What to Pack on a Caribbean Cruise

I am a notorious under packer and my husband {although he'd never admit it} almost always over packs. Usually, as long as I have my flip flops, toothbrush, and a few good books, I'm happy. I knew that strategy wouldn't work too well for our first cruise, so my husband and I did quite a bit of research on what to bring on a cruise.  We ended up packing a lot of things we didn't need and forgetting a couple of essential items. By our second cruise, we felt much more comfortable with packing but it was still hard to remember everything we needed, which is why before our third cruise I created a little checklist. This checklist is certainly not an all-inclusive list, but it's what we used. You can download it by clicking on the picture below.

I won't bore you by explaining each item on the list, but I will share about some of the less obvious items.
Formal Wear-Obviously, if you don't intend on participating in formal night, you don't need any formal wear. I enjoy getting to dress up, so I always go all-in, except for the shoes. I'm not great with heels in the first place, so I play it safe and keep my shoes conservative.
Water Shoes-I learned about the importance of these the hard way. When we went cave tubing in Belize, we had to wear water shoes. I had no clue about this policy, and all I had to wear was flip flops. I ended up having to RENT and WEAR a pair of used water shoes, which were not a little gross. I still shudder when I think about wearing those things! From that point on-I will have my own shoes.
Sunglasses Strap-You'll only need this if you're planning any adventurous excursions. We've lost our fair share of glasses, so we always try to pack a strap or two.
Electronics-This is my husband's section of the packing list. I could completely live without any of these items, other than the Kindle. However, I do bring my laptop with me, because I do squeeze in a baby bit of work on our trips.
Toiletries-Most ships do provide a blow drier, but I do bring my own, as well as a flat iron. However, I rarely use it, because it's hard to beat a pony tail on a cruise!
Extra Contacts/Glasses-This one is one of the most important ones to me. I used to always pack just what I needed and never brought my glasses and completely ignored my husband reminding me to pack them just in case. My standard response was, "I'll be fine." Famous last words! To make a long story short, I spent one of our most recent trips with fuzzy vision because I developed an ulcer on my cornea and didn't have any glasses and couldn't get to glasses store. Lesson learned.

One thing that I pack on our first cruise that I won't back again is beach towels. Save yourself the space in your suitcase and leave the towels to the cruise line. They'll take care of you!