Disney Wonder: April 29, 2020: 9 night cruise...packing hacks...

[slmoy1016]

Aloha! Gearing up for my first ever 9 night cruise, and the packing nightmare is about to begin in like 3 months...
Sailing from Vancouver first!

I already got my packing cubes off Amazon, and will be Marie Kondo'ing as much as I can.

Anything you wished that you had / needed versus the dreaded overpacking. I know with my previous WDW trips, I ended up not wearing some tshirts / capris.

I was thinking of packing for 7 days of stuff, and then using onboard laundry...

 

[NAB]

I am on the one after yours . We are Hawaii to Vancouver.

I was doing some reading and never thought that the 5 sea days going back to Vancouver can cold in May because your on the water.. So you will need to have some long pants and maybe sweaters or hoodies for night time. I’m used to going to warm places during the winter and only have our winter clothes to get there and back. So that will take up some room. We are are from Ontario, Canada so who knows what the weather will be it could be cold or maybe on the warmer side hard to say.

I too am going to wash while away , don’t want to pay that much for more luggage and only too off us to cart it around.

 

[Adventurelawyer]

I use a lay flat and stack technique which allows me to pack A LOT in a very small space. Jam socks into shoes and line the corners of your suitcase first. Basically you start with heavier pieces like jeans and pants, and stack (flat) with your next heaviest items. Let the ends hang out of your bag. Keep stacking until you get to your bathing suits, nylons, undergarments, costume jewelry, etc. then fold the ends that hang over your edges inward until you have a nice bundle.

I like to find outfits that don’t require lots of different shoes. Shoes take up room and sometimes weight, so try to coordinate that. I also like to travel with clothes that can take the travel l beating (I hate ironing and I really hate laundry on vacation). I recycle as much as I can. One pair of shorts and tops match multiple tops. Coordinating separates. Dress them up or down with accessories.

You can also you vacuum bags. The kind that you roll the air out of, rather than use a vacuum to suck the air out. That works well with sweaters and whatnot.

Or just pack like my husband. 4 t shirts for 7 day trip amd two pairs of cargo shorts. SMDH.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

The must for every trip with a family of 4- two adults and two young adults- a hamper. Dirty clothes in, haul to laundry, clean clothes back. Keeps the cabin neat and organized. For me it is a must. I use a waxed cloth one from IKEA. It folds down small and fits into the pouch on the front of my suitcase.

Packing cubes-keeps my outfits organized, which you have.

Recycle outfits or one pair of black capris that can be worn with multiple tops.

Leggings- I loved these in Alaska. Small to pack, can wear with a sweatshirt on cool days. More comfortable than jeans.

On board laundry- be prepared for lots of people who use this. Some considerate, some not so much. Off hours work the best. There is Star Wars and on board one of the classic ships, due to limited laundry facilities, there is Laundry Wars! Good luck!

I am an over-packer. I try and make a list and stick to that. Not always successful, but I try! LOL My 9 nighter is coming up. With luggage fees to Europe, I will be challenged!

 

[travelmomof3]

My tip besides packing cubes to keep things organized is to roll clothes. It really allows more to fit in the suitcase. We travel extensively (to Europe, around the US, Caribbean) with our 3 kids and we do this for each of us. I also have each of us roll a jacket (light jacket or fleece or rain coat) and put it on the bottom of our carry on backpack.

I second a hamper although we have a travel laundry bag. It's nice to have a place to store dirty clothes until they can get washed. I suggest detergent pods as they'll take up less space and are more portable than hauling a small liquid detergent around.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

If you do laundry, which we do on every cruise, use laundry sheets. Small, compact, no liquids/powders. I use WashEze and get them on Amazon. They work really well from washer to dryer.

 

[mousefan73]

We are on the same cruise. Dilemma is I know we will buy tons and are doing multiple FEs. My goal is clothes to fit in my carryine. Leaving us 3 large bags we will check for shopping and FE

 

[Chimera72]

Aloha! Gearing up for my first ever 9 night cruise, and the packing nightmare is about to begin in like 3 months...
Sailing from Vancouver first!

I already got my packing cubes off Amazon, and will be Marie Kondo'ing as much as I can.

Anything you wished that you had / needed versus the dreaded overpacking. I know with my previous WDW trips, I ended up not wearing some tshirts / capris.

I was thinking of packing for 7 days of stuff, and then using onboard laundry...

I’m in the same spot. We are on the same cruise. I need to dress for Vancouver/first few sea days plus for Hawaii! And its a SURPRISE for the kids too...

 

[MomOTwins]

We found the ship laundry really convenient. The trick is to go nice and early. I would go at 7am and it would be empty. Going early was also great because no ship activities were happening so I didn’t have to worry about missing anything—I just watched a show in my room during the washer cycle and ate my breakfast during the dryer. The one time I went later if was definitely crowded and not as convenient.

 

[msmama]

We did 14 days and I was able to manage only doing 1 load of laundry (there are only 2 of us, me and 11 year old). I packed for 10 days for 2 of us and somehow still managed to take up clothes that didn't get worn. So we each had 10 shirts. I only had 5 pair of shorts/capris (and 2 long pants) black or denim so I didn't have to worry about matching. The kid had more shorts.

On my cruises, I do prefer to dress for dinner every night - I didn't do that on this cruise (or maybe I'd change from shorts into capris, but keep the same tee shirt but add a sweater). I only took dresses that could roll/fold up small. Only brought shoes that I KNEW I would wear long term (skipped the heels that I'd wear to dinner, but then change out of for the rest of the evening). The kid only had nicer outfits for formal/semi formal night, and really those were kind of mix and match.

I fly southwest so I automatically get 2 bags free, but that doesn't mean they're easy to carry so I try not to take more than 1. This time I did two large and two small roller bags (that could have fit on the plane, but I didn't want them to) on the way there. I also take an extra bag (duffel bag that folds up small). For the way home, the souvenirs go in the hard cases, the dirty clothes go in the duffel bag. Then I checked the duffel and used one of the roller bags as a carry on (and then actually ended up gate checking it at the airport since the flight was full).

Have fun!!

 

[monkeydawn]

We are attempting to do 20 days in Europe with a carry on backpack each. We will be doing laundry once and then sending out laundry either once or twice (MSC). If you can go later in the night, doing laundry on DCL is easy. We are rolling our clothes and have compression packing cubes. For cruises we usually shower before dinner. The shirts we wear will be the next days shirt for both of us, with me wearing a sweater over it and my husband wearing a button down shirt over it. One set of bottoms for each of us for dinners as well since we will only be wearing them a few hours a night.

We each have a hanging toiletry bag. Those are just easier for us, especially of we are changing locations a lot or only have a tiny bathroom. I am currently "interviewing" several hanging bags because my usual bag is a little small to do 20 days worth of stuff. I have a larger one but its way too big and too few pockets. I dig forever to find stuff.

We did a similar timed vacation (and similar climate) over Christmas so I go to see what things were unnecessary and what things I didnt allocate enough of (I had an emergency suitcase of stuff since we drove to port). I know that's not possible for everyone to do but you could try living off of what you have packed for a similar time frame.

 

[Sakura1017]

I hope I don't have to pack winter clothing for formal night

 

[mousefan73]

Sooo. last night I was putting laundry away and went through my closets and pulled a bunch of stuff out for this trip. I surprisingly have tons of hawaiin print stuff. So here is what I mentally came up with.

We are flying long distance to Vancouver and are airlines employees, meaning we HAVE to dress business like if we want to fly business / first.. So I will be wearing:
1. Short sleeve blouse/tshirt with a long thin black cardigan
2. Either long black pants or capris
3. Ballerinas ( no sneakers or sandels allowed). So from this I will have dressy shoes for formal night and long pants/cardigann for colder vancouver/ship weather.

I just hope we can get away with not bringing jackets that layering with cardigans will do.

Vancouver:
1.Either a pair of jeans or long dark khakis.. leaning towards khakis as they are lighter. With a long T covered by blackk cardigan from above and i will also bring a cotton shawl that also buttons as a poncho, but folds super thin. I will wear this outfit for one full day and for the embarking next day.. I assume we wont sweat and the clothes will stay clean.

2. Cold Sea days:
1. 2 pairs of yoga/workout/ legging thing
2. 2 long sleeve shirts
3. Using black cardigan/ shawl from above.. It's also longer so it covers my huge butt when I wear leggings. lol.
4. Disney cardigan
4. If the weather is cold and wet, I seriousl might just wear the same pair of leggings, thick socks and wear my Disney cardigan all week.

The rest is for warm weather on the boat and Hawaii
1. 2 pairs of capri pants
2. 2 pairs of shorts
3. 2/3 sundresses one which can be used for pool and beach overup.
4. My hawaiian print tops about 4 which are very light

Evening:
1. 2 dresses ( more cocktail) paired with my "flight" shoes, one is more a summer dress can be worn day and night. We dont over dress for dinner.. pants and nice blouse from the above warm weather.

Shoes:
1. Minniei birkenstocks
2. hiking sandels
3. Nike shoes
4. Maybe one more

the above with underwear/sleep wear is actually not much and would fit in a carry-on and would last with one wash the whole trip..


where I have issues with is all that other "stuff": tioletteries, purses, bags, sunhatt, snorkel stuff, room stuff ( magnets, chargers etc.), do I bring a drink cup or hope I get one gifte via FE??, mickey ears yes or no.. Which laynard.? do I bring more... wine/bottle opener, healt kit, flashlight. etc.. and etc..... for me its the little things.. Sunscreen

Plus stuff for the 4 FE group we are in

 

[mousefan73]

I hope I don't have to pack winter clothing for formal night

I would look for a larger shawl thing, one that can also be buttoned and worn as a poncho. I have a navy one and it is so universal and the best thing it is cotton so not scratchy.

 

[mousefan73]

One more tip.. packing cubes are great to stay organized. They really do not save space.. What saves space is a vacuum thing, BUT and a big BUT. Airlines go back weight.. so be careful, if you jam pack a suitcase you may go overweight.

 

[monkeydawn]

One more tip.. packing cubes are great to stay organized. They really do not save space.. What saves space is a vacuum thing, BUT and a big BUT. Airlines go back weight.. so be careful, if you jam pack a suitcase you may go overweight.

Compression packing cubes will save space. Or you can roll items and use a ziplock baggie to gain some additional space. I am usually closer to having weight limits rather than space limits so you are correct in that if you do use some sort of compression packaging you need to watch weight.

 

[slmoy1016]

Hah I ended up buying 3 more packing cubes from Eddie Bauer / getting an updated 30 L backpack. Will be flying with United. (I did come close to the 50 lb weight limit back with my first DCL cruise).