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Lining your suitcases with plastic?


geocruiser
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I use packing bags, but they are plastic on one side, & breathable mesh on the other, so they are not water proof.

 

I have walked with my suitcase through some pretty heavy rain, quite a few times & never had the inside get wet, my luggage is Timberland & I think it's made of heavy duty poly fabric.

 

I guess if someone's luggage was literally dropped in the ocean, everything would be wet, but otherwise, it's not something I would worry about. Even if my stuff did get wet, I could just hang it out to dry, I don't have anything that would be ruined by water.

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Plastic is good not not for the rain but also protection against oil. Port of New Orleans (Carnival Elation) had an incident a few years ago where oil sprayed all over luggage being loaded. Anything touched by oil had to be tossed.

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Plastic is good not not for the rain but also protection against oil. Port of New Orleans (Carnival Elation) had an incident a few years ago where oil sprayed all over luggage being loaded. Anything touched by oil had to be tossed.

 

Yikes!

 

I always have a bag we carry on ourselves that we could get by with for weeks if we had to. Last cruise, we carried on our luggage... I probably will do that next cruise too, no worrying about when it will get to our cabin, since we only take carry on, there's really no reason for us to check it at the port... our bags fit through the scanners just fine, & even though cabins weren't ready, a steward let us in just to drop our bags off, this will be my new go to plan. :)

 

Yes, stuff could still happen to our clothes/luggage, but it's not like we couldn't just buy new things along the way... I try to pack/plan for best case scenario, & then readjust... didn't pack a warm hat or coat last year, so I got to buy a beanie in Venice & a coat in Paris, best souvenirs ever. :)

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Plastic is good not not for the rain but also protection against oil. Port of New Orleans (Carnival Elation) had an incident a few years ago where oil sprayed all over luggage being loaded. Anything touched by oil had to be tossed.

 

That is a mess. I wonder how the cleaned the suit cases.

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Glad I came upon this thread. I have decided to line the suitcase with a large garbage bag.

 

Since a few mentioned packing tips, I purchased a pack or 10 cheap shower caps and use them for my shoes. Since I also actually use shower cap I purchased a pack of yellow caps for the shoes so I know the clear (that I usually get in a hotel or on board) are for may hair.

 

Thanks for the plastic bag tip.

 

M

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I always lay have a large trash bag or two along, plus some zip lock bags of various sizes, but usually only use them to go home--to put dirty clothes in.

 

I've never had my clothes get wet, but it is a good idea to use the trash bags, just in case. Might try that next time.

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Hi

 

I was very happy to see this thread. When I told people how I packed most thought I was nuts.

 

I use the big black garbage bags. One on the bottom of the suitcase and then one on the top of the items after it's packed. I don't get crazy tucking in all the edges perfectly but it's a barrier against rain/snow/etc.

 

I also pack all the shoes in plastic bags (usually the ones from the grocery store) but I like the suggestion of the newspaper delivery sleeves and may try that next time.

 

All my toiletries are packed in zip locs. All those zip locs then go into a bigger thick plastic toiletry holder. That big toiletry holder is then put in it's own plastic bag before being packed in the suitcase.

 

I used to pack clothes in the big giant ziplocs but found I can get more in the suitcase by rolling and not using the big ziplocs so now just line the suitcase with the garbage bags.

 

Since I'm not afraid to admit I'm an overpacker, I use a decent amount of garbage bags to line all our suitcases :)

 

I was very happy I did this on our recent cruise on Quantum - leaving from NJ in February on a day where it snowed when we left our house in Northern NJ, then turned to sleet and freezing rain by the time we got to Bayonne NJ. Several people at dinner mentioned they had a lot of wet things when they unpacked their suitcases because the cases sometimes sat outside for a bit before being loaded to the ship.

 

Noreen

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I never would have thought of doing this but will now. DH and I watched several suitcases fall into the water while they were being loaded on one of our cruises. Luckily they were picked up quickly but still what a horrible thing to happen. I always wondered if the clothes smelled fishy. lol

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I never would have thought of doing this but will now. DH and I watched several suitcases fall into the water while they were being loaded on one of our cruises. Luckily they were picked up quickly but still what a horrible thing to happen. I always wondered if the clothes smelled fishy. lol

 

One would hope those clothes went for laundering or dry cleaning before they were worn.

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I never would have thought of doing this but will now. DH and I watched several suitcases fall into the water while they were being loaded on one of our cruises. Luckily they were picked up quickly but still what a horrible thing to happen. I always wondered if the clothes smelled fishy. lol

 

 

I also saw that happen years ago, when they loaded them on pallets and were lifted by crane on to the ship. Right into the water. Divers went down to get them.

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Does any one else line their suitcases with plastic? I line the inside of mine with large plastic garbage bags. One on the bottom and one on top, then tuck it down the sides. I started doing this after I saw luggage being loaded onto a ship with liquid dripping out of one of the bags. Maybe , water, soda or booze. So, that is when I decided to line my bags. My luggage seem water proof, but the lining has a zipper in it and I was afraid that a liquid could drip in.

 

PS

Then I used the bags for dirty clothes.

 

I have never thought of doing that, but I may start. Your post reminds me of what happened to my husbands buddy and his wife. They were coming back from a cruise to Jamaica, and on the way back someone had put a couple of bottles of sweet, sticky liquer in their luggage. The bottles must have bumped in transit because they ended up breaking, and our friends luggage as well as several other peoples ended up all messy and sticky from the deluge of sweet liquer - the offending bag must have been on top and leaked down onto the bags below. They had to try to clean up the outside of their luggage between getting off the ship and onto a plane home. From what they say it was really quite a mess. Not typical, but sometimes stuff happens when you are travelling.

 

Lorie

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On the roll call a few years ago, someone suggested the plastic bags, and I went Hmmmm. Sounds like a good idea. Besides packing items in it, the plastic can also be useful for other things. Soooo, when packing for our trip, I used two, actually, trash bags, one for the shoes, and the other I opened, placed in the suitcase, filled with my clothes and twist tied it for extra protection.

 

Wouldn't you know it, the day we sailed, we got a rain/snow storm you wouldn't believe. Our luggage sat in those bins on the dock for, I have to say, hours, our luggage must have (luckily)been a few rows down because the sides of our luggage was soaking wet, but the contents were dry. We had to leave the luggage in the closet open for a couple of days to dry out.

 

So now plastic bags are a must when we travel

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Good you chose to use that tip. :)

Happy your clothes were dry and wearable.

 

How was your cruise?

 

Isn't every cruise "wonderful"!!!! No cooking, cleaning, just deciding where to eat. Life on a cruise ship...........Ahhhhhhh

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