packing essentials?

i'm leaving for rome to join the galaxy in just over a month now. i'm starting to think about packing.


for those of you who have done contracts at sea before, what are items you would consider "must haves" when packing? what are things you didn't realize you needed till you joined the ship? i'm going to be doing 3 months in the mediterranean and 3 months mexico / panama canal.

also, how much space did you have in the cabin to store clothing / suitcases?

thanks!

danny.

if you go back a few pages in this forum - you'll find a thread about packing that has a TON of good info - it's from -1/07/05 and is titled "Packing? New to ships or Industry". Several "gotta have" items . . .

Your storage space won't be much bigger than your suitcase. Two feet at most for hanging space and maybe 2 small drawers. Get suitcases that nestle into each other or collapse.

found this while surfing

http://community.webshots.com/album/273599344VyLxlt

http://community.webshots.com/album/200261485aaUUxp/0

Sucruz,

Trolling the web I found an article by Robt Klein on cruise ship staff below decks and on decks. I don't recall the title of the article, but I recall he wrote a book "Death by Chocolate".

It was disheartening to read about cruise line staff, and how they are sometimes mistreated by the employers.

Dave 1 week Destiny 16 Oct

Thanks for sharing those photos, sucruz. Let us know if you find any more.

Brian

[Lucky]

I'm going on my 5th contract, only for a month or so fill in, so i want to make my usuall 2 suitcases and 2 carry on's smaller since it's not for long...Besides my uniforms for theme nights I could not live with out my personal DVD player and DVDS, my Ipod with speakers, My camera, Fabreeze, extra socks, pictures of my friends (on land and other ships) one good book (on the off chance i can catch my breath) my cell phone, definatly a power strip...but make sure that it is a surge protector or they'll nail ya a cabin inspection, oh, and a battery powered alarm clock...there are so many surges that if you plug a digital clock in, it will skip ahead many minutes in the middle of the night. And my biggie is MAGNETS! I scoop up anything magnetic, little magnets to hold my pictures, clippy magnets to hold my schedual and other papers, i bought some really great metal mesh magnetic baskets at Linens and things, just to hold like the remote to the tv and my alarm clock since i was on teh top bunk...I am so very serious when I say magnets will make your life easier. One last thing...i think, until you master opening beers with a lighter or another beer, a bottle opener would prove quite handy in the crew bar. I know, it's a lot, but it's your home for like 6 months and you want to make it as comfortable as possible.