Travel/luggage question
 

We are getting ready to leave on a 5 day cruise. We will be taking fun clothes as well as nice dress clothes for dinner. I am concerned about the dress clothes getting wrinkled before we can get them hung in the room. I am probably overthinking things and worrying unnecessarily (I tend to do that). :o We have our regular luggage, but we do not have a garment bag. Should I buy a garment bag for the dress clothes or should I put everything in the luggage. TIA If I need a garment bag, please give advice. This is what Bed Bath and Beyond has: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/Sear...c&reqtype=full

I've never been on a cruise, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
What material are the nicer clothes? I think there are probably ways to pack things to minimize wrinkles. You can google "how to pack to minimize wrinkles" for help.

Depending on the material (and the size of the bathrooms?) Is there any way you can hang up the item in the bathroom while you shower, letting the steam get the wrinkles out? I've done that before in normal hotels, but I have no idea how small bathrooms are on a cruise.

If you decide to go the garment bag route, I'm sure anything you pick will be fine. Just lay the bag flat in the car if you're able to, and wait to fold it up until absolutely necessary. I flew several hours in a plane with a garment bag (folded) and a bridesmaids dress inside -- the wrinkles weren't too bad at all. I hung it up as soon as I could.

Usually on any cruise that I've been on you can get whatever you like pressed pretty quickly... So that's always something you could fall back on for anything that gets a bit too wrinkled in your suitcase... I wouldn't worry about it too much...

Enjoy your cruise...!!!

As TripSwitch says - I've been on lots of cruises. I usually pack things that don't wrinkle much, and you can get things pressed if needed. I think you may be able to borrow an iron and board on some cruises. Your cabin steward will be able to help you. Really - don't lose sleep over this. You will probably discover that you are bringing about twice as much as you really need. I bring less and less each time I cruise, and I actually did my last cruise (7 days, Hawaii) with just a carry-on and my purse.

re:
 

First of all, it's a vacation. You're supposed to be wrinkly on vacation!!

That being said, believe it or not rolling up clothes seems to work well for me for avoiding major wrinkles. That may be all you need.

If you get a separate garment bag, if you're flying, be prepared to pay another bag fee.

Thanks for the advice. We actually live in the port city where we are departing. I know I am worrying for nothing. :D It's a first cruise for me and I want everything to be right. I am more concerned with DH's dress clothes than mine. There are less chances of mine wrinkling. They won't be in the luggage long, so things should be fine.

For those of you who cruise, what do you wear to board? The cruise line said we may not get our luggage before dinner, so we need to have on us what we need for a little while. Do you dress a little nicer while boarding or more relaxed?

Again, thanks for the advice.

I like dressing up a little bit for boarding, but still sort of casual... so I'm comfortable, but still look nice... also even though I'll do pretty "dressy" shoes, I make sure they're as comfortable as possible, because you're probably going to want to do a lot of walking around to explore the ship... Also I always make sure I have a sweater or some sort of wrap or a light jacket in case I get cold or for walking around out on deck...

Can your dressy clothes be steamed? If so, you might be able to take a small travel steamer with you.

They have irons for you to use on the cruise if you need them--Free if you're using Carnival. You can carry a 'carry-on' size piece of luggage with you aboard. I always take an extra set of clothes in that. I also take all of my meds and cosmetics on board with me as well as sunscreen.

I starched all of mine and DHs clothes before we went, rolled them, and ironed them once onboard the first night so I didn't have to deal with ironing any other time on the ship.

It depends on what you are planning to do once you first board as to what to wear.
For me, I know I'm going to drop my carry on bag at the room and head for the pool if it's hot to sunbathe, so I wear my swimsuit under a tennis skirt and a sleeveless top, slider shoes, and sunglasses. It's usually hot when we go.
Plan to wear something for photos aboard to match light and dark blue as most of the backdrops are of the ship in the water.

The item I could NOT go on a cruise without is a backpack! You can take all kinds of things in it at each port and as a "purse" carry on. I put all of my cosmetics, hair dryer, flat iron, etc in it as well as a pair of heels for later when I'm done at the pool.

Boarding attire for us this yr:

Relaxed! When you board, you're going to eat and maybe tour the ship. Comfy walking shoes are a must! If you cruise Carnival, you'll be eating at a buffet when you first board. No point in getting all dolled up for a very casual lunch.

A cardigan is also a must in your carry on. It gets pretty windy and you don't know when your luggage will arrive.

BTW Dianna, where are you going? DH and I had considered a 15 day transatlantic cruise to Spain, but the boat didn't return!! It debarked in Spain. The cruise was very reasonable, but the one-way flight back was ridiculous!!

We are going on a 5 day Bahama cruise. We are going on Carnival. Are the buffets good? I am hoping to stay away from them since I tend to eat too much at buffets. :o My safest option is the dining room. Although, nothing is "safe" with me and food. :D

This works great and really maximizes space in luggage, but since you are already in your port city and don't need to fly to meet the ship, I'd go ahead and get an inexpensive garment bag so you don't worry.

Heee. They always have such great prices on those because they are moving the boat from one side of the world to the other to pick up the new season in wherever. But then there are so many days "at sea" on those transatlantic crossings that I think I would go insane. Plus seasickness.

I have cruised in Europe, though, and DO really like it. Some of the cruise lines are more expensive, but airfare is INCLUDED in the price of the cruise, which is awesome. You should look into a Mediterranean cruise, as it is a great way to see alot of Europe in a limited time frame. Or consider a river cruise. My folks are doing a river cruise of the Netherlands/Belgium to see the tulips in March.

Diana - I have not cruised on Carnival - Norwegian and Oceania, instead - but the food is usually good. On Norwegian they had some weird midnight chocolate buffet for one night only that was sort of hilarious to me.

Definitely eat in the dining room, particularly for dinner. It is so much more civilized than the buffet, and the portions are really, really reasonable. The appetizers - at least on the lines mentioned above - in the dining room are genuinely appetizer portions. A few little bites, NOT the giant portions of melted nachos or deep fried cheese at chain restaurants, and dinner portions are very reasonable too. As are dessert portions. The buffets often seem to be jam-packed with people and rarely have enough seating.

I would usually do buffet for breakfast, though, since I wanted to get off the ship as quickly as possible to tour. I do not eat eggs/bacon/sausage, and just get a roll and a piece of fruit for breakfast. Pretty much I only ate lunch on the ship on days at sea - otherwise I would be in town.

Oh, and on the last cruise I took, BOTH the buffet AND the dining room were open for lunch. The buffet was awfully jam-packed, and we couldn't find a place to sit together, so we discovered the dining room and had a beautiful, leisurely lunch as the ship left port.

Also, if you like wine, buy it by the bottle rather than the glass. They will cork whatever you do not drink and put it back, then bring it out again for you the NEXT night.

mnemosyne Great info. Thank you.

Speaking of seasickness, what does everyone take? I have angio edema and the Dr. didn't want to prescribe a new med (the seasickness patches) since we don't know how I would react. She recommended Dramamine/Bonine.

Now, that is my type of buffet! :drool: :rofl:

If you're worried about taking medicine for seasickness, get some sea bands.
http://www.sea-band.com

But dramamine has helped me with nausea before too.

Do you normally get motion sick in cars and/or planes? If not, you might be okay without anything. I have been fine with the ordinary motion of the ship. It's only when it is stormy and the boat is really tossed about that I have had issues.