Garment bag? Check or hand carry?

[cello56]

Has anyone travelled with a garment bag? Did you check it curbside or hand carry it onboard? Family member traveling with us has a lot of dinner clothes on hangers in a rather thin bag. Not sure how they would fare if the bag is checked. Suggestions? Thanks! It's their first cruise. :)

[4gomez]

my opinion

check em they cant be broken they don't want to carry them on it'll be a hassle . heck I have jackets , a tux , and a suit. my wife has numerous!! dresses. No problem.

[Corndog819]

I checked mine on my last cruise in December. They delivered it straight to my room and hung them up for me. The only negative was that one of my hangers slipped back into the bag and one of my shirts got wrinkled. More my fault than anything, but if I were to do it again I might zip tie all the hangers together so that doesn't happen.

[Langley Cruisers]

I checked mine on my last cruise in December. They delivered it straight to my room and hung them up for me.

 

Did you have a suite? I have never had my suitcases put anywhere but outside my cabin door on Royal. On Princess, they put them inside for us.

[Corndog819]

Did you have a suite? I have never had my suitcases put anywhere but outside my cabin door on Royal. On Princess, they put them inside for us.

I did not. I can't recall any cruise on Princess where my bags were brought inside. I had already moved my bags inside as they came first. When they delivered my hangers 15-20 minutes later they put them inside which was a nice touch.

Edited February 22, 2015 by Corndog819

[Langley Cruisers]

I did not. I can't recall any cruise on Princess where my bags were brought inside.

 

Hmm! Well I can't explain either of our situations! LOL :D

[Grandma Dazzles]

I would check the garment baggage with other bags and have it delivered. haven't done this for a while, but when we did it worked out fine.

 

Assuming they have hand luggage to carry on board, it would be more convenient; also less to get up the walkway to the ship and carry around until cabins are open at 1:00 p.m., if you board prior to that time.

[TomAceEsq]

Last time (and the only time) I cruised, I took a suit in a garment bag. There was a shoe pouch at the bottom, so my entire get-up was in the bag.

 

It got to my stateroom ripped to hell, the shoes missing, and the bottom right corner of my jacket scrunched and caked in bearing grease. Not only did Disney not do anything about it since I couldn't prove the value of the suit, shoes, or bag (they were all bought a couple years before the cruise hence no receipts), I had to buy a new suit and shoes after I got home.

 

With the cruise we're going on in a couple weeks, I've packed my suit and shoes in my checked luggage, and will have it pressed on the ship. That prior experience, with Disney of all lines, has scarred me for life. haha

[BND]

Did you have a suite? I have never had my suitcases put anywhere but outside my cabin door on Royal. On Princess, they put them inside for us.

 

If your luggage is being delivered when your steward happens to be there, they can put it inside. I hear of it occasionally.

[breezy_carol]

We got something similar to this before our cruise and it worked great. We checked it on our flight south. Held DH's suit and jacket and 3 or 4 of my dresses, plus other things.

[phoenix1181]

Unless it's an actual piece of luggage, I wouldn't check it. When you hand your luggage over at the pier, it's joining thousands of other bags that need to get moved & delivered as quickly as possible. The type of bag you've described isn't designed to withstand [any] abuse & you really shouldn't expect it to receive the special handling it needs to get through the system in place intact.

Edited February 22, 2015 by phoenix1181

[Janet524]

IMO, if the garment bag is one you would check through for an airline flight I would check it in at the ship. If it's a thin garment bag like you'd get from a department store I would hesitate to check it because I'd be concerned about damage. The luggage delivery process is not the most gentle.

[Sunny2020]

I bought a soft 40 inch garment bag called a Wallybag at Amazon for 29 dollars.

I'm pretty sure it was recommended by others here.

This is not strong enough to be airline checked, but, it's comfortable enough to carry on the ship , as it folds in half.

We came in the day before our cruise and at the hotel, I ironed any clothes from my checked suitcases that had gotten wrinkled

and repacked them in the Wallybag.

Having to carry the bag onboard was a small inconvenience , but, I didn't have to worry about lost luggage and wrinkled clothes. Even though the Wallybag is soft and lightweight and it was carried folded in half,

the clothes did stay very wrinkle free.

I packed very lightweight metal hangers in my suitcase and hung more than one item on each hanger , as you cannot get more than 4 or 5 metal hangers in the top clasp.

[Langley Cruisers]

If your luggage is being delivered when your steward happens to be there, they can put it inside. I hear of it occasionally.

 

Yes, I'm assuming that's what happened. :)

[bigque]

We hand carry it on the plane so there are no extra bag charges then we check it at the port with our suitcase.

[spookwife]

Has anyone travelled with a garment bag? Did you check it curbside or hand carry it onboard? Family member traveling with us has a lot of dinner clothes on hangers in a rather thin bag. Not sure how they would fare if the bag is checked. Suggestions? Thanks! It's their first cruise. :)

 

if it will not fit through a standard size airport X-ray machine, you will have to check it.

 

those ultra super thin bags( usually used for long term storage in your closet as opposed to being used for traveling) will be of zero protection from getting jumbled up/wrinkled and generally squished when going through the scanner. and it would fare even LESS well being checked.

 

they need a REAL garment bag, and it needs to be checked.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Posted earlier (#7) - was referring to a luggage-style garment bag - not the department store protector type. Had no problem with it being damaged or clothing wrinkled, but the bag is heavy-duty, full-size piece of luggage.

 

Poster mentioned carrying on board - couldn't do this - my garment bag is too big; also wouldn't think that any garment bag would fit in those "little container" things at the airport that are supposed to measure what fits in overhead. Perhaps flying first class?

 

Only garment bag i have seen someone carry on board - very carefully - was a wedding dress! Flight attendants were very helpful to the lady, and I think they were making an exception as it was a huge bag! Maybe she paid for it as a piece of luggage.

[FOXTROT]

Our garmet bag must be carried. I have the great honor to carry Wife's dresses. ;)

[Havingfun2010]

My garment bag traveled and checked on a dozen cruises and several dozen flights and still looks fine. It's either a regular luggage bag or is it a simple protection bag?

[cello56]

Thanks for the help. Family member has rearranged his suitcase to accommodate the contents of the garment bag. Figures better a big wrinkled then parts missing because the bag ripped!

[cruzin lady]

Last time (and the only time) I cruised, I took a suit in a garment bag. There was a shoe pouch at the bottom, so my entire get-up was in the bag.

 

It got to my stateroom ripped to hell, the shoes missing, and the bottom right corner of my jacket scrunched and caked in bearing grease. Not only did Disney not do anything about it since I couldn't prove the value of the suit, shoes, or bag (they were all bought a couple years before the cruise hence no receipts), I had to buy a new suit and shoes after I got home.

 

With the cruise we're going on in a couple weeks, I've packed my suit and shoes in my checked luggage, and will have it pressed on the ship. That prior experience, with Disney of all lines, has scarred me for life. haha

 

***Trip insurance would cover this***

[mollyeilis]

For my fancy clothes, I have them on hangers then sort of lay them in thirds in my rolly carryon bag. I'm just not willing to let those things get checked. On some cruises DH and DS do the same with their suits, and on some they have them checked (still in a normal bag, but placed in the bag not rolled or folded or anything like that). They've been fine, no pressing needed, either way.