Fashion wise and airplane friendly - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

Char · 08-27-2008, 02:36 PM

Hey y'all!

Now that the air lines have put some pretty severe restrictions on size and weight limits, we need to hear your tricks of the trade!

How do you look fashionable for 1 or 2 weeks while staying under the airline weight limits?

What do you pack?

How many and what kind of shoes do you pack?

Any tips on lightweight luggage?

Char · 08-27-2008, 02:42 PM

I'll let you in on a little secret! The dress I'm wearing here only weighs 14 ounces, including the jacket! I can scrunch it up and it does not wrinkle!

CaliTraveler77 · 08-27-2008, 02:56 PM

I'm actually really curious as to what tricks/suggestions people have... sadly, I have never been able to break myself of the habit of grotesquely over packing, and our cruise in Feb was no exception... so with a cruise looming next year that'll require some flying instead of driving to port, I need all the help I can get lol

ziggysun · 08-28-2008, 01:24 AM

Char, love the 14 ounce dress!

I haven't done a full 2 week cruise yet, but it's coming in November

On our 8 night back in 2005 with an overnight in Florida pre-cruise, I tried to mix and match as much as possible. For DH and I, we had one 28" suitcase, one garment bag and one 21" carry-on. I find the dinner clothing to be the more complicated to plan. We do use the ship's laundry.

We took DH's suit with one dress shirt and two ties; two less dressy shirts to wear with the pants from his suit for smart casual. One pair of casual pants two casual shirts. Two gowns for me, one black skirt, one pair white capris, one pair black dress pants and 4 dressy blouses that I could wear with any of the bottoms. DH's black dress shoes and brown casual shoes. My dress shoes for the gown(s) and black dressy sandals that can be worn with a gown or capris, and not look funny

All of this and more fit in our garment bag.

For days, we're normally in swimsuits or shorts, which helps with packing space and I had the whole 28" suitcase for normal clothes & toiletries.

I put 2 extra day outfits (shorts/pants/tops), swimsuits and sandals or flip flops in the carry-on. Plus our items for the overnight prior to the cruise so I didn't have to open and go rooting through the other 2 suitcases until they arrived @ our cabin onboard.

I bought rum cakes onboard the ship and had enough room to fit them in our 28" suitcase for the way home. It has one of those expander zipper areas and on the way going I never unzip it so I'll have room for souveniers on the way home

I also try to pack just enough shampoo, conditioner, etc. so I can throw away the bottles onboard the ship.

cruisin' chick · 08-28-2008, 03:18 AM

I certainly would love to see everyone's suggestions. Especially if there's some non-synthetic fabrics (I never seem comfortable in polyesther) that would work.

My problem, besides the above, is that I like bright colors, which makes mixing and matching a lot harder.

CruiseArizona · 09-02-2008, 02:18 AM

A few tips

If you are frequent flyer, check with your usual airline. You may not be as restricted as "regular" passengers. DH is a AA Advantage Gold member which entitles him and his traveling companions to 2 checked bags per person.

As far as packing light, look for evening gowns that are light weigth material. Try to coordinate your outfits for as few shoes as possible. Wear you boots if you want to bring them.

Plan your day outfits for a few repeats. And again coordinate your light weight weight evening wear.

cruisin' chick · 09-02-2008, 03:24 AM

One thing we love about Princess is that there's several self-service laundry rooms onboard. So many of our clothes we can wash and wear again. And I'm the opposite of a shoe-alholic -- I took three pair of shoes, including what I wore boarding the ship, on our last cruise, which was a 15-day one.

sk8erguy1978 · 09-02-2008, 09:33 PM

My tip... I just pay the extra fees

Char · 01-26-2009, 11:46 AM

Does anyone have any new suggestions to offer here?

Have you found a good, lightweight piece of luggege that you love?

nanabanana · 01-30-2009, 01:55 AM

Sadly, I cannot work my way around this. No matter how much I plan on what to bring or what not to bring, I always need to use my two large obnoxious looking multi-colored polka dot luggages! And they will each weigh just under or exactly 50 lbs. Plus my carry-on. I was born with extra baggage, so to speak