Packing issues

[ginabab]

Hi The post office is our friend Ask for or find a box and ship stuff home on port days If you are staying in a hotel, they can do it for you We even have a UPS store near our home and a UPS account We ship the box to the UPS store, since we may not be home when it arrives

[nolatravelgirl]

I don't understand what you mean by this.

 

It means you dismissed the suggestion to use a delivery service as a cost prohibitive solution to getting your cold weather gear to a location near your land based portion originating in Vancouver

[s1amblue]

Packing suggestions are great! Here's a few more specifics: wear your heaviest & bulky items on the plane! Like your hiking boots! You can always tuck slipper socks into your 'personal' size item. Go to AMAZON and order two Chico Bag packable duffle. Get a Patagonia LS black base layer & a exofficio or other packable waterproof rain jacket. Have DH wear sport coat on plane - looks great with jeans & hiking boots! Check out 'oh my Gauze' or 'cotton ways! For black & white cotton pieces that are feather weight, shed wrinkles & pack easily! also Chico's Zenergy slacks.... 8 weeks, two climates, 1 carry on & personal item..... Black & white. :)

[Innova007]

Hi. Speaking of packing, has anybody been on the renovated carnival pride?

[slidergirl]

I would look into waterproof hiking shoes instead of boots. These would work unless you absolutely need the high ankle support.

When trying to pack compactly, fleece is NOT your friend. Seeing that you live part time in Steamboat (a great town!!!), consider one of the light down or down-alternative products out there from Patagonia, The North Face, Mountain Hardware. These aren't the puffy ones, but ones that have just enough down or synthetics to keep you warm. Patagonia has the Down Sweater, Down Shirt Jacket, Nano Puff jacket. The North Face has the Thermoball series. I've got a Down Sweater. It packs down to nothing OR you can use it to augment your airline pillow!!! That jacket and a rain shell will have you comfy and cozy in Alaska.

For those collapsable suitcases, look at duffles. The Mountain Hardware Lightweight Expedition 131Litre duffel would be something to look into. It's only 1.5 lbs, 25x14x14 and packs into it's own storage envelope. Lay it in one of the suitcases, then take it out and stuff your things that you need to separate out into it.

[skandls]

OK - you want one large 'roller' suitcase per person. One smaller roller and 2 'backpack' carryons between 2 of you.

 

Formal Nights - so not formal anymore. As others have said plan on minimal dressy clothes. I would take a pair of black knit pants and 2 tops (not beaded) but shiny for shoes a pair of nice sandals. For DH one dress shirt, one tie and a sports jacket - his dress shoes (if he has walking shoes to match a pair of slacks he should be fine). We bought a pair for DH that are good for regular walking and OK for dress. I pack my shoes inside my DH's slip into plastic bag - into his shoe -into plastic bag then into suitcase.

 

Warm weather clothes - since you get free laundry you don't need a lot. Enough tees and a couple of pairs of shorts pp should be fine for the day. Take enough tees to layer in the colder weather - its not like going from Panama to the North Pole where you might need heavy down, gloves and multiple layers of socks. If you do run cold pack some thermals much of Alaska is nice during the summer months. I take a light 'rain' jacket for each of us with a sweater for layers. Take a hat and gloves if you get cold easily.

 

If the main concern is not the money but the schlepping the luggage I will give some more hints but if its paying for extra bags pay the money its worth it. My first trip to Paris to save a few bucks we took public transit and ended up going up and down a lot of steps so Not worth it.

[horse trail]

Thank you Suite Traveler,

We cruise occasionally but usually don't fly anymore. We will be going to Maui next year and I am a terrible packer usually bringing 3 of everything just in case. We don't want to pay the baggage fees either because we're flying. You have really helped me thank you. I'm doing a test drive when we go to Vegas for a week.

Edited November 11, 2014 by horse trail

[kwazi07]

Why don't you try to see if Southwest flies to Alaska? They always have two free bags. Also, JetBlue offers one free bag.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[islandwoman]

It means you dismissed the suggestion to use a delivery service as a cost prohibitive solution to getting your cold weather gear to a location near your land based portion originating in Vancouver

Actually, my first land-based portion begins in Whittier. I guess when I said, "We board in Fort Lauderdale and sail through the Panama Canal, then north along the US Pacific Coast to Vancouver and on to Whittier", it sounded as if we were stopping off in Vancouver.

[islandwoman]

That about sums it up. There are only so many ways you can pack. Seems like a no win to me.Mary LOU

Yes, it does. That's why I asked for help, because I couldn't see a solution. So many people have posted suggestions :) I appreciate all of them, even that might not work for me.

[islandwoman]

Hi The post office is our friend Ask for or find a box and ship stuff home on port days If you are staying in a hotel, they can do it for you We even have a UPS store near our home and a UPS account We ship the box to the UPS store, since we may not be home when it arrives

Does anyone have experience shipping from Canada to the US? I thought NAFTA would prevent any difficulties with customs, but when I investigated shipping charges at the UPS site, I was required to fill in a "customs value". I would hate for my suitcase to get stuck in customs.

[islandwoman]

Why don't you try to see if Southwest flies to Alaska? They always have two free bags.

I wish they did. Southwest was my first choice of airlines, for several reasons.

[islandwoman]

I have a plan :cool: Thanks to all your packing and luggage suggestions, I now think I know how to get everything I need into luggage I can handle and that will work with the airline's and Princess' baggage restrictions. I've ordered a packable down jacket that I can stuff into my suitcase or wear on the plane with my hiking boots. Today I'll look for collapsible duffles.

Now it remains to convince DH to change his formal ways - but that's a whole other challenge LOL

 

Thank you everybody :D

[Gonzalez987]

Hi All,

 

I am feeling better after reading all the comments here, my cruise begin in two weeks. I am going to the South Pacific for 14 days, much easier decisions to take compare to

Islandwoman

 

However, this is my first cruise so any extra packing advice is welcome

 

Carmenza

[iancal]

We do carry on.

 

Has absolutely nothing to do with baggage fees. In fact most of our flights have no baggage fees. I realize that some people cannot do this either by preference or because they carry sporting/hobby gear.

 

When we do carry on, our bag arrives when we do. It does not get lost or not make it onto the ship. Nothing gets stolen. It arrives in our cabin at the exact same time we do. And we do not have to put it outside our cabin door the night before disembarkation.

 

But the biggest benefit is it gives us many more options in the event of an airline re-schedule, flight, or airline change. We don't have to concern ourselves about where our bag is or wait for it to be offloaded.

 

As we travel, we meet more and more retired people who are doing exactly the same thing...if only because they have trouble physically handling too much luggage.

[lucky cal]

Check one large suitcase and carry on one 21"-22" rollaboard suitcase. My mom, sister and I each did this for a 2-week European land and cruise vacation this summer and it worked out great. We did need to have laundry done on the cruise.

[islandwoman]

We do carry on.

 

When we do carry on, our bag arrives when we do. It does not get lost or not make it onto the ship. Nothing gets stolen. It arrives in our cabin at the exact same time we do. And we do not have to put it outside our cabin door the night before disembarkation.

 

But the biggest benefit is it gives us many more options in the event of an airline re-schedule, flight, or airline change. We don't have to concern ourselves about where our bag is or wait for it to be offloaded.

 

I'm reading this to say that you ONLY carry on? So how do you manage - skip formal nights? short cruises? warm weather cruises? laundry onboard?

[ducklite]

Hi All,

 

I am feeling better after reading all the comments here, my cruise begin in two weeks. I am going to the South Pacific for 14 days, much easier decisions to take compare to

Islandwoman

 

However, this is my first cruise so any extra packing advice is welcome

 

Carmenza

 

Look at my signature--a week in LA and a week in French Polynesia, and I over packed.

[ducklite]

I'm reading this to say that you ONLY carry on? So how do you manage - skip formal nights? short cruises? warm weather cruises? laundry onboard?

 

I only do carry on. Formal night is a long black skirt and sparkly top with blingy flat sandals. Long skirt=no one sees shoes. I bring a crepe or knit skirt that won't wrinkle and packs into something the six of a dinner roll.

[paul929207]

I guess I am the outlier in this discussion. We take long cruises, usually 30 to 50 days. We take the suitcases we need to fit everything we need/want for the trip. If we have to pay for an extra bag, we pay.

[iancal]

We skip formal nights-we do not find them very special any more. Just came back from 7 weeks of land travel in Europe followed by an 8 day Med cruise. We each took a 20/21" roller. DW has a large purse(an understatement since one could loose a giraffe in it) and I have a very small backpack with an ipod and sweater in it.

 

We will do the same for 10-12 weeks in Asia/Austalia this winter inclusive of at least one 14 day cruise. We pack in layers. We pack for 7 days max and we get laundry done as we go..though sometimes it is a challenge to find a laudromat or a service to do this in a timely manner. On the upside we have met some interesting people in laudromats-often Ozzies-and traded travel tips and the odd book or two. We met two other retired couples on our recent cruise who are doing the same.

 

The only downside is that DW sometimes gets tired of the same old wardrobe but the convenience of travelling this way greatly overshadows this for us. It would be very different if we were just doing cruises however we usually combine cruises with land vacations.

Edited November 11, 2014 by iancal

[ducklite]

I guess I am the outlier in this discussion. We take long cruises, usually 30 to 50 days. We take the suitcases we need to fit everything we need/want for the trip. If we have to pay for an extra bag, we pay.

 

Keep in mind that at some point that might not work, as some airlines have strictly enforced limits particularly during certain times of the year, and cash won't change the rules.

[islandwoman]

Just came back from 7 weeks of land travel in Europe followed by an 8 day Med cruise. We each took a 20/21" roller. DW has a large purse(an understatement since one could loose a giraffe in it) and I have a very small backpack with an ipod and sweater in it. Will do the same for three months in Asia this winter.

 

That's really impressive!

Edited November 11, 2014 by islandwoman

[iancal]

Not really. The only way we were able to do it was reverse engineering. Instead of trying to cut down, we simply limited ourselves to a smaller bag. In DW's case, a Rick Steves carry on roller board.

 

After that, it was all about making choices. Hard the first time for DW. IF we were only flying or driving, doing a cruise, and returning it might be different for us, or at least for DW. But we very rarely take a cruise without combining it with some sort of land based trip.

 

BTW...we had a wonderful weekend at the Hilton on Melbourne Beach two years ago. We went to a fabulous family owned Italian restaurant south of the hotel that had great food, great service, great atmosphere. Very nice part of Florida and extremely friendly people.

Edited November 11, 2014 by iancal

[zekekelso]

Awesome trip.

 

I know bag fees are annoying, but I think you will drive yourself bonkers trying to save a few bucks. Compared to the cost of everything else, they are a pittance.