Calling all experienced WC and GV cruisers, please help us newbies

[JSR]

I am so excited to have made final payment for our first GV. We are on the Nova to South America January, 2024. 71 days Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale, circumnavigation of South America. This is our first cruise longer then 14 days.

 

I am hoping some of you veteran GV and WC cruisers were share your knowledge with us newbies. I hope those of you that are new to long cruises jump in with questions. I hope this will be a fun, informative, and kind thread. The answers will hopefully be helpful to those going on other long adventures as well as those of us going to SA.

 

Here are some questions to get us started (well a lot of questions). As far as clothing questions assume, one is following the main dining room dress code, each of us can adjust for the number of nights we plan to skip dinner in these venues for whatever reason.

 

  1.How many formal nights do you estimate on a 71 day cruise?

  2.How many formal outfits do you bring?

  3.How many outfits do you bring for dinner (non formal)?

  4.How many day outfits?

  5.How many pairs of shoes and describe the type (dress, boots, sandals)?

  6.What most have clothes do you bring that we may not think of?

  7.How do you handle washing cold water/hang to dry clothing (esp in a humid climate)?

 8. How do you organize the packing between what you bring verses what you ship with luggage service? Do you cross pack with your travel companion if you have one?   9. Do you put all your toiletries, OTC drugs, etc in one case?

 10. Any recommendations for over the counter drugs to bring with you?

 11. What size and what types of toiletries do you bring?

 12. Which hair tools do you bring?

13.  Are there make up mirrors available or do you bring one?

 14. What do you do to prepare at home for your absence? 

 15. What non clothes items do you bring that you find helpful?

  16.What have you learned from previous trips that you would like to share?

 17. Advice welcome! 

18. Questions welcome!

Thanks so much

Jean (and Nick)

[mysty]

3 hours ago, JSR said:

I am so excited to have made final payment for our first GV. We are on the Nova to South America January, 2024. 71 days Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale, circumnavigation of South America. This is our first cruise longer then 14 days.

 

I am hoping some of you veteran GV and WC cruisers were share your knowledge with us newbies. I hope those of you that are new to long cruises jump in with questions. I hope this will be a fun, informative, and kind thread. The answers will hopefully be helpful to those going on other long adventures as well as those of us going to SA.

 

Here are some questions to get us started (well a lot of questions). As far as clothing questions assume, one is following the main dining room dress code, each of us can adjust for the number of nights we plan to skip dinner in these venues for whatever reason.

 

  1.How many formal nights do you estimate on a 71 day cruise?

  2.How many formal outfits do you bring?

  3.How many outfits do you bring for dinner (non formal)?

  4.How many day outfits?

  5.How many pairs of shoes and describe the type (dress, boots, sandals)?

  6.What most have clothes do you bring that we may not think of?

  7.How do you handle washing cold water/hang to dry clothing (esp in a humid climate)?

 8. How do you organize the packing between what you bring verses what you ship with luggage service? Do you cross pack with your travel companion if you have one?   9. Do you put all your toiletries, OTC drugs, etc in one case?

 10. Any recommendations for over the counter drugs to bring with you?

 11. What size and what types of toiletries do you bring?

 12. Which hair tools do you bring?

13.  Are there make up mirrors available or do you bring one?

 14. What do you do to prepare at home for your absence? 

 15. What non clothes items do you bring that you find helpful?

  16.What have you learned from previous trips that you would like to share?

 17. Advice welcome! 

18. Questions welcome!

Thanks so much

Jean (and Nick)

 

Your Grand Voyage is made up of 6 cruises....

Fort Lauderdale to Lima - 12 days

Lima to Valparaiso - 8 days

Valparaiso to Buenos Aires - 12 days

Buenos Aries to Rio De Janeiro - 9 days

Rio de Janeiro to Bridgetown - 20 days

Bridgetown to Fort Lauderdale - 10 days
 

According to the estimates provided by Silversea on their website:

8 days - 1 Formal, 4 Informal, 3 Casual

9 days - 1 Formal, 5 Informal, 3 Casual

10 days - 2 Formal, 5 Informal, 3 Casual

12 days - 2 Formal, 6 Informal, 4 Casual

20 days - 3 Formal, 11 Informal, 6 Casual

Using this guide it would be 11 formal, 31 Informal and 23 Casual.  Subject to change.  You will notice that the counts add to 65 and not 71.  That is because the 6 cruises overlap by a day.  The end of one segment is counted as the 1st day of the next segment and departure day will not include a dinner.

Edited July 6, 2023 by mysty

[JSR]

@mysty Thank you. It is a wonderful way to look at things as far as how many formal dresses. Maybe 3? Since that is the max we need for one leg. What do you think?

[mysty]

10 minutes ago, JSR said:

@mysty Thank you. It is a wonderful way to look at things as far as how many formal dresses. Maybe 3? Since that is the max we need for one leg. What do you think?

 

It will depend on how many formal nights you are interested in enjoying for each segment.   For us, the maximum number per segment is usually 1 since Myster is not a fan of Formal nights.  I usually pack a long sleeveless dress with a couple of options for something to go over (dressy jacket, dressy blouse) and a pair of very dressy pants with options for dressy tops.  Mixing and matching provides options without stressing the luggage room.

[canderson]

Also new to SS with our first voyage with them this Fall.  Looking into one of these extended voyages as well, and in my review of even the newer (except for Nova) ships, see no reference of onboard dry cleaning service at all, only laundry.  Am I missing something?  That could certainly impact how we would need to pack on a more formal line like SS. 

[mysty]

13 minutes ago, canderson said:

Also new to SS with our first voyage with them this Fall.  Looking into one of these extended voyages as well, and in my review of even the newer (except for Nova) ships, see no reference of onboard dry cleaning service at all, only laundry.  Am I missing something?  That could certainly impact how we would need to pack on a more formal line like SS. 

 

From the FAQ on Silversea web site....

 

Is there laundry service on board?

Complete valet services, including laundry, pressing and wet cleaning, are available at an additional charge and may be arranged through your butler. Laundry service is complimentary for certain suite categories and for those Venetian Society members who have reached certain reward levels. A self-service launderette offers washing machines, dryers, irons and laundry supplies, allowing you to limit the amount of cruise luggage needed, especially for longer voyages.

 

Silversea does not use dry cleaning because of the chemicals.  They use "wet cleaning".  From Wikipedia....

 

Wet cleaning refers to methods of professional cleaning that, in contrast to traditional dry cleaning, avoids the use of chemical solvents, the most common of which is tetrachloroethylene (commonly called perchloroethylene or "perc"). Environmental groups and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have indicated that such alternative "wet cleaning" methods are better for the environment than perc, and proponents of wet cleaning state that these methods can be used without shrinking or otherwise damaging garments that typically require dry cleaning. 

[canderson]

Interesting.  Hadn't noted the meaning of that expression.  First time I've run across it.  As to chemicals, our local outfit says

 

"Our dry cleaning  solution is also NON-TOXIC and environmentally friendly so you are safe from harsh chemicals and bad odors."

 

I wonder if that's "wet cleaning" or ???

 

That certainly relieves the packing burden.  I wonder what they have been doing for us on Celebrity all these years when we send the butler off with a load of "dry cleaning"?  Seems to have been working acceptably.