How many bags did you take?

[wdowns9]

My wife and I will be making our first trip NB next May then spending another 5 days in Alaska. One during the land portion will be using a laundry mat so we only need to pack 7days of clothes for her and 5 days for me (I can wear the samething twice). Where the problem lies is with the airlines and their stupid checked bag policy. 50lb limit and 62" L+W+H anything over that size is $150 which takes my Cal-Pak rolling travel duffle out of the equation let alone 50lbs as it normally holds 60-70lbs. We are just trying to figure out inadvance as I might just get a smaller bag and take 3 bags between the two of us. We are not going to be packing any formal or dress clothes as this is Alaska and we can do formal in the Caribbean.

[Pssunshinegal]

If you end up paying one way (just to get it there) you can do what we did and mail it home. I used the shrink bags so that I could get as much into the flat rate boxes and just sent home so that we did not have to worry about any cruise clothes for the 12 days we stayed in AK post cruise. I know others who just shipped home whole suitcases and the cost was considerably less than you may guess.

 

Janice

[luvlake]

For our 14 day B2B this year I had 1 check in bag, 1 carry-on and 1 personal bag. DH had 1 check in bag and 1 carry-on. On the way home husband used pack back for personal bag which held many t-shirts for family members.

 

We did pack formal night clothes and dress casual clothes for the other nights. We only ate at the Horizon Court 2 nights for dinner. We tried to take light weight clothes such as wind pants with a heavier lining for the cool days instead of heavy jeans. Pair of black slacks could be used for nights in the dining room for formal and casual dining. We did not take alot of heavy fleece but layering instead.

 

The Princess ships have laundry rooms and I did take advantage of this other wise I probably would have had to pack more.

 

Happy Cruising!

[Putterdude]

With a little effort you should be able to get it down to one large bag each plus one carry-each. The Island Princess does have coin-op laundries aboard, a great way to spend part of a sea day.

[oldmama]

I considered mailing purchases home, but decided I could save time & money by packing an extra duffle, & just pay the $25 second bag charge. Why waste time in Alaska looking at the inside of a post office, when you could be out enjoying the sites.

[ellbon]

i stay in hotels that ship fro me.. why waste my day. also i am happy to pay for bags so i can have room for what i buy.

[fann1sh]

For 2 weeks on Ryndam, I had a 35 pound checked bag, a small carry on bag, and a purse. The carry on was mainly electronics and medications.

 

Included formal wear: long formal skirt, chiffon top, etc. Three pairs of slacks (two khakis, one light cotton knit) and half a dozen tops were the heart of my wardrobe. Lightweight rain jacket got virtually no use, but glad I brought it. Wore my heavy walking shoes, packed walking sandals and formal shoes.

 

Like you, my ship had a self serve coin laundry. Washed twice.

 

Bag wasn't much heavier on the way home. Discarded the 2 large (heavy) paperbacks I brought to read to free up weight and room for souvenirs.

[tetleytea]

We tried the shrink-wrap bags and they did nothing for us. All it did was put us over 50 lbs. We packed a bag-in-a-bag anticipating dirty laundry and souvenirs, and what we ended up doing was taking it out and shifting things around until we were under 50 lbs.

 

Anyway, we always try to pack light for Alaska, and it never turns out that way. It's Alaska.

[Pssunshinegal]

We tried the shrink-wrap bags and they did nothing for us. All it did was put us over 50 lbs.

 

I recommended the space bags for mailing home, where more went in the box and weight was not a consideration, exactly the opposite.

 

Janice

[Budget Queen]

I always do laundry, and it's also easy to rinse out a few small items in sinks. I am a big advocate of packing a BAR of laundry soap- I like Zote, which does a fantastic job and rinses out easily as compared to using regular soap.

 

I pack one bag, but I shake my head at those huge multi bag packers, which I always see.

 

As an example, I am just back from 4 weeks in Europe- one bag which had to be under 44 lbs. and a back pack. I never rewear tops or underclothes.

[PennyAgain]

I also use a chunk of a bar of Zote. I don't pack along the whole big bar. Great stuff. Big Lots usually sells Zote.

 

I often do carry on only for a 7 day cruise and add a small checked bag for longer trips, but I have a lot of travel experience.

 

I try to plan my cruises so that I am finishing a business trip just before the cruise. Saves me the cost of airfare. I have my business clothes which I use for dressing nicely for the dining room on the ship.

 

The airlines are glad to separate you from your money for all that baggage. The choice is up to you.

[countrygal52]

2 yrs. ago, (don't know how much has changed since), DH and I did a 13 day cruise/tour (land first - 5 days). We each had one suitcase, and then we had 1 carryon. Included formal wear for 2 nights (we both wore the same outfits both nghts - I just changed accessories). I took 1 pair jeans, 1 pair of denim capris, 2 knit pantsuits for casual nights, pj's, swimsuit, 2 pair of shoes, a light lined jacket, long sleeve denim shirt, flanned shirt, 1 long sleeve T and four short sleeve t's, plus underwear for at least 5 days, 3 bras, 3 pr. socks. I wore shorts and tennis shoes and t shirt on the plane. We left Seward on a Friday night and sailed towards Glacier Bay. We did laundry on the ship on our first at-sea day after viewing the glaciers. Hubby took Dockers and 2 polo shirts and several t's besides his suit and tie and 1 pair of jeans and his jacket and a long sleeve shirt. He only took a pair of dressy shoes for the Formal night which could also be worn on Casual night.

 

The trick is to ROLL as many items as possible to cut down on wrinkles and as soon as you get on board ship, hang everything up. The few things that needed to be ironed I did while doing laundry.