Packing for four children

[lilone]

Hi, We are a family of six - kids(6,12,15,17). What advice could any give me on packing. Our childen love eating out so they will be joining in the dining room for dinner. I was just thinking about all the clothes that I will have to pack for the day and then to change in for dinner. We will be on the Carnival Pride for 7nights. That seems like lots of suitcases , not to mention I am an overpacker any. any suggestions to keep us from having 10 suitcases. One thing I really don't want to have to do any laundry on vacation. I curious to know how everyone keeps the luggage to a minimum. Thanks

[kjunea]

We took 3 kids (5, 15, 18) last summer on the Fantasy. I know that is only 5 days compared to 7, but we went down 2 days early, so it would be comparable.

 

Each kid had 3 pairs of shorts and 3 t shirts. They also took a couple of pairs of pants and shirts for night. The ship runs a laundry bag special for $15 and I used that (2 bags worth!) so I didn't have to do laundry. We bought them a couple of tshirts at the ports, so they had more of those to wear (we would have bought them anyway, so why pack more?).

 

They didn't get their evening clothes as dirty as their day clothes and I made them change as soon as dinner was over. And they mixed and matched their things, so they could reuse them. (by they way, it was 2 boys, 1 girl and I think she brought 1 skirt and 2 pairs of pants).

 

I think people get really hung up on wearing a different outfit every night, but with the luggage restrictions they have now, etc, I'm not too worried if someone sees me in the same outfit later in the week! I promise I will have on clean undies!

[lilone]

Thank you I will take your advice. I probably will have to pack my 6yr old the most. She loves food and when she's done eating you know.

[kjunea]

Yeah, I think I packed more for my DS than the older kids. He does get dirty quicker, seems to attract it like a magnet!! Luckily, his clothes are much smaller and take up much less room!

[graysladymurphy]

I find that shirts get much dirtier than shorts, so we usually have them wear their shorts several days in a row and just change shirts. Also, for our girls, sun dresses work great because they are easy to pack and don't wrinkle and look dressy but work for play too. Also, I try to find a nice pair of sandals/beach trekker-type shoes that work for play and for the water. Lands End is a good place to start.

[cb at sea]

During sea days, they will be in bathing suits most of the time. They can re-wear shorts and shirts several times--after all, they're too young to sweat much!!!

And, in case of major spills or grime, you can alway send some things to the laundry--yeah, it will cost, but not as much as an overweight bag on the plane!

[Paumavista]

With our 6 kids...we try to stick with a warm climate!....really helps when its bathing suits and t-shirts. Yes, I do at least one load of wash. Honestly, even the little ones (3&4) didn't get that messy on board the ship and I was pretty good at spot cleaning a dress shirt or dress.

 

For storage - absolutely necessary were the over the door hanging shoe pocket holders. We had one in each cabin on the outside of the closet door....it held bathing suites, sun glasses, sun lotion, keys, cameras, shoes, sandals, pjs, toys, juice cups, etc, etc,.....we got 2 of the larger ones with lots of clear pockets so we could see what was inside. Lots of times I would store the morning change of clothes....shirt & shorts in the pocket....if I left it laying around the cabin it would surely be lost with 4 of them scrambling around in the morning......

 

Have a great trip!

Judy

[lilone]

With our 6 kids...we try to stick with a warm climate!....really helps when its bathing suits and t-shirts. Yes, I do at least one load of wash. Honestly, even the little ones (3&4) didn't get that messy on board the ship and I was pretty good at spot cleaning a dress shirt or dress.

 

For storage - absolutely necessary were the over the door hanging shoe pocket holders. We had one in each cabin on the outside of the closet door....it held bathing suites, sun glasses, sun lotion, keys, cameras, shoes, sandals, pjs, toys, juice cups, etc, etc,.....we got 2 of the larger ones with lots of clear pockets so we could see what was inside. Lots of times I would store the morning change of clothes....shirt & shorts in the pocket....if I left it laying around the cabin it would surely be lost with 4 of them scrambling around in the morning......

 

Have a great trip!

Judy

 

I think i will have to do at least a load or two of laundry. I was thinking I would do them late night mid cruise. I like the shoe holder over the door, we did this when we went to disney for 10 days.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas and/or suggestions. Keep em comin'

[beachchick]

I'm guessing you're probably already doing this, but in case not: I'd have the 15 and 17 y/os pack for themselves. Tell them basically what they'll need and then let them take care of the rest. You can "spot check" to make sure they don't forget something critical like bathing suits, but they're old enough to be responsible for taking some of the work off your shoulders. Ditto with laundry. I don't mind doing laundry on vacation or cruises, but my DH does all the laundry the rest of the time. When our DD was a teen, I required her to help with her own laundry both at home and on vacation. You can have the three older ones put together what they need to wash and then you can all pitch in taking care of getting it into the washer, dryer, hanging up, folding, etc. Heck, even the 6 y/o could help with the easy stuff. That way you are not spending quite so much energy and time just getting ready for your cruise or doing laundry during your cruise. (The best of all might be to budget some extra $$ to have laundry sent out mid-week for the ship's service. Some people--moms in particular--consider it money very well spent indeed.)

 

beachchick

[lilone]

I'm guessing you're probably already doing this, but in case not: I'd have the 15 and 17 y/os pack for themselves. Tell them basically what they'll need and then let them take care of the rest. You can "spot check" to make sure they don't forget something critical like bathing suits, but they're old enough to be responsible for taking some of the work off your shoulders. Ditto with laundry. I don't mind doing laundry on vacation or cruises, but my DH does all the laundry the rest of the time. When our DD was a teen, I required her to help with her own laundry both at home and on vacation. You can have the three older ones put together what they need to wash and then you can all pitch in taking care of getting it into the washer, dryer, hanging up, folding, etc. Heck, even the 6 y/o could help with the easy stuff. That way you are not spending quite so much energy and time just getting ready for your cruise or doing laundry during your cruise. (The best of all might be to budget some extra $$ to have laundry sent out mid-week for the ship's service. Some people--moms in particular--consider it money very well spent indeed.)

 

beachchick

 

You are so right.. they are old enough not to mention they already do these things at home. I do think that I'm going to have to remind them to do their laundry being on vacation and all they will get even more lazy than usual.

[fennema1]

I'll share our nightmare story - went in to the next cabin to help our then 14 and 9 year old sons pack to leave. EVERYTHING was under the beds and wet. Smelled horrible and made the luggage HEAVY. My fault for not checking on it all week and for packing so much that they didn't have to re-wear anything. Next cruise, they had 3 daytime outfits each, 2 slacks 3 shirts and 1 suit, for dinner. No problems at all! And, they seemed to be in a swimsuit all the time anyway!

[beachchick]

You are so right.. they are old enough not to mention they already do these things at home. I do think that I'm going to have to remind them to do their laundry being on vacation and all they will get even more lazy than usual.

 

:D Sounds like they are very normal teens indeed. (I figured they already did stuff at home, but I wasn't sure from your first post whether you meant you would be doing all the packing for the whole family or whether you were looking for ways in general to keep the number of suitcases down a bit.)

 

beachchick

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

My coworker took her grandkids on a seven night cruise and allowed them to have one rolling bag (like an airplane carryon) and a backpack. They had to decide for themselves how many outfits to pack...I'm sure she checked them to make sure there were at least a few outfits to mix and match, but that way it kept the luggage down and it was all baggage that could be carried on the plane without extra fees. It wasn't a lot of space, but you can get shorts, t-shirts and one or two nicer things in that space, as well as some toiletries the kids need. Also, you can try to take some clothes that are easy to wash out if they get a small stain, rather than having to use the laundry...although the laundry is probably a good option if you need it. A Tide-to-go pen also works wonders!

[lilone]

:D Sounds like they are very normal teens indeed. (I figured they already did stuff at home, but I wasn't sure from your first post whether you meant you would be doing all the packing for the whole family or whether you were looking for ways in general to keep the number of suitcases down a bit.)

 

beachchick

 

Yeah, I'm just trying to keep the suitcases down. It's hard with a family of six to go places without having the car full of luggage. Thanks again for the advice.

[audra8800]

LILONE, I feel your pain!!!

 

We are also taking our blended family of four children on their first cruise in May on the Carnival Glory. The husband and I have cruised before and we tended to overpack all on our own.

Kids are 8 DD, and 10, 15, 17, DS's

We opted to drive down instead of fly because of airline luggage costs.

YES, We are going to look like the "Griswalds"

I have given everyone 1 duffle bag, and we will take one bag with our extras like: sunscreen, water cameras, power strip, extra swimsuits, etc. I will also have a backpack to carry prescriptions, documents, contacts, and anything else I cannot live without.

7 bags with 6 people is pretty good I think...

[lilone]

LILONE, I feel your pain!!!

 

We are also taking our blended family of four children on their first cruise in May on the Carnival Glory. The husband and I have cruised before and we tended to overpack all on our own.

Kids are 8 DD, and 10, 15, 17, DS's

We opted to drive down instead of fly because of airline luggage costs.

YES, We are going to look like the "Griswalds"

I have given everyone 1 duffle bag, and we will take one bag with our extras like: sunscreen, water cameras, power strip, extra swimsuits, etc. I will also have a backpack to carry prescriptions, documents, contacts, and anything else I cannot live without.

7 bags with 6 people is pretty good I think...

 

LOL , I don't want to look like the Griswalds.We're driving to the port as well and i always over pack. IIt must be a fear of what if I need this or that. I think I'm going to limit the kids to one big suitcase and 1 carryon.

 

I have lots of time to prepare so maybe it won't be so bad. Please let me know how everything goes with your kids and their first cruise. Thanks

[eieiaye]

We have 4 kids 14,13,12,8 and we had a 5 night trip with a night before and after in FLA. I had a small suitcase that we used only for Fla clothes and each child had to have their bathing suit, pjs and toothbrush in their backpack always. Each boy one pair of nice pants, one dress shirt and 2 golf shirts. My 13 yr old girl had a good time packing and she had her own little suitcase. We had a little duffel bag that we put all the shoes in. I didn't see a need for water shoes other than my 8 yr. old when we climbed the water fall in Jamaica. Teva sandals worked well and more versatile.. I thought the closets on Celebrity were more than plenty.