Travel and Leisure
Well, the countdown to our European river cruise is officially on... it's getting real! Yesterday, a large package arrived via courier, which I was kinda expecting. In it were two backpacks and a travel document folio. For those of you who have upcoming Emerald cruises, I thought I'd give you a quick review of it, as you may or may not want to plan on another piece of luggage instead. Update: As of the 2023 season, they are no longer sending out these backpacks, and I believe are offering a 50€ per person onboard credit. Clicking any picture below should bring up a gallery view:
My first observation, is that these backpacks are quite large! At 43 x 33 x 16 cms, it is the exact dimensions of most air carriers' "personal item". If you want to maximise your carry on only luggage, then this will be a good piece for you. The second thing I noticed, is that it is a reasonably full-featured backpack. I was expecting a throw-away/thrift store donation, but it has quite a few nifty features.
It has one main compartment, which has a slot for holding your iPad, and then an organiser area for pens and such. There is a slimmer, front compartment, which has an RFID zipped pocket for your passport etc., and an easy access, 2/3 height front document pocket. I found that the front pocket fits my iPad 9, so I used it for faster access than the main compartment. The back padded panel is ventilated, which has a "sleeve" so that you can slip it over the handle of your spinner/wheeled luggage. The front is also lightly padded, so it gives the backpack structure, even when it is not fully loaded.
There's a laptop area that zips open off the left shoulder strap; it looks like it would hold a 17" laptop. A mesh water bottle holder is on each side, and on the left one, there's a D-ring to clip the security zipper to. The final feature that was a surprise, is the integrated rain cover, which zips out of the reinforced bottom area of the backpack.
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| This all fit into the backpack! |
At only 0.78 kgs, it's lighter than my Arc'teryx Blade 24 (1.3 kgs) that I would normally use as my personal item. With a capacity of approximately 23 litres, this backpack can accommodate a significant amount of gear. The shoulder straps aren't padded much, but for the amount of kit you can put in, they are fine. The Emerald water bottle you will get on your cruise fits perfectly in the mesh pocket, and the other mesh pouch could be used for a sunglasses/eyeglasses case. With all of the cool travel features, it is a pretty neat gift.
Update: I had a short 3-day trip recently, and so rather than taking a carry-on spinner, I thought I’d try this backpack. I used a medium packing cube for a pair of shorts, a few extra shirts, boxers and socks; this cube then slid nicely into the main compartment. There was a little bit of room at the top for me to roll up a thin fleece jumper in case it got cold on the plane or at my layover in Toronto. My Dopp kit, ziplock with liquids and noise cancelling headphones fit into the front compartment, and my iPad tucked into the zip pocket. I put a folio with some printed material in the laptop compartment, my eyeglasses case slipped into one mesh pocket, and my Emerald water bottle in the other. I’m impressed!
The other item that arrived with the backpacks, is a travel document folio. It is approx. 30 x 18 x 3 cms, and has various pockets to cram your passports and other travel stuff into. There is a small clear window pocket on the right, for small items and cards etc. The folio is lightly padded as well, which is probably why I won't use it. With a few documents, some extra cash and passports, it becomes a relatively substantial item, and will take up more space than is necessary. I've got another pouch from Avalon that is a simple, flat nylon item, which doesn't add extra bulk.
Now let's get river cruising!
