hikergirl100

We're going on a thirteen night cruise to Italy. After two and a half days in Rome we board the Legend of the Seas for a 13 night cruise.
I'm trying to decide on luggage that's right for both hotel and cruise stay. Any suggestions on how many pieces and how big the pieces should be. Is a 29 inch to big?
Please help"
Janice

abram

The difficulty with a 29" suitcase is that, after you fill it with clothes and shoes, it may be over the 50# weight limit.

Theresa

I would look at 26" suitcases. If I fill a 29" suitcase, I am over the 50 lb limit.

Unfortunately the airlines have it so that you can bring (2) 45 lb suitcases but not (1) 60 lb suitcase. It makes no sense but that is the reality of it.

BlueSea

An idea is to buy a set of cases and the largest needs to be no bigger than 28". When you unpack on cruise you put the smaller ones into the largest - saves space!

We have a set: 28", 25" and 19" and they are perfect (the 19" one is used as a carry-on). We also throw in one or two 26" wheeled duffel bags (we're family of 3).

TIP: pack the heaviest items in the smaller cases so that the largest doesn't go over 50 lbs. We used to have 32" but have discarded it, and we find 28" perfect. The days of lugging enormous cases are now over. We used to have bags weighing 70lbs - oh my gawd when I come to think back about them!!

Another tip: don't buy a set that is heavy!!

Doesnt' matter how many pieces per person but you got to remember the cabins are small ane there's not much storage space for the suitcases.

cruisingagain

There is a new style in luggage with 4 wheels. No matter what the size, I would definitely go for that as ou can basically just put one hand on a heavy luggage and wheel it around withouh having to carry any weight on yourself... something to consider.

thesavvyoldlady

Hi Hikergirl,

Oh I wish I were going with you. We did the Med cruise a few years ago and it was fabulous. You didn't mention what class you are flying. On many airlines if you are flying first class, business or are a frequent flier the weight allowances are non-existant. If you fit in any of those categories check with the airlines. Also I have been told that it is often up to the discretion of the agent at the airport whether or not you are charged for exceeding the weight limit. But you really don't want to take the chance. If you are looking for lightweight luggage with wheels check out www.llbean.com. They have a lifetime warranty on all their luggage. Believe me my luggage has been through the mills between baggage handlers on planes and ships. Once when the zipper broke I returned it to them and received a new bag...no questions asked. Another little tip www.chicos.com has a great "travel line" in dress wear that u can literally roll in a ball and once in the hotel or on the ship take it out, hang it up and voila...no wrinkles.

Theresa- I was originally told when the airlines started to enforce the weight limit on luggage that so many of their agents were having problems with their backs and muscle strains from lifting bags over 50 pounds that they decided to cap the limit to 50 pounds. This is probably true however, their main reason was to minimize fuel consumption with less weight in cargo. Oops, hope the day never comes when we all have to weigh in before we board the planes LOL.

Have a wonderful cruise and come back and tell us all about it. I hope your seas will be calm and your skies blue.

Stay Savvy!
Hugs,
The Savvy Old Lady(c)
www.thesavvyoldlady.com

CruiseDiva

I have to disagree with this... "On many airlines if you are flying first class, business or are a frequent flier the weight allowances are non-existant. If you fit in any of those categories check with the airlines. Also I have been told that it is often up to the discretion of the agent at the airport whether or not you are charged for exceeding the weight limit."

These days, unless the airline specifically publishes higher weight limitis for the different cabin categories, they are the same. I haven't seen any preferential treatment in regard to 1st or business class flyers' luggage handling in the past year or so.

Whether it's up to the discretion of the check-in agent or not, everyone is getting charged.

I very carefully weighed my suitcase before arriving at LaGuardia one time last year and even then had to do the luggage contents shuffle when it was one pound over on the USAir scale. Delta agents in Atlanta and Miami are just as picky. European airport agents can be even bigger sticklers. One of our suitcases was tagged "heavy" in Stockholm last month and it weighed 45 pounds.

I seriously recommend not using suitcases over 25-26" because larger sizes can get very heavy before they are full. Plus, it's easier to lift two smaller, lighter suitcases than one heavy one. I learned that the hard way!

Best, Linda

thesavvyoldlady

Hi Linda,

Thank You for the clarification of the weight allowance rules. I agree with you I too have seen passengers charged for excess weight while standing in line waiting to check-in. However, I was speaking from my own personal experiences with the airlines. Just this week The Crabby Old Guy flew out of Florida and his bag weighed in at 62 pounds the agent didn’t say a word and he was not charged. “Crabby” does extensive traveling all over the world and many of the agents in the different hubs recognize him when he checks in. They have told him that they do have discretion when charging for overweight bags. Our youngest daughter who we all refer to as “The Diva” recently flew back to college in Maine with her bags brimming full with her new college wardrobe, the agent just chuckled and told her to make sure she got good grades this year and did not charge her. The only time that a member of our family was told he was being charged for excess weight was when our youngest son, the Marine Sergeant, was being transferred from one base to another and was required to take all of his belongings in his duffle bag. As soon as the agent told him he was being charged you could hear rather loud grumblings from the other passengers waiting in line. Words like...he’s defending his country and you have the nerve to charge him. Well seconds later the agent told him the fee was being waived, Oohrah! Still, it’s not worth the chance of being charged for excess luggage when you can put that money towards a nice souvenir.

Stay Savvy!
Hugs,
The Savvy Old Lady©

fmpden

We did nearly four weeks this in summer in Italy with a 16 day cruise in the middle. That was our 7th European cruise. We travel with one carryon size (21&quot wheeled bag with the extra cruise clothing, shoes, etc., and one backpack style carryon size bag with our regular travel clothes. This makes the handling of luggage easier. The rolling bag is the heaviest at about 30 lbs, my carryon is 22 and Marcia's is 18. That way we only give the rolling bag to the ship personal and most importantly, we do not give any luggage to the ship personal at the end of the cruise. We just walk off at our convenience and not worry about claiming our luggage.

For our first cruise we had two very large rolling hard sides. one large folding garment bag, a train case, and couple of smaller day bag. A big disaster !!! We learned !!