Getting the tux onto the Ship

[Linda&Vern]

Need packing help. How on earth am I going to get DH's tux on the ship without looking like he slept in it? I hate to pay to get it pressed (again)! We are driving to Norfolk, so luggage is not a problem. I've read the latest packing thread, but don't recall this particular problem being talked about. Our best garment bag is the type that folds in half and is then wheeled. Would love any of your experienced suggestions! (Less than two weeks until the big day!)

[ColoradoJuli]

I pack the tux in the garment bag. It is the last thing to be packed and the first thing to be pulled out. We always leave the day before so it is usually packed for 48 hours. We get the shirt dry cleaned and have them fold it. They will package it just like it came from the store. As soon as we arrive on board I unpack and hang everything up. The suit is always fine and the shirt should also be fine.

[Linda&Vern]

Never traveled with the tux, so I wasn't sure what it would look like out of the garment bag. It is probably no different than a suit - I guess I was just more worried because it's a tux. Great idea about having the cleaners FOLD the shirts! I like that.

[Cerinda]

Linda: Lightly stuffing the jacket's shoulders and arms with tissue paper or dry cleaning bags helps, too. You may also want to insert tissue between the trouser legs and between the trousers and the hanger bar. Then back into its original dry cleaner's bag, and into the hanging bag.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always have to fly to our cruise embarkation ports, so DH's tuxedo is in a suit case for several days - we fly early. These new light wool tux's are great. Once the luggage is delivered to the cabin, his tux is unpacked and hung right up. Thr wrinkles fall right out within a few hours. Have never had a problem.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I have to admit that DH's Tux never has a wrinkle in it. Some how this light weight wool they use just does not wrinkle. Like KK we always have to fly to the port also, I just leave it in the garmet bag then I roll it loosely like I do the other clothes and it comes out great.:)

[Charlie2na]

Don't own a new tux , but even the older one's in a fold up garment bag along with my informal suit {cream colored linen} and her gowns works fine

[RevNeal]

I always take my Tux (along with shirts and other suits/jackets that I'm going to take with me on a cruise) to the Dry Cleaners a week or two prior to the cruise. When I pick them up from the cleaners I keep them in the dry-cleaner plastic bags and they go straight into the garment bag once I get home. There they stay for several days or a week until I unpack on the ship. No problem. No wrinkles. It's amazing how those dry-cleaner plastic covers work so well.

[DoctorFeelgood]

I agree with above.

Since part of my life requires dressing in tuxes frequently, I can offer some more tips for you:

1) Get a lightweight wool tuxedo rather than a synthetic or synthetic blend, not only do they look better, wrinkles hang out without pressing (USUALLY).

2) I have had more success using those Eagle Creek Pack-It cubes than a garment bag. There's a local radio show that deals with travel and cruises and they have a packing expert (she has some books out there and a website). She basically says that wrinkles come from clothes moving around inside your bag, so any system you use should eliminate movement. After using the Pack-Its, I'd have to agree with her.

3) Immediately upon receiving your bags, take your suits etc out and hang them in the bathroom. Run the shower on HOT to get the bathroom steamy. Most wrinkles will hang out.

4) Some people carry small clothes steamers when they travel. Irons are not permitted due to fire hazards (probably because of the wattage and strain on the ship's electrical system), and I'm not certain whether clothes steamers pose a similar risk (they probably do).

[cactuslady]

3) Immediately upon receiving your bags, take your suits etc out and hang them in the bathroom. Run the shower on HOT to get the bathroom steamy. Most wrinkles will hang out.

OK, I know you're all sick and tired of hearing this, but . . .

Keep in mind that the ship is not plugged into shore and not hooked up to a shore water system or sewer. The water is usually MADE on board by desalination or some other fancy, expensive method that requires the ship to burn its fuel (oil). The amount available is limited to what the ship can make, assuming the equipment keeps working. The water that goes down the drain goes through the ship's onboard sewage treatment plant, using more oil. Oh yeah, the water gets heated somehow, too. Of course, you and everyone else are paying for all that oil as part of your fare, but you might as well enjoy some of it by taking your shower at the same time.

By the way, although I've tried, I have never gotten this running shower system to work on wrinkles.

[Druke I]

My tux comes out of the "fold-over" garment bag looking fine.

In some 30 odd cruises it has not needed an extra pressing (but often does go to the cleaners after the cruise).

[bepsf]

My suits and tuxes come out of the garment bag just fine -

Just be sure to hang everything up once you're in your stateroom - you shouldn't need to steam as any wrinkles will hang out before dinner the next evening.

[ekerr19]

We always keep the tux in the dry cleaner bags, then right into the garment bag the morning of our flight (we also fly out a day ahead of time), they come out perfectly.

I'm not sure about folding the shirts - wouldn't that leave creases? We have DH's tux shirts lightly starched by the cleaner - and also leave them in the dry cleaning bags - never had a problem...

[Dutchman]

Unless I missed reading this tip in any of the above posts, here is another tip! If you are useing a fold in half type of garment bag see which way it folds. When packing the bag place the plasic cleaner bags into the sleeves of the jacket and then fold the arms in left and right directions not in a v form as most people do. Place the tux in first then anything else on top if it. When the bag folds in half then tux is on the outside and thus is not folded in the sharpest fold! Does that make any sense? In other words the other garments packed in the same bag form a cusion for the Tux!!

[ron46936]

If you compare prices the cruise lines charges for cleaning and pressing a tux are often less than getting it done on land.