Traveling light

Last week we went on the Grand Princess and tried something different. We
limited our luggage to one roll-aboard and one small personal "bag" per
person. No checked luggage.

Bottom line is that this was a rousing success and I doubt that we will ever
go on another cruise with checked luggage.

In each of our roll-aboards, we packed our personal clothes. I took a blue
blazer, 4 dress shirts, 4 casual shirts, 3 t-shirts, 2 bating suits, 2 pairs
of shorts and 2 pair of dress pants and two ties.... along with enough
underwear and socks for the duration of the trip. In addition, one pair of
dress shoes, a pair of flip-flops for going to the pool, a pair of water
shoes for the beach... plus the clothes I had on (sneakers, pants and
shirt).

In my "personal" bag, I carried a CPAP machine, camera, cell phone,
extension cord, alarm clock and other odds and ends.

In her roll-aboard, Becca packed all her clothes and shoes... and we took
along a small back-pack for things like toiletries, the inevitable plastic
bags with liquids (for security) and anything else that didn't fit in the
other bags.

What a pleasure it was to not have to check a bag onto the plane. We
checked in at the airport using the e-ticket machine and headed to the
departure gate. No lines. Went through the TSA checkpoint with the usual
amount of juggling shoes, electronics and liquids. Got to FLL, headed
straight for the taxi stand, arrived at the pier and due to our Preferred
status with Princess, we went straight in. We landed in FLL at around 11
and were in our cabin by noon..... and unpacked..... because we didn't have
to wait anywhere for our luggage.

Coming home, we used the "Express" walk-off the ship.... available only to
people who can carry ALL their luggage. We assembled in the casino at 7:30
AM and were in the airport, through security and at the gate by 8:30. Our
flight wasn't until 11:40.

Fold or roll? On the way there, I folded my clothes and packed them. On
the way home, I rolled my clothes and packed. You utilize space more
efficiently when you roll your clothes. I was able to fit more into my bag
on the way home than I was on the way there.

We were so pleased with the ease and convenience of doing this that I doubt
we will ever pack large luggage again. If we were to take longer trips, we
might consider having some clothes cleaned onboard or perhaps doing a load
of laundry during the cruise... but I'm thinking that my days of checking
luggage with the airlines or cruise lines is now a thing of the past.

BTW - the Grand Princess is still my favorite ship and the balcony cabins on
Caribe deck are among the best values in the cruise industry. We had nearly
perfect weather last week, had good luck in the casino and made some new
friends. It was a great cruise!


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

how did you fit all that in a roll aboard!! the size of the allowable
carryon seems too small for that much stuff.

sheree

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Last week we went on the Grand Princess and tried something different. We
limited our luggage to one roll-aboard and one small personal "bag" per
person. No checked luggage.

Bottom line is that this was a rousing success and I doubt that we will
ever go on another cruise with checked luggage.

In each of our roll-aboards, we packed our personal clothes. I took a
blue blazer, 4 dress shirts, 4 casual shirts, 3 t-shirts, 2 bating suits,
2 pairs of shorts and 2 pair of dress pants and two ties.... along with
enough underwear and socks for the duration of the trip. In addition, one
pair of dress shoes, a pair of flip-flops for going to the pool, a pair of
water shoes for the beach... plus the clothes I had on (sneakers, pants
and shirt).

In my "personal" bag, I carried a CPAP machine, camera, cell phone,
extension cord, alarm clock and other odds and ends.

In her roll-aboard, Becca packed all her clothes and shoes... and we took
along a small back-pack for things like toiletries, the inevitable plastic
bags with liquids (for security) and anything else that didn't fit in the
other bags.

What a pleasure it was to not have to check a bag onto the plane. We
checked in at the airport using the e-ticket machine and headed to the
departure gate. No lines. Went through the TSA checkpoint with the usual
amount of juggling shoes, electronics and liquids. Got to FLL, headed
straight for the taxi stand, arrived at the pier and due to our Preferred
status with Princess, we went straight in. We landed in FLL at around 11
and were in our cabin by noon..... and unpacked..... because we didn't
have to wait anywhere for our luggage.

Coming home, we used the "Express" walk-off the ship.... available only to
people who can carry ALL their luggage. We assembled in the casino at
7:30 AM and were in the airport, through security and at the gate by 8:30.
Our flight wasn't until 11:40.

Fold or roll? On the way there, I folded my clothes and packed them. On
the way home, I rolled my clothes and packed. You utilize space more
efficiently when you roll your clothes. I was able to fit more into my
bag on the way home than I was on the way there.

We were so pleased with the ease and convenience of doing this that I
doubt we will ever pack large luggage again. If we were to take longer
trips, we might consider having some clothes cleaned onboard or perhaps
doing a load of laundry during the cruise... but I'm thinking that my days
of checking luggage with the airlines or cruise lines is now a thing of
the past.

BTW - the Grand Princess is still my favorite ship and the balcony cabins
on Caribe deck are among the best values in the cruise industry. We had
nearly perfect weather last week, had good luck in the casino and made
some new friends. It was a great cruise!


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

In article , George Leppla
wrote:

In each of our roll-aboards, we packed our personal clothes. I took a blue
blazer, 4 dress shirts, 4 casual shirts, 3 t-shirts, 2 bating suits, 2 pairs
of shorts and 2 pair of dress pants and two ties.... along with enough
underwear and socks for the duration of the trip. In addition, one pair of
dress shoes, a pair of flip-flops for going to the pool, a pair of water
shoes for the beach...

What size bag was it? I don't see how you got all this into a carry on
bag. Was the blazer in the bag? Dress shoes in the bag too. And I don't
know what is enough for you but I wear fresh underwear and socks
everyday. Sounds like a quantum bag...

--
Charles

"Charles" wrote
What size bag was it? I don't see how you got all this into a carry on
bag. Was the blazer in the bag? Dress shoes in the bag too. And I don't
know what is enough for you but I wear fresh underwear and socks
everyday. Sounds like a quantum bag...

Nope... was a standard roll-aboard that fits easily into the overhead
compartment on the plane. And yes, I did have enough clean underwear and
socks for every day.... but I would use a dress shirt during the day that I
wore to dinner the night before.

The idea to try this came from Diana Ball who does it on a regular basis...
and for trips far longer than one week. If you have never tried it, you
will be absolutely amazed at how many clothes you can pack into a
roll-aboard. The trick was to put all the clothes in one bag and use the
"personal" bags for toiletries and other stuff. Flip-flops store flat... my
dress shoes were packed with socks inside them. I used the outer
compartments for underwear, hankies, t-shirts, etc.

Rolling the clothes before packing made the process MUCH easier.

I was skeptical.... but it worked.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

In article , sheree
wrote:

how did you fit all that in a roll aboard!! the size of the allowable
carryon seems too small for that much stuff.

Must be a black hole in the bag....

--
Charles

In article , George Leppla
wrote:

Nope... was a standard roll-aboard that fits easily into the overhead
compartment on the plane.

What brand and size bag was this?

... but I would use a dress shirt during the day that I
wore to dinner the night before.

I don't see doing that. Dress shirts in the Caribbean during the day
does not sound comfortable.

Rolling the clothes before packing made the process MUCH easier.

Didn't they wrinkle?

--
Charles

George Leppla wrote:
"Charles" wrote

What size bag was it? I don't see how you got all this into a carry on
bag. Was the blazer in the bag? Dress shoes in the bag too. And I don't
know what is enough for you but I wear fresh underwear and socks
everyday. Sounds like a quantum bag...


Nope... was a standard roll-aboard that fits easily into the overhead
compartment on the plane. And yes, I did have enough clean underwear and
socks for every day.... but I would use a dress shirt during the day that I
wore to dinner the night before.

The idea to try this came from Diana Ball who does it on a regular basis...
and for trips far longer than one week. If you have never tried it, you
will be absolutely amazed at how many clothes you can pack into a
roll-aboard. The trick was to put all the clothes in one bag and use the
"personal" bags for toiletries and other stuff. Flip-flops store flat... my
dress shoes were packed with socks inside them. I used the outer
compartments for underwear, hankies, t-shirts, etc.

Rolling the clothes before packing made the process MUCH easier.

I was skeptical.... but it worked.


Was this a 22" roll-aboard? I don't know what the max size is that
will fit in the overhead or under the seat. I know the 22" does.

ErmLee

"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , George Leppla
wrote:


Rolling the clothes before packing made the process MUCH easier.

Didn't they wrinkle?

--
Charles

May have misunderstood George's post, but think he mentioned rolling clothes
on the way home. I usually do that also. Everything is going to the
laundry or cleaners when we get home.

Joe

We've been doing the same thing for the last 10 years & it's been working
fine. I bought the lightest weight suit jack & pants I could find to
conserve room & but t-shirts as I go along if needed. I started to wash out
my underwear & socks each night which take two days to dry on hangers. I
once tried to use Princess's laundry but they shrunk everything so I'll
resort to the self laundry. I can't imagine what people actually take in
those hugh bags for a 7 day cruise.

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Last week we went on the Grand Princess and tried something different. We
limited our luggage to one roll-aboard and one small personal "bag" per
person. No checked luggage.

Bottom line is that this was a rousing success and I doubt that we will
ever go on another cruise with checked luggage.

In each of our roll-aboards, we packed our personal clothes. I took a
blue blazer, 4 dress shirts, 4 casual shirts, 3 t-shirts, 2 bating suits,
2 pairs of shorts and 2 pair of dress pants and two ties.... along with
enough underwear and socks for the duration of the trip. In addition, one
pair of dress shoes, a pair of flip-flops for going to the pool, a pair of
water shoes for the beach... plus the clothes I had on (sneakers, pants
and shirt).

In my "personal" bag, I carried a CPAP machine, camera, cell phone,
extension cord, alarm clock and other odds and ends.

In her roll-aboard, Becca packed all her clothes and shoes... and we took
along a small back-pack for things like toiletries, the inevitable plastic
bags with liquids (for security) and anything else that didn't fit in the
other bags.

What a pleasure it was to not have to check a bag onto the plane. We
checked in at the airport using the e-ticket machine and headed to the
departure gate. No lines. Went through the TSA checkpoint with the usual
amount of juggling shoes, electronics and liquids. Got to FLL, headed
straight for the taxi stand, arrived at the pier and due to our Preferred
status with Princess, we went straight in. We landed in FLL at around 11
and were in our cabin by noon..... and unpacked..... because we didn't
have to wait anywhere for our luggage.

Coming home, we used the "Express" walk-off the ship.... available only to
people who can carry ALL their luggage. We assembled in the casino at
7:30 AM and were in the airport, through security and at the gate by 8:30.
Our flight wasn't until 11:40.

Fold or roll? On the way there, I folded my clothes and packed them. On
the way home, I rolled my clothes and packed. You utilize space more
efficiently when you roll your clothes. I was able to fit more into my
bag on the way home than I was on the way there.

We were so pleased with the ease and convenience of doing this that I
doubt we will ever pack large luggage again. If we were to take longer
trips, we might consider having some clothes cleaned onboard or perhaps
doing a load of laundry during the cruise... but I'm thinking that my days
of checking luggage with the airlines or cruise lines is now a thing of
the past.

BTW - the Grand Princess is still my favorite ship and the balcony cabins
on Caribe deck are among the best values in the cruise industry. We had
nearly perfect weather last week, had good luck in the casino and made
some new friends. It was a great cruise!


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

I know this can be done. Especially with the Free Laundry Service on
Carnival that I now have. I packed very lite on this cruise and still
only wore 1/2 of what I took. I could have totally gotten away with a
roll along and carry on.

We were all wondering about you and Becca and the weather. Our first
2.5 days were rough.
20 foot seas due to a late season tropical depression sitting to the
east of us. Finally it moved on. Alot of the crew was sick. Met other
folks from Radiance of the Seas and Costa Fortuna who went thru the same
thing.