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First Cruise With Just Carry-on's


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Thought I would give it a shot. Have read over and over again how easy it is and with the cost of checking in luggage, I decided it may be worth it.

I am a clothes/shoe whore, normally, but took the advice of the mix and match with neutral colors. Went from 8 to 3 pairs of shoes (wearing one pair of them).

Painstakingly gathered my wardrobe and was pleasantly surprised that I could down-size to a carry-on and a duffle bag.

Would I do it again? NEVER. In the Caribbean, you SWEAT. Putting on an outfit for the second time, well, lets just say I have never felt so disgusting in my whole life. Reading a tip of wearing black because "stains" won't show, was probably the worst tip. Maybe the stains won't show, but black reflects the sun and YUCK. You are soaked in perspiration.

Perhaps people don't notice what you wear, which many people have stated here on CC, but I know how I FEEL in dirty, disgusting clothes.

I don't wear clothes at home for a second time without washing them, so why did I do it on an 11 day cruise after spending thousands of dollars?

Bottom line? Next time I will fork over the extra $50 bucks to bring real luggage to look and FEEL my best.

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Although I wouldn't go on a 11 day cruise with just a carry-on, I have reduced the number of clothes on long land trips. For me, the following works:

-no black in warm climates

-washable by hand and can be washed in commercial machines without damage

-none of the fabrics that start smelling in the first hour of wearing them

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We each have a suit case that will fit through the x-ray scanners getting on the ship (we drive from NC- never fly any more!). And I have a shoulder bag. Sometimes we check them, sometimes carry them on. We have done 15 day and B2B cruise with these two smaller suitcases. I will wash things 1st day of 2nd cruise when no one is doing wash then. However we are Diamond on Carnival so having them do our laundry, now for free, is what we do. I have the laundry hung when it comes back then it doesn't need to be pressed. Our underwear comes is a bag tied ON a hanger too!

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I try to pack light but most of my cruises are in Europe, not the Caribbean. I wonder if perhaps OP read some discussions that were more focused on European travel as black is very standard there. But I'd not recommend it for the Caribbean, nor would I wear a grubby shirt twice.... :eek:

 

Packing light is a personal choice -- it's clearly not for everyone. I usually combine a cruise with land travel (independently) so I am conscious of the need to be able to handle my own luggage on and off trains, through city streets to hotel, etc. Washing out a few things every so often isn't so onerous, but if it is, there's always the possibility of sending out laundry onboard, or some ships have self-service laundry areas.

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Packing light is definitely not for everyone, and I am sorry you had a bad experience. I am happy you were willing to give it a shot. Sounds like if you want it to work for you, tweaks are needed.

 

We hate the wasted time waiting on luggage after a flight and trying to lug massive or numerous bags around so we started carry on only about 12 years ago. Took us several tweaks before we found what would work for us. (Even had to go clothes shopping a time or two on a trip). Here’s what we do.....We travel with around 9 -11 changes of clothes for trips up to 6 months usually combining cruises, independent land travel and tours. Most clothes are not reworn before washing. We rewear things that go on top of other clothes, like sweatshirts, sweaters, etc. We do laundry about every 8-10 days and very rarely wash things in the sink. We have found on extended trips that we need a down day about once a week so we have a down day on laundry days (on a sea day on cruise ships or one night after dinner while everyone else is at a show one of us didn’t want to see). Works great for us, but I could see where it wouldn’t work for everyone. Oh, and we rarely travel with black or white clothes and every bottom can be worn with at least 2 other tops so we aren’t wearing the same outfits over and over - that would get very old.

 

 

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I try to pack light but most of my cruises are in Europe, not the Caribbean. I wonder if perhaps OP read some discussions that were more focused on European travel as black is very standard there. But I'd not recommend it for the Caribbean, nor would I wear a grubby shirt twice.... :eek:

 

Packing light is a personal choice -- it's clearly not for everyone. I usually combine a cruise with land travel (independently) so I am conscious of the need to be able to handle my own luggage on and off trains, through city streets to hotel, etc. Washing out a few things every so often isn't so onerous, but if it is, there's always the possibility of sending out laundry onboard, or some ships have self-service laundry areas.

You said this so well, particularly for solo travelers like myself. It goes beyond the cost of checking bags. It's being empowered to manage your bags wherever and to take advantage of much less costly transportation options. I'm off to Barcelona for a TA on Friday and I have all my clothes in rolling duffle carry on plus one handbag. It's really liberating to know I will be able to take the airport bus to my hotel and public/shuttle transportation to the ship.

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We have done 7-9 night cruises easily with just 1 carry-on each and one personal item. Even for longer cruises we do one cary-on each and only one checked bag for both of us...so 3 bags total. We occasionally do a wash/fold bag of laundry on the longer cruises, but not always. It just depends what you are comfortable with. :)

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We only do carry on since retiring. One week or two months. I pack four shirts, underwear. So does DW. Plus of course the clothes that we wear to travel. We don't have to wear things twice. Did this for two months of cruising and land travel in South/Central America. Will do the same in Jan when we leave for 2 months in SE Asia.

 

The big changes...we dress in layers. Light weight and easy care fabrics. Cut out all the shoes that only get worn a few times for a very short period. Never consider taking anything other than casual or smart casual-layered clothing. DW does not bother with all the cremes, lotions, etc.

 

Works for us but I can assure you that we wear clean clothes each and every day, and often change for dinner.

 

We tend to use something called a laundromat and, when on a ship, the ships laundry.

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I try to pack light but most of my cruises are in Europe, not the Caribbean. I wonder if perhaps OP read some discussions that were more focused on European travel as black is very standard there. But I'd not recommend it for the Caribbean, nor would I wear a grubby shirt twice.... :eek:

 

Packing light is a personal choice -- it's clearly not for everyone. I usually combine a cruise with land travel (independently) so I am conscious of the need to be able to handle my own luggage on and off trains, through city streets to hotel, etc. Washing out a few things every so often isn't so onerous, but if it is, there's always the possibility of sending out laundry onboard, or some ships have self-service laundry areas.

 

Absolutely! My travels are not those where I go just from home to car to airport to private car service to dock. I also travel solo and independently. Being able to be nimble is very important in my travels and I can't do that with one or two huge bags and whatever "carryon" and "personal item" I'd choose.

To the OP: I am sorry that you chose the incorrect wardrobe for your trip. Next time, try light-colored, coordinated clothes that work for the climate you are visiting. If you can't stand doing a little washing out or using a ship's laundry service, then you are most likely not a candidate for packing and traveling light.

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Like others who have responded, my reason for doing carry-on only is convenience and nimbleness, not saving money. Usually my frequent flyer status would allow me to check two bags without a fee anyway so doing carry-on doesn't save me anything there. In some cases, it may save on other transportation cost, e.g. being able to take the metro for a few bucks instead of a shuttle or taxi for $20 to $50. I'll take the metro in cities where it is convenient as it often is as pleasant or more pleasant to me than taking a taxi, especially when it means that I don't have to worry about traffic delays. But I take a taxi when the metro isn't easy.

 

It probably doesn't make sense if the goal is saving money on airline checked baggage fees as one may spend more on laundry than one saves on a bag fees. I'm not willing to spend vacation time doing laundry in the sink. (But for those who travel with three weeks of clothes, do you just put the dirty clothes in the bags and take them home dirty at the end of the trip? Letting dirty clothes sit for weeks before washing seems pretty yucky to me.)

 

I usually pack around 5-6 days of clothes in my carry-on. It doesn't matter whether I'm going for a week or a month. I don't wear shirts twice, other than I may change into a shirt for smart casual evening and then wear it the next day as my daytime shirt. Slacks or shorts can usually be worn for two days. Dressing up isn't my thing and I usually chose to cruise on lines where smart casual is always acceptable for dinner.

 

On Windstar, the laundry package for our 8-day cruise this spring was $109. We spent several days pre-cruise in Lisbon and several days in Barcelona at the end of the cruise so we arrived on ship with most of our clothes ready for the laundry and left with most of our clothes clean to get us through the rest of the trip. For Alaska this summer, Crystal laundry rooms are free to use. We used those during the trip. A couple of our hotels had self-service laundry facilities and we used those for the land portion of the trip, but I don't hesitate to pay for the hotel laundry service when self-service isn't convenient.

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There is often a huge misconception out there that those of us who travel with carry on only do so because of airline baggage fees.

 

Nothing could be further from truth. In fact, we could check a bag for no charge on many airlines.

 

We do it for convenience, for personal preference, and because we can each physically handle this amount of luggage very easily by ourselves. We travel frequently during the year. A twenty or fifty dollar bag fee does not even make it on the radar. The suggestions/comments can get a little silly at times.. We have even had people on this forum, from time to time, suggest that we buy clothes for formal evenings at charity shop if budget is the issue.

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There is often a huge misconception out there that those of us who travel with carry on only do so because of airline baggage fees.

 

Nothing could be further from truth. In fact, we could check a bag for no charge on many airlines.

 

We do it for convenience, for personal preference, and because we can each physically handle this amount of luggage very easily by ourselves. We travel frequently during the year. A twenty or fifty dollar bag fee does not even make it on the radar. The suggestions/comments can get a little silly at times.. We have even had people on this forum, from time to time, suggest that we buy clothes for formal evenings at charity shop if budget is the issue.

 

Agree also. I always have at least one bag free with my airline and alliance (NOT WN). On a trip where only one part of the itinerary calls for plane travel, I may check my carry on if I have a long connection time. Just because a bag is carryon size, it doesn't mean that you must carry it on ;) The budget thing makes me laugh, too. I don't do carry on because I can't afford more clothes. And, I love the implication made by some that we small-bag travelers are less, well, well-groomed, than those who take the large or multiple bags... That one always offends me.

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Wait, you were wearing dirty clothes because you did carry-on only? Oh dear....I think you might have gotten the wrong idea. The intention isn't to wear dirty, disgusting, stained, perspired in clothes, you're supposed to wash them, either by hand or in a machine...

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Because of our experience as to what is NEEDED and KNOWING we have access to launder-mat, we could do this for even 14 day cruise.

Long sleeve shirt and tie will let you fit in formal night, where people don't pay attention to shoes. A muted Hawaiian shirt will go on board or ashore etc..

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You said this so well, particularly for solo travelers like myself. It goes beyond the cost of checking bags. It's being empowered to manage your bags wherever and to take advantage of much less costly transportation options. I'm off to Barcelona for a TA on Friday and I have all my clothes in rolling duffle carry on plus one handbag. It's really liberating to know I will be able to take the airport bus to my hotel and public/shuttle transportation to the ship.

 

Of course it is desireable to be able to handle your own luggage - so we always travel light - one carry-on each and one shared checked bag - which is easy enough to handle without help. When away for two or more weeks, we simply like the convenience and flexibility of not limiting ourselves to what can be brought along in carry-on only.

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Another misconception that some people tend to make is they assume that switching to carry on only means that you leave 2/3, 3/4 whatever of the items you normally pack at home. And wave goodbye.

 

This just is not the case. The clothes that we take on carry on are selected specifically for that. Layered, easy care, light garments that can be worn in many different situations and environments. Same for footwear and toiletries. It really is a complete re-calibration of what travels with you. Not much different from when I traveled on business and bought suits and dress shirts that were extremely travel friendly/durable.

 

We have been doing this for five years now. Still, as we unpack from a trip, we review each item and think about how often we used/wore it, how uselful it was, and if we want something better, different, or should not bother with it again. Invariably we drop something out and replace it. Sometimes we do it while travelling if we are out for a few months.

 

Bottom line for us...it is more about what you take than what you leave at home. This is not for everyone. It suits us and it complements the way we travel.

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And, I love the implication made by some that we small-bag travelers are less, well, well-groomed, than those who take the large or multiple bags... That one always offends me.

 

 

This. I don't care enough to be offended, but it's always interesting at least. I was talking about traveling light in a forum once and someone actually accused me of re-wearing dirty underwear . What is wrong with people ? We love the freedom that comes with traveling light and we never run out of clean clothing or look like slobs ;p

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Our carry ons on not simply over the shoulder time bag or a small sports bag.

 

We both use an international carry on size 20 inch roller. In my case an Eagle Creek softside unit. 20 X 14 X 9. We try to keep the weight down to under 10Kg and in some cases where the limit is 7kg (some European and Asian carriers) we simply take a few heavier items our and put them in the one small daypack that I also carry.

 

It can be a challenge to get the right size/weight Wish we did not need wheels but we do. They add weight and take up room.. So many of the so called carry-ons sold in North America are the NA 21.5 carry on size and are can be quite heavy despite what the label says.

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