How many suitcases did you bring?

[Masonpips]

I'm packed! I'm packed! I'm packed!

Ok, so most of our stuff is packed.

The tally:
1 regular type roller suitcase (probably 21", could be a carry-on)
1 a bit larger roller suitcase (25"?)
1 large roller suitcase (29"?)

That has all of the clothing, shoes and assorted items for 11 nights and anticipates 2-3 loads of laundry (one darks, one lights (undies/t-shirts) and one unexpected (spills?) for 4 folks: me, dh, DS (6) and DD (4)

I expect the remainder of the toiletries will either be in adult carry-ons or we may do another small roller suitcase and check it (I hate carrying luggage on). DS and DD will have a carry-on each, but it's their "Disney" backpacks/luggage and contains trip entertainment, books, tape players, etc. plus a small stuffed animal and their Halloween costumes.

So, a grand total of 7 or 8 bags (which seems freaking ridiculous to me) - how many did you end up with?

 

[Jeanny]

just be careful of how much each suitcase weighs .. the airlines have weight limits now( varies from airline to airline) but they whack you with over the weight charges now... big $$ in some cases.
have a great trip!

 

[patches-4]

YOU MAY WANT TO DO A CARRYON WITH YOUR SWIMSUITS AND A CHANGE OF CLOTHES AS THE SUITCASES MAY NOT GET TO YOUR ROOM UNTIL LATE AND THAT WAY YOU CAN GET A BITE TO EAT AND GO TO THE POOLS. WE TOOK 4 LARGE SUITCASES ( 1 EACH) AND 2 SMALLER CARRYONS PLUS A BACKPACK FOR EACH KID, GAMEBOYS AND CD PLAYER AND CD'S ETC. DID 2 LOADS OF LAUNDRY 1 TIME ON SHIP.

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

anticipates 2-3 loads of laundry (one darks, one lights (undies/t-shirts) and one unexpected (spills?) for 4 folks: me, dh, DS (6) and DD (4)

Masonpips - my recommendation would be to add enough underwear for everyone without having to do a load of laundry. It's your vacation too...

DS and DD will have a carry-on each, but it's their "Disney" backpacks/luggage and contains trip entertainment, books, tape players, etc. plus a small stuffed animal and their Halloween costumes.

Only take what it absolutely necessary. The kids are young and probably won't carry their backpacks onto the ship. Plus, I'm sure you'll be buying them toys/souveniers while on the cruise. I'd reduce their "Disney" luggage to one small carry-on. Put the Halloween costumes in one of the regular suitcases - unless you're planning on having them trick-or-treat on the way to Port. (That candy is gonna ruin a lovely welcome aboard buffet!)...

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Sorry - double post...

 

[mcnuss]

We are a family of 3, and we arrived the night before the cruise and stayed at the Hyatt.

We had one large rolling duffel (that was not full on the way there but which was stuffed to the gills on the way home, LOL), a rolling garment bag for the nice clothes, and a smaller rolling duffel as a carry-on. DD& I had a Gap beach knapsack (best 10 bucks I spent), and DH had our camera bag in a larger carry-on.

Thank HEAVENS on the night before the cruise, I had a brainstorm that I should pack so that I would not have to open any of the "main" suitcases at the Hyatt, bc none of our checked luggage arrived with us! All of our night clothes, toiletries, outfits for embarkation, swimsuits, etc... were in that carry-on duffel, so when the luggage did not arrive, the panic was not "OMG what will we do tonight and tomorrow am" (we knew where the bags were right away and what flt. they'd be on), but more like "OMG those bags had better get here before the buses leave!".

FYI - those knapsacks from Gap are waterproof and have a mesh bottom so sand sifts out. They have an exterior water bottle pouch, and key clip, and a sealed compartment for your wet stuff. They can also go thru the wash! They are indispensable on any vacation where there's sand & water. They were also super for DD at camp.

 

[tecdavidt]

We pack one suitcase per person and one carry on per person. Wo when all six of us went the luggage was packed tight in our van because we also had to ride in the van to get to the airport! With the boys being in college it is only the three of us so it isn't so hard to pack up the SUV. Pack what ever you might want to use (including any meds.) because the luggage arrival time is a "who knows when it will arrive." One cruise we had it right away and another was after dinner. Nothing like wearing shorts into the dining room because they didn't get the luggage to you. Kathy

 

[aprilgail2]

I had one with my daughters and my stuff in it, one for my mom and a cooler with soda/water.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

As far as my father was concerned....TOO MANY!

 

[MrsPete]

My family of four is packed for the November 9th cruise. Here's what we're bringing:

One small suitcase for the hotel the night before. This one will stay in the car -- no need to bring dirty clothes on board!

One HUGE suitcase with all our stuff for four days. I am a light packer, but everything we needed went in just fine. I put in all the clothes I wanted to bring, but was a little careful about shoes -- I tried to plan outfits that'd all work with the same two pair of shoes. Our back-of-the-door organizer is in this suitcase too (already packed with our small necessities).

We'll each have one small carry-on.

 

[glindamood]

My DH would tell you WAY YOO MANY but we each check our alloted 2 and then there is a carry-on for each. I may have done one less last year when we just did the Magic and not the week before at WDW. It takes me almost an entire bag just for our snorkel gear (if you think shoes take up a lot of space, try fins). My children are all full grown too so their clothes take up more space - just ask me, I can rationalize almost anything.

 

[westjones]

We did 1 suitcase per person (so 4 for the 4 of us).

On our 7 day, I did do laundry, so that helps.

Try not to pack your suitcase full when you go because you will need room to bring things back. If you are a repeat cruisers, they give you a nice beach towel as a gift and you need room for that and anything else you might buy.

DJ

 

[tkd lisa]

We were a family of 4, 2 adults, two mid-range kids (8 and 10 one time, 9 and 10 the next, yes we cruised twice in one year!)

For the 7 day, each kid had their backpack, I had a backpack with books, documents, etc., and DH had the "arrival" carry on duffle bag (included PJs, boarding outfits, swimsuits, and necessary medicines). The "arrival" duffle was checked on the plane, but carried onto the ship.

Checked onto the ship were: one big rolling garmet bag (all tha hanging clothes including formals! were in there), one large roller bag, two large normal suitcases. We did bring 3 sets of snorkling masks, but no flippers. I did laundry once, and brought home probably 30% of our clothes unworn.

I agree with the shoe comment. Each of us had 3 pair of shoes. I'll probably try to skip the tennies in the future, because they take up lots of space, and we ended up in sandals most of the time!

 

[mom_rules]

We are a family of 4 as well, 2 adults, dd18 and ds15 (basically 4 adults) we each had one large suitcase, one roller carryon and then I cheated and packed a large carpetbag with a roller duffle inside of it (which as someone else also wrote-was stuffed to the gills when we left but mostly with dirty laundry-There is no way that I'm doing laundry on vacation, I hate it even at the best of times).
Watch your luggage weights - the lady in front of us at the airport check in paid $50 because her bag was 4 lbs over the weight limit of 50lbs and she did not have a carryon or another bag in which to transfer the excess 4lbs!!