Carry-On only for Carnival Cruise?

[2wheelin]

19 hours ago, BBigfoot613 said:

 

 

 

That right there is what makes it a challenge and a "game" to me. I do backpack and carry-on WITH my suit and formal clothing for my children included. The hardest part isn't finding the room...it's not wrinkling it!

Lay the largest piece flat on the bed and continue stacking others on top. Then start folding by turning in the sleeves of the top piece. Continue with the piece under that and fold the sleeves over the first piece. When all are folded in this manner, fold up from the bottom to make a small bundle which will fit into a space bag and expel the air. Very hard to explain without pics but really easy and wrinkle free if done properly. Back when formal wear was expected on a cruise, my family went to AK for a tour/cruise. Using this method, this bag was sealed and carried around for 10 days in a suitcase before getting on the ship. When opened---not one wrinkle.

15 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

Unfortunately, I do not like wearing the same clothes twice. I will probably have to check 2 bags for a family of four, one of those bags being formal wear and toiletries that need to go under the plane. 

See method above and enough formal wear for a family of four will fit in two of those medium size bags.

12 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

What I meant was if I brought two carry-ons to the gate, even though I am only allowed one. Then, instead of being charged a carry-on charge fee, I can just volunteer to check one of the two carry-on bags. 

That used to work occasionally if someone arrived with a personal item which was the size of a carry-on plus their carry-on. They would be asked to check one free of charge. May still happen if crew feels there is not enough space for all carry-ons but with the addition of fees for bags, I have read airline policies which state they will charge for gate checking bags. This would probably be true on any airline when they realized you were doing it on purpose to escape fees. It is not acceptable in that case. You can volunteer but they can still charge you.

[Athankfulheart]

My hubby and I really enjoy ourselves more when we travel 'light'. It is less time consuming and less stressful for me overall. Easy in and out of cabs, rental cars, flights and ships with little to no risk of baggage loss. Quicker packing/unpacking/repacking. We have done the same for as long as 14 day land + cruise trips. We each use a 22" hard side spinner plus a backpack when we travel. We drive to port more often than we fly, but it works well with either one. We use packing cubes and compression packing cubes with rolling and bundling in order to bring what we need with very few wrinkles. You can google " bundle packing" and find lots of how-to videos. We wear our most bulky pair of shoes on travel day as well as our outerwear . We go light on shoes in general with one pair for evening and one pair for daytime. We also travel with our own snorkel gear as well as our hammock, which generally goes wherever we go. My formal wear does not take much space at all and at times when my husband brings a suit coat we have a special way of packing it so it does well on the trip. I use my hair straightener to touch up any problem areas on the coat. Here is a video for packing a suit like a pro . 

 

 

My little bag : 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Athankfulheart

[BBigfoot613]

16 minutes ago, Athankfulheart said:

My little bag : 

 

How cute! love the design

[Athankfulheart]

1 hour ago, BBigfoot613 said:

 

How cute! love the design

Thank you ! My case is red and the cover just came from Amazon. I have a pet macaw, so she was the inspiration for my choice.

[grandmarnnurse]

On 3/30/2019 at 11:59 PM, jbethel11 said:

7-day Caribbean cruise with only one carry on allowed per person! Any tips? 

I hope not, because on our next cruise, a B2B, I’m bringing on a carry on each for hubby and me, a large beach tote with our bottles of wine and 12 pack of Diet Coke, along with his laptop. (We don’t want to leave laptop in hot car for 14 days, so bringing it on.) I sure hope I won’t have an issue boarding. We check two large suitcases with the porter. 

[grandmarnnurse]

On 3/31/2019 at 10:09 AM, Joebucks said:

 

I'm not sure what these things have to do with each other. The letter you are getting is for people who checked their bag with a porter and it got misplaced in being transported to the room. No matter what type of bag you have, this can still happen.

 

I can appreciate not wanting to have you bag leave your side. Between a plane, porter, etc, each chance increases the odds of getting lost. Even with travel insurances, etc it can still be a massive pain. If you can prevent it, why not? Personally, I don't like paying a porter a $5 tip to wait on my bag and have a chance it gets lost.

 

The art of traveling light for the sake of traveling light is silly. Bringing wine, sunscreen, any other liquids, extra shoes, clothes, snorkeling gear, etc becomes a challenge and minimizes any potential cost savings. Especially if I need to buy any of these things on the boat. I don't completely buy that it's a big money savings because the lines that give a free carry-on are rarely the cheapest overall.

 

The best tip I could give is you can minimize checked bags by combining or just one person brings one. Not everyone always needs their own. I have to have at least one.

I, too, try every cruise to minimize what I bring, but with shoes, personal products and all the “extras” needed, there’s no way in hell. We usually end up with a carry on each and a suitcase each. We also will be carrying on a large beach tote next cruise with our 4 bottles of wine and 12 pack of soda. Yes, I’m bringing 4 bottles of wine. 1 each for a B2B. As long as I show them the boarding pass for second cruise, I can bring on 4. 

[RDC1]

Have done multiple long trips with a carry on and a small backpack (back pack is for computer and camera).  Have done 45 days in Europe consisting of a land tour, a river cruise, and an ocean cruise.  Just got back from 32 days in Asia, and will be heading out on a 35 day trip in Europe.

 

Pack light weight, quick drying clothes.  For a 7 day trip no problem. You really don't need that much. Especially in the Caribbean. On longer trip travel clothes that you can wash out and be dry the next morning work very nicely.

 

I use a carry on, not due to aircraft luggage fees (nice benefit on many airline credit cards for anyone on your reservation if you pay with the airlines CC), but because it is far easier when using trains to get around Europe, instead of lugging a large heavy suitcase.  

Edited April 2, 2019 by RDC1

[Bookbug53]

So of course someone ran to FB and asked John Heald if it was true that Carnival was going to limit passengers to only one carry on.

Seriously? Can we stop making CC look like a bunch of dumba**es?

[jbethel11]

40 minutes ago, Bookbug53 said:

So of course someone ran to FB and asked John Heald if it was true that Carnival was going to limit passengers to only one carry on.

Seriously? Can we stop making CC look like a bunch of dumba**es?

You know what, you are right! Out of spite, Carnival is going to start charging us for always complaining so much! Lmao!

[ober134]

Hi! I just got off a 7 nt plus one nt pre cruise hotel stay. Only a carry on plus personal item. And I didn't even wear all I packed. 2 sun dresses that did double duty as swim cover up later in week. One black skirt, black capris. Several t shirts and tank tops. Light weight sweater. Couple pairs of shorts worn couple times each. Swimwear. I did a small load of laundry on first sea day for those items DH and I used just in case needed at end of week. I had plenty of cosmetic and personal items using travel sized products. I admit it was a tight fit but it worked.

[grandmarnnurse]

1 hour ago, Bookbug53 said:

So of course someone ran to FB and asked John Heald if it was true that Carnival was going to limit passengers to only one carry on.

Seriously? Can we stop making CC look like a bunch of dumba**es?

I noticed that, as I was on Facebook and that one question popped up on John Heald’s page! I thought, “Wow! That was quick! I just read this thread on CC!”

[Retired_to_Cruise]

On 3/30/2019 at 11:47 PM, jbethel11 said:

Yes, this is an airline fee issue. There will be 2 teenagers as well as two adults. Each can have a carry-on and a personal item. Worst case scenario, we would have to check just one bag, but I hope that those 8 bags can suffice for 7 days!

Southwest does not charge for checked luggage. Another option is top pack one large suitcase with the things that overflow the carry on bags and check it. That way you only have one checked bag fee. I am sure that that fee will not prevent you from cruising.

[ProgRockCruiser]

19 hours ago, grandmarnnurse said:

I hope not, because on our next cruise, a B2B, I’m bringing on a carry on each for hubby and me, a large beach tote with our bottles of wine and 12 pack of Diet Coke, along with his laptop. (We don’t want to leave laptop in hot car for 14 days, so bringing it on.) I sure hope I won’t have an issue boarding. We check two large suitcases with the porter. 

 

The OP is asking because they want to limit themselves for their own reasons, not a limit imposed by Carnival or any other entity.

[riffatsea]

Carnival does NOT limit what you can bring on board. The only rule is that IF you carry stuff on then you have to be able to handle it by yourself!

We are not trying to save money by bringing only a carry on. I often travel on land and having bulky luggage makes it more difficult for trains/planes etc.

We also don't bother to drag cases of soda or wine.

We are on vacation and we prefer to leave all that stuff at home.

Everyone has their own style of travel and this is just ours.

[crewsweeper]

Lots of good stuff here.  For the OP, though the issue is a family of 4 flying.

My suggestion is to pack light and via rolling or packing cubes get as much as you can in the carry-on. I've done 2 suits, 4 shirts shoes, socks, underwear and toiletries in a carry on for a week business trip., so you can pack more than you think.  Put all medications, smart phones, ipads, etc. in your personal bag (which, btw, can be a small backpack so long as it fits under the seat in front of you).

Then if an extra bag is needed for elegant night wear, snorkel gear, etc. get a 27" piece of luggage and use it as a family joint item suitcase.  Keep it under 50 pounds.  Pay the fee.  If you can get by with a 5th carryon as a joint suitcase, just put 2 personal bags into one larger tote bag, separate once on board the plane.

[Athankfulheart]

I forgot to mention that we don't put our wine bottles in our backpacks so I guess we each travel with a 22" spinner, a backpack, plus one of us carries this. It is neoprene, so its very stretchy. We stretch the handle part over our suitcase handle and slide it down to set on top. It works perfectly and keeps the bottles accessible for inspection but safe from breakage. You can find them on Amazon. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by Athankfulheart

[Chrystine5]

I downsize farther every cruise we take. We just did a 13 day in January with one carry on suitcase and a backpack each and that’s bringing our own snorkel gear. Yes we had formal night clothing also. There are tons of pack light videos and blogs out there with tons of tips. I especially like Adventures with Sarah. Some things that have worked for me are packing cubes and solid toiletries from Lush. The Eagle Creek packing folder held my husband’s suit 2 dress shirts, 6 polos, and 2 pair of dress pants with no wrinkles. I don’t buy anything that wrinkles. Mixing and matching makes for a lot of outfits.