How Much Luggage

[gambit57]

What do you wear on the plane to catch your cruise? In my case it will be 85 degrees when I leave and half that when I arrive. However, that's not why I ask. My husband is of the old school where you "dress up" to fly. I'm of the new school where you wear whatever is comfy!!

 

That's our weather. We dress for comfort. Don't have to worry about the dress code until dinner. You board around lunch time. I'm wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and a waterproof shell. I'll change once I get on the ship. Hopefully, my luggage won't get lost by the airline.

[wolfie11]

Ok, here's a question. I'll admit I haven't searched for this, so direct me if it's already been discussed ...

 

 

What do you wear on the plane to catch your cruise? In my case it will be 85 degrees when I leave and half that when I arrive. However, that's not why I ask. My husband is of the old school where you "dress up" to fly. I'm of the new school where you wear whatever is comfy!!

 

I flew with my son to Florida a few years ago. We left Fairbanks in jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts for the 20 hour trip. When we got to Atlanta, my son looked around the airport and asked why everyone was dressed up all fancy just to get on a plane....

 

Remind hubby that if your flight gets delayed and he has to sit on the runway for a few hours, comfort trumps looking good any time.

[caviargal]

comfort trumps looking good any time.

 

I am not sure why so many seem to think the two are mutually exclusive:confused:.

[vfb2girls]

I also am struggling to figure out what to pack so that we won't have to haul all this luggage around. We are doing a 12 day land tour first and then the cruise so I sure hope the rental car has room for all the stuff. I will be packing t-shirts, not because I think it is going to be warm enough but I always wear a t-shirt under my sweatshirt as an extra layer. I am someone who is cold all of the time so I try to pack accordingly. Plus it is our first cruise so I am really clueless on what to bring, I have tried to research various packing lists but some of the stuff that are on them do not make sense. I wish I could hire a professional packer to come and take over the job for me.

[Akalways]

While I now have the luxury of flying "comfy" that wasn't always the case for many years as an airline employee and later using "dependent" perk tickets. Some airlines require their employees or retirees to "dress up"; i.e. men in jacket and tie, ladies in skirts or pantsuit, when flying. I vividly remember one case in Puerto Rico when my mid-70's father was in line at the ticket counter wearing dress shirt and slacks with his jacket over his arm and tie in his pocket due to the tropical temps. He was refused service until he actually put the jacket and tie on! No, he wasn't attempting to skirt the rules - he knew full well that to "fly" it was required but this particular counter agent was strictly by the rules.

 

The point of my story is that when you see people "dressed up" and flying, they just might be airline employees or retirees.

 

Deb (who is wearing jeans, sweatshirt and Crocs next week to fly!)

[EdukatedRedHed]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks comfy is the way to go. :D

 

 

Oh, and Wolfie ... the Atlanta airport sees lots of business people flying in and out. Many of whom fly in or out and go directly to meetings when they reach their destination. That's one reason you see people dressed up here!

[Perl47]

I agree with you! But being guys, we're the ones that have to hump all that stuff around ;) so we probably look at it differently than the women

 

-Monte

 

I think we're all just fine just the way we are. :)

 

Here's what some "experts" have to say:

 

News Flash: Women Pack More Clothes Than Men

 

Women going on holiday take twice as many clothes as they actually need, a new survey has revealed. For years, husbands and boyfriends have been bemused by the amount of clothes their female partners crammed into suitcases. And now a new survey commissioned by P&O Cruises has confirmed what they always suspected - that half the garments never get used.

 

However, a leading psychologist today said that the 'over-packing' should not be seen as a fault as it demonstrates women's ability to plan for every eventuality.

 

Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology at Lancaster University, said that women only packed too many clothes because they had greater foresight than men. "Women are planners and they look at every eventuality. They are also likely to think 'better to be safe than sorry'. This is why they pack so many clothes when they go on holiday. And what's wrong with packing too much? It's better than packing too little which is what men are likely to be guilty of'' he said.

[dd's mom]

We are leaving in 12 days for a 10 day trip. I would love to go ahead and pack today so I can stop worrying about it. Does this seem rediculously early to pack? (12 days in advance?) I'm thinking that my clothes won't be any more wrinkled being pack for 12 days than they would be if packed for only 2 or 3.

 

Your thoughts or experiences?

 

dd's mom

[cjnky]

It sure doesn't seem ridiculous to me! I've got one bag packed already (gloves, hats, seasick meds, etc.) and it's taking all the restraint I have in me to keep from packing the clothes! :rolleyes:

[jalapeno]

I vote for smaller suitcases - easier to maneuver. Or one large and 2 small.

They are also easier to store in your cabin.

Last June on the Mercury, there were 3 of us in the room because we took our grandson. Our steward stashed the smaller suitcases under the bed, and the larger one we put in the closet under "shorter" clothes. We had plenty of shelf, drawer space for everything. We even used the top shelf in the closet for our "worn" clothing to keep it out of the way.

We loved the Mercury - hope you do, too. If you see Sorin, the waiter, or Custudio, the steward, say hi from Michigan.

[imogene]

I have no idea how much we will end up bringing - I am really bad about clothes - and my husband is really bad about electronics. I did go get two new suitcases - one very cool small one (may be carry-on size, but I am not sure) and a very nice version of a folding garment bag for our nicer clothes.

 

Oh course hubby travels a lot for business and took the small one with him to Seattle last week, and will be taking the garment bag with him to Toronto next week. If he keeps this up I will never be able to practice pack.

 

As for the airplane - neither of us dress for the airplane or the Destination. If I am going from cold to warm I will dress in layers an even bring something cool (in my carry on) to change into at the destination airport. I also hate to fly, and watched a couple of "how to survive a plane crash" shows -now I do not feel comfortable unless I am dressed in long pants made of natural fibers (wool, linen, denim)- and leather closed toed shoes.

[NHCruisr]

We're leaving on Monday for our third trip to the Pacific Northwest and Seattle. In total we'll be gone about two weeks. Half of that will be land tour, half will be Alaska cruise (Amsterdam). My husband and I each bring two suitcases (one 22", one 24") which we check. We each also bring a carry on. We've found that smaller suitcases are easier to move through airports and into hotels. We wear things more than once and, if necessary, do a load of clothes in a washing machine in a hotel or on the ship. We also would send something to the ship's laundry if we had to.

[kruisecat]

We'll be taking 2 large suitcases and 2 rolling carryons and possibly the garment bag if I can't get everything into the suitcases.

 

As for traveling clothes, even though it will be in the 90's here in Tampa the day we leave I plan to wear a velour (sp?) jogging suit with a long sleeve T underneath. Unless the weather in Seattle/Vancouver is unseasonably warm I'm dressing for the air conditioning of the planes/airports and the environment I'll be heading to. The flight leaves at 7am and the car has air so I figure I won't melt ;)

[umma]

We are leaving on Wednesday the 23rd for our cruisetour to Alaska. Land first, cruise later, on the 28th Southbound. I am reading all of the posts on this forum and am laughing to myself because you all have said the things that I am thinking to myself. How much to bring? What kind of clothes do I need? Are my suitcases too big, too small, too many? When to pack? I wanted to start packing when we purchased the cruise back in September!!! I am bringing jeans, sweatshirts, darks socks, hiking boots for our landtour and excursions, gym shoes, and dress shoes. My DH thinks I am packing too much, but according to one post above, women are "allowed" to do that, lol. We each have one big suitcase and one smaller one, and are bringing two carry-ons on the plane. Two suitcases goes to the dock and waits for us while we're on the landtour.

I have a question too. Some of you have said you're bringing on coolers with wine and beer. I thought they would confiscate that and return it to you when you left the ship, am I wrong?

Also, can you bring medications in those weekly pillbox containers instead of the original bottles? Between both of us, we are taking about 8 meds and the bottles are big because we do the mail in prescriptions. Any info on this would be appreciated. Also, one last thing....my hairdresser just told me today that she was going through security and they were going to throw out her lipstick from her purse. She was really angry so they gave her a plastic bag and told her to put it in there. What's the point if it goes right back into her purse? I am totally confused about security at the airport.

Thanks for any help.

[Abear2]

From what I understand the meds have to be in the original bottle. I wanted to put mine in my weekly pill box and was told by someone, whom I just don't remember right now, that you need original. I will bring the original bottles cause I don't want them to take my meds.

[ysr_racer]

I tell my wife she can bring all the suitcases SHE can shlep.

[travelcrazy006]

i too am wondering about the alcoholic beverages. are you allowed to bring them onboard for use on the cruise, i am cruising with princess. it would be very nice to be able to bring my own wine. also does anyone know how strict delta is with their carry-on requirements. their website states carry-on cannot be more than 45" total (LxHxW), mine is 49". i have been on other flights, not necessarily delta, where some people brought on huge suitcases, but i don't want to find out the last minute that i can't bring it on.

[digitalgirl]

We get large bottles from our pharmacy. I asked and the pharmacest gave me smaller bottles with labels on them for packing. We'll switch to the weekly containers on the ship.

[EdukatedRedHed]

Ok, another medicine question ... I, too, receive huge bottles for my Rx's b/c I do the mail order thing. I was planning on putting my medications in my weekly pill box and carrying the Rx slip that lists all medications sent to me from the pharmacy. Do you think that will work?

[digitalgirl]

I don't think they want to deny your your medication, but to be safe I wouldn't keep them in the weekly container. Get smaller bottles from ANY pharmacy, carefully peel off the labels from the big bottles and put them on the small ones. They match the name to you ID and may even look at the description of the pill from the label. If they are throwing away lipstick, you never know how carefully they look at pills.

It is a little extra work but keep the small bottles for future trips as well.

[nextelcup]

Do the medication regulations apply to otc meds (i.e. Advil, Sudafed, Excedrin, tummy problem pills, etc.) also? THX!

[jules71]

Lay out all the clothes you think you will need going by the cruise lines genreal guide. Then take away 25% of that as you will only be bringing it back clean if you don't. You won't wear all those clothes in a weeks time.

You wear an outfit on Monday, wear it again on Friday. Wear it Tuesday wear again Sat. and so forth. You'll find you will wear the same clothes into town each time. If you are dressing to impress remember you will never see these people again in your lifetime! 2 big bags and 2 carryons will do most anyone that packs right.

 

I use this method too of putting out everything, then taking away about a quarter of it. It really helps me to figure out what is most important.

 

And I also agree with the repeating. I take a few extra tops, but pants and shorts you can easily wear more than once. We can get everything in two 25' and a couple of carry-ons (and the carry-ons are more for what we want on the plane or first day on board.) I travel quite a bit for work and I never take more than I can handle myself--it's just not worth the hassle!

[Perl47]

I don't think they want to deny your your medication, but to be safe I wouldn't keep them in the weekly container. Get smaller bottles from ANY pharmacy, carefully peel off the labels from the big bottles and put them on the small ones. They match the name to you ID and may even look at the description of the pill from the label. If they are throwing away lipstick, you never know how carefully they look at pills.

It is a little extra work but keep the small bottles for future trips as well.

 

We're leaving Monday A.M. for our cruisetour and this discussion about the medications has me a little confused and concerned. Who has jurisdiction to confiscate medications that aren't labeled with a patient's name? I searched the TSA and FAA websites and can't find any mention of it so I'm thinking we're OK and that you're referring to Customs? If so, it won't be a problem for us until our flight home, at which time I won't care if they take away his pills cuz we have more at home.

 

If I have to repack my father-in-law's pills, I will, but I've already got them all in those weekly pill things and hate the idea of dragging all those huge bottles along.

 

Thanks for any help on this!

[MilliesMom]

We cruised last Sept to Alaska. Took 2 formal gowns for me and a tux with 2 vests PLUS normal clothes and jackets. We had a 28 inch suitcase, a 25 inch suitcase, a 21 inch suitcase (1/2 of it was camera gear), and a small tote bag for 2 adults. The tote and 21 inch we had as our carry on.

 

What helped cut down on our space .... wore jeans during the day but dress slacks at night. Same blouse/shirt for evening as during the day. Our jackets were like "down" and rolled small.

 

We even had room to buy some gifts to bring home.

[digitalgirl]

From TSA

"It is recommended (not required) that passengers bring along any supporting documentation (ID cards, letter from doctor, etc.) regarding their medication needs. It is recommended, not required, that the label on prescription medications match the passengers boarding pass. If the name on prescription medication label does not match the name of the passenger, the passenger should expect to explain why to the security officers. To ensure a smooth screening process, passengers are encouraged to limit quantities to what is needed for the duration of the flight."

This was all I found, it is from a memo regarding persons with disabilities. Last year when we were planning a train trip and cruise we found information that told us to keep them in original bottles but I don't recall where that was from.