What’s the ONE thing you wish you had known about river cruising?

[Second seating]

5 hours ago, Gopherpharm said:

Thank you that is helpful! I’m trying to only bring a couple colors (yes, mostly black…it’s my staple) for ease in mixing it up, and for laundry purposes. I think I have some color catcher sheets!

Nothing wrong with black or as my husband says I travel with "Morticia's wardrobe"!

[loriva]

9 hours ago, Canal archive said:

There is no diy laundry room on Scenic but I’ve had some quite special garments cleaned to perfection.my husband is always impressed with how his shirts are turned out. Mind you doesn’t say much for me!

 

Sorry to the OP, as I don't mean to go into a rabbit hole on laundry on Scenic, but...

 

Since there is no DIY laundry room and the Laundry Concierge limits you to 1kg of laundry to be done at a port of Scenic's choosing, are there other laundry options on the ship?  Can you send out laundry a la carte?  Are there lines in the shower to hang smaller items washed in your vanity sink?

 

We're on a 14-day cruisetour with Scenic, with a week of travel with Scenic before we step foot on a ship.  And a one suitcase limit with Scenic.  Will need to do lots of laundry to make this work.  And we're generally pretty minimalist in terms of wardrobe.

[Canal archive]

Have done similar with one large suitcase each and a carry on so it is possible. Yes washing line in the shower. I’ve never been restricted to what day the included laundry has to be done and have pay for laundry done at any time. I’ve become a bit of an expert at mix and matching. I usually take over a spare bedroom at home and lay everything out in the specific order they are to be worn in making copious notes. Then when I get on board that all gets lost in the wind and I go with the flow. By the way I do save loads of space by only taking two or three pairs of shoes and wear the biggest/heaviest ones to travel in. I also pinch space in my husbands suitcase on the qt.

[JerseyGem]

If you are traveling with someone else, I suggest cross-packing in case one suitcase goes on a different vacation.  If you don't want to completely cross-pack (half in each), a packing cube with one day's worth of clothes is easy enough to transfer  to your travel partner's suitcase.  Waylaid suitcases will eventually catch up with you, but in the meantime, having one complete outfit in the other person's suitcase is priceless. (We flew to Vienna; my suitcase took a detour to Venice). 

 

We also try to have at least one day of clothing in our carry-on, in case both suitcases are delayed.  In this case, the airline will probably give you a toiletries kit but obviously no clothes.  

 

 

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[loriva]

36 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Have done similar with one large suitcase each and a carry on so it is possible. Yes washing line in the shower. I’ve never been restricted to what day the included laundry has to be done and have pay for laundry done at any time. I’ve become a bit of an expert at mix and matching. I usually take over a spare bedroom at home and lay everything out in the specific order they are to be worn in making copious notes. Then when I get on board that all gets lost in the wind and I go with the flow. By the way I do save loads of space by only taking two or three pairs of shoes and wear the biggest/heaviest ones to travel in. I also pinch space in my husbands suitcase on the qt.

 

The Scenic website (now river cruising brochure as the website is still in maintenance mode) says "Laundry Concierge will include washing and pressing services and is limited to 1 kg of laundry per cabin, once per cruise.  This service will be done at a selected port of Scenic's choosing."

 

I guess they caught onto the rolling of clothes to increase what will fit in the bag.  But still going to try it!  And prepare laundry to hand to the butler on embarkation day.  Scenic has to be expecting that with a week of traveling before boarding.  I do wish they had a DIY laundry room--will need to mention that on the post-cruise survey.

 

Also learned to limit shoes and wear the largest, heaviest pieces (clothing included).  I've also brought things that are about to be replaced and then threw them out at the end of the cruise to make some space for purchases.

 

16 minutes ago, JerseyGem said:

If you are traveling with someone else, I suggest cross-packing in case one suitcase goes on a different vacation.  If you don't want to completely cross-pack (half in each), a packing cube with one day's worth of clothes is easy enough to transfer  to your travel partner's suitcase.  Waylaid suitcases will eventually catch up with you, but in the meantime, having one complete outfit in the other person's suitcase is priceless. (We flew to Vienna; my suitcase took a detour to Venice). 

 

We also try to have at least one day of clothing in our carry-on, in case both suitcases are delayed.  In this case, the airline will probably give you a toiletries kit but obviously no clothes.  

 

 

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All great tips!  We've done these for years.

[sharkster77]

1 hour ago, JerseyGem said:

If you are traveling with someone else, I suggest cross-packing in case one suitcase goes on a different vacation.  If you don't want to completely cross-pack (half in each), a packing cube with one day's worth of clothes is easy enough to transfer  to your travel partner's suitcase.  Waylaid suitcases will eventually catch up with you, but in the meantime, having one complete outfit in the other person's suitcase is priceless. (We flew to Vienna; my suitcase took a detour to Venice). 

 

We also try to have at least one day of clothing in our carry-on, in case both suitcases are delayed.  In this case, the airline will probably give you a toiletries kit but obviously no clothes.  

 

 

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We cross-pack both our checked bags AND carry-ons.  With packing cubes it's easy to place a days change of clothes in each other's bags.

[Gopherpharm]

@JerseyGem  great tip! We always bring one change of clothes and some toiletries in our carryons, but I hadn’t thought to put another in my spouse’s check bag. That makes sense!

[need2travel1]

We've done 4 Uniworld cruises & are booked on our first Tauck river cruise in July.  I wish we had known just how addicting they are!

[Gopherpharm]

@need2travel1  I’m definitely getting that impression and it wouldn’t surprise me if I’m hooked!