To think about, before you go.

[butterflyfish]

With each cruise I get better at only packing what I need. I laugh when I think of all I brought on my first cruise--it was ridiculous! I guess I thought they weren't going to feed me so I brought a duffle bag full of snacks, and I'm embarrassed to admit--a brita water pitcher because I didn't know if the water would taste funny. Our cabin steward must have thought we were crazy.

[CruiseVA]

I completely agree with jotabecu...


After a couple of years of cruising with 2 filled to capacity 26" suitcases, 2 garment bags, and 2 carryon rollers, only to pack on the last day of the cruise & notice that half of my clothes were never worn, I started researching this on the WWW.

I start by making a packing list, my DW laughs at me, until I pack everything in a carryon bag (20" roller).

There are a couple of websites dedicated to this, check out OBOW, a site dedicated to traveling with one carryon bag, no matter where the destination or length of the trip. For serious research into suitcases & carryon luggage check out the Travel Products forum on flyertalk.com. I learned alot about packing from those sites.

I did last years 10day cruise with the 20" roller, no problem at all. The nicest thing is that I have no worries about my luggage not getting there, no extra baggage fees, and, no waiting at the luggage area. Well that's not true, as I had to wait there for my DW's bag. I haven't quite convinced her yet to be a one-bagger, especially on a cruise.

As for the packing list, when in doubt, don't bring it. I wrote up a list, then came back to it a week later and removed items, rinse & repeat. I did this starting about 2 months before the cruise. (Yes - I was obsessed, I had to fit everything into the 20" roller). After 3-4 iterations I had my list, in fact it was so small that I upped the brief's and swim trunks to 3 to add some luxury to my cruise Once you have your list, do some trial packing (yes - my wife really get's a kick out of it when I do that). It is the only way to see what fits. I just can't imagine traveling any other way now.

Most of all - as others have said - the key is to enjoy yourself, otherwise, what's the point???

[shalibibi]

I'm working on getting 3 people packed into ONE large suitcase for our upcoming 7 day cruise. I use Kleinart's disposable dress shields in all of my tops so I can take the shield out and recycle the top another day. Works for day wear and evening wear for dinner. Also a minmun of shoes. Sneakers, crocs that double as water shoes, and sandles that double for evening.

[Grannycb]

Originally Posted by p4b

2. Many shore excursions are available on the dock or on the site of the port, they will usually be way below the price on the ship.

3. Better get on to washing your hands, about 10 times a day. Do not touch food. Take some soap and wash the fixtures and the door nobs and the phone, all stuff in the cabin, once a day. Yes, do it.

2. Careful about grabbing shore excursions at the dock. They don't always tell you when admission fees are not included in their price. It's better to plan ahead and book well recommended tours that don't collect deposits or payments in advance.

3. Use hand sanitizer provided by the ship before and immediately after going through food lines. This cuts down on the germs left behind by those who don't wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before going in the buffet line.

[LeeOne]

Originally Posted by origionaljerseygirl

Make a copy of your passport. Carry this when you are in port - leave your real one in your cabin safe. My husband wore a money belt with his sea pass, copy of passport, a credit card and euros in it. In my pocket - copy of my passport, sea pass card, lip gloss and two kleenex. That's it! I think it's best if you can do without your purse ladies. We knew at least two who lost $$, time, or wallet by losing track of their purses.

almost forgot that one!!! thanks, i have it now!!!

we photocopy or scan ALL our credit and debit cards, passports, driving licence, insurance cards etc. Also our doctors and medical details. We keep one set at home, one set with our dgtr and one set with us. Plus of course one set is also on our computer.

If by chance (we hope not!) anything is mislaid or stolen, we do at least have all the account or card numbers etc with us.

[phdiva]

I'm with you on the "packing light," but our snorkel gear bogs us down. Packing light really paid off when my luggage was stolen in Hawaii (someone stole the rental car with all my stuff from a beach parking lot). Shoes lost: one pair. Earrings lost: one pair. Tubes of lipsticks lost: 2, and oh boy was I ticked off because I couldn't decide which one to pack and had thought, "oh what the heck, they don't take up much room."

[kathcoll]

Originally Posted by phdiva

I'm with you on the "packing light," but our snorkel gear bogs us down.

Since most snorkeling involves using the services of a tour that includes snorkel gear I bring my snorkel and mask and use their fins.

I've seen the gear from tours "sanitized" by swishing through a tub of seawater. I don't want anything like that in my mouth. And the "free" ones that some tours use are just plain cheap quality that limit the enjoyment of the experience.

I prefer my own mask so I bring that too. They fit in my personal item bag.

But the flippers are no more risk than trying on a pair of shoes in the mall shoe store - and save tons of room in the luggage.

I use my snorkel and mask for swimming laps, too. My COPD lung condition almost had me stop swimming for exercise before I realized that I do fine breathing while snorkeling...I'll be the one in the pool with my snorkel!

[Carolla5501]

I am LOL!

I travel weekly. I have cruised several times

I have NEVER washed the door handles etc... can't recall the last time I was sick either.

You do realize that your IMMUNE system is developed by exposure????

Somethings can be taken to the extreme!

[Carolla5501]

Originally Posted by shalibibi

I'm working on getting 3 people packed into ONE large suitcase for our upcoming 7 day cruise. I use Kleinart's disposable dress shields in all of my tops so I can take the shield out and recycle the top another day. Works for day wear and evening wear for dinner. Also a minmun of shoes. Sneakers, crocs that double as water shoes, and sandles that double for evening.

A couple of concerns
1. It's VERY easy to go overweight on the large suitcase. Overweight fees are often higher then the extra luggage fee on most airlines

2. If it's lost...OH NO! It's better to disperse between two smaller suitcases

[huggs]

Originally Posted by origionaljerseygirl

Make a copy of your passport. Carry this when you are in port - leave your real one in your cabin safe. My husband wore a money belt with his sea pass, copy of passport, a credit card and euros in it. In my pocket - copy of my passport, sea pass card, lip gloss and two kleenex. That's it! I think it's best if you can do without your purse ladies. We knew at least two who lost $$, time, or wallet by losing track of their purses.

almost forgot that one!!! thanks, i have it now!!!

I have been told to make these coloured copies and you will have less problems being issued a duplicate...a G/F's daughter lost her passport in Europe and was told because she had a coloured copy ...they were able to replace it asap..otherwise could take up to a week or longer...maybe not an issue if you have the original in ship safe...but I always keep coloured copies with us.

[DonMar]

Originally Posted by Lisou

Bonjour Katiecat,

To answer your question regarding how to fit warmer clothes when packing light -- my solution is that I wear ``all`` of my warmer clothes on the plane as it is usually cool on flights anyways. So I will wear layers: a short sleeve shirt, topped with a long sleeve shirt, topped with a sweater, topped with a light jacket! It saves a bit of space in my luggage and during the trip I have a long sleeve, a sweater or a light jacket to choose from and if it gets really cool I`ll wear the three together!

We too travel carry-on only. I also wear my wam clothes and heavy shoes on the plane. When on a 14 day Eastern Med cruise, I found that a collection of long and sleeve shirts (can be layered if needed), a good fleece jacket, a quilted vest and a super thing waterproof windbreaker worked really well. I did not wear all of this on the airplane I did find that I could layer according to the weather for each port.

Originally Posted by huggs

I have been told to make these coloured copies and you will have less problems being issued a duplicate...a G/F's daughter lost her passport in Europe and was told because she had a coloured copy ...they were able to replace it asap..otherwise could take up to a week or longer...maybe not an issue if you have the original in ship safe...but I always keep coloured copies with us.

It is also a good idea to e-mail copies of your docs and important info to yourself. This way if copies are also lost, you can access them on the ship or in port.

Happy traveling.

[bfam5]

On another thread, there was a discussion about the differences between a passport book vs. the passport card in the event that something happened in port and you needed to be transported to the next port or back to the USA. The consensus was that the passport book was needed to prevent delays for that type of transport.

If you only have a good color copy of the passport while in port, how would that affect need for emergency transportation back to the USA if you were not able to get back to the ship before it left port? Wouldn't you want to have the passport on you while in port?

[Desert Cruizers]

My DH & I will be doing our first TA out of Barcelona in Oct and am working even now on how to get by will less clothes & suitcases. We will be gone 21 days. This will be our 5th cruise total, and figuring in our evening and daily attire will be a challange, any recommended tips here.

[kembo]

1. It's VERY easy to go overweight on the large suitcase. Overweight fees are often higher then the extra luggage fee on most airllines[/quote]

That is so true. Just flew out west, baggage fee was $25.00 per bag, overweight fee for 4 lbs over was $90.00!!!! They let us pull the bag and start tossing stuff in the garbage, thank goodness.

[Sunebeach]

on our last cruise we were busted with a supersize suitcase and it did not wt >50 lbs when it left home, but on the trip back it had gained a little weight, so we had to shift a few things around to other bags right there at the flight counter...embarassing...so from then on I vowed never to overpack again. This time I'm sticking to a 28" roller bag and a nice size carryon. Of course my 'purse' is the size of a small tote bag...so I can take that as well.

[STARFISH*4]

those 28" bags fill up with weight fast...so much room left over but they are over-weight--we quit carrying that size- 25" and under they do hold alot and dont get over-weight (always have a travel scale with you and allow at least 2 lbs as most of the time the airplane scales are more)...we stop at 48 lbs and we know we wont be over.

my lingere takes up no space so none of that ever gets tossed...

for now i will never be a carry-on type of packer, but thats OKAY cos it WORKS for me!!--i just figure in the baggage cost as part of my ticket cost!

[elainesj]

I did the carry on thing for a 4 day weekend in disneyworld. I packed and repacked like crazy. ultimately, I regretted it. we had 2 carryons each (dh, myself, and our kids 9 and 8)...a small backpack/handbag and a roller. it all got heavy and annoying to carry through the airport.

our next trip, we ended up doing the same - 2 carry ons each plus one large suitcase for a 10 night trip to disney. for the trip home, i overpacked our big suitcase (tried to trim off one carry-on)and it was overweight when I checked it in. ended up with a super heavy carry on plus one extra checked bag (i carry additional empty bags for emergencies like this). plus this took 2 repacks so time consuming and embarrassing.

honestly, it wasn;t worth the stress. next time, I'm bringing 1-2 big suitcases, pack them so they're not stuffed to the gills and just relax abt the packing. it will also be much more pleasant in the airport not being loaded down with carry ons.

[hottubdiva]

My husband and I have managed two week vacations with just one carry-on suitcase and our 'personal' bag (I use a tote and he uses a small backpack). We've missed airline connections because our luggage couldn't get checked in time for an overseas flight so the carry-on plan prevents that. This is easy with a beach vacation but I'm not sure I could manage if we traveled somewhere with cooler climate. I must say, though, that last year I still came home with a couple of items I never wore.

We also have scanned a copy of our passports and emailed that to ourselves. We can always access that email anywhere there is an internet connection. Of course, we have color copies with us on the trip as well. We also leave color copies of the passports at home with a copy of our itinerary so our family has that available in the event of an emergency.

[AllyGirl13]

Travel sized Lysol spray is a must! I spray everything in our cabin before we do anything.. Not saying its dirty, I'm just that way!

[operabob]

I take 2 pairs of pants: black cotton for the evening & a pair of quick dry cargo pants.

I also take 3 pair of quick dry underwear and 2 quick dry shirts for the day time.

Tilley products are expensive so I usually go to Mountain Equipment Co-op for these items:

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/MensCl...p?ref=icontext

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/MensClothing/BaseLayerUnderwear/LightweightSilk/PRD~5020-387/mec-t1-classic-briefs-mens.jsp

Flying down I wear items I intend on throwing away.

For washing these are useful:

http://www.magellans.com/store/Cloth...hing_CareTL787