If you forget to bring an essential item on a cruise, you can have a real problem.
Cruise ships generally have small stores where you can buy missing toiletries or other items. You will pay hefty prices and the selection will range from limited to poor, but if you need a toothbrush, one will probably be available. The same goes for basic over-the-counter medicines, condoms and feminine hygiene products.
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In addition, some ports have convenient shopping. If you stop in Key West, for example, there's a CVS close to the port. Nassau and Cozumel have basic pharmacies in or near the ports, and while again the selection won't be great, you'll probably have more choice than you do on the ship.
But you can't buy certain items on a cruise ship, and you probably should not buy them in port even if they're available.
That's the subject of a recent tip offered by Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald, who also shared a warning for passengers.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line
Keep essentials in your carry-on
Most cruise ship passengers check their main piece of luggage and keep a carry-on bag with them. That could be a purse, a backpack, or some other easy-to-carry bag.
Checked bags go to porters who wait at the curb near the entrance to the cruise terminal. The porters ensure that your bags have the right luggage tags and then load them onto carts for transportation to the ship.
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As you hand over your checked bags, the porter will ask you whether you have your travel documents. They probably won't mention anything about needed medications.
If your travel documents (passport or other relevant identification) are not on you, then you run the risk of not being allowed to board the ship. People have been denied boarding for not having their travel documents because they were in checked bags.
In most cases, your checked bags will arrive at your cabin sometime between 1 p.m. and dinner. It could take a little longer as mistakes are sometimes made and, in very rare cases, bags get lost.
That was part of Heald's message to passengers.
"The reason I mention the carry-on bag is twofold," Heald wrote. "Firstly, because some people were questioning whether they should put their medication in there, which I said yes, and others seem to disagree."
Heald's second point is a warning to passengers.
Please don't stay in you're not-ready cabin
Only certain Carnival customers get access to their cabins before they're officially ready. That includes top-tier VIFP loyalty-program members and people who purchase Faster to the Fun (FTTF).
Those passengers are allowed to visit their cabins briefly for one reason and one reason alone, Heald explained.
"The second point is that I am receiving weekly reports from various ships. It concerns again I’m afraid Diamond and Platinum guests and those who have FTTF who are going directly to their cabin to drop off their carry-on bags. They are then refusing to leave even though the cabin is not ready," he said.
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That's not the policy. People who have early cabin access are supposed to drop their bags and leave quickly.
"They use the bathroom, and one on the Dream this week we had a Diamond guest, who said they wanted to take a shower. He then complained to me here on Facebook that the cabin attendant had not left any towels in the cabin. So after I investigated, it turned out that he was trying to take a shower at just after 11:20 a.m. when the cabin has not been prepared," Heald added. "Oh FFS."
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In Heald's world, "FFS," means "for fun's sake."
"So on behalf of our brilliant housekeeping crew can I once again please please ask that those that have this privilege: Remember to kindly please drop off your carry-on bag. Put it in the closet and then leave straight away because your cabin most likely will not be ready and we need to allow the housekeeping department to chance to actually make it so," he wrote.
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