Packing Cubes, Folders or Zip Lock Bags
 

We'll be going on an 11 day cruise on Celebrity Constellation. I have heard pros and cons about what is the best way to pack. I know zip lock would be the most economical, but do they work as well as the other choices? I have also heard about dry cleaning bags. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Walmart now sells those small "space bags" which work without a vacuum or they use a hair dryer, I was thinking about trying them. Also if you roll your clothes it saves rooms and less wrinkles.

i love space bags. i use them every cruise :)

just be careful with them, they hold a lot and you can easily go over your weight limit...

I guess you could have your suitecase setting on a scale as you back -- pretty sad when you got to worry so much about luggage weight...
"back in the day" you could buy the biggest suitcase and fill er up...." oh well.

want to hear something really sad??? i've packed that hard shell suitcase so much for various cruises i can tell by LIFTING it when it's right at weight. when i went to Europe someone dragged it outside for me and said "you sure it's not over??" my response? "i promise it's not over" when i got to the airport it weighed 45 lbs. told ya! ;)

lol

I use spacebags too. There great for socks and underwear. I find that they leave t-shirts and the like kind of wrinkled. For dress clothes it is good to leave them in the dry cleaners bags to orevent wrinkling. We've gotten pretty good a weight guessing too. I usually try to find a counter at the airport that is unmanned to give them all a quick weight test so I wont have to hold up the line repacking if one is over. I've only had one go over once (by a pound and a half) and I simply stuffed some of it in my carry-on which is always pretty empty.

you go girl! and good idea using the hardshell - for so many different reasons !!

The last time I flew somewhere, my family was convinced I would be over the weight limit. Used to fly a lot, so I said I wouldn't be. Verdict....49.5 lbs. LOL
Marty

ziploc bags are great for socks and underwear, fill em up, squish the air out of them and stuff them into any little nook and cranny in your suitcase, yes drycleaner bags are great for preventing wrinkes, especially when it comes to your dress clothes, if you have a garmet bag that works great. I definatley weigh my suitcase at home before i leave, and i leave room in my carry-on for the return trip just in case i need to quickly take something out of the suitcase because of the weight restrictions because you have to guesstimate the weight on the trip home.

Pack-It folders are the only way I go IMHO. Ive done the space saver bags and was unimpressed. One or two ripped on like the 1st or 2nd trip making them useless and the clothes were kind of wrinkled. I could have gotten the same results with the jumbo ziplock bags for a fraction of the cost.

Campor or REI sell the folders. Im sure there are other places online also. They keep everything nice and neat and your stuff doesnt slosh around inside the suitcase. I turned my neighbor on to them and he's buying more.

One other tip get a mesh laundry bag to hang in the closet to serve a clothes hamper.

Maybe pack an extra collapsable duffle bag to throw all the dirty clothes in coming home saving space in your suitcase for stuff you've bought on the trip.

R

We ordered those folders from ebags for our Alaska cruise, along with pacing cubes. They were great! It was so easy to keep things organized, and very few wrinkles!

i ended up with that hardshell out of a seemingly bad situation. i had loaned someone my big canvas rolling suitcase and it got manhandled in Milan so bad that he only described it as "a dna double helix." the airline gave a Delsey hardshell as a replacement, not because of the twisted frame, but because there was a tiny slit in the side from said manhandling.

i love my Delsey~it goes everywhere now :) and spacebags fit nicely in it

I found Reynolds freezing bag system at our local wally. It came with its own little vaccum and 2 different size bags, gallon and pint size. Simpy amazing!!! The vaccum itself came with bags, 3.96 and I bought 2 boxes of each size, more than enough for our trip. Great for the wet bathing suits that dont get dried before final packing! And use it at home for meat...

I use 2.5 gallon Hefty zip lock bags and suck out the air with a straw. Works great.
In fact..... I just got done doing that about five minutes ago cause I'm goin' cruisin' in 4 days !!! yeah baby!!