Need Help with Luggage Issues

[GrammieMame]

First time cruiser. I know that cabins are on the small side, and I'm wondering where you store your empty luggage (probably 2 large and 1 small pull suitacase, plus carry-on's).

 

Also, the things I'm taking are pretty light weight and crushable, and won't take up much space. My husband, however, will be taking several sport coats, a suit, long sleeve shirts, etc. I'm thinking of getting one of those pull cases with space to hang that sort of thing, but am hesitant since it isn't something we would use often. Does anyone have advice about putting that kind of men's clothing in a regular suitcase?

[Goldryder]

First time cruiser. I know that cabins are on the small side, and I'm wondering where you store your empty luggage (probably 2 large and 1 small pull suitacase, plus carry-on's).

 

Also, the things I'm taking are pretty light weight and crushable, and won't take up much space. My husband, however, will be taking several sport coats, a suit, long sleeve shirts, etc. I'm thinking of getting one of those pull cases with space to hang that sort of thing, but am hesitant since it isn't something we would use often. Does anyone have advice about putting that kind of men's clothing in a regular suitcase?

 

 

Generally there is plenty of space in the cabins, under the beds or inside the wardrobe for the empty suitcases. There is usually no shortage of hanging space, although taking a few hangers might be an idea, drawer space is more than you might expect too. Use tissue paper inbetween clothing that you are folding, it helps eliminate creases..especially those posh frocks and his jackets ;)

 

I took a 24" trolley case on my last cruise and had no problem 'homing' it for the duration, and there was plenty of space for another couple of cases too. My forthcoming cruise over Christmas is a much larger case, 32" trolley plus carry-on, plus laptop and I doubt very much I will have a problem stowing everything, despite it being a 3 week holiday in all weathers so taking jumpers, t-shirts, skirts, posh frocks and jeans...oh and a couple of anoraks too :)

 

Storage space in cabins is quite amazing, a cabin is often the architypal tardis in respect to space.

 

Enjoy your holiday :)

[Cam6959]

My husband and I just purchased a garment bag to bring with us. We also have room on our large suitcase to hang other garments if we need to. You should have plenty of space for your suitcases. Put the smaller ones in the large and shove them under the bed. You might have to lift the bed a little bit to fit but once in there no problem! Enjoy your cruise. I remember my first it was the best one! I think all the first ones are the best ones so enjoy!

[Gabsabunch42]

First time cruiser. I know that cabins are on the small side, and I'm wondering where you store your empty luggage (probably 2 large and 1 small pull suitacase, plus carry-on's).

 

Also, the things I'm taking are pretty light weight and crushable, and won't take up much space. My husband, however, will be taking several sport coats, a suit, long sleeve shirts, etc. I'm thinking of getting one of those pull cases with space to hang that sort of thing, but am hesitant since it isn't something we would use often. Does anyone have advice about putting that kind of men's clothing in a regular suitcase?

All our suitcases fit under the bed also. We took a couple dozen extra hangers so that we could hang all our shirts and such (there were 4 of us). Then we just used the shelves and drawers for our pants, other essentials:) , shoes, etc. I don't understand the pull case that you are talking about, but I wouldn't worry about having enough space to hang stuff, there was plenty of closet space in our cabin.

[Happy ks]

There's really no need to go out and purchase new luggage, if packed properly, suits can come out wrinkle free from your suitcase.

 

First, use plenty of dry cleaner bags, I would hang the jacket on a hanger over a plastic bag, then put one over the jacket as well. Leave the hanger on, so you can just transfer right from the suitcase into the closet. The pants should be layered. A great method of wrinkle free packing is to lay the clothes out over the case, allowing the pants to hang over the edges. Lay the clothes North, Sout, East and West, until all are on top of eachother. Then, gently fold each direction of clothing, the side being the last layers. This way, none of the clothing has a hard crease, they are all cushioned together. The jacket can be laid on top of the pile of clothing, shoes around the perimeter. It sounds confusing, but just think of a gift wrap in a box with tissue, only in all 4 directions. You can use tissue, or plastic bags for further protection between the layers.

 

Cross pack some of each others clothing into the others case, should one goe missing at least you will have something to wear besides the clothes on your back.

I do have my DHs dress shirts laundered and folded into boxes. Of course, I don't pack the boxes, but leave them in the plastic bags, we like the way the collar stays crisp.

[Leo Jay]

First time cruiser. I know that cabins are on the small side, and I'm wondering where you store your empty luggage (probably 2 large and 1 small pull suitacase, plus carry-on's).

 

Also, the things I'm taking are pretty light weight and crushable, and won't take up much space. My husband, however, will be taking several sport coats, a suit, long sleeve shirts, etc. I'm thinking of getting one of those pull cases with space to hang that sort of thing, but am hesitant since it isn't something we would use often. Does anyone have advice about putting that kind of men's clothing in a regular suitcase?

 

I'm considering putting my sportcoats and tuxedo in a suitcase instead of carrying around a garment bag. Anyway, with all my clothes in it, I'm not sure I can get the garment bag folded small enough to fit through the s-ray scanner, so I may end up having to check it in... and if so, I'd rather have my clothes in a suitcase that at least has some structure, rather than tossed around in a garment bag. I just need to make sure I can pack them so I get minimal wrinkling. There's an onboard laundry service, but unless they're particularly skilled, they may not do a great job with jackets -- they're notoriously tricky to iron well around the sleeves.

[PurpleCow]

On my last cruise one suitcase wouldn't fit under the bed. The cabin stewardess took it away and stored it. It was returned the last day.

 

Agree with Gabs about the hangars and dry cleaner bags. I packed all my hanging garments that way. Unpacking took about 2 minutes and there was nary a wrinkle in sight. I carried a steamer, but never needed it.

[Leo Jay]

Agree with Gabs about the hangars and dry cleaner bags. I packed all my hanging garments that way. Unpacking took about 2 minutes and there was nary a wrinkle in sight. I carried a steamer, but never needed it.

 

And did you use a garment bag, or were they in your suitcase?

[PurpleCow]

They were in my suitcase. I used tubular plastic hangars (that I left behind to make room for purchases) and had 3 bundles of about 5 hangars each. I lay the top of one bundle in the suitcase, then laid the top of the next bundle the opposite way. Then I folded the clothes from the bottom bundle over the top bundle. Added the third bundle in the direction of the first bundle and folded the bottom of the second bundle on top and the bottom of the third bundle on top of that, so they were all inter-folded together. Yes, it was a long cruise and no, I didn't wear everything . . .

 

My large suitcases are from the "old" days when you could put 70 lbs. in one. With only 50 lbs. allowed by most airlines, there was plenty of room to do this.

[MrsPete]

One hint: if your suitcase won't fit under the bed, OPEN IT and see if it'll fit under the bed that way. This takes 2-4 inches of height from the suitcase.

 

By the way, I've been pleasantly surprised with the size of cruise cabins. From the way people talked, I expected them to be broomclosets. They're small, but not uncomfortably so. My family of four has never had any problem sharing a standard cabin.

[JodiBB]

We actually had to lift the bed up off the ground to fit the luggage underneath. Fortunately we never had to access our luggage again until the last night, so once it was under the bed, it was out of sight, out of mind.

[hvsteve1]

One point I haven't seen here is that,in our experience,these are not normal beds. The frame is higher and the mattress and box spring are thinner than what you have at home,thus,rather than about nine inches of clearance you really have the 14 or 15 inches which is the depth of a normal suitcase. If your bag is too big to fit under the bed,you may also have a problem with weight limits on the airlines. Also,a good rolling garment bag works well if you can hang it and use it as a "portable closet". Substitute it for one of your suitcases by hanging things (shirts,slacks,etc.) you might have normally folded into a suitcase.