Smart Packing For Your Cruise

The law of packing suggests that before leaving home, you should put aside half your luggage and take double the amount of money you were planning to. Good advice for the brave, but a cruise is not an occasion on which to travel light.

Plan it

Careful planning is in order to fit in enough outfits for every eventuality! You can compromise, though. Nobody will notice if ladies wear the same formal dress twice and you can always accessorise a decent black cocktail dress with different jewellery, bag, shoes and wrap to create two formal looks. Some people wear long on cruises but short is just as acceptable unless you’re on the most traditional of world cruises.

Mix and match

‘Smart casual’ or ‘informal’ nights mean cocktail dresses, too, or a pair of tailored evening trousers. ‘Casual’ or ‘resort wear’ is easy: a good pair of white or black trousers and assorted silk coloured tops and floaty blouses go a long way for these evenings! For men, smart trousers and polo shirts are ideal. Jeans are not normally welcomed in the evenings and nor are shorts, tank tops, football shirts or any kind of beach wear.

Dress code on cruises

Men should pack either a dinner jacket or a dark suit for the formal nights and a jacket and tie for the smart casual evenings, but do check with the cruise line about the dress code – there’s nothing worse than dragging along a tuxedo only to find that the formal night has become casual for the Mediterranean summer programme. If you forget anything, big ships have an evening dress rental service, but you shouldn’t really rely on this. All ships also have boutiques, selling a ubiquitous style (for ladies) of sparkly eveningwear.

Wrap up

Bear a few other points in mind. Cruise ships tend to be fiercely air-conditioned, so take a wrap or pashmina for the evenings indoors. Wear high heels by all means but remember you may be walking long distances in them on a big ship, and on a moving vessel!

Hold onto your hat!

Pack comfortable shoes for sightseeing and rubber-soled shoes like deck shoes for mooching around on board. If you’re going to wear a hat, remember it will be windy on deck, so take one that won’t blow away. Take something suitable to slip on over your swimming costume so you can move easily from the poolside to the lunch buffet without having to trek back to your cabin.

Cover up

Remember when you go ashore that churches and temples may enforce a dress code, so opt for long shorts or cut-offs, loose skirts and tops with sleeves. In Muslim countries, women will need to cover shoulders, legs and heads to enter mosques and men will need to dress respectfully.

Stay comfortable

The best clothes for sightseeing in are loose, simple and stylish. Huge logos will scream ‘I’m a tourist’. T-shirts with humorous statements on them may cause offence in some countries and ostentatious jewellery may attract unwelcome attention. Comfort is of the essence!

Don't forget

Clothing aside, things to remember include camera and spare memory cards (although the ship’s photo-studio will usually burn CDs for you when your cards are full); electrical adaptors; prescription medicine; sunglasses; seasickness pills (just in case); cell phone for calling home (much cheaper than the ship’s phone); and binoculars.

Protect

Take extra strong sun-block, as the breeze on board is deceptively cooling and it’s easy to get burnt, and for ladies, a good conditioner, as the salty air plays havoc with your hair! Also bear in mind when planning your look for the gala evening that cruise line hairdryers are normally feeble; you may want to book an appointment at the ship’s hairdresser instead.

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