Need new luggage - any thoughts?

[ineedacruise]

I am not new to cruising but need new luggage. Any suggestions or ideas for what size I should go for and how many bags? I do not want to spend a lot, I only will use it once a year.

There will be 4 of us together. Two adults and two kids.

[joand452]

We needed new bags for our first cruise last year and ended up with TravelPro. I really like the "built-in" garment bags.

 

Have fun shopping!

[springtxbill]

Get bright off the wall colors so other people will not mistake their black or dark green bag for yours.

[jcruise67]

Here's a web site that sells Zuca. http://www.zuca.com

My DW and I use large, sturdy, colorful duffels that we can recognize from afar. They make for alot of room and are collapsable to fit under beds. Regular suitcases take up to much room and are difficult to store. The duffels always worked for us. Also, you can always find room in a duffel for just one more item if you have to reopen it. No hassels, just convenience.

 

John

[Ehpride]

Definitely get a bright or unusual color or if you get a common color, get bright unusual tags or ribbons for it so you can spot it at the airport! My requirement for luggage is wheels. I'm going to Germany for school in May and I'm taking my wheeled luggage so that I can get it to the hostel easier!

[crsinmo]

I don't want to spend money on luggage that could be spent doing other fun things :) Wal-Mart has a 5 piece luggage set that is fairly nice looking....48 bucks for the set. And 4 of the 5 have wheels.

[megr1125]

I agree with the different color. I would not get a 24 or 26 inch....mainly because they are heavy empty, heavier full and hard to get into the car or shuttle.

 

Target has Eddie Bauer stuff that doesn't look to expensive and seems to be fairly sturdy. We have Amer Tourister that we like. We have a Protocol (from JCPenney) rolling duffel that I love but it has some construction issues that I have to address.

 

 

I would think you'd each need a big suitcase, and a carryon. We have a rolling carryon that is great.

 

We also use big fat yarn pompoms to help ID our bags. Even in a sea of black, we can spot the orange fuzzzy things a mile away.

[Ehpride]

I don't want to spend money on luggage that could be spent doing other fun things :) Wal-Mart has a 5 piece luggage set that is fairly nice looking....48 bucks for the set. And 4 of the 5 have wheels.

 

I think my mom got that luggage and it looks pretty nice. Normally, she and my grandma share luggage but Grandma is going with us so that won't really work.

[Happy ks]

On luggage. You can get lucky with a cheap bag, but what you usually get is a cheap bag. My BIL purchased a bag from Costco, he used it twice, a friend borrowed it once, we were going to borrow it, but it was already ripped. If you only travel once every couple of years, or don't have to fly, cheap can be OK. In the long run a good quality bag will cost less, since it does not have to be replaced as often. I have found great deals at department store closeout, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack and a luggage store that went out of business. I have purchased through online sites, but have found that with shipping charges the price is higher than local stores. By not buying every piece at one time and not worrying that I have an exact match, we both have nice sets of luggage that are very good quality.

 

Look for the lightest weight luggage you can afford, with the airlines now strict on their weight limits a heavy bag can take up a lot of your allowance.

 

I sound like a broken record, but put 2 luggage tags on the outside of each bag, plus one on the inside. Luggage tags can, and will get torn off your bags, if both of them are lost, the tag on the inside will get your bag home to you eventually if it is mis-directed. The only luggage that is truely lost is the unidentifiable. If you can, put your itinerary into your bag as well, it just may find you on your trip. Most importantly, remove any old tags and stickers from your bags before traveling, that is how many bags go on different trips than their owners.

 

Pack as light as you can, and have a great trip!

[cjh]

I was in Walmart yesterday and they had your choice of either red or navy big American Tourister pullman for $49

[SharleneinTexas]

I bought a great set of samsonite on HSN a couple of years ago......they have different brands and you can normally find something that they split up on 'flex pay' where you don't even have the whole amount charged to your card at once ........the sets usually have a nice selection of sizes and they can nest together......I checked the department stores after my purchase and realized that the HSN price was a steal......... later added another tote for my daughter that I bought on Ebay and that was another steal.......:)

Sharlene

[kujobie]

I personally prefer larger and fewer bags. But we drive to ports and like to self-disembark. It's just easier to manage one large wheeled bag and a duffel bag than three medium sized bags. This might be an issue if flying a lot with the weight restrictions.

[sbroots]

I personally prefer larger and fewer bags. But we drive to ports and like to self-disembark. It's just easier to manage one large wheeled bag and a duffel bag than three medium sized bags. This might be an issue if flying a lot with the weight restrictions.

 

So that brings up an interesting question. What do most couples prefer: one large bag or two smaller bags?

[Happy ks]

It depends on where you are cruising and for how long. We can pack in one large bag, one garment bag and a couple of carry ons for a one week cruise. That is for a warm weather cruise. If going to Alaska, forget it, you will each need a large bag plus garment bags plus carry ons. The more we cruise, the less we pack, it's so much easier to just have stuff cleaned than have to haul it all along. One of these day, I swear I will be able to pack in a rollaboard.

[kdickers]

I also like www.luggageguy.com and www.smartbargins.com.

 

Both places have discounted and discontinued items and sets for a resonable cost. Especially if you're taking 2 children, a single suitcase and carryon won't be sufficient!! lol

 

Kim

[BrynnP]

When you guys say "large bags," what size are you talking? Thanks!

[Cathy p]

I told my hubby we really needed some new luggage. After our last trip when a wheel fell off he was not hard to convince.:D I looked in several stores and came up with a 3 pc set for $300. I got it at one of our upscale stores named Hechts. It was 60% off and I had a coupon for 10%. Nice and sturdy. I went for 2 30" and a garment bag. They are a beautiful powder blue. I have never seen that color before so should be easy to spot. I agree with not getting the smaller ones I have the 30" and use half of my hubby's. If I plan right I may only have my tote bag to carry on the plane and cruise. That will be a first. We shall see.:p

[ineedacruise]

Just an update, I am still looking around for luggage. I have read all your thoughts and know what to look for (I think). The set at Walmart looks nice from a distance but when I got to the store the display was ripped in several places. I got an idea what it would look like coming off a plane.

 

I found a lime green duffle bag with retractable handle at QVC.com that looks pretty good for only $35. I bought a Freedom Bag from them a few years ago. It still looks great and that sucker can hold a lot of clothes. I bet lime green would be easy to find from a distance too.

 

*I also looked at the American Tourister 29 inch bag on wheels but am thinking that if I load it up with clothes, it might be over the 50 pound weight limit of American Airlines.*

[dna1990]

I'll chime in and vote for quality. We broke down last year and got two quality TravelPro's. One typical rectangle, the other a garmet bag with wheels.

 

We got tired of broken wheels and pulled out handles. Or handles on wheeled-bags that were too short, so that the bag would bump your heals when pulling it. These new bags have very sturdy seams, zippers, handles, etc. You can stack other bags on top, without fear of the handle giving way in the 'dolley-mode'.

 

For us, we labor enough making it thru the airports and parking lots....didn't want any more issues from hard-to-lug luggage. And packing itself is better. The garmet bag really has all sorts of panels to help fold dress clothes in neatly.

 

As others have stated, these two are heavier than I would have liked. It doesn't take much to get to 50# in them. Everything else is awesome.

 

Very expensive, but like a good balcony cabin...worth it to us in the end.

 

 

ps - ribbons and tags are best to help prevent others from taking YOUR bag by mistake, not really for you to find your OWN bag in a crowd. I love the new TV commercial, where the guy is claiming his typical black bag with red ribbon from the carousal...they all have red ribbons! Be unique.

[Cathy p]

I am the QUEEN of QVC and I have never rec'd anything I did not like. I did send back a pair of shoes, however, they just did not fit. Good luck!

[TxGal]

Add another vote for quality. After buying 3 different sets of cheap luggage, and watching them quickly deteriorate every time we handed them over to an airline, we went out and bought more expensive luggage and so far there are no torn seams, broken handles or wheels, and no plastic liner breaking and causing a mess inside the luggage.

[kman]

We were at BJ's Wholesale Club this weekend and they had a pretty decent-looking wheeled duffel bag for $40. It had 7400 cubic inches of space. They had red, orange, and blue bags. I'm thinking about getting a couple of orange ones - that color seemed to stand out pretty well. IIRC, the brand name was "Polaris".

[LARGIN]

Add another vote for quality. After buying 3 different sets of cheap luggage, and watching them quickly deteriorate every time we handed them over to an airline, we went out and bought more expensive luggage and so far there are no torn seams, broken handles or wheels, and no plastic liner breaking and causing a mess inside the luggage.

 

Agree.. We use Travel Pro and have no problems..

[Lenora1426]

I'm also looking for new luggage and may try Delsey. They have a nice set of 4 bags on QVC, one 28inch, 26inch, 21inch and carry on for $164.

[Cathy p]

I bought the Delsey brand the other day. Of course I got the 2 30" and 1 garment bag. $300 but they look real sturdy. I guess we will find out. Don't forget the 30 no questions asked return to QVC. That price is really good from what I saw at the store. Good luck and happy shopping.:p