7-Day Cruise with nothing but the clothes on our back?

[AdrenalineRush]

Layering is the key :-)

 

 

[Sunnysafari]

This is one funny thread. When first married, I talked and consoled and begged my husband not to pack a whole extra outfit in his carry on luggage....how silly, I said, etc etc. and.he gave in finally. Guess what. The airlines lost his luggage.

[cage keeper]

This is one funny thread. When first married, I talked and consoled and begged my husband not to pack a whole extra outfit in his carry on luggage....how silly, I said, etc etc. and.he gave in finally. Guess what. The airlines lost his luggage.

 

Now that is funny. Did he ever listen to you again? :'):'):')

[Lido_Deck]

Has anyone ever done a 7-day cruise with nothing but what you're wearing and the necessary paperwork? We're a few weeks out from our Breakaway cruise and the thought of dragging winter and summer stuff from home, through multiple airports, NYC and then onto the cruise does not excite me. Can I buy a couple pairs of shorts, shirts, and bathroom supplies on the ship??

 

Any chance I can talk my wife into this strategy?? :) Advice welcome.

 

I did that once in Barcelona, but it was for 4 days. We missed the ship on the last day and port of a transatlantic cruise, so all we literally had was the clothes on our backs...and no passports. You see...A passport is not needed to get on and off the ship, so we left them in the safety of the safe in our cabin. The problem is, though, if you're an American and want to leave a foreign country and go to another one...

[Level six]

Layering is the key :-)

 

 

 

 

 

Love it!!!:D

[Vyhanek]

Why would you need to pack winter clothes? Wouldn't you be able to wear a winter outfit to the port? Then wear the same outfit home. Winter clothes....debunked.

 

Then, wouldn't you rather spend 19 minutes at home collecting your swim suit, flip flops, long pants, collard shirt, shorts a hair brush and deodorant than spend probably 3 hours running around from shop to shop trying to cobble together clothing for a week?

 

Even if you were the laziest person alive, it would still be less effort and time to pack your things from home. Even if money were no object, you're going to spend more $$ on just one swim suit from a ship gift shop than you'd spend to check luggage on your flight. Don't be stupid.

 

Don't waste valuable vacation time tracking down underwear.

[uneamie]

Not sure why anyone would leave all their cloths in the cabin! You have luggage to throw them all in so why leave them? I mean is it that hard to do a load of laundry when you get home? Personally I would not feel all that great walking around in old clothes that I am ready to trash anyway.

[ashley@cruisecritic]

Has anyone ever done a 7-day cruise with nothing but what you're wearing and the necessary paperwork? We're a few weeks out from our Breakaway cruise and the thought of dragging winter and summer stuff from home, through multiple airports, NYC and then onto the cruise does not excite me. Can I buy a couple pairs of shorts, shirts, and bathroom supplies on the ship??

 

Any chance I can talk my wife into this strategy?? :) Advice welcome.

 

I've never done a seven-nighter that way, but I HAVE done a three-nighter with just the clothes I had on and my bathing suit. It wasn't intentional -- the airline lost my luggage, and it was such a short sailing that, by the time they found it and sent it to the Bahamas, I was already back at home. I digress. It's possible, but it's not pleasant.

 

 

Each morning, I washed my undies in the sink with the bar soap provided and wore my bathing suit during the day (borrowed a cover-up from my travel companion). By dinnertime, the underwear were dry, so I'd put them back on under the one outfit I had. Cruise lines provide shower gel/shampoo in the showers, and they keep simple toiletry kits (basically toothbrush and toothpaste) at the front desk for passengers whose luggage is lost. They gifted me the toothbrush and a super-overized cruise line T-shirt to sleep in, so it worked out.

 

 

For three days it was tolerable, but after seven, I imagine my clothes would've been smelling pretty ripe.

 

My advice: If you're serious about trying this, at least bring a backpack for each of you with deodorant, a toothbrush, sunscreen, a bathing suit one or two changes of clothes and enough underwear for the week. Totally doable. Please let us know if you actually proceed with this!

[ashley@cruisecritic]

Layering is the key :-)

 

 

 

 

This is hilarious, but it must have been a nightmare to go through airport security. "Sir, please remove your jacket ... and hoodie ... and other hoodie."

[SandyAtSea]

It was done on my 5 day cruise last year. A couple wore the same clothes the whole cruise. Don't even think they go off at ports.

 

Why would anyone even keep track of what someone else is wearing and how many days in a row they wore the same thing? Did it become offensive because they never washed them out or something? If their clothes were clean and presentable, I think I could probably find more interesting things to do on a cruise than monitor what someone else was wearing. At least I hope so, since I tend to travel light!

[mamasylvia]

> At a minimum pack 2 rolling carry-ons that you don't need to check

 

I have to say that if you don't want to be dragging stuff around the airport, a carry-on is the LAST thing you should pack in. I only have to get my big bag from the parking lot onto the shuttle and then to the check-in desk, and it's gone. I don't worry about it again until I am at the destination - don't have to wrestle it through security, don't have to watch it while waiting for the flight to board, don't have to find room for it in the overhead bin. The only things that come on the flight with me are items I need FOR the flight (documents, phone with Kindle app, tablet to watch movies, snacks) and an emergency outfit.

 

The few minutes I have to wait to claim my bag, even the few dollars to check it on the airlines that charge for checked bags, are a small price to pay for convenience. If I was in a tearing hurry I might reconsider, but so far I have had a comfortable time cushion.

[sanger727]

My other question is that if you were to leave you house with only the clothes on your back, and the plan of acquiring necessities as you go; what would be the plan at the end of the trip? Purchase a bag to bring your items home since you won't have a backpack or suitcase with you? Or abandon your overpriced, worn twice, NCL shirts/shorts/jacket in your cabin?

 

Agree, if you want to go with minimal packing, wearing a winter outfit that's suitable for dinners, and packing a backpack with a couple t-shirts, shorts, underwear, and toiletries would be the way to go.

[dixieagle]

For our 9 night Mediterranean cruise last June + 3 days in Rome pre-cruise, I got everything in a 21" carry on and backpack. My husband the same. No interest in cruising "with just the clothes on my back" though!

 

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We're doing a 9 night Baltic cruise this June, and have learned, from frequent experience, just how much easier life is when you pack lightly. We'll each take a 21-22" carryon (which we will check) plus a small backpack/daypack. I'll have a purse, as well. I purchased something called a Scrubba last year; it's a wash bag in which you can do about a day's worth of clothes at a time. I found it does a better job than washing things in the sink (there's a video you can watch - just Google it) and it allowed us to travel with one suitcase each for a two week trip. (This is much easier to do if it's a cruise on which you do not need formal clothes.)

 

For me, the hardest thing is narrowing the shoes down to two pair (maybe tucking in a pair of dressier sandals, for evenings, as well.) Just make sure everything goes well with everything else, and dress in layers. I think we will invest in some Ex Officio travel undies this time around.

 

I would think that on a warm-weather cruise, you could pack really lightly. Not the case with us this time, but we WILL make one suitcase each work.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I have done exactly that. Our family refers to it as my "neck'ed on the high seas" cruise. Long story short - RCL dropped my luggage overboard in New Orleans. The stevedores did not confess it to RCL until day 3 of the cruise. In the meantime the cruise line gave me a tees shirt, a toothbrush and paste, and $150 in credit at the shops onboard. I bought a dog poo ugly bathing suit - only one they had that fit (I learned that shop restock every other week not weekly when in port and lucky me, it was weak two) a pair of black flip flops, a visor, a pair of hideous shorts. I assumed the luggage would she w up in Cozumel, our first port so I didn't buy much. BTW! You cannot buy underwear onboard! Once back on board the purser called us to her office and said they had located our luggage. Great! It is in the Port of NO. Well, why didn't they send it here? No, not at the port, IN the port. Then came the stevedore confession , etc and the offer to pay for my lost stuff. The day before they had asked me to give them an inventory and cost (along with a complimentary bottle of wine). So we took the money but alas, our next stop was Costa Maya, in its very first year, when there was nothing to buy other than tees and pareos but I did manage to put together two outfits using pareos as wrap skirts and I did have my cute little black flip flops as sanders. (BTW, this was in the days when there were strict rules about dining no room attire and fixed seating) Long story short I came home with a shopping bag full of clothes for an entire seven day cruise, and I had a blast! We are casino people and DH is a character so everyone had heard about my "neck'ed" situation and people were buying me drinks left and right.

I now travel entirely with one carryon. You can do it if you simply get realistic about your class this and shoes. There are multiple websites about how to do that. I have done Europe for three weeks in a carry on and been quite stylish so you can too. It just takes a little work. And when you become accustomed to it, you will feel so free. Think of the time you spend unpacking, day one and he w much of you ur last night you waste packing it all up. Relax, be free, you CAN do it!

[riddle]

I actually went to elem school with kids from a very large family. The older kids had to get the younger kids dressed. They always wore their play clothes under their school clothes and pjs under the play clothes. Only one dressing per day regardless

[ClevelandCruisin]

I've heard of packing light, but then you could have a "what if" moment?

 

Maybe a few outfits.

 

Let us know how it works out...

[fredflint]

Winter clothes because they are only a few weeks away, and it still may be cold at home when they leave and come back. The winter clothes will be what they wear getting to and from the ship :D

 

 

you should be able to have enough layers to use a long sleeve shirt short sleeve shirt and a windbreaker to be warm enough whomever is meeting you at the airport can bring winter jackets if needed. You can also try the vacuum bags I used them for an Alaska cruise since that does require cold weather clothes. We had the room steward use his vacuum to pack everything back up. The only issue is that it was smaller but still had all the weight.

[js]

It just seems that you are trying to avoid the hassle of packing but it sounds like much

more work to me having to shop, clean your clothes in a sink and hope for the best with sizes.

If you are trying to avoid hassle, just pack in a regular sized suitcase and give your luggage to the porter at the airport, pick up at baggage and give to the porters at the ship. Unpack and you are done.

Otherwise, you are not even going to be able to shop on the ship until after it sails.

Does not sound like any fun to me.

[sanger727]

Magnoliablossom - that's actually really funny. On our last cruise when we were re-boarding at one of the ports we noticed a suitcase in the water next to the ship. It was still there when we pulled out. We suspected it belonged to an entertainer that joined or left mid-cruise since it wasn't the embarkation port.

 

 

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[cxxviii]

Layering is the key :-)

 

 

 

See now this is the kind of response I was looking for :). LOL. And BTW my daughter would pay good money for that Dr Who hoodie. Nice touch.

[cxxviii]

Why would you need to pack winter clothes? Wouldn't you be able to wear a winter outfit to the port? Then wear the same outfit home. Winter clothes....debunked.

 

Then, wouldn't you rather spend 19 minutes at home collecting your swim suit, flip flops, long pants, collard shirt, shorts a hair brush and deodorant than spend probably 3 hours running around from shop to shop trying to cobble together clothing for a week?

 

Even if you were the laziest person alive, it would still be less effort and time to pack your things from home. Even if money were no object, you're going to spend more $$ on just one swim suit from a ship gift shop than you'd spend to check luggage on your flight. Don't be stupid.

 

Don't waste valuable vacation time tracking down underwear.

 

For the record, you need winter clothes if you're spending several days in NYC before the cruise. (And apparently, a snow shovel.) But I didn't bother asking if I could survive in NYC without luggage... even I can figure that out.

[fstuff1]

Has anyone ever done a 7-day cruise with nothing but what you're wearing and the necessary paperwork? We're a few weeks out from our Breakaway cruise and the thought of dragging winter and summer stuff from home, through multiple airports, NYC and then onto the cruise does not excite me. Can I buy a couple pairs of shorts, shirts, and bathroom supplies on the ship??

 

Any chance I can talk my wife into this strategy?? :) Advice welcome.

Everything can fit in a 22" carry on bag. i've done this:

 

Walmart:

buy a package of tshirts, underwear, and socks.

the packaging is compact.

 

only pack summer stuff- > 2 shirts, 1 pants

With the shirt/pants you walked onboard with, you have a total of 3 shirts and 2 pants. mix/match so you're not wearing the same outfit twice except on the 1st and last day.

bonus: summer stuff is lighter and takes up less room than winter stuff

 

bathroom supplies (shaver, tooth brush/paste, floss) also dont take up much room.

[kathybelcher2433]

I'm still trying to get my head around this whole topic. Isn't the beauty of a cruise only needing to unpack once and forget about it? I could understand if I was backpacking through Europe and changed hotels every night but lugging in 70 lbs of clothes, shoes, toiletries and accessories is a huge selling point for me in favor of cruising!

 

 

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[Landl cruiser]

We did a 14 day Panama Canal cruise a few years back and there was a man who came on with only a backpack. He had a couple pair of bermuda shorts, a few changes of underwear and enough t-shirts to last until the first port. He then bought a t-shirt in each port and washed his clothes in the cabin every night or so.

 

 

To each his own.

[js]

We did a 14 day Panama Canal cruise a few years back and there was a man who came on with only a backpack. He had a couple pair of bermuda shorts, a few changes of underwear and enough t-shirts to last until the first port. He then bought a t-shirt in each port and washed his clothes in the cabin every night or so.

 

 

To each his own.

 

 

Sounds like a heck of a lot more work but as you say to each his own and they still come home wih clothes thtey ddint want to pack in the first place?

 

 

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