What's the earliest you've packed

[biker@sea]

After a cruise our stuff get washed and repacked ready to go again .

I'm about 80% done to start with as I don't need my Hawaiian shirts, short or other cruise wear in a New England winter .

[Happy ks]

My carry on with toiletries and other essentials is always packed. I just have to refill bottles. I have a permanent list and just check off the items, that they are there and we don't need replacements. The only thing we typically have to buy is fresh sunscreen.

 

We put up a rolling rack in the living room (no spare rooms or closets in our house). About a week or so prior to leaving, we both select our clothes, they are either hung on the rack or folded underneath. Accessories go right with the clothing (I use drawstring bags for costume jewelry) shoes are there. This way, we can see how things go together and if we can reduce or eliminate if there is too much.

 

Since the rack is downstairs, away from the closet, I don't tend to pack what-if's and extras. As everything is already organized, it only takes about 20 minutes to do the actual packing for the both of us. I cross pack a couple outfits, in case one of our bags doesn't make it to the ship.

 

The only downside is having a rack of clothes in the living room for a few days.

[FedoraDi]

First off.. the cat... LOL, I have 6 of them like that, they sulk if they see my suitcase/overnite bag come out. These 6 do not travel very well, but my previous 3 used to travel all the time, they even travelled from DE to see me stationed in SC & at Ft Benning GA for jump school.

So, I can not bring stuff out too soon, or they lay on it so it would need to be drycleaned/washed again before packing. And we do not have a spare bedroom so that doesnt help me.

 

But I do/already have started figuring out what to take next Feb, being exmilitary I'm a fanatic about making sure I dont forget anything. Did that once in the army, had a couple days break between basic & jump school so went home & forgot the army issue purse (I dont use them & never have), didnt realize the army was anal enough to do a equipment issue check there since I was outta basic but doy oh boy did I get reamed for not having it.

 

Plus, by my starting this earlier I can get things this summer that are not available normally in winter time, things like surf shoes, shower shoes aka flipflops, will pick up suntan lotion at the end of summer when it goes on sale. I may need to get some new clothes, swim trunks by the end of the year as I'm working on losing weight.

 

So, overall, I start planning as soon as I know, but packing may not be until a week or so beforehand depending on if its something I may be wearing in that season.

[EdmPair]

The start of packing starts about 3 weeks ahead mostly due to picking out my fave clothes and getting them laundered and not worn again. Plus setting out the suitcases takes some space and are a bit in the way. That loss of mobility in the house for 3 weeks is a price I will happily pay.

 

Enjoy the waves,

M

[pezhead]

DH and I on NCL Gem a couple of weeks ago. It was from Feb 8 to 17th. I show a great price for a 9 days cruise leaving from NY. Only $329. Booked the cruise on Feb 7 afternoon. Had prior plans so were not going to be home till morning of Feb 8. Got home at 9:30am rushed around to pack for myself and DH. Did a couple of loads of laundry. Jump into the car at 12:30 pm, drove to Chinatown to pick up some food for the kids dinner that night. Finally we were on way to the port. Got to the port at 2:30pm

 

Now that's impressive, no way I would've been able to get everything together embarkation morning.

 

Toiletries, OTCs, and chargers sit in a toiletry bag and a grid-itin my closet. I repack and refill every time I come home. The clothes get put in packing cubes 2 or 3 days out. The cubes go into the suitcase the day before.

 

Mental planning starts the day the trip is booked. Seeing in my head I'm already on August and my Alaska land-sea trip I think I should go back to booking a month before the cruise at most. :rolleyes:

 

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[LrgPizza]

Huh? What does this have to do with packing?

That post had everything to do with packing. The poster was pointing out how quickly they packed.

 

To answer the question:

I must admit that my cruise isn't until May 31, but I've already bought myself a new swim coverup and some new shorts and swimsuits for my son. Those items are already set aside in a stack ready to be packed. No sense putting them away. :o

[mrsd912]

My packing list gets started as soon as I book, so for this sailing I started that over a year in advance. I start packing "stuff" when I have it. We cruise in six weeks and I think I started packing about seven months ago.

Clothes I wait on so they're not too wrinkled when we get there. We leave on a Saturday, I'll make sure we're packed no later than Wednesday.

[YubaSutter]

We don't leave for 10 weeks, but I am so anxious that I want to start getting my clothes together. I know I won't actually put them in a suitcase yet, but what's the earliest you've laid out all your clothes?

 

Earliest is the night before the cruise. We usually pack the same day as the cruise.

[cynthe66]

Our hall closet is the "cruise closet". I already have some stuff in there for our Aug/Sept. cruise - things we don't wear normally. As we get closer I'll go through them to make sure nothing needs mending, everything fits, etc. We do the actual packing the day before we leave.

 

I have a detailed packing list - necessary as far as I'm concerned for a 31 day trip. That way I have a list of what's in each bag in case anything should go astray somewhere along the line.

 

It's still 8 months out till our cruise but I have a large rubber maid box that I keep stuff in that I use for the cruise. Little things that I can buy ahead of time and put in there so it's all there. As for the clothes I have them in the closet of the spare bedroom. I buy at least one new outfit for each cruise, being that's about the only time I really buy clothes other than chef wear for myself.