How much luggage?

I have a huge list of misc. items to take, then there's the dressy stuff and shoes for 2 formal nites, deck clothes, excursion clothes, 2 bathing suits w/ beach towell, tennies and flip flops etc. How many bags does one person take for a 7 day Caribbean Cruise :confused: ?

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=seagreen]I, too, take daytime wear and dresses for evening, and for DH, daytime wear and dress clothes for dinner. Shoes and workout clothes, etc. We both take a 30" piece of luggage, and we each take a carryon. You may want to post over at the fashion boards. There is a lot of wonderful info from us girls over there in re: packing. ;)
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I take a 29" suitcase and a carry-on; my husband's bag is somewhat smaller and he also takes a carry-on. I'm really good about limiting the number of shoes I take: I wear the same dressy ones both formal nights and have sandals for the other nights. And I wear each pair of shorts and each tee shirt twice (as long as I don't make a mess!). Many ships have laundry rooms where you can throw in a load of wash mid-week to save packing room, but I've only done that once.

Maybe we are the minority, DH and I took a 29" suitcase and two carry-on (one each) for both of us. Note: I never wore the same cloth twice. DH wore the same suite for the 2 formal nights with different shirts and ties. I did wear the same formal shoes. DH did not allow me (i.e. I would have to drag the 2nd luggage myself, which I did not want to do) to take more than one luggage on our first cruise, and we just got used to pack light after that. The key is pack lightweight cloth. If you are going to the Caribbean, it will be hot there anyway. I normally pack lots of dressy tank tops and sundresses, they don't take much room at all. You don't need to take towels, they will provide you those.

The ship will provide towels for you when you are in port. Don't take clothing for every single day, you will never wear it all, cut down on your shorts outfits. Instead, take along an extra bathing suit or two, that's what you will wear most days. If you see packing lists on this board or others, don't take along every item you read about. Just take along the bare necessities to get by for the week. Believe me, you will be having too much fun to keep track of half of the gadgets and misc. items you read about here. From personal experience, I have many of the items I read about here in a spare suitcase, never used once.

If you think you've packed too much, you should see the mountain of luggage I have waiting to leave for our Alaska trip tomorrow!

If you take more than one large suitcase (28" approx.) and one carry on per person, you are taking too much. DH and I can pack one suitcase, one garment bag and 2 carry ons for a warm weather cruise.

[quote name='clsee1515']I have a huge list of misc. items to take, then there's the dressy stuff and shoes for 2 formal nites, deck clothes, excursion clothes, 2 bathing suits w/ beach towell, tennies and flip flops etc. How many bags does one person take for a 7 day Caribbean Cruise :confused: ?[/QUOTE]
You are taking too much. Deck clothes & excursion clothes should be the same outfits. Select your formal outfits so 1 pair of shoes works with on both nights. Do not bring a beach towel if you've got space issues. Can you exchange the flip flops for neutral sandals that can be worn to the pool, on excursions and to dinner except on formal night?

For a 7-10 day trip we take a carry on each stocked with a change of clothes, toiletries, cameras, reading material ect. We then take 1 big piece of luggage 30" with wheels & one garment bag. Our clothes are mixed into each in case 1 bag gets lost. We also have all the snorkeling equipment including mask & fins in the big suitcase. Honestly that takes up 1/4 of the usuable packing area.

You really need less day clothes than you think. In a warm weather venue you will spend most of the day in a bathing suit. I only bring 2-3 pairs of shorts b/c I never wear them.

Enjoy.

On my first cruise I packed way too much and brought half of it home unworn. Now my DH & I take one large rolling suitcase, a garment bag for his one suit, 2 shirts & my two evening outfits plus I carry a large purse and a carry on. Don't stress about clothes-you're there to ahve fun & relax!

Sandi

Thanks for all the info. I've definatley got the idea now. Sounds easier than I thought:p !

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=seagreen]I want to add to my upper post. I also need the two suitcases because I prefer our own snorkle gear, and I prefer to take our own tennis rackets for when we play in port at one of the resorts. Our workout gear alone takes up a bit of room. Both pieces are on rollars, and then we put the carryons on top of that, so it's nothing to us to "roll" our own piece of luggage and carryon. Nice and easy. ;)[/color][/size][/font]

I probably need to read a how-to-pack book. For a seven day cruise we each have a separate checked piece, then one combined checked piece for shoes and miscellaneous including snorkel gear, one combined garment bag, one checked piece loaded with consumable goods and then used for souvenirs, one carry on containing all electronic equipment, and one containing cosmetic items. Total for 2 = seven pieces.

For a 7 day Caribbean cruise we take one 29" and one 26" suitcase and two carry ons. We don't bring beach towels - they take up too much space plus the ship will provide them around the pool and to use on excursions. We try to leave some space in the luggage so we can purchase souveniers. I pack the smallest size toiletries to keep the weight down. Although we've never lost our luggage, we continue to mix our clothes between the two suitcases in case one gets lost and also bring a change of clothing and a swimsuit in the carryon.

[quote name='imosoreal']I probably need to read a how-to-pack book. For a seven day cruise we each have a separate checked piece, then one combined checked piece for shoes and miscellaneous including snorkel gear, one combined garment bag, one checked piece loaded with consumable goods and then used for souvenirs, one carry on containing all electronic equipment, and one containing cosmetic items. Total for 2 = seven pieces.[/QUOTE]
If you actually use / wear everything you bring you are not over packing. If you don't consider leaving stuff home. For me that's way too much stuff.

I toted WAY too much stuff on our last cruise--2 bags, a carry-on, camera bag and purse! It became a joke that we'd have to change clothes three times a day to wear everything. I think I had a pair of shoes for every day of the cruise! Now I'm limiting it to one 30" rolling bag and one carry-on (medicine, cameras, one change of clothes, a pair of casual shoes and a nightgown (in case the other luggage is late or lost)...can't sleep in my clothes. Limiting formal wear to one dressy skirt and two tops to switch around, with the same shoes--who's going to remember what your shoes look like?? Leave the jeans at home -- too hot and take up too much room. When you get ready to pack, lay everything out - pack what will fit in the case, then put what won't fit back in the closet. One thing I do is pack a flat duffle bag that doesn't take up much room empty, then you have an extra piece to pack all the things you pick up shopping. I pack the dirty clothes in it, and the souvies in the bigger case. It usually fits over the handle of my rolling carry-on bag.