Garment bag question.....

[SeaSpray]

We have a garment bag that we've used in the past, but never have taken onto a plane. (Last cruise, we drove to the port, and carried-on the garment bag).

This garment bag is not made of a very heavy material at all, in fact it's rather thin, I believe its a thin nylon material. Do you think this type of bag would fare well going through all the rough treatment of the airline baggage handlers??? I'm not sure if I should just pack our formal clothes in our suitcases (going to have everything pressed once we're on the ship anyway), or if I should use the garment bag and check it with the checked luggage. If this garment bag got wet or if something spilled on it, it would not protect our clothing at all, that's basically my concern with checking it for the flights.

I'd love to hear some opinions and comments from people who've used these thinner types of garment bags, or any other ideas about transporting 4 suits and a lot of dresses. LOL Thanks!

P.S. (I don't mind all of the formal wear for the cruise, it's just GETTING it all onto the ship that can be a pain LOL).

 

[scottygirl]

It seems to me that garment bags get pretty beat up when checked because they are soft and have no structure. DH travels a lot for work and brings his garment bag as a carryon.
Some planes have a "closet" where they can hang the bag. HTH

 

[Lew]

The last time we cruised we used a folding suitcase for our hanging garments. It worked like a charm, but weighed a ton!

Since 9/11 and the decreased weight allowance for luggage, we have stopped using it.

I wouldn't check the garment bag. It will not get kind treatment from the handlers or the equipment used in transporting luggage these days. As SeaSpray mentioned, bring it onboard as a carry-on...you'll be much happier when you arrive.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

We used a cloth-type garment bag for our DCL trip and May and my only regret is that we didn't use it on our two previous cruises.

It certainly made unpacking much faster and since we already had the suits/formals on the hangers, we didn't have to ask our room steward for extras.

Is there anyway for you to buy a heavier cloth/poly garment bag? If you're going to be taking future cruises, it will be a worthy small investment. (I think we paid 39.00 for ours.)

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Oops, I forgot to mention we DID check ours w/the airline and had absolutely no problems.

 

[LoveMickey]

Another suggestion I've heard, is to slip all your clothes into those dry cleaning plastic bags, prior to putting into the garment bag.

They say it keeps the clothes from wrinkling, and I would assume would help if something was spilled onto the bag.

That's what I'm planning on doing in December. The other thing I have to remember is to put an elastic on the hanging part (inside). My hangers seem to fall off during the travel.

Can't wait to be on the Wonder.

 

[FLGalInTN]

I travel a good deal and have retrieved luggage from baggage carousels that has been rained on, stepped on, and thrown up on. Yes, this is true. It happened when I returned from NYC a few years back. I eventually had to throw the bag away because I couldn't get the vomit smell out.

I watched the folks at Port Canaveral offload the baggage from our Magic cruise last week and saw firsthand the abuse all that baggage takes. I wouldn't take risks with a flimsy garment bag. If you plan to have your formal clothes pressed anyways, I would pack it in a nice sturdy bag inside plastic drycleaning bags. I packed all of my clothes in those drycleaning bags and didn't need to iron a thing.

 

[webray]

If you are going to press everything anyway..just put the dressy clothes in your luggage. We did this, had disney press everything..it worked great and we were set for the week.

 

[ThreeSmiths]

Webray--how much does Disney charge per garment for pressing? I'm debating on doing the pressing at home and bringing the garment bag, but I can think of a few things I'd rather do than press clothes!

 

[Zandy595]

I think I might have the solution, if airlines are still doing this. When I got married ('95) I lived in NY and my wedding was in FL. The airline (USAir) asked me if I wanted to put my garment bag, with my wedding dress in it, in a garment box. It's just a cardboard box made to fit a garment bag. Call your airline and see if they still have these boxes.