How to Pack For a Cruise // It’s All About the Shoes
Packing for a cruise can be stressful because you are trying to cover all possible weather, an extremely wide variety of activities, and throw in a formal night… It’s hard!
The great thing about cruising is that there is no limit to your luggage. However, whatever luggage you pack still must leave your home, be transferred to your transportation, possibly then through an airport, a shuttle, and to the cruise port.
On return; you still have to pick up your luggage at customs and re-navigate your entire original route. The lighter and smaller your bag; the less stress, the less tiresome, and the less work for you. Not being burdened by heavy bags of clothing that did not fit in your – hopefully rolling – suitcase is so much easier.
Limit to Three Pairs of Shoes
I have found that one of the easiest ways to pack for a cruise is to first determine three pairs of shoes that can be worn for everything. That’s it! That’s the big secret!
Select one pair of dressy elegant heels for evening that can be worn with pants or skirts or dresses. A color like silver will go with nearly everything.
Then choose one pair of comfortable sandals for daytime. I love to take a pair of sandals – they take up so little room. I wear them everywhere, all day, every day.
Wear the Bulkiest Pair of Shoes While You Travel
Also, you might want to wear a pair of trainers for workouts and long walking days. You can wear them to the gym, for walks around deck, off the ship – anywhere you feet might be chilly or need support and traction.
Wearing your largest shoes, you joggers, saves room in your luggage, and ensures that you are permitted on any escalators. Sometimes people with sandals are not allowed on escalators and must divert to stairs or an elevator.
Color Scheme
You might laugh about this, but choosing a color scheme based on the shoes makes everything so much easier. Once that is set; it’s all easier now.
One of my favorite color schemes is blue and white. I bring a couple pairs of white shorts, then make sure every single daytime t-shirt or blouse coordinates with them. I choose a variety of patterned and solid tops.
Then I add in a pair of white capris, culottes, or pants. Everything I pack still coordinates with those. Toss in a white skirt, and a blue jacket and a blue sweater, and then you have five to ten more outfits!
Evening Wear
If you have five outfits for five evenings, and each one requires a different pair of shoes; those five pairs of shoes alone can take up an incredible amount of space in your rolling bag.
Five outfits that all coordinate with either silver, gold, black, or your other chosen color makes evenings so much easier.
This all-black dress was perfect for formal night. A couple nights later, I dressed it down with this thin silver shirt. A couple very thin shirts can be tossed over anything else to double your number of outfits.
Daytime Sandals or Shoes
Once you pick the shoes, then you know what outfits coordinate with them. If you are cruising to Southern areas, a pair of sandals will suffice. Alaska cruise? Comfortable closed-toe shoes will suit.
If there is any way to choose sandals that you can wear around the pool, in the sauna and steam room, and all around the ship – that saves space. The great thing about sandals is they take up so little room, you could even take two pairs and not use up much room at all.
Sandals with a back strap are more versatile, as you can wear them with shorts and blouses, short skirts, long skirts, and so much more. You can get away with wearing just a slightly more substantial sandal in so many more situations. Flip-flop type sandals simply cannot make as many transitions and cover as many venues as ones with back straps.
Trainers, Runners, Joggers, Sneakers
Whatever you call them, if you love coordinating your outfits, choose a pair that will coordinate with not only your gym wear, but also your daytime look.
Clothing
Plan to wear anything and everything twice. Shorts can easily be worn twice, with different tops. The most lightweight tops can easily be washed and dried for wear later in the week.
You can coordinate evening skirts or long pants also on multiple nights with different tops and jewelry. A patterned dress can be worn alone one night, then with a top over it like a skirt outfit another night. Double duty!
We women are fortunate, since our pretty evening clothing folds into very small packets. We can use a black slinky dress as the base, and pair it with several different sparkling accessory tops over it for a different look each evening.
Plan in Advance
Make your list well in advance, do a test packing of your clothing to make sure it is a reasonable amount to fit in your bag, and that it’s not too heavy for you to lift on and off a shuttle to the cruise port.
Sunscreen and Reef-Safe Toilitries
Also, don’t forget to bring a small backpack or bag for carrying a few items to the pool with you. A dry bag gives you even more flexibility and security.
My Stream2Sea dry bag was the perfect size for all my sunscreen, bathing suit or foundation garments, sunglasses case, a book, and a few other items for excursions to the pool or gym. My discount code “KimW” gets you 10% off everything. Stream2Sea have reef-safe sunscreen, leave-in conditioner, lip balm, shampoo, body wash, and even mask defog!
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