Tips on scaling down luggage for 2 week cruise

[lahlah57]

Hopefully there is a launderette on your ship. I NEVER send our laundry out cause it shrinks terribly or is ruined!

I do cruise looking for the lines with launderettes and it suits us great!!!!:D

[ger_77]

If you feel you must bring your fancy evening dresses, great, but you can bring one LBD (Little Black Dress) and dress it up for 2 formal nights with different jewellery, scarves, or jackets. It certainly simplifies things. If your husband would like a tuxedo, he doesn't have to bring one along, he can rent one at www.cruiselineformal.com It will be waiting for him in your cabin and can be left there when you disembark. Alternatively, he can bring along a suit, a white shirt, and a couple of different ties for formal wear.

 

Rather than spend precious vacation time in a launderette, you can opt to fill the laundry bag in the cabin and send it out for cleaning. We choose the all inclusive laundry package and send things every day, allowing us to pack fairly simply for a 2 or 3 week vacation.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[Teeara]

The clothes I wear when I leave the house is one outfit and then I pack 4 more which can mix and match. I have gone from 4 bags to 1 bag by packing less. I do laundry in the sink and hang to dry in the bathroom overnight or in the cabin during the day. Did this during a 2 week trip to Israel two years ago as well and it worked like a charm. Wear the walking shoes on the plane and you save weight and space there for your luggage.

[Wastegirl]

Everything I have for holidaying mixes and matches, when I purchase a new piece I make sure it is in the colour range of my other pieces. Unlike my 'at home' clothes where I have layers that only go together into one outfit, my holiday clothes can be worn in any combination. That way your outfits can look different even if you have worn the individual pieces recently. This goes for both my daytime and night time wear.

 

All my holiday clothes are also wrinkle free or low wrinkle, not requiring ironing if I need to do a quick hand wash to freshen something up.

 

As for formal wear, most seasoned cruisers (on the cruises I have been on anyway) go for the soft black pants or skirt and spangly top routine.

 

After my first cruise where I packed oodles including fancy formal wear and loads of shoes, I soon learned that I was there to enjoy the cruise and not worry about what outfit I was going to wear, just as long as I looked tidy and smart. I like to go for the understated world traveller look :D

Edited July 3, 2015 by Wastegirl

[Bookish Angel]

Hopefully there is a launderette on your ship. I NEVER send our laundry out cause it shrinks terribly or is ruined!

I do cruise looking for the lines with launderettes and it suits us great!!!!:D

 

I wear 100% cotton clothing and shudder to think what my clothes would look like after being in those commercial dryers. I do hand laundry and have never had a problem with it drying overnight.

 

As far as saving space, I leave the electronics at home and find I can do carry-on only quite easily.

[boards]

I don't worry about cutting back on luggage.

Since DH had a heart attack, we still take 4 suitcases since we don't want them heavy.

Also by the time we add on pre and post cruise hotels, we are usually gone nearly 3 weeks. Also after having 2 different ships ruin several of DH's new golf shirts, we no longer send out laundry.

Many women no longer bring heavy gowns. Most now wear cocktail dresses or fancy pant suits.

 

Do you prearrange the handling of your luggage? DH just recently suffered a medical situation that will not allow him to lift luggage. How do you handle the arrangements? Our next cruise is on the Zuiderdam in Oct. We are concerned to the point of cancelling. We have always carried our own luggage and never asked for help, so this will be new for us.

Edited July 4, 2015 by boards

[Grandma Dazzles]

Do you prearrange the handling of your luggage? DH just recently suffered a medical situation that will not allow him to lift luggage. How do you handle the arrangements? Our next cruise is on the Zuiderdam in Oct. We are concerned to the point of cancelling. We have always carried our own luggage and never asked for help, so this will be new for us.

 

 

Recently completed a cruise and I am a older female traveling alone. I traveled with one large suitcase and a small under the seat carryon. At the airport and elsewhere I used a porter and also let the cab driver handle my bag, same way at the hotel prior to the cruise. Obviously tipped appropriately. I am careful not to use the overhead bin on an aircraft as I don't know if I could hoist a bag that high. I would not cancel a cruise because I couldn't handle the bags.

[KBD1516]

Color matters too. I take black shorts and slacks. Black shoes Lots of tops - Cotton blend for day, sparkly ones for night. I like dressy for dinner nearly every night on a cruise.

 

I take throw away plastic hangers with hooks to hang out bathing suits (2).

[KBD1516]

I like to go for the understated world traveller look :D

 

 

This is what I wanna be! I love this phrase[emoji818]️

[Viv0828]

Dh and I travel 4 to 6 months a year, generally 1 to 2 months at a time. There usually are a couple of weeks of cruising in our longer trips.

 

We each have a carry on and a tote or a backpack. Most of our clothes are nylon and poly cotton. We generally use a washing machine and we hand wash undies each night. We don't own anything that needs to be ironed. We haven't checked a bag for at least 15 years. Works for us.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Viv0828