Lisa

How many people have taken a travel iron or mini clothes steamer on a cruise and if so, have found it/them useful. Our cruise line website states there are no irons in the cabins/staterooms and gives prices for ironing by the laundry service. While I don't mind using the laundry service when necessary, it just seems like a waste to use them for something that may have gotten creased on the journey or just needs frehsening up. <BR> <BR>Any other packing tips or recommendations (family Mediterranean cruise). I have diligently studied all the tips for general touring on this forum and Ricksteves but am just wondering if cruising offers any different issues than general touring. Will try for packing as light as possible and have invested in good (but sadly ugly) walking sandals for touring. We will be touring before and after. Luckily, I can send home one bag with one of our party who is not touring after the cruise. <BR>Any tips will be appreciated.

Lisa

Sorry for the typ. Should read Have you used

Paul Therault

<BR>I carry a small steamer since it is lighter than an iron. <BR> <BR>Most cruise lines have a self-service laundry along with an iron and board. <BR> <BR>Ask your travel agent. <BR> <BR>Paul

AH

I have a small travel iron (Black & Decker I think) that I take with me whenever I travel. It's very compact, has an adaptor and actually works better than my "regular" iron at home. I'd invest the $20. <BR> <BR>A Med cruise is my goal -- have a great time and post here to let us know...

Lisa

Thanks for all your replies. Paul, from what I can judge it does not seem like Celebrity Millenium has self -service laundry. Correct me if I am wrong. <BR> <BR>Thanks also for the good wishes, AH. I am really looking forward to the whole trip.

Parrot Mom

My newest and handiest item for traveling..an old fashioned shoe bag to hang over the door of the bathroom...I fill it with all sorts of things..sandals, small flashlight, suntan lotions, clothes pins (wooden kind). I don't bother with a travel iron, because usually the room stewards have them..

Anthony

As a frequent travel who does take irons when traveling(unless I know there's one in the rm), I have found the following advice to be of great help. <BR>I regularly iron my own shirts for work each morning, using a combo of iron steam and a spray bottle to moisten the fabric. However, with hotel irons, you don't know the condition of the steaming elements - I have learned the hard way NEVER use a hotel iron for wet'steam' ironing - you will spot and ruin your clothes! Best thing is to buy and bring along a mini-spray bottle - which you can use to wet down the fabric. This will give you the best ironing results, whether using a hotel iron or a mini travel iron.

Jean

I take a small steamer and use it. I noticed our last cruise on Princess has free washers and dryers and 2 or 3 ironing boards/irons that you use in their laundry facility. There was usually a line before a formal evening and I used the steamer most of the time. <BR>

Kathy

Jsut returned from the Millennium and they do not have a self service laundry. Travel irons are very dangerous in the cabin and really no easy way to use them and they ask you not to because of the danger of fire. If you feel you need something like that, a steamer is much better and easier to use. If you pack all your clothes in plastic drycleaning bags, you will be amazed how wrinkles are practially non-existent. Another trick is to pack slacks on the bottom of the suitcase with the legs hanging over the edge. Pack other clothes on top of them them fold the legs over the other clothes. Keeps creases out of the pants. Also cross pack. That way if one bag is lost, at least each of you has some clothes. Enjoy!

Tanya

Make sure you pack a small carry on in case of lost luggage. I have seen some people wait one to two ports before receiving luggage. I always pack a small bag with at least one change of clothing, any essentials (pills, eyeglasses, sun lotion, etc.), swimsuit, one pair of shoes. <BR> <BR>We always pack a soft-sided cooler with our toiletries. That way you have a cooler to take with you to the beach, or even to take drinks up to the deck/pool. <BR> <BR>Since most times our destination is outside of our country, we purchase a bottle at duty-free when we depart. That way we have a bottle in our room if we feel like having a drink while preparing for dinner. <BR>

Lisa

Great advice from you all. I really find all the little tips very useful. Thanks. Keep them coming if you think of any as you go along. <BR>Also found a lot of information on the website www.cruisediva.com which I picked up from another posting. <BR> <BR>Kathy, any more information about the Millenium? Have they ironed out all their teething problems? How did you find the service, food, entertainment, accommodation ie a full trip report (sorry only joking. Actually, half joking). You can post it here or email it directly to me. <BR>We're in a category 7 cabin/stateroom. How are the cabins?

Texasriders

Kathy wrote: <BR>"Travel irons are very dangerous in the cabin and really no easy way to use them and they ask you not to because of the danger of fire." <BR> <BR>I don't see how a travel iron can be more dangerous that a cigarette in the cabin? <BR> <BR>Lisa: <BR>For travel tips you may want to check out Calgon's site: <BR> <BR>http://www.geocities.com/calgon1/

Lisa

Calgon was a great website for a packing list.. <BR>For any others that are interested in answers to this question and/or cruise reviews, other good websites I have found are at Cruisecritic.com, cruiseaddict.com and cruisediva.com (the last one I found on another Fodor post.) They have some great reviews and tips, but I found the message boards disorganized. They need better search engines

Kathy

As for my comment on the cruise line not liking irons in the cabin, it's because people have a tendency to leave them plugged in, sitting on table tops, TVs, bedding, etc., causing a real potential for fire. Room stewards have also told us that people will iron directly on carpeting, furniture, desk and table tops, melting the surfaces. I agree that cigarettes are just as dangerous but at least people USUALLY put them out in an ash tray. <BR> <BR>As for our opinion on the Millennium, this was our 4th cruise with Celebrity (17th overall) and they just keep getting better and better. We felt none of the vibration problem that others had mentioned. We were second seating and felt the service and food was outstanding. We only ate dinner in the dining room so can't speak for other meals there. The buffets were great and had lots of variety. Two pools and 4 hot tubs in that area. Also a hydro pool area inside with glass all around and 2 more hot tubs in that area but pools and hot tubs are closed in the evening for cleaning. Many seemed unhappy about that fact. I feel that Celebrity has greatly improved on their entertainment, an area I felt was lacking on past cruises. The artwork and floral arrangements on board are spectacular (they have a floral shop on board). Overall the ship is incredibly beautiful. So many outstnading features, hard to mention them all but if you have specific questions, post them and I'll do my best to answer them As for cabins, we had an inside - 170 sq. ft. King sized bed (not 2 singles pushed together) nightstands with drawers and lamps on both sides, desk, table and chair. TV with free movies, CNN, ESPN plus the usual on-board bridge cam, shore talks, account balance, shore excursion booking, etc. and 3 or 4 types of radio music. Two closets with plenty of wooden hangers, tons of drawer space, programmable in closet safe and refrigerator. Actually a mini bar but we asked our room steward to remove the contents so we could use it for our own stuff. Bathroom was good sized, built in hair dryer, lotion, shampoo and soap provided. Also, two great waffle weave cotton robes are there for your use. Overall, it was a fabulous cruise experience and we can't wait to do it again.

Lisa

Good report, Kathy. You get an A. Everybody gets an A. <BR> <BR>Bummer about the pools being closed in the evenings. As we will be doing a lot of shore excursions in the Mediterannean, I know that my kids will want to use them after returning from a hot day of sightseeing. <BR> <BR>I was interested to read your opinion on the cabin as all the other reviews I had read were from people who stayed in higher category cabins, and all of them had balconies too. I was starting to feel like we would be going in steerage!

John

Travel tip - tie a unique color ribbon on all of your suitcases to make them easier to find after disembarkation and everyone's luggage is in the terminal (even though you use color coded baggage tags, you'd be surprised how many people have small black carryon bags that look just like yours).