Packing in Carry on Only

Several years ago, we bought a large suitcase on a turnaround day in Civitavecchia (Rome). Much larger than airline carry-on size. (We had bought so many souvenirs during the first part of the cruise and still had a few weeks to go so we really needed it!). We carried it around with us for a few hours, and took pictures with it visiting the sights ... Of course it was empty when we returned to the ship, but there was no problem getting it through security when we reboarded. It went right through on the belt.

 

Maybe the xray machines are larger in some countries than here in the US?

I read somewhere (may have been on the Cruise Air forums) that the airlines have shrunk their scanning machines to fit their carry on requirements, while the cruise ship terminals have not, so that bags larger than the airline standard will fit. I confess that I haven't paid attention to the size, but it's the height and width of the bag that will get you, not the length.

I have in the past seen people with too-large bags opening them for security to search, but they weren't directed back to check them (this was in LA), and I have seen people with airline carry-on bags being bullied into checking them because they were "too large" (Port Canaveral, where I suspect that porters were bribing personnel to do that - it was pretty ugly). But both of those incidents were about 5 years ago, so it could be that times have changed.

Today I purchused packing cubes for my clothing and rolled them into neat little balls, and I was able to fit all my clothing in about half of one side of my carry on which was an accomplishment!!!! I went though my clothes and chose things I could mix and match for day and night which worked well. I packed 4 pairs of shorts that I can wear with multiple things... This might not be as bad as I though....I just need to find out if the hair dryers on the Breeze is full size... My dryer takes up so much room, but the travel sizes tend to eat my hair. My husband normally ends up cutting my hair out of them.

they don't let you take hair driers on board, or irons, confiscated at boarding! supplied ones are quite reasonable.

they don't let you take hair driers on board, or irons, confiscated at boarding! supplied ones are quite reasonable.

What cruise line confiscates hair dryers?

they don't let you take hair driers on board, or irons, confiscated at boarding! supplied ones are quite reasonable.

I take my hair dryer on every cruise, never had it questioned & don't expect I ever will, same with a curling iron

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I don't use a dryer but I have never, ever heard of anyone having their

hair dryer confiscated.:eek:.......actually I know plenty of gals who bring

their own.....the cruiseline doesn't care about hair dryers.

they don't let you take hair driers on board, or irons, confiscated at boarding! supplied ones are quite reasonable.

This is not accurate. Have always taken a dryer, curling/flat iron. Never a problem. On board dryers are very basic. It would take two hours to dry my hair with one of those things and forget trying to straighten.

I love my packing cubes. The only thing is if you need to go straight to the ship how do you pack your sunscreen? I really think that would be my deal breaker.

We are buying our sunscreen, shampoo, etc when we arrive in our port city at a local drugstore. We are going carry-on also. I figure whatever we don't use for the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, we can just throw out.

I read somewhere (may have been on the Cruise Air forums) that the airlines have shrunk their scanning machines to fit their carry on requirements, while the cruise ship terminals have not, so that bags larger than the airline standard will fit. I confess that I haven't paid attention to the size, but it's the height and width of the bag that will get you, not the length.

 

I have in the past seen people with too-large bags opening them for security to search, but they weren't directed back to check them (this was in LA), and I have seen people with airline carry-on bags being bullied into checking them because they were "too large" (Port Canaveral, where I suspect that porters were bribing personnel to do that - it was pretty ugly). But both of those incidents were about 5 years ago, so it could be that times have changed.

Going by Carnival's measurements, carryons can be no larger than 16 x 24 x whatever. A golf bag would work but not a 24x24x24 box.

They do not like large carryons because it clogs up the 'system' onboard and the porters need their tips, lol.

Help!

Need to be reformed! lol

Just came off a 15day HI cruise and we did not pack light, for us. (hangs head in shame).

Brought with us a 26", 24", 24" carryon and three other (computer/camera/tote) bags. Heard rumors about one gal who brought on 9 bags!

Problems started with our snorkle gear, complete with fins. Didn't want to hand carry those so we brought our larger suitcase, they only fit into the 26" case.

Because we had the extra room we overpacked clothes and brought some full size toiletries. We did laundry twice onboard.

At least we had room for souvenirs and crafts made onboard.

DH did better than me. I brought 6 pair of pants (shorts, capris, long) and ended up wearing only three of them. Still had a few tops unworn. DH never worked out. His sneakers were intergrated into a towel animal on Halloween for our room steward.:p I brought my costume, it's only a TShirt, but it's still another thing to pack.

Other problem was we drove to port, didn't have to worry about luggage fees or lost luggage.

Lesson learned-- This just confirms that I'll pack to the size of my suitcase. Solution is to choose a smaller suitcase. YMMV

Help!

Need to be reformed! lol

 

Just came off a 15day HI cruise and we did not pack light, for us. (hangs head in shame).

Brought with us a 26", 24", 24" carryon and three other (computer/camera/tote) bags. Heard rumors about one gal who brought on 9 bags!

 

Problems started with our snorkle gear, complete with fins. Didn't want to hand carry those so we brought our larger suitcase, they only fit into the 26" case.

Because we had the extra room we overpacked clothes and brought some full size toiletries. We did laundry twice onboard.

At least we had room for souvenirs and crafts made onboard.

 

DH did better than me. I brought 6 pair of pants (shorts, capris, long) and ended up wearing only three of them. Still had a few tops unworn. DH never worked out. His sneakers were intergrated into a towel animal on Halloween for our room steward.:p I brought my costume, it's only a TShirt, but it's still another thing to pack.

 

Other problem was we drove to port, didn't have to worry about luggage fees or lost luggage.

 

Lesson learned-- This just confirms that I'll pack to the size of my suitcase. Solution is to choose a smaller suitcase. YMMV

Next time check out Snorkel Bob's - they have stores on most of the islands and you can rent from one and return to another one weekly or longer basis. This assumes that you'll be renting a car to get there easily (although you could also take a cab to most of their locations). Their equipment is top notch and I think that they even have masks with magnifiers, which I need when I have my underwater camera.

If you're driving to port, what difference does it make if you bring the kitchen sink, lol? I packed more outfits (as opposed to mix & match) for our recent 3-nighter out of POLA than I took to Italy. I still had a 22" bag and a tote, but the bag was expanded. I wore everything that I brought and wore the long black pants all three nights, since I was able to avoid spilling. And it's only 3 days of clothing to wash.:)

Actually, it was 5. I forgot the pair I wore on the plane. Yes, I washed them every day. They are the Ex-Officio brand that dry in the blink of an eye.

So, I have stocked my DH up with 2 Ex Officio T shirts & 4 briefs and I am thinking about the cami & bra for myself. The fabric is the bomb! Have you ever tried the ex officio bra? Where to purchase? I am thinking it would be perfect to wear on the overnight flight to Amsterdam and the cami for pj top with leggings.

So, I have stocked my DH up with 2 Ex Officio T shirts & 4 briefs and I am thinking about the cami & bra for myself. The fabric is the bomb! Have you ever tried the ex officio bra? Where to purchase? I am thinking it would be perfect to wear on the overnight flight to Amsterdam and the cami for pj top with leggings.

I'm a tad too large up top to use the EO bra:(. So, I can't help you there. But, reading the on-line description of the bra, it sounds like it is the same material used as on the panties. That diamond mesh is indeed extremely comfy. My cami and sleep jammers (land just above the knee - no longer offered) are the same material.

You say you are in the SE USA - if there is an REI store nearby, check it out. My local REI has EO stuff. Or, just buy from their website. I've found their sizing to be pretty right-on.

Love EO brand, buy at REI too. Wish they'd make the EO bra for "normal" sized folks!

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Since this topic seems to be getting a lot of interest, I thought I'd share my experience of packing for 10 days with just a 20" spinner. The brand is Ricardo and I purchased it at Costco for about $50. I used packing cubes as well to organize and help compress. We had an 8 day cruise out of NY and ending in San Juan, spending an extra two days there post cruise.

My embarkation outfit was black jeans & black & white striped sweater which I also wore on the return home. I wore sketcher type ballet flats instead of sneakers, so I didn't need to pack those. Elegant night, I wore a LBD with gold strappy sandals & gold jewelry. The shoes also worked with just about all my other dresses. The second elegant evening I wore a maxi dress and I brought and wore three other dresses, mostly jersey knit material. I brought one pair of capris and two dress tops. For daytime I had three pairs of shorts and three tops, three bathing suits and one coverup. I also had two thin sundresses which I wore over a bathing suit. ( I could have used one more coverup instead of the third pair of shorts which I never wore.) I brought water shoes, flip flops, and another pair of sandals that went with shorts or dresses. Add underwear, one nightie, some jewelry and toiletries, and I had room left in the case for souvenirs. I carried a small wristlet which I used throughout the cruise. I had enough options and no heavy luggage!

So, I have stocked my DH up with 2 Ex Officio T shirts & 4 briefs and I am thinking about the cami & bra for myself. The fabric is the bomb! Have you ever tried the ex officio bra? Where to purchase? I am thinking it would be perfect to wear on the overnight flight to Amsterdam and the cami for pj top with leggings.

I haven't tried it. I need some support, and it looks like it doesn't have any. I have some Wacoal bras that dry quickly, give me support and are comfortable. I can always find them on sale, either at Nordstrom.com or Ideel.:)

One problem that DH had with the EO T shirts was that the sleeves were too long - when he wore his short sleeved polo shirts, they showed underneath. He had some cotton T-shirts that he wore for that, but they don't dry well, so he got caught a couple of times with his undies showing.

Since this topic seems to be getting a lot of interest, I thought I'd share my experience of packing for 10 days with just a 20" spinner. The brand is Ricardo and I purchased it at Costco for about $50. I used packing cubes as well to organize and help compress. We had an 8 day cruise out of NY and ending in San Juan, spending an extra two days there post cruise.

My embarkation outfit was black jeans & black & white striped sweater which I also wore on the return home. I wore sketcher type ballet flats instead of sneakers, so I didn't need to pack those. Elegant night, I wore a LBD with gold strappy sandals & gold jewelry. The shoes also worked with just about all my other dresses. The second elegant evening I wore a maxi dress and I brought and wore three other dresses, mostly jersey knit material. I brought one pair of capris and two dress tops. For daytime I had three pairs of shorts and three tops, three bathing suits and one coverup. I also had two thin sundresses which I wore over a bathing suit. ( I could have used one more coverup instead of the third pair of shorts which I never wore.) I brought water shoes, flip flops, and another pair of sandals that went with shorts or dresses. Add underwear, one nightie, some jewelry and toiletries, and I had room left in the case for souvenirs. I carried a small wristlet which I used throughout the cruise. I had enough options and no heavy luggage!

Surrealistic, THIS, yes, THIS is what I'm talking about! You, go, girl. I think planning the travel capsule wardrobe to accomplish this is the ticket! Have you had a look at http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/app.template , this is a great little template to put together a coordinated travel wardrobe.

I usually use the compression bags, but I am interested in the packing cubes and wonder if they create more space or simply keep you organized?

So glad you had a great trip without a ton of unnecessary luggage! :)

I haven't tried it. I need some support, and it looks like it doesn't have any. I have some Wacoal bras that dry quickly, give me support and are comfortable. I can always find them on sale, either at Nordstrom.com or Ideel.:)

 

One problem that DH had with the EO T shirts was that the sleeves were too long - when he wore his short sleeved polo shirts, they showed underneath. He had some cotton T-shirts that he wore for that, but they don't dry well, so he got caught a couple of times with his undies showing.

Yep, I need support for the girls, and after looking at the EO & reading the reviews, I probably will opt for a traditional sports bra for the long flight. The little crisscross front looks cute on the model, but in real life....hmmmm, might be a different story. :eek: Gotta love Wacoal :) and I have a few Soma bras that are nice.

Amazon had the men's EO Tshirts on sale, my DH will sometimes wear a V neck which I think is now discontinued, so I found that one for a bargain. And no, he is not gonna like the sleeves hanging out, so we will need to check that. :confused: Thanks for the heads up.

This is not accurate. Have always taken a dryer, curling/flat iron. Never a problem. On board dryers are very basic. It would take two hours to dry my hair with one of those things and forget trying to straighten.

That depends on the cruise line. I have had some that were pretty weak, but I've had a couple that were 1650 watts with an ionizer that were as powerful as what I have at home.

That depends on the cruise line. I have had some that were pretty weak, but I've had a couple that were 1650 watts with an ionizer that were as powerful as what I have at home.

Can anyone comment on NCL's Epic hair dryers? How many watts?

I don't want to overpack, but.......

According to the WWW I should be able to take 16 articles of clothing and spin them into 40 great outfits.

Ouch! My brain hurts, I think I'm having a seizure or maybe it's just some kind of withdraw?

I'm leaving in 3 days and I've collected my stuff in the spare bedroom, I'm afraid to actually try to put it into any kind of suitcase!

Can I just pay someone to do this for me?

Mary

I don't want to overpack, but.......

According to the WWW I should be able to take 16 articles of clothing and spin them into 40 great outfits.

Ouch! My brain hurts, I think I'm having a seizure or maybe it's just some kind of withdraw?

 

I'm leaving in 3 days and I've collected my stuff in the spare bedroom, I'm afraid to actually try to put it into any kind of suitcase!

 

Can I just pay someone to do this for me?

 

Mary

How many days techically are you going for the cruise? Because that sounds great for 20-40 day one. :)

My cruise is for only 5 nights.

That's 1 formal, & 1 night at Portofinos

2 bathing suits

2 shorts

1 jeans

2 or 3 sweaters

2 button down shirts

6 tees

1 casual maxi skirt

2 semi casual maxi dresses

1 pr Sandals (flats)

Tennis shoes

Flip flops

Black fancy pumps

Neutral strappy sandals

Shoes don't really count, right?

My cruise is for only 5 nights.

That's 1 formal, & 1 night at Portofinos

2 bathing suits

2 shorts

1 jeans

2 or 3 sweaters

2 button down shirts

6 tees

1 casual maxi skirt

2 semi casual maxi dresses

1 pr Sandals (flats)

Tennis shoes

Flip flops

Black fancy pumps

Neutral strappy sandals

 

Shoes don't really count, right?

That's fine, may only need 2 sweaters at most (i brought 3 and only used 2 for a 8 day trip). You're good to go just remember to pack your undies. :o

Edit: Believe it or not, you're probably going to be wearing 2 outfits a day if you plan to go swimming / beach / sundeck / tiring excursion.

I've conquered my closet demon! He's such a bas.......!:D

Thanks!

Haha, loved this thread. I am packing for a 21 day cruise, 25 days gone, in one carry on. I already packed and still have room. I plan on doing some handwashing (even packed a wash tub) everynight. We are going to Europe in Feb and it will probably be cold, so I am just layering everything. 4 pants, 2 shoes, 9 tops, 3 sweaters, pjs, undies, 3 bras, 8 socks. Different jewerly, scarfs, etc. I am happy we decided on carryon. Our luggage won't get lost, we will start our trip when we land instead of waiting for luggage. The bags won't get torn and ruined. I feel free. We are not going to do formal nights, just eat in the buffet.

Our last cruise we were on a 9 day and realized I hardly wore anything I took. The take it "just in case" thing is overrated. I am so happy to just take a few things,I will be able to go on trains or public transit without the hassle.

When I was younger, I traveled in Europe for a month with one small(very small) suitcase and I was fine. So now that I am older I think, how have things changed? And my answer is not much, so simple is better for me. Thanks for posting this thread!!