Luggage

[DEL67]

My advice (from personnal experience) is DO NOT buy good expensive lugage if you plan to travel a lot, or by plane or cruise ship. NO ONE---ANYWHERE cares about what condition your stuff ends in. I get so frustrated while sitting on a plane after boarding and seeing the baggage handlers throwing luggage around and dropping luggage on the wet ground and leaving it lay until they have everything else loaded.

 

And when you get to the ship they use a large cage that I would estimate at 5ft x 5ft x 5ft and stack it FULL of luggage. Someones has to be on the bottom (caution-don't pack anything valuable).

 

My most recent bad experience was on the Pride last summer. I put our perfectly functioning piece of luggage out on the last night as instructed. Next morning when we claimed it at the port it was destroyed. The whole bottom wheel section was crushed. There were black tire marks on it (it was pink) . Looked like the end had been run over. I showed it to the authorities at the port and filed a claim with Carnival. Didn't get a penny. They said there was no way they did it. END OF DISCUSSION . So I had to replace it and I did not buy a good piece. In my mind I am prepared to only use it once. I am sure there are multitudes of good stories but believe me you will remember the one bad one when it happens to you.

 

I now plan on taking photos of my luggage along the way to prove its condition if anything similar happens.

 

Good luck with your luggage quest.

 

I have to agree about not buying expensive luggage. The last 2 times I have flown both DD's and my bags have looked as if they dragged them through the mud. I cleaned them, but can not get all the dirty spots out. Inh addition, on our last cruise the fabric on the botton of her bag got slashedby something sharp during disembarkation.

 

On the other hand, I do not buy really cheap luggage either for the reasons you stated. Instead I buy clearance luggage from a discount store or website.

 

Some things I look for:

- Weight - The weight of the same size bag can vary by several pounds. With all the

airline restrictions and fees, I try to buy the lightest luggage I can find as long as it

appears to be sturdy.

- Wheels. To me luggage with wheels was a great invention. DD has a bad shoulder so

she prefers spinner luggage while In just care that it has wheels.

- Color - I hate to look for a black bag in a sea of black bags so my bag is black with white

polka dots and DD's is turquoise. We can see them coming as they come down the

shute! However, my white polka dots and her whole bag get dirty easily. Next time I buy

a bag I plan to look for patterned one with a blach or brown background.

[nlktx49]

I bought a set about 7 or 8 years ago at Kohl's that has held up very well through 5 cruises and numerous airline flights. It's Ricardo, which I had never heard of, but very well constructed. It was on sale, plus I had a 20% off coupon, so I got quite a deal! If you have a Kohl's nearby, I'd suggest shopping for luggage there.

[lionking1969]

Thanks to each of you for your help with our luggage decision. We went over to TJ Maxx and Home Goods today. TJ Maxx had Samsonite 29inch on sale for 89.00, which I thought was a good deal. Home Goods here did not have luggage so we also looked at Belk and found an American tourist 5 piece set for 87.00, also a good deal and not bad quality. Now we have to decide if we want 1 piece samsonite or the 5 piece American tourist for the same price. Thanks again for all of your help:)

[katavenger]

Just before our wedding, my husband and I each bought a Samsonite all hard suitcase at Tuesday Mornings for $50 each. I wanted fabric suitcases, but my husband won the arguement and we got hard plastic cases. On our honeymoon flight home, while waiting for our luggage on the carosel, we saw a huge trunk slam into a soft suitcase...my hubs turned to me and said, "That's why we have hard cased suitcases!" They've lasted through 4 cruises, and several other trips and flights. And, I can pack plenty in them...I'm always right at the 50lb mark. That's been almost 10 years ago!

Happy Shopping!

[dvan68]

Here is another vote for Ricardo - we got ours at Costco.

[Elmo31]

Im a samsonite fan...we have 2 large garment bags, 3 different size pieces of regular luggage, a very small roll on for our wine and delicate things and we have never had anything bad happen to our pieces. As you see in my signiture they have traveled alot on cruise ships. They are all soft sided. I go to department stores and check out clearance shelves to find the great deals. All my luggage dont match but thats fine but they are all samsonite.

[misstopgun]

My advice (from personnal experience) is DO NOT buy good expensive lugage if you plan to travel a lot, or by plane or cruise ship. NO ONE---ANYWHERE cares about what condition your stuff ends in. I get so frustrated while sitting on a plane after boarding and seeing the baggage handlers throwing luggage around and dropping luggage on the wet ground and leaving it lay until they have everything else loaded.

 

And when you get to the ship they use a large cage that I would estimate at 5ft x 5ft x 5ft and stack it FULL of luggage. Someones has to be on the bottom (caution-don't pack anything valuable).

 

My most recent bad experience was on the Pride last summer. I put our perfectly functioning piece of luggage out on the last night as instructed. Next morning when we claimed it at the port it was destroyed. The whole bottom wheel section was crushed. There were black tire marks on it (it was pink) . Looked like the end had been run over. I showed it to the authorities at the port and filed a claim with Carnival. Didn't get a penny. They said there was no way they did it. END OF DISCUSSION . So I had to replace it and I did not buy a good piece. In my mind I am prepared to only use it once. I am sure there are multitudes of good stories but believe me you will remember the one bad one when it happens to you.

 

I now plan on taking photos of my luggage along the way to prove its condition if anything similar happens.

 

Good luck with your luggage quest.

I agree with you. It doesn't matter how expensive the luggage, it could last one trip or 5 years depending on how it was handled. It also doesn't matter if you are first class or coach. Your luggage all goes to the same place and they can't tell the difference or could care less.

 

I won't try to buy for durability because it doesn't seem to matter. I buy from Walmart and my favorite is the Jeep line becuase they have four wheels and are easy to manuver and don't tip. The large one sells for about $50.

[Not_Done_Living]

I was told by an airline rep (after the wheels of my luggage vanished on a flight) that the purpose of luggage is to hold and protect the contents. If the outside got damaged and the contents were intact, it did its job.

 

I now treat all luggage as disposable packaging.

[donandmelissa]

Our family of 5 each has a rolling duffel. They hold a tremendous amount of clothing, are rugged, and roll easily on wheels. You can find great deals on Amazon, along with customer reviews to verify quality. We also share a big rolling garment bag for our formal clothing,

[Shaded Lady]

Just before our wedding, my husband and I each bought a Samsonite all hard suitcase at Tuesday Mornings for $50 each. I wanted fabric suitcases, but my husband won the arguement and we got hard plastic cases. On our honeymoon flight home, while waiting for our luggage on the carosel, we saw a huge trunk slam into a soft suitcase...my hubs turned to me and said, "That's why we have hard cased suitcases!" They've lasted through 4 cruises, and several other trips and flights. And, I can pack plenty in them...I'm always right at the 50lb mark. That's been almost 10 years ago!

Happy Shopping!

 

My only concern with hard cases is the fact that you're dependent on the clasps to hold, as opposed to a zipper- I'm probably unnecessarily afraid of that but one of my first airline trips I saw a woman pulling all her clothes off the conveyor belt- as her hardsider suitcase was thrown on the conveyor the locks failed and it popped open! OMG it was horrible and kinda funny at the same time! a bunch of us were grabbing her stuff for her as it came around, and handing it back to her hand over hand! She looked like she was going to cry!

 

It was probably a freak accident, and probably a cheap suitcase, but it's always made me steer clear of suitcases that are dependent on 2 locks to keep them closed!

[Kamloops50]

Have only used zippered suitcases for all our cruises. AFTER having one of our suitcases sliced or cut in transit during a flight . We changed to hard side suitcases with expansion zippers. Our Heyr cases on weight 7 lbs empty.

Our previous suite cases weight almost 11 lbs or more.

[katavenger]

My only concern with hard cases is the fact that you're dependent on the clasps to hold, as opposed to a zipper- I'm probably unnecessarily afraid of that but one of my first airline trips I saw a woman pulling all her clothes off the conveyor belt- as her hardsider suitcase was thrown on the conveyor the locks failed and it popped open! OMG it was horrible and kinda funny at the same time! a bunch of us were grabbing her stuff for her as it came around, and handing it back to her hand over hand! She looked like she was going to cry!

 

It was probably a freak accident, and probably a cheap suitcase, but it's always made me steer clear of suitcases that are dependent on 2 locks to keep them closed!

 

I've worried about the same thing happening to us, so I bought us each a $5 luggage strap at wm to wrap around them, and I've never had a problem. Plus, it makes identifying my luggage easier! I'll have to get 2 more before we travel again...On our last flight, the straps were missing on both suitcases when we picked them up at the airport baggage claim...but the suitcases were still secure! Crazy!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

My wife and I are looking to purchase a new set of luggage for our cruise in July. After looking at the usual places (Wal-Mart, JC Penney etc.) most of it looks like it might not hold up. So I was wondering what luggage you would recommend,that has proven to be dependable and durable enough to with stand the demands of cruise and airline travel. Please let me know where you purchased yours and the price if you don't mind sharing it. Thanks for your help.

 

I bought a couple of 28" Jeep spinner cases from WalMart for $79.99 each.

 

I haven't used them yet though.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Jeep-Hardside-Spinner-Suitcase-Gray/17474502

 

 

Bill

[KrystalWaters]

I saw a post on Carnival's Facebook page recently about how a lot of luggage was left out in a torrential downpour by the porters at embarkation. The soft-side luggage and its contents were soaked, and lots of passengers ended up doing laundry right away. I can't even imagine what happened to shoes and dry-clean-only items and/or formal wear in that luggage. I'm thinking of buying some hard-side luggage, which would certainly help if the luggage ever got wet. Also, the American Tourister set that I have now is about 10 years old and starting to show signs of wear. There is a 3-piece set on QVC today (their TSV) by Heys that looks pretty nice, and the price is right.

 

Yep, i just purchased this. It's no longer on sale and the price went up by $10. But i was in the market and i know that if i didn't purchase this i was leaning towards this http://www.amazon.com/Travelers-Choice-3-Piece-Hardside-Spinner/dp/B007IFO9KC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338789902&sr=8-1.

 

They had the set cheaper on http://www.overstock.com and a video. The person literally jumped on it and it pop back in place.

They have several different brands. I love Overstock because shipping is $2.95 for everything. I love-love-love this website. If you see something you have to get it because it may not be restocked. Order things from here for years and never had an issue.:D

[Twibbs]

I have LL Bean's Expedition Travel Pack. I think it was $119. This is just a carry on backpack, but I don't think I could kill it if I tried, short of taking a knife to it. They do have rolling duffles and such in the set as well, and one of the best warranties I've ever seen. Good customer service too. They had told me they'd not be reordering the color I wanted (bright orange, more visibility on the back of a motorcycle), but exchanged the blue one I ordered instead with no problems or charges once the orange was back in stock.

[CRUISE4JANE]

I bought a 3-piece set of American Tourister, carry-on 20 inches, upright 26 inches and upright 30 inches. I have had it since 1998. I bought it when they had a 50% sale on (the sale price was around $160 I believe). I couldn't even begin to count how many trips I have taken with it (too many, and it still looks brand new, yes I said brand new. :). Many flights this luggage went on, plus road trips to the Gulf Coast. I am not one to want to shop for luggage every couple of years. :) It is the soft kind with zippers and wheels and nothing is torn or broken. Even the inside is perfect. :) Don't laugh, I am not one to travel with old looking luggage. Before this I had the hard Samsonite that lasted as well.

[designcreations]

We just bought a new set of luggage at wayfair.com. We bought Delsey.

 

I don't know how Delsey will stand up.

 

There are tons of brands and luggage to puruse at wayfair.com.

 

Good luck!

[KansasK]

Two posters mentioned looking into hard sided luggage. My husband bought one hard sided large suitcase to haul his dive gear. It has worked out.

 

Hard sided suitcases are heavier to start with. This is something to consider. You end up putting in less and you have to be able to pick it up for the those brief or long times you cannot roll it.

[rferr]

Went to the local thrift store and got two nice carry on roller bags, something that would be 100 bucks a piece at the department store, for five bucks each. I would look there.