribbean and special occasions such as Halloween dress up nights, can really help to know what you need to plan and how much of it you need to take.

Experienced cruisers will likely know how many formal nights their favourite cruise lines will have for 7 night cruises or 14 night cruisers but if you are sailing with a new line or just a more unusual number of nights such as a mini-cruise, it can be trickier to know what the lines expectations are and that will directly impact on your packing.

Travel Size Toiletries

If this isn’t something you are doing already, it is one of the easiest on this list to do and when you do make the change, you will wonder why you never did it isn’t the first place.

Everything from sun cream to toothpaste and from bodywash to mouthwash can be bought in smaller, travel sized bottles or you can buy refillable smaller bottles to top up from your regular bottles before you travel.

This not only saves you space and weight, but it can more often than not save you money, especially if you refill your own bottles.

Versatile Accessories

Adding the right accessories can make any outfit, but most can make many outfits, so try to pack versatile necklaces, watches, earrings and more for dressing up on a night but the same can be said for days as well.

Try to pack lightweight and plain coats, jumpers, shoes, gloves, hats and anything else you will need so that you can wear them over and over again and save having to pack multiple versions.

Avoid What Ifs

This is something that my wife can often struggle with and I am sure you have found yourself in the situation where you are packing things, your pretty much done and then you ask yourself what if xyz will happen.

What if I spill something on theses trousers? What if it rains heavy and I get soaked onshore? What if I decide not to spend the day around the pool? What if, what if, what if?

That can lead to you packing some extra things just in case, but the chances are that if things don’t quite go to plan, you will be able to use or reuse something else you have already packed that will work just as well.

Use Packing Cubes

This is something that I have mentioned in quite a few articles on the CruiseHols website and in videos on the CruiseHols YouTube channel but packing cubes really do help with lots of things.

For the purposes of this list, their big advantage is that if you pack up and then are not quite sure if you have enough, for example socks, you simply grab the cube with them in, open it up and check.

If you packed normally, you would have to search through your suitcase, maybe unpack some things or maybe your rumouging would mess up some items and you would need to re-pack them.

If your anything like me, that would put you off and you would simply add in some more socks to make sure you had enough and the chances are you wouldn’t need them, so simply use packing cubes to save that extra effort and those last-minute additions.

Onboard Laundry

If you are traveling with a line that have self service laundrettes, such as Princess Cruises and are on a longer journeys, it can be easier and cheaper to simply spend a bit of your time at sea, washing some of your favourite clothes and undergarments instead of needing to pack an extra suitcase, and paying to put it on a plane.

If doing your washing doesn’t sound like your idea of fun on holiday, and to be fair who would look forward to it, or if your line doesn’t have a self-service launderette, most line swill offer a laundry service, with many getting free or discounted prices due to their loyalty status.

Save Some Space

No matter how many times I tell myself that I don’t need to pick up a memento, or to do some shopping whilst on shore for a t-shirt, we all end up doing it.

Those extra purchases need somewhere to go so make sure you leave some space in your suitcase instead of trying to squeeze it into small gaps on the last sea day or having to carry your purchases off of your ship in carrier bags.

This also has added benefit of forcing you to pack less that you can physically fit into your case and therefore saving you weight.

Aim Below the Maximum

If you are flying and your luggage limit is 25kg per case, aim at 20 or 21kg instead as not only do you not have to worry about been over the limit on the way home with anything that you pick up along the way, but it also forces you into thinking more about what you packing and forces to limit things to what you actually need.

That can make it beneficial even if you are not flying to or from your cruise port and is something that I always try to do.