What to pack - carry on only - 7 night QLD cruise

[possum52]

22 hours ago, arxcards said:

I meet this halfway and throw in a pair of dark chinos, as they are easily adaptable for any MDR. Even better if they are stretch, so I can wear on day 1 or day 11. Any lighter, I don't want to be accused of wearing slacks, and I don't do trendy very well either.

My husband takes chinos too, prefers those to slacks. 

 

[Cbtours]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:07 AM, MMDown Under said:

Me too!  I'm a petite large off the shelf in the US.  Why not here?  

IN Asian i would be triple x!!!!

[Cbtours]

On 5/17/2022 at 7:16 PM, MicCanberra said:

I tend to wear my heaviest clothes for travel, especially when flying, as in jeans, jacket and shoes.

You must look very swish boarding flights in full evening beaded outfits! 

[Aussieflyer]

On 5/15/2022 at 7:47 PM, debmm said:

Qantas carry on is total 14kg.  2 pieces with 1 piece no more than 10 kg. 
If packing carefully I think it’s possible to go with carry on only. 

Though to get the 14kg you need to have 2 smaller bags.

2 x 105cm bags 

= 48cm + 34cm + 23cm

One piece up to 10kgs; 14kgs total.

OR

1 x 115cm bag

= 56cm + 36cm + 23cm

Up to 10kgs.

 

This limit does no apply for Dash 8 flights though oversize would become 'Premium hand luggage' - left at the steps as you board and retrieved when disembarking.

 

I am wondering what the Embaer services are like for carry on  as smaller than the 717.

[Aussieflyer]

On 5/17/2022 at 5:10 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

I gave up on beaded outfits. Too heavy! I've picked un a collection of Camilla silk kaftans on sale which are superlight and never crush, plus I bought some gorgeous lightweight tops in Macy's when we visited the US in 2018 and 2019.

 

I actually started focusing on lightweight evening outfits before we started cruising. I had the opportunity to tag along on one of Rolf's business trips to India where we had several internal flights with a checked baggage limit of 15kgs, so I had to pack extra- light as Rolf had business clothes as well as casual. I got very creative - one of my most complimented tops is a super lightweight floaty "jacket" which I wear over a black shell top. It's black with dusky pink and blue feathers printed on it. It's actually a pool coverup and cost a whole $7 on sale at Myers.🤣

I had a gorgeous beaded black gown on one QM2 cruise - loved it but it is just tooooo heavy to take away. We did meet a couple who had 72kg each of luggage (hair clippers, hot rollers etc etc) and another woman who had 7kg of jewellery. They obviously don't travel light.

I prefer carry on size as it is just too hard to wrangle heavy cases around, not so much on board, but on public transport and in cities boarding and disembarking.

[Aus Traveller]

We saw a couple disembarking in Fort Lauderdale with nine full size suitcases, a couple of smaller cases and a suit bag. A porter was wheeling their luggage on a large trolley (about 1.5m x 2m). The ship was returning from a 7-night cruise in the Caribbean. Someone said the couple had been in a suite, but even so, there stuff would have taken up a lot of space.

[Aussieflyer]

Slightly off topic but I remember a family boarding the Eurostar in London with porters wheeling 2 or maybe 3 trolleys stacked high with LV luggage (I am guessing genuine based on the clothing of the passengers). 

[OzKiwiJJ]

33 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

We saw a couple disembarking in Fort Lauderdale with nine full size suitcases, a couple of smaller cases and a suit bag. A porter was wheeling their luggage on a large trolley (about 1.5m x 2m). The ship was returning from a 7-night cruise in the Caribbean. Someone said the couple had been in a suite, but even so, there stuff would have taken up a lot of space.

Nine+ suitcases for a seven night cruise? They must have changed clothes ten times a day! 🤣

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

Nine+ suitcases for a seven night cruise? They must have changed clothes ten times a day! 🤣

Even if they did a b2b, they couldn't have used everything in their cases.

[Ozwoody]

50 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Nine+ suitcases for a seven night cruise? They must have changed clothes ten times a day! 🤣

Well it makes me feel better, as I was quite shocked on our last WC, we had 9 "bags",

But in our defence we did have three packages for art supplies; clothes for artic travel (which we never used); formal gear.

And yes we did over pack on the other six.

But it was for 106 days a week. so I do feel better now...

Shake your head crafty packers, but we used everything we packed (except for the heavy clothes for Iceland etc😕).😛 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

We had seven bags coming back from the 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise but two of those were carry-ons, and another two were overnight bags. We'd deliberately taken an empty bag onboard with us because I knew I would be doing some serious shopping in Hawaii. 😁

[Ozwoody]

3 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We had seven bags coming back from the 35 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise but two of those were carry-ons, and another two were overnight bags. We'd deliberately taken an empty bag onboard with us because I knew I would be doing some serious shopping in Hawaii. 😁

Two of the six were carry-ons, 3 cases, and a backpack made up the others.

If we weren't Bris to Bris and live close to the port, what we took would have been totally unmanageable.😆

[OzKiwiJJ]

58 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Two of the six were carry-ons, 3 cases, and a backpack made up the others.

If we weren't Bris to Bris and live close to the port, what we took would have been totally unmanageable.😆

We managed all seven bags by ourselves - just! The cabin bags fit on top of two of the spinner bags. By putting the two lighter spinner bags back to back I could wheel them as one unit then pull my carry-on with the other hand.  Rolf had the heavier spinner bag / cabin bag combo, his carry-on and our customs forms. I nearly had a runaway bag combo coming out of the OPT but I managed to get it under control, thank goodness. 

 

We also used this combo on our Panama Canal trip as US baggage allowances go by the number of max 23kg bags, not by total weight. Rolf has lifetime Gold with Qantas so gets a bit of extra baggage allowance. The two carry-ons left Sydney packed in one of the suitcases. I made sure I had plenty of space for shopping!

[arxcards]

It took me about 10 cruises to get it right and leave out all of those "just in case" items. Each time I think my wife is nearly there, she goes into relapse.  She has crook shoulders from past work injuries, so I have to pack light so that I can carry hers as well.

 

 I also work on the theory that most of what is packed has to be unpacked, repacked & unpacked when you get home. I hate unpacking when I get home from a cruise!

[Sparky74]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:06 AM, MMDown Under said:

I was amazed when I saw Jetstar weighing everyone's hand luggage whilst they waited to queue to board at the Gold Coast airport.  They even wanted to weigh what I was eating.  last Jetstar flight.  I needed a picnic lunch in Melbourne as it was so far. .  .  

We bought too much when we went to China and Hong Kong so ended up purchasing a carry on suitcase. I packed it within an inch of its life with the heaviest stuff. There wasn’t room for a cigarette paper inside and it weighed a ton but I took great care not to make any sign that it was heavy while in the airport. 

[arxcards]

This thread is getting so heavy, we will need to check some of it as luggage 😉

 

[Sparky74]

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

This thread is getting so heavy, we will need to check some of it as luggage 😉

 

Well, we all have baggage…

[MicCanberra]

I think the long haul flights are worst as I even end up with bags under my eyes

[Ozwoody]

To be honest, in the very near future I'm thinking about making some sackings😒

[~*Lou*~]

UPDATE- To answer my own question - yes we did it - family of 4, carry-on (or should I say roll-on) luggage only.
 

We were away from home 9 days/8 nights. We each had a wheelie bag that met Australian domestic travel measurements, we were on Qantas so we had up to 10kg each, plus small personal item (my small over-the-shoulder bag).

 

I gave each family member a strict packing list based on 5 coordinating outfits plus layers. My youngest (12) could manage his own bag. It helped enormously that Princess have self-serve laundries on board (however I am not against hand washing).

 

We did not pack for formal nights (if we really wanted to, we could have taken something like like a dress that rolls up small for myself and my daughter, and nice shirt and light weight slacks for my husband and son). We wore our heaviest/bulkiest clothes from home (Melbourne), on the plane. I included plenty of medication, extra masks and RATs in case we became ill on board. We're not keen shoppers so we didn't have anything extra to bring home.
 

Definitely worth it to get through the airport so easily, especially our flight from MEL to BNE on first day of school holidays. And able to leap in and out of taxis easily without worrying about whether all our luggage would fit in the boot.

 

[Jean C]

9 hours ago, ~*Lou*~ said:

UPDATE- To answer my own question - yes we did it - family of 4, carry-on (or should I say roll-on) luggage only.
 

We were away from home 9 days/8 nights. We each had a wheelie bag that met Australian domestic travel measurements, we were on Qantas so we had up to 10kg each, plus small personal item (my small over-the-shoulder bag).

 

I gave each family member a strict packing list based on 5 coordinating outfits plus layers. My youngest (12) could manage his own bag. It helped enormously that Princess have self-serve laundries on board (however I am not against hand washing).

 

We did not pack for formal nights (if we really wanted to, we could have taken something like like a dress that rolls up small for myself and my daughter, and nice shirt and light weight slacks for my husband and son). We wore our heaviest/bulkiest clothes from home (Melbourne), on the plane. I included plenty of medication, extra masks and RATs in case we became ill on board. We're not keen shoppers so we didn't have anything extra to bring home.
 

Definitely worth it to get through the airport so easily, especially our flight from MEL to BNE on first day of school holidays. And able to leap in and out of taxis easily without worrying about whether all our luggage would fit in the boot.

 

Congratulations, you did well. We're doing same 7 night cruise in just over two weeks and will take carry on luggage only - flying Air NZ so weight allowance is only 7kg. We usually hand wash clothes at the end of each day, dry as much as possible in pool towels and hang on the back if balcony chairs or in bathroom to finish off.

 

[Jean C]

On 5/20/2022 at 12:24 AM, Sparky74 said:

We bought too much when we went to China and Hong Kong so ended up purchasing a carry on suitcase. I packed it within an inch of its life with the heaviest stuff. There wasn’t room for a cigarette paper inside and it weighed a ton but I took great care not to make any sign that it was heavy while in the airport. 

Hahaha, I am such a weakling that when I check in a suitcase that is well under weight limit, and heave and heft it onto the scale, the staff do a double-take at the weight reading  😅 

[Sparky74]

The 7 night Princess cruise was a good warm up for us as we leave for  our "mad" cruise itinerary in 51 days time: 7 nights to Alaska with HAL, 23 nights transpacific with Carnival, 3 night comedy cruise B2B with 10 nights to PNG on P&O. 
It’s tricky because we need layers and warm clothes for Alaska and might need larger sizes after 43 nights on various ships. 🧁🍰🍦🍨🍔🌭🌮🍕🍟🍗🥓🧆🍲🍿🥟🍳🥞🧇🍩🍮🥧🧀🍽🍞🥐

 

I will ditch my navy blue trousers and just wear my black suit trousers in the evening without the jacket. I'll take two nice shirts that go with black for evening and alternate them. I only need one formal night shirt to go with my suit and bow tie. Then maybe 4 day shirts (seersucker doesn’t need ironing) and a couple of pairs of shorts. 4 pairs of undies. Socks, pyjamas, swimmers. I'll buy a couple of souvenir T-shirts to wear as my first layer in Alaska and when exercising. I'll also buy washing powder in Seattle as it will be cheaper than on the ship.

I've picked up a couple of fleecy vests from the op shop. At $4 each I can afford to donate them somewhere in Seattle before we do the transpacific. 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Sparky74
Missing word

[NSWP]

When we did Arcadia, Sydney to Southampton in 2012, the ship was on a worldie, 90% Brits. On our MDR table we had 6 Brits and us. One of the nice couples owned a big plumbing business up Chester way. He told me they had 14 big suit cases for the 3 and a half month trip. 4 cases were in cabin and the other 10 in storage on ship, steward brought up what they wanted. They told me when the ship got back to Southampton one of his company pantech trucks was coming down to take them and the 14 big suitcases back to Chester.

 

Sure enough, I saw the truck on the wharf with his name on it and being loaded with the 14 big, I mean big suitcases. The couple had 3 or 4 tuxedo outfits and half a dozen evening gowns, just for starters, lol..

[MMDown Under]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

When we did Arcadia, Sydney to Southampton in 2012, the ship was on a worldie, 90% Brits. On our MDR table we had 6 Brits and us. One of the nice couples owned a big plumbing business up Chester way. He told me they had 14 big suit cases for the 3 and a half month trip. 4 cases were in cabin and the other 10 in storage on ship, steward brought up what they wanted. They told me when the ship got back to Southampton one of his company pantech trucks was coming down to take them and the 14 big suitcases back to Chester.

 

Sure enough, I saw the truck on the wharf with his name on it and being loaded with the 14 big, I mean big suitcases. The couple had 3 or 4 tuxedo outfits and half a dozen evening gowns, just for starters, lol..

The HAL Word Cruisers used to take an incredible amount of luggage on their cruise.  It was picked up at their house and transported to Miami Florida to the ship and at the return.