Face shape is very critical for a good mask fit. If your face is "standard" then the cheaper masks may work. If your face is thin or very wide, or your nose is shorter, thinner, longer or your upper lip hairy or short then you may have problems with cheap masks. My husband and I have some combo of all of the above (DH has the hairy lip, thank you very much), and often have tried on many different masks to find the proper one. The older, more rigid ones had to be "sucked on" for proper fit. The new soft, clear, silica ones shold form a perfect seal simply when you tip your head back, with snorkel in mouth (remember your upper lip shape isn't going to be normal). There should be NO GAP WHATSOEVER anywhere on your face for the mask to work the best. If you cannot try it on and test it, don't buy it. Make sure you get every stray strand of hair out of the mask before snorkeling, these will cause leaks. Remember to scrub your mask well with soft-scrub (or the best masks-scouring powder) to remove all oils used in processing, these cause fogging. As noted above, buy good stuff, keep it clean and it will last decades (not kidding). Look in the yellow pages, you may be surprised to find dive shops in just about every fair-sized city. Their help can save a cheap or expensive mistake.
We have one of the back-pack type dive bags and it is wonderful. We had seven persons in our party, so not sure what our luggage count was, but having the bag was not a problem on the airlines or cruise. Just make sure the sky-cap puts it in one of the heavy plastic bags when you check it, too many dangly straps to trust the luggage conveyers. Don't forget old t-shirts so you don't toast your back and a zip-lock bag of kleenex for the inevitable blow when you get out of the water.
Carla
