Cruise Luggage/packing

[BlancaNoir]

What kind of lugagge do you use for your cruises? Any reccomendations or tips? We will be flying to Orlando on Southwest so I need luggage that is checkable, convenient to use, but also large enough for all the cruise packing. We are a family of 4 (2 kids, 2 adults) doing a 7 night carribean cruise in october. I'm envisioning bathing suits, shorts, but maybe a pair of pants? A nice/formal outfit for each of us. Shoes - flip flops, tennis shoes, formal shoes. It just seems like a ton of stuff to pack. On our last cruise we bought two large duffel backs from costco. They were fine but we drove to port so checking bags wasn't an issue. Our kids were younger then (4 and 6) so their clothes were smaller and seemed to take up less space.

What to get?

Thanks . . .

Blanca

[thomarvin]

I have rolling duffles that we bought from LLBean. We usually drive but last time we flew and the duffles worked fine. I gave each of my kids their rolling duffles one Christmas. They are easy to pull. How old are the kids now? It might be a good time to get them each a suitcase and they can take care of their own "stuff".

[nolatravelgirl]

I see that you are cruising Disney in Oct 2104 and flying Southwest. SWA allows 2 free bags per person at 50 pounds per piece. (Your family of 4 could check 8 pieces for a total of 400 pounds of luggage) I would not go buy new luggage just for a cruise. Keep your existing luggage and just make sure it isn't overstuffed. Disney is also very casual and allows shorts on non formal nights.

 

Per the Disney website:

On 7-night cruises:

 

First night is cruise casual—no swimwear or tank tops

One themed night (pirate, tropical or other themed deck party)

3 additional cruise casual nights—no swimwear or tank tops

One formal and one semi-formal night—two great opportunities to dress-up and take advantage of the onboard photography services. Though optional, we recommend: Dress pants with a jacket or a suit for men, and dress or pantsuit for women

 

I would not pack true formal wear for those evenings. The biggest space hog will be your husband's shoes! As a female I would pack one LBD (little black dress) and a pair of strappy dressy sandals (light to pack) and just one night wear fun colorful jewelry (semi night) and then on formal night wear a real blingy statement necklace that night with the same dress.

 

The rest of the days/nights are cruise casual so you are fine with sundresses, sandals, chinos/polos.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Travelpro platinum series.

 

 

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[Putterdude]

As you are flying SWA each of you will be allowed 2 checked bags so that aspect should be OK. I would likely stick with the duffle bags for the children's clothes, swimsuits, t-shirts and that type of thing. We have used Samsonite for year and years. However in a moment of delusion we purchased a 29" hard sided Hailey bag which British Airlines flew safely across the pond twice, then on a return flight FLL to LAS SWA put a huge dent in it....they reimbursed our full purchase price and we have now gone back to light weight Samsonite which we are very pleased with.

[dancinman66]

With kids I used to take one bag for kids and one each for adults

That has always been plenty

 

 

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[t_car]

A carry-on for each of us. A 28" for me and a 24" for her.

Guess which bag had all of her shoes. :eek:

 

No matter how much we try, We always take more than what is really required, and don't bring enough money.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We use soft sided luggage with spinners.

Since we are usually gone for the better part of a month, we need to take 4 suitcases. I split all the clothes over the 4 suitcases. That way if one suitcase doesn't make it to the embarkation port (we always fly in 2 or 3 days early) -- neither of us will be without clothes.

[Scrapnana]

I have IT luggage. A 30" case weighs only about 5 pounds.

[zoncom]

Agree with Putter. Lasts forever. For good buys do a search for"discount luggage".But do be aware of bag weights.

Edited September 11, 2014 by zoncom