How do you fit your cruise stuff into your bags?

[tcufrog]

I pack clothes that either look good wrinkled or don’t wrinkle so that I cram them in. My kids like to take sand toys so I bought a collapsible sand bucket. I also pack clothes for my youngest that I don’t mind leaving behind if I run out of space and have to leave them behind. I don’t like ebooks so I pack for the plane ride over paperbacks and magazines I don’t mind leaving behind. Finally, I invested in an inflatable booster seat for my 6 year old that takes up
much less space than a traditional one does.

 

[NAB]

I never take my winter coat with me either. It usually stays in the car at the airport. Wear my jeans and a sweater on the plane. Used to take a different outfit for everyday but can get by re using some of my clothes. I don't change my shorts everyday at home can get a few wears out of them and even sometimes my t shirts if I'm not sweating alot. So mix and match alot.

We do have on dress/ suit... suit case we take with us that holds suit , dress, some other shirts etc. Can actually get a lot in there. Then take one big suit case. No costumes for us too we do pirate t shirts. And two back packs so we are each only pulling one suitcase each.

Shoes are the problem but we fit them in.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Well, technically you don't NEED the costumes... Or the FE stuff. Participation in both of those is totally optional and voluntary.

Oh, right.... YOU tell my wife we are not doing fe’s. Or magnets. Or ornaments.

I’ll be busy sitting on the suitcase trying to get it to close. Let me know how you do.

Shoes are my killer. Dress shoes plus tennis shoes plus Sandals are a lot.

 

[mmmears]

Oh, right.... YOU tell my wife we are not doing fe’s. Or magnets. Or ornaments.

I’ll be busy sitting on the suitcase trying to get it to close. Let me know how you do.

Shoes are my killer. Dress shoes plus tennis shoes plus Sandals are a lot.

We still do magnets, even with just carry-ons. So it's possible to have fun but not be so overloaded it's a burden. Wear your largest shoes possible and stuff the ones you pack. We still overpack, in that there are always items we bring that we don't use or need in the end. And don't forget about the laundry room on the ship.

 

[rcchello]

1) Put everything together for the trip you think you need.
2) put 1/2 of the stuff back, you really don't need it.
3) Pack your luggage and weigh it. Redistribute until all luggage weighs less than airline limits.
4) After cruise determine what was never worn and eliminate it from next trip!

Most people find after first trip, they majorly overpacked, especially those who found during the day they wore a bathing suit or shorts the entire time and only needed 3 outfits for the evenings.

 

[scgustafson]

Follow me here for a moment....
Say you are coming from a cold area. So you are coming in jeans, warm shirt, jacket, etc.
You need 1+ bathing suits. probably at least 2.
You need a costume for pirates night. That may includes boots, a hat and other accessories. You will use these once.
You need a jacket, slacks, dress, whatever and a pair of nice shoes for Palo / Remy. You will use these once (or maybe twice if formal night is different).
If it's SWDAS, you need a costume for that (these can get big and expensive). You will use this once.
OH, Let's not forget the Fish Extenders. Or the Magnet group. Or the ornament group if it's a holiday cruise.

I mean, I need a room to sleep in, 2 rooms for my valet's and an extra storage room for my bags.

Seriously... how do you all do it?

Easily. Two checked bags and a carry-on for each in the group, plus my backpack for a total of 10 bags for our family of 3. Most of our vacations are in the 16-day range, and nothing worse than having to do laundry during vacation.

 

[ludari]

I've done several month long vacations with just a carry-on bag. Yeah, I will definitely have to do laundry a few times but to me it's worth it to just have a carry-on bag. The one thing that helps greatly are my compression packing cubes. I also pack clothing that resist wrinkling I even have a sports coat from London Fog that folds up (which I love). As much as I love Pirate Night sometimes my pirate costume is just t-shirt and jeans especially if you are trying to save luggage space. I've done fish extenders once and it wasn't for me so I don't participate in any of those groups. Personally I don't want to waste my time walking around the ship to deliver these items. I can use my vacation time more wisely. I also use a packing app which helped me fine tune my packing but it took me several trips/cruises to figure out what I need and what I do not need to bring. Good luck.

 

[DCSWO]

You could plan to wear components of an outfit (or 2) twice and use the ship's laundry service at mid-cruise for the items you want to use again (not the self service). Laundry service rates aren't too bad and it takes all the time, stress, and worry out of the equation. They do the work - you get to pack a little lighter and enjoy your cruise. I wouldn't waste time in the self-service laundry rooms.

 

[DCSWO]

Also, if you have little ones, their clothes will not take up a full suitcase but that doesn't mean you don't put their stuff in a full size suitcase. Then you can use the extra space.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Also, if you have little ones, their clothes will not take up a full suitcase but that doesn't mean you don't put their stuff in a full size suitcase. Then you can use the extra space.

The trouble with this strategy is when you start relying on having that space and the little ones grow bigger and start needing their own space.

 

[DCSWO]

The trouble with this strategy is when you start relying on having that space and the little ones grow bigger and start needing their own space.

Oh I know. My youngest is 13 so the benefits of this method have waned for us. Our next cruise is a 7-night northern European so suitcase packing will be even tougher. I'm changing over to hardside luggage and actually taking some carryons to help with the space instead of the backpack-type bag carryon I used to take. It will be awesome.

 

[Chemist]

Also, if you have little ones, their clothes will not take up a full suitcase but that doesn't mean you don't put their stuff in a full size suitcase. Then you can use the extra space.

Except that you know they can't re-wear ANYTHING. In fact, they can often go through multiple outfits in a day.

 

[mmouse37]

On our 7 night Magic cruise out of NYC to Bahamas last month which was a MDAS and a HOTHS and had a formal night and had a pirate night I brought everything for each night!!!

I had one suitcase for me, one for my husband, one small duffel for our 2 year old GD and then a small suitcase for all my DGD's princess dresses (5 of them).

You can fit it. I actually packed more regular clothes than I needed this cruise (I think because of all the theme days).

MJ

 

[starvenger]

Oh, right.... YOU tell my wife we are not doing fe’s. Or magnets. Or ornaments.

I’ll be busy sitting on the suitcase trying to get it to close. Let me know how you do.

Shoes are my killer. Dress shoes plus tennis shoes plus Sandals are a lot.

I agree about the shoes. Worst thing about men's clothes, to be honest, since they're bulky. But you know they're a necessity, so you work around the restriction. I go for more "business casual" shoes over dress shoes now when I travel. They pack better, and are a little more scuff resistant. And they even don't look out of place when you wear them at a wedding (did some empirical testing with that). For suits (another space eater) I've started using the folding techniques they show online to reduce space and prevent wrinkles. I can't say that it 100% prevents wrinkles, but it's pretty close, and if you're arriving a day before the cruise you can make use of the iron in the hotel room.

As for runners/sandals, I'll opt for one of those, wear that on the plane, and pack some lighter (and less bulky) flip flops with me.

Winter clothing is always another tough one. I find planes to be chilly regardless of the time of year, so I wear one or two short sleeve shirts underneath a long sleeve shirt (sometimes) and a hoodie, with jeans or khakis. Seems like a lot, but it's not as if I'm Joey wearing all of Chandler's clothes or anything.

Another thing we do (and this doubles as a time saver) is that I drop my wife and kids (and sometimes my parents if they're travelling with us) at the terminal with our bags while I park the car at an offsite lot. We usually check in online so it's a simple matter for my wife to get the luggage tags from the airline kiosk and drop them off.

All of this will save you SOME space. Probably not enough space for everything you want, but at least it helps reduce the amount of hard choices you need to make.

(Incidentally, my favourite Pirate Night outfits that I saw were some folks wearing Pittsburgh Pirates "shirseys". But I have a weird sense of humour.)

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I agree about the shoes. Worst thing about men's clothes, to be honest, since they're bulky....

One of the tricks to packing is to utilize all that cavernous space INSIDE the shoes. If absolutely nothing else, you should be able to stuff your socks inside the shoe, or stuff anything you don't want touching the inside of the shoe inside a sock first. There's all sorts of stuff you might want to pack that will easily fit in a shoe. A great example I can think if off the top of my head would be a hair brush.

 

[starvenger]

Oh, that's definitely something I do. (Men's) socks and underwear work best, I think - you can stuff those in all the way to the toe, in some cases.

 

[aggiedog]

LL Bean also makes great down jackets that stuff into an inside "pocket." It's my go to travel jacket and makes a great pillow when stuffed for the plane. We travel light, roll clothes, travel size toiletries. I try to bring clothes I can mix and match, and never bring a single wear item.

On the flip side, we do Comic-Cons. Traveling with a large, essentially unpackable costumes, one for each day for several days, for 3 of us? Holy cow. Add boxes for wigs and accessories. I've drawn the line to cons we can drive to. I don't even want to think about flying with all that. Our mini-van is packed to the ceiling as it is.

 

[JWG]

Does rolling clothes really take up any less space than folding?
I get the wrinkle protection.

 

[Chemist]

Does rolling clothes really take up any less space than folding?

It seems to.

I use packaging cubes and I can definitely fit more into each cube if I roll instead of fold.

I use the packing cubes to keep everyone's stuff organized, not to fit more into a suitcase. The weight always kills us.
I just find it so much easier to unpack, or just to find stuff if you don't unpack. My clothes are in the pink cube, husband's in yellow, kid #1 in blue, etc.
And purple is for family clothes like swim suits.

 

[Minnie & Daisy]

Oh, right.... YOU tell my wife we are not doing fe’s. Or magnets. Or ornaments.

I’ll be busy sitting on the suitcase trying to get it to close. Let me know how you do.

Shoes are my killer. Dress shoes plus tennis shoes plus Sandals are a lot.

Let your wife carry all of her FE items in her carry on bag. Wear the tennis shoes, and pack the sandals and dress shoes.