Cruise Attire

It's time once again to get out my cruise attire for our Caribbean cruise vacation.  It takes longer than you might think to organize cruise clothes if you want to plan properly.  Part of the process is to try everything on to see how it fits and see how things look together since there is a lot of mixing and matching. This time, I took photos of all my outfits so get ready to view lots of cruise poses of myself!  (I'm really taking a leap with this blog post since I usually think I look bad in photos)  Taking photos of outfits actually helped me weed out certain pieces and actually helped me get my clothes organized, which I'm all about these days. I have a lot of "cruise clothes" since we've been on many cruises in the past which means a lot of clothes to try on. Also, summer is my favorite season to dress for so I basically have a lot of summer clothes, period.  I haven't had to buy anything new for this trip since my closet is full of options.  There are actually blogs that tell you how to dress for a cruise and here are three that I like:  Fifty Not Frumpy; Southern Hospitality;  J's Everyday Fashion  Over the years, my style for cruises has changed with age and I just don't wear the cute little sundresses and shorts anymore since I'm not the petite little thing I was when we went on our first cruise in 1983.  Our second cruise was in 1999, then the Bratney family went on a Millennium cruise for New Year's 2000 which was very fun. Then, we went on a 20th anniversary in 2001, 25th anniversary in 2006, New Year's eve 2008, Alaska in 2009, another in 2010 and 2013.  There may have been more but those are the ones off the top of my head.   I've always loved dressing up on cruises and eating in the dinning room, being pampered in every way.  It's like an endless date with your hubby. I've always loved that part about cruising and I still do.  But the #1 thing I love about going on a cruise is the food, of course. I always take hundreds of photos of the food.  I'm sure this one won't be any different.  

Formal Attire

The formal outfits are always the first outfits I figure out.   On Holland American Cruise Lines, they call formal attire "Gala Attire".  Whatever.   Basically, formal nights are where everyone dresses up like they're going to a wedding.  I have the perfect dress for this; a dress I wore to a wedding. Easy and elegant, perfect for an evening of gala.   

For the second "Gala Attire" evening, I am going to wear a dress I got for our cruise in 1999.  Can you believe I still have this dress?  It's hard to see but it has a little sheer layer of fabric around the hemline giving it a very flowy look. The lightweight sweater is also very sheer and flowy also complimenting the dress perfectly.    I always wear a little shawl or sweater of some type on cruises since it can be breezy in the evenings on the ship.  The necklace is one that Lauren got in her Stitch Fix box and she was going to send back but I loved it so I bought it from her!  It looks perfect with this outfit for one of our formal nights.

Smart Casual

The other evenings call for smart casual attire.  For these evenings, I will choose between 2 pair of pants and 6 tops with a lightweight jacket, if needed.  (Sorry about my weird facial expressions but I'm still new at this!)

For these evenings, I can mix and match pants and tops since I actually have 3 different pairs of pants. I could wear the same sandals but I like to mix it up because I have no shortage of shoes. (There is a reason why Nordstrom is my favorite store) Also, I have multiple small-wallet size clutch or cross body-type purses for the ship because you don't really need a purse at all. I usually just carry my cruise card, camera and lipstick around in a purse when on the ship. 

Swim and Beach Wear

This is a hard part for me since I do not have a swimsuit body anymore so I only bring one swimsuit.  However, I have many cover-ups!  What can I say but I LOVE the beach and LOVE to swim.  I'm bringing two swimsuit cover-ups on this cruise.  I bought this cover-up in Hawaii on our 30th anniversary trip and really like it.  I can just tie it quickly around my waist and walk around comfortably.  The blue flowers nicely contrast the blue strips of my swimsuit.  

The second cover-up I have wore on multiple cruises.  I bought this stretch knit dress at Coldwater Creek years ago.  It works really well as a swimsuit cover-up.  It's nice because on sea days when everyone lounges at the pool, I can wear my swimsuit all day, throw this dress on, go into the dinning room or anywhere on the ship and look nice.  And it's really comfortable and handles being wet from the pool without showing water spots. I've always liked the little palm trees on it.  The hat is nice and snug so it won't blow off on the windy deck of the ship.

If we are going on shore and I'm wearing my swimsuit, I will wear bermuda shorts or capri pants and a top.  I can also wear these outfits for any on-shore excursion or just hanging around the ship.  

Workout Wear

All of the cruise ships have gyms and a deck for jogging so I always take some workout clothes with my athletic shoes. It's always a nice goal to get my 10,000 steps in during the cruise and the ship makes that possible which is nice.

Last but not least, is the travel-to-Florida outfit.  

I like a comfy outfit for travel including shoes comfortable enough to run through the airport since we've had to do this on occasion while traveling or staying overnight someplace without your luggage, which can also happen.  UGH! Traveling to the cruise is the worse part. I always wear a zip down navy lightweight sweatshirt/jacket since it's cold when we leave town and it can be cold on the plane, too.  It's also my token lightweight jacket for the ship.  To sum it all up and if you read the other articles, I don't take as many clothes as other people do, believe it or not.  But then, I could get by with a lot fewer if I had to.    

3 pair of ankle pants (white, black, and black & white poka dots) 
1 bermuda shorts
1 capri pants
9 tops
1 workout leggings and 2 tops 
1 lightweight navy jacket
1 lightweight sweater
3 dresses (including the swimsuit cover-up dress)
1 swimsuit and wrap
2 pair dress sandals (black and nude)
2 pair of tennis shoes (1 pair are athletic shoes)
3 pair of casual sandals (taupe, nude and black/white)
1 pair of flip flops
2 small cross body/wallet size purses
1 clutch purse for formal nights
1 travel baggallini bag (the same one I used in Japan)
assessories - scarves, necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses, etc. (another reason to try everything on in order to figure out what works)

Don't forget sunscreen and insect repellant. My pedicure and hair appointment are booked, both which will improve appearance of all outfits... 

By the time you get on the ship, you'll be ready to rest after all this planning! But you'll feel oh, so good in all your perfectly coordinated cruise attire.  

 Bon Voyage