These Carnival Cruise Essentials will instantly upgrade your experience. All are found on Amazon and each is roughly $10 to $20.
We've spoken with Carnival veterans... those that have sailed dozens and even hundreds of times. They've provided their packing list of must have items for your convenience!
These genius products are made to be small (so easy to pack), but delivering huge benefits to combat the strange Carnival nuances you'll find.
As a quick teaser... a Travel Coffee Mug is absolutely essential! Your Carnival ship will offer tiny little coffee mugs. Not cool! Mommy needs her caffeine without waiting in line six times.
You'll find brilliant nuggets like this throughout our Carnival Cruise Essentials list below!
Do I really need these Carnival Must Have items?
Cruise Anticipation: There's typically a lot of waiting time after you book and before you cruise. It's a bit of torture. One way to magically decrease that time-to-enjoyment is with cruise preparation. We're not talking about "packing." But rather, shopping. Buying cruise items is way more fun than picking out outfits. And it helps to build the excitement.
Cruise Agent Gifts: Some cruise agents are wonderful. Some are just, "eh." We're not saying that the difference is determined by whether they gift us with these cruise essentials. It sure doesn't hurt, though. A set of Carnival luggage tags or towel bands makes for a really great surprise.
Improved Cruise: These Carnival cruise items really help to make it the best vacation possible. It's surprising how much of an impact a $10 item can have. For example, "luggage tags." We've had our luggage lost or delayed numerous times before acquiring these. Or "lanyards." A lost key card is an hour spent in line at the customer service desk. No thanks.
Regardless of why you're in the market for Carnival Cruise Essentials, you'll find the absolute best below. These are tried and true. Every item below has been personally tested by our team. Each gets our 100% endorsement.
#19 - Travel Shampoo Bottles
Let's be honest. Carnival ship bathrooms are no trip to the spa. The gym-style shampoo dispensers might cut it for some of us. Others may need a product upgrade. Bring all of your essential products from home. It's also great for kid items (lotions, sunscreens, soaps, etc). These must have Carnival cruise items are FDA approved so no security heartaches necessary.
#18 - Motion Night Light
Have you slept in a Carnival cruise cabin? If not, let us set the stage. It's smaller than a NYC hotel room. It's also pitch black at night. The room has a couple light switches that invoke the power of the sun to cast a blinding, supernova onto anyone nearby. This usually includes a sleeping spouse. This is the solution. Set it up in your cruise cabin bathroom. When entering, it will detect motion and offer a soft, welcoming illumination to relieve the last few all you can drinks.
#17 - Hanging Cabin Organizer
Whenever asked what to pack for a cruise, we proudly include this item to the list. We also consider it among our super secret “cruise hacks.” It lets Carnival cruisers take advantage of “vertical” storage space as opposed to cluttering up countertops. It has monstrous holding capacity for all of your Carnival cruise necessities. Try hanging it on the adjoining cabin door for extra convenience.
#16 - Poo Pourri
Let's be mature here. But, let's also be honest. Your Carnival ship will have a very inviting buffet. And your cruise cabin (and accompanying bathroom) are very tight quarters. This packing list item becomes essential unless you dislike your stateroom mate. It's almost as if the item was designed for this exact use-case.
#15 - Cruise Staff Thank You Cards
The Carnival staff works extremely hard. Most have temporarily left their families to serve you. We love to show our appreciation with these Thank You Cards. We'll put some cash in these and hand them out to our favorite staff members. You'd be surprised how much better your service will get as an added bonus.
#14 - Funny Cruise Shirt
This funny cruise shirt may as well say, "life of the party." Wearing it insinuates just that. You're almost guaranteed to make some shipmates (and bar buddies) with this item. If you don't get at least six smiles on your way to the top deck, they'll refund your purchase price.
#13 - Another Funny Cruise Shirt
Carnival is known as "the fun ship" for good reason. Its passengers like to have a good time. Often, that involves a trip or two to the bar. This shirt is perfect for Day 1 when that bar is so inviting. Until... "bing bong..." The dreaded Muster Drill will be transformed from a necessary evil to a chance to show off your new, hilarious cruise shirt.
#12 - Carnival Nail Strips
Carnival cruise nail strips are a super fun way to get excited for Day 1 of your sailing. If you don't like attention, this is not the product for you. You likely won't be able to walk to the bar without someone asking you where you got these. They're incredibly easy to pop on and look fantastic all week.
#11 - Travel Coffee Mug
Again, Carnival is known as the "fun ship" for good reason. Some of us like to continue the fun into the wee hours of the night. And when that cruise directors starts screaming in the morning about that afternoon's bingo or whatever, you'll need some caffeine. Not the default size offered by the buffet. Those mugs are just insulting. You'll want a big boy coffee. This is how you achieve that!
#10 - Cruise Tote Bag
This cruise accessory is brilliant. It might not be the most "top of mind" cruise packing list item, but trust us it's critical. There will be many trips back and forth to your stateroom. You'll have clothes, towels, drinks, key cards, phones, and more. Going to and from your cruise port will require even more stuff. Not to mention the souvenirs you'll pick up there. Use this foldable tote bag and maybe bring a spare.
#9 - Magnet Hooks
Carnival cruise cabins have metal walls. Did you know that? Most people don't. This obviously makes them magnetic. This essential item will allow you to take advantage of that little-known-fact. Use that vertical space to hang towels, lanyards, clothes, purses, or whatever else would otherwise be cluttering up countertop space.
#8 - Porthole Sticker
We like to call this product, the "Instant Cabin Upgrade." So, you didn't want to spring for the Oceanview Cabin? No problem! This cruise essential item has you covered. For roughly $10, you can transform your interior stateroom. Peel and stick and you'll have the cheapest cabin upgrade possible. This Carnival Cruise Essential also makes a great gag-gift for your "price conscious" cruise buddies two floors down!
#7 - Travel Sanitizer Bottles
The worst thing that can happen on your cruise is an illness. We’ve seen friends and family plan their cruise vacation for years, only to catch “the bug” early in the week. It’s devastating. Trust us, you'd much rather be sitting on the Lido Deck than your cruise cabin toilet all week! This little cruise hack will improve your chances of a safe, healthy cruise. Attach to any purse, bag, or belt loop for easy access. PRO TIP: this product is sold in combination with our favorite Carnival cruise lanyards for even more protection!
#6 - Carnival Cruise Lanyards
Cruise lanyards are a staple. You'll notice half of the ship wearing these. The other half of passengers are looking for their lost key cards. These comfortably fit around your neck and hold the items you'll want closes to you at all times. They also make for great souvenirs to remember your sailing.
#5 - Carnival Cruise Lanyards
Did you say "Carnival Cruise Hack?" We love hacks! The top deck of your ship will be very windy. At 25 knots, that breeze will be blowing. Back in the 90's, people came up with Towel Clips. That was cool while they lasted. No mas. Towel Bands are the new must have item. Not only will you keep your towel firmly attached to your pool chair, it'll make it super easy to spot your chair from across the way.
#4 - Cruise Door Decorations
This makes our Carnival Cruise Essentials list for a few reasons. It can be extremely difficult to find your stateroom. This is particularly true after happy hour. With these door decorations, your room will stand out in the "sea" of others. It's also a great conversation starter. We've met loads of shipmates interested in our customized door decorations.
#3 - Waterproof Phone Pouch
Remember that sea turtle you swam with in Cozumel? Of course you do. "I wish you had pictures to prove it" is something you won't be hearing. Thanks to your waterproof phone case, you and Crush will have a photo to post all over Insta. As a bonus, you can stick your Carnival Key Card, cash, vaccine passport, and more in here for safe keeping!
#2 - Carnival Cruise Power Strip
This power strip is one of the few allowed by Carnival Cruise Lines. A standard suge protector will get you busted in security. This item was made specifically to adhere to Carnival's policies. In this day and age of dozens of electronic accessories, this is a must have item. Don't wait around for your phone, ipad or camera to charge. This will quickly juice up all of your devices.
#1 - Carnival Cruise Luggage Tags
This power strip is one of the few allowed by Carnival Cruise Lines. A standard suge protector will get you busted in security. This item was made specifically to adhere to Carnival's policies. In this day and age of dozens of electronic accessories, this is a must have item. Don't wait around for your phone, ipad or camera to charge. This will quickly juice up all of your devices.
We hope that you enjoyed our Carnival Cruise Essentials post.
You'll also want to check out our Carnival Ships by Size infographic! There you'll see the dramatic difference in the cruise line's fleet.
We hope that you've gotten a good sense of Carnival Ships by Size.
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