possible wedding dress disastour>>>>>

[wench]

please help, i am using us airways jan 1 to go to flrorida and i have tohave my wedding dress with me. they said that it will be considered my 1 carryon. also that they only have a small valet closet and that i may have to fold my dress and put it in over head compartment. has anyone else has to do this and how did the dress fair? if there is another way to ship it please tell me i really need to know. thanks so much for all your help.

[kadiebug12]

I used to be a flight attendant and had many a bride on my flights. Depending on the type of plane you're on, they could be right in that there is a tiny closet. If that is the case you would be better off laying your dress on top of the other luggage in the overhead. Don't fold it up, but lay it out on top, then close the overhead bin and if anyone tries to shove anything else in there kindly tell them that your wedding dress is in there.

 

I'm not sure what they told you on the phone, but you're allowed on carry one and one personal effect like a purse or briefcase. Your dress will be your carryon, but you can have another small tote bag as well (just put your purse in the tote bag). When you go to board, ask the flight attendants where they think the best place for your dress will be. If it's a full flight they'll probably tell you to do with it what I said above. If it's not a full flight they may offer to lay it across the last row of seats if they're empty. Also, if it's a larger plane, they may have a closet it could be placed in, but don't count on that. If one of the flight attendants is less than nice and doesn't offer up any assistance simply ask another one. You'll eventually run into one willing to help. Just be nice to them and they'll go out of their way for you. If you really want to win them over, bring them a few cookies or something! That always worked on the crews I worked with! I once saw Cinnabons for the whole crew get one guy upgraded to first class!

 

I'm not sure what ship you're getting married on, but Princess offer gown pressing for 35.00 onboard. You might want to check to see if the cruise line you'll be on does the same.

 

Good Luck!

[wench]

kadiebug12 you are wonderful. thanks so much for all the ideas. i so much like the idea of laying it on top of the luggage than having to fold it. i am a baker and our flight leaves at 6am so i think a nice batch of homemade muffins is in store for the folks. i also like the idea of the last row of seats. this maybe a possibility becasue it is on the 1st of the year and at 6am. i am hoping that most folks are still in bed hung over and startingthe new year off slow. also the muffins are a good way start someones new year off right. hope yours goes well. thanks again so much.

[kadiebug12]

I've worked many a flight at 6AM on New year's Day and I'll bet your flights not full. Those muffins should do the trip and get you in good with the crew and I'm sure they'll offer you a full row to lay your dress on if the flight's not full. I wish you the best. Hope to hear all about it when you return!

[Beth1017]

I had the same problem..............I flew Air Tran and everytime we called we got a different answer.......Sometimes they would tell me I would have to check the dress (WASN'T EVER GOING TO HAPPEN IN MY LIFETIME!!!!), sometimes they told me I could put it in the overhead.......however Air Tran doesn't have any closets.

 

So when I got married, we flew to Florida, and booked seats in the back of the plane so that we would be first to board after first class, etc..........then we made sure we were at the front of the line when they called our rows to board. The flight attendant let us take up a whole overhead compartment for just my dress and told anyone who tried to open it, that there was a wedding dress in there and to put their luggage elsewhere. My dress arrived with me and I had it steamed on the ship (which I had arranged previously), the gown was beautiful and in excellent condition for the wedding!

 

Believe me, it was a huge stress for me up until I got on the plane, but everything worked out fine!!!

[samben]

WE flew Spirit and they don't have any closets.......My daughter was lucky that we upgraded to business class for $35 and put her dress in the overhead storage.......it was the only thing in there and we didn't even have to have it pressed when we got to the ship......I have to say everyone was more than helpful when they know its YOUR WEDDING DRESS........

[wench]

thanks everyone. now i don't feel like i am the only person who doesn't know what to do. thanks again.

[chicaletta]

I carried my wedding gown on the ship in a garment bag with the full crinoline skirt...it was very wrinkled by the time I boarded the Star Princess. I had the gown pressed on ship for $ 35. , they had it back the next day looking wonderful.

[claroquesi]

Shipped my dress. Got lost for 48 HOURS. they shipped it to the WRONG ADDRESS and left it at the DOOR!!

 

my advice to anyone, don`t let them pry it out of your hands for a second. Buy a special seat for the dress if you have to just never let it go!!!

[dcdiva]

Was going to ship my gown but chickened out. I figured a wrinkled dress was better than no wedding dress at all!

 

I carried it onboard a pretty full US Airways flight to Ft Lauderdale. I was not a happy gal as I watched all those people get on ahead of me with what seemed like mountains of carry on luggage. As I boarded I explained my plight to the flight attendant and he let me hang the garment bag in the first class closet. Though he did ask if I was on my way TO my wedding, or from it. He turned out to be quite the comedian and made a point of coming back to remind not forget the dress as I was leaving the flight. RIGHT!! Like after all that trouble I was going to forget my wedding gown!! :eek:

 

The dress was squeezed in there pretty good, but there is no way there would have been room to lay it out in any of the overhead space. And it arrived remarkably wrinkle free. I brought a hand steamer with me and I was able to remove the wrinkles without much fuss.