The March Holidays are coming and you might have booked a cruise for your family during the recent Travel Fairs. Before you embark on your cruise vacation, read below for 7 travel hacks to have an enjoyable and fuss-free cruise vacation!

1. Get onto the ship as early as you can

Boarding early gives you the time to explore the cruise ship and find your way around before the majority of the people board and get really busy. It also means that if you find anything wrong with your room or want to request a change, you will be one of the first to get the change!

2. Bring along a highlighter

From personal experience, a highlighter really makes planning for the days onboard so much easier. Whenever we get the new day itinerary, we will immediately highlight the programs that interest us. It makes referring back to the itinerary so much more straightforward without having to go through the list of programs from the start again.

3. Smart packing is the way to go for a confined space

Unfortunately, unless you are staying in the VIP suites, a typical cruise cabin tend to be slightly smaller than what you are used to. Roll your clothes and pack them into packing cubes so that you don't have to bring a big luggage. Oh, and a hanging travel pouch is a lifesaver. It is easy to pack and unpack from your luggage, and toiletries are kept organised and accessible without taking up much space.

4. Bring along a daypack for land excursions

Most cruises offer excursions at the port they dock, and you can choose to spend the day exploring the area or stay onboard to enjoy the cruise's facilities. If you opt for the former, then we will suggest that you bring along an excursion daypack to contain your wallet, phone, water bottle, sunglasses, and other necessities.

Our AGVA Foldable Daypack comes in handy at times like this. Simply pack it into your luggage or backpack and unfold it when needed. No bulky extra bags needed :)

5. Plan your next day the night before

You want to know what time to get up, or rather, what is worth getting up for! It is extremely useful as well when you are travelling with kids - rather than spending the first waking hour looking through the day's program in the room, it is brush teeth, wash up, and out you go to enjoy the sun and activities!

6. Take note of the extra charges

Sadly, not everything offered on the cruise is inclusive of what you had paid for, unless you are on board an all-inclusive cruise. If you are not planning to spend beyond what you had already paid, do take note of the activities which are marked with an asterisk as they usually indicate additional cost. They are typically the classes, spa packages, and yoga. But take heart, the beautiful vast ocean and sunset/ sunrise view that you will only get when on a cruise is free.

7. No free Wi-fi onboard

Wi-fi is chargeable on board, and even so, it may not be super strong when out at sea. Depending on how long your cruise is and where you are going, you can either choose to pay for the wi-fi onboard, or get an overseas data roaming plan from your telco subscriber. For a Port Klang cruise, we would recommend checking out your telco's rates for overseas data roaming for Malaysia as they tend to be cheaper than the wi-fi onboard.

And that wraps up the 7 tips and items to pack for an enjoyable cruise holiday! For seasoned cruise trippers, are there other tips and items to pack besides these 7 you could share with us and the rest reading the article? Leave us a comment, we would love to know! :)