Do You Prefer Softsided Luggage or Hardsided for Cruises?

Wow! It sounds like you're having a Happy Birthday and it will be a Merry Christmas! Very nice luggage to cruise with! Congratulations and Happy Cruising!

My new Briggs & Riley carry-on arrived today. My DH said "happy birthday"... so I guess I'll get to take it on this trip after all. Now if the larger piece shows up on time, Santa says I can have it.

We have two 3 piece sets of softsided Ricardo of Beverly Hills luggage which we have used for over 10 years. These have made trips to Europe and over 15 cruises. They have held up extremely well with only one piece having a wheel that is hestitate to roll sometimes. In addition to 2 large outside zippered pockets each piece has two fully zippered sections with the top one being configured for hanging clothes. Being softsided we can usually get extra items purchased on trips packed into the same bags as we take. Have to be careful to pack breakable items in the middle of the bag to prevent breakage from rough handling or being the bottom bag in a stack of 6 supporting up to 300 lbs! We usually make sure our breakables are in our carry ons to be safe. Pull handles collapse fully into protected zippered pockets and there are strong leather covered handles on 2 sides for easier handling. Wheels are large, strong and protected by a protective shroud. They are extremely well made and show minimum wear after so many uses. However, they are also heavy. The 3 piece set weighs about 37 lbs total empty: 15, 12, 10. For cruising they fit into each other and will collapse enough to easily fit under the bed. We've thought about getting new Ricardo hardsided spinner sets but these have held up so well we can't justify spending money just to save less than 10 lbs in total weight for a new 3 piece "lightweight" set.

I use a duffle bag style with rollers for everything except sport coats, suits and shirts and those items go in to a hard side garment case on rollers.

A travel expert was interviewed on TV recently and asked about this. She said the airlines and she recommend the hard sided, 4 wheel luggage with handles on the top and bottom. The hard sided are easier to stack in the cargo area, and the handles make it easier for the airline handlers pick up and toss the luggage into the cargo hold.she also suggested packing quite full so that they don't "give" and show dents when pressed in the centre. That will help prevent cracks or other damage when they are stacked and tossed around. Nothing is perfect for travelling, but she made several good points, and I'm glad we have these pieces already.

I currently have soft side and am asking Santa for the Briggs & Riley hard side. This past weekend went went shopping and looked at all the features and found the weight to be a non-factor. Can't wait to try it out! (assuming Santa thinks I've been good enough).

I have an old soft side on wheels that I picked up at Ross about 10 years ago. It has held up great on multiple international trips.

Luggage weight is the driver for our decision making. To us, hard-sided luggage is unyielding. Two years back we picked up a couple Briggs & Riley soft-sided luggage. It is lighter than similarly sized luggage offered by other popular manufacturers.

On our first trip, Lufthansa's baggage handlers demolished not only a piece of luggage but also hubby's scooter. We shipped the luggage back to see if it could be fixed. When the answer was no, the luggage was replaced, no questions asked. We now have four pieces from the same collection and have been happy with all of them used on a number of international adventures.

I'll be able to do a luggage critique after the beginning of next year. lol We just purchased some soft sided spinner, and hard sided spinner. The soft sided is going to make a trip to NY in the Spring with my son before our family cruise, if it is still in tact. I got hard sided, but I believe it is lightweight. I'm waiting for it's arrival. I used my son's hard sided on my cruise and it held up so well and was so roomy! I wanted some of my very own!

Hardsided with wheels. Anymore, there is little difference in weight between hard and soft sided without going to any extremes.