Advice ----Luggage ????

[Sea and Me]

The luggage question is this: Do most of you take a garment bag with you?? I know there are cruisers out there who "pack light" but this is going to be a 12 day and I'm trying my best to "cut down" on clothing. Hubby is taking a suit and sports coat. Has anyone packed these in a suitcase instead of a garment bag?? You would think I'd have this packing down to a science by now but I don't.:) Thanks for your replies.

[vmom]

We always pack a garmet bag with hubby's suit and my formal. I think it would take up quite a bit of room in a suitcase.

[shirleygr]

We have luggage that have built-in suiters, so we don't always take a garment bag. It depends on how much we need to take with us. For our cruise this past April, we took suits for my dh and ds, so we took the garment bag and used that for their suits and dress shirts and my dress. If it's just dh and myself, we'll just use the suiters in the luggage 'cause that's enough for our things.

I know others have posted good results packing suits right into their regular luggage. Apparently, if you leave it in the plastic from the drycleaners, it packs better. I'm sure others with first hand experience will give you tips on this.

BTW, If you need to get your suit cleaned and/or pressed, I would wait and do it right on the ship. Their prices are comparable (compared to CT anyway) and then your formalwear is nice and fresh. HTH

[rubrrick]

We take a garmet bag as well. My DW will take at least 2 or 3 formals, and I have a tux and sports coat. We do not want her formalware to be folded and show any wrinkles, and we could not fit everything one suitcase anyway.

 

Rick

[dfa1]

To each his own.

 

Several have had good luck packing in a suitcase. We however always go with the garment bag for formal dresses & tux/suit.

[Aprille]

First two cruises I packed all the formal wear in a regular suitcase with other stuff. I did keep it all in individual plastic dry cleaning bags and that does help. But for our last cruise I got a garment bag with wheels at Wal-Mart for $40. Love it! I like having all the formal wear in one case including costume jewelry, shoes, etc. I still used the dry cleaning bags and everything was wrinkle-free.

[kc320]

I've had better luck just using the suitcase. The suits & formal wear seemed to get more wrinkled in the garment bag than they did in the suitcase.

[FigsGrandPa]

One of our suitcases is a folding "3 suiter" that I also use on business trips. For cruises, I pack a suit and my wife puts her formal night dresses in the bag as well (it has an extension for long dresses). Even with the suits and dresses, there's still plenty of room to pack shirts, underwear, socks and other travel necessities around the suit.

 

If you're going to pack a suit into a regular suitcase, the trick is not to put any sharp folds into it. For example, don't fold the pants up and lay them in the bottom of the suitcase - lay them out flat, with the legs hanging out of the bag, pack some shirts and underwear on top, and then wrap the legs over the shirts and underwear. This way, the point where the legs are folded will be a soft curve rather than a sharp crease.

 

For the jacket, hold the jacket facing you and fold it lengthwise so that the backs of the shoulders are touching. Then, turn one half of the jacket inside out and wrap it around the other half so that the shoulder of the "rightside out" half is tucked inside the shoulder of the "inside out" half. Lay the jacket out in the suitcase and pack it the same way as the pants, i.e., no sharp creases.

 

As soon as you get your bags, take the suit out, and hang it up. At most, the suit will need a few minutes in the bathroom while somebody takes a shower and it should be ready to go.

[Sue L]

I found this website for the "packing light method" We have used it successfully a couple of times. Everything was pretty wrinkle free when it came out of the suitcase, especially DH's suit.

 

 

http://www.packinglight.net/plight/text_1.asp?tx_id=90

 

 

 

Sue

[Poohb]

We're flying to Europe for a long cruise. Are the garment bags checked as 'stored' bags or would you carry them on? I remember on another flight LOONNGG time ago that the flight attendants took the bag and hung them somewhere inside the aircraft. With all the new regs, I'm guessing they get checked. Thanks

[Nancyquilts]

One of the two suitcases we take on a cruise is a folding garment bag with wheels.

[Sea and Me]

Thanks so much:) I knew you all would give me good "tips". Happy cruising to all.

[winncove]

Sue: That bundling system is so cool! Wish I'd seen it before this packing so much for Alaska. Have done the pant thing and use baggies w/little air in them to prevent wrinkles but think this would have saved me space. Will check it out coming back & then have space for my purchases? Will be so helpful for the 15 nite trip to Hawaii.

 

Never too old to learn! Thx.

[Sue L]

Sue: That bundling system is so cool! Wish I'd seen it before this packing so much for Alaska. Have done the pant thing and use baggies w/little air in them to prevent wrinkles but think this would have saved me space. Will check it out coming back & then have space for my purchases? Will be so helpful for the 15 nite trip to Hawaii.

 

Never too old to learn! Thx.

 

 

It really does work great, secret though to it is too group all your clothes together on the bed first so you know exactly what you have before starting. We are leaving on Sunday for a 5 day and we will get BOTH Dh's and my stuff in one suitcase with both of our formals.

 

Sue

[silentbob007]

For a longer cruise, I'll take a garment bag. Not only will I keep my suit it in, but also hangers and other shirts to cut down the weight of my other piece of checked baggage.

[EggDropErin]

We usually take a rolling garment bag. We have a nice, lightweight one from Pathfinder. You can fit in shoes, formal clothes, etc. Nice to have because we have found it doesn't wrinkle things so much. That's what works for us.