What to Pack for a Cruise

by Lise - An avid cruiser

Not sure what to pack for a cruise? And how much formal cruise wear you might possibly need? Well I'm here to help you narrow it down.

Are you packing too much? Not enough? How many pieces of cruise formal wear do you need to bring? Have no fear, your packing list for a Caribbean cruise is here!

Formal attire is probably the most unknown factor you are wondering about. On a 7-day cruise, you will have 2 'formal' nights, 3 on a 10-day and 4 on a 14-day cruise.

Here we are in our 'formal look'!

Now don't go panicking...What does formal cruise wear really mean anyway? I have seen everything under the sun at these formal nights. From long full of glitter attires to short very ordinary dresses; jacket and pants and tuxedos.

Pack for a cruise with outfits that are mix and match to save space. Yes even for your formal nights. All you need, for the ladies, is a 'party' dress or pant suit, and the dress doesn't have to be long at all. And for the men, a dark suit is fine. My husband never owned a tux and never will!

My cruise formal wear, which I have been using over and over, consist of:

a long 'slinky' black skirt
a 'slinky' pair of black pants
no-sleeve tops of any color (2 or 3)
a black or other color pashmina
a very small dressy purse

Be Practical: You don't need to spend your pay cheque on a formal dress either. When my daughter was 18, she needed a more grown up dress. So we went shopping and found her a gorgous one that was about $50.00 US and she still wears it at home for parties.

Click here for your printer friendly Packing List for Caribbean Cruise

The Rules

With post-9/11 airline regulations these have to go in your checked luggage:

nail file/clippers and scissors
tweezers/sewing kit

razor and shaving stuff

Also these rules now apply, according to TSA:

1. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers. Larger containers that are half-full or toothpaste tubes rolled up are not allowed. Each container must be three ounces or smaller.
2. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in a single, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag. Gallon size bags or bags that are not zip-top such as fold-over sandwich bags are not allowed. Each traveler can use only one, quart-size, zip-top, clear plastic bag.
3. Each traveler must remove their quart-sized plastic, zip-top bag from their carry-on and place it in a bin or on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening. X-raying separately will allow TSA security officers to more easily examine the declared items.