Day 24 Cameras Phones and Electronics for Your Cruise

It’s 24 days before you whip out that camera and take a 1000 pictures of your spectacular cruise!

It is the age of electronics. The chance of you being unplugged for the entire cruise is pretty slim. After all, our phones are our cameras, wake up calls, communication, sound systems and safety blankets.

Of course, there are a few other necessities some of us can’t live without… Ipads, tablets, curling irons, flat irons, blow dryers and more. And let’s not forget that poolside time with your iPad or kindle! So day 24 is all about PLUG INS!

You definitely need time to work on this list. With electronics you want to do your research and you want to look for the best product, best reviews, best pricing and best warranties you can get.

What electrical voltage does my cruise line use? Most cruise lines have the capability to use North American Standard 110 volts AC and often also have standard European 220/230 volts AC sockets and outlets. That means that you should be fine plugging in most things you need charged. Often in the bathrooms they allow plugs for “shavers only”. Beware not to plug in higher voltage things like hair dryers here. If you wonder what your cruise line uses, it is a quick google search to find out.

Here is a hint for when you are aboard. The cruise lines can put the plugs in the most bizarre places in your stateroom. On some ships it’s like Where’s Waldo! And there are not many. Often we are juggling to see who gets the plug first or who’s device needs it the most. And that is always debatable!

NOTE! You cannot bring power strips on a ship because of fire hazard. One alternative is a Portable USB Hub. Much of what we are charging has the capability to charge via a USB. This has become our biggest lifesaver.

So, what to bring and what to leave behind? Time to start your electronics list!

Cameras for your Cruise

No question if you are a photo buff you need to have your camera all ready to go. We love seeing photographers running around the ship and ports with the real thing. We have gotten kind of lazy using our phones for everything. But the pictures Captain Bert takes with his real camera blow away the iPhone pics Shauna takes.

Captain Bert here. I love to take photos of our cruises, perhaps one of my favorite things to do. And I can say without a doubt that getting a good quality camera with a long zoom lens will let you take those great shots. I like to use Panasonic Lumix cameras. The image quality and price are beyond compare. Sure I like to use a DSLR but the hassles of taking it on excursions is just not worth it to me. Here is my present favorite camera, Panasonic Lumix FZ80. It has a 60X zoom, image stabilization and near instant autofocus for taking those shots that you cherish when you get back home.

On our cruise to Cuba, I hung out on our balcony waiting for Customs to clear the ship. Thanks to the long zoom and auto focus functions, I was able to shoot numerous photos of the 50’s cars driving by on the Malecon. Even though I was beyond excited to get off the ship into Havana, I was in heaven, thanks to the Lumix!!

And if you have purchased a new camera for the cruise, take some time to practice with it! Get out that new owners manual and actually read it. Play with your camera for the few weeks to come. Especially practice “Quick, grab the camera for the sunset shots”! Or, “WHALE!”. Nothing more frustrating than missing the perfect shot!

I like to keep things well organized so I put all of my cords and cards and my iPad in this Travel Gadget Bag from Amazon. It is lightweight and has plenty of room to keep things all in one place. Why waste any of our precious Cruise time, searching for cords and connectors!!

Camera

Extra Batteries
Good travel case
Charging cords
S/D Cards
Film if you use a throwback camera that needs film
Flashes

Phone Camera for your Cruise

If your phone is your camera than make sure you have all of your cords ready and you have space on your memory! This is huge! Download as much as you can onto your computer so that your phone has space. You can also get some fun photography phone apps to play with. Some will enhance your images, some edit and some just make them crazy fun! Below are some links for apps you may like.

BEST CAMERA APPS FOR IPHONE

BEST CAMERA APPS FOR ANDROID

BEST HINT!!! If you can get a long 6 foot cord for your phone versus the regular 3 feet cords, it will change your life as you travel. From airports to those stateroom inopportune outlets you will be thankful to have a longer cord. When Shauna wants to sit on the bed in the cabin and look at or edit her pictures, that long 6 foot cord is the only thing that makes it possible. We also like to use a Portable Power Bank which lets us run our phones when we are nowhere near a charging station. What a timesaver!!

Phone for everything else – You will find that all the reasons you use your phone at home will still be the same once onboard. It will be your alarm clock, your flashlight, your mood maker! We love to bring Bluetooth travel speakers and use our phone to play all of our favorite music. Oh, yeah…. we have a favorite cruising playlist for sure! And THAT is something fun to make! Having speakers with you can change your whole cruise experience. you just have to make sure that you properly turn off your phones wifi or put it in airplane mode so you don’t get zapped for charges while out to sea or in another country. (See Day 14 for more information)

PHONE LIST
Phone
Good cell phone case, maybe even waterproof
Charging Cord
Travel Speakers
Headset
Phone stands are great for travel
Download photos to have space on phone for new ones
Create your Music Play lists, travel, evening, beach, cabin hangout, etc

Laptops, iPads, Tablets and Kindle/Readers

Some people cannot leave home without their laptop. We have been known to carry one just to edit videos while aboard to upload at every port. Others, can’t leave home without their tablets or readers. We have found nothing more fun than to have our iPad on a cruise. From picture taking to reading, web surfing to emails they keep us connected. Nowadays there are many ships that have wifi capability right in your cabin! So having your own device to access it while aboard versus going to the internet cafes makes a fun difference.

COMPUTER/TABLET LIST

Computer
Computer charging cord
Headset
Carrying case
iPad or Kindle
Tablet charging cord
Tablet cover
Carrying case

Razors, Hair, and Steamers – The Good and the Bad

Now let’s get to Shauna’s stress list. Steamers and electric HAIR accessories! Good news is that many cruise lines now have hair dryers in all of the staterooms. They are usually in one of the drawers already plugged in. You can check with your cruise line to find out if they supply them for you. But what about curling irons, flat irons and more? Hair out to sea can be a challenge for even the best stylists! So don’t forget your go-to appliances.

Now here’s the bad news. Clothes steamers and irons are not allowed onboard. Again, they are looking at the fire dangers of each. So, our answer is a TSA compliant 3oz WRINKLE RELEASE.

HAIR APPLIANCE LIST

Curling Iron
Flat Iron
Hot Curlers
Men’s electric razor

Now you can see why we say we fight over the outlets while onboard! We have consolidated the list below for you. And we have some of our favorite products that we love and suggest for your cruising pleasure!

Electrical Lists

PLUG IN

Portable USB Hub

CAMERA

Camera
Extra Batteries
Good travel case
Charging cords
S/D Cards

PHONE LIST

Phone
Good cell phone case, maybe even waterproof
Charging Cord
Travel Speakers
Headset
Phone stands are great for travel
Music