Luggage Recommendations

[crisp1]

After just 3 cruises my luggage is starting to fall apart ( with lot's of help from the carriers). After a little research I'm more confused than before. Hardside, softside, cartwheel, hybrid, garment bag, suitbag? Any frequent travellers out there with recommendations?

[odis]

We prefer the soft luggage with wheels. Some now have 4 wheels to make it easier to manuver. Whatever you decide - DO NOT GET BLACK. Everyone and their brother has black colored luggage, it all looks the same, and you can never pick it out at the airport or in port without looking at the tags. We have red and never have a problem getting it. Does it show scuffs and dirt more than black - yes, but so what its luggage, not furniture.

[luv2cruise03]

I bought multi colored yarn and made large pom poms for all of our luggage...worked great when picking out our luggage.

[Flip2cruise]

I usually dont make a huge investment in cruise luggage. I have found some great pieces at Discount Dept Stores like Value City, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and A.J Wright. Name brand luggage for a 1/4 of the price. I'm currently looking for a rolling garment bag, last season I saw one at Value City for $39--saw the same model at Macy's for $175.

 

I would rather spend the money on smuggle worthy booze to put INTO the luggage:D

 

I like softsided rolling dufflebags. I would also recommend luggage that can be piggybacked with the strap.

[simkoreb]

I agree, I don't spend a lot of money either....got mine at Marshalls for a great price. As long as it has wheels I'm happy....and I bought green thanks to a great saleslady that told me never buy black!!

[lrizit]

I got a 5 piece rolling set just for cruises from Target. I think it was $59 or something ridiculous like that. Not the best stuff in the world, but it works! And already, between airline and cruise one of the zipper pulls is MIA. Glad it was cheap. :D

[phlydude]

We ran into a sale at Kohl's for buy one get one free. We were able to pick up two 6-piece sets for $199. We have been using samsonite clam shell hardsides that I picked up for $30 each at Macy's after christmas years ago but found that with the lowered airline baggage weight limits, we had to pack very carefully to avoid an overage on these large, heavy cases. Plus, the wheel/handle set-up caused them to be unstable when rolling if the weight was not distributed equally. But they were bright yellow and blue so they were easy to see. This time around, the bags are soft-sides, have decent retractable handles, roller blade wheels and are expandable.

 

Also, if anyone is interested, Costco had these very cool garment bags that folded to be perfect size for a carry-on - $12.97

[Boston6]

Considering that my 28" suitcase weighs 17 lbs empty, I'm considering switching to good quality duffle bags.

 

As far as suitcases go, you get what you pay for. The less expensive versions won't last as long and you can expect the zippers to fail much, much sooner.

 

Also, materials are important, ballistic nylon is almost indestructable, no tears although it will puncture. Nylon and Polyester are 2 other commonly used materials.

 

Denier count is important. The higher the denier the better the material. 1800 denier is better than 600 denier.

 

Full ABS construction will last longer that those with a simple metal band frame which will crush/deform.

 

As for size, stick to 26" or smaller. A full 28-29" suitcase will weigh more than 50 lbs.

[mikeymars]

As for size, stick to 26" or smaller. A full 28-29" suitcase will weigh more than 50 lbs.

 

28-29"?!??! Heck, my 26" Atlantic Pullman easily weighs more than 50lbs if I pack it even half efficiently.

 

The problem is less bag size and more the fact that the airlines - in search of any and all ways to increase revenue -- have been repeatedly reducing luggage weight maximums (so they can charge more excess weight fees; as example, back in 2001, American Airlines let you check bags up to 70lbs. Now they're down to 50).

 

It's rapidly getting to the point where my family and I can only use medium size luggage in order to avoid going over those increasingly restrictive thresholds.

[booboo4031]

I always travelled with hardside luggage but due to airline weight limitations have thrown the towel in and gone to softside. I went into the Samsonite outlet and asked what was comparable in ruggedness to the hardside. They make a softside that is made of ballistic material (the same stuff they make bulletproof vests of).... I've had 3 bags go on overseas flights and many domestic flights and they still look new ... so far so good!:)

[TNPirate]

I have a seabag or 2 left over from my time in the Navy -- it is amazing how much stuff will fit in one of them -- if packed just right, they will stand up on their own. They can be carried at at your side, or worn as a backpack. Then, when empty, they fold down to practically nothing for storage.

 

I'd recommend a website like USCavalry -- they have decent prices. It's listed as a "Military GI Duffel Bag". Also, when ordering from a site such as this, always remember to get "Official Issue" -- do not get MILSPEC. MILSPEC is not the same quality as "Official Issue" -- I have found that with a pair of boots I purchased.

[phlydude]

I have a seabag or 2 left over from my time in the Navy -- it is amazing how much stuff will fit in one of them -- if packed just right, they will stand up on their own. They can be carried at at your side, or worn as a backpack. Then, when empty, they fold down to practically nothing for storage.

 

I'd recommend a website like USCavalry -- they have decent prices. It's listed as a "Military GI Duffel Bag". Also, when ordering from a site such as this, always remember to get "Official Issue" -- do not get MILSPEC. MILSPEC is not the same quality as "Official Issue" -- I have found that with a pair of boots I purchased.

Not bad $28 and less than 3 lbs...I remember using my dad's old army issued duffle but it didn't have backstraps, just the over the arm sling.

[crisp1]

Not bad $28 and less than 3 lbs...I remember using my dad's old army issued duffle but it didn't have backstraps, just the over the arm sling.

 

The one on uscavalry is a single strap, armynavysales has both used and new government issue duffles

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

I got ours at www.Ebags.com

 

I signed up for their e mail list and get an offer every week for either % off or free shipping, sometimes both. I LOVE this site because you can read other customer reviews and every product has a "score" according to how people who bought it rated it. After I picked out what I wanted I scoured the internet and they were by far the cheapest.

 

Also...after you buy something from them, they send you an e mail asking you to rate what you bought and if you do they give you 20% off your next purchase. SO what I did was buy a toiletry case for little $$. Then I got the invite to rate it and used the discount to buy my luggage.

 

I bought pretty inexpensive stuff. I figure it is going to get abused wether I spend a lot of $$ on it or not. I did get red and the day after I got it my 2 yo colored all over one case with a blue crayon, so no problem for us picking that one out at the airport:D .

[lucyjohnz]

I just posted this on another thread, but thought I'd repeat it here:

 

My problem is that I have a million carry-on bags, several thousand backpacks (wheeled and un-wheeled) and several hundred 21-inch and under wheeled suitcases - or something like that. But I do not have one single suitcase bigger than 21-inches. My husband is the opposite - 1 21-inch wheeled bag, 2 carryon bags and 4 giant hard-sided suitcases.

 

So, today at Wal-Mart, I was looking at suitcases and bought a $30 set of suitcases that included a 24" rolling suitcase, a wheeled duffel bag and a carryon bag. I'm going to try out that 24" suitcase on our next cruise and maybe the duffel bag too. The only problem is their color - of course, black.

 

My problem with travelling bags in general is that I am TIRED of carrying heavy (30-40 lbs.) carryon bags all through an airport, but it's hard to find rolling carryons that hold larger amounts. So, I've gotten to where I use a 17-inch rolling suitcase instead of a shoulder carry-on. We also use a $20 non-wheeled garment bag for 7-day or longer cruises for ALL of our formal wear and then everyone else uses their own suitcase and carryon.

 

While these Wal-Mart bags are probably cheaply made, buying the really well-made suitcases can cost in the hundreds or 10 times as much as these bags. So, I can buy these cheap bags every 2-3 years or buy nice bags once. Or, I can buy middle-of-the-road bags at Mervyn's or Target (they've got some better bags there than Wal-Mart) for under $100 and go with those. I've also found some nice bags at Samsonite or luggage outlets but they run $100-$200 each so you're back up there on what you want to spend.

 

Finally, over the years, technology has improved on bags - they get lighter, better material, better wheels, inside handles and more options (4-way wheels). If you're buy $200-$400 suitcase, you're probably not going to want to replace it even when something better comes along - at least not for awhile. So, for me, I usually go the middle-of-the-road route so I can upgrade without feeling too much regret for the loss of my older suitcases and yet I get pretty good wear them - we'll see what happens on the cheapo Wal-Mart bag...

[phlydude]

The one on uscavalry is a single strap, armynavysales has both used and new government issue duffles

Au contraire, mon frere. See attached from US Calvary's site

[PelicanBill]

If any of your flights are on Turboprops or RegionJets, be aware that the airlines get very picky about what they allow on board. A carry on that passes normally was taken from me for gate check (or else I could not board) so I had to fret over my cameras and medicine. And it wasn't waiting for me when I got off the plane, even though I was last off. Freak out. I yelled and yelled adn they went back into the hold to check again and guess what, there it was. Jerks. If your gate check bag gets lost, there's no way to track it - there's no computer record of it. And sometimes they take bags off a plane to get it down to required weight.

[jckvpa0]

Carnival says your bag must have a lock, is this true?

[RWolver672]

Carnival says your bag must have a lock, is this true?

 

Their brochure says "Please make sure your luggage is locked." That's for your own benefit, not theirs. If someone wants to break into it, they will do it, locked or unlocked. A police officer once told me that locks were made to keep out honest people. ;)

 

After watching the baggage handlers load the luggage bins with a fork lift, I would never buy expensive luggage. They were falling off the bins left and right. One piece even went off the edge of the pier. The guy grabbed a hook and got it back, then just threw it on top of the bin again.

 

It was interesting watching them load them. Eleven lift trucks were bringing them to the side of the ship, then two were loading them in the ship. It took forty-five minutes to load.

[suzyaz]

Awwwh, Luggage...your talking my life...Bags

Love it...luggage, bags anything that I can stuff my goodies in for a trip and be organized.

I love:

My rolling luggage...ours are greys and maroons, soft flower pattern.

Then there is my purple carry on, again with wheels...plenty of zipper compartments....

Must have a bag (will be packed in larger case with clothes) for my snorkel gear...it has the option of useing handles or as a backpack (hubby will tote this one at ports).

Then there is the small backpack (will be packed in larger case with clothes) that I will use for my cameras and lil raincovers, small 1st aid pack, etc. for ports. This one I will be carrying.

Now lets talk make up, shampoos, etc. This is a must for the case that unzips with all of those lil compartments and it hangs on the door when unzipped.

Must have the belly pouch...just incase I need it.

Must have the bra $$$ Stach....it hooks to the bra straps and hangs inbetween the bra cups....you see you really have to wrestle me for my $$$.

So go ahead and call me that name....

Yes, I'm the bag lady.:)

[Flip2cruise]

Au contraire, mon frere. See attached from US Calvary's site

 

Are you getting one? I might have to run down to the army surplus store and check one out.

[phlydude]

I won't get one but this would be perfect for my still in college brother in law...

[cruznon]

My DH always ties a large strip of a white plactic bag onto the handle of our luggage SOOOO..easy to locate in rows of bags !!!