Omgosh! How on earth do you bring it all with you?

[Buddyjay16]

I know I know... Pack light. RIGHT! I am not the kind of person who will be in a bathing suit all day. So I need my casual day clothes and then my dinner clothes and then my 2 Formal Night Clothes.

 

Erghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! This just doesn't seem possible.

 

I've been PURGING inside my suitcases (2 check in's and one carry on) for days and still know I have too much and still have to purge.

 

I guess I just want to know that others suffer from this problem too!

 

Thanks!

Buddjay16

[cuyahoga11]

Mix and match. 1 pair dress shoes that will go with both, and there is always the laundry room

[NAS-KARR]

Sounds like you're trying to bring too much.....you won't wear 1/2 of them. You're not going to a fashion show girl....merely a simple cruise.

CIAO,

[jandjfun]

I know how you feel. You are just sure you will need the one thing you unpacked!

See if this helps. On my first cruise I too brought everything I could possibly need in case of we crashed onto a deserted Island and would be there for 2 years. But now, if it wasn't for the darn things I purchase in port, I seriously could bring 2 carry on size suitcases!

 

Pack all the underwear you think you will need. You probably will.

Pack one bathing suit (hang to dry overnight)

A nice coverup for your bathing suit. Wear it on shore to if you have a beach day.

Pack half the amount of pants/shorts you think you will need and wear them 2 days each.

If you are not sloppy when eating, use deodorant and only bring one shirt for every two days as well.

One pair of tennis shoes (wearing them onboard saves room in the suitcase), one pr. of sandals, and one pair of dress shoes to match your beautiful dresses.

Bring the formal outfits.

That's it besides your make up and stuff.

If in an emergency, you can always use the laundry facilities on board. OR buy an outfit onshore as a gift to yourself!!:D

[Bonnie J.]

My husband and I used to each have a ggod size suitcase and never wore half the clothes we brought. Now we take ONE suitcase for both of us and one carry on. On our ten day cruise last fall, I went to the do it yourself laundry halfway through the cruise and washed underwear, shirts and socks. My husband sweats profusly so always has three shirts for every day which he wears. I bring sandles, water shoes and one pair of shoes for dinner. But who will remember those where the shorts you had on day before yesterday or the dress you wore the 2nd night? And, who cares? I always bring at least two bathing suits as they don't always dry overnight. Then I put on bathing suit when I get up and wear a sundress type of coverup or pair of shorts ovr the suit. I don't change out of it til dinner time. Hoever we drive to piers so don't have to think of the weight of a suit case for flying. (One cruise the suitcase was 70lbs.!) I also take a shopping bag folded in suitcase for anything that won't fit in suitcase. Then just carry that off.

[wdrl]

My husband and I used to each have a ggod size suitcase and never wore half the clothes we brought. Now we take ONE suitcase for both of us and one carry on. On our ten day cruise last fall, I went to the do it yourself laundry halfway through the cruise and washed underwear, shirts and socks. My husband sweats profusly so always has three shirts for every day which he wears. I bring sandles, water shoes and one pair of shoes for dinner. But who will remember those where the shorts you had on day before yesterday or the dress you wore the 2nd night? And, who cares? I always bring at least two bathing suits as they don't always dry overnight. Then I put on bathing suit when I get up and wear a sundress type of coverup or pair of shorts ovr the suit. I don't change out of it til dinner time. Hoever we drive to piers so don't have to think of the weight of a suit case for flying. (One cruise the suitcase was 70lbs.!) I also take a shopping bag folded in suitcase for anything that won't fit in suitcase. Then just carry that off.

 

Poor stewards they have to haul your one suitcase to your cabin!:eek:

[suntan]

I know I know... Pack light. RIGHT! I am not the kind of person who will be in a bathing suit all day. So I need my casual day clothes and then my dinner clothes and then my 2 Formal Night Clothes.

 

When I travel for long periods of time I use the 2:1 rule - two tops for one bottom.

 

What I did last year was sit down and looked at what I would be doing in the ports (I already had my shore excursions picked out). I wrote down what I could expect to wear on those days. For instance if it was a day at sea it would be a bathing suit with a pair of shorts and top; if it was a port day and I was doing a land excursion, a pair of shorts and a top.

 

For your evening wear the same rule applies - if you have a nice black skirt you can take two "fancy" tops.

 

I hope this helps. Don't worry, I have to work on my Mom's packing soon as she has also overpacked (even though our cruise isn't for another 5 weeks).

 

Have a great time on your cruise.:)

[Crusin Karen]

Welcome to the club!! I always over pack too, but not as bad as DH who brings everything but the sweater Great Aunt Bessie knit for him for his 12th birthday! I do the same mix and match. I have a pair of black shorts and a pair of navy shorts. I bring t-shirts to match those. A black skirt and a few tops to match that for dinner. I also have one "basic black dress" that can be formal...I bring different accessories, pins, necklaces, etc. to go with it and just change those on the formal nights. I DO unpack and see that 1/2 of what I brought I never wore...I wear a uniform to work and I really ENJOY dressing up for dinner. So it kind of breaks my heart to leave all my pretty dresses hanging in the closet. The things I have a problem with over packing is the toiletries. I can bring an entire suitcase of creams and shampoos and OTC meds (geez, better pack some Neosporin, just in case...don't forget the Pepto....) We usually sail out of NY or Bayonne and we live right here, so don't have to worry about weight restrictions on the airlines. We are leaving in 2 weeks for our Mexican Riviera cruise and have to fly to SD and I am in panic mode about being "over the weight limit." There is good advice on here. Good luck trying to use it when you are actually packing! :D One thing I do remember: if I get really stressed about whether to bring something or not, I just throw it in the suitcase. It's not worth ruining a vacation over it. If it makes you feel better to have a certain dress, whatever with you, take it even if you don't end up wearing it. I am going to do my VERY BEST to keep under 50 lbs/bag for this cruise, but if I go over it is $25 and it's not worth ruining my vacation for $25!

[fun4us2do]

We are still learning that we never wear everything that we pack in our suitcases. We still come home with clean clothing that we have never worn. Part of the problem is that we tried to buy clothing to fit the local flavor of the ports we were visiting. We're not sure why, but it was very difficult buying short sleeve Island wear in the Pacific Northwest in the middle of winter for our Carribean cruise. LOL:) Soooo, we packed what we could, only to find what we really wanted could be purchased in Florida prior to ship departure! And Yes!, we paid an additional $25 to get our new found stuff home!:D To summarize, pack lite, you can always purchase more stuff in the ship's store or your ports-of-call and then you too can pay more to get your stuff home!! lol

 

Vince & Anita

[sross6019]

We usually take too much also. We have found putting clothing in zip-lock bags and compressing them till the air is out before closing them, gives us extra room in the bags. We, in the past, have driven to the port but this year we are flying and I am worried about the weight restriction. I found this great website (http://www.onebag.com) and am going to use it as a guide. This iste is full of great info on how to pack light as well as how to fold clothes to decrease wrinkles.

[KatWI]

I'm going on a 6 night cruise with DH and two kids (16 yr DS & 11 yr DD) and we're flying to port.

 

We're each packing one suitcase & we have one bag we will check with cosmetic stuff like shampoo, etc. and one carry-on bag so I thought we were doing OK...

 

but now they want to bring an extra suitcase (small) for shoes, the extention cord, clock and other misc., etc.

 

So, now we will have 5 suitcases & one bag for cosmetics, etc and one carry-on. I'm trying to talk them out of that extra suitcase...LOL!

 

What do you think...is that too much? I'd like to hear other opinions!