When do you start packing for your cruise?

[Sigyn]

My cruise is in five days. We leave in four. I have put together a few things, but haven't really started packing. I tried, but our cats got into it all, at 2 am, no less, so I closed up the suitcases and stopped. I did create a packing list. 

How soon do you start packing for a cruise? 

Edited December 18, 2022 by njsmom

[asmit4]

We are going Feb. 25th and I'm going to start packing after the holidays. I'm an EARLY packer. 

[shof515]

I am always packed and ready to go. I never unpack my bags from previous cruises

[mcmomny]

Because we live is freezing weather I like to start packing right after the Holiday's.

I crank up the heat and try on all my summer stuff and throw it in an empty suitcase!🌞

The kids are gone now so I have room to leave suitcases out and start collecting the thing we will need!

And then a few days before we travel  I will down size everything and make my final decisions

[LadyBerard]

I have a cruise for the middle of Jan.  Already mostly packed, but I always take more dressier clothes than I need and I will go through the luggage and take most out.  Really only need two dressy outfits.  Many people are dressing much more casually in the dining rooms nowadays.

[RocketMan275]

For example:

Cruise embarkation on Sunday.

Arrive at Port on Saturday.

Leave for port on Friday.  (we drive)

Load car on Thursday.

Packing complete on Wednesday.

 

The best packing advice I've seen:

Put all the clothes you think you'll need on the bed.

Put all the money you think you will spend on  the bed.

Put half the clothes back in the closet.

Double the amount of money.

Now you can pack.

[pookel]

My first cruise starts Jan. 16 and I am packed already lol . 

 

TBF I wanted to check if everything would fit in a carryon plus a backpack - it does. 

 

Quick summary:

4 dresses, one fancy 

8-10 tops 

2 capris, one pair shorts 

2 pairs shoes 

Warm cardigan, light cardigan, lace topper 

Various underwear/socks

2 swimsuits 

1 coverup 

Tiny bag of makeup 

Travel jewelry box 

Travel pills pouch with 2 weeks of prescriptions + OTC meds

Travel first aid/emergency kit with everything from bandaids to stain wipes to safety pins to pen/paper 

 

Only thing left to add is a small toiletries bag, plus clothes I'm wearing. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by pookel

[graphicguy]

Day before…sometimes the morning of if I’m flying out the same day.

[BirdTravels]

We start about 2-3 days prior to leaving for our cruise. I can't stand having suitcases cluttering the bedroom or living room. We pre-pack our weekly pill minders the weekend before, just to get that out of the way. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by BirdTravels

[JesseB]

about 5 days out-ish...

[graphicguy]

I/we used to pack a large suitcase, a couple of rollaboards, a back pack.  The more we cruised, the more we realized we WAY OVERPACKED.  

 

Rule of thumb…as long as you don’t sweat like a heathen or spill anything on yourself, and you shower daily, you can get 2 days out of ANY outfit.  

 

7-day cruise…to a hot clime

 

-7 boxers

-3 shorts

-1 pair of workout shorts

-2 workout t-shirts

-1 pair of khakis for LeBistro

-3 button shirts (usually Hawaiian)

-1 pair of tennis shoes

-3 pair of workout sox

-1 pr of colored socks

-1 pr of crocs for specialty restaurants

-med pack

-toiletry bag

 

Fits in an overhead roll aboard.

 

I bring a back pack with my headphones, iPad, cables/plugs, cruise paperwork that fits und the seat.

 

I also bring some soap packets (just discovered those soap sheets..much easier to pack) to wash clothes in the sink (hung to dry on the little chord in the shower).

[RocketMan275]

40 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We start about 2-3 days prior to leaving for our cruise. I can't stand having suitcases cluttering the bedroom or living room. We pre-pack our weekly pill minders the weekend before, just to get that out of the way. 

 

amazon has some small zip lock baggies (2x3 inches) that a perfect for packing pills.

search amazon for pill packets ziplock small

we put one individual supply for morning and one for night in a bag.

then we put all the baggies in a larger baggy.

Edited December 18, 2022 by RocketMan275

[9tee2Sea]

I start about 7 days before.  Have to try on clothes. Have to donate clothes that I never wear, have to buy new clothes that fit better. That's why it takes a week.

[crystalspin]

I normally start a very exact multi-column-Excel list about a month out, but with holiday planning ALSO occurring this month, I'm mostly doing the packing-planning by doing all.the.laundry and hanging likely candidates on an "X" rack, one side for me, the other for dr'spin. 

 

Xmas dinner will be Xmas eve this year, packing on Xmas day, start for California on 26 December. I get the suitcases out at the last possible moment because is freaks the cats out! Fortunately they don't know the difference between the X-rack being used to stage packing vs. for drip-drying. 

 

ETA: I do also have a double-list in Google Keep that I can add to on computer OR on phone, when I think of things to take or to do before trip starts.

Edited December 18, 2022 by crystalspin

[Honolulu Blue]

22 hours ago, njsmom said:

How soon do you start packing for a cruise? 

 

20 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Day before…sometimes the morning of if I’m flying out the same day.

 

The above quote is my most common strategy.  I usually don't pack much; I can do the whole thing in half an hour or less.

 

My next two cruises are going to be an exception.  I've been planning what to take and (mostly) not take for several months.  It's a side-to-side with a 5-day cruise from Miami, a travel day to LA, and a 7-day cruise from there.  The whole packing operation could take as much as an hour total, so I'll probably do it in pieces.

[Blondilu]

I usually start thinking about it a couple of months out.  Whenever I have an idle moment I think about my clothes, the weather and specific events and activities and just imagine what I might need.  I call it Zen packing; intuitive, meditative and contemplative.  LOL.

 

The real packing starts a week or so before when I start trying to put all that mental imaging into practical use.  I leave the suitcase out and things go in and out of the plan until I get it right and it all fits.  

 

Toiletries and personal items are usually already packed and left in my bag from the trip before.  Same for charger cords and all the other "stuff" I usually take with me.

 

I keep telling myself I need a list.  Never happens.  

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Blondilu

[Lois R]

Usually I pack the day before I leave. I may start 2 days ahead but nothing really before that time.  I have never used a list and never plan to.....I don't need one.

[Mary229]

I have a room dedicated to packing.  Unless I have guests coming I start packing/accumulating as soon as I am back from the last trip.  This comes from life as a road warrior when I traveled every month of the year.   

[Heidi13]

If leaving early morning, I'll pack the night before, otherwise, I start day of departure.

 

Never needed any lists.

[DirtyDawg]

I usually get to the airport about 2 hours before the flight. It takes 30 minutes to get to the airport from our house. I start packing for our cruise 2 hours and forty-five minutes before the flight. 

 

Open dresser drawer - through socks and underwear into suitcase.

Open closet - through shirts, pants, shorts bathing suit into suitcase. 

Open bathroom drawer - gently through toiletries into suitcase.

Open office drawer - through passports, cash and electronics, into carryon.

Wallet and keys into pockets

Open front door  - Go!

 

If I miss anything -  have credit card will travel! 😁

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[evandbob]

For our "usual" week or 10 day Caribbean sailings, we pack up our clothes the night before we drive to the cruise.  With maybe 100 cruise and land vacations behind us, we could probably each pack our 1 carry on 22" luggage blindfolded.

 

The shorter amount of time our clothes spend in a suitcase, the less wrinkling can occur.

 

I may gather up my meds/hygiene 2 days prior.

 

Now cold weather sailings are another story........

[Sigyn]

20 hours ago, Blondilu said:

I usually start thinking about it a couple of months out.  Whenever I have an idle moment I think about my clothes, the weather and specific events and activities and just imagine what I might need.  I call it Zen packing; intuitive, meditative and contemplative.  LOL.

 

The real packing starts a week or so before when I start trying to put all that mental imaging into practical use.  I leave the suitcase out and things go in and out of the plan until I get it right and it all fits.  

 

Toiletries and personal items are usually already packed and left in my bag from the trip before.  Same for charger cords and all the other "stuff" I usually take with me.

 

I keep telling myself I need a list.  Never happens.  

 

 

I made a list this time since I pack for myself, my teenager and my husband. I did a document in Pages on my Mac and made a table with columns to check off each category for each one of us. If you knew me and how disorganized I normally am, you'd know what a big deal this is. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by njsmom

[Sigyn]

12 hours ago, evandbob said:

For our "usual" week or 10 day Caribbean sailings, we pack up our clothes the night before we drive to the cruise.  With maybe 100 cruise and land vacations behind us, we could probably each pack our 1 carry on 22" luggage blindfolded.

 

The shorter amount of time our clothes spend in a suitcase, the less wrinkling can occur.

 

I may gather up my meds/hygiene 2 days prior.

 

Now cold weather sailings are another story........

Makes sense. I will have more trouble packing for our Alaska cruise next July than the Caribbean cruise I'm packing for right now. I mean, a July cruise to Alaska. That's just confusing!

[Sigyn]

On 12/18/2022 at 10:46 AM, 9tee2Sea said:

I start about 7 days before.  Have to try on clothes. Have to donate clothes that I never wear, have to buy new clothes that fit better. That's why it takes a week.

I like this approach. I've been wanting to purge my closet and donate clothes, so I've been going this route as well and trying on clothes and donating items, some designer with tags still on, just to cull the mass of items in my closet. 

[LoungingMcCoy]

I'm a list maker when it comes to packing.  I start the list at least a couple of weeks before the cruise and add items as I think of them.  I don't trust myself to remember everything while I'm packing.  I can totally see myself forgetting something like underwear, and I'm not even joking.  lol  Then I start packing 2 or 3 days before we depart.