Carry on only? 2 week cruise!

[Censored]

This is a challenge I am willing to try, and convince my wife.  I think a lot of us can agree that a lot of the stuff we pack, we never wear.  I think this goes mostly for women.  Men can say, " all I need is a swim suit, T-shit, one pair of sandals, one pair of shoes, one nice shirt, one pair of pants, underwear and a toiletry bag for personal hygiene.   Ive met people who do this , and they dont give a darn about formal nights, and changing clothes every single day.  If you need something extra, then buy it. Aside from that, there are the benefits, of no chance of losing luggage, no wait at turnstile, Everything becomes quicker.  What say you?

[Ampurp85]

There was a thread about this before. I personally, as a woman, never overpack. I have done a 8 day B2B with a 20in carryon. I am doing an 13 day S2S in less than a week with a 23in luggage that is classified as a carryon but I will check because I am expanding it.

Not everyone can just "buy it" if they run out of clothes. Also some people want to dress up, change clothes and be however fancy/none fancy they want. Let people do them. Lost luggage is actually pretty rare, the wait is often not that bad unless you are doing a very budget line. 

[KristiZ]

 

[Psycho and Barb]

Good luck and let us know how it went.  For us...Ain't going to happen...We would rather have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.  Besides, we live in Florida and cruise mostly from Florida...Got plenty of room in the car.

[AshleyDillo]

I have done 8 nights in a carry-on because I was flying and too cheap to check a bag. I don't do fancy and I'm a frequent cruiser so I know what to expect. I tend to overpack when I drive and don't have luggage limits, though.

[FireFishII]

I rather pack everything I need and have my luggage get lost.  Then I have a great excuse to buy new.  But I make sure I carry my essentials: meds, bathing suit, etc.  I usually check in my bags and I don't mind the wait for the luggage.  It gives me time to just breath. 

[FionaMG]

I don't think I could do any longer than a few days with just a carry-on, not least because I always want to bring my gym kit as well as everyday clothes. That said, I am a frugal packer and whenever we go on a cruise I am always able to pack just the right amount of stuff.  Usually I don't bring home anything unworn. The same cannot be said for DH who inevitably brings far too much stuff. It's all down to planning your days ahead of time so that you know what you really need to take with you.

[DDaley]

We went on a 17-day Greek honeymoon (7 night cruise within that) with only our 22in Away carryons and a backpack/travel tote each! With compression cubes I was able to pack 16 dresses/rompers, 2 additional active excursion outfits, 9 bathing suits, and 5 pairs of shoes, plus a camelpak, pool float, beach bag, fanny bag, purse, reusable tote bag, umbrella, binoculars.. I could go on and on.

I packed detergent and a sink stopper to wash items but we baarrrely needed to repeat outfits so we didn't end up using it. I can't imagine ever needing a full size suitcase again! 

[teddy]

My mother spent a month in Greece with just a small daypack when she was on her late 50s/early 60s.  I’m not sure how she did it, but it’s inspired us to travel as light as we can when we go to Italy next year. 
 

 

[billdauterive]

I've finally gotten down to a carry on for a 7 day, but it's not easy.  The hardest part for me is I like running/working out on the ship so I have to bring an extra pair of running shoes and several pairs of workout clothes.  Those are things I can't wear twice but take up almost half my space.

I can't wait to hit diamond plus because the free laundry bag will be a game changer as I could then do a carry on for even longer times.

[FSUFAN]

It depends on the weather too.  Going to a cold weather location during shoulder seasons (early spring or late fall), then you have to make sure that you are packing some heavier/thicker warm stuff.  @teddy was on the Voyager as were we last week.  We dodged the cold weather bullet. I packed for it with raincoat, some thermal shirts, water resistant pants and more.  Mrs Fan had to pack here LL Bean duck type boots due to forecasted rain (which we got). So, it took two carry-on bags and a third shared larger check bag that was kind of a wheeled duffel bag for the additional stuff (we flew SWA, so we checked all the bags anyway). 

Warm weather cruise is much easier (at least for me) to pack. Shorts, T-shirts, bathing suit, and a lot of stuff that packs smaller. 

Also, I use space bags, Mrs Fan likes the roll-up method. Both seem to work at maximizing space.  We've been to Europe several times and always just go with carry-on bags.

[Pattycruise]

To each their own

[Censored]

2 hours ago, DDaley said:

We went on a 17-day Greek honeymoon (7 night cruise within that) with only our 22in Away carryons and a backpack/travel tote each! With compression cubes I was able to pack 16 dresses/rompers, 2 additional active excursion outfits, 9 bathing suits, and 5 pairs of shoes, plus a camelpak, pool float, beach bag, fanny bag, purse, reusable tote bag, umbrella, binoculars.. I could go on and on.

I packed detergent and a sink stopper to wash items but we baarrrely needed to repeat outfits so we didn't end up using it. I can't imagine ever needing a full size suitcase again! 

thats incredible. I would like to see pic/video of how you possibly can do that! 9 bathing suits....why so many? 

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, billdauterive said:

The hardest part for me is I like running/working out on the ship so I have to bring an extra pair of running shoes and several pairs of workout clothes.

 

I typically pack two sets of work-out clothes but make sure they're the quick-dry type. That way I can quickly rinse the set I've just taken off in the bathroom sink and it'll be dry by the time I need it because the next day I'll wear the other set.

[Pattycruise]

1 hour ago, billdauterive said:

 

I can't wait to hit diamond plus because the free laundry bag will be a game changer as I could then do a carry on for even longer times.

You won’t want anything that can shrink in that free laundry. Whites come back grey.

[DDaley]

38 minutes ago, Censored said:

9 bathing suits....why so many? 

I realized on a recent land vacation that people don't do this, we kept hanging with the same couple every day at the pools and the wife had the same bathing suit on every day while I, naturally, changed mine for all 7 days of the trip! I guess I think of it more like an outfit since I wear the bathing suit from around 8am-3 or 4pm and then the night time outfit only gets worn for an hour or two.

Even my husband brings 5-6 pairs of board shorts! We're pool/beach people though, that might also account for it. 

[Va4fam]

That sounds amazing.

I use a backpack and small rolling bag for all of my clothes.

My wife needs one bag for all of her shoes and workout clothes, and a separate bag for everything else.  

We will be D+ after our April cruise....free laundry!   (is that for each of us or just one bag per cabin?)

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

16 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

 (is that for each of us or just one bag per cabin?)

The perk applies to every D+ in the room !

[Ampurp85]

@WAAAYTOOO is correct about the laundry. Yes it will be a nice perk but not really worth it in the long run. The water temp they wash the clothes in is set to hell, I am sure they dry it on that same temp. 

[billdauterive]

2 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

You won’t want anything that can shrink in that free laundry. Whites come back grey.

True.  But being able to wash workout clothes and (non-white) underwear alone will be worth it for me.  Assume jeans and cargo shorts would turn out fine too if needed.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I guess I’ve just been lucky. We send out laundry nearly every cruise and I’ve never had anything ruined.

[asquared17]

3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

@WAAAYTOOO is correct about the laundry. Yes it will be a nice perk but not really worth it in the long run. The water temp they wash the clothes in is set to hell, I am sure they dry it on that same temp. 

the way i laughed at this too accurate !!

[TessOR]

We certainly pack less now than when we first started cruising. Understanding that it’s OUR vacation to do how we want was a part of that. We do dress up for formal night a bit, but I’m not packing suits and gowns anymore. We used to take the airport max, 2 carry ins and two huge bags each.  
 

The plan for our trip in 9 days is one medium bag each and a backpack each.  We also pack half of each of our stuff in the others bag just in case a bag gets delayed.  Our last cruise, my cousin met us in PR. They were flying from Texas so decided to fly same day. Missed the boat, their luggage was delayed another day behind them, it finally caught up to them on day 6 of the cruise. Fun stuff, and why I always want to arrive a day early  

[nferr]

I did a 15 night transatlantic in April with a 24 inch carry on and a small BMW duffle type bag. I did wash some things out and dried them on the balcony, but just as easily could have used the laundry bag service midway through the cruise. The whole key is dumping the "formal night stuff" that I hate wearing anyway. I travel light these days.

[PhillyLady]

I think it might depend on the length of the cruise, the destination (cold or hot), and one's own interests.  I genuinely like getting dressed up for formal nights, and I always have to take some photos on the cruises, so we bring very nice outfits for those evenings, and could never do carry-on if the cruise were five days or more. 

If we go warmer weather, husband is scuba certified and might bring a wetsuit and other items he needs.  Yes, I also bring multiple bathing suits, but our clothes are a bit more lightweight for hot climates.

Cruising in colder areas means heavier clothes, possibly coats, etc.  Our formal clothes are also heavier (perhaps a long-sleeve dress versus a tank style dress).  Yes, this is the RC board, but we have also cruised Cunard, and there we bring out all the finery--tuxedo, tuxedo shoes, formal sequin gowns, high heels, etc. 

I do agree being able to drive to a port makes packing a LOT easier than having to weigh the suitcases multiple times before the flights.

[Psycho and Barb]

Only problem with Wi-Fi calling is sometimes the delay can drive you crazy till you get used to it.

[DDaley]

12 hours ago, PhillyLady said:

Cruising in colder areas means heavier clothes, possibly coats, etc.

We're doing our first trip to Alaska this September and at this point I still plan on only using my carry-on.. but I'll check back in here in 10 months! haha 

I think it's definitely doable, especially if I wear my coat and hiking boots on the plane. No pool floats needed in The Last Frontier! 

[mac66]

I've pretty much gone minimalist for cruises. A carry on and a small backpack. The key is to get things that do double duty, are lightweight, fast drying and sink/shower washable.  I usually pack 3 pair of nylon underwear which are washable. One pair of light weight, nylon zip off pants which are convertible from long pants to shorts and are washable. One pair of socks (just in case). I wear a pair of low hiking shoes and pack a pair of toed sandals (Keens) which I pretty much wear all the time on the ship including to dinner.  A pair of nylon, fast drying lightweight shorts (called river shorts) that double as a bathing suit or work out clothes.  Long and short sleeve sun shirts, are fast drying and washable. The short sleeve one doubles as a work out shirt and/or undershirt.  A long and short sleeve button down, light weight nylon, fast drying, washable shirts (think fishing shirts) for everyday wear. 

Most everything I wear during the day gets sink/shower washed and hung up to dry. That works better if you have a balcony cabin but you can usually find upper deck chairs to lay stuff out discretely.

I also bring a pair of dockers, button down shirt and sports coat for dress up night.  If flying I will sometimes wear the dockers and sport coat on the plane so I don't have to pack it.  Pretty much wear the dockers and sport coat once but have been on longer cruises where I wore it twice. Probably don't need the sport coat but the dining room is sometimes chilly in the evening and we like to dress up once in a while.

Not to mention, shaving kit and personal stuff which go in my backpack and carried on board.