Is It a Good Idea to Bring Really Bulky Items on My Cruise Like Golf Clubs or Scuba Gear?

I have already shared the craziest thing I bring on every cruise, but what about other things that are bulky and cumbersome but oh so convenient to have your own?! Most activities we enjoy require equipment. Think about golfing or tennis or pickleball or horseback riding or scuba diving, all of these activities require some level of equipment to participate. When you’re serious about your sports, having your own equipment is not just a luxury but a must or the activity is spoiled. Sure, you can rent most of these items but will you really enjoy yourself with someone else’s putter compared to your own that you know and love or the driver you have dialed in for max distance?

When it comes to scuba diving, your regulator is your life under water. Yeah, kinda important. Also having a mask that fits your face well is a must as constantly having water leak in during your dive gets irritating. Bringing all of your own scuba gear would end up being quite a lot, but if you can get by with your own mask and regulator and rent everything else then it’s not too bulky. It’s also worth mentioning that accomplishing the necessary de-salination steps post dive and having space to hang everything up to dry can be challenging in a tiny cruise ship bathroom. With over 50 dives each, my wife and I are used to all of this effort and consider it worth it when we get to do a trip with multiple dives over several days. So depending on whether you’re going on a totally dive oriented trip or just doing a one day outing with a dive or 2, you may want to bring everything or just the basics.

I’ve never been a serious tennis player, but I can understand wanting to have your own racket if you are. That said, I cannot imagine bringing my own saddle for horseback riding on the beach! There is also now pickleball and the cruise lines have been busy putting in courts on the ships so if you are a fan you will definitely want to bring your paddle!

Let’s talk about golf clubs. Think about maneuvering that in and out of the elevator and around those not very wide passageways onboard. Now, is it going to be worth all of that for 1 round of golf? Not likely, so maybe think about bringing just your putter if it’s important to you and maybe a couple other favorite clubs in a small hard case travel bag so you can enjoy your round and your wife won’t hate you for crowding the cabin with your huge golf bag!

So you bring all of your toys, err… equipment with you into your not terribly large cabin. Where do you store all of it? The first obvious choice is under the bed, but you may have already crammed your empty luggage under there in addition to the additional bedding and linens the crew sometimes hide under there. We have sometimes found ourselves booked into a 2 bedroom suite when we only need 1 and we use the second bedroom for storage. Booking a higher class stateroom might provide you with the additional space you need for bulky items you absolutely had to bring on your cruise vacation. Alternatively, you might just ask your room steward to store a bulky item for you in a locker and then you would need only let them know when you would need it back.

I will be the first to admit that I like to have my own stuff when I travel, and sometimes that’s quite a lot of stuff! With a little bit of planning and consideration of all of these factors mentioned you can bring what you really need to enjoy your activities on your cruise vacation! – René