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Thread: To carry on or not to carry on? That is the question .....

  1. #21
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    ya Mobay is great for luggage ... the hassle is waiting for the carousel when you get back to LAX -- usually once I touch down, I am very eager to get home! Long trip ....

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by gerryg123 View Post
    OK, i am booked for 11 nights this coming reach beginning in early January, and considering I'll be moving around a bit with the possibility of a total of three hotels, I am wondering whether or not to pack luggage or squeeze everything into a carry-on, which is going to be close close close.

    Keeping in mind that I generally wear a bathing suit, t-shirt or button-down shirt and slip-ons about 90 percent of the time (like most American males in Negril), here are the things besides clothes I MUST have:

    Snorkel set

    Lap top

    BIG towel (unless I go AI, which I am not)

    Two pairs of shoes (tennis shoes and slip-ons, they're hard to pack)

    fanny pack (I am such a tourist)

    Two or three books

    Sundries

    Camera

    CD head set

    ..... I hate waiting for ANYTHING, including luggage, so going carry-on-only is a big bonus .... last time, I did 16 nights with a BIG suitcase plus a carry-on, and I needed it all!
    Hmmm...this is certainly doable in a carry-on with a back-pack as your personal bag, so long as you don't have long flippers for snorkeling! My carry-on has two exterior pockets especially for soft shoes like topsiders and trainers. If I don't travel with Tam, I can get everything I need for a week or even ten days in the carryon and backpack. A big bonus for me is that the carryon has expansion zippers that increase interior space by over 20 percent, but turn the bag into checked luggage...not bad for the trip home!

    Except for the snorkel/mask, this is essentially how I travel to Europe and JA, with no checked luggage. The only time I check luggage is on ski trips or when I have a formal affair to attend while on vacation. Hey, it happens! I take my mask and snorkel and bury it in the bottom of the backpack. I use the beach towel as a packing liner for the carryon. I wear my trainers and pack my sandals and surfshoes in the outside pockets of carryon. The lotions/gels and creams are all put into a clear ziploc, each bottle labled, and that goes in a front pocket of the backpack(Timberland) for easy security access. All my electronics, camera/charger, video/batteries, mp3/charger, speakers, cellphone/charger, headphones, cables, etc...fit in a gallon ziploc that fits in the second front pocket on the backpack. Inside the backpack are my netbook/charger, Dopp kit, first aid kit, books/reading material, notebook, pens, get-a-way gear consisting of one each of shorts/shirt/skivvies/socks/cap/swimtrunks(these are all rolled up together tight and secured with large rubber bands and then placed in a gallon ziploc). There is plenty of room left over in the backpack for other items, such as my pair of one litre plastic filtering water bottles. In the carryon goes my clothing gear.....experience has taught me that on a ten day trip I can get away with 3 or 4 cargo shorts, 3 swim trunks, 5 t's, 3 poly polos, 10 skivvies(put them together, roll them up and rubber band them together, the skivvies that is...), one pair pants(I prefer tan cotton khakis), two belts, and two Hawaii/party shirts. I wear the same clothes on travel days, since I am only in them long enough to get to and from JA! That's usually the last I see of the trainers as well! I don't recall wearing them in JA during the ten days this June...

    The carryon packing is always evolving for me, esp. as electronics have become so miniaturized.

    For us though, checking luggage isn't really too much of an issue. It is a nonstop flight and by the time we clear immigrations and head for the carousel and then customs(or is it vice-versa?) our checked luggage is on the carousel or only a very short wait....

    YMMV, esp. if traveling with a member of the fairer sex......ten days in JA requires Tam to check AT LEAST one bag. Sheesh.

    Another option is to buy the big towel and your tshirts in JA and just pack a couple of polos.....saves a ton of space!
    "Enjoy Every Sandwich"-Warren Zevon

  3. #23
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    Janet and I are taking an 11 day trip through the Yucatan in December and using carry on backpacks. We will be taking snorkel equipment including shortie fins. This is in preparation for a 2 week trip to Peru next year. I don't mind the wait at the airport....I'm just too cheap to pay the baggage fees!. The Peru trip will be 3 flights each way and at $25 each leg of the trip will add $300 total to the flight price. Hence the carry on.
    A question about carry on: We usually use a shaving can safe (a can of Barbasol that the bottom screws off to put in money and valuables). If the bottom is screwed off will they let you take something like this through security and on the plane? Does anyone have first hand knowledge?

    Regards,

    Bob

  4. #24
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    True, the baggage fees alone give you the $ to buy all your toiletries, pay the the taxi AND maybe even a get a nice JA beach towel....

  5. #25
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    Wink

    Huh, I wouldn't have pegged you as a fanny-pack type of guy..lol

    Anyhoo...just pack it all and be done with it. I try to use Jetblue since they let you check your first bag for FREE. But either way I have to have all my stuff with me and I am willing to pay the fee it that is the case. It's just more convenient to have all the things from home right there and you can bring extra outfits in case something comes up..you know you can count on beachwear for the days but what about going out at night? That requires a whole different type of outfit (and shoes)....
    "Don't gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver and gold" R.N.M

  6. #26
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    I do almost the exact same thing as Oh Liz..... and I'm sorry-i personally would never bring a laptop unless i HAD to do business...There is so much more I d rather be doing then doing what I normally do at home..ie. Be on the computer....People really need to "un-plug" once in awhile.....I have my Jam phone that people can get ahold of me if need be-Would never use my American phone-insane roaming fees, long distance costs..

    Regarding liquids-alot of things can be purchased in Jam...
    Snorkel gear-I'd rent it...
    Books-that can be difficult-I love to read- so try to take one large softcover...
    Towels-I use the ones where ever am staying-if i need a Big one-I purchase from vendours and will leave with a friend (if I cant fit it in my suitcase and my friend wants it-)
    Camera and my mini ipod sysytem-all goes in my backpack that goes under my airline seat..

    I think you can do it Gerry.....
    " Ones destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things." (Henry Miller)

  7. #27
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    i forgot one thing: I like to bring a pool raft, too. Sometimes I buy them at the little store at Bar B Barn or RIU Negril, but I really like to bring my own -- especially the really cool Walmart ones with the little holes that you can roll it up without deflating .... But carry-on is still possible ....

  8. #28
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    My packing is similar to yours, but those snorkel fins were the only items holding me back from 100% carry-on. This winter I'm thinking of changing to a short fin design. Traveling back through MBJ with check-in is no fun.

  9. #29
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    bring the bag you can check. the disadvantage of a carry on is that you cannot bring home the coco mania or other rums.
    Praise Jah

  10. #30
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    hey david, don't buy new fins just cut the ones you are using to fit in your carry on. make a nice cut and no one will know the difference and you will save $$
    Praise Jah

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