Packing light for cruise

[neverbeenhere]

2 hours ago, Heymarco said:

That’s too funny! And why do Americans always travel in track suits? I never understood that.

most Americans don’t travel in track suits, but we do have many Olympic hopefuls trying to make the team. 

[Travelling2Some]

12 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I suspect you are right but hope you are wrong.  I enjoy formal nights. It's only two evenings out of an entire week.  I don't see why some people think it is such a burden but I respect everyone's right to do as they please.

 

 It's a fun experience for us and we enjoy the people watching.

I miss dressing up as I did enjoy it but now that we are retired out trips usually last well over a month and have land portions attached to either end.  The burden is not the dressing up but the impracticality of dragging around of dresses, suits and shoes that would only be used for two nights out of 50.  If it just a cruise it would be one thing, but taking lots of luggage onto trains and multiple short flights is a nuisance.  We only bring carry on luggage no matter how long we are away.  Unfortunately the ballgown was the first casualty! 

[Travelling2Some]

5 hours ago, Heymarco said:

That’s too funny! And why do Americans always travel in track suits? I never understood that.

I thought you had to be Eastern European to wear track suits these days. 

[kwokpot]

11 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

most Americans don’t travel in track suits, but we do have many Olympic hopefuls trying to make the team. 

I think the observation that Americans travel wearing track suits is less about the narrow definition of a matching top and bottom and more about wearing sweats and hoodies and the general trend of athleisure wear, fitness inspired clothing, that is not only permeating American Culture but with the help of social media and global fast fashion clothing chains influencing what people wear worldwide.

 

[neverbeenhere]

Nope, it's about Americans wearing track suits. 😃

[shipgeeks]

23 hours ago, mek said:

I've been wondering which direction attire will go when cruising resumes.  Will people who have been cooped up with nowhere to go for over a year decide it's time to up the ante and dress to the nines or will those who have been living in sweats be reluctant to give up casual?

Personally, I think there will be a stronger trend towards casual than there was in the past, but I could be totally wrong.

Either way, it will be fun when things get back to normal and we can have some clothing debates again.

My prediction is that we will dress up more, after more than a year in pajamas and sweats.

[lovemylab]

23 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I suspect you are right but hope you are wrong.  I enjoy formal nights. It's only two evenings out of an entire week.  I don't see why some people think it is such a burden but I respect everyone's right to do as they please.

 

 It's a fun experience for us and we enjoy the people watching.

 

As another poster mentioned, the burden isn't dressing up on formal night.  It's the impracticality of taking along formal wear when the cruise is longer or is being combined with a land trip.

 

The majority of our cruises are longer than 7 days and always include a land vacation.  We use public transportation (esp in Europe) so keeping the luggage to an amount we can reasonably handle on our own is important.  That often means suits, dress shoes, formal gown and heels stay home.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens though.  Right now I'd gladly drag all that stuff along if I could get on a ship!

Edited January 17, 2021 by lovemylab

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, lovemylab said:

 

As another poster mentioned, the burden isn't dressing up on formal night.  It's the impracticality of taking along formal wear when the cruise is longer or is being combined with a land trip.

 

The majority of our cruises are longer than 7 days and always include a land vacation.  We use public transportation (esp in Europe) so keeping the luggage to an amount we can reasonably handle on our own is important.  That often means suits, dress shoes, formal gown and heels stay home.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens though.  Right now I'd gladly drag all that stuff along if I could get on a ship!

Not to mention Luggage fees from the airlines. Why should I pay an extra $500/couple so I get the privilege of wearing a suit on a cruiseship when it's not mandatory?
 

[Travelling2Some]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Not to mention Luggage fees from the airlines. Why should I pay an extra $500/couple so I get the privilege of wearing a suit on a cruiseship when it's not mandatory?
 

That's very true also.  Participation in formal nights has declined steadily ever since airlines started charging for luggage.  Of course I could get around that by wearing the ballgown on the plane (instead of a track suit) but the beading would probably set off the metal detectors, lol. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Travelling2Some
typo

[ReneeFLL]

8 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

My prediction is that we will dress up more, after more than a year in pajamas and sweats.

I hope you're right. American dress has gone down hill imo. Even on long TP and stay a week before and a week after in the countries we still bring formal wear. On a cruise with 3 formal nights I will at least bring 2 gowns and maybe 3. They really don't take up that much space or weight especially if it's not a beaded gown. As for the luggage costs people talk about I have never heard of a bag costing $250.00. Maybe I don't fly those airlines.

 

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Not to mention Luggage fees from the airlines. Why should I pay an extra $500/couple so I get the privilege of wearing a suit on a cruiseship when it's not mandatory?
 

What airline and how big of a bag? You also wouldn't need 2 extra bags just for formal wear. Just saying.

 

Edited January 18, 2021 by ReneeFLL

[yogimax]

I think folks will continue the trend of more casual dress.  After all, it has been the trend.  In addition are you really going to wear a tuxedo when you have to wear a mask?

 

Worst image of all... the masked overweight speedo guy.

[Tree_skier]

9 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Why should I pay an extra $500/couple so I get the privilege of wearing a suit on a cruiseship when it's not mandatory?

$500! How many suits are you bringing!

[ReneeFLL]

10 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

$500! How many suits are you bringing!

Exactly, I think it’s like when I caught a 6” fish it suddenly became 6’. 🤣 It’s an excuse.

Edited January 18, 2021 by ReneeFLL

[orville99]

On 1/15/2021 at 9:49 AM, Iplayslots said:

With the hopes that my OPTIMISTIC  views that our Aug 22nd Oasis cruise is still on, I will ask my questions. 
 

Last time we sailed over 20 years ago. Formal night was FORMAL. since times have changed. im not going to bring a Tux or dark suite. However, I remember the ship was very cool at night time. If I bring dress pants, collar shirt and a sports coat. Would i feel out of place? Or should i shlep my heavy wool suit also?

Coming out of NYC, you can expect a day or two of cool weather in the north Atlantic (even in August), so I'd suggest bringing a light windbreaker or sport coat if you want to be out on deck in the evenings - and that gives you a sport coat for "formal" nights if you decide to dress up.. We saw very few people dressed up on the last August cruise we took (Total Eclipse on Oasis), and once you get far enough south, the weather will get very warm to hot. You will probably only need a couple of pairs of khaki's and a few polo shirts for dinner, and I suppose a tie (although they are also becoming a rare sight on cruises). I always pack a pair of convertible pants for summer cruises. They work as wind pants in the evenings, and convert to shorts when it gets hot out.

 

[kwokpot]

16 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

What airline and how big of a bag? You also wouldn't need 2 extra bags just for formal wear. Just saying.

 

I may have been exaggerating. Having said that on longer cruises I've seen many, many people with either 3 pieces of checked luggage and/or oversized bags which would incur an additional fees. For the record I travel with 2 pieces of luggage, a backpack that goes underseat and a bag that goes overhead, so no checked baggage. I have traveled as long as 4 weeks with that arrangement.

[CraigG]

My wife and I go the opposite route. With an airline loyalty credit card, we can each pack up to 50lbs in our free checked bags. I can literally get inside one of these bags and close the hatch. I think my wife needs somewhere around 20 lbs of shoes so we need the space. We bring no carry on.   

[George C]

We fly first since extra bags are not a issue, but I ditched my tux recently still seem to take same amount of luggage.

[Travelling2Some]

Everyone has different travel habits for sure.  We do carry-on only because we use a lot of trains and short flights both after and before the cruise.  Anybody who's ever seen tourists in Venice with too much luggage or people trying to board Ryanair with too much luggage will know what I mean.  One of the joys of cruising out of your home port, on the other hand, is bringing everything but the kitchen sink.

[loman]

We bring a medium size suitcase each . They usually weigh 30 - 35 lbs each .

I check them both in for an extra charge so we aren't dragging any baggage around .

I always brought a sports jacket but no more .

My last couple of cruises were on the Allure and about half the gents didn't wear a jacket .

Seems to me it's going the casual route more and more .

You won't be stopped from entering the dining room on formal night . The gate keeper will allow 

Anybody in regardless of how you are dressed .

 

 

 

 

 

[ReneeFLL]

On 1/17/2021 at 2:31 PM, kwokpot said:

Not to mention Luggage fees from the airlines. Why should I pay an extra $500/couple so I get the privilege of wearing a suit on a cruiseship when it's not mandatory?
 

 

12 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I may have been exaggerating. Having said that on longer cruises I've seen many, many people with either 3 pieces of checked luggage and/or oversized bags which would incur an additional fees. For the record I travel with 2 pieces of luggage, a backpack that goes underseat and a bag that goes overhead, so no checked baggage. I have traveled as long as 4 weeks with that arrangement.

So what you’re saying is that your comment about the cost of luggage fees is totally bogus? That’s more than exaggerating. 🙄

[Ashland]

13 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I may have been exaggerating. Having said that on longer cruises I've seen many, many people with either 3 pieces of checked luggage and/or oversized bags which would incur an additional fees. For the record I travel with 2 pieces of luggage, a backpack that goes underseat and a bag that goes overhead, so no checked baggage. I have traveled as long as 4 weeks with that arrangement.

We were probably those "people" ..... we fly first/business ... and check our luggage.

We prefer to not drag luggage down the aisle or try to cram everything into the overhead.

Kudos to those of you that can travel light..it'll never be me 

[alfaeric]

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I may have been exaggerating. Having said that on longer cruises I've seen many, many people with either 3 pieces of checked luggage and/or oversized bags which would incur an additional fees. For the record I travel with 2 pieces of luggage, a backpack that goes underseat and a bag that goes overhead, so no checked baggage. I have traveled as long as 4 weeks with that arrangement.

You can still fit a suit or long dress in that arrangement.  We've done that style of travel for over 20 years, like you for long trips, too.  Fitting formal clothing in that is pretty darned easy.  Not sure why people think it's so hard.

[alfaeric]

6 hours ago, Ashland said:

We were probably those "people" ..... we fly first/business ... and check our luggage.

We prefer to not drag luggage down the aisle or try to cram everything into the overhead.

Kudos to those of you that can travel light..it'll never be me 

Have your checked bags lost sometime.  Or held up for whatever reason for further checks, so that it misses your original flight.

 

We had our luggage lost for over a week a long time ago, and then also noted how much easier travel is with less stuff.  So it's one overhead bag + one under bag. 

 

For short trips, it's even less- one bag for a weekend cruise.

 

I'm fine being "that guy" filling up the bins so that we can travel w/o worrying about our bags.  And that does include carrying our luggage on and off the ship.

[kelbell]

You be you, you paid for your cruise. You didn't ask everyone on board

to chip in.😉  Judge free life. Like many we do not do formal night in

any fashion, we skip MDR that evening. But I enjoy looking at everyone

all dressed up. I find it charming, just not for us.