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What would you do if you couldn't close your suitcase on the last night of the cruise


stuNYC

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Duct tape from front desk would've been my first choice but if lines were really long, try the art director. We had a handle come undone when we were disembarking one morning and the front desk had a packing tape we used temporarily until we got to the airport.

 

I did see someone have similar problem on another cruise and she found someone who had string/rope/yarn and tied up the suitcase. Ugly, but who cares. I worked! You can always cut it open when you get home and pitch it then.

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In 1994 we were on the RC Sovereign of the Seas. On the last night my mother-in-law told us at dinner that she was going to pack after the show- too late- the bags had to be in the hall by 11pm. So, she went to their cabin after dinner. An hour later we were going into the main showroom and she wasn't back, so my step-daughter went down to the cabin. She didn't come back. Her husband went down to the cabin. He didn't return. My husband went down......he didn't come back. I looked at my father-in-law and said "I've seen that movie! No one ever comes back from the barn!" So, we CALLED the cabin. The 4 of them had a group of stewards there. They were all working together. Rose had lost her luggage key (yes, she locked empty luggage!) They had tried to pry it open and broke it- with imagination, rope and duct tape the group got her things packed and ready for leaving the ship. The stewards were great help and made it a fun time for her , not a nightmare.

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I probably would have grabbed a cab & had them take me to a hotel...Spent a week or two looking for the perfect suitcase and then flown home.

 

All the while thinking that if I wasn't meant to spend extra time in Hawaii, the zipper would have never broke anyhow :D

Ain't Karma great?

on second thought, I prefer your idea!!

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On the last night of my POA cruise, the zipper on my suitcase came off the track. I spent two hours trying to get it back on the track without success. I even went down to the front desk and got a screwdrawer hoping to pry the zipper open. When all else failed I called the front desk, figuring this is not the first time that this has happened to a passenger and they could fix it or suggest someway to close the suitcase to enable me to disembark the ship, where I could buy a new suitcase.

 

The assistant manager on duty answered the phone and said that "she couldn't promise anything but to bring the suitcase (unpacked) to the front desk. So I unpacked the suitcase and did what she asked. As soon as I put the suitcase on the desk, her immediate response was " We can't fix it. If you would have come earlier in the cruise, as opposed to the last night, maybe we could have done something. "

 

I then asked her if I could get off the boat when we reached Honolulu and buy a new suitcase and then return to the ship and pack. Her immediate response was "No, you can not" She then proceeded to her office and came out with clear white trash bags and said to put my garments in them; carry them off the ship; put them in a locker at the pier (at a cost only $5);then go to buy a new suitcase; and apparently repack it on the pier.

 

What would you have done in my situation?

 

I refer you to the "duct tape" post on this page!!

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happened to me in jamaica. had a valet and bus driver going through their tools to find the duct tape. should have see the look at the airport. security was poking their hands around, trying to not distrub the duct tape.

after that i have a duffel bag, stays flat on the bottom of my luggage...goes everywhere...JUST IN CASE. i sell those nice folding totes, with wheels..for $10 they are a great investment. anything that doesn't take up much room but is big enough to help when duct tape isn't handy.

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With those stupid "pay to check even one bag rules" (and I still have all the carryons they allow) that's usually how I pack for a flight anymore...and then I get nekked after I'm on the plane

 

heck! They don't weigh your bags anymore after security. Once in Europe my mom flew on some budget airlines and she figured they don't charge me more if I weigh more so she stuffed her pockets with jewelry and other heavy items and wore her PJs etc until she could get to an airport loo to change!

 

Back to the original subject, my sister and I planned on shopping a lot on our last cruise and as luck would have it we got 1 free checked bag over to Europe on AA and 2 back on Iberia so we did the cheap $10 giant rolling duffel bags and stuffed em full for the trip home, but my sister's ripped when we were packing up so we bought some of the NCL luggage straps they sell in the gift shop and she was set! easiest bag to identify was the black bag with a bright blue strap each way across it. Then we had it wrapped in plastic wrap at the airport just for good measure. Safe and sound and waterproof too.

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Partially off subject, but I once had a large tear in the fabric of a suitcase. I fixed it by sewing it up with dental floss. Dental floss is extremely strong.

 

I also used dental floss to tie open a door that wouldn't stay shut and was banging around.

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That is why you always pack duct tape. :D

 

PE

 

 

That's exactly right! When people say you don't need to pack duck tape, I just grin and think of all the times it has come in handy!:D I always take a big foldup nylon bag in my suitcase. It always goes right on top and it's great to have if you buy more stuff than you have room for in your luggage. What I usually do is put all my DH's, DS's, and my dirty clothes in it and when I get home I throw it on top of the washing machine and get to it when I have time. That leaves room in my suitcase for the new stuff I've bought.:D

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How did you do that????

 

When the porter ripped the bottle handle off the duffel bag he asked if I/we wanted it plastic wrapped. Being innocent, I said "yes" and he took it over to a vendor who proceeded to wrap it in layers and layers of plastic wrap and then asked for $10. I was shocked and demanded the guy who ripped the bag pay for the charge. He did but went away saying something about cheap bag. I don't know if he meant the luggage or me! :eek:

 

This was a brand new duffel bag and certainly was not cheap so I guess he meant me. :cool:

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We try to bring the underwear, nylons and socks we really don't care about so we can leave them behind. After all who want to pack those dirty, smelly, icky clothes on top of nice clothes for the trip back home? It's a good excuse to get new underwear when you get home anyway and it leaves more room in the suitcase for souvenirs.

Keep your suitcases half full when you pack it for your trip to allow room for the new stuff you buy on vacation. If all else fails - stuff stufff stuffff it in, use the duct tape and layer on all your clothes to board the plane.

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That's exactly right! When people say you don't need to pack duck tape, I just grin and think of all the times it has come in handy!:D I always take a big foldup nylon bag in my suitcase. It always goes right on top and it's great to have if you buy more stuff than you have room for in your luggage. What I usually do is put all my DH's, DS's, and my dirty clothes in it and when I get home I throw it on top of the washing machine and get to it when I have time. That leaves room in my suitcase for the new stuff I've bought.:D

 

We used to do that, too. But now that there's charges for checked luggage we don't do that anymore since it's not worth paying upwards of $25 to check the bag and we already have a backpack carry-on (people say that two carry-ons are allowed but we haven't found that to be true on Delta or on American). We don't use Southwest because from our airport those flights are more expensive, even factoring in free baggage.

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This happened to me on my first cruise. I went down to the front desk and asked for duct tape. I had a duffle beab. Luckily they had some. I taped up my bag with the tape and it made it all the way home, even with the way baggage handlers at the airport throw your bags. Now I ALWAYS carry duct tape.

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I've never packed duct tape and have never needed it, so I still won't plan on packing it. If I packed all the things that I see people here recommend that you take with you, I'd need an extra suitcase for all of it, and most of the time it would go unused. (I never pack duct tape, alarm clocks, extension cords, power strips, over the door shoe bags, laptops, flashlights, night lights, glow thingies, door decorations, various electronics, etc, etc., and have never missed any of it, but to each their own.)

 

However, I tend to be adaptable and go with the flow. If I did have a need due to this circumstance, then I would either go to the front desk and ask for some duct tape or packing tape, or I would go to the gift ship and buy a duffle bag or other bag. As a last resort I would use gift shop bags or trash bags. Once off the ship I could buy a new suitcase. Not something I would stress over. On one cruise we actually did buy a set on sale that contained a couple smaller cheap bags because we needed some additional room. We managed to use these in place of our carry-ons.

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