How many dresses do you take?

Our next cruise is a 10 day cruise. I have started laying out clothes to put together for colors, outfits, and so on. I have two dresses selected for the formal nights. I wonder how many dresses do you take on a 10 day cruise?

I am taking 6 for a 7 night Caribbean cruise. 2 formal, 2 semi-formal and 2 casual. The 2 semi-formal are because my husband is old school and wants to dress up for dinner most nights.

The casual ones are knit and easy to pack. Could wear for a casual night or on a shore excursion.

i am sure we're overpacking but it fits into a carryon bag each and 1 checked bag for two of us. I leave Sunday.

For a 10 night cruise for dinner I would bring leggings with 3 tunics, skirt with 3 tops, 2 dressy dresses and 2 sundresses.

Personally, I don't rewear (or do laundry) so I bring an outfit/dress for each evening. I'm already bringing a checked bag and it fits so might as well.

I also like dressing up a little more than I have to. I'm bring 2 gowns for elegant night. I'm also bring cocktail dresses or nice dresses for casual nights. It's fun to dress up and it's not like I can wear that stuff at home most of the time.

WOW...nowadays, I don't even bring ONE....I used to, back in my early days, bring sequined, long gowns, heels, even pantyhose. NOW, I can't wear shoes, nevertheless heels, so I just bring a pair of black dress pants, dressier black rubber soled shoes (I found at Easy Spirit), and a fancy top or two. I sometimes find the ships very cold in the dining rooms, and most dressier tops are sleeveless, so I found a couple of long sleeves which have worked well for me. So I just throw up my hair, nice makeup and it works for me.

Thank you, all, for your wonderful replies. You have given me some great ideas! I will take the two nice dresses for formal nights as we don't dress for too many occasions right now. I like the idea of tunics and leggings....and was also thinking of a nice pair of black dress pants with some sparkly tops. I think I will also take a few casual dresses for sea days or shore excursions.

I all most never bring dresses. The past several cruises I have not brought any. I have brought skirts and pants. But, lately I have been thinking of making some knee length knit dresses. I am thinking I can cut down on my packing by bring some dresses. I think a pair of pants and a top may take up more room n my suit case than a knee length dress for non formal nights.

A sewing project to do over the summer.

WOW...nowadays, I don't even bring ONE....I used to, back in my early days, bring sequined, long gowns, heels, even pantyhose. NOW, I can't wear shoes, nevertheless heels, so I just bring a pair of black dress pants, dressier black rubber soled shoes (I found at Easy Spirit), and a fancy top or two. I sometimes find the ships very cold in the dining rooms, and most dressier tops are sleeveless, so I found a couple of long sleeves which have worked well for me. So I just throw up my hair, nice makeup and it works for me.

I thought I was the only one.

Formal went out for us after our first cruise. We no longer attend any formal nights if the line ( Cunard) has them. All the other lines we travel on, thankfully, do not even have anything even close to formal.

Depends on cruise line. On Cunard for 5 dayer I had 5 cocktail dresses. On others I might have 2 for formal/elegant nights, but also dressy pants with a top.

Two dressy cocktail dresses (or long dresses) for two gala nights. Dressy tops for the first and last nights, to wear with the slacks I board/disembark in, and a dress for each of the other nights. I color coordinate as much as possible, to cut down on evening shoes.

WOW...nowadays, I don't even bring ONE....I used to, back in my early days, bring sequined, long gowns, heels, even pantyhose. NOW, I can't wear shoes, nevertheless heels, so I just bring a pair of black dress pants, dressier black rubber soled shoes (I found at Easy Spirit), and a fancy top or two. I sometimes find the ships very cold in the dining rooms, and most dressier tops are sleeveless, so I found a couple of long sleeves which have worked well for me. So I just throw up my hair, nice makeup and it works for me.

I'm so glad I came over on "this" side (My second cruise will be 49 days around S.A. 2019; my first cruise was 10 days Panama Canal Nov 2017). I don't do formal well. Injury to my feet lead to no heels . I'm a Group Fitness Instructor (New Venture after retiring) and my Business Casual is well, Fitness Clothes. I have no sparkly stuff I can wear because I had a 60lb weight loss and didn't replace dressy dresses. I do have some frilly dresses but I'm not bringing dress outfits nor formal items. I'm glad I'm not by myself. I won't do slumming but formal is out of the question.

Ramona

I thought I was the only one.

Formal went out for us after our first cruise. We no longer attend any formal nights if the line ( Cunard) has them. All the other lines we travel on, thankfully, do not even have anything even close to formal.

I think it just depends on the person. I prefer to wear dresses/skirts over anything else in my everyday life. So for my 5 night cruise, I will have 5-6 sundresses (varying lengths) & 1-2 skirts with 3-4 tops that can be worn for either day or evening and one cocktail dress for our elegant night. I am bringing 2 shorts & 1 pair of jeans mainly for just in case.

I love dresses and wear a lot of them at home! We are cruising in Europe this summer and I have already started collecting ;) I have several casual dresses that pair with my Converse sneakers for sightseeing. A few more that will pair with sandals for dinner. And 2 cocktail dresses for “chic” night. I can’t wait!👗

A big part of my wardrobe packing is due to the airline restrictions and what our itinerary is. Normally, we stay in our disembarkation port for a few days, so I might need to pack the dressy pants to go to a nice restaurant or if we are sailing from home in cooler or cold weather, I might need to have to take my "winter" gear, which takes up a lot of space. So, if the winter gear is in, the formal wear is out. So items I may only wear once, don't make it into the suitcase

No longer take any dresses.

I usually take 1 black dress and change it up with scarves and maybe different jewelry.

I usually take 1 black dress and change it up with scarves and maybe different jewelry.

Thank you everyone, again! Lots of ideas here to help me. Love your idea, Bizmark'sMom, about the little black dress! I tried mine on last night and it seemed to have shrunk over the winter! :rolleyes:

Generally speaking, we don't do formal night anymore. We either sail on lines that have done away with it, or we simply go to specialty restaurants instead of the MDR and don't participate in it. We simply treat every night as elegant chic, or smart casual or whatever else you want to call it...think "date night."

Anyway, for a 7 day cruise with perhaps 2 additional nights pre-cruise, I will typically bring a maxi dress and perhaps plan to wear it twice, and perhaps a shorter sundress or other fun casual short dress and again, perhaps plan to wear twice. Then I bring several bottoms to potentially wear 2 or even 3 times each, with a few mix and match tops. I might also bring 1 or 2 additional super casual sundresses for daytime excursions ...I have a few Columbia PFG halter dresses that are great for this. They are super lightweight and take up very little space in the suitcase, pack well, and dry quickly if they get wet.

I bring one per night. For a 7 night cruise I bring 2 gowns for formal nights and 5 cocktail dresses for the rest. Plus a sundress or 2. I don't wear the same clothes twice on a regular work week and won't do it on vacation. Now i may reware a pair of shorts with a different shirt but I pack enough not to have to. Side note: I have never in 8 cruises and 5 Mexican resort vacations gone over the weight on my luggage.

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I'm with Toxicfairy - ten night cruise, ten dresses. MAYBE nine dresses and a cute top to pair with the jeans I would be packing or traveling in anyway. I like dresses and that is what I mostly wear to work. Most of them roll up into almost nothing, I try not to take anything on a cruise that will need ironing, so lots of knits, jersey, etc. For daywear, it's usually shorts/jeans and T's, depending on itinerary. I fit almost everything into a carry-on, my husband takes a full-size so I may need to squeeze a pair of shoes or two into his suitcase lol!

I do dresses on formal nights, but no other evenings, or days....tried the "sundress" thing but the wind on deck makes that a pain! Always holding your dress to keep it from blowing up! Daytime is VERY casual on all lines!

Ha, ha, ha! I definitely can't do a dress, cocktail, casual or formal a night 'cause I'm going to be gone for 49 nights (S.A.). I'm not into accessorizing. I'm thinking of packing for two weeks (clothes, day and night) and find the laundry.

Ramona

I like packing dresses and maxi skirts because the style I wear are more forgiving throughout the cruise with possible weight gain/bloating. I usually plan for 1 or two nights per outfit, 2 if I only wore it a few hours and can accessorize differently later in the week (or different top with skirt).

I try to pack items that can be flexible for day or evening (formal being evening only), but the biggest key is fit and comfort. What is comfortable for me might not be for you though.

Best wishes finding what works for you :)

I'm not doing formal on our upcoming cruise. At home, I mainly wear jeans, but I'll be packing 3 sundresses and 1 skirt (in addition to shorts and jeans). They roll up into almost nothing so there's no reason not to. I'll dress them up a bit with a cardigan and suede ballet flats.

I never or almost never dress up at home, unless I am going to a wedding or an event. When we cruise, I wear a dress everynight. For a 10 night cruise, I would probably bring 12 dresses, I girl has to have choices! :D