We've been doing the same thing for the last 10 years & it's been working
fine. I bought the lightest weight suit jack & pants I could find to
conserve room & but t-shirts as I go along if needed. I started to wash out
my underwear & socks each night which take two days to dry on hangers. I
once tried to use Princess's laundry but they shrunk everything so I'll
resort to the self laundry. I can't imagine what people actually take in
those hugh bags for a 7 day cruise.
"George Leppla" wrote in message
news:fk795i01l1c@enews1.newsguy.com...
> Last week we went on the Grand Princess and tried something different. We
> limited our luggage to one roll-aboard and one small personal "bag" per
> person. No checked luggage.
>
> Bottom line is that this was a rousing success and I doubt that we will
> ever go on another cruise with checked luggage.
>
> In each of our roll-aboards, we packed our personal clothes. I took a
> blue blazer, 4 dress shirts, 4 casual shirts, 3 t-shirts, 2 bating suits,
> 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pair of dress pants and two ties.... along with
> enough underwear and socks for the duration of the trip. In addition, one
> pair of dress shoes, a pair of flip-flops for going to the pool, a pair of
> water shoes for the beach... plus the clothes I had on (sneakers, pants
> and shirt).
>
> In my "personal" bag, I carried a CPAP machine, camera, cell phone,
> extension cord, alarm clock and other odds and ends.
>
> In her roll-aboard, Becca packed all her clothes and shoes... and we took
> along a small back-pack for things like toiletries, the inevitable plastic
> bags with liquids (for security) and anything else that didn't fit in the
> other bags.
>
> What a pleasure it was to not have to check a bag onto the plane. We
> checked in at the airport using the e-ticket machine and headed to the
> departure gate. No lines. Went through the TSA checkpoint with the usual
> amount of juggling shoes, electronics and liquids. Got to FLL, headed
> straight for the taxi stand, arrived at the pier and due to our Preferred
> status with Princess, we went straight in. We landed in FLL at around 11
> and were in our cabin by noon..... and unpacked..... because we didn't
> have to wait anywhere for our luggage.
>
> Coming home, we used the "Express" walk-off the ship.... available only to
> people who can carry ALL their luggage. We assembled in the casino at
> 7:30 AM and were in the airport, through security and at the gate by 8:30.
> Our flight wasn't until 11:40.
>
> Fold or roll? On the way there, I folded my clothes and packed them. On
> the way home, I rolled my clothes and packed. You utilize space more
> efficiently when you roll your clothes. I was able to fit more into my
> bag on the way home than I was on the way there.
>
> We were so pleased with the ease and convenience of doing this that I
> doubt we will ever pack large luggage again. If we were to take longer
> trips, we might consider having some clothes cleaned onboard or perhaps
> doing a load of laundry during the cruise... but I'm thinking that my days
> of checking luggage with the airlines or cruise lines is now a thing of
> the past.
>
> BTW - the Grand Princess is still my favorite ship and the balcony cabins
> on Caribe deck are among the best values in the cruise industry. We had
> nearly perfect weather last week, had good luck in the casino and made
> some new friends. It was a great cruise!
>
>
> --
> George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com
>
> January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
> May 12, 2008 - 5 nt New Orleans http://www.cruisemaster.com/fantasy.htm
> October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm
>
>
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