I recently embarked on the trip of a lifetime — my very first cruise and journey abroad! During my seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise, I explored vibrant cultures and stunning landscapes in Cozumel, Mexico; Roatán, Honduras; Belize City, Belize and Mahahual, Mexico. From zip lining and cave tubing to salsa making and touring ancient Mayan ruins, I had an adventure in every port.
To keep my hair and skin protected during my week in sunny 90°F weather, I packed travel-sized essentials from Davines, Jane Iredale and Kitsch. Read on to discover my must-have travel products, what to leave behind at home, and highlights from my incredible excursions in each country!
My favorite excursion of my Royal Caribbean cruise was our Mayan Ruins tour at Cozumel’s San Gervasio Mayan Archaeological Site. I loved learning from our tour guide about how the goddess of fertility, Ixchel, influenced the Mayans’ daily lives and practices. It was fascinating to learn at each ruin we visited how important she was in their rituals and traditions.
My Cruise Essentials
Because my checked bag was full of my outfits, I packed all of my toiletries into my carry-on, following TSA’s limit of one quart-sized bag with 100 mL containers. To save room in my quart-sized bag for my liquid necessities — like my facial cleanser, moisturizer and body lotion — I chose to pack my shampoo and conditioner bars instead.
After adventuring in the tropical climate each day, I showered every evening on my cruise. My go-to Davines’ Momo Shampoo Bar made my hair squeaky clean — it got rid of all the sweat and sunscreen residue on my hair and scalp. As it lathered into a soft, creamy foam, it left my hair with a lingering fresh, clean scent. This moisturizing shampoo bar is ideal for dry or dehydrated hair, so I knew it would be a great choice for my cruise. It kept my hair healthy and rehydrated it after each sun-filled day.
I’ve loved using Kitsch’s Rice Water Conditioner Bar lately as well. Unlike my shampoo bar that I lather in my hands and apply the foam to my hair, I’ve found it best to “paint” the conditioner bar directly onto my hair’s length and ends. This conditioner bar is meant to repair damaged hair follicles, prevent split ends, and increase your hair volume, and I’ve found that it does exactly that. In the last five months I’ve used this conditioner bar, I’ve noticed fewer split ends, and my fine strands look fuller as well.
To store my shampoo and conditioner bars, I bought this $10 container from Amazon. This container features a drainage tray to keep the bars from sitting in excess water. Even with the drainage train, I still recommend storing your bars outside of your hot, humid bathroom with the container’s lid open. This way, your shampoo and conditioner bars will dry out fully and not crumble apart or turn mushy.
After each excursion, seeing our cruise ship docked at the port was a welcome sight! I was excited to return on board to shower, enjoy the air conditioning, and dive into our cruise’s evening activities, like karaoke in the Spotlight Lounge and game shows in the Orpheum Theater.
Another essential hair care product I brought on my cruise was Davines’ SU Hair Milk. I spritzed it throughout my wet hair after showering and my dry hair before heading out into the sun. This leave-in conditioner not only detangled my hair but also protected it from UV rays that could have faded my hair color. This was my first time trying this product, and I was immediately drawn to its sweet, cotton candy-like scent — it’s perfect for summertime. I’ll definitely continue using it all season.
On our excursions, I tied my hair into a low bun with Kitsch’s Satin Scrunchies, which were gentle on my strands and didn’t cause any breakage. Then, I wore a baseball cap to limit my hair and scalp’s sun exposure. However, I couldn’t do so zip lining at South Shore Zip-Line Adventures in Honduras — we had to wear helmets instead, of course! After zip lining, we took a nature walk through the jungle. Even though I left my hat behind in my locker, I didn’t need to worry — my SU Hair Milk was still protecting my hair I grew out last year from a pixie cut.
On our nature walk, we spotted capuchin monkeys in the trees along the suspension bridges we crossed. I also learned so much from our tour guide about medicinal herbs we encountered along the way, like how Hondurans use Lydia Pinkham to relieve menopause symptoms.
My hair wasn’t the only thing that needed protection from the sun — my skin did too. I didn’t get sunburnt at all throughout my cruise, and I have Jane Iredale’s Powder-Me Dry Sunscreen to thank.
I hate the greasy feeling of typical sunscreen, especially on my face. This translucent mineral SPF-30 powder sunscreen felt weightless on my skin, and its built-in brush made it easy to reapply throughout the afternoon, like during our demonstration on how ancient Mayans prepared chocolate from cacao nibs, honey and chilis at the Mayan Cacao Company in Cozumel. This mineral sunscreen is also reef-safe, which is required in Mexico to protect the coral reef and marine life.
Its formula is water-resistant up to 40 minutes as well, which was just what I needed for our excursion at Dark Night Cave Tubing Adventures in Belize. After trekking through an ancient jungle and exploring Tiger Cave (where I saw bats up close for the first time — so cool!), our tour guide roped our group’s inner tubes together and floated us down the river into Dark Night Cave. We even turned off our helmet lights for an unforgettable moment of complete darkness.
I didn’t wear makeup during my excursions, so I appreciated how this dry sunscreen kept my face matte in humid weather. I had the best time during our salsa-making class excursion in Mahahual, Mexico. My favorite salsa we made was Salsa Borracha. Its ingredients ingredients included grilled garlic, roasted red tomatoes, dried chili, white onion and a mix of beer and tequila.
My purse always holds at least three lip glosses or balms to choose from, so I packed a few options with me for my cruise, including Jane Iredale’s LipDrink Lip Balm in the shade Flirt. I began my vacation applying a generic SPF lip balm, but its bad taste had me drinking more water on our excursions when I needed to save it.
Fortunately, my Jane Iredale lip balm has SPF 15 as well, so I protected my lips with a refreshing lemon-flavored balm instead. I also loved how this peachy pink tinted lip balm added a nice touch of color to my lips. It helped me feel polished during my cruise’s casual and formal attire evenings, even while wearing minimal makeup.
As the sun set on our first day aboard our Royal Caribbean cruise, my boyfriend, Ben, and I knew we were in for an unforgettable trip. Our cruise was our first vacation together, and we can’t wait to see where our travels will take us next!
My Cruise Recommendations
Pack nourishing hair care products
While there was so much I truly enjoyed about our Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Enchantment of the Seas, our stateroom had much warmer shower water than I’m used to. I love a cold shower, but our stateroom’s shower’s coolest option was 100°F — I wasn’t exactly eager to jump into a hot shower to wash off after a long, sweltering day in the Caribbean! Fortunately, my Davines Momo Shampoo Bar and Kitsch Rice Water Conditioner Bar protected my hair and scalp’s moisture from drying out while showering in hot water every day. I recommend bringing nourishing hair care products like these on your cruise, especially if you’re spending a lot of time poolside on your cruise — chlorine can dry out and damage your strands too.
Book a waxing appointment before your trip
The shower in our state room was also quite tiny too — my elbow knocked their provided shampoo and body wash dispenser off the wall once while I was shampooing! Because of the shower’s small size, I didn’t have the chance to shave my legs and underarms like I typically do one to two times a week. If silky smooth skin all vacation long is a must for you, I recommend booking a waxing appointment with our estheticians before your cruise. This way, you won’t have to worry about accidentally nicking yourself while shaving in a small space or forgetting to pack a razor in the first place.
Despite the shower situation, our stateroom was a great place to unwind after a day of adventures. I always loved seeing the new towel animal on our bed each evening after the staff cleaned our room!
Leave the hot tools at home
When my hair air-dries, it has a slight wavy texture. Because of this, I usually blow dry and straighten my hair, so I packed my hot tools for my cruise, just in case. However, once onboard, I decided to embrace my natural texture on my vacation. I didn’t use my blow dryer or flat iron during my entire seven-day cruise, which was the longest my hair has gone without any heat styling since I had my pixie cut! Of course, some people may prefer to style their hair with products and hot tools to look and feel their best. But if you’re thinking about giving your hair a break from heat styling, your cruise is the perfect opportunity — and it frees up more space in your suitcase for souvenirs!
Each day of my cruise after showering, I let my hair air-dry while I curled up in a chair overlooking our ship decks 4-8. I enjoyed a mocha from our ship’s coffee shop, Café Latte-tudes, and read my latest romance novel until our dinner reservation.
Give non-aerosol dry shampoo a try
However, if you cannot go without the volume your blow dryer gives you — as someone with fine hair, I get it! — I recommend a dry shampoo to give you the volume you desire without any heat. I packed Kitsch’s Volumizing Rice Protein Dry Shampoo Powder for my cruise. Kitsch’s dry shampoo has a travel-friendly design — instead of an aerosol can, it features a built-in puff to tap a light-tinted powder enriched with volumizing rice protein onto your roots. If you are a brunette, this dry shampoo also comes in a dark-tinted option to lift your roots without leaving behind a white cast.
I packed this dry shampoo in my carry-on too, but because I was showering daily after my excursions, I didn’t use it while on my cruise. However, this dry shampoo came in handy to refresh my hair at the Tampa International Airport when our flight back to Indianapolis kept getting delayed and canceled because of the CrowdStrike outage.
I truly missed lounging on the sandy beach in Mahahual, Mexico and looking out at the Caribbean Sea while we were stuck at the airport trying to get back home!
Overall, I had an amazing time on my first-ever cruise, and I’ve definitely been bitten by the travel bug. In the wintertime, I’ll be heading out west to hike through Colorado’s beautiful state parks. Stay tuned to see what Davines, Jane Iredale and Kitsch travel products I recommend to keep your hair and skin healthy while exploring the great outdoors in cold weather!
What destinations are on your travel bucket list? Let me know in the comments, and let’s start planning!
Nicole Thomas is the marketing manager for Tyler Mason Salon & Spa. She is also a passionate writer and digital marketer for several Indiana-based publications. When she isn’t at TM, she loves cozying up with a book and cup of coffee or crocheting a new cardigan for her wardrobe.