Overpacking...

[JeweliM]

Okay- I admit it, I'm an overpacker. Not only for me, but my family (husband and three sons) also.

 

Last week, we took 10 pieces (family of 5) plus each of us had a small carry on. With four teens/men, there were four suits, four sport jackets and all those shirts. I was NOT going to do laundry; nor was I going to send anything out.

 

I do the all new undies & sox for vacations- easier to pack beforehand.

 

For me, I packed a shorts outfit and bathing suit "outfit" for each day plus something for the evening. I also took extras.

 

Be careful though. At the airport, they weigh your luggage and over 50 pounds gets you charged extra ($25?). It's better to take two smaller pieces than one HUGE (& heavy) piece.

 

You may have seen me: I was that lady at LaGuardia pulling her clothes & shoes out of one bag and smashing them in another curbside!

[whyrlygig]

I must be a very rare underpacking woman. I can cruise for a week with one good sized carry-on and a big purse. Mind you, we do not eat in the dining room so no need for formals. The one thing I carry a lot of is swimsuits (1 for every day). Otherwise, I pack in a color theme and choose items that are small, thin and wrinkel resistant. If need be, I figure I can always have a few things cleaned.

[digital_curator]

I used to overpack and then my DH (boyfriend at the time) had the airline lose our luggage on the way to Grenada- we had even mixed packed our bags (some of each of our stuff in each bag) but they lost both:eek:

 

Next year we were going to Grenada for a week for a wedding and managed to pack everything in 2 carry-ons!

 

For our last cruise, DH rented a tux onboard, and we brought a very small duffle, a large duffle and a small carry-on. We laughed at the people unloading 5-6 bags each:D

 

I do things now like wear the same formal skirt and bring 2 different tops and I bring enough shirts for 7 days but about 1/2 that in shorts and wear them twice....I also manage with 4 pairs of shoes- 1 fancy dress, 1 nice sandal, sneakers, and a pair of walking sandals or flip-flops, which really cuts down on the packing.

 

The one thing I still overpack is toiletries and medicines. I used to work in North Africa and cannot shake the habit of bringing my own pharmacy!

 

BUT DO BRING SOCKS- you need them for the climbing wall. Aslo if you are on a Voyager ship and want to skate make sure you bring long pants!

 

It is so much easier not to be responsible for a tonne of luggage- I will never go back to overpacking again!

 

Cheers,

[lindabelll]

Ok, I've made up my mind, I'm going through my suitcase and downsizing.:(

[katydyd]

and I used to be an over-packer....but I'm proud to say...it's been two years since my last over-packing incident....LOL.

 

A trip to Italy cured me of my previous addiction. We spent 10 days in Italy in August of 2003. I WAY overpacked for the trip, which wasn't too big of a problem until we got to Venice. We took the vaporetto to the stop closest to our hotel and then had to walk the rest of the way....about a 30 minute walk after we got lost a few times. After schleping a ton of luggage through Venice in that terrible heat wave (the one that killed all of those poor people in Europe) I swore I would beat the "habit."

 

I am proud to say that I CAN go on a seven night cruise with nothing more than a large hiking pack now, and I've never had to wash undies in the sink...or wear something that was "questionable."

[lszu]

My solution to the overweight luggage problem is to bring more luggage. For two of us we have a large pullman, a medium pullman, a small pullman, and a garment bag. They connect together so each of us only has to wheel around one thing. We also weigh our stuff before leaving home so we know we're within weight.

[erin_cruisers]

MY DW is the Queen of overpacking.

What makes it worse is I have to carry most everything for her. :rolleyes:

 

There is no reasoning with an overpacker.

She must have choices, every night, because she has to

"size up" the crowd, never knows how the weather is going to be,

doesn't know how she'll 'feel', etc., etc.

 

Better to bring lots of stuff!!!!

That might be the girl scout in her.

So I try to compensate by , - no, lets not go there :eek:

[esteam]

i used to overpack... before i had kids. just returned off of rhapsody on sunday. packed perfectly. i think i have got it down to a science. i spend most or the sunlight day at the pool so i bring 4 bathing suits and bring 2 coverup skirts. new shirt for each day (don't want to be smelly). 7 night cruise 7 dinner outfits. only decision is then which outfit to wear each night. could have even wore 1 pair black pants for 2 nights with a different shirt. so, i wore all of my nighttime outfits. and only 1 unworn shirt. pretty good. brought 5 pairs of shoes, one pair sneekers and water shoes (never wore those). i packed the same for 2 DD. few extra shirts for my 6 year old messy child but she kept pretty clean, surprisingly. DH is another story. Had about 12 T shirts and 9 dressy nighttime shirts. i actually convinced him to wear black khaki and tan khakis for 2 nights each to then save space. i was wondering if he was doing a post cruise package without me.

[Nauti-Lady]

After 4 cruises, I am doing much better except for shoes. I still need a separate suitcase just for those!

[lindabelll]

Shoes are not my problem. Sandals are usually flat. It's the different outfit for each day. I usually don't spend much time in a bathing suit, so that's how I justify having to bring a clean outfit for each day.

[kenandlaura06]

I either seriously underpack or seriously overpack. So, I figure overpacking is the better of the two options!