Packing Tips

[JudithLynne]

My husband and I will taking an 11 day cruise on the Infinity next month. On our last cruise we really overpacked and are now overwelmed with the thought of packing for 11 days with hotel stays on both sides of the trip and on a ship with no self-service laundry. What packing tips have you all found useful? Also, I would like to know from the ladies if you wear a different outfit to dinner every night? I am really considering recycling this time (have never done this before) because of the number of formal and informal nights. Would sure appreiciate any suggestions.

[sedfar]

I have never done this, but some people carry a little bottle of detergant and wash their undergarments in the sink. Shout wipes for any stains will help in the re-wear area. On an 11 day cruise, plus pre and post hotel packages, I would see no other way than to re wear your clothes. Dont worry though, I dont think anyone would take notice. Sometimes, I cant remember what I wore from day to day, let alone what someone else wears.

 

Mix and match outfits are also helpful, 1 pair of pants, 2 shirts, that kind of thing. I am sure there are many of us out there who will agree they wear the same clothing item more than once during a cruise, even to dinner. And you can always take advantage of Celebrity's laundry service. For one or 2 items, it is definately worth it.

 

Hope this helps.

[tuggers]

I recycle in that I take black slinky knit pants for some informal nights and just change the tops but I've never reworn the same outfit. I'm sure it would be fine, I've just never done it. Same with daytime. I take neutral shorts and mix with extra tops. I used to take a shorts outfit for every day, even sea days, but no more. I know on sea days I put on my bathing suit and a dress type coverup, go to breakfast, pool, lunch, whatever activities all in my suit and coverup. My coverups are knee length, scoop neck dress type deals with embellishments so are very appropriate for all ship areas. I have many different ones, usually bring 3. Now my shorts outfits are only for port days and I can have them laundered if I need to (great work and fair price).

 

I always take space bags, but going the only thing I pack in one is my down pillow. Coming back, I put all dirty clothes in space bags, sorted for the wash. This frees up a lot of space for things I buy, keeps dirty clothes away from clean and when I get home I just empty each bag into the washer with other like items.

 

I have cruised and traveled a lot, but I guess in the packing dept I'm not a real quick study because I ALWAYS over pack. Maybe one day I'll learn! I just try to do a little better each time!

[jan500s]

HI- I wear every outift twice and utilize the ships laundry. They do a great job! I also do some hand laundry in the cabin. I use to pack a different outfit for everynight, but found out that on a 10 to 14 day cruise that was just too much to bring! What cruise are you taking? We are on the 9-26 Infinity to Honolulu. Jan

[hajekfam]

We are planning a back to back for next year and should have 6 formal nights. I plan on bringing a different dress for each formal night. On a 14 day cruise, I do not wear the same outfit more than once and I have been known to change up to 3 times in one day - casual clothes for the day, swimsuit, and then possibly a new outfit for after swim and then dinner dress. I manage to fit all our clothes for both hubby and myself in three suitcases plus a large travel pro rolling garment bag. On our last 14 day cruise, we were gone for 3 weeks with pre and post cruise stay.

[plvogel]

We just take 1 weeks worth, and make use of the ship's laundry and dry cleaning services. It costs a bit, but it is much better than lugging all those suitcases around with you.

[sunpsyche]

I mix and match daytime outfits, wearing tops and bottoms more than once. Wear a different dress every evening and try to limit my dress shoes to 2 pairs. However, i am seriously considering wearing a few dresses twice this next time out. I'm sure no one else will notice or care.

[boten]

Pull up so that your rear wheels are parallel with the rear bumper of the car in front of the parking space.

Put your car into reverse and turn the steering wheel all the way to the right.

Back up slowly so that your car is at a 45-degree angle from the car in front of you and stop.

Turn the steering wheel all the way to the left while rolling backwards very slightly.

Continue slowly backing up into the space until you are parallel with the curb.

 

 

Oops, I thought you asked for parking tips. Anyway, I hope this helps.

[CaptData]

I bring two formal outfits that mix and match for any of the longer voyages. That way if there are 3 or more formal nights then I can look different. I also change my jewellry each night. Even some of my jewellery is mix and match.

 

I do not wear shorts to often as I burn so I bring some white pants and black, then I mix and match tops. I will also layer to get a differnt look for night.

[Breezey]

Whenever I vacation (cruise or land) I always focus on 3 colours to mix and match (usually white, black and beige) and add a couple of extra tops for colour. Same as others, dressy black pants can be worn more than once with different tops. I dont wear enough formal dresses to warrant having more than 2 - 3 max just for a cruise. Because honestly I wouldnt notice if someone wore the same thing twice and personally why would I care.

The shoes alone can fill up a whole suitcase if you aren't careful. The idea is to take a relaxing vacation. I always take way too much regardless.

[hajekfam]

Because honestly I wouldnt notice if someone wore the same thing twice and personally why would I care.

The shoes alone can fill up a whole suitcase if you aren't careful. The idea is to take a relaxing vacation. I always take way too much regardless.

I also wouldn't notice if someone wore the same thing twice. I really don't care what others wear - but I do care what I wear and what I feel good in. So the way and amount someone packs is totally up to their own discretion.

The luxury of a cruise vacation is that I can shower and get dressed in the morning, do some activities, come back to the room and get dressed for the pool taking a shower if necessary with a clean, fresh towel that I did not have to launder and then dress in swimwear for some sun time. Once again, come back to the room, shower again if necessary with clean fresh towels and then put on clean clothes, and take part in late afternoon activities. Then it's time for another shower, again with clean fresh towels, and once again new fresh clothes for dinner. I have never brought home any clothes that I did not wear on the cruise.

To me the luxury is taking all those showers with hot water and clean towels that I do not have to wash and dry and then clean clothes that I don't have to worry about washing for 1 to 2 weeks or more.

After raising 4 children (3 girls with long hair and even longer shower times) and balancing hot water to the number and length of showers, laundry, dishes, and size of water heater, I value the unlimited supply of hot water and fresh towels that are available to me on a cruise. That is my personal preference and one of the reasons I love cruising.

But no, I would not notice if someone else wore the same thing twice unless it was extremely striking or really outlandish for me to take notice and comment to myself.

[new_cruiser]

Normally I only take enough clothes for a week. If the trip is longer than that, I rely on getting the clothes cleaned. When self-service laundry isn't an option, I usually use the ship or hotel laundry service - partly because I like to wear cotton which takes too long to dry and partly because doing hand wash isn't my idea of vacation. It is expensive, but a small part of the total vacation cost and it is worth it to me. On the other hand, I know people who don't mind doing the hand wash.

 

If you are going to do hand wash, there is a trick for getting as much water out as possible so that they dry more quickly. You roll the clothes in a towel and squeeze to get out extra water. This is especially useful with delicate materials that shouldn't be wrung and on heavier materials.

 

In a Consumer Reports that reviewed shampoo, they mentioned that shampoo was chemically pretty close to laundry detergent but cost a lot more. Since I read that, I just use some shampoo when I need to wash some things in the sink.

 

I also do a lot of recycling. There is nothing wrong with wearing the same outfit on multiple evenings. As others have pointed out, you can also recycle the pants or skirt with a different top. I repeated the outfit that I wore to the specialty restaraunt on another night. Shirts or blouses worn on a casual night can be worn for the next day. Slacks and shorts can usually be worn multiple days.

 

You don't mention how long your hotel stays are. If either is several days, you might want to find if there is a laundry that does bundle service. This is where they charge by the load or by the pound to clean and fold washables. Guide books like Lonely Planet will often tell you where these or laundramats can be found.

[tuggers]

The real trick to drying hand wash quickly is to get one of those microfiber towels that wicks the moisture away and then do the roll trick with it. Things will dry in a flash. Also usefull on hair. I got mine at a Tuesday Morning for $7.99. They are great!

[NJGRANNY]

This past February we took a 23 day cruise-tour to South America with days before and after in Rio and Santiago. We took one large suitcase each and 1 carryon each. We always bring a fold-up duffel bag to bring back the dirty clothes. This frees up suitcase space for souvenirs, etc.

 

I used the ship's self-service laundry two or three times. We came home with clean clothes. I have mix and match things for the formal and semi formal nights as well as for day wear.

 

My husband had his tux, his suit and a sports coat as well as his slacks, shorts and shirts.

 

We both wear things more than one time. When we started cruising, I packed everything we had. No more - I've reformed. :-)

[JudithLynne]

My thanks to all of you for taking the time to give me your well thought out and useful advice. Am particularly pleased to hear that many of you have worn the same evening outfit more than once per cruise. I would think with your basic black dress, no one would notice. Have also wondered about shampoo doubling as laundry detergent and will use that trick. I don't mind washing out underware in the room and in fact I always pack clothes pins. I am assuming that shampoo is provided in the rooms? I have also used the hair dryer on past cruises to get wrinkles out of garments. Works pretty well.

 

Jan...we will be on the same cruise! This is our first time with Celebrity. We did this same cruise in reverse 6 year ago with RCCL and loved it.

[new_cruiser]

I got some plastic clothes pins that had a hook (like a hanger hook). They were very useful on the ship because we could hang things we wanted to dry (like our bathing suits) from knobs on the closet out in the room. Hanging things there rather than in the more restricted humid air of the bathroom helps them dry. I think I got them at a RiteAid.

[Kool Kat Kruiser]

JudithLynne...are you flying? If so, then you may have to watch the weight of your bags for that extra packing. Most airlines are generous with the weight, but then there are a few who will stick it to you on the pounds over. If you are flying...you may want to check with your airline and pack accordingly. I've re-worn both casual and evening clothes on all our cruises and I don't even think the couple we travel with even noticed. I know that the husband didn't! Especially on those mix & match outfits!

[JudithLynne]

Yes, we are flying. Got a great deal from Celebrity. We fly from SF to Vancouver to start the cruise then at the end we fly from Honolulu to SF. Air add on was only $100pp and that includes all transfers! Of course, we still have to take a "puddle jumper" to and from our home in Medford, OR. Have never had luggage weigh too much but I will be conscious of that. We have a Riteaid here and I will look for those hooks.

[CINDYSUE]

We went on an 11 day cruise of Hawaii last October, with a five day prestay in Honolulu. I, like you, had a fit thinking of how I was going to pack for that long. Well, believe it or not, I managed to pack all the clothes and didn't wear anything twice. Of course, I thought the zippers would break on my suitcases. We bought a "packing system" at the Container Store for our first cruise. I really think you can get more in it. It is sort of a pouch with velcro fastenings that keeps your clothes tightly together. It also cuts down on wrinkles. Think that is the only way I did it.

[ISABELLA]

MIX n MATCH ( black and white) plus I use space bags. We just had 12 Mediterranian cruise with pre and post nights. All we had one 29" suitcase, wheeled garment bag, 2 carry-ons. Worked out perfect.

[Breezey]

hajekfam - Bottom line is whatever works for you. I was only responding to the original poster. We all experience cruises differently. My experience has been on a port day, I wear shorts and a t shirt all day, dress for dinner (of course do shower first). On an at sea day I wear my bathing suit and a cover up all day and then shower and dress for dinner.

 

And I agree some outfits are quite noticeable so seeing them twice might be too much.

[Breezey]

hajekfam - Bottom line is whatever works for you. I was only responding to the original poster. We all experience cruises differently. My experience has been on a port day, I wear shorts and a t shirt all day, dress for dinner (of course do shower first). On an at sea day I wear my bathing suit and a cover up all day and then shower and dress for dinner.

[sunpsyche]

MIX n MATCH ( black and white) plus I use space bags. We just had 12 Mediterranian cruise with pre and post nights. All we had one 29" suitcase, wheeled garment bag, 2 carry-ons. Worked out perfect.

Ok...what in the world are space bags?

[getaway101]

Space bags are the bags you pack things in and then suck out the air to flatten it down. Samsonite for one makes them. They also have the ones that you put your clothes in and then roll the air out of them. You can get them at WalMart, but I got mine on EBay cheap!

[ISABELLA]

Space bags are the bags you pack things in and then suck out the air to flatten it down. Samsonite for one makes them. They also have the ones that you put your clothes in and then roll the air out of them. You can get them at WalMart, but I got mine on EBay cheap!

Space bags are also sold on SPACEBAGS.COM. They are lifesaver.