Unlike airlines, cruise lines allow travelers to bring as much luggage as they want to. Driving to the port of embarkation? The only luggage limit you have is what will fit in the car. Flying in though, checking that luggage might be costly.
Price alone usually serves as good enough reason to pack the bare minimum for your cruise. Limited stateroom storage space is a call to action as well. Not often thought of in advance: the time it will take away from your cruise to repack before going home. These concerns alone bring good reason to pack no more than needed and we have ways to do just that.
Rolling Works But Folding Is More Important – Commonly recommended for saving storage space: rolling clothes. Rolling works but works better if the clothes are first folded without wrinkles or creases. Important here is to get your shirt, dress, coat or other article of clothing into a square or rectangle shape first, then roll. Some travelers iron clothing before rolling for this same reason.
Carry-On Only Gets You Most Of The Way – There If you know someone who has experienced lost luggage, odds are good that they might also have transitioned to a traveling with carry-on only luggage situation. They will have great suggestions for you. One will be rolling. This is not so much about actually traveling with carry on only but approaching the entire topic with restrictions, however self-imposed they may be.
Watch The Space Hogs- Like the people who send their kid up to the sun deck to hold chairs at the crack of dawn, there are things we commonly bring on a cruise that are also space hogs. Topping the list: shoes. They won’t roll. We already know that cruising is far less formal than it once was. Leaving the formal wear and assortment of shoes behind is a solid move for saving space packing.
Get Status – Airlines commonly allow frequent flyers to check a bag at no cost. If you fly once a year for your vacation, that status may seem far far away. Not so. Using an airline branded credit card for things other than flying adds up fast and can bring the status for a relaxed luggage experience.
Buy And Use Space-Saving Travel Gear – Easy example: Digital books to ready by the pool loaded on your device as opposed to hardcover books. One takes space, the other not.
One word of caution on all this: saving luggage space and packing the bare minimum can be an addictive task. It can also be a fun puzzle to figure out that kills time while we wait to sail.
Chris Owen shares frank, inside information about cruise vacations on ChrisCruises.com
