How many suitcases? - Family of 5

[mommykds]

Me, DH, & 3 kids (12,8, & 7) will be cruising a week from today! I am packing right now & think I have too many bags. I really wanted to travel light. My DH is going to think I am nuts..right now I have 2 large bags, 3 medium bags & a garment bag.

How many suitcases do you pack & how many of you in your group?

 

[becka]

We are a family of 4 and on our last cruise we had 1 really large suitcase, 1 medium suitcase, 2 smaller suitcases (like the airplane carryon bags), 1 garmet bag, 1 toiletry bag and 1 carryon. I took a few extra items but we ended up using quite a bit of what we brought.

 

[SnowWhite2]

If you are flying, most of the regular airlines charge $25 for more than one bag per person. That rule was just implemented not long ago. Another revenue maker.

We normally have 4 bags and one garment bag. ANd we still bring too much.

My DH tries to get us to have no more than the 4 bags because storage in the cabin for them is limited to under the queen bed. Otherwise, the suitcases take up room in the cabin or in the closet.

 

[Anal Annie]

Minimum going - 1 large suitcase or duffle per person. For a 7 n. cruise with land days attached I would also bring 1 rolling garment bag for the formalwear. I would also have at least 1 and possibly 2 carry-ons depending on how long we're going for. I also always pack 1 empty duffle that folds flat to use on the return trip as a hamper!

 

[samily]

I was very proud of myself our last vacation - for the 5 of us we had 2 med/lg suitcases, 1 small suitcase, 2 backpacks for the kids busy stuff and my LARGE handbag for a 10 night vacation!! (I did laundry on the last night of our 4 night cruise which was in the middle of our vacation ). We did end up using the castaway club bag after the cruise as well. Luckily we didn't need formal stuff or we would have brought the garment bag as well. ALL 3 suitcases , an umbrella stroller & a carseat got lost on the way home! We got them back a day or 2 later.

 

[crazed'boutmaryP]

My kids are same ages as OP. We cruise April 19th and have almost finished packing. I have 1 large suitcase, 2 rolling duffles(1 has snorkeling equip and shoes, other everything for our 2 days at Disney), 1 garment bag for formals, 1 or 2 sm-med yet to pack my clothes and misc cruise things. I will have 1 carryon size suitcase as well as 3 backpacks. I am not stuffing these so there is room for the souvenirs. I will do laundry once or twice-always do on vacation with the kids.

My favorite packing tip is to sort and pack everything in big ziplock bags. Happy Packing and enjoy your trip.

 

[crzy4magic]

When we did the Panama Canal cruise in 2005, including 3 days in Anaheim before the cruise our family of 5 was myself, DW, DS - 13, DS - 11 and DS - 11 did the following:

1 carry on per person - either backpack or duffle bag
1 wheeled garment bag
1 garment bag
2 large suitcases
2 medium suitcases
(In reserve we had a folding suitcase packed, but we never needed it)

We planned our souveneer purchases - i.e. we planned on everyone buying a T shirt or two, so brought less than we needed.

We did use the laundry and dry cleaning.

We also followed the rule that when we were leaving house that no expandable suitcase would be expanded - that capacity was needed for getting home.