Yes, Indeed, I Do Believe I Can Take It All With Me!

Day -2, 2026 Fall Atlantic Sampler

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026; Montreal, Canada.

I struggled on Wednesday to turn my loaded luggage cart through the serpentine taxi line at Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport. My sisters Eloise and Elaine managed their own luggage without the aid of a free cart. They are only cruising for two months. I’m on the MS Volendam for eight months.

And yes, I do believe I brought everything I own. That’s what I said to the nice man who helped me put my carry-on bag in the bin above my airline seat. “Everything including the kitchen sink. And it’s made of cast iron!”

Many – including me – would say that you don’t need anything more for eight months than for two months. Just wash and repeat. And it really is true, at least for clothes. In fact, I could make an argument that you don’t need more than I packed for the two-week Alaska cruise I took earlier this month. 

And yet, here I am, with three large suitcases plus a carry-on and a backpack. I’m almost ashamed to add that when Eloise didn’t fill her second bag, I snuck things in. Even worse, I packed and left a medium suitcase that she will ship to me in December. My saving grace is that instead of flying, I plan to rent an SUV next May to return it all to my storage unit in Arkansas.

I’m with everyone else in disliking long and complicated travel days, especially when loaded down with luggage. Fortunately, Wednesday went smoothly despite our leaving Eloise’s house at the awful hour of 4:30 a.m. We flew from Fort Smith to Dallas, where we watched the sun rise while connecting to our next gate via the SkyLink. That was our only delayed flight, but we had time built in.

On to Chicago, where Elaine joined us for the last leg to Montreal. It was good to see her waiting as we disembarked at O’Hare, even though it had only been a month since we parted ways in Nashville after visiting fellow cruisers Jett and Kelly.

By the time we passed through immigration, collected our luggage and made it to the front of the long taxi line, a large SUV pulled up. The helpful driver managed to stow all our bags. We immediately scheduled him to take us the short distance to the ship on Saturday morning.

I spent the 16 days since the end of my Alaska cruise focused on packing and working in an overnight trip to Dallas for a long-overdue haircut and to see friends.

Everything I own is in a 10×10-foot storage unit in Fort Smith. This summer, I carted a dozen or more bins with mostly clothes and toiletries to my sister’s large guest room. From there, I sorted and packed for trips to Chicago, Nashville and Alaska. Now it was time to sort one last time for everything I will need for the next eight months. What didn’t make the list went back into storage.

My grand summer plans to reorganize everything in the unit, getting rid of what I no longer want, didn’t pan out. But by Tuesday night I had repacked the bins going back to storage so I could leave Eloise’s guest room bereft of my things and ready for real guests.

So what am I taking for eight months of cruising, and how do I decide? For clothes, I start with a theoretical list. How many formal and dressy nights, and how many dresses, pants, tops and jackets will I need? What about port days? Ship days? What is the typical weather?

Unlike this past world cruise, which went from Antarctica to Alaska, I don’t expect cold weather. No need for warm clothes or heavy jackets. Layers will suffice.

Then the challenge is to limit myself to the numbers I set, rather than throwing in too much more. It doesn’t always work.

And at times it seemed like Christmas in September, as Amazon last-minute orders arrived on the front step. (You’ll have to ask Eloise why she still has a Christmas mat out.)

Those who know I have a strong obsessive-compulsive streak won’t be surprised to find I have an itemized packing list, currently running at 13 pages. I’ve boiled it down to six pages that might be helpful and posted it here. It’s not the clothes — it’s all the other things that make my stateroom feel like home for the eight months I will live there.

After four years living on cruise ships, you would think I would have a better idea of how fast I go through toiletries. No idea how long a tube of toothpaste lasts. I may be spending one of my December turnaround days in Fort Lauderdale shopping for more.

We are staying at the AC Hotel Old Montreal, right in the middle of the Vieux Port area and just a few blocks from the cruise pier. I stayed here in 2008 and again in 2023, but this time the three of us booked a suite, knowing we would have a lot of luggage. To our delight, we have a large private terrace that I’m sure we will enjoy until we board the Volendam on Saturday morning.