by Susan Mcdaniel

Created on: October 28, 2009

Cruising is a wonderful and relaxing way to vacation, but it is not always carefree. One annoyance is the constant juggling of the room key/card while on board and the miscellaneous documents while in port. Luckily, there's a gadget which solves this problem.

Most women cruisers struggle with the problem of where and how to keep their room card/key and other necessities handy and safe while leaving their hands free.The issue arises not only on board ship where the card is used for everything: drink purchases, library book check-outs, casino slots, entry into your cabin, shop purchases, you name it. On tours and port outings, women must become even more ingenious because there are more things to carry, including photo identification, travel insurance information, cash and a credit card. Men enjoy the luxury of just sticking these items in their pants pocket, but women most often resort to the ubiquitous and style-deadening fanny pack.

Fanny packs scream "Tourist!" making it difficult to meld into the native culture. They also ruin an outfit. First, they generally don't match whatever you wear. Second, they cause your shirt, top, or dress to bunch up and be belted whether you want to wear it that way or not. Finally, fanny packs are terribly uncomfortable and especially hot in Caribbean climates when cinched around one's waist. There's usually an unflattering ring of perspiration underneath them.

Thankfully, a gadget exists to make life easier and the cruise less stressful. It allows items to be easily toted. It is stylish.It leaves your hands free. And it is compact and lightweight. Enter the "wristlet." These are available in most stores where wallets are sold, but the cutest ones recently on the market are by Vera Bradley. A wristlet is essentially a miniature wallet with a small wrist strap.

The Vera Bradley model has a see-through place for your photo identification card on one side and a pocket for your cell phone or music player on the other. Unzipping the wristlet allows it to lay flat and reveals more storage. On one side is a small zippered compartment for cash, perhaps; on the other side is space for credit cards and your room/key card, as well as another little pocket for whatever else you might need. You could easily fit a tube of lip gloss in there. It all zippers securely and the wrist loop even has a latch on one end so that you could loop it through the belt loop on a waistband if you wanted to be totally hands free.

Of course, the Vera Bradley fabric wristlets come in all sorts of cute paisley colors and other bright patterns to suit everyone and accessorize any outfit. Leather and plastic models by other manufacturers might be even more practical for a shore excursion to the beach where they might get wet or sandy. The wristlets measure only 3" by 5" and so are quite compact. They are available at most Hallmark stores (traditionally an outlet for Vera Bradley merchandise), and online retailers. Be sure to check around for the best prices. When the new patterns come out in the fall the old ones usually go on sale. Unless you simply must have a certain pattern, or collect them, you can buy last season's style for less than the current and newly released patterns.

The wristlets also make great gifts for friends or relatives that like to cruise. You can solve their cruise dilemma with your "gadget gift" and make their vacation carefree. They might just be so grateful that they invite you along the next time they set sail. Happy cruising!

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