Cruise Packing: What's Your Style?

[amygutman]

Happy New Year! May it be sweet, happy and healthy.

 

After months of obsessively checking YouTube, CruiseCritic, and a ton of other cruising websites, I compiled a list, checked it way, way more than twice, and have packed everything into it's proper place for a 12ish day trip (2.5 days Seattle, 7 night cruise, 2 days flying) starting next Friday. A few bits and bobs to put in last minute but this photo shows the entire haul for Alaska for myself, husband and 14 yo son:

• 2 Checked Large Suitcases
• 1 Carry-On Suitcase (with essentials we could survive on if both air-tagged bags are lost)
• 3 Backpacks
• 3 Neck pillows (stuffed with scarves, gloves and hats)
• 1 Box to be shipped to the hotel

Why the box? We are meeting 2 friends for this cruise, both travelling internationally (London, Bermuda) and have packed things for them plus assorted items not coming back with us (i.e. room fresheners, sunscreen, bug repellant). The box also has 3 travel zippered "beach bags" that meet our respective airline carry-on requirements should we need them for souvenirs, etc. 

 

It's our first trip in over five years that we've flown to a distant location in a different "season". Coming from Orlando, Florida where it's currently in the 90s (32C-35C) to Seattle / Alaska (50Fs - 70Fs; 10Cs - 21Cs) has meant our usual backpacks and 2 small carry-on sized suitcases for warm weather cruises were not going to work. Even planning to use laundry services 1/2 way through the cruise and packing "just the basics", it still looks like "oh dear Lord...I packed my household". I am in complete envy of people like Will from Trek Trendy or Maurice Moves who make "light travel" look easy. 

 

So, I am curious: Are you a "maximalist" or "minimalist"? Does it depend on the itinerary / ship / airline vs driving? As kiddo says, Do you have FOMO? (Fear Of Missing Out) if you don't pack particular items? What about the craziest thing you packed that you needed or regretted?

 

I'd love to learn from other CCers' examples. I think I did a pretty darned good job of going basic (not minimalistic for sure), but will know in 2 weeks if I have any packing regrets.

 

Warmest Amy
 

 

[All-ready2cruise]

Do not regret, LEARN!  And have a wonderful cruise.  Cheers

 

I'm a solo, use a 21" suitcase and since I'm Sapphire, I will use my free laundry option if needed. 

You share some wonderful information and I thank you for that @amygutman  

Edited September 17, 2023 by All-ready2cruise

[NW Pacific]

looks like you have it covered for certain.  When boarding the Ship, take your carry on and back packs with you for extra control of your luggage.

[Pitzel]

We have started sailing out of NYC and we often take the train into the city. As such, we have greatly downsized our packing to better suit the realities of traveling by train and subway.

 

Since it is quite possible that elevators and escalators may be out of service in the train/subway stations, we pack light enough that we (myself, DH and DS13) can carry our luggage up and down stairs, if needed. We also limit ourselves to carry on bags so that they can fit in the overhead luggage racks on the train. So, in practicality, this ends up looking like 3 carry-on suitcases and 3 backpacks (or 2 backpacks and a large tote bag) for the 3 of us.

We pack everything tightly in packing cubes to maximize every inch of our luggage and do 1-2 loads of laundry midway through our trip. So far, this has worked well for us and we don't feel like we are missing anything for our trip.

[www3traveler]

As a solo Senior type passenger, I take as little as possible.  I did a 25 day cruise with a 24" suitcase and my Norwegian backpack.  My suitcase weight more than usual but under the airline limit because I had Christmas gifts for crew members.

[yakcruiser]

Alaska can be a tough one in September. It can be cold and raining or warm and sunny. Well maybe not warm for a Floridian. I tend to overpack for Alaska because I'm only a 2 1/2 hour drive away from the pier.

[Travelling2Some]

We're carry-on-only because we usually plan our trips with a land segment on either end and a cruise in the middle.  The land parts of the trip use trains/metros and in Europe that means stairs and cobblestones.  We rely on the ship's laundry since the cruise is the middle segment. 

 

The most unusual thing I pack are two little dental kits: "Re Cap It" and "Re Fill It".  They are tiny and sold in drug stores.  There are no dentists on ships, we take long cruises and I have lots of capped teeth and some pretty ancient fillings.

[cruiseat50]

Our last cruise was in March and we tried something new as we were leaving Florida and going to NYC for a Caribbean cruise.  Because it could be cold in NY at that time and hopefully would be warm the rest of the trip we had to pack enough for both temperatures.  Even though I usually pack way more than I need I was determined to only go with a couple carry-ons and small bags to take with us on the plane BUT... that would never be enough so I had to take one large suitcase the only problem was we didn't want to hassle with taking it on the plane, going to pick it up in baggage and dealing with all the other bags as well getting onto the ship. So, we decided to try what a friend had suggested that they had done and worked well for them.   We set up our large suitcase to be picked up by Luggage Forward.  They pick it up at your house about a week before and it will be delivered to the ship and then the next time you see it will be in your cabin.  I have to admit I was a little nervous as there's always that thought of what if...?

 

On embarkation day the concierge told us that he had been contacted by the company the day before about the suitcase that would be delivered to the ship which he had never heard of this being done but said he would be looking out for it.  Anyway we went to our cabin and of course it wasn't there right away but I unpacked the rest of the bags and got things sorted while waiting for the big one.  After I did that we started our sailaway and decided to call the concierge to see if he had any news but he said he didn't so I admit I was a bit nervous but we went to dinner to get my mind off of it.  Walking back to our suite I started thinking of all the things that I really would not want to sail without so crossed my fingers...  Well, when we got in the room to our great relief it was there!!

 

The only part that didn't go well is that after disembarkation we were supposed to meet someone from the company to hand it over so that they could deliver it back home.  But we called Luggage Forward and they said that the person had waited and looked for us but we couldn't find each other so we ended up taking it to the hotel we were staying at.  They came 2 days later while we were still in NY and picked it up.  The people on the phone were very helpful and I would highly recommend this service if dealing with airport baggage claim is a hassle for you or like my husband it relieved him of having to pick up a heavy suitcase since he has back issues.  According to the company you can go up to 75 lbs but I know NCL is 50 lbs... and I know I was probably somewhere between the two.

[aml3679]

My husband overpacks 

 

I streamline 

 

14 day cruise 

 

10 dresses

1 pair of slacks

1 pair of capris 

4 blouses

1 pair of sandals 

underwear

toiletries

swimsuit

hat

wrap

[KforKitty]

I’d take fewer dresses but at least another pair of sandles/deck shoes for a warm weather cruise.  However it gets tricky if your destination crosses weather zones and you need additional layers to keep warm & dry as will be the case on our South America/Antarctica trip in January.

 

Catherine

[Peachypooh]

I try to pack mostly what it would be difficult to replace on board. An extra pair of sneakers, lots of OTC meds and toiletries, some snacks. Then depending on the destination clothes for about half of the days we will be gone (one day outfit one night outfit). Then I hand wash or send out laundry. Makes it very simple.

[brer111]

first off Amy - Happy New Year to you and your family!

 

One thing we learned years ago on any trip when flying is to pack both suitcases with half of my clothes and half of my husbands. This way if one bag gets lost we both have some clothing and under garments. Better safe than sorry!  I am also wondering about AirTags for our bags. Have thought of buying some for our trip next month which is international. We are Android phone users too. Any suggestions and info? TIA

[RocketMan275]

6 minutes ago, brer111 said:

first off Amy - Happy New Year to you and your family!

 

One thing we learned years ago on any trip when flying is to pack both suitcases with half of my clothes and half of my husbands. This way if one bag gets lost we both have some clothing and under garments. Better safe than sorry!  I am also wondering about AirTags for our bags. Have thought of buying some for our trip next month which is international. We are Android phone users too. Any suggestions and info? TIA

You might find this helpful

https://www.androidauthority.com/airtags-android-3243743/

amazon sells tiles.  Search on 'tracking tiles for luggage android'.

[laudergayle]

Hope you and your family have an amazing cruise.  Seattle is so fun too.  Be sure your son gets to see The Gum Wall just outside Pikes Market.  He will be in awe.🤣

 

Being a FL, NE GA girl, I at least had my fair share of colder weather clothing.  Because of layering, I found I really didn’t wear half of what I brought.  Layer up for daytime excursions, layered down once back on the ship.  My biggest wonder…how to keep legs warm with dresses without wearing tights.  I found support pantyhose (not just the control top) was perfect.

I also found the biggest space eater was shoes.  Sneaks, hiking boots, slip ons, evening.

 

Happy cruising…we’re hoping to do a mid-May Vancouver to Seward cruise next year.

Edited September 17, 2023 by laudergayle

[BirdTravels]

We tend to overpack so that we are equipped to do anything we need on a cruise. Shoe example: tennis shoes, dress shoes (only 1 pair), sandals, flip flops, water shoes. We, too, split clothes across two suitcases to avoid catastrophic impact of losing a case along the way. 

[RocketMan275]

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We tend to overpack so that we are equipped to do anything we need on a cruise. Shoe example: tennis shoes, dress shoes (only 1 pair), sandals, flip flops, water shoes. We, too, split clothes across two suitcases to avoid catastrophic impact of losing a case along the way. 

No snow shoes?  You never know.

 

We are minimalists.    I only take one pair of running shoes.  No dress clothes.  

Edited September 17, 2023 by RocketMan275

[hallux]

I tend to overpack.  I have a 28" suitcase that I end up filling pretty well for a 7 night cruise and don't send laundry out.  I just did a 10 day work trip in the same suitcase, I should be able to manage a 15 night cruise in it if I'm smart about it.

 

1x T-shirt for each day

2-4 polo shirts for dinners

underwear for each day

socks for each day

1 pair of Jeans

1 pair of slacks

sandals for going to the pool/beach

water shoes (they take no room)

1-2 swimsuits

extra sneakers

toiletries

 

I usually bring a small duffel as a second carry-on, loaded with an extra change of clothes (so I don't have to go into my suitcase in the hotel the night before), but for my 15-day cruise I think my 18" suitcase will serve that purpose as well as 'overflow'.  The duffel/18" suitcase is in addition to a small backpack that has misc. stuff in it.  I'm not a small person, my clothes take up more room than some other's clothes might.

Edited September 17, 2023 by hallux

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

We, too, split clothes across two suitcases to avoid catastrophic impact of losing a case along the way. 

You know, I’ve read this a couple times…but have not yet adhered.  This is another reminder.  Thanks.

[CatBoiler]

I am a severe overpacker, one of those that takes 20 shirts for a 10 day trip. I like having options!

 

We're on the Prima at the end of October. Doing 3 days in Rome, 9 nights on Prima, then 2 in Barcelona. I bought a brand new 31" suitcase just for the trip! I might still try to send out a bag of laundry halfway through though.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, laudergayle said:

You know, I’ve read this a couple times…but have not yet adhered.  This is another reminder.  Thanks.

Full disclosure: I travel a lot for pleasure and work. I have taken thousands of flights and flown millions of miles. I can probably count on 1 hand the number of times I have had a suitcase misdirected more than a few hours. But, I don't want a cruise to be the place where we start counting fingers on the other hand. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by BirdTravels

[GeezerCouple]

19 hours ago, cruiseat50 said:

...We set up our large suitcase to be picked up by Luggage Forward.  They pick it up at your house about a week before and it will be delivered to the ship and then the next time you see it will be in your cabin....

 

Thanks.  We really should give this a try, for one large suitcase.

We seem to always promise ourselves that we won't overpack "next time", but... it never works out that way.  Not even close, alas.

There is no way that we could do carry-on only, given we have some critical essentials plus "just in case but IF we need it, we *need* it" things that take up too much room in carry-ons.  So once there will be a checked bag, why not bring a bit more along... ugh.

 

We could "make do" without the larger cases, and wear cruise, resort, or hotel logo'd attire for a while, or buy a few things if really necessary.

 

The only time we had a real problem with a couple of large bags was in Italy.  We travel by train there sometimes, and one of our stops was at a very little town.  To get from the platforms to the station required descending a very deep staircase.  And the elevator up at the station end of that tunnel was... broken.  Ugh.  That wasn't pleasant.

 

We got really spoiled during a trip to Japan.  They have luggage transport systems such that if you have your bag ready by something like 5? pm, the service will pick it up, and by afternoon/evening next day, the luggage appears at your next hotel.  It worked like a charm every time.

The only time we didn't use it was when we spent two nights at a Buddhist Monastery.  (But guess what... we saw one of the logo'd vans in that little town, too.)  We sent our bags ahead to the next town.  No problem; we didn't need a lot of attire changes at the peaceful monastery, to put it mildly.

 

That luggage service was *wonderful*!

GC

[Fergus]

2 hours ago, laudergayle said:

You know, I’ve read this a couple times…but have not yet adhered.  This is another reminder.  Thanks.

We learned our lesson the hard way on our last cruise.  Flew from US to London, had transfers to Dover to get on our cruise ship.  Our luggage did not arrive in London from JFK.  We each had a carryon with a change of underwear and shirt, meds, etc. with us. Got on the ship, asked customer service for help.  Nada, nope, nothing (we had booked our flights through the cruiseline.)  My husband did all the tracking down, finally found a kind soul who found and shipped our luggage to our first stop.  We got on our excursion that day and it coincidentally went right by the airport.  The driver let my husband off, he picked up the luggage, and taxied back to the port.  We will ALWAYS cross pack in the future, and we will probably purchase either tiles or air tags or something.  That was a miserable experience.

[amygutman]

11 hours ago, brer111 said:

first off Amy - Happy New Year to you and your family!

 

One thing we learned years ago on any trip when flying is to pack both suitcases with half of my clothes and half of my husbands. This way if one bag gets lost we both have some clothing and under garments. Better safe than sorry!  I am also wondering about AirTags for our bags. Have thought of buying some for our trip next month which is international. We are Android phone users too. Any suggestions and info? TIA

@brer111 ❤️ 

There are a number of different android or Samsung phone based AirTag-type-devices on Amazon. Seems to be quite a few to choose from, but can’t speak as to the effectiveness of any. Maybe other CCers can I offer their experiences.

 

I will tell you that the AirTags are very helpful. I did a travel assignment out of the country and could watch my plane go to Saint Croix whilst my luggage AirTag stayed in San Juan (at least for a brief period of time). The next day, I had fun watching my AirTag, cross the ocean, without as it finally arrived in Saint Croix.
 

So, although it doesn’t necessarily help you get your luggage, it gives you some sense of where your luggage is shouldn’t not show up on your ship/destination

 

L’Shana Tovah! 

[amygutman]

10 hours ago, laudergayle said:

Hope you and your family have an amazing cruise.  Seattle is so fun too.  Be sure your son gets to see The Gum Wall just outside Pikes Market.  He will be in awe.🤣

 

Being a FL, NE GA girl, I at least had my fair share of colder weather clothing.  Because of layering, I found I really didn’t wear half of what I brought.  Layer up for daytime excursions, layered down once back on the ship.  My biggest wonder…how to keep legs warm with dresses without wearing tights.  I found support pantyhose (not just the control top) was perfect.

I also found the biggest space eater was shoes.  Sneaks, hiking boots, slip ons, evening.

 

Happy cruising…we’re hoping to do a mid-May Vancouver to Seward cruise next year.

@laudergayle the gum wall is on our list to see, but I can tell you, that I am physically nauseous. Just thinking about it!!! 🤣 

Can’t wait to hear about your trip to Vancouver, I’ve heard it’s a beautiful town to visit pre-cruise. 
Warmest Amy

[amygutman]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Full disclosure: I travel a lot for pleasure and work. I have taken thousands of flights and flown millions of miles. I can probably count on 1 hand the number of times I have had a suitcase misdirected more than a few hours. But, I don't want a cruise to be the place where we start counting fingers on the other hand. 

@BirdTravels I’m 5’1” and XS. Hubby is 6’0” and 3XL. Kiddo is 5’6” and XL. I find that we all put various things in every single suitcase as my kiddo would be able to wear my husband closing, but Husband could definitely not where Kiddo’s or my clothing should we lose a bag. 
 

Hardest thing to find on a cruise ship or port are underwear, I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to find 3XL.
 

Our carry-on has at least two pairs of underwear for each of us, which, in a pinch, we could wear/ wash, wear/wash. 
There’s always commando…🤣

warmest Amy