Packing question

We are soon to sail on our first cruise of more than 7 nights. We recently flew to Florida for a week on the beach and each had a suitcase weighing 49.99 lbs plus a carry-on. How do you pack for a cruise of 11 nights and keep the luggage under the weight limit when you have to pack formal clothes? Do you take an extra suitcase? Or do you pay the overweight bag fee? Which is cheaper?

For our last cruise involving 3 weeks in Europe, my one checked bag weighed 40 lbs. and my DW's 38 lbs. We each had small carry-ons. After a lost luggage experience on a previous HAL 12-day European cruise, we learned that we could get by on far less than what we had been packing.

I take one long skirt and enough fancier tops for the formal nights. At the table, no one sees that it's the same skirt. And I mix and match the rest of the clothing.

Also, we often do the laundry by the bag. One can stuff quite a bit into one of those small bags.

Our last cruise was 10 days plus 3 days' travel in advance. We had to keep it to one large suitcase each and one carry-on each as we were self-disembarking.

Except for DH's suit, and one formal outfit of mine that is quite heavy, we tend to stick to lighter-weight stuff. For example, I took 4 pairs of convertible, quick-dry nylon pants on our last cruise -- 4 pairs of them weigh less and take less space than one pair of jeans. I did take 3 evening bags and 3 pairs of "formal" shoes, along with 2 other pairs of shoes. Sweaters were cashmere or silk -- again, they pack small enough to nearly fit into a shoe, and weigh much less than a wool or cotton one. One thing that really helps me is that DH is fairly minimalist in his packing so I can usually get a bit of space in his suitcase.

Now when I purchase something for my cruise wardrobe, I always consider how much it weighs, and how small it can be scrunched down :) Last cruise, my checked bag weighed 38 lbs, and DH's weighed 42 lbs.

pack for a week (or less) and use the ship's laundry service. i've done 28 day cruises with one bag. i have to admit it took me a couple trips where i seriously overpacked before i figured it out.

When you went to the beach, did you wear all of your clothes? If you didn't, leave that amount out. If you did, then you wore to many. Wear everything at least twice. Wash underwear/socks in the bathroom sink. You can travel for a month on one weeks clothes and never offend anyone..

We are soon to sail on our first cruise of more than 7 nights. We recently flew to Florida for a week on the beach and each had a suitcase weighing 49.99 lbs plus a carry-on. How do you pack for a cruise of 11 nights and keep the luggage under the weight limit when you have to pack formal clothes? Do you take an extra suitcase? Or do you pay the overweight bag fee? Which is cheaper?

It is cheaper to pay for an extra bag than it is for an overweight one---much cheaper. Check on your airline's website and you will find the charges for both.

pack for a week (or less) and use the ship's laundry service. i've done 28 day cruises with one bag. i have to admit it took me a couple trips where i seriously overpacked before i figured it out.

I agree. Pack for 7 days at the most and use the ship's laundry. Have your husband bring one suit with two shirts. Have the shirts laundered on the ship. Bring only one - or two at the most - formal dresses/outfits for yourself and wear them twice. NO ONE WILL CARE and its very liberating to realize you can get by with much less. The only item I WOULD NOT skimp on is shoes. If your itinerary has a lot of sightseeing/walking bring two pairs of walking shoes/sandals, evening shoes and another pair of comfortable shoes.

If you search on this forum you will find lots of good suggestions for packing lists. My husband and I just did a 17 night cruise, with days before and after, with one checked bag that weighed 40 lbs and one rolling carry on each.

We take quick dry clothing that can be rinsed in the sink and dries overnight. I take one pair of black dressy pants and multiple mix and match tops. My husband takes one sport jacket and one pair of black pants and mixes with shirts.

And we take very little footwear. My husband wore sneakers, packed loafers and dress shoes. I wore sneakers, packed sandals and dress sandals.

As I have posted before .... On our very first cruise we traveled with seven (yes 7) suitcases for an 11 day cruise. :eek: Thankfully we drove to the port. By day #3 I couldn't remember what I wore when or if I had worn it yet! We have learned to cut way down. And we have learned that laundry service is your friend. My suggestion would be you and your DH each have one large suitcase under 50# and one carry-on. Keep taking things out until what you absolutely must have fits.

Regardless of the length of the cruise I usually pack enough clothing for 5 days worth of daytime wear and 5 evenings of Smart Casual wear. I expect to send clothing out to wash/dry clean during the cruise.

The only thing that changes from cruise to cruise is what I pack for the Formal Nights. For just 2 Formal Nights on the average 7-day cruise I bring a Tuxedo, 1 Tux shirt, 1 bow-tie and cummerbund. For 3+ Formal Nights I bring an additional jacket (Nehru or White Dinner ... both for 6 formal nights) and an additional tie/cummerbund/vest for every 2 additional Formal Nights. Since my cruises tend to be 10+ days with 3+ formal nights, I usually pack 2 check-in pieces of luggage.

If I was trying to limit my luggage -- i.e., 1 bag on an 11 day cruise -- I would forego the Tuxedo and wear a jacket with slacks for the flight to and from the ship. (I usually do this anyway because it's a good way to get a jacket to the ship for Smart Casual Night wear.) In my bag, in addition to my 5 days worth of daytime and Smart Casual Evening wear, I would bring a couple of white dress shirts and a couple of ties.

Last year we did an escorted tour and we were only allowed 1 bag plus a carry on. We were away for 20 days! We packed about 25lbs and then just bought extra t shirts along the way. I made sure the t shirts that i did bring were thin and dried easily and often washed them in sink in my room.

I didnt count how many times I wore my close i just did the S&S test. Sight and Sniff. If they looked clean and no spills on them and if they didnt smell then i got to wear them again :D

However at the end of our tour we spent a few days in new york and bought an extra suitcase but we did have a 2 bag allowance for our trip home so that helped. I love buying gifts ie junk for my self and everyone back home which is why i packed about half of what i needed

I am a classic overpacker. It is probably because I am what I like to refer to as a "mood dresser". I find it difficult to plan what to wear in advance, and feel far more comfortable if I can stand at my wardrobe and pick from a nice range, lol. Having said that, I have found that it is not so much the volume clothes and shoes that increase the weight limit, but all the "other things" that I pack. I wear lightweight clothing layers, and sandals and thongs take up little space and weight. I do have trouble weeding out the unecessary stuff. Even when I start packing a week before, I just can't work out what I "need" versus what I might "want".

Our previous cruises have been to the South Pacific, so I brought along plenty of sunscreen and my special light weight snorkelling gear, but it still adds 2-3kgs to my luggage (5-6lbs). My hair straightener is quite heavy, and even travel sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, etc add to the weight. (I have my hair professionally coloured, so I prefer not to use the ships shampoo or conditioner). Don't get me started on the myriad of chargers I seem to need! My macbook, ipad, ipod, ebook reader, mobile phone and camera chargers plus Aus/US plug converter can take up a whole suitcase in themselves, lol. I think the "items other than clothing" easily accounts for 50% or more of my luggage weight.

Our domestic airline of choice limits us to 1 piece of checked luggage, no larger than 140cm, weighing no more than 23kg, and I alwys keep to that limit, but sometimes on the way home, my husband has a few additions to his suitcase ;).

We try to limit our packing to one bag each, but it doesn't always work :rolleyes:

I don't like any of the bags too heavy as that way we have lots of room for our souvenirs and stuff that I know dh will buy.

I'd rather pay a fee for an extra bag than be faced with an overweight bag fee which is very expensive! We have a bag that folds up to nothing. If i can get away with one bag each, I pack it so that if we need another bag on the way home, we have it.

Laundry on the ship is our solution :D

we take 2 large suitcases each and 1 small carry-on each

We learned to pack reasonably light. We each get one medium suitcase and one carry-on. We take advantage of laundry services. We have been gone up to 24 days with this much luggage.

Kirk

we have found that the space saver travel bags work really great for our underwear, socks etc. that is doesn't matter if they are wrinkled. I limit myself to 3 pairs of everyday pants, 2 pairs of capris (4 pairs pants if Alaska) and then mix and match tops for 5 days (layers if need coverups), 1 pair of dress shoes, one pair of walking shoes, a pair of sandals(for me) and one pair of comfort shoes (usually wear on plane). Evening wear is one pair of nice black palazzo pants (they don't wrinkle when rolled up small), silky shells and pashmina shawls (also roll up really small). DH packs two pair jeans, 2 pair dockers 1 dress pair of slacks, his jacket and two dress shirts. The toiletries usually weigh almost as much as the clothes. We have also discovered our best friend on board - SHIPS LAUNDRY. We try to fit each of our wardrobes into the carry ons and the tote(large). But to guarantee that we have extra room for gifts and etc, we then put one of the carry ons into the large suitcase and check it.

Since we fly Soutwest as much as possible, the checked bag flys for free. When we come home - the clothing goes into the large suitcase and gifts etc go into the carry on. Going we have three carry ones between the two of us and the check one - going home, the large checked one and two carry ons apiece. It works for us.:)

Prior Cruises:

Alaska - Westerdam - September 2009

Alaska - Rotterdam - September 2010

Shoes and formalwear tend to be the biggest space culprits. I still struggle with the shoe thing, but the best rule is that any pairs deemed "extra" or "just in case" should be an extra pair of walking shoes, not an extra pair of evening shoes. Wear your bulkiest/heaviest shoes on the plane.

Except for a change of ties for my husband, we wear the same thing every formal night (including the same bag, shoes and jewelry for me) and simply don't worry about it. I really don't mind if people notice that they've seen me in that outfit two or three times -- it's just not important to me, and they see me in my various daywear and smart casual evening outfits at least that many times. ;)

Agree with a poster above that quick-dry pants are a lifesaver. We tend to be very active in port, often hiking or doing other high-energy things, and these fabrics are great for those days. Lots of dressy pants and skirts are quick-dry as well, particularly things in jersey, and they weigh next to nothing.

Consider checking out stores that specialize in lightweight travel clothing, like Travelsmith, Chicos or J. Jill. The J. Jill Wearever collection is awesome.

The very best determinant for how heavily you'll pack is deciding whether you're cruising primarily to see and be seen, or to see the world. If you're in the latter category, you'll get away with much less and still look quite presentable.

we have found that the space saver travel bags work really great for our underwear, socks etc. that is doesn't matter if they are wrinkled.

Where do you buy those (other than Wal-Mart, which I won't patronize)? Thanks in advance.

Where do you buy those (other than Wal-Mart, which I won't patronize)? Thanks in advance.

You can find a few at Target - but depends on your local store. I found ours on line at Amazon.com. Amazon had the largest selection at the cheapest price. My DH was a big "doubting Thomas" but after our first cruise, he became a true believer. :D

Many thanks, Okie.

I find it helpful to build a packing list, and then stick to it while packing. It really does work to keep one from over-packing clothing that one really won't wear. Yes, on occasion I've found myself wishing I had packed some specific item, but for the most part I'm usually just fine with what's on the following list.

This was my packing list for my 18-day Rome-Ft. Lauderdale cruise aboard the Rotterdam in November 2009. In addition to the cruise, I had 4-days worth of touring before boarding the ship. This coming October I'll pack more-or-less the same for a nearly identical cruise from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale aboard the Noordam.

RevNeal's Packing List for Rome/ Transatlantic

18 days on ship, 4 days pre-cruise in Rome, 2 days transit

Formal Clothing: 4 nights

1 Tuxedo

1 Tux shirt

1 Cummerbund, black bow tie, studs, cufflinks,

1 Formal vest (matching the black bow tie)

1 Nehru jacket

1 Clerical neckband shirt + collar

1 Pair Black Dress Shoes

Smart Casual Evening Wear: 14 nights

5 Shirts (silk, print, & button-down)

1 Clerical shirt (tab collar)

2 pair dress slacks (1 grey, 1 black)

1 pair slip-on brown dress shoes

Daytime Wear / Ship and Shore / Rome

5 shirts (assorted colors and types)

1 pair of kakis

1 pair of shorts

Other Clothing Items:

Workout wear / Sleep Wear

2 pair gym shorts

3 gym t-shirts

3 pair white socks

1 swim suit

9 pair of underwear

5 undershirts

3 pair compression socks

1 hat (damship)

1 pair Sandals

Worn In Transit:

1 sports jacket (grey)

1 pair kaki slacks

1 belt

1 polo shirt

1 pair of underwear

1 pair of compression socks

1 pair of brown casual/walking shoes

1 watch (casual)

Stuff:

1 watch (formal)

Collapsible Laundry Basket

Spare pare of glasses and glasses tool / cleaner and cloth

Umbrella

Rain Poncho

Toiletry Items

Medical supplies (sinus, headache, toothache, etc)

iPod and iPhone with charger

Laptop

Digital Camera with accessories (charger, cables, etc)

Book or two to read.

Travel Documents including Passport

Money and Monetary Instruments

***

If luggage weight were not an issue I could have packed all of this into my large (28 inch) upright rolling bag. The bag has a suiter built into it which holds the Tux, Nehru, formal shirts, and other such which needs to hang without any problem. Everything else fits either inside the bag or in my carry-on. However, when I do this the checked-bag ends up being between 75-80 pounds. Since I'm an American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum passenger I get to check two bags without any additional charge, and so I usually take a second bag rather than pay for an overweight bag.

All the hanging things -- tuxedo, formal shirts, smart casual night shirts, heavy dress shoes, etc -- all fit well into my non-rolling Travel-Pro Platinum 6 Deluxe Garment bag and mass up to about 35-40 pounds (total). This bag hangs onto the front of my upright 26 inch Travel-Pro Crew 6 rolling bag making maneuvering around an airport easy. Everything else fits well into the upright rolling bag up to about 45 pounds, with the exception of those items that I take with me into the cabin of the airplane (computer, ipod, watches, a change of underwear and shirt). I even have a little extra space in the checked luggage for purchased items while on the cruise.

The real problems come with multiple environments (cold and warm) on the same cruise. Packing a heavy coat and a sweater or two for cold-weather cruises can be demanding on the above plan, but that's where space-bags come in handy.

You can find a few at Target - but depends on your local store. I found ours on line at Amazon.com. Amazon had the largest selection at the cheapest price. My DH was a big "doubting Thomas" but after our first cruise, he became a true believer. :D

Forgot to add - be sure to get the bags that are the roll up type. If you don't the vacuum ones are kind of hard to close when you are on board.:D

After 16 cruises, one of which was 19 days long, we're down to one 21" suitcase into which we both pack, and two small carry-ons. DH packs grey slacks and a black microfiber blazer for formal nights, I take several pair of Travelers lightweight pants with different scrunchable tops, two very light long jersey dresses in solid colors for "fancy" which I dress up with jewelry, light wraps etc. 3 pairs of shoes, max., even for 3 weeks, i.e. two pairs of walking shoes, one black pair of dancing/ dressy shoes. Microfiber underwear which washes easily and dries quickly. One last thing, a sweater that goes with everything, since most ships are over-air conditioned, i.e. to me at least, freezing.

Forgot to add - be sure to get the bags that are the roll up type. If you don't the vacuum ones are kind of hard to close when you are on board.:D

It's not just my sunny nature that compels me to befriend my stewards on each cruise! ;)