How to optimize storage space???

Hey there CC Cruisers! We are a few weeks away from our trip aboard the Allure. Looking for some advice and suggestions on the best way to unpack and store our luggage in our stateroom. We are three people in a boardwalk balcony room (B1/B2) with a Pullman, so optimum use of space is essential! Best place to store clothing? Shoes? Our suitcases? Nooks and crannies?Someone suggested we bring a large trash bag to hang up and store dirty laundry. Any tips and tricks appreciated!

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The single best thing you can do is pack reasonably. Most online packing lists suggest much more than you actually need to pack.

Consolidate your toiletries: Bring one bottle of shampoo, one tube of toothpaste, etc. You'll have good storage in the bathroom -- typically shelves on the left and the right of the sink plus a shelf underneath.

Skip the trash bags for dirty laundry. Instead, just place your suitcase in the bottom of the closet and use it for a laundry hamper. When that suitcase is full, zip it up and part of your last-day packing is done.

Put your extra suitcases under the beds.

You'll probably have a nightstand with one drawer and an open space underneath. We usually keep our personal stuff (books, reading glasses) in the drawers and our shoes in the open space. That covers the two people in the main bed ... but not the person in the pullman.

You won't have a large number of drawers, but we've always found them adequate, even when we had four people in the room. Do note that you'll have some good storage around the desk/dresser area -- some of it's hidden behind mirrors.

You'll have a small coffee table. You could move it out to the balcony or ask the steward to remove it.

Is your room anywhere near the gym? You might have one member of your party go to the gym to shower before dinner. You might want to plan ahead for this and bring a tote that'd be useful for that person to carry to the gym/back.

The single best thing you can do is pack reasonably. Most online packing lists suggest much more than you actually need to pack.

 

Consolidate your toiletries: Bring one bottle of shampoo, one tube of toothpaste, etc. You'll have good storage in the bathroom -- typically shelves on the left and the right of the sink plus a shelf underneath.

 

Skip the trash bags for dirty laundry. Instead, just place your suitcase in the bottom of the closet and use it for a laundry hamper. When that suitcase is full, zip it up and part of your last-day packing is done.

 

Put your extra suitcases under the beds.

 

You'll probably have a nightstand with one drawer and an open space underneath. We usually keep our personal stuff (books, reading glasses) in the drawers and our shoes in the open space. That covers the two people in the main bed ... but not the person in the pullman.

 

You won't have a large number of drawers, but we've always found them adequate, even when we had four people in the room. Do note that you'll have some good storage around the desk/dresser area -- some of it's hidden behind mirrors.

 

You'll have a small coffee table. You could move it out to the balcony or ask the steward to remove it.

 

Is your room anywhere near the gym? You might have one member of your party go to the gym to shower before dinner. You might want to plan ahead for this and bring a tote that'd be useful for that person to carry to the gym/back.

OP is sailing on Allure which is not like earlier ships.

There are only one set of shelves in the bathroom. The nightstand does not have any drawers, it has two open shelves below the top. An open suitcase would be very tough in the closet, unless you stand it up, since it will get in way of the sliding doors.

There are some drawers in the desk, but they are not very big. There are open shelves and the safe in one side of the closet.

Try using an Over the door hanging shoe bag, you can stash many things in that.

If you are using a hard-side suitcase that opens like a book, you can slide it under the bed in the open position, with non-everyday items - or laundry - in it. You can still access it any time, but it is out of the way.

I pack many things in large clear bags, such as the ones that a set of sheets come in -- all my shirts in one, socks in another, etc. Sometimes I don't even unpack them, but just put the whole thing on an overhead shelf, and reach in when I need something.

If each person does that, that will solve most of the problem.

If you cruise infrequently you may not want to buy stuff specific for storage in your cabin but since we go 2-3 times a year I have used the following many times.

Magnetic hooks for the walls. 20 lbs holds hats, lanyards, bags etc. Home Depot

Mesh shower holder held with same hooks. Has nine pockets. Not as big as the over the door holders. We found those too big. Great for inside the bathroom door or on the cabin wall. Amazon

Hanging shoe holder for closet. 12 inch wide. Holds shoes or clothes on "shelves" that face the cabin. Found everywhere. Get a lightweight one.

Mesh pop up hamper for closet. $1 store.

Sm tote boxes that fold flat for counter or shelf storage for extra loose stuff. $1 store

All these things take up very little room in a bag as they fold flat and are not heavy.

Lastly take only what you really need to wear. Plan it out to some. After 30 cruises we take less clothing now. But we still like to dress for dinner so that means shoes for me.

You will find you'll have plenty of storage...the cabins are pretty well designed for everyone's stuff! You don't need to bring all the extra stuff...hampers, and over the door things....

Put all luggage under the bed. Use one for dirty laundry. Use others as "extra drawers" if needed.

Pack mix and match clothing. Normally pack black slacks for self and DH and tops for dinner. Blacks shoes work great. In summer might go with different color slacks and white shoes. Wear daytime shoes. As someone suggested,don't pack more than you need. You don't know anyone on ship so no one to impress (like at home). I use ships laundry bags for dirty clothes and then as someone said one suitcase holds them and other suitcase holds things we bought and whatever. Never had a problem with storage on any ship.

Ugh..such drama. Bring what you need. Plenty of room for everything.

We have never had a suitcase that didn't fit under the bed but some people here claim theirs did not fit. Sometimes you have to lift the bed a little to get the bigger suitcases to fit under because the frame rail hangs lower than the mattress. We've also always had plenty of room to completely unpack everything. Between the drawers in the vanity, and the shelves in the closet, everything fits. We leave one of the drawers empty and use that for dirty clothes. Once it's full, we empty it into one of the suitcases.

There's room for storage for two, dividing it by three makes it more necessary to plan ahead. The steward has to be able to make beds, clean the bathroom, etc. very difficult if everyone packs everything they think they might need. If CC had been around when I started to cruise life would have been much easier. I appreciate all the helpful hints over the years.

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We have never had a suitcase that didn't fit under the bed but some people here claim theirs did not fit. Sometimes you have to lift the bed a little to get the bigger suitcases to fit under because the frame rail hangs lower than the mattress. We've also always had plenty of room to completely unpack everything. Between the drawers in the vanity, and the shelves in the closet, everything fits. We leave one of the drawers empty and use that for dirty clothes. Once it's full, we empty it into one of the suitcases.

You had to go there, didn't you?:eek::p

I recently bought packing cubes for my upcoming cruise. What I'll be doing is packing them based on full outfits. So for example, I'm arriving 4 days pre cruise and one cube will have my outfits for those 4 days.

My last cruise is the first time I packed based on very specific outfits. I thought I was going overboard, but it actually worked flawlessly and only ended up changing one outfit. I'll be doing this for all future trips to make things much easier on myself.

If everyone has packing cubes, its easier to pack but as well you only have a small portion of your clothes out at a time. Have a great cruise!

My favorite tip from CC was the pop-up hammer. It lies flat in our suitcase and fits nicely in a corner of the closet.

We have 2 large duffle roll-ons and one rolling garment that all fit under the bed.

Since storage may be an issue, pack lighter than usual, mix and match outfits.

You should be okay.

Have fun.

I recently bought packing cubes for my upcoming cruise. What I'll be doing is packing them based on full outfits. So for example, I'm arriving 4 days pre cruise and one cube will have my outfits for those 4 days.

 

My last cruise is the first time I packed based on very specific outfits. I thought I was going overboard, but it actually worked flawlessly and only ended up changing one outfit. I'll be doing this for all future trips to make things much easier on myself.

 

If everyone has packing cubes, its easier to pack but as well you only have a small portion of your clothes out at a time. Have a great cruise!

I've been using packing cubes for years. As the cube is emptied, put the dirty clothes in. That way, there is not much to do when packing for disembarking.

Carol

I pack my shoes in the plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in on rainy days. They fit on the narrow shelf at the top of the closet. I take out the pair I need and replace them with the ones I am wearing, so there is only one pair of shoes out at any given time. When I pack to leave, I just gather up all of the bags.

We use roll up space bags for dirty laundry, not the ones you need a vacuum. Shoes are in the bottom of the closet with a space bag on top and when it gets full just roll it up to squeeze out the air and put it in an empty suitcase under the bed. We too pack our shoes in 1 gallon plastic bags to keep clothes clean in luggage and if you need to stack them in the bottom of the closet. Also use zip locks for items not needed every day to keep organized and can put them on a shelf.

Never used or needed over the door storage things, since the toiletries fit on the shelf in the bathroom. Pjs and charging cords fit on the small shelves by the bed. If you need extra hangers just ask or leave a note for the room steward.

The key is to straighten up the room every morning to reduce clutter. We didn't have any issues with storage for 3 in a cabin.

Plenty of room under the bed for even large suitcases. When we cruise we travel with one really large suitcase each. They side under the bed closed easily. I would say you have about 12" in height. Never traveled with 3 but I would say use the plastic bag for dirty stuff and just side it under the bed.

Since you are traveling with 3 you may be able to store one suitcase inside another under the bed.

Hey there CC Cruisers! We are a few weeks away from our trip aboard the Allure. Looking for some advice and suggestions on the best way to unpack and store our luggage in our stateroom. We are three people in a boardwalk balcony room (B1/B2) with a Pullman, so optimum use of space is essential! Best place to store clothing? Shoes? Our suitcases? Nooks and crannies?Someone suggested we bring a large trash bag to hang up and store dirty laundry. Any tips and tricks appreciated!

 

 

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The single best thing you can do is pack reasonably. Most online packing lists suggest much more than you actually need to pack.

 

Consolidate your toiletries: Bring one bottle of shampoo, one tube of toothpaste, etc. You'll have good storage in the bathroom -- typically shelves on the left and the right of the sink plus a shelf underneath.

 

Skip the trash bags for dirty laundry. Instead, just place your suitcase in the bottom of the closet and use it for a laundry hamper. When that suitcase is full, zip it up and part of your last-day packing is done.

 

Put your extra suitcases under the beds.

 

You'll probably have a nightstand with one drawer and an open space underneath. We usually keep our personal stuff (books, reading glasses) in the drawers and our shoes in the open space. That covers the two people in the main bed ... but not the person in the pullman.

 

You won't have a large number of drawers, but we've always found them adequate, even when we had four people in the room. Do note that you'll have some good storage around the desk/dresser area -- some of it's hidden behind mirrors.

 

You'll have a small coffee table. You could move it out to the balcony or ask the steward to remove it.

 

Is your room anywhere near the gym? You might have one member of your party go to the gym to shower before dinner. You might want to plan ahead for this and bring a tote that'd be useful for that person to carry to the gym/back.

I agree with most of what Mrs Pete says, save that the bag for the dirty clothes also goes under the bed, open, then you just slide it out far enough to dump the dirty stuff in and slip it back under, once in a while you may need to pull it out to move some stuff around so the spot you're dropping stuff in is clear.

Also can you pack for all of you in one less bag. I know we have.

We take a pop up hamper for laundry. If you can fit suitcases under the bed toon steward can have them stored. I always take an over the door storage hanger for outside bathroom. like the ones for shoes. Gives tons of extra storage space. We also bring magnetic hooks, the stay ob the walls an you can use them to hang badges on or hold daily compass etc. i used packing cubes this time and liked the smaller on for underwear. I had one for me and my for granddaughter. We just kept them half unzipped. For 6 yr old gdaughter i pack her outfits in zip locks. Count 7 day and 7 night. Once one the ship i just stack the ziplocks one one of the shelves.. Even though you can ask for extra hangers, I always bring some from home. Slim hangers.

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I take suction cup hooks and put them on the room mirror, then hang sunglasses, hats & jewelry around the edges to keep the clutter off the desk area.

Pop up hamper in the closet

Bellkin multi plug electrical plug in that has 2usb chargers and 3 plugs to charge our camera phones, use the curling iron etc

Heavy duty magnets hold our backpack and camera bag from the ceiling.

3m hooks hold our lanyards by the door

Also magnet clips hold any special tix for excursions etc, so they don't get lost in the paper clutter

Over the door shoe holder, we put it on the outside of the bathroom door to hold sunscreen, lotion, my hair stuff as I do my hair out of the bathroom so others can shower. Sunglass cleaner, tide stick etc.

I make a spreadsheet of each port and our excursion into so everyone know what we're doing and where we need to meet, how much it cost etc. also a ship map.

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