Has anyone ever been without a change of clothes for 5 days of a 9 day cruise?

[crystalspin]

Those are good ideas from LHT, but one never knows if that would have helped -- no idea if airline personnel ever look for such a thing! Having read multiple times, to always put your ID/address/itinerary inside the bag, have never read of anyone that this helped.

 

To the OP -- your update does indeed make clear that you two did not sit around in your civvies eating room service. Cruise ports are usually not arranged for nitty gritty purchases (did you know, for example, the ONLY coin-op laundry in Seward AK is at a campground well outside of town?). As real-life sized people ourselves, I do feel for you.

 

Your idea of travelling in quick-dry outfits and finding space (folded at the bottom?) for a full change thereof, is a good one! The liquid soap on most ships works well on those fabrics.

 

Your hope that the cruiselines will provide a luggage tag with itinerary thereon, is pie-in-sky I'm afraid. Mainstream lines don't even mail paper tags anymore! as I know you know. ...however, I have these tags

And "Itinerary in Top Pocket" (or even "inside" if you use a tiny font!) could be written on the line that shows... I'm liking that idea even as a carry-on traveller!

[NLH Arizona]

I'm not sure why a cruise line would spend the money on new genre of luggage tag nor do I think they should. The airline lost the luggage, not the cruise line. There are luggage tracking devices that you can purchase, so if one wants to keep track of their luggage, they can buy these.

 

As far as the cruise line telling you wrong information, as to when your luggage would be there, one has to remember that they are only telling you what the airline has told them.

[LHT28]

I also have hard sided cases without an outside pocket

I sometimes will put one of those stick on label holders that you see on packages & put the itinerary inside that

 

Also be sure to check your suitcase to see if an airline has put one of those barcode stickers on the side & remove any from previous trips so the scanner does not direct your bag to Timbuktu when you are heading elsewhere ;)

[rich5258]

Everyone seems to be able to give plenty of suggestions after the fact. Which is good if this ever happens to me, however at the time I would be hysterical my husband would have to deal. It would take me some Xanax and few drinks to calm down to think. I say OP you did well under the circumstances!

 

 

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[luvtheships]

Sorry this happened to you

 

But why on earth didn't you have a 19 inch or 21 inch carry on with you?

 

I can travel for 3 weeks with that and have been known to do so

 

I never check luggage any longer but then again I don't bring dressy stuff

 

Dressy to me on a cruise is the same black silk slacks and 2 alternating silk tops

 

However it should be noted that I always always have a full carry on with me always that never leaves my side...why?

 

Because I know I will never find clothes in my size in any port or town anywhere that will be to my liking

 

I'm not massively obese by any means but I'm not skinny either

 

It takes zero effort to pack 2 pair slacks 2 pair shorts some casual/dressy/beach tops

 

2 pair shoes

Underwear

Sleep shirt that can double as a pool coverup

 

1 bathing suit

 

And in your case a backpack for your medical supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited September 9, 2017 by luvtheships

[SRF]

Hmm, so you really did not sit around your cabin naked while your wife wore her extra clothing from the carry on to wash......

 

So your first post was VERY misleading.

 

So you admit you KNOW to pack important things in carry on, but did not this time. REALLY?

 

And maybe you should rethink what you would like to carry on and why you NEED.

 

And I agree with others, why would you not ask the ship's staff about places to shop? If they don't know, they can get you in touch with the port agent, who IS a local.

[BlueRiband]

Everyone seems to be able to give plenty of suggestions after the fact....

 

The OP gave two very long and detailed stories of his misery. I don't know what was his goal other than to vent.

[champagne123]

The OP gave two very long and detailed stories of his misery. I don't know what was his goal other than to vent.

I agree, BUT....if anything good came out of this thread, it would help NEWBIES of what NOT TO DO!!!!! :o

[dsrdsrdsr]

Everyone seems to be able to give plenty of suggestions after the fact. Which is good if this ever happens to me, however at the time I would be hysterical my husband would have to deal. It would take me some Xanax and few drinks to calm down to think. I say OP you did well under the circumstances!

 

 

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Is it a good idea to mix tranquillisers and alcohol? Or did you mean a few cups of tea?

 

I sincerely hope, partly for your husband's sake, that nothing really bad happens to you. Losing luggage doesn't count as "really bad". Losing luggage is (or should be) an inconvenience - possibly a big inconvenience, but no more. The OP was perhaps unlucky that there were no clothes shops in any port he visited, or perhaps badly prepared in that he didn't realise he could ask. But losing luggage needn't ruin the holiday.

[NantahalaCruiser]

I agree, BUT....if anything good came out of this thread, it would help NEWBIES of what NOT TO DO!!!!! :o

Here's my advice to NEWBIES of what NOT TO DO:

 

Don't be too proud to not eat at the MDR or specialty restaurant in whatever clothes you have available - just explain the situation to the powers that be and enjoy your dinner!

[Wembley Fraggle]

But why on earth didn't you have a 19 inch or 21 inch carry on with you? [...]

It takes zero effort to pack 2 pair slacks 2 pair shorts some casual/dressy/beach tops

 

While I can't travel with carry-on only (I am jealous of those who can but, alas, I am a chronic overpacker - anything longer than four nights needs luggage) this is exactly what we do. We travel with a 19" 4-wheeled carry on (plus my purse as a personal item) and a smallish laptop backpack - medication and travel documents go into my purse (next time DH will also have a camera bag as personal item (tripod goes into wheeled carry on)), stuff we will need while on our way goes into the backpack (snacks, electronic devices, chargers, books, pens etc.) which will then still fit a packing cube with a few nights of clothes for DH (underwear, socks, bathing trunks, shorts, two shirts, slacks), the wheeled carry on holds another packing cube with clothes for me (underwear, socks, bathing suit, cover up, sundress, shirt, pants) and everything we might need if we get stuck at an airport overnight (or for a scheduled overnight - night clothes, basic toiletries, more books). Unless we are traveling to the US we are both of a size where it's difficult to easily find inexpensive clothes while traveling (DH is tall, 6'4 and I am chubby and... busty) so we make sure to have at least two sets of clean clothes with us (one to wear, one to dry, one for emergencies). Volume wise I could pack more but as Europe is getting stricter and stricter with the weight limit (<18lbs) I don't.

 

As we were not dressed for the specialty restaurant we had reservations for, we again went to the buffet, we were becoming regulars.

Without luggage I assume even the more dressy lines, such as Cunard, would let a cruiser dine in a specialty restaurant or the main dining room in 'unsuitable' clothes. The cruise line was aware of OP's luggage problems and I am certain that the restaurants could have been informed about OP's dilemma and would have allowed OP in.

 

I know losing luggage is a pain (though fortunately to us it has always happened on the way back, the problem would have been minor had KLM not decided to leave my ex-boyfriend's manual wheelchair behind that they made us check in) but there are ways to make sure that even if luggage is lost the whole situation is as comfortable is possible. We do check in as much of our luggage as we feel comfortable (never again any type of medical equipment though) and we check it through wherever possible. We also double and tripple check, especially when connecting, if there are any airports where we need to take our luggage through customs ourselves (entering Europe for example or when first arriving the US). For our winter HR 'cruise' for example we are trying to reduce our chances for lost/left-behind luggage by not connecting in Norway on the way to Bergen and not outside of Norway on our way back home (still fairly certain we won't arrive at home with all our luggage as the connection in Oslo is only 55 minutes but oh well). I will still pack at least one set of suitable winter clothing (including ski pants) into our carry on luggage. I don't want to be cold and miserable while on vacation (and we arrive two nights early and on a direct flight, still... I am not taking any chances).