Carry On Only for 14 days?

I first thought of the idea of traveling carry on for our 14 day trip because I watched a Rick Steve's video suggesting that it was the easiest and best way to travel on a train, over the bridges in Venice and over the uneven roads in Italy.  We have been traveling carry on only to Disney for the past 10 trips or so and found it to be time saving and convenient.  It also saved us lots of money on baggage fees!  But would it be possible to actually travel for 14 days and on a cruise ship packing carry on only?

All of our luggage... at the edge of the Grand Canacl Venice
June 29, 2014

I watched video after video on You Tube watching others demonstrate how to pack and what clothes one would need.  One statement that struck me was, " If you won't wear it more than twice... it is not worth packing"! I didn't follow this to a T but it truly made me think and double think what went into my suitcase. Once DH and I made the decision to pack carry on only, it was time to start looking for the perfect carry on bag.  We checked out review after review checking into Rick Steves Convertible Carry-on, the e-bags weekender convertible, the High Sierra Passport travel pack, the Lowe Alpine TT Carry on 40 and the Osprey Porter  46 liter.  In the end we decided on the Osprey Porter 46.  The OP46 is 22x14x9 which was the largest size for Delta's carry-on.  We also liked the fact that the bag was sort of hard sided so that it kept its shape even empty and has straps that cinch the bag making it more compact.  The bag has a carry handle on one side and of course back pack straps which is exactly what we wanted!  The bags cost $99 each and we needed 3 of them.  The bag was almost as tall as ShaSha, age 8, it seemed but we kept her bag light and she was just fine with the OP46 on her back.

We purchased a Osprey Porter Daylight bag to use as Po's carry on but a few days before the trip we decided to just carry our travel documents and all of our electronics chargers and converters in the bag as a personal item. (We just switched Po over to a backpack that we got as a DCL Castaway Club member)The Daylight bag was also the bag we used while on tours in Italy and on the cruise.  We added the water bladder to it which made it convenient for the kids to get drinks anytime they needed one!

The kids carrying ALL of their own luggage
to our  hotel in Venice!
June 27, 2014

I also read up on packing cubes and bought a few sets of those.  DH hated them but I used them for the kids and I.  I bought sets that included 3 large size bags and in hindsight wished that I had bought the set that came in 3 different sizes.  We could only fit 2 large packing cubes in the Porter bag.  I rolled my clothes tightly and packed light clothing that didn't wrinkle easily.  In my carry on I carried  3 pairs of shorts (one was a pair of black dressy Bermuda shorts that worked great), 3 pairs of capris (once again I really used the longer, dressier black capris), 15 shirts of various types (T's, tanks and dressier Tanks), 2 shrug sweaters to wear in churches and to dress up my tanks, an extra pair of Birkenstock's and a pair of flip flops.  I also took a bathing suit and a thin cover up. My bag housed all the toiletry items and my hair straightener too... These bags hold a lot of clothes!!! Oh... and a scarf and pashmina also went with me on the trip to add some color!

I really wasn't sure we could pull off this carry on thing... but it was easy and very convenient!  The Osprey Porter 46 was the perfect bag!

Sitting on the steps of the Venice train station with all of our luggage!
June 29, 2014

We are already planning to pack carry on only for our next European vacation in summer 2015!

Wordless Wednesday... China 2006

Planning a trip is half the adventure!

Our family has been enjoying cruise vacations for 17 years! We have cruised on many different cruise lines including Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess and DCL.  We have cruised Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico and to more of the Caribbean islands than I care to admit!  A matter of a fact, we have visited many of the islands more than once.  Po, at just 5 years old has been on 3 cruises, Shasha, age 8, has been on 5 and DH and I have just completed our 15th cruise! (Well, actually I have done one more than DH but who's counting... that's 16 for me LOL:) It was time to expand our family travels overseas!

 We have been on many cruise lines and choose the line that is right for our family based on itinerary and price.  Shopping for cruises is half the fun!  We are vacation planners and always plan at least 11 months out ... but usually more on the time frame of a year or two before our vacation date!  This gives me lots of time to plan, learn about our destination and pay the bill! We booked our July 2014 Western Mediterranean cruise in February of 2013 and then built our trip to Italy around the cruise dates. Our last five cruises were with Disney Cruise Line and we were admittedly a bit nervous about booking the Norwegian Epic. Would our kids enjoy a cruise without the characters? Would we like the Freestyle Dining (we weren't fans on one NCL cruise but loved it on our second!)? Would the ship be too big or too crowded? And finally... WOW those inside rooms are SMALL for a family of 4 that is used to spreading out over a cabin double the size! On the other hand, we knew that this cruise was going to be port intensive and the value of the NCL cruise just couldn't be beat! Indeed, for a family of four we paid more for the airfare to Europe than we paid for the 7 night cruise!

Our family while on board the Norwegian Epic
July 2014

After returning from our Disney Fantasy cruise and vacation to Walt Disney World the summer of 2013 we contacted our travel agent to book us airfare and hotels.  We decided that we wanted to fly into Venice, Italy, and stay for 2 nights, take the train to Rome and explore for 3 more nights before boarding the Epic on July 2, 2014. It added 5 nights onto our vacation and it was worth every minute and penny!  In all honesty, we could have stayed another week to visit the Dolomites, Milan and the Tuscan region! By the end of September our flights and hotels were booked! (We flew Delta from JFK to Venice on June 26, spent two wonderful nights at the Hotel Palazzo Priuli and spent three nights at the Crown Plaza Rome, St. Peter's, cruised on the Norwegian Epic for one week and returned home flying Delta from Rome to JFK on July 9.)

Now thanks to Trip Advisor, Rick Steves, Cruise Critic, DisBoards and the travel blogs of many others I was set to begin researching tour companies, luggage and how to pack carry on only for a 14 day trip with two young children! That 's right... 14 days Carry on ONLY!

Ready. Set. Adventure...An Introduction

Our family at The Leaning Tower of Pisa
July 3, 2014

We love to spend time together as a family. We love to travel. We love all things Disney. We love cruising and we love to plan new adventures!

We are a family of 4... Myself, DH, ShaSha and Po. My husband, DH and I have loved to travel since our first trip together! After traveling to adopt our two children from China and Taiwan we knew that sharing our love of culture, history, fun and adventure needed to be shared with them! Together, we travel to Walt Disney World twice a year, enjoy visiting National Parks and love cruising!

This summer we ventured to Europe for our first time... and it was love at first sight! So what else would we do but share our stories and begin planning our return to Europe next summer!




Traveling... It leaves you speechless and then turns you into a STORYTELLER!
                                      -IBN BATTUTA