What to Pack When Working on a Cruise Ship

Wondering what to pack when working on a cruise ship? We’ve got space-saving hacks and must-have items for your life at sea.

Whether it’s your first cruise ship contract, your 50th, or somewhere in between packing to work on a cruise ship can be a challenge. Over the past decade as a crew member I’ve lost track of just how many times I’ve packed my life into a suitcase and flown across the world.

In this list we look into the practical, the necessary, and a bit of the fun, too. From organizing your cabin to tips for theme parties, if you are wondering what to pack when working on a cruise ship? This list has you covered.

What to Pack When Working on a Cruise Ship

How are you going to fit everything you need for the next 4-9 months into a suitcase? Honestly, in some cases you aren’t. You are going to pack the essentials, the basics, a few fun things and then there are some extras to make life a bit better you’re going to get during your contract. Let’s get to it.

Essentials

✅ passport
– make sure you’ve got your proper visas (and if your visa is in an old passport make sure to bring that along, too!)
✅ Seaman’s Book
✅ work documents and certificates
– this includes your contract, letter of assignment, medical certificate, plus any job specific certificates you might need
✅ charging cable for your phone
✅ enough medication/contacts for your contract

Clothing

✅ Underwear/bras – enough for a week
✅ Socks – enough for a week
✅ Undershirts
✅ Dressy outfit – depending on function – at least 1 option
✅ Jeans – 1-2 pairs
✅ Shorts
✅ tops – 4 or 5 (mix of t-shirts, long sleeve, something slightly dressier incase you have an overnight night out)
✅ skirts and dresses
✅ Gym clothes (2-3 sets depending on how often you go to the gym)
✅ Basic cold weather clothes – rain jacket, sneakers, and a sweater or sweatshirt
✅ Basic warm weather clothes – shorts/skirts, tank tops, flip flops/sandals
✅ Bathing suit
✅ Sun hat (this might be a me thing – if you aren’t into hats at least make sure you’ve got sunglasses)

Toiletries

Most of these you don’t *need* to bring for your full contract. I’ve had friends that purposefully bring them all so they have extra space and weight in their suitcase to put souvenirs in for coming home. Bring at least enough for a week until you can go ashore.

✅ Laundry detergent sheets
✅ shampoo/conditioner
✅ hand soap
✅ toothpaste/floss
✅ body-wash
✅ sunscreen
✅ deodorant
✅ any face cream/lotions
✅ hair brush
✅ hair dryer/styler
✅ sanitary products (do not flush these down the toilets!)
✅ make-up

For Your Cabin

✅ Over the door organizer
✅ Shower caddy (maybe get this sent to the ship depending on luggage space or plan on stopping by a Target or TJ Maxx)
✅ Cuddle Blanket
✅ Laundry bag (can even be a reusable shopping bag)
✅ Ear Plugs (if you’re a light sleeper)
✅ Eye Mask (for the plane because it makes all the difference)

Gadgets

✅ Noise cancelling headphones
✅ Tablet/Kindle/Laptop (whatever your go-to is)
✅ External hard-drive or USB with good storage
✅ AirTags or luggage tracking tags
✅ Bonus: Portable Speaker

Bonus Fun to Bring: Instant Camera

I’m a sucker for these instant cameras – over the years our fridge (at home!) has become filled with pictures from fun nights with friends. If it’s in your budget these are great fun for a crew party, a night ashore, or even just the crew bar.

Things for your international life

✅ International cell phone plan or plan for using local sims
✅ Credit card without international fees
✅ Universal travel adapter
✅ WhatsApp downloaded on your phone
✅ Google Translate on your phone
✅ Your companies emergency travel number

Confused about ship life? Understanding life on a cruise ship can be hard. Check out “Cruise Ship Crew Life” with posts answering questions ranging from if you can get mail to how many hours you are allowed to work.

Packing Tips For Cruise Ship Workers

Packing your carry-on

When packing to go to the ship your carry-on is actually more important than everything else you are bringing. Without the contents of your carry-on you won’t be able to work onboard and will likely be denied boarding the ship.

✅ Passport
✅ Seaman’s Book
✅ Medical Certificate
✅ Other certificates/licenses needed for your role
✅ Basics to go with your uniform including shoes
✅ Enough underwear/socks/clothes to sleep in for a couple days

Let me tell you a little story about when my luggage was lost and I didn’t have any work shoes with me in my carry-on. I had an officer’s uniform and let me tell you I looked really, really, really silly wearing sneakers with it for two days until my suitcase got there.

Your carry-on is such an important piece to pack. In your carry-on you will have all of your essentials to function at work on day one.

This includes your work documents. Without these work documents you won’t be able to work onboard. This will include your medical certificate, safety certificate, Seaman’s Book, and depending on your nationality and function could also be for english proficiency or even licenses to operate different parts of the ship.

In addition to this you should also pack the basics for at least the first couple of days incase your check luggage gets lost. The extra pieces you will need for your uniform as well a couple pairs of underwear and something to sleep in.

You don’t need as much as you think

You will be wearing a uniform a huge amount of your time onboard so you don’t need to pack as much as you think. You will need clothes aside from your uniform to go ashore, go to the gym, sleep in, and hang out in crew areas (crew bar).

Most likely you’ll have a roommate – and not much storage

It makes sense to keep what you bring to what you need and some items to help organize that space. Most crew have roommates and are in a windowless bunk bed cabin unless you are an officer and then what kind of cabin you have depends on how many stripes you have.

In these cabins you can expect a closet with a couple of drawers at the bottom, a few drawers in a desk, and a drawer under the bed. You may be able to lift up the bottom bunk to store your suitcase.

I still have a roommate onboard – my husband! Yes – sometimes you can work on a cruise ship as a couple!) but it still takes some smart use of space and mindful packing. The extra shelf in the shower was a big game changer as before that we had a fun little adventure of whose shower stuff would get to live in the tiny little corner shelf (and inevitably fall down when the ship rocked).

There is a crew laundry onboard

There are laundry facilities onboard for crew to use. But, scheduling out the few hours that it takes to do laundry can be a challenge. Plan that you’ll only be able to do laundry once a week.

Make sure when you’re doing laundry onboard to set a timer to remember to change your laundry. Other crew may take it out of the washer and just leave it there.

Things to Go With Your Uniform

Most cruise lines will provide your uniform for you. There will still be some extra pieces needed. Here are some things you might need to bring:

✅ Shoes
✅ Black belt
✅ Undershirt
✅ Pantyhose
✅ Make-Up

Find out from your recruitment agency or onboarding partner what your uniform will be and what pieces you need to bring. Be smart when looking at the list – if you see something like “white sneakers” bring white socks to go with it. If you see you’ll be wearing a white uniform top – bring some undershirts to go with them.

Getting Packages to the Ship

Cruise ship crew can get mail including packages from Amazon. The exact procedure depends on which company you work for, but getting packages delivered to the ship is becoming more common (and essential) for cruise ship crew members.

Depending on the port there may be a per package fee.

Don’t plan to go ashore the first few weeks

It can be tempting to not pack much for toiletries thinking you’ll go ashore in the first port. That is not always an option though.

Be aware that if you are sailing in the US (Alaska or Hawaii) you won’t be able to go ashore in US ports until you get your I-95 so you may have to wait one full cruise before going ashore.

Be prepared if you get transferred

Even if you are assigned to a contract on a specific ship doing a specific itinerary – the company can change that mid-contract depending on the needs of the company. So, you might start a contract in Alaska only to get transferred to the Mediterranean. This doesn’t happen that often but it can happen.

Your hairdryer might get confiscated – but you need to pack it anyways

When you first join the ship your hair dryer may get confiscated by security. This is because in general you are not allowed items that create heat in your cabin. Fire is actually the biggest risk to the ship (and not icebergs!) Most hair dryers will be approved; but, you are better off getting one slightly less powerful or a travel sized one to be sure.

You still need to bring one though because for nearly every function one of the grooming rules is that you are not allowed to have wet hair in passenger areas.

Formal Nights

A hotly debated topic amongst cruise enthusiast. I used to always recommend bringing formal clothes onboard a cruise ship. Dress codes onboard have drastically shifted within the past 10 years. For most cruise lines in 2024 “Formal” nights are only reserved for things like New Years Eve.

At this point for a “formal” night it tends to be more in the way of cocktail party than black tie event. However, it’s a bit dependent on cruise line so ask what you might need for these nights if you are in a passenger facing role that might need to get dressed up (mostly cruise staff or musicians).

The company provides bedding & towels

When you work onboard a cruise ship as a crew member the company will provide you with sheets, a blanket, towels, and pillows. So this is not something you need to bring.

You may have to go to the laundry to get your bedding or you may have a cabin steward that cleans your cabin a couple of times a week. Like most aspects of your life onboard, this, as well as the quality of your bedding, depends on your rank onboard.

What luggage should I bring?

I am a believer in a big suitcase, carry-on roller, and backpack/personal item. To do this the carry-on needs to be able to fit inside the big suitcase otherwise you won’t have space to store it all in your room which is why you should never bring two large suitcases.

I have an Away set that I love and they now have both hard sided and soft sided suitcases. They have been used and abused for I would say 25+ international trips over the past 5 years and are still doing great. The wheels glide like a dream. The only risk is packing them too heavy.

🧳 🛄 Use this link for $20 off your first purchase with Away.

Packing for Parties

Parties are part of cruise life. A lot of times passengers come onboard to party and the crew definitely enjoy a chance to unwind. You do not need to pack for parties (unless your work function requires you to), but it can be kind of fun.

🕺🏻🎉 Something for themed passenger parties
🕺🏻🎉 Little bits for holidays during your contract

Parties in Passenger Areas

Whether or not you have to go to passenger parties will depend on your job. Sometimes you have to go and sometimes you can go just for fun.

Some cruise lines are known for their specific parties – a glow party, silent disco, orange party. If you know what party your cruise line usually throws you can pack a little extra something that fits that theme.

Also, take a look at the calendar for major holidays that will happen during your contract and possibly toss in something small to go with it.

Crew Parties

Cruise ship crew love an excuse to party. Whether it is for a holiday or just because someone thought there should be a party.

There will likely be other parties along the way and don’t fret about bringing too much of anything. You can never pack for all the different random themes that happen.

There are costume shops in various ports you’ll go to and sometimes finding the random things for your outfit is part of the fun! (It’s also a great time to be friends with the Youth Staff!!!)

FAQs

Do cruise ship crew get days off?

Don’t plan on it! For the most part cruise ship crew do not get days off and work every day for the length of their contract – usually between 3 and 8 months long! Take a deeper look at crew schedules in this post all about days off for cruise ship crew.

Is it a good idea to work on a cruise ship?

In my experience, yes! But, if you ask someone else they might think about it differently. It is a huge experience, taking you around the world, working with people from other cultures. It can be great, but the hours can be really long and it is months away from home and your family and friends.

For me, it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I met my husband onboard, have made some of the most lasting friendships of my life, and have now been to about 75 countries. It can be pretty incredible but can be really hard, too.

Do cruise ship employees get to keep their tips?

The money that is added onto your bill as daily gratuities is distributed out to the tipped employees onboard. This does not mean it goes to everyone onboard, but will get distributed out to folks working in housekeeping and dining services primarily.

If you give a crew member an extra tip, they sometimes get to keep it all for themselves and other times it gets pooled together with their direct team only to get evenly split up. It depends on what function they are in and what cruise line. The cash tips that you give to them go to the crew members though and is not kept by the company.

What do cruise ship workers do when not working?

Go ashore, sleep, relax and watch TV, go to the gym, and go to the crew bar!

Crew work long hard hours so a lot of time if they have a few hours off they will opt to take a nap. If it’s an interesting port or they just need to get off the ship they might head ashore. Sometimes they can even join a shore excursion for free.

Otherwise they’ll likely be taking a little downtime to relax, watch TV, go to the gym, or go to the crew bar. Crew can sometimes use the passenger gym, but there is also a separate crew gym onboard.

Conclusion: What to Pack When Working on a Cruise Ship

What to pack when working on a cruise ship can be a daunting task. What will you need? It’s all so new. The good part is if you forget something, you can either have it sent to the ship, or you can buy it in whatever fun foreign port you are in! It’s kind of fun to build a wardrobe from around the world.

Over time you’ll learn the little extra things that make your life onboard more comfortable, and it’s a little bit different for everyone. Good luck on your contract!

Want to know what else to expect from working onboard? Check out these posts!

Your First Cruise Ship Contract: Getting to the Ship
Your First Cruise Ship Contract: First Day Onboard
Your First Cruise Ship Contract: Getting Home