Packing for cruise

[sunnygidget]

As you lay out your clothes to pack, take pictures. If a suitcase goes missing or if you send to laundry and it goes missing you know exactly what was in that suitcase. As for the laundry showing a pix is easier than a description. Love cubes:D

[iancal]

That is how we started to reduce what we take-by culling the usual assortment of clothes and shoes. The results were mediocre. Then we got serious and decided to approach it from another perspepctive.

 

We bought 20" carry on roller boards and made that our limitation. A challenge at first but it eventually worked well for us. We have been doing this since our first trip in retirement. Now, when we shop for clothing, it is a always with travel in mind......layering, travel well, multiple use clothing.

[OlsSalt]

We bought 20" carry on roller boards and made that our limitation. A challenge at first but it eventually worked well for us. We have been doing this since our first trip in retirement. Now, when we shop for clothing, it is a always with travel in mind......layering, travel well, multiple use clothing.

 

......and pockets for me! Without looking too much like a stuffed cargo pants pack animal. The big regret about most women's clothes today - no pockets.

[summersigh]

We find that we also pack better without the cubes.

We do spread clothes to multiple bags just in case a bag goes missing.

We pack sooner rather then later and make a detailed list to begin with thinking though what we will wear each day. Keith

We're much the same as ya'll.

We each bring one suitcase and one tote bag.

 

One thing I do is put our dinner clothing in dry cleaner bags I save between cruises. It keeps things from wrinkling as badly as without.

 

Also, we drive to our cruises so checked baggage charges are not an issue. Thus, I bring a black fold-up duffle bag which I open once on board the ship and we use it for dirty clothes. That way we have alot of room for souvenirs in the suitcases. I put it out with the rest of our luggage the last night.

[Troban]

I never thought I would use them much less love them but I do. Easy to pack by day or items whichever you need. I use compression ones and roll and you would be amazed how much it can get in a roll on.

We travel roll on and totes each only.

[sapper1]

I use the packing cubes for all the non clothing “stuff” that gets packed.

I find that rolling clothes is a good way to pack and I always cross pack our suitcases.

For my husband’s suits and sport jackets I use a giant baggie with the suit packing method I saw on YouTube. It works like a charm and any wrinkles hang out in a few hours.

Since we always fly to our departure port three days early I mark the outside of one bag as the one to be used and then put all the clothes needed for those three days in one bag. We take longer cruises so even though I would like to travel lighter, we always wind up with four bags.

[highland cruiser]

Using packing cubes for,the first time next week. With all the different weather changes on our cruise, thought I could be more organized with them. Appreciated reading all the posts.

[shoppern]

We always pack a complete change of clothing in our carry-ons, including flip-flops for showers. If our big cases go missing, we still have one clean set of clothing.

[gjkov]

We love our Shacke Pak cubes!

 

http://www.shacke.com/shacke-pak-4-set-packing-cubes-with-laundry-bag-black/

[*Miss G*]

I just came back from the dollar store where I originally got mine and they no longer have the expandable double-zip ones. :( I picked up their regular ones instead. Will see what I think next week.

 

I found the compression cubes at another dollar store! I am happy now. :)

[3rdGenCunarder]

I use 2-gallon ziplock bags. They're a good size for holding several shirts or t-shirts. Or a sweatshirt/sweater or two. A weeks worth of socks and undies. I don't unpack them when we get onboard. I just put the bags into drawers and we pull out stuff as we need it.

 

If we're taking a cruise with real formal nights, the baggie is a perfect way to pack a beaded silk dress. No need for a garment bag, just fold it with tissue paper and pop it into a bag.

[Tampa Girl]

I use 2-gallon ziplock bags. They're a good size for holding several shirts or t-shirts. Or a sweatshirt/sweater or two. A weeks worth of socks and undies. I don't unpack them when we get onboard. I just put the bags into drawers and we pull out stuff as we need it.

 

If we're taking a cruise with real formal nights, the baggie is a perfect way to pack a beaded silk dress. No need for a garment bag, just fold it with tissue paper and pop it into a bag.

 

I have used the 2 gallon bags for years. Rolling them down and compressing them really adds a lot of space to the suitcase. I will continue to use them, as well as the packing cubes on our next cruise. Whether bags, cubes, or both - they make packing easier and neater.

[creel5857]

we started 20 years ago with much more clothes than we need "just in case".......now we pack super light. We roll a lot of clothes. use plastic laundry cover over husband's jacket for night wear, stuff socks and ties and small items in shoes.......I carry very little jewelry or incidentals anymore.......clothes and shoes are limited around a neutral color scheme to ensure everything fits in 1 checked luggage and 1 carry on......just got back from 2 1/2 wk trip (2 week cruise) using same method. we have discovered a great advantage with Holland's 20.00 stuff everything in bag option because you can get a lot in there and we feel if we can afford a cruise we can afford 20.00 in laundry to carry less luggage.......

[*Miss G*]

These are the cubes I got from the dollar store. Lightweight and well made. Only $4. https://lewisnclark.com/featherlight-expandable-packing-cube-2-pack/

[Tiggipaws]

I used the packing cubes for my tee shirts and they came out uncreased. I also put my husbands long sleeve shirts on hangars covered in plastic and they were also uncreased and I flew from the UK

[*Miss G*]

I am so thankful I don't have to do my husband's packing. But that's about the only thing I don't have to do for him. lol

[docksider21]

We always pack a complete change of clothing in our carry-ons, including flip-flops for showers. If our big cases go missing, we still have one clean set of clothing.

 

My carry on has several changes of clothes. I wear a sport coat, shirt, and slacks to travel, and dress shoes. Tie, casual shoes, swimsuit, flip flops, pair short pants, pair of long pants, a polo and a T shirt, plus some underwear and socks to in the carry on, along with prescriptions. All toiletries, and all other clothes go in the checked luggage. I can easy buy toiletries at the drug store, or even on ship. But if all I have is the carry-on, I will have several outfits and can make do nicely.

[pcur]

I also use packing cubes, and our upcoming b2b2b will be "the packing cube challenge". We are on 3 sequential cruises on 3 different cruise lines! The first is NCL for 7 days, the next is HAL for 14 days, and the final one is RCCL for 7 days.

 

I'm thinking I'm going to pack a large flat packing cube for the first 7 days with shirts and shorts just for that cruise for my husband. I always put his underwear in a separate medium cube, so that will just be a constant throughout the cruises (with a bag of laundry on each cruise).

 

I prefer to have choices when I dress for the day or evening, so I will have my large cube with my tops and blouses. Again, a constant undies cube for me, too. Another for my capris and long pants, which are all knit and take up little room in a medium cube.

 

This way for the first and the last cruises (7 days each) we can just pull out the cubes we need for them, hang up our dressy clothes in the garment bags, and unpack the toiletries. We take minimal shoes, so that's probably another large cube for both of us.

 

The big unpacking will be for HAL, added to week 1 clothes that will be clean. My tops are all chiffon that can be easily washed and hung to dry overnight, so they just go back in the tops/blouses cube all throughout the first 3 weeks.

 

So, that's 3 large and 4 medium cubes for 28 days, plus miscellaneous and toiletry bags.