Handbags

Doing a 10 night European cruise and I think I am bringing too many handbags. One is for port travel which is larger, two dinner bags (one dressy/sparkly and the other plain) and one larger bag that will have my port travel bag inside of it for the airplane to carry my kindle, etc.

What is everyone doing these days with trying to scale down?

You don't need multiple purses! Bring one for ashore...and if you need a "night" bag, bring something small, for lipstick, comb, tissues, etc...

No one even notices..I guarantee it!

One for port/plane, another for onboard.

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Doing a 10 night European cruise and I think I am bringing too many handbags. One is for port travel which is larger, two dinner bags (one dressy/sparkly and the other plain) and one larger bag that will have my port travel bag inside of it for the airplane to carry my kindle, etc.

 

What is everyone doing these days with trying to scale down?

I did the exact same thing for our trip to Europe last year. I packed small things in the evening purses, so they really did not take up extra space in my luggage. If you have the space, bring them. :D

Lisa

I don't carry a bag around the ship. I take a little wristlet and that's it. I have a bag for port which I also use on the plane.

I carry a small clutch purse on Formal Nights only. It holds my lip gloss, mints, tissues, comb, ship card.

OP, it's your cruise - do what you want to do. Some women like shoes, some like purses!

I don't take a variety of bags on a cruise, one cross body and a wristlet or 2 for evenings. I do what Red Hair Texan does, pack things in any bag I may take.

All those bags for 10 days, how many would you take on a World Cruise?

Leave all, but one for ports and travel and one tiny bag for the ship, at home.

Nobody cares or even looks.

I usually use a wristlet as a wallet inside a nylon purse - I use the larger purse during the day (no matter how/where I travel - I prefer nylon crossbodies to leather when I'll be out walking all day - much lighter on my shoulders ;-) And I want a bag large enough for a water bottle, my camera....) Then at night I can use the wristlet for a lip balm, camera & key - that's usually all I need. I typically use a tote as a carry-on on the plane and will use that if I need to carry a book or anything else around the ship.

I take a sturdy cross body for during the day. Nothing fancy, but one that will lay flat in a suitcase. For evening I pack 2 purses. One is a Coach black leather clutch I have had for years. It is neutral enough that it looks great with jeans or with a dress. If we are planning on dressing up a night or two, I also pack a black, beaded clutch that was quite expensive 30 years ago. But given that it still looks fantastic (and I still get compliments on it), it was a good investment. Some things never go out of style. Everything packs flat in my suitcase and none of these take up any room. The leather clutch is a great place to pack scarves. This assortment has always stood me in good stead. On those occasion when I am packing something where black just doesn't work, I always go with a clutch that lays flat in the suitcase. They look great and you can find them at reasonable prices.

On the plane, I carry a tote that is large enough to handle my wallet, travel docs, all electronics, medications, cosmetics, jewelry, a shawl, etc. I use an assortment of different sizes of packing cubes and zip lock bags to keep everything organized. The tote doubles for a beach bag or purse/day bag when we are needing to take umbrellas or sweaters, etc. If we are checking luggage, enough clothes to get by for a couple of days goes in a roll aboard - just in case.

Depending on how I have packed, sometimes I can just put my wallet, etc in the crossbody and drop it into the tote, ready to pull out once we land. And if its winter and you're carrying a coat, put the crossbody on under the coat and the odds are you'll make it on the plane!

Perfect advice! I did buy a lovely day bag for sea days and can also look perfect for dinner. I'm bringing my very small dressy dinner bag which will have my essentials which can fit into the day bag so I can just slip it into either the day bag or my bigger bag when we do ports because I'll be carrying water, a sweater, tissues for european bathrooms, etc.....

Thanks to everyone for the great advice!

I take a sturdy cross body for during the day. Nothing fancy, but one that will lay flat in a suitcase. For evening I pack 2 purses. One is a Coach black leather clutch I have had for years. It is neutral enough that it looks great with jeans or with a dress. If we are planning on dressing up a night or two, I also pack a black, beaded clutch that was quite expensive 30 years ago. But given that it still looks fantastic (and I still get compliments on it), it was a good investment. Some things never go out of style. Everything packs flat in my suitcase and none of these take up any room. The leather clutch is a great place to pack scarves. This assortment has always stood me in good stead. On those occasion when I am packing something where black just doesn't work, I always go with a clutch that lays flat in the suitcase. They look great and you can find them at reasonable prices.

 

On the plane, I carry a tote that is large enough to handle my wallet, travel docs, all electronics, medications, cosmetics, jewelry, a shawl, etc. I use an assortment of different sizes of packing cubes and zip lock bags to keep everything organized. The tote doubles for a beach bag or purse/day bag when we are needing to take umbrellas or sweaters, etc. If we are checking luggage, enough clothes to get by for a couple of days goes in a roll aboard - just in case.

 

Depending on how I have packed, sometimes I can just put my wallet, etc in the crossbody and drop it into the tote, ready to pull out once we land. And if its winter and you're carrying a coat, put the crossbody on under the coat and the odds are you'll make it on the plane!

I am with the ladies who think multiple bags are in order. For the OP who will be sight-seeing in Europe, she may want to carry more essentials with her given a ton of walking, etc. I know I would want band-aids, sunscreen, a hat, advil, etc. and those items don't fit in a tiny bag. :)

For my upcoming cruise which will be sea days & 2 port days, I will bring the following:

• Tote bag to carry on-board, which will also serve as my beach bag in Bermuda
  
• A clutch for evening - maybe 2 based on the outfits I pack
  

If we had planned any walking or sight-seeing tours, I would have also added a cross body bag.

I'm going crazy looking for a crossbody bag for Europe that's big enough but not too big, with zippered pockets but not too many to entice pickpockets. Any suggestions on that? As for on the ship, not worrying about one--will have my husband hold the card if I don't have a pocket.

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Lately, I've been using a LeSportsac hobo. Strap is adjustable and definitely long enough for me to use crossbody. As I mentioned earlier, I prefer nylon to leather for the weight.

Haute Look just had a nice Le Sportsac sale. Not sure what's left.....

I have 3 this size: https://www.lesportsac.com/Classic_Hobo

(I have a lesportsac crossbody size as well but it's too small for me to do much with - I prefer a larger day bag)

I also own the ebags Piazza day bag and a pacsafe citysafe100.

Look at the travelon bags. The straps are cut proof and the inside pocket where you store your cards cannot be scanned. I bought mine on Amazon

Recently purchased a black nylon Baggallini "Helsinki" crossbody bag from Amazon.

I'm going crazy looking for a crossbody bag for Europe that's big enough but not too big, with zippered pockets but not too many to entice pickpockets. Any suggestions on that? As for on the ship, not worrying about one--will have my husband hold the card if I don't have a pocket.

 

 

Recently purchased a black nylon Baggallini "Helsinki" crossbody bag from Amazon. Think it's a perfect size - not too small or too large.

I don't carry a purse in everyday real life, but I do take a small clutch for Elegant nights and a cross body to carry smokes and cell phone.

I carry a number of bags when we cruise. I use a black Lug "Puddle Jumper" bag as my travel tote - it carries everything I need on the plane (including pashmina and slippers) and has tons of room for anything extra I might pick up along the way. I have a small leather coss-body bag DH gave me for Christmas that I use for port days, and on the ship I use a little nylon wristlet where I keep my camera, tissues and lip balm. For evenings I have a soft little beaded black clutch that an be used for dress and casual nights. I pack one inside the other and everything is very flat so I don't use a lot of luggage space for them.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

I do have a purse and shoe problem. LOL!! For the plane I carry a simple black cross-body bag and a backpack when I travel to Europe. For ports I have what I have dubbed my "ugly mom purse" that is my favorite! It's not massive but it's a cross body bag that has a slot for water bottles. (Donner by Overland. It's ugly because it's an ugly color!) For nights on the ship I take a large wristlet.

Don't laugh but several years back I found a tote bag at a thrift shop for around $2. It is stretchy white knit with pearlescent sequins on it. It is medium sized but stretches to fit everything in it. I use it on port days to carry a sweater , bottle of water , sea pass card, camera and everything my husband and dd say " here can you hold this" . It is cute and matches everything plus it is super light weight.

For in the ship I have this small wristlet type bag that is a light weight nylon material. It has a zipper on top and it's just big enough for a lip balm a small camera, and tissues. there is a second zippered spot I put my sea pass card in. It has a silly pattern on it ( I think the Eiffel tower high heel shoes and lipstick) but it is the perfect size for me!

Doing a 10 night European cruise and I think I am bringing too many handbags. One is for port travel which is larger, two dinner bags (one dressy/sparkly and the other plain) and one larger bag that will have my port travel bag inside of it for the airplane to carry my kindle, etc.

 

What is everyone doing these days with trying to scale down?

I didn't carry a purse at all on my last cruise. I had brought one and it ended up left in the closet the entire time. I put my cell phone in a cover with a fastener that allowed me to hang it on my waistband. I only kept it with me because of a map app allowing me to utilize gps without data to find our way around.

I did use a tote for beach days just to make sure we kept track of our towels, sunscreen, and etc.

I'm probably on the odd end, though. For the last five years I've worked at a place that is very restrictive regarding what is allowed in or out of the facility. I've gotten really used to getting by without a handbag. Surprisingly enough apparently it is possible to get so a purse just seems like more trouble than it is worth. On previous cruises before I found the little waist hook phone case I used a cross body bag barely large enough to hold my phone and even that seemed like it was just weighing me down.

I have a leather backpack for port days where I need to carry more items, i.e., might need rain coat, or gloves for cold weather (we usually do Europe in off season/colder weather) DH & I also each have a small Bagalleni (sp?) cross body bag for port days... his is pretty small, about a 6 inch x 7 inch, at night I use as my ship bag with my cruise card, small hair brush, & some chap stick.

I have small carbiners that secure the zip to the handles of our bags, & my back pack is very secure, & has hidden pockets, in 6 trips to Europe, no pick pocketing yet :)