Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Packing for a Cruise: The Great Luggage Challenge

Leonard and I just finished packing for our South Pacific odyssey, which begins this Friday with our Air Tahiti Nui flight from Los Angeles to Papeete. We'll board the m/s Paul Gauguin on Saturday!

For this trip, we challenged each other to pack only what we need. I have to say, I think we were successful. We have one large suitcase, a small carry-on, my backpack/purse, and Leonard's camera bag. Not too shabby!

Of course, it's easiest to pack for a warm-weather cruise. After all, we're not going to need any cable-knit sweaters on Bora Bora! Instead, here's what we each packed:

  • two swimsuits (two-piece separates for me and the bottoms do double-duty as shorts)
  • three pairs of shorts
  • two pairs of long pants
  • four mix-and-match casual tops
  • three country-club casual tops for evenings (plus a light wrap for me and a jacket for Leonard)
  • shoes: one pair each of dress sandals, sneakers (to wear on the plane), and reef slippers
  • one hat each

We generally send our laundry out once during a cruise, so this should get us through the seven-night itinerary with no problems and I'm sure we'll both pick up a T-shirt or two on the islands.

The toiletry bag was tougher to cull since we'll need copious amounts of insect repellent (I'm a mosquito magnet) and sunscreen (which can be expensive in Tahiti).

I have friends that can't believe we can make it all the way to Tahiti with just one suitcase and a small Vera Bradley rollerboard! (I'll have to handle that bag since the pattern is a bit too girl-y to expect Leonard to carry around; it's the carry-on bag I usually use during overnight business trips.)

It will be interesting to see how I feel about our luggage selection once we return. But, I'll say this, there have been plenty of times that I've come back from a cruise with outfits in my suitcase that never saw the light of day. I've never returned wishing I had brought more clothing.

I like the fact that we won't be bogged down by suitcases, since our camera gear is heavy enough as it is!

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

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