What to pack for a cruise, and what they will take off you

I am not going to tell you to bring a sundress. You know about the sundress.

What follows is the stuff with an actual rule attached — the things that get pulled out of your bag at the gangway, the things people wrongly leave at home, and the things TSA cares about on the flight down. Everything in the tables is quoted from the cruise line's own published page, with the link.

The table that matters: what each line prohibits

These differ more than you would expect, and the differences are the useful part. Ten lines, each read off its own website.

Power strips, extension cords and surge protectors

This is the single most-asked packing question on the internet and nearly every answer you will find is wrong, because it answers for one line and prints it as a rule for all of them. Here are all ten.

A surge protector is the one thing no line allows. Not one of the ten publishes a rule permitting one. If the box says surge protection anywhere on it, leave it home.

The trap worth knowing. Holland America publishes the clearest and most generous rule of the ten, under the heading "Electrical devices that are allowed on board (when used with caution)": "Power strips," "Multi plug box outlets and adaptors," "Extension cords without surge protectors." Read that, pack the same strip for a Disney sailing, and you lose it at the pier — Disney bans "Extension cords, power strips, multi-plugs and surge protectors" outright, with no non-surge exception published anywhere. The rule is not "cruise ships." The rule is your line.

Princess contradicts itself three times on one page. Its prohibited list bans "Electrical devices with surge protectors such as small fans, multi plug box outlets/adaptors, power strips/extension cords." A footnote directly beneath says devices "without surge protectors and electric extension cords with surge protectors are allowed onboard when used with proper caution and following inspection/tests from the onboard electrical department." A third section says extension cords are "generally not permitted onboard." That is Princess's own page, three ways, today. Pack a non-surge strip, expect it to be inspected, and do not argue the footnote at the gangway.

Two lines will simply hand you one. MSC: "Complimentary distilled water and extension cords are available onboard; however, a charge will apply if the extension cord is not returned." Virgin Voyages: "If you need an extension cord, just ask our Crew, and they'll sort you out." Free beats confiscated.

Celebrity is the gap to watch. Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean Group and hosts the group-wide conduct policy on its own domain — so it is tempting to assume Royal Caribbean's rules apply. They are not published that way. Celebrity lists "Electrical Extension Cords" as prohibited and says nothing at all about power strips or surge protection. We have left it as not published rather than borrowing the parent company's answer.

Everything else

Drinks you are allowed to bring

Ten lines, ten different answers. This is the table people argue with us about, so every cell is what the line itself publishes — and where a line publishes nothing, it says so.

Disney is the only one of the ten that lets you carry beer aboard — six of them, 12 oz or smaller. Read the sentence carefully: it is one bottle of wine or six beers, not both, and it is per guest aged 21 and over, so two adults sharing a cabin each get an allowance. Carry it on; Disney publishes that alcohol found in checked luggage is removed with "no compensation."

MSC is the strict one, and it catches people out. No alcohol at all, and no soft drinks or water either, "on both embarkation and port days." The single exception is factory-sealed purified or distilled water for a medical device or infant formula. If you are used to walking back aboard with a bottle of water bought in port, MSC is the line where that stops.

The things actually worth buying

Most of this page is about what the ship will take off you. These two are the other half — the short list of things that genuinely earn their space, with the reason attached to each one and a warning on the three that come with a catch.

• Cruise Essentials Gear Guide — eleven things that fix a real problem on board, including the one every packing list recommends that most ships will not let you use in their pool.
• Toddler Cruise Gear Guide — ten things if a small person is coming too, including the one item every line requires and several bar the pool without.

Those two pages carry affiliate links and say so at the top. This page does not, and never will — the rules on it should not have a price attached.

The flight down is TSA's rules, not the cruise line's

People blur these together. TSA governs your flight; the cruise line governs the gangway.

• Liquids: one quart-sized bag, containers of 3.4 oz / 100ml or less, in your carry-on.
• Medically necessary liquids and medication exceed that limit and are allowed. TSA: "You may bring medically necessary liquids, medications and creams in excess of 3.4 ounces." Declare them, separate them out, and TSA recommends the medication be clearly labelled.
• Power banks must be in your carry-on, never checked. TSA: "Portable chargers or power banks containing a lithium ion battery must be packed in carry-on bags." Same for all spare lithium batteries.
• Cordless curling irons with lithium or butane are carry-on only.
• Multi-tools with a knife of any length cannot go in your carry-on. Corkscrews with a blade cannot either. Both are fine checked.

Medication, properly

The CDC publishes the version worth following:

• "Keep medicines in their original, labeled containers," clearly labelled with your full name, your provider's name, the generic and brand name and the exact dosage.
• Bring "enough to last your entire trip, plus extra in case of travel delays."
• Bring written copies of prescriptions, generic names included, and leave a copy at home with someone.
• Get a note from your provider "if you use controlled substances, or injectable medicines, such as EpiPens and insulin."
• Pack it in a carry-on, in case your luggage is delayed — which, on a cruise, it will be.

On the ship: Princess publishes that "Sharps containers may be requested through the stateroom steward once on board." Royal Caribbean lists a sharps container and a mini-refrigerator as available on request through its Access Department. Norwegian publishes the warning worth reading twice: "Cabin minibars are not suitable for storing temperature-sensitive medicine."

If you use a wheelchair or scooter, the size rule is real

Every line publishes a doorway width, and a scooter that does not fit does not sail.

And the rule every line publishes in almost the same words: it has to be stored and charged in your cabin, not in the corridor. Norwegian: "they cannot be stored in the hallways, stairways, or any other public area." Princess: "Mobility equipment cannot be stored or charged in the hallways or elevator lobbies." This is a fire-escape requirement, not fussiness.

The deadline nobody puts on a packing list

This is the form that gets you a shower stool, a raised toilet seat, a bed rail, a sharps container, a refrigerator for medication, an extension cord for a CPAP, distilled water, a visual-tactile alert kit, a TTY phone or a sign-language interpreter. Filed late, the answer is simply no, and no amount of money fixes it on embarkation day.

There is no single industry deadline. We assumed 45 days before checking. It is not.

Norwegian needs ninety days for an interpreter. That is three months, and it is the longest lead time on this page. If anyone in your party is Deaf or hard of hearing and you are sailing Norwegian, that request goes in before almost anything else.

Two numbers matter before you book, not after. Viking caps mobility equipment at 22 inches wide and 50 pounds — that rules out a good many power chairs, and it is in the ticket contract rather than the brochure. Virgin Voyages states plainly that they do not provide mobility devices at all; you rent from an outside vendor. MSC's onboard wheelchairs are for embarkation, disembarkation and emergencies only. None of that is a reason not to sail. It is a reason to ask first.

What you can actually ask for differs too. Princess will put "handheld shower heads, shower stools and raised toilet seats" in a standard cabin, requested through their app. Celebrity's form offers a raised toilet seat, commode chair, shower stool, mini-refrigerator and sharps container. MSC publishes a shower stool and nothing else of that kind. Holland America and Viking publish no list at all — you have to ask. Never assume the ship has a spare.

Clothes: the only numbers that matter

Two formal nights on a seven-day cruise, on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Princess. Celebrity publishes "one to two" and no length rule.

What is published as not allowed in the dining room: Royal Caribbean bans bare feet anywhere onboard at any time, and tank tops in the main and specialty dining rooms. Carnival bans "gym shorts, bathing suit attire, cut-off jeans, sleeveless shirts for men and baseball hats." Celebrity bans "swimsuits, see-through coverups or robes, bare feet, tank tops, T-shirts, and baseball caps."

Everything else is you choosing how much you want to dress up, and the answer is allowed to be "not very."