Packing for the kids

[sarahc78]

how far ahead did you pack? How much did you pack for say a 7 day cruise? Should I pack a little less and just use the ships washing services? What about formal nights?

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :eek: I have 4 (5 if you include one that isnt going but staying w/ family) that I have to pack for and I am freaking out about it :eek:

[cb at sea]

Pack as you'd pack for any vacation to the climate you'll be visiting! If it's the Caribbean, swimsuits/shorts will be the outfit of the day! Many folks will bring only 2 or 3 sets of "dinner clothes"....unless they're spilled on, you can rewear them several times. Have the kids change back into shorts/playclothes after dinner.

 

I think the laundry service is expensive....so I'd try to re-wear things as often as possible!

 

As far as how soon to pack....I lay things out and sort thru them, but I don't actually put stuff into the suitcases until the night before we leave....once stuff is in the suitcase, it's hard to see what you have !!!

[Irish90Cruiser]

For our recent 7 night cruise, I packed one formal outfit for each child (to be worn twice) and a dinner outfit for each of the other casual nights. My 2 girls had a different outfit each night but my son wore the same pair of khaki pants with a different shirt. They each brought a shorts/t-shirt outfit for every day to wear after dinner and/or during the day. I also packed an extra t-shirt for everyone just in case. Two bathing suits each, and two sets of pj's each.

 

I had everything laid out in piles about 3 days before we left and packed the suitcases the night before. I always make sure there are clothes for each person in every suitcase just in case we lose one.

[Jenjer]

I don't know the ages of your kids but one thing I did when mine were smaller was bag each outfit, including underwear socks and any accessorys in a ziplock bag. That way the kids could grab a bag and get dressed with everything.

 

I do laundry and bag everything up a couple of days before and put say 3 bags in each case.

 

Sometimes I want to buy big bags for DH clothing but I have yet to do that...mmmm may this year

 

I agree kids can rewear thier formal clothing.

[Messunderstood]

Packing for kids is the EASY part! Packing for myself is IMPOSSIBLE!

 

OK, I used to do the ziploc baggie thing too when my daughter was small enough that a whole outfit would fit into one! I guess I could step up to the gallon size baggies but that seems much more expensive.

 

 

I especially liked the baggies to put dirty stuff BACK into.

 

 

Here are some of my kid cruise rules....

 

1) each child needs atleast 2 swim suits because unless you have a balcony to dry them on they wont dry overnight in the bathroom. if you do dry them on the balcony use a small bungie cord on the back of one of the chairs and loop it THROUGH the suit so they don't fly away :eek:

 

2) denim shorts can be worn MULTIPLE times before looking dirty. ;)

 

3) Shirts will get dirty before anything so throw in a couple extra tops and re-use the bottoms as much as possible. ;)

 

4) Tennis shoes take FOREVER to dry. Invest in a good pair of river shoes (I love the Lands End ones).

 

5) For the little fashion diva....take three or so diff colored flip flops (old navy $1 sale!) for her to coordinate with. They take up very little space and add virtually no weight to the baggage. :p

[sarahc78]

Packing for kids is the EASY part! Packing for myself is IMPOSSIBLE!

 

OK, I used to do the ziploc baggie thing too when my daughter was small enough that a whole outfit would fit into one! I guess I could step up to the gallon size baggies but that seems much more expensive.

 

 

I especially liked the baggies to put dirty stuff BACK into.

 

 

Here are some of my kid cruise rules....

 

1) each child needs atleast 2 swim suits because unless you have a balcony to dry them on they wont dry overnight in the bathroom. if you do dry them on the balcony use a small bungie cord on the back of one of the chairs and loop it THROUGH the suit so they don't fly away :eek:

 

2) denim shorts can be worn MULTIPLE times before looking dirty. ;)

 

3) Shirts will get dirty before anything so throw in a couple extra tops and re-use the bottoms as much as possible. ;)

 

4) Tennis shoes take FOREVER to dry. Invest in a good pair of river shoes (I love the Lands End ones).

 

5) For the little fashion diva....take three or so diff colored flip flops (old navy $1 sale!) for her to coordinate with. They take up very little space and add virtually no weight to the baggage. :p

Thanks lots of good info!

 

I was thinking the same thing about the flip flops. I have 4 boys ages 14, 13, 12, and 4 that will be going with us that I have to pack for. Knowing them as the little fish they are I am thinking at least 3 bathing suits is what will need per kid. Love the idea about extra shirts.

 

I think I am going to just go ahead and pack now. They dont wear their formal stuff anyway so they wont miss that. It will save me stress and time!!!

[reallyitsmema]

Have the three older ones lay out their clothes for you. At their ages, they should be able to get it together. I would pack 3 swimsuits and either a rash guard or an underarmor type shirt to wear with them since they dry easily. My son only brought 3 pairs of pants because he only wore them for dinner and then changed immediately after back to shorts. He wore polo shirts for dinners other that formal when he had a shirt, tie and jacket. Tshirts and shorts for daytime, one sweatshirt just in case. Just tell them how many days and have them make piles. Once he was done, I would go through all of it with him to make sure nothing had holes and to make sure it all still fit. Then I moved it all to a spare room to be packed into a suitcase by me since I don't roll things up into wrinkly balls.;)

 

We have always found a staging area to be helpful though. Set a suitcase on the floor in a corner or spare room and add all those things you remember in the next month before your cruise. If they decide they want that little nerf football they played in the water with last year, have them throw it into the suitcase. All those little things you come across that you say, oh I should bring this, throw it in as you go.

 

Enlist help, makes it much easier.:)

[Cheryl H]

I start packing weeks in advance, especially if it's for out-of-season clothes. I usually buy some new shirts for my husband and son, so they don't get to wear them until vacation.

 

I think your post showed you on Celebrity. I'm not sure about them, but on RCCL, there's usually a coupon for the laundry in our booklet onboard. We used them last time for kakhi pants, jeans, and pajamas. It was just laundered, not dry cleaned. It was well worth it. It saved room in our bags versus packing extra slacks/jeans. Plus our jeans were so nice and pressed.

 

Also I think during the week, there was a special for pack a bag laundry. It was mostly for socks and undies I think. But the bag was laundered and folded all for one price (as much as you could fit in the bag).

 

I used the baggie method for the last trip to Disney. I bought the special ziplocks that are a size larger than 1 gallon. I think I found them at Target. One complete outfit in each bag. However, I found myself robbing a bag to get a fresh shirt out. So you might need a bag with just a couple extra shirts. Then I used a space bag to put dirty clothes in.

 

I don't normally use the bag method for cruising because I like to hang as much as I can, so I just get the outfits out and hang them up in the closet.

 

We normally repeat clothes in the main dining room, so we only bring 4 or 5 evening outfits. I used to pack dresses, matching shoes, and all, but now I just pack black slacks and different tops for me. This next cruise will be the first that we will even leave the suits at home. Our plan for formal nights is just to visit another venue. I figure Alaska type clothing will take more room in the suitcase, so the suits are staying home.

 

The most important thing is to cross pack so there's some of everyone's clothing in every suitcase.

[Mom2B&Z]

is to look at your itinerary. I re-used outfits worn for a few hours on sea days, as the boys spent most of the time in bathing suits. Port days had 2 outfits each, and ITA with the suggestion of bringing more t-shirts than shorts. Mix and match so everything coordinates to make things easier. I don't pack in baggies, but I do make outfit "piles" in the suitcase that are unpacked into the cabin's dresser drawers. I prefer dark coloured dress pants to khakis because they can hide stains.

I also bring 2 bathing suits/rash guards for each child, we had a balcony but they don't dry from morning to afternoon :) Bring two for you too!

[MamaParrotHead]

I also pack for 4 and we take 2 medium sized suitcases and a rolling garment bag. That's all of our stuff including 2 formal night outfits for each of us. Next time we're only planning on participating in 1 formal night dinner in the MDR, so that should cut down considerably on the packing.

 

I also budget for and send out a few bags of laundry throughout the week, Carnival has a deal where they give you these small-medium sized thin paper bags and whatever you can fit in it they wash and fold and return to you for $15. I've gotten pretty adept at tightly rolling our clothing so whatever I send out in one bag rolled comes back in two bags folded, lol. :) That way there's less laundry for me to do when we get back, I don't have to waste my precious vacation time doing laundry AND I don't have to pack as much.

 

We mix and match clothing for dinner, as we're only in the outfits for a few hours and change out of them after dinner. I also limit everyone to 3 pairs of shoes (1 pair flip flops, 1 pair sport sandals, 1 pair neutral shoes for dinner) and that saves a tremendous amount of suitcase space.

 

I also plan on picking up a few tshirts along the way for everyone and pack accordingly.

[loan_girl]

Get the purex 3 in 1 washer/dryer sheets. That will save you $ if you decide to use their washing machines. I usually bring $18 in quarters (enough for 3 full loads on Carnival) and those sheets in case I need to do any laundry. I have way over-packed and under-packed.. Hoping this time I get it more right. I'll second and third the bring at least 2 suits option. Nothing like putting on a wet bathing suit!

[Camlott]

I don't know the ages of your kids but one thing I did when mine were smaller was bag each outfit, including underwear socks and any accessorys in a ziplock bag. That way the kids could grab a bag and get dressed with everything.

 

I do laundry and bag everything up a couple of days before and put say 3 bags in each case.

 

Sometimes I want to buy big bags for DH clothing but I have yet to do that...mmmm may this year

 

I agree kids can rewear thier formal clothing.

 

Like this idea... for kids and adults!!!

[cantw8togo]

We have finally been able to narrow our packing list down to two carry ons each for our family of four including our 2 DS's age 10 & 7. We take the following for a 7 day cruise to a warm climate and we are flying from a snowy one:

 

6 or 7 t shirts

5 shorts

2 bathing suits and sun shirts

2 dark long pants (hides the stains better)

2 collared shirts- one casual plaid or polo, one dress shirt

1 patterned tie (patterns hide the stains)

1 belt

dark dressier shoes

3 or 4 pr dark socks (stuffed into the shoes)

2 prs white socks (more if there is rock climbing or ice skating on board)

underwear for the week (usually packed in an outer pocket of the suitcase)

teva style sandals

 

1 long sleeve shirt to wear on the way home back to a cold climate

1 extra pr jeans if there is room

 

sunhat

sunglasses

 

Worn to the airport:

long sleeve shirt

jeans

fleece jacket worn under a rain jacket

runners and socks

 

With careful packing, this fits into the largest allowable carry on suitcase. We let the kids take whatever amusements that will fit into the smaller carryon.

 

I usually take a Tide to Go pen just in case and can spot clean minor spills so that things can be reworn. If there is a more major incident, then there is always the onboard laundry.

 

The peace of mind while traveling light is an added bonus. Not having to worry about your luggage getting lost or damaged, not having to spend time waiting for the luggage to be unloaded, and not having to set out your luggage the night before disembarkation and hoping that nobody takes it by mistake makes it all worth while.

 

Hope this helps.

 

N.

[SingleFatherofDD]

Packing for a cruise for us is slightly easier. DD is only 5 1/2 so her clothes don't take that much space up. In the summer when we can sail out of New York, the amount of clothes we take doesn't matter. However, when we sail in the winter, we usually have to fly to the port so we take a little less. Still between two suitcases that are free on Delta we are able to get all of our needed clothes to the ship.

 

I know the OP had a DS which, IMHO is easier to pack for. Normally, they have less clothes than girls. For DD who is a fish I take 4 or 5 swimming suits. She swims at least twice a day and also goes to the kids club. I don't want her to wear a wet bathing suit in the AC at the club. So I usually change her into a dry bathing suit. If she has a choice she rather wear a bathing suit bottom than panties. Strange kid I know.

 

Like everyone has said I usually take one or two formal dresses for DD with me. The rest of the nights it is usually a nice casual outfit. However, after dinner no matter what, DD changes into some comfortable clothing to play in at the kids club.

 

I remembered when I cruised as a young child I couldn't wait to get my dinner clothes off and into comfortable clothing. It always signaled that it was time to go to the kids club. I think you have to see how needy your child is and how messy they are. If they are messier than other children I would say take extra clothing. Even though DD doesn't have accidents I take an extra pair of underwear and also clothing with me. Rather be prepared than have to run around to clean clothes.