Packing for 5!tips?

[brazilgirl]

I have 3 kids -10 yr old DD and 4 and 8 yr DSs.We´ll be on a 12 night med cruise on Celebrity.I love clothes (and shoes) and so do the kids so I cannot pack light!How am I going to fit all the luggage in my rooms(I am thinking 7 suitcases!)?We have 2 inside rooms.Any suggestions or tips?:rolleyes:

[Kerry's Girls]

I love garment bags because of the convenience of taking everything out and it's ready to hang, plus then the bags are easy to fold up and put inside other suitcases or squeeze together under the bed. Plus, they make them really wonderful with lots of compartments for shoes, outside pockets, etc.

 

Don't let any space go to waste, i.e., stuff items into shoes. Outside pockets will hold tons of soft clothing items (socks, underwear, etc.) that then won't take up room on the inside, but can't be hurt when being banged around.

 

Best,

Mia

[brazilgirl]

Thanks Mia for the tips!

[falcon5travels]

Just a "wild" thought.. .what about shipping your clothes in cardboard boxes? Then you can flat fold the boxes. I have never done this but Peter Greenberg, Travel Expert from the Today Show swears by it. He says there are two kinds of luggage ...... "carry-on and lost". I am with you, I dont know how to pack light. Good Luck.

[brazilgirl]

Never heard of doing this but sounds interesting....I´ll check out Peter Greenburg´s advice.

[Karysa]

We try to pack so that the smaller suitcases can be stored in the bigger ones so that they can all fit under the beds. I love to take laundry bags for the dirty clothes as it keeps them tidy as well.

Karysa

[lovn2liv]

I got this tip from the boards. Pickup the XXL Hefty bags at the grocery store. They are right with the rest of the ziploc bags, but these are 20- and 30-gallon bags. I was able to fit our clothes in each of these bags. You then roll the air out of them, and the clothes compress to a minimal size, I mean minimal. Less luggage, (heavier), but less volume. You then place the bags in your luggage, and believe me, you will be amazed at what you can fit into these bags and then rolling out the air, causes your clothes to shrink by 1/2, at least. They are marvelous. You do the same on the way home. (We even packed pillows and stuffed animals, and they shrunk like you wouldn't believe would be possible.)

 

There are similar bags that you can get, with a vacuum slot, but not sure how they work. I found the hefty bags work great. Have someone with you when you roll the air out of them, because they can be ziplocking the bag as soon as you get the air out of them. Simple but extremely effective.

 

Also, with having so many people, I also use the "over the door" shoe rack for storing all of the bathroom/first aid/ hair products. I like the clear or mesh pockets so you can easily see what is in each pocket. Walmart for about $10. This way you are not cluttering up the counter space everywhere. It keeps EVERYTHING organized.

 

In fact, we travelled with a huge group, and when someone needed a bandaid or whatever, I could just say, go into our room and behind the bathroom door, look at the top left pocket. Bandaids are stored right there. Everyone was jealous at how organized it all was, and how much cleaner our room stayed, with less chaos than most. These rooms are small small small...so the more you can utilize the space, the happier you will be.

 

In fact I now use the shoe rack in my pantry. Instead of having a junk drawer, I use this to place pens, stamps, assorted household tools and batteries, etc. It works out great. I have one in my master bathroom as well, and every morning when I grab my hair products, etc., I pretend I'm on a cruise. Don't I wish.

 

Good luck, and have a wonderful time.

[Pomperaugrr]

You can also take advantage of the ship's laundry service. We do this and the cost is reasonable. It sure beats overweight baggage charges and you have less laundry to do when you get home. Socks and underwear don't take much space so bring the full supply, but the bigger items can be laundered on board for a reasonable fee.

 

We also picked up a handheld fishing scale at a box store for $10. It was very accurate for weighing our luggage. It registered to within a 1/2 pound of what the airport scales said going down and coming back.

 

Eric

[Dr_DNA]

My advice- Don't pack the kitchen sink. I'm a minimalist though. I think that there are a lot of things that we bring that we could do without. Get everything together that you want to take, and then go through each thing and ask "Do I really need this?" Be honest and then pack only those things that you can answer yes to. Don't bring the things that you say, well maybe... OK- take one item that you answer maybe too if that makes you feel better.

 

... Now if I could just get my wife to go along with this, my back would be much happier as I end up being tasked to lug the stuff along.

[brazilgirl]

So many good ideas-keep em coming.My husband wishes I were a minimalist too!Kim

[PHXscuba]

I think the suggestions for the garment bag and the giant Hefty ziplocks are spot on.

 

Here's another thing I do. We've traveled with our children when they were too small to all pull their own luggage. So we doubled them up: 2 girls in one suitcase, two boys in another. So if DH and I are willing to share one very big suitcase, 6 of us can travel with three suitcases.

 

For a 12-night cruise you probably won't be that scaled back, but aiming in the middle might be possible.

How about: 1 garment bag (for most of your dressy clothing for all 5)

1 suitcase each for you, DH, and DD

1 shared suitcase for your sons

That brings it down to 4 suitcases and a garment bag. And like someone else said, once you unpack you can nest suitcases and slide them under the beds. Or leave stuff in them and put one under each of the 4 beds, like drawers.

 

Good luck! I know from experience that packing and hauling for a family can get stressful and complicated, so the less stuff you bring, the fewer things you'll be responsible for.

 

PHXscuba

"You can't have everything -- besides, where would you put it all?":D

 

p.s. After figuring out what can fit in your "total" amount of suitcases, be sure to cross-pack a few things in each other's suitcases, just in case something gets lost.

[shellie100]

Been there done that - My suggestions:

 

Plan on storing suitcases under the bed. I've been able to on 4 out of 5 cruises. For some reason there wasn't room on the Celebrity Mercury (at least under my bed), but Celebrity is awesome and stored our bags and brought them back at the end of the cruise. You can leave stuff in your bags if you store them under the bed, too

 

Take advantage of the ship's laundry service, especially for evening clothes - for example, only bring 5 evening outfits for a 10 night cruise. You might not even have to launder them each time cause you only wear them for a few hours. Frankly, I like to have my hubby's and son's formal shirts pressed on the ship anyway, cause they do such an awesome job! It's worth it.

 

Finally, try to be realistic, don't leave stuff behind that you really might need. Bring along a lot of tip money (especially $5s). Have porters deal with the luggage at every step of the way. Seriously, I had luggage nightmares, too, especially before my 11-night Mexican cruise for my family of 4. We had 6 suitcases! One was just snorkeling stuff, eek! But honestly, it all worked out fine. Good luck!

[brazilgirl]

Shellie

So glad Celebrity will store our suitcases-that was one of my biggest concerns!I have actually traveled internationally with 10 suitcases , but I was visiting relatives-was not on a ship.Is the laundry service on Celebrity expensive thanks kim