Best Luggage For Cruises, Especially Small-Ship Cruises

Best Luggage For Cruises

By Heidi Sarna & the QC Team

Readers often ask us about luggage recommendations; the latest query came from a woman booked on an upcoming small-ship Alaska cruise.

It’s a great question, luggage is important.

Small-ship cruises are different than the biggies, including when it comes to luggage and packing.

Here’s why:

Small ships may not have much space in the cabins for storage.
Maybe you’re combining some land travel before or after your small-ship cruise — say if you’re doing a river cruise in India or Southeast Asia or Europe, or you’re bound for an Antarctica expedition — and so you’ll want to pack efficiently so you don’t have a difficult time schlepping your stuff on trains, planes and buses.
You’ll likely have multiple flight connections to get to your small-ship cruise embarkation port, so if you can manage carry-on, then you won’t have to worry about your suitcase getting lost by the airline or delayed.

To help you plan your next cruise, our QuirkyCruise contributors share their small-ship cruise luggage tips and favorite pieces.

We all know how many luggage options there are out there; it’s quite overwhelming to know which ones to choose. Google “best luggage” and be prepared to scroll through a zillion options.

That’s where we, the travel experts, come in. Ted and I, and our trusty gang of contributing small-ship cruise writers, travel for a living and so we know the importance of the right luggage and bags to make our trips run as smoothly as possible.

We have used many suitcases over the years, and are happy to share what bags we prefer when we hit the road (and the world’s waterways!).

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Anne Kalosh’s Small-ship Cruise Luggage Tips

Favorite Luggage: Small carry-on rollaboard, with a small backpack for my laptop and camera

I currently have s small Tumi backpack. The rollaboards I use are from a variety of brands, none posh. In my experience, whether they’re cheap or expensive, they get trashed or broken eventually, so I don’t spend a lot for suitcases any more.

For me, packing light is all about careful planning and wardrobe coordination.

I actually map out what I’ll be doing day by day and which clothes I’ll need.

Best Luggage For Cruises from Anne Kalosh

Anne Kalosh and her efficient luggage set up. * Photo: Anne Kalosh

John Roberts’ Small-ship Cruise Luggage Tips

Favorite Luggage: Rollink Collapsible Suitcase

I’m a proud member of team carry-on-only, so Rollink’s collapsible suitcase is exactly what I need.

This sleek and flexible piece of luggage is especially ideal because I cruise often and store my luggage underneath my bed in my stateroom on the ships.

This is an airline cabin-size suitcase, so it meets carry-on standards.

I chose Rollink’s Flex Aura Cabin Plus style, which measures 21.6 inches by 15.7 inches by 9 inches, making it ideal for international flights. When the shell is fully expanded, there is no wasted space. Rollink claims it can fit up to 35 liters of packing volume, and the case collapses to its shell down to about two inches of thickness, making it easy to stow away when you’re not using it.

John's Rollink suitcase is part of our Best Luggage For Cruises round-up

John’s Rollink Flex Aura Cabin case collapses its shell down to about 2 inches of thickness. * Photo: John Roberts

Rollink says it is 75 percent thinner than the typical suitcase. This is important for its mail-order business, making Rollink much more environmentally friendly when the company ships suitcases to homes from its warehouse.

I found the design to be elegant and efficient. The luggage is made from durable polycarbonate and water-resistant materials. The wheels are coated and roll smoothly, pulled along by a retractable handle. A magnetic buckle holds the case in place when collapsed. There is a nice pocket on the front of the Flex Aura in which you can slide in laptop, documents or other items that require quick and easy access.

This suitcase is offered in a range of colors — mine is Dusty Blue — but you also can choose from gray, black, red, purple, green and rose colors.

Small-ship cruise luggage tips include John Roberts' Rollink

John Roberts swears by his Rollink suitcase. * Photo: John Roberts

CHECK OUT: John’s excellent YouTube channel here.

Luggage Types

Rollaboard Luggage — 2-wheeled bags that are pulled with a retractable handle at an angle.

Spinner Luggage — 4-wheeled bags that are wheeled upright in any direction with a retractable handle.

Carry-on Luggage — either rollaboard or spinner suitcases, as well as soft-sided duffels and backpacks, are considered carry-on bags that can be brought into the plane with you if they meet the size requirements of the airlines.

Judi Cohen’s Small-ship Cruise Luggage Tips

Favorite Luggage: Ebby Rane Quartermaster

My favorite suitcase for up to a week getaway is an Ebby Rane Quartermaster. I’ve used it for more than four years and it’s still perfect.

Yes, it’s white and it hasn’t gotten dirty yet!

I use my Ebby Rane Quartermaster with a carry bag called the Valise that slides onto the handles and is rolled with the suitcase without falling off.

For longer trips (more than a week), I also love my Travelpro carry-on that I’ve used for up to three weeks away. It fits nicely in the overhead cabin and is very forgiving when it comes to adding items along the way.

Best Luggage For Cruises includes Judi Cohen's two cents

Judi loves her Ebby Rane Quartermaster. * Photo: Judi Cohen

FOLLOW: Follow @TravelingJudi on Instagram.

Dana Freeman’s Small-ship Cruise Luggage Tips

Favorite Luggage: Monos Carry-on Plus

If you’re anything like me and travel often, you know owning a well-designed carry-on suitcase is crucial for ensuring a successful trip. I can’t recommend the Monos Carry-On Plus enough. It comes in several cool colors like Banana Pudding, Rose Quartz and Olive Green.

But beyond the aesthetics, this bag is seriously durable with its lightweight polycarbonate material and aluminum frame. Plus, it fits within the carry-on size limit for most airlines and even expands up to two inches, which is perfect for when you need a little extra space for souvenirs or new finds.

The four double-spinner wheels make navigating through busy airports and tight spaces a breeze, and the telescopic handle extends and retracts smoothly so I can adjust it to the perfect height.

The spacious main compartment with a divider panel and multiple pockets inside the bag keeps all my belongings organized and within reach. I also love the removable laundry bag and water-resistant toiletry bag because it helps me keep everything clean and separated until I get home.

Dana shares her favorite luggage for our Best Luggage For Cruises round-up

Dana swears by her Monos Carry-On Plus. * Photo: Dana Freeman

FOLLOW: Follow Dana on Instagram.

Chrissy Colon’s Small-ship Cruise Luggage Tips

Favorite Luggage: Travelpro Maxlite 5 International Carry-on Expandable Spinner

My Travelpro Maxlite is super lightweight and infinitely packable. It’s well balanced and easy to access things with the front zip compartment. It expands so you can add more stuff, but it still doesn’t fall over.

I often don’t even bother to unpack so I can just set it on a sofa or the floor and open it up and everything sort of stays put.

Best Luggage For Cruises includes Chrissy Colon's Travelpro

Avid Traveler Chrissy Colon swears by Travelpro’s Maxlite 5 International Carry-on Expandable Spinner. * Photo: Peter Barnes

Ted’s Small-ship Cruise Luggage Tip — Pack Light!

If you are an independent-minded traveler, as I am, you probably prefer to not be burdened by too much baggage. Hence, you can, let’s say, chose to walk the half-mile from the railway station to your hotel or Airbnb.

You skip taxi queues or phoning for an UBER, then paying for the rides with foreign currency or a credit card. My wife and I did that a couple of years ago when staying at an Airbnb in Toulouse.

The walk led through an interesting neighborhood passing stores that we might frequent for gifts or snacks or food when preparing a meal at the Airbnb. If staying four days, we like eating out twice and cooking a meal twice, and that way we have a window that puts us in touch with the locals.

Even before that, traveling light avoids having to check your luggage for the flight and saves time with no baggage to collect after you land.

However, you may skip this piece if you are embarking on a ship where dressing up is part of the equation or spending a long time away from home.

My happy approach is to take a small suitcase that measures 20” x 14” x 8” and put it in the overhead bin.

I then add a small Sierra Club backpack for my traveling computer, attachments, and its pouches for accessories, toiletries, and valuables. The backpack is also great for a day outing to carry bottled water, a guidebook, a folding umbrella, hat, scarf, sweater and/or light jacket, and camera if not totally relying on the mobile phone.

Small Ship Cruise luggage tips by Ted Scull

Ted’s trusty carry-on and Sierra Club backpack. * Photo: Ted Scull

For weekend trips whether by bus, train, boat, or ride share, I can easily pack the larger backpack adding minimal changes of clothes, and just carry that. Also, my hands are free. For some, like me, having to do a bit of laundry from time to time lightens the burden when in transit.

Full disclosure; since age 22, I have lived in London, Paris, and New York, so I am well acquainted with local transit buses, subways, and ferries. In some cases, they offer an added plus – meeting people sharing the ride or trip rather than being walled off from the outside world in a car.

We hope you found our small-ship cruise luggage tips useful for your next trip!