One bag travel/packing light on the cheap

I'm considering trying to pack a lot lighter for the next Caribbean cruise for several reasons. I've read ideas and tips on various websites. I have a few items that can be worn in different styles and some items that are synthetic or partial synthetic that will handwash well. I don't intend to buy any travel clothing b/c of the cost. Hopefully toward the end of the summer I can pick up a pair of quick dry shorts and a quick dry top at a sporting goods store on clearance. Does anyone else have any ideas for doing this on the cheap? Alternatives to true travel clothing? Also, I was trying to think of what shoes would work, I don't think I can only do 2 pair but maybe I can keep it under 3 pair lol.

I never buy clothes specifically for a cruise (or any other vacation!!)...just bring what you wear everyday for the weather!

So, I don't spend big $$s, but I don't limit myself to only 1 bag....just can't do it, and don't want to!

I can get away with fewer clothes, but still need make-up, hair dryer (the ship's don't dry worth a darn), electric curlers...that takes up space, and it will NOT be left at home!!!!

Packing for a cruise is quite a bit different than packing for other types of vacation, simply because you have to consider day and evening wear. I probably pack lighter than others, but I've never gotten it down to one medium bag, I still need the carry on as well.

Some people swear by travel knit fabrics but I've given mine away since I just don't care for the feel of the fabric, especially the pants. Yes they don't wrinkle, but they are heavy and really not easily washed and dried unless you have a washer/dryer at your disposal. There are other knit fabrics, especially jersey, that look better and don't wrinkle, plus they are light as air. I do still have a travel knit dress that is flattering on me and I will wear it twice on a cruise with different jewelry.

I don't shop for travel clothes, everything I purchase must be wearable at home as well, so I pack from my closet. Most of my tops are already a cotton knit, those are a no-brainer. My shorts are cotton or a blend, I just layer them with dry cleaner bags when packing. Sundresses are a good choice, easy to pack and cooler than a top/shorts combination.

I have no idea about where to find deals on the type of shorts you mention, I just haunt my favorite stores and online sites that I know have an easy return policy. I prefer to shop in person, since I'm within close proximity of several malls and boutiques. I kind of resent shipping charges, waiting to see if the item fits and not really seeing the color before purchase. I've paid way too much too many times with shipping/return charges.

I'll just add, to really answer your question, you just have to shop until you find what you are looking for. Most clothing goes on sale around 30-45 days after it hits the stores. I shop Macy's on their coupon days, there are times I nab a nice jersey dress for under $15, suitable for one of my jobs and a casual night cruise.

My last great purchase was a sweater I'd been looking at for more than a month at Chicos. My purchase (with 2 other tops) came to just over $100, I shopped on a 30% discount day, a 5% discount for being a passport customer (their program) and had a coupon for 50% off the highet priced item, the sweater. It was originally priced at $78, I paid only $27 for it. I've worn it at least 10 times in the 5 weeks or so since I purchased it...love it!

I'm probably delusional for thinking I can do this but I think I will attempt to cut back on the packing. I too require my own hair dryer and flat iron but I always pack those on a carry on, especially for the air portion b/c I could not be seen in public without those two items to fix my hair, lol.

I think it depends on your pesonality type. I am a real low maintenance kind of girl. The only things I need to do my hair are a wide toothed comb, gel and my hands...it's just wash, gel, scrunch, shake out and go so that doesn't take up much room. I also wear very little make-up or jewelry...I'm just not a girly girl...more of a natural type. My DH and I have taken 4 cruises and have our 5th, a B2B, planned for next January. I am determined that we will travel with 1 carry-on each. I am sick of packing clothes that we never wear and I really hated paying luggage fees to pack clothes that we didn't need. We have no interest in formal night as we both dress up for work and want to be comfortable and casual on vaca. I don't mind washing things in the sink and hanging to dry and we will utilize the ship's laundry service if necessary. I just remember thinking that the worst part of our vacation this past January was all the baggage handling so no more. If it doesn't fit in a carry on we won't be taking it.

You can get synthetic fabric clothing at Walmart & Target. (I love the skirts & dresses from Norma Kamali at Walmart - I have to order online as my store doesn't carry it) Target of course has tons of cute stuff in all sizes. I wait for free shipping offers (I get their emails) and return whatever doesn't fit to the store that's just down the road from my office.

I also like to pack as light as possible (though carry-on for a cruise more than 7 days won't work for me - and all our cruises are > 7 days) And I also don't have a "cruise" (or even "vacation") wardrobe - I pack from my closet. But I do some business travel (in a field where I'm not wearing business suits to work) so I do like to buy clothing that does well in warm climates and packs well if possible.

I don't pack hair appliances. Low priority for me - I'll do a french twist if I don't have a hair dryer at my destination. I limit my shoes - one sandal or walking shoe, one heel for evenings, maybe a flat. I did Alaska with three pairs of shoes - a mary jane flat, a satin low heeled sandal, and a goretex hiking shoe. I'm g oing to China for 10 days on Thursday with 2 prs of shoes - a low wedge and a walking shoe.

The biggest thing you need to change to pack lightly isn't your wardrobe or your luggage - it's your perception of what you *need* to have with you:p

Luckily on my next cruise I am driving to the port so I don't have to worry so much about packing lightly but when flying I always try to do a carry on or no more than one bag because I am just too cheap to pay the additional baggage fees... So here are some of my ideas...

*Make a list before you pack, I find that if I don't make a list I end up packing extras I don't need.

*Limit shoes maybe a pair a flip flops, dress shoes that match everything and walking shoes if you need them. Wear the biggest or heaviest on the plane.

*I like to bring dresses for dinner that can double for a swim coverup later in the week. Or maybe buy the tube top dresses that can be worn as skirts.

*I generally spend most of the day in swimsuits so my evening clothes can be worn more than once cause I only have them on for a couple hours. So if you bring bottoms that match multiple tops.

*Bring tank tops and light weight capris skirts or shorts. Avoid denim they weigh more.

*I also carry a huge purse or beach bag as my personal item and pack it like a suitcase.

*I like to roll my clothes, I think it makes it easier to fit more in your bag. Put things like panties, socks, makeup, deod, hair products etc in zip locks and tuck in your shoes.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Have a great cruise:D

Pack for 4 days and use the ship's laundry.

Some lines have self-service laundrymats. All will do your laundry for you. It is priced by the piece but at least once a cruise there is a $15-$20 all-you-can-pack-into-the-bag special. Just don't use it for delicates. The machines use hot water and high heat to dry.

Pack for 4 days and use the ship's laundry.

 

Some lines have self-service laundrymats. All will do your laundry for you. It is priced by the piece but at least once a cruise there is a $15-$20 all-you-can-pack-into-the-bag special. Just don't use it for delicates. The machines use hot water and high heat to dry.

It's merely wash and fold as well. We ended up paying more than the bag special because we had to send so much of it back for pressing. Unfortunately, we didn't know it was a laundry special day and had left our stuff out for the cabin steward in the regular bags. My husbands slacks and Tommy Bahama shirts were nearly ruined. We press all our clothing (jeans, T shirts, shorts, etc...) and hang our clothing rather than folding it, so to have it washed and folded was horrid for us. So, I'd advise only using it for socks, mens underwear, old T shirts and pajamas. Paying by the piece really isn't as expensive as one thinks, we don't have our entire cruise wardrobs laundered/dry cleaned, only a few pieces. I don't know that we'd even have $25 (laundry charge) worth of socks and underwear for a week long cruise.

As you can tell, I'm definitely not a fan of the laundry bag special :p

The laundry bag special is clearly a case of "YMMV" because when we did it on the WEsterdam a couple years ago - our folded clothing was more pressed than anytime I do laundry at home.:p We had no problems with it at all....I think we sent in everything but my bras and formalwear. That was a long cruise; we had 3 formal nights so hubby brought 2 tuxedo shirts and sent the 1st to be washed & pressed after the 1st night to wear again on the 3rd night.

Maybe I'm too picky...or the laundry service on our ship was lousy. I prefer well pressed clothing, I hardly fold anything except underwear and socks at home. I iron everything except underwear before wearing it. OK, I don't iron my robe and pajamas ;)

We cruise for 1 days plus. I make a list of clothes and then note against each item if it was worn onthe cruise or not, the ´not´ones don´t get taken on the next trip!! So gradually my clothes/packing list is getting smaller. I would really like to take more shoes, but now only take, sandals, flip flops and a pair of dance/evening shoes.

However our next cruise will be Rio to San Francisco, so my packing list will need to be expanded once more to encounter cold climes. Only when we fly to UK for a visit can we get away with hand luggage.

Sandy in Spain

i thought i might try packing lighter for my Dec cruise 2 weeks but then next year its 3 weeks so this will be my 'trial' pack for next year so i am packing for 2 weeks. i probably could do a 10 day pack for 2 weeks but not 3; and i dont really like to send out anything GOOD in those stuff a laundry bags:eek:

i applaud all those that can pack lite but i just have never been that type of traveler and now that my cruises are getting longer i NEED more!

I'm going to try to attach a picture, but if it isn't here you can see "how we roll" in the photo gallery under my user name.

We each had carryon and personal item except on RyanAir where we had to each check our "big" (21"- his/ 19" hers) bags. Yes, that was 85 days - 4 cruises - QM2- TA /NCL - Mediterranean /Celebrity TA/NCL Caribbean and 24 trains from the Dolomites to Morrocco.

Only reason we each had the 2nd bag was all the medical stuff.

Yes, he had a suit and I had a long dress and heels.

I've never been a light packer but I really have improved over the years. We cruise once a year and I always take a large size suitcase for myself, a small, it looks like a huge purse on wheels, and a large tote bag as my personal item. All my valuable go in the rolling purse, along with my meds, and all our cruise documents. The tote bag has magazines, wallet, makeup, and snacks, and lots of other personal items. The big suitcase is a must for me. For a Caribbean cruise I usually take about 3-4 swimsuits as we always do water-type excursions. I take one or two straw hats, the kind you can just stuff and roll up in the suitcase, a flat straw tote for day, and a small evening bag for dinners. I take a pr. of walking shoes for the gym, flip flops for the beach, shower, and spa, and one pr. of dressy sandals and low heels. I take about 3 prs. of capri pants for day along with three lightweight peasant-type blouses for tops (they make great coverups over the swimsuits). At night I wear these lightweight jersey dresses that can be rolled up I take three of them and rotate them. For dress up night I have a long skirt that I can also roll up and I have really pretty dressy knit tops that I wear with it. I finish up with some undies, pjs, casual jewelry and some spanx (gotta have the spanx girlfriend).:D

I've never been a light packer but I really have improved over the years. We cruise once a year and I always take a large size suitcase for myself, a small, it looks like a huge purse on wheels, and a large tote bag as my personal item. All my valuable go in the rolling purse, along with my meds, and all our cruise documents. The tote bag has magazines, wallet, makeup, and snacks, and lots of other personal items. The big suitcase is a must for me. For a Caribbean cruise I usually take about 3-4 swimsuits as we always do water-type excursions. I take one or two straw hats, the kind you can just stuff and roll up in the suitcase, a flat straw tote for day, and a small evening bag for dinners. I take a pr. of walking shoes for the gym, flip flops for the beach, shower, and spa, and one pr. of dressy sandals and low heels. I take about 3 prs. of capri pants for day along with three lightweight peasant-type blouses for tops (they make great coverups over the swimsuits). At night I wear these lightweight jersey dresses that can be rolled up I take three of them and rotate them. For dress up night I have a long skirt that I can also roll up and I have really pretty dressy knit tops that I wear with it. I finish up with some undies, pjs, casual jewelry and some spanx (gotta have the spanx girlfriend).:D

Yes, definitely spanx with knit jersey dresses unless you are built like a toothpick or Serena Williams.

Maybe I'm too picky...or the laundry service on our ship was lousy. I prefer well pressed clothing, I hardly fold anything except underwear and socks at home. I iron everything except underwear before wearing it. OK, I don't iron my robe and pajamas ;)

I understand where you are coming from. For those of us who do not iron I was happy with it.:p

Ships launder on high and dry/press with a mangle. It's really interesting watching it be done. Pressing in not really pressing but the shirt is fully buttoned and the bottom is placed on a tube. The tube shoots steam into the shirt (looks like those wacky waving balloon things.)

We took the Behind the Scenes tour and saw the whole process. We were allowed to dry pillowcases and fold beach towels.

I understand where you are coming from. For those of us who do not iron I was happy with it.:p

Ships launder on high and dry/press with a mangle. It's really interesting watching it be done. Pressing in not really pressing but the shirt is fully buttoned and the bottom is placed on a tube. The tube shoots steam into the shirt (looks like those wacky waving balloon things.)

We took the Behind the Scenes tour and saw the whole process. We were allowed to dry pillowcases and fold beach towels.

That's why I send my more delicate tops and husbands shirts out for dry cleaning, rather than sending them out for laundry. Like I stated above, they nearly ruined some very expensive shirts, when we had marked them to be dry cleaned and they reverted it to "laundry special". That is the main reason I would not ever use the "laundry special" again. Between the 2 of us, we don't have enough (his) underwear and (our) socks to realize any savings with the laundry special charge. Neither of us wears T shirts and our robes aren't dirty, I wear pj's, but they are small enough so I can hand wash if I want.

Our last cruise a few weeks ago was a Princess ship... great, we thought, laundry rooms so we can control the laundry. What a hassle it was. First the washing machine didn't go through the entire rinse/spin, so we had to transfer the load to another washer and start all over. Another load was already done and went into the dryer. Then, some things take longer to dry than others, so multiple trips, more coins to the dryer. Back and forth to the laundry room, we spent less that week than we would have to send it out (around $8.50 plus detergent vs. an average $25 ship cost for the week dry clean/launder some stuff), but what is worth it? We vote no, $16.50 is not enough savings to warrant the running back and forth for 2 hours.

I still think that packing lighter and having some laundry/dry cleaning in the long run costs less than overweight bags or excess bags. Some day I will learn to just pack a few things and re-wear everything over and over. When traveling, not many people are watching out for what you are wearing (as long as you look decent). A celebrity may not be able to get away with it since their pics are in public view, but I'd never be able to tell you what the lady sitting at my table wore 3 nights ago.

I definitely don't dress like a slob, which is kind of the idea I get from people who post about why they like to overpack. I think the whole packing lighter and being successful at it has to do with wise choicesand quality over quantity.

I've never been a light packer but I really have improved over the years. We cruise once a year and I always take a large size suitcase for myself, a small, it looks like a huge purse on wheels, and a large tote bag as my personal item. All my valuable go in the rolling purse, along with my meds, and all our cruise documents. The tote bag has magazines, wallet, makeup, and snacks, and lots of other personal items. The big suitcase is a must for me. For a Caribbean cruise I usually take about 3-4 swimsuits as we always do water-type excursions. I take one or two straw hats, the kind you can just stuff and roll up in the suitcase, a flat straw tote for day, and a small evening bag for dinners. I take a pr. of walking shoes for the gym, flip flops for the beach, shower, and spa, and one pr. of dressy sandals and low heels. I take about 3 prs. of capri pants for day along with three lightweight peasant-type blouses for tops (they make great coverups over the swimsuits). At night I wear these lightweight jersey dresses that can be rolled up I take three of them and rotate them. For dress up night I have a long skirt that I can also roll up and I have really pretty dressy knit tops that I wear with it. I finish up with some undies, pjs, casual jewelry and some spanx (gotta have the spanx girlfriend).:D

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Mousie has a real good list here and it is an easy way to explain the differences- and they are small- between packing with and without that extra bag.

First, shoes - mine are the same. I consider them the minimum for cruise travel. My heels have gotten lower and lighter over the years. I wear the heaviest pair, put the good leather walking sandals in the "personal item bag" and the heels & flipflops in the rollerbag. (In Australia I had to compromise in order to make room for mask so went with one pair of rubber walking sandals. Unless you love them starting our, I don't recommend them.)

Those straw hats - I only take one cloth one that folds up super small. All the straw ones from our "big bag trips" get worn at home.

The magazines - a small magazine or tradeable paperback.

The makeup - my kit is 3"x5"x8". Snacks and other personal items... bare minimum.

The flat day straw tote- I use a Kiva backpack. You've seen them, they are nylon and fold intl their own pocket. We carry 4 - one hangs on every bag.

All those items that were listed as 3- I would take two. Then I would add one "flexible" outfit that would work for either evening or day. Usually that would mean a top and pair of full length classic pants.

PJs - If you mean "real" pjs - I skip those. I take a long silk shirt that can be DH's emergency shirt if needed and my silk long johns in case it's cold.

Jewelry - doesn't happen. The earrings and necklace I start with are the ones I wear the whole trip. I do take two pareos and a couple gorgeous scarves.

Wallet - I use one of those around the neck plastic wallets. Don't take any cards I don't absolutely need.

I'm taking a 7 day cruise in August and I'm definitely going to do a single bag just to see if I can. I figure we'll be in port for 3 or 4 days so it won't (probably) be that hard to find a store if I really need to pick up something I forgot/thought I didn't need. I had a packing list all set, but um, I've misplaced it :o so I'll have to re-do it.

Wear onto the ship a pair of casual, comfortable walking sandals. Pack a pair of beach/pool flip flops in your carryon. Pack a pair of metallic or patent strappy dandals for evening and perhaps one other pair of dressy-casual sandals for non-formal nights. You are set for footwear.

Whew, I waas worried for a bit until I read these posts. I'm a realatively low maint girl when it comes to fashion. I like nice, but I don't need something different twice a day. Makeup and jewlry are basic. I packed one carryon for a week in Italy so I feel pretty certain I can do a 7 night cruise the same way. I'm pretty accustomed to only carry on, (and a tote), I just like to travel light.

I took a pair of crisp white jeans with me and had different tops to dress them up for down. Tops don't take much room!

I made a bet with my husband that I could pack for a 12 day cruise with a carry-on case and a tote bag (that is my personal item.) I have come home from too many trips with unworn clothing. I am good with the handbag and shoes and don't overdo in that dept. I think the daytime wear is far more important than formal attire as that can be worn twice and varied somewhat. I will have a dry run and see how I do. I really don't want the luggage hassle this trip. I agree that it is simpler to give them a few shirts for dry cleaning than over pack.