How soon do you start packing?

[TNM]

We have 3 1/2 weeks to go until my first cruise and I'm itching to start packing...or at least to "separate" some of the stuff i want to bring...can't throw it on the floor so might as well place it in the suitcase...right? :p I know my guy will tease me about being a "planner" as he has no problem packing the night before (the horrors! :eek:), whatever I'm excited lol! How soon does everyone start packing?

[golfadj]

We have 3 1/2 weeks to go until my first cruise and I'm itching to start packing...or at least to "separate" some of the stuff i want to bring...can't throw it on the floor so might as well place it in the suitcase...right? :p I know my guy will tease me about being a "planner" as he has no problem packing the night before (the horrors! :eek:), whatever I'm excited lol! How soon does everyone start packing?

 

We are platinum so have done it a few times. Pack the night before.

 

Will pretty much guarantee that you will take much to much.

[Raven Days]

6 Months ago.....:D

[bankerbabe]

I try to resist the urge to get the suitcases out as long as possible. That means I'm usually packing about a month in advance :)

[CruiserRose]

we pack the day/night before.

 

I lay everything out the day before, well at least all my clothes and the general items we need to pack(chargers, mega-cup, camera accessories, etc)

 

wife has a tradition of getting a big ole glass of wine and spending a couple hours packing it all away in our bags the night before.

 

then off to bed we go and up early to pack it in the car and head out.. i get chills thinking about it. we only have 50 something days left....

[kujobie]

We are platinum so have done it a few times. Pack the night before..

 

Ditto

[bplazo]

Well, I start about a month before the cruise and lay everything on the bed in the spare room. That way I can add or remove items and all I have to do is throw in the suitcase the night before.

[Tbay-eh]

I am also the night before packer - otherwise I will forget something and over pack. I do throw sundries (sun cream, aloe gel, ibruprophin, air freshner, dryer sheets etc) into a bowl on my dining room table as I think about them but otherwise the night before. but you are new and now is never too early but after you pack take out half of it and you will still have too much. Have a great time

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

2 weeks on averge

[pbxtech]

We leave Sunday, got suitcases down yesterday. Will set clothes and meds out this week and pack Saturday

[vfb2girls]

For our Alaskan land/cruise vacation I started packing about two weeks before we left but had bought clothes that I knew we would need throughout the year. For our Caribbean cruise we packed about three days before we left and with our upcoming cruise I will probably do the same thing. For us it is such a pain since we have to fly into ports and we usually vacation when there is snow on the ground here so we have to still carry winter stuff along with summer stuff. I am jealous of those who live so near port, if that was us we would cruise several times a year.:)

[kew1031]

I've had my "cruise clothes" (stuff I don't wear to work) ready and hanging in the closet for a few weeks. (I had to break one outfit out today to wear somewhere tonight, but that's ok.)

I have a large clear vinyl makeup/travel bag that has small travel size toiletries, etc. already filled up. Drop it in the carryon, along with my makeup bag and a couple of items that don't fit in the smaller bag, then it's done.

I have a list, mark items off with a highlighter, so I don't forget something vital.

I haven't actually starting packing a suitcase yet, but that's probably because the suitcase I'm going to use is at my daughter's apartment right now. She said she may be taking a short trip Labor Day weekend, but I don't think she'll need that big bag for that. I just have to run by her place and pick it up.

Last year, I had to make Halloween costumes, and buy a lot of stuff. This year, I already have the clothes I need and no costumes.

Also, last year, I had ALL my stuff done early, but spent the night before we left at the man friend's house, packing HIS bag.:rolleyes:

Will probably wind up doing the same thing this year. He HATES to pack, and he takes about 1/3 the clothes that I do. Sheesh!

[cruisejunkie5]

This usually depends on how long the cruise is and how many people I'm packing for. :o For a two week cruise with my DH and 3 kids, I started at least 3 weeks in advance. For a week cruise with just me and my DH, I start about 10 days in advance. For a weekend cruise with the girls, I'll start a week before.

 

I'm sure that all the people that post they pack the night before do just as good a job as I do but for me its part of the anticipation. I have fun planning outfits and it makes my countdown a little more fun.;)

 

You'll decide what your style is but whatever you do have fun with it...You are about to go on vacation.

[yogimax]

The night before.

[BoooBooKitEFk]

DD and I are leaving on the 16th for our cruise too. We are flying in the day before though. I have all my "cruise stuff" in a duffel bag that I keep in the back of the closet. Will probably start pulling clothes together in a week or so, or sooner if she gets her way! Really though, it shouldn't be that big of a deal since all the little "extras" are already put together. After that one, I'll probably just STAY packed since I have very little time in between my next two, and by that time there will be no need for warm weather clothes here in Minnesota. Good luck, and enjoy your cruise! :)

[Tbay-eh]

This usually depends on how long the cruise is and how many people I'm packing for. :o For a two week cruise with my DH and 3 kids, I started at least 3 weeks in advance. For a week cruise with just me and my DH, I start about 10 days in advance. For a weekend cruise with the girls, I'll start a week before.

 

I'm sure that all the people that post they pack the night before do just as good a job as I do but for me its part of the anticipation. I have fun planning outfits and it makes my countdown a little more fun.;)

 

You'll decide what your style is but whatever you do have fun with it...You are about to go on vacation.

 

I agree in some of it - it depends on how old the kids are. Once ours were 10 and older they were on their own - but they have packed for themselves for years. They forget it once they don't again - they pack it, they carry it so they have learned to pack lighter. I still will do the sundries but nothing else.

[ncovert]

Between 1 and 2 weeks before for me, my wife packs the night before. Works out well for both of us.

[tef43]

How soon does everyone start packing?

The night before at the earliest, but not usually until the morning of.

[SMSACE6]

In general I usually only pack my case the day before, and sometimes the night before. Last cruise I started to pack about a week before, and I still ended up with too much "elegant" clothes and not enough casual. This time I am itching to start packing my bag now for my cruise in late September! I know, I will still take too much of something and not enough of the other. But I think this time, it will be less elegant dining room clothes, and more casual daytime wear. I like to eat dinner in the MDR, but there is no need to take a different outfit for each night in the MDR. So I will try to mix and match a little more for the MDR, but with much less glitz and glamor. That is a shame really, because I used to like to use my few fancy clothes for cruises. But things are changing, especially with Carnival's relaxed dress code.

[lillian marie]

I put new clothes in a suitcase a while before a cruise. I always buy a few new things for a cruise.

[comeon530]

4-6 months. I pack and re-pack often. I could put it together the week of the cruise, but I enjoy the anticipation of the trip. I pack less each time we cruise, but I still enjoy the packing and planning process. My family thinks I'm batty, lol. : )

[illinoismomof4]

leave friday been packed for 2 weeks

[CaroleC]

"I have a list, mark items off with a highlighter, so I don't forget something vital."

 

I do the same otherwise I would definitely forget something!

 

About 2 weeks before I travel I get out my tidy rail and hang up all the clothes I MIGHT take. I then have a big 'trying on' session and decide what I'm taking and put back what I'm not (very little goes back into the wardrobe usually, lol). I pack straight from the rail into the suitcase a day or 2 before I travel.

 

The rail will be coming out probably next weekend as we're sailing on the Oasis on September 18th. Sooo excited, only 3 weeks 5 days to go and counting! :D

[Senoj84]

I always say I'm going to do it 2 weeks before but I always end up packing a few days before.

[TNM]

Well I'm new to cruising but not new to traveling, I take about 4 or 5 trips a year (more before i got divorced 2 yrs ago), but I still start packing 2 to 3 weeks beforehand and take forever to pack and usually don't overpack by much...i evaluate everything i bring, coordinate outfits and plan accessories, see what i can mix and match, then a few days before we leave I take out things I dont think I will need...that's when I pack my toiletries/grooming products...

 

Those of you that said you pack the night before, it stressed me out just to read that LOL, i wish i was that relaxed about it!

 

Oh and I always have to buy something new (sundress, swimsuit, shoes, whatever) for every trip so I feel like I have something on I've never worn before.