HELP! What to Wear QE2 World Cruise 2006

[statesidecruiser]

:) When I look at online photo albums of scenes from QE2 world cruises, I see men and women wearing jeans, dockers, sweatshirts, etc. I do not see any photos taken at dinner showing passengers in formal attire or at any other meal in the Princess Grill or Queen's Grill. Are there photos online that I can view to get an idea of what clothing to purchase? Or can someone give me some specific suggestions? I plan to make my final purchases for the world cruise next week.

 

Also, what about weather? Has anyone been on a world cruise who would be willing to share some pointers as to weather in the South Pacific in January and February both as to clothing recommended on board and for port excursions? Thank you for your help. Barbara

[Louise D]

Hi Barbara,

 

You seem most interested in the stretch from Los Angeles through to Australia. I did that portion this year and I am doing it again in Jan/Feb. This year we went to Tahiti, but 2006 we will be going to Samoa, Fiji and Noumea. From Honolulu through to New Zealand you will find it is likely to be quite hot. Tahiti was extremely hot this year, (with much tropical rain) and I am sure Samoa, Fiji and Noumea will be the same. I have been to Samoa and Fiji before, and they are hot places, but you do have a nice sea breeze. New Zealand is usually mild, although it is also their summer. In Sydney this year it was very hot the first two days when QE2 visited, but by the last day it had turned cooler. It might be hot again, mild or cold, because the weather is unpredictable. It is the same for Melbourne and Adelaide. This year it was cold in Melbourne for the QE2 visit, but the year before Melbourne was actually the hottest ports of all those visited by QE2 (even hotter than the Middle East). Perth is usually hot all Summer.

 

I would say you need plenty of clothes for hot weather. As for jeans, not many women wear them, but some of the men do. I think that nice pants are a better choice, and also skirts. Some women do wear shorts, although it is mainly on deck and not really in the restaurants. In the Queens Grill, everyone dresses well, and the shorts and jeans are not really on display there, even at breakfast or lunch. At dinner in the Queens Grill, on the formal nights it is quite dressy and formal, on the informal it is more like cocktail dresses and on casual nights it would be nice skirts and tops, or dresses for ladies. You have to remember that most of the passengers on board for the World Cruise are quite old, and therefore they tend to have been brought up in an era where dress was more important than it is today. At the same time, I think that on the time I have been doing the World Cruise, standards of dress have dropped a little. However, it might just be that I saw some really older people on board this year and maybe the dressing up gets a little difficult when you are in your 80s and 90s.

 

Anyway, good luck with the shopping, and hope to see you on board.

[CREPIDULA]

Hi Barbara,

 

Lousie D has given you good advice. I did a full WC in 2002 and the only place it was really cold was Japan where it snowed and I had to dig out my winter jacket. We went around Africa that year and parts of that voyage were cool, but mostly I remember the heat and humidity of the tropics and equatorial ports. Although i'm a senior, I wore shorts to breakfast and lunch in Caronia and had friends in Queens Grill that wore fancy jogging suits most days to these meals. At dinner it is invariably dressy. Think I only saw jeans once on the whole voyage. I wore shorts on tours too unless they were contraindicated by the destination- eg a church.

 

Oh and a woman who came from the outdoor pool to the Lido wearing a sarong type wrap over her bathing suit was ushered out and her food was tranferred to styrofoam and sent out with her.

 

Enjoy!