Packing Advice Needed

DH and I will be traveling with our 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 year old little girls for an 11 day cruise then 4 days in San Juan. How do I NOT pack the entire house? ;-) Between car seats and stroller and everything else. How do I minimize? Thanks!

My lessons learned....

• Get yourself a luggage scale
  
• Find out how much you are ALLOWED to carry on the plane.
  
• What are the penality charges if your luggage is over those limits?
  
• take advantage of your kids luggage allowance!
  
• cars seats? Can you rent or purchase a booster seat at your destination? I would bring the baby seat as they are more expensive than a booster.
  

The strollers don't count as "luggage" on the plane...you'll need car seats for the plane, anyway...if you're flying.... and yes...each "ticketed" person gets the same luggage allowance!

Luckily, summer clothes are much lighter and smaller than heavy clothing! You'll have to make use of the ship's/hotel laundry, most likely.

Do bring any "baby specific" stuff, because it's difficult to find in ports (and time consuming) and nearly impossible on the ship. Especially, if you need a certain brand!

You just have to face it...traveling with small kids means LOTS of stuff!

The strollers don't count as "luggage" on the plane...you'll need car seats for the plane, anyway...if you're flying.... and yes...each "ticketed" person gets the same luggage allowance!

 

Luckily, summer clothes are much lighter and smaller than heavy clothing! You'll have to make use of the ship's/hotel laundry, most likely.

 

Do bring any "baby specific" stuff, because it's difficult to find in ports (and time consuming) and nearly impossible on the ship. Especially, if you need a certain brand!

 

You just have to face it...traveling with small kids means LOTS of stuff!

Oh shoot, we'll be traveling in November so I guess that means bulkier clothes!

There is a child safety restraint that worked really good for our son at 4 1/2 when we went across country and multiple airports. One less thing to carry around when you have a stroller and carry-ons.

As for outfits, make a list of days and try and use the outfits twice or even 3 times. There is the laundry option or like me I carry a little woollite, but on our 15nt Hawaiian we used the laundry option halfway through the cruise. It made it more worry free.

Oh shoot, we'll be traveling in November so I guess that means bulkier clothes!

There is no 'winter' in the Caribbean. Summer clothing will be fine. EM

There is no 'winter' in the Caribbean. Summer clothing will be fine. EM

We'll be sailing out of NYC. Repo to Miami.

There is a child safety restraint that worked really good for our son at 4 1/2 when we went across country and multiple airports. One less thing to carry around when you have a stroller and carry-ons.

 

As for outfits, make a list of days and try and use the outfits twice or even 3 times. There is the laundry option or like me I carry a little woollite, but on our 15nt Hawaiian we used the laundry option halfway through the cruise. It made it more worry free.

What's a "child safety restraint?"

If you're going on Carnival (from your cruise history, I'm guessing that's what you're doing), you can take advantage of the self service laundry onboard.

If flying (another assumption), get to your embarkation city at least a day ahead (which I recommend no matter what) and then shop for anything you've left behind such pull ups, which tend to be bulky. This way, you'll have the size and extras as you can't depend on the ship's store to have specific needs for kids. Because you're buying seats for your kids, you can make use of their luggage allotment, which will be the same as yours.

As for seasonal clothes, yes, you'll need something warmer for the NY part, but you can just layer and bring a heavy sweater for the girls. You don't need a whole wintery wardrobe at all. Once the ship gets more south, they can wear tee shirts and shorts and sundresses, even on PR. Everyone can wear their sweater or coat while getting on the flight so those won't take room in the suitcases.

Just a small tip that may save some packing. Baby shampoo works great as detergent to hand wash clothes in the sink. Bring a travel clothesline or string.

DH and I will be traveling with our 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 year old little girls for an 11 day cruise then 4 days in San Juan. How do I NOT pack the entire house? ;-) Between car seats and stroller and everything else. How do I minimize? Thanks!

Well hopefully your youngest it potty trained, so diapers or pull ups aren't an issue. You can always restock in San Juan - it is America and has everything you will need - you will pay more, but they have it.

I think your best plan is to go with the if it fits it ships philosophy. Then, plan on laundry about day 7/8 - then you only have to carry about a weeks worth of clothing. Pack layers - leggings and tops for the girls that can then go over shorts when it is warmer. And have a neutral sweater like white or black to pull on if chilly. And you can always buy them a few sundresses in ports cheap. Minimize shoes. Wear tennis shoes on, take a pair of flip flops or water type shoes, and then sandals for evening. Same for parents - keep it simple - 1 or 2 pairs of slacks/shirt for evening with tops , 3-4 shorts, a pair jeans or casual pants, a few swim suits and coverups. Stick with a base color like black or white for your bottoms so that you can mix and match. Just do make sure you have enough underwear - we can go through 2+ a day with beach etc.

We tend to have everyone shower pre-dinner. So we have t-shirts and shorts/yoga pants/jeans for day (depending on weather) and then change to a top (ie collared shirt for DH) and slacks/skirt for evening. I have 2 simple dresses that don't wrinkle that I can dress up or down with shoes/jewelry for elegant evenings. Then, before bed, as we were clean and only wore the shirt for a few hours, it can be recycled as a daytime top a few days down the road. The girls may not be able to recycle as much if they are "messy" - I have boys which by definition are messy - so they get a day shirt and a night time shirt. I can pack each of us in a carry on for the week;its full but it fits.

Then for the girls, have them each carry a back pack with their toys, dolls, coloring supplies and perhaps an age appropriate electronic that can contain books and games. The only special shower stuff they need will be baby shampoo and perhaps lotion. There is plenty to do in camp, so the toys are really for sleeping comfort and down time.

Target sells zippered toiletries bags that are TSA friendly if you happen to be flying. We find then the biggest challenge is getting enough sunscreen on board. But because the kids don't take all the toiletries we do, we load them up with minis in their bags.

Don't let it stress you. Take a mesh laundry bag, hang it in the closet, and when it is full do laundry. Take lots of quarters, and detergent sheets.

Thanks everyone!