soaked suitcases and trashbag linings

[professorandmom]

I read on a tips page once that it is beneficial to put a trash bag both under clothes in your suitcase and then another bag on top in case your luggage is caught in a downpour while waiting to be loaded. I didn't give this much thought...But Tidefan just posted in this thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/craziness-at-dcl-today.3476013/ that his wife's luggage was soaked to the point where the clothes were dripping wet....they didn't get to go to Palo the first night...

Has anyone thought about this scenario? Do you use the trashbag packing technique or another method to protect your contents? Is the wet luggage so rare that it is just a small risk

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I read on a tips page once that it is beneficial to put a trash bag both under clothes in your suitcase and then another bag on top in case your luggage is caught in a downpour while waiting to be loaded. I didn't give this much thought...But Tidefan just posted in this thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/craziness-at-dcl-today.3476013/ that his wife's luggage was soaked to the point where the clothes were dripping wet....they didn't get to go to Palo the first night...

Has anyone thought about this scenario? Do you use the trashbag packing technique or another method to protect your contents? Is the wet luggage so rare that it is just a small risk

We've never used plastic bags as liners in our suitcases, and our clothes have been fine upon arrival on the ship (and yes, we've arrived in the rain). But, I'll say I think it's not a bad idea. I mean, how much space does it take up?

 

[MunFam]

We travel exclusively with hard sided luggage, so I don't do this.

 

[southerngirl528]

Is the wet luggage so rare that it is just a small risk

Great question, Professorandmom. I would have thought a hard side suitcase would be hunky dory if it did ever just happen to get rained in enroute. Just a few years ago, I bought a pricey carbon-fiber German made suitcase. Entirely hard side save the zipper that closed the 2 halves. So it shouldn't get wet, right? WRONG.

I was flying out of my home airport, MCO, and there was a terrific thunderstorm (we get a LOT of those here, LOL) while they were loading our luggage onto our plane. Lightning so bad that they pulled all personnel off the tarmac. The luggage was on the cart and they threw the "curtains" closed as they ran to safety. I stood and watched that torrential rain, blowing like crazy, and wondered if my suitcase was on that cart that was out in the rain. Well, when I got to my destination, got my suitcase and opened it, guess what? I had a LOT of soaked stuff in it! Crazy! This was a hard side suitcase left on a covered luggage tram, but the rain was so bad that it had apparently blown in the curtain openings on the luggage cart/tram and managed to get into my suitcase via that one tiny non-hardide strip that was the zipper. Less than an inch wide zipper.

Good news was that I have a habit of packing my clothes and most toiletries, etc., in giant zip-loc bags so most of my stuff was okay. But let me tell you that I also had some paper goods in there that were soaked. ALL that said to say this: I think your garbage bag idea isn't a bad one at all. Personally I like the sealed ziplocs even better as they protect if wetness did get inside.

In all my years of flying, this is the first time this has ever happened. But I hate to think how awful it would have been if: 1) My bag hadn't been a hard side and 2) If my clothing wasn't all secured in sealed ziplocs.

 

[funfam]

I use the giant ziploc bags. They are XXL or Jumbo on the packaging. You can pack the clothes in them for departure and then use them for dirty clothes while traveling. It works out great

 

[phinz]

Use garbage bags. They're great for putting dirty clothes into for the trip home.

 

[TestingH2O]

I read the garbage bag tip last summer and did it. We didn't have rain, but the bags were very convenient to have and they take up no space. I also now pack extra zip locks for things like dirty shoes or damp swimsuits.

 

[tidefan]

I read on a tips page once that it is beneficial to put a trash bag both under clothes in your suitcase and then another bag on top in case your luggage is caught in a downpour while waiting to be loaded. I didn't give this much thought...But Tidefan just posted in this thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/craziness-at-dcl-today.3476013/ that his wife's luggage was soaked to the point where the clothes were dripping wet....they didn't get to go to Palo the first night...

Has anyone thought about this scenario? Do you use the trashbag packing technique or another method to protect your contents? Is the wet luggage so rare that it is just a small risk

Yep, that was us. It was raining almost sideways when we got to PC. My guess is that the bag was at the top of a cart as our other 2 bags were OK.

Also, I've never seen winds like we had on Castaway on Sunday. The ship docked at Midnight the night before just so it could get in. All activities (save the 5k) were cancelled and no one was allowed in the water.

 

[tidefan]

Oh, BTW, we will go with the ziploc idea next time, definitely!

 

[Huskiesrule]

Now here is a question on keeping water from getting to your clothes from my Galveston cruise last November. At the end of the cruise the workers dumped a whole container of luggage in the harbor. I also see they did this before a cruise leaving Miami last week. How do you keep your clothes dry when your luggage is swimming?

 

[momof2halls]

Now here is a question on keeping water from getting to your clothes from my Galveston cruise last November. At the end of the cruise the workers dumped a whole container of luggage in the harbor. I also see they did this before a cruise leaving Miami last week. How do you keep your clothes dry when your luggage is swimming?

The very first cruise we went on about 12 years ago was a Carnival cruise and as we were watching the crew unload and restock the boat we saw multiple containers fall into the water. This really made me nervous. They did not act like it was a big deal and made no effort to hurry and retrieve the luggage.

 

[clten]

A few years ago, I read a story about luggage carts being knocked into the water at the cruise pier (it happened to be a Carnival ship, but I figured it could happen at any pier) and I'm more afraid of that than rain (rain may make my clothes wet, the harbor near a cruise ship can have anything in it and those clothes would be ruined in my mind!) Starting then, I began using space bags (not to save packing room but to have my clothes sealed in waterproof bag in case my luggage ever went swimming. Those are more secure than a garbage bag. I then tried out packing cubes. I like them a lot more for organizing but still don't think they'd protect a swimming suitcase so I put my packing cubes in the space bags and seal them. This may be overkill, but I really don't want to receive a fuel and slime encrusted bag of clothes to start a cruise!

 

[eskimoinparadise]

When we cruise during rainy season, we use large lawn/leaf bags. We open them up, put them in the suitcase, pack everything inside of them, and then close them back up so our clothes are inside of the lawn bag. When we cruised during TS Faye, our luggage arrived to the cabin soaked, but everything inside the bags was dry.

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

A few years ago, I read a story about luggage carts being knocked into the water at the cruise pier (it happened to be a Carnival ship, but I figured it could happen at any pier)

This has happened to DCL as well. There used to be pics floating around somewhere.

 

[shoes99]

I use 2 gallon bags. WE were in Vancouver and we had a balcony, I looked down at the pier
and our two pieces of luggage were on top of the luggage cart in the pouring rain.
The plastic bags saved our clothes but the soft side luggage was wet. I always put a plastic bag
over the clothes just in case.

 

[JW9DVC]

Pelican makes some nice stuff. Waterproof that it even floats for those mishaps. Lol

JW

 

[jiminy14]

We have been using large trash bags for years. Another tip we have learned after lost luggage, is to have each family member pack a change of clothes in another member's bag.

 

[3fish]

Try and cruise carry-on only. Sometimes it's difficult but worth it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Besides the zipper design flaw (that there's a zipper LOL) with hard-sided luggage, if your bag is cracked and then left in the rain, that's another spot for the rain to get in.

(DH's hard case was smashed so hard it cracked on a recent Delta flight...they saw it when he went to report it (they also knocked two wheels off, but that doesn't count for them since it hangs off the luggage), and they went to the back and got a brand new hard case (bigger than ours) and handed it over to him. I have literally never heard of this, but now we have a new bag.)


I pack my fancier clothes in my carryon. I encourage DH to pack his suit in carryon (especially when we had dinner at Palo), and insist that DS has his suit as well. (for formal nights for Royal...we haven't yet had a *formal* night on DCL) I don't want to deal with missing fancy clothing, so I bring it on with me.

 

[suebecdan]

I use the garbage tip and it has saved me a few times. I use it for all vacations. On the way back I use the bags for our dirty clothes. I put our suitcase under the bed, open up the bag and place our clothes at the end of the night into the suitcase. By the last day I am almost packed.