Drowning in clothes- packing question

[klb1978]

ok so I’m the first to admit I over pack for every trip I take :D Trying to get our clothes together for the main dining room and I’m really struggling. We very much enjoy dressing up each night and plan to do so this cruise as well. Of course this cruise we’ve added a child into the mix. Curious for those that dress up nightly do you take one outfit per dinner or do you rewear an outfit or two? We have always done one per night and I have rear but gosh that’s a lot of clothes for three people/ seven nights. We drive to port so airline fees aren’t a problem/ consideration

[GTO-Girl]

ok so I’m the first to admit I over pack for every trip I take :D Trying to get our clothes together for the main dining room and I’m really struggling. We very much enjoy dressing up each night and plan to do so this cruise as well. Of course this cruise we’ve added a child into the mix. Curious for those that dress up nightly do you take one outfit per dinner or do you rewear an outfit or two? We have always done one per night and I have rear but gosh that’s a lot of clothes for three people/ seven nights. We drive to port so airline fees aren’t a problem/ consideration

 

I always mix and match what I wear to dinner. I only take two pairs of slacks and tops to match. Some of the tops I wear to dinner I will wear another day with a pair of shorts.

 

On formal nights my tops will have a little sparkle to it, but that’s the extent I dress up.

[Merion_Mom]

I always "re-wear" my clothes.

[Skippy]

I took 3 dresses. It was enough.

[AAA75]

We are scheduled to go on a cruise in a few weeks the 29th to be exact. I plan to get everything together then drop 1/3 of it. As some clothes you can re-wear. The only person who will know you rewore them are you and photographer if they happen to catch you. As a guy I had brought different ties and two different jackets and three shirts for the entire time.

[cocod08]

I am also a serial over packer but taking my first Transatlantic helped s big on my last cruise as I could only have one checked bag weighing in at 44lbs. I used a neutral color palette so all my tops and bottoms were interchangeable. And I brought 1 fancy dress for formal night. Laid everything out that I was possibly going to bring and how thing would match and what I could wear more than once and then I pared down from there. I also brought Downy Wrinkle Release it works great for the wrinkles but also freshens your clothes.

 

 

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[Namelocg]

I always bring a small spray bottle of Febreeze and one of Downy wrinkle releaser. That makes it very easy to wear things more than once.

[cb at sea]

The dining room is nowhere near as "dressy" as you are imagining....the "formal" nights have pretty much gone by the wayside....just look "neat" and you'll be fine!

[ma23peas]

Two highly packable dresses (folds down tightly) one skirt and three tops. The rest is workout clothes or swim.

[klb1978]

The dining room is nowhere near as "dressy" as you are imagining....the "formal" nights have pretty much gone by the wayside....just look "neat" and you'll be fine!

 

I do realize things have changed over the years. Like I say, dressing up is something we enjoy doing at dinner when cruising. I know there will be people there in all different types of attire and I’m fine with that. Call me old fashioned I guess :D My son is five years old and is very excited for dinner in the fancy restaurant

[klb1978]

So smart to do skirts and interchangeable tops. We leave a week from tomorrow and I don’t have time for a new wardrobe so dresses it is. I’m going to look over everything tomorrow and see how I can reuse shirts for my husband at least.

[John&LaLa]

I'll wear the shirts from casual nights during a subsequent day, but never wear the same shirt to dinner on a 7 day trip.

 

Longer trips require some creativity

 

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[maryjaden]

I too enjoy dressing for dinner. I will take along a couple of basic black dresses or skirts and interchange them with different jackets/scarves/accessories.

[PhoenixCruiser]

We have a different outfit every night and every day - but we have a lot of suitcases.

[ONECRUISER]

I'll wear the shirts from casual nights during a subsequent day, but never wear the same shirt to dinner on a 7 day trip.

 

Longer trips require some creativity

 

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Same here. Back when Main Dinning required dress was Formal or Semi ever night I brought 4 pants and 2 suits for the 7nites. Now even though I use the Laundry bag to do my tshirts/sox/underwear I still bring enough for everyday anyway. Would hate to run out for any reason and I'm not going to hand wash those in a sink... Even when was in the Army Initial Issue Uniform's was 4, I always had 16-18 and always pressed. Liked to look sharp...

Edited September 16, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[cruiselvr04]

I take a dress for each evening but they are relative thin and don’t take up a huge amount of room. The DH will bring 3 dress pants and a shirt for every night.

 

Where we cut back are day time clothes when in the Caribbean. We wear swimsuits everyday so only take 3 days worth of short, tops. Those I mix and match. In Europe that doesn’t work as well.

 

We have a 14 night coming up. I have plenty of dresses to make it through but that will be a lot to pack so may have to rethink that a bit. While I would not want to drag a lot of suitcases from place to place in Europe it’s a bit different on a ship since you unpack once.

[Desert Cruizers]

I can take a pair of ladies slacks and get 3 different wardrobes by switching blouses. I take roughly 5 slacks and over a 2 weeks cruise by mix & matching tops carry me through the cruise. I will wear a black pair of slacks for Formal nights and have 2/3 different sparkly tops. I pack for 7 days and repeat during a 2 weeks cruise.

[GUT2407]

ok so I’m the first to admit I over pack for every trip I take :D Trying to get our clothes together for the main dining room and I’m really struggling. We very much enjoy dressing up each night and plan to do so this cruise as well. Of course this cruise we’ve added a child into the mix. Curious for those that dress up nightly do you take one outfit per dinner or do you rewear an outfit or two? We have always done one per night and I have rear but gosh that’s a lot of clothes for three people/ seven nights. We drive to port so airline fees aren’t a problem/ consideration

I only pack clothes that can serve multiple purposes.

 

And that can layer.

[lbjen]

So we take two large suitcases total for our family of 4. Everyone wears a clean outfit for dinner each day. With careful packing it can be done. If you are driving to port then who cares how many cases you bring!

[vacationlover_mn]

I head into packing with the idea that I’ll only pack 3 or 4 dresses, but always seem to pack 7-8 ;)

 

 

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[young_ens]

ok so I’m the first to admit I over pack for every trip I take :D Trying to get our clothes together for the main dining room and I’m really struggling. We very much enjoy dressing up each night and plan to do so this cruise as well. Of course this cruise we’ve added a child into the mix. Curious for those that dress up nightly do you take one outfit per dinner or do you rewear an outfit or two? We have always done one per night and I have rear but gosh that’s a lot of clothes for three people/ seven nights. We drive to port so airline fees aren’t a problem/ consideration

 

I'm sure if I had the option of driving rather than flying, answer would be different.

 

I have black and beige pants and bring polos and shirts that match. I'll fly down wearing one of those pairs and my thickest polo (space saving). DW brings a couple dresses, skirts, matching shirts. Some of our stuff matches well with shorts.

 

We manage to survive with a large suitcase and 4 carry one for us and 2 kids and at the end there are some things that weren't worn on the cruise!

I always wonder what some of the retirees pack when I see select few who give porters 4 large suitcases. A lot for 2 people!

[BND]

Even though we usually either drive to Baltimore or take the Auto Train to FL which means we can take as much as can fit in our SUV, I still try not to overpack because it's just stuff I have to bring back home. I usually bring 4-5 dresses and for the rest of the evenings I bring a couple of pairs of capris and several tops that go with them. DH and I are going on Anthem in a few weeks and we'll be taking Amtrak Acela which means we have to haul our own luggage and can't take 30" bags. We'll probably end up with 3-28" ones and possibly one 22" which we've done before on the train. This will be our first cool weather cruise (NE and Canada) so packing is different. Jeans/slacks instead of shorts, no swim shoes, but heavier duty closed toed shoes, so I'm trying to plan. But, compared to some people, I still am overpacking lol. To be fair, we are doing the 9 night cruise followed by 6 days in NYC so I have to pack for both.

[young_ens]

. This will be our first cool weather cruise (NE and Canada) so packing is different. Jeans/slacks instead of shorts, no swim shoes, but heavier duty closed toed shoes, so I'm trying to plan.

 

I see you're coming up in my home area. Taking advantage of the fall colors! Beautiful time of the year.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

[BND]

I see you're coming up in my home area. Taking advantage of the fall colors! Beautiful time of the year.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

 

No PM on here.

 

We booked Oct because of fall colors. I'm just not used to packing for a cruise in cooler weather and I know it can be warm or cold this time of year. We'll be checking the weather forecast a few days before to help with packing.

[SargassoPirate]

Wear a day, air a day.