Keeping a Wardrobe to a Minimum for a 2 Week Trans-Atlantic Cruise Feature Article Discussion Forum

Last year for my Trans-Atlantic cruise I over packed. I had clothing in my suitcases that I never wore. Having all that extra weight in my suit cases when we flew to Barcelona, boarded the ship, packed to leave the ship, checked into our hotel in San Juan, and packed to fly back to the mainland ended up costing us extra money and took its toll on my back. So for my upcoming cruise, I am pairing back on the total packing. I am hoping to fit everything into one under 40 lb suitcase. Obviously all our readers don't have the same wardrobe that I have, but I hoping that my clothing packing list will help others to figure out what their packing needs are. This trip begins in Rome for 4 days, and then will proceed with a 13 day Trans-Atlantic cruise with stops along the European Mediterranean coast. Using the lessons I learned from last year's trip to Barcelona, followed by a Trans-Atlantic cruise, I came up with a basic but versatile wardrobe. For a more typical Caribbean cruise, shorts, sundresses, and capris might be more of the norm for day time wear, but for this year's December Mediterranean and Trans-Atlantic cruise, I will be bringing only a few pairs of shorts and capris, and mostly long pants. The weather may be moderate, but last year we actually went to Barcelona in an unseasonal …

I usually weigh my suit cases two way.  First I put it directly on the digital scale.  The lighted display remains engaged for a breif second once I remofe the suit case.  Then I us the "weigh you dog" method where I weigh myself first, then weigh myself with the case, and subtract my weight to get the difference.  As long as the weights are close, I know I'm on the right track. I've heard of people using fish scales (the haninging kind, not the outside of the the fish kind.)

Hi, Lfeiges, this wardrobe was actully quite scaled back from what I have brought on several cruises.  When we drove to San Diego for to cruises I packed just about everything I could think of because we were not flying and would only need to transfer the luggage at the cruise ship.    Last year we had two large heavy suitcases each plus a carry-on, and every thing was not too difficult except the stairs of the apartment.  We took a taxis mini van from the airport to the apartment, and then another on Sunday to the cruise ship.  But the apartment stairs were the real bear, we were on the 4th floor of a building with a narrow winding stair case, and we knew this was just too much when we were about 1/2 way up the stairs.  But we did manage. 

We are here in Rome and we pack one very large suitcase  shared among all of us with the clothing we felt we needed here in Rome, and then one medium one each for the cruise.    All cases are the kind that stand upright with wheels so each of us was able to hand two if we needed.  And the stairs here at the apartmetn were wide and only one flight.

On the cruise I will be reapeating things, sending some laundry out, and hand washing a few items in the sink as well.   You can tell from my packing list that we still like to participate in the formal evenings, and so though my gowns don't take up much space at all, my husband and son's tuxedo really do.  Packing is one of my least favorite parts of cruising because I am not very good at paring back, but I am trying to get better.