How to Pack for a 7-Day Caribbean Cruise in a Carry On

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Are you a chronic overpacker?

Do you need to know how to pack for a 7-day Caribbean cruise in a carry-on?

Then this guide is for you!

It includes:

Tips for packing light for a one week cruise
Examples of what my partner and I packed for our cruise in our carry-on luggage

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About Me

I live out of suitcases.

Over the last ten years, I’ve worked and traveled to all seven continents— often with just a couple of bags.

At this point, I’ve got minimalist packing down to a science.

I recently took a 7-day Caribbean cruise on Symphony of the Seas with only carry-on luggage and took notes of exactly what I brought so you could have an idea of what to pack yourself.

As a former cruise ship crew member, I regularly saw guests bringing more luggage for a one week cruise than I brought on the ship for my entire six month contract!

Luckily, with this packing guide, that won’t be you 😉

Why You Should Cruise with Carry-On Only

different sizes of blue, hard-shell suicases with orange wheels and a straw hat — Photo: American Green Travel

As an avid traveler, I’ve seen so many things go wrong when checking in luggage, both at the airport and on cruises.

Cruising with only carry-on reduces the chances that your bags will get lost in transit, or worse, you’ll end up on an entire week-long cruise without ANY of your things 😬

But say you’re not flying into your embarkation port, so you think, “What’s the harm in bringing as much as I want?”

A few things:

1. Embarkation and disembarkation are more complicated the minute you can’t carry all of your things on your own in one go

You’ll need to check in your luggage at the cruise terminal, which while is usually guaranteed to end up on the ship and outside your stateroom– I have seen otherwise, unfortunately.

When it comes time for disembarkation, you won’t be able to just walk off the ship with your things.

You’ll be slowly let off the ship in groups and then just like an airport, you’ll have to find your bags in a busy and crowded terminal.

When you cruise with just carry-on, you can walk straight off the ship and jump into an Uber right away, usually beating the rest of the crowd as they’ll still be collecting their things.

2. Checking in luggage at the port doesn’t ensure that it’ll end up back in your possession onboard right away

Typically, it takes several hours for the crew to sort and transport the luggage up to rooms.

As a crew member, I often saw guest luggage still being brought to rooms in the evening of embarkation day.

Don’t even get me started on medication misplaced in checked luggage that guests need ASAP– ALWAYS hand carry all medication whenever you travel!

3. Busy Elevators

If you can handle all of your luggage and forgo checking them in, you’ll probably be waiting a while for an available elevator once onboard to bring everything to your room.

We all know how notoriously busy lifts are on embarkation and disembarkation days.

You’ll be fine to take the stairs and haul everything up if you’re only a floor or two away from the gangway, but good luck if you need to climb five decks or more.

Tips for Packing Light for a Cruise

flatlay of opened suitcase with silver sandals, a notebook, black wallet, a camera, toiletries, clothes, and a straw hat — Photo: Marissa Grootes

1. Use Packing Cube s

As someone who’s lived out of suitcases for nearly 10 years now working and traveling to all seven continents, I NEVER go anywhere without packing cubes.

They help you compress your clothing so you can often fit more compared to just folding and placing them in a suitcase.

They are also amazing when it comes to keeping clothes organized.

I typically travel with just a carry-on backpack and the few times I’ve been asked to empty my belongings for a security screening, it took me just a minute or two to repack after collecting my things.

The cubes fit nicely into any backpack, duffel, or suitcase.

I like to label all of mine so I know exactly where everything is.

(Ex: underwear, bottoms, tops, etc.)

It makes repacking a breeze as well.

2. Pack Outfits, Not Individual Clothing Items

Say it with me together: I don’t need a different set of clothes for every single day.

My rule of thumb is that I can only bring something if it mixes and matches to make at least two outfits.

So instead of packing seven shirts and seven pairs of pants for your Caribbean cruise, bring half that number and rewear them with a different pair of shorts or top.

One exception that can be made is your formal evening attire, which of course probably couldn’t be remixed with anything else.

3. Pack Outfits Around 1-2 Color Palettes

Fewer color themes means more things match with each other!

If every item that you bring works with several other tops or bottoms, then you have just multiplied your outfit options.

Most of my partner’s clothing in general tend to be white.

Guess who had an easier time packing?

You’ll see in what he packed for the cruise that all of his casual wear was white, which he threw together in his bag in seconds.

My typical color themes are black and white, though I also brought a pair of blue, light-washed denim jeans that worked with both of those colors as well.

4. Don’t Bring More Than 3 Pairs of Shoes

Shoes take up so much luggage space, so it’s best to keep these to a minimum.

If you plan on dressing up for the cruise’s formal nights, bring one pair of shoes that work with all of your nice outfits.

Again, this goes back to working around just a couple of color palettes.

For the beach and casual strolling around the ship, bring one set of sandals OR flip-flops.

Lastly, a pair of sneakers is always great for travel days as well as if you feel like hitting the gym while onboard.

You can also plan on wearing your sneakers when flying and for embarkation/disembarkation so that you save space for other things in your luggage.

5. Pre-Pack Then Edit

Womens tops hanging on rack — Photo: Priscilla Du Preez

After you’ve set aside everything you plan on bringing, eliminate even further.

Chances are that you’re bringing more than you’ll need.

Even with just carry ons, both my partner and I had things we ended up not using on our cruise.

An easy trick for figuring out what you should cut is doing a rapid-fire, two-question survey of each item:

If it’s casual wear, does it work with at least two other clothing items?
Will I actually wear this?

If at any point you hesitate to answer quickly or the answer is “maybe”— cut it.

6. Wear Your Bulkiest Clothing

This is a general travel tip, but always a good one.

Wear the items that take up the most luggage space.

For a Caribbean cruise, this means your one pair of jeans (you probably won’t need more!), sneakers, beach hat, and sweater or jacket used for inside the air conditioned ship.

7. Consider Doing Sink Laundry

My partner and I planned on doing laundry in our stateroom sink, so we didn’t have to pack an entire week’s worth of underwear— another way to cut down on luggage.

The air inside ships is so dry that wet clothing dries in just hours.

Especially if your clothes are lightweight and breathable fabrics, which should be the case if you’re headed to tropical ports anyway, doing sink laundry in your stateroom is so easy.

All you need to bring is a few travel Tide sink packets, or bring a small bottle of your own from home, and some S-hooks.

If you want to make things even easier without the mess, bring a Scrubba wash bag.

Squeeze out any excess water after washing by rolling the clothes in a towel (you can always ask your stateroom attendant for fresh ones), then hang them up around your cabin to dry.

If you have an ocean view balcony room, you can even use clips to hang your items outside.

Note: I wouldn’t recommend sink washing for anything heavy or bulky such as denim.

We kept the self-laundering to swimwear, lightweight tops, and underwear.

8. Use the Ship’s Laundering Service

If it’s the difference between bringing an extra 2-3 outfits, just utilize the onboard laundering service to save luggage space.

Yes, it will cost you a small fee, but it’s comparable to what other all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean would charge you anyway.

We used the ship laundry service to wash a few heavier items that got more soiled than we expected as well as to press some of our evening wear that got wrinkled in transit.

The fee was nominal and we were very pleased with the turnaround time and final result.

9. Buy Sunscreen Near Your Hotel Before Going to the Port

If you’re going to the Caribbean, packing sunscreen is an absolute must.

However, if you’re flying with only carry-on luggage, a small 3-oz bottle of sunscreen probably won’t be enough to last you an entire week.

I bought a full size bottle at the CVS near my hotel prior to heading to the cruise port.

Not only did this prevent me from purchasing overpriced sunscreen on the ship, but it also allowed me to bring a regular-sized bottle since I picked it up after my flight.

What to Pack for a Caribbean Cruise- Women’s Example

Suitcase being packed, sunglasses, camera, and laptop — Photo: Anete Lūsiņa

Back to the question of how to pack for a 7-day Caribbean cruise in a carry-on– what does it look like?

My luggage consisted of a backpack and carry-on roller suitcase.

Here’s everything I packed in my carry-on for the 7-day cruise:

Note: Since I bought most of these items years ago and often abroad, exact matches are no longer available. Many of the linked items are the closest duplicates I could find.

Swim

woman in an orange bikini laying on the edge of a pool with a sun hat overing her face. the shadows of a palm tree overlay her. — Photo: Arturo Rivera

Sarong

I always travel with a lightweight sarong as it can serve multiple purposes:

Scarf
Coverup
Beach towel
Wrap for anything you might need to bundle along your travels

Since we went directly to the beach at all of our ports, I didn’t bother wearing regular clothes on top of my bathing suit as I knew I would get sweaty.

I just wore my sarong as a dress and wore it over my swim clothing.

White One-Piece Bathing Suit

I actually didn’t wear this as a bathing suit at all.

This white one-piece had been on my must-have minimalist packing list for a while as it pairs great with a skirt or a pair of jeans, comes with a built-in bra, and can also be used for both in and out of the water.

It worked perfectly with either my heels or beach sandals and jeans for a nice evening look.

Two Bikinis

What can I say, even I still struggle with being a complete minimalist when it comes to packing for a one week cruise!

I always like to travel with at least a couple sets of bikinis just in case they need to be used as underwear in an emergency.

As a former cruise ship worker, there were definitely a few times when I just couldn’t get my laundry done in time and so my bathing bottoms became my undies for the night.

Life getting paid to travel to all seven continents after that was never the same after that!

Shoes

woman wearing a pleated, blush, midi-skirt walks on a beach holding brown beach sandals — Photo: Amelia Bartlett

One Pair of Sneakers

You could definitely do without this, especially if you don’t plan on using the gym on the ship.

(You’re on vacation, after all!)

I brought a pair just because I had one full day in Miami before the cruise and I planned on walking everywhere.

While I hardly wore them at all once onboard, I clocked in close to 10 miles wandering all around downtown Miami the day I flew in!

For me, it was definitely worth it to bring my Sketchers but not at all necessary for the cruise itself.

Tan Beach Sandals

I like beach sandals because they can be dressed up or down.

They’re also a great alternative to cheap-looking flip-flops that aren’t appropriate footwear to wear in the dining room for dinner.

Black and Gold Heels

I brought one pair of black and gold heels that would go with my emerald formal gown, black cocktail dress, and even my denim jeans.

Since my partner and I like to dress up and enjoy the fine-dining options onboard like Wonderland on Symphony of the Seas, I wore my heels for half of the evenings.

Dresses

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A post shared by Michelle | Work + Travel (@wandereatwrite)

There are plenty of people who don’t even bother with bringing formalwear.

If that’s you, then you can save even more luggage space!

I like having a reason to get cleaned up, so I brought two dresses: one emerald formal gown and one black cocktail dress.

Casual Wear

A four picture collage of how to pack for a 7-day Caribbean cruise in only carry on. Top left photo: girl wearing a black tank top and black shorts. Top right photo: girl wearing a white bodysuit and blue jeans with tan beach sandals. Bottom left photo: a girl wearing a white tshirt and green romper sitting on large granite rocks. Bottom right photo: girl standing in front of life-size butterfly cutout wearing a white tshirt and black shorts. — Some of the outfits I packed in my carry-on for the 7-day cruise (bottom left picture taken from Seychelles just a few weeks earlier)

Bottoms

Light-washed blue jeans
Black, high-waisted denim shorts
Olive linen romper shorts: these were also used for port days as a beach cover-up as they dry quickly
White linen shorts
Bandage skirt: brought with the intention of wearing it to dinner but completely forgot about it!

Tops

Black, draped, open-front cardigan: looks a little dressier but also easy to layer inside the air-conditioned ship
2x black tank tops: one regular and one cropped
White t-shirt
Black t-shirt

Cosmetics and Toiletries

Makeup flatlay including eyeshadow, blush, mascara, and cheek and lip products — Photo: Element5 Digital

I used travel bottles to bring small amounts of facial cleanser, moisturizer, and body lotion.

While generic shampoo was provided for onboard, I opted to bring my own travel-size shampoo and conditioner.

The following is what else I packed in a small makeup bag, mostly for dressing up in the evenings:

Additional cosmetics and toiletries I packed for the cruise:

Rollerball perfume
Razor
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Travel hairbrush
Sunscreen

Miscellaneous

What to Pack for a Caribbean Cruise- Men’s Example

brown duffel bag sits on a hardwood floor — Photo: Erol Ahmed

While my cruise luggage was more casualwear-heavy, my partner’s was the complete opposite.

He enjoys having more dressed up options, so his formal and smart casual outfits were the priority.

Here’s what he brought in a carry-on duffel bag and garment bag:

Note: As most of the items that he packed were purchased years ago and often abroad, many of the linked items are the closest duplicates I could find.