How many dresses do you pack for 15 nights? Ext cords?

Last minute packing....how many dresses do you bring for a 15 night cruise? I think we have 3 or 4 formal nights. Also, question about outlet, I want to bring an extension cord, do I bring a 3 prong one or a 2 prong ground?

Formal nights are not what they used to be. Dress on formal nights is much more casual now. However, if you choose to dress up, go for it! There will be others who will also do so. I do not take any dresses anymore on my cruises. Evening pants (black usually) and a couple of very nice sparkly type tops. Add some bling jewelry, pretty shoes, and I'm good to go. Airline baggage restrictions and costs play a big role in what people can now pack. All cruiselines have switched to a more casual atmosphere.

This is probably one of the most discussed issues on these boards and you'll get lots of responses with many different opinions. I say do what you're comfortable with, don't pay attention to what anyone tells you is "right" or "wrong" and just enjoy your wonderful cruise!

My 15 night cruise has 3 formal nights. In the past,

I have packed both dresses and/or black pants with sparkly tops.

When I fly I am a very light packer so any dress has to fold and pack easily into my one carryon bag. I would probably have 2 "formal" outfits as I don't think you need to have a completely different one for each of those nights. So how you pack will depend on how much luggage you wish to bring.

I don't bring any dresses. I don't take my tuxedo anymore either. Formal nights are not as dressy as they once were. I did not notice that one of our female tablemates wore the same outfit both formal nights until I looked at my photos after the cruise.

Dresss = 0, Extensin cods = 1 3 prong.

I have found it very easy to handle formal nights. I just bring my cruise black dress slacks (flowy and almost looks like a skirt type thing) and nice fancier tops(2-3). All are non wrinkly and light weight. One pair of light black sandals. That handles dressing for formal night. Rest of nights I have two different colored slacks and again wrinkle free tops(5-6). Wear nice day sandals or my black sandals. Then have shorts/jeans, etc. and everyday tops for tours. Pair of running shoes. Along with underwear, bathing suit, one nightgown, I am done. I could pack all in one bigger carry-on, but like to leave room for souvenirs, so I usually now just pack a backpack as a carry-on/purse and one small medium size suitcase. I do this even for my longer cruises as Princess has laundry rooms to use. So don't go overboard on your packing. As previous posters have stated, Formal night isn't really anymore on the mainline cruise lines. In fact, unless we are going on a cruise that is colder climate or fall, we just pack dress pants, long-sleeved dress shirt(2) and two ties for my husband and leave his suit jacket at home! Even my husband wants to observe formal night with a tie which he proceeds to take off after dinner though! Grin.

Have a great time!

Pooh

As stated before, do what you feel comfortable with. You will still feel comfortable dressing up if thats what you want, you still see nice dress's and black suits/tux's.

You have people who snicker at the people who dress up and people who look down on the people who no not. Who cares it's your vacaution.

For the record we dress for formal because that's what we like.

It depends -- if you are flying, luggage restrictions come into play. In that case, maybe only two more formal choices, with two shorter, cocktail type. One way to save space and weight is to plan outfits that work with the same pair of shoes.

I dress up in at least cocktail/club style every night, so I have a number of lightweight knit dresses that travel well and look great.

If it is a 15 day warm weather cruise, then I would pack 7 knit sundresses and 2 lightweight knit jackets and maybe 1 long black dress, 1 pair of sparkly sandals, 1 pair walking sandals, 1 sleep shirt, 1 swimsuit and 1 coverup. So pack for 7 days for a 15 day cruise. Princess does have a laundry onboard, so you can wash some things if needed.

After years of over-packing I've distilled it down to a basic formula. For formal nights I bring one pair of fancy black trousers, and either one or two dressy tops, a fancy pair of sandals and a shawl since the dining room can be chilly. Only DH really cares about what I wear and if I look nice in one outfit, I'll look equally nice wearing it twice (or three times) during a cruise. As long as I pack my sparkling conversation, I'll look great. :D

After years of over-packing I've distilled it down to a basic formula. For formal nights I bring one pair of fancy black trousers, and either one or two dressy tops, a fancy pair of sandals and a shawl since the dining room can be chilly. Only DH really cares about what I wear and if I look nice in one outfit, I'll look equally nice wearing it twice (or three times) during a cruise. As long as I pack my sparkling conversation, I'll look great. :D

As a former school librarian, I too have a formula, and I enjoy maximizing my wardrobe choices as much as I enjoy getting the best cruise prices. (Well, almost as much.) Anyway our next cruise is the 15 day Hawaii in February. Our temperatures can vary by a lot. To provide for all temperatures yet keep to 2 checked pieces for DH and myself, I keep to certain colors. For daytime it’s blue and black. For me that means jeans and black jeans and jeans capris and black capris. For DH, the same colors for jeans and shorts. Golf shirts, my tees and blouses, and long sleeve shirts will match either. For nights I stick to all black pants which cuts down on shoes and bags. (I will bring 3 pairs of Dockers for him.) Everything will be worn twice. Formal nights are sparkly tops and flowy pants for me and dress shirt and tie for him. Although we do get free laundry it’s only underwear I send out. What I also do is make a list of every day and every evening’s clothes for DH and me. I leave it on the wall with a magnet and it’s used every day. My belief is the more you pack, the more you need to unpack and wash and who wants more of that?

For a 15-night-cruise, with three formal nights, I would pack three formal/cocktail dresses, and six to eight smart casual dresses. Although I do own pants, I'm not a big fan of them.

I would bring 15 dresses and no extension cords!

For 2 formal nights I bring 1 formal outfit. If I had 3 formal nights I might bring 2 formal outfits. So either 2 dresses or 1 slacks with 2 tops.

Just as PartyBarbie is, I'm a dress afficionado.

For a 15-day cruise, I'll bring two cocktail-length dresses and wear one twice (because I love it and it looks smashing, so it gets more reps than my other cocktail dresses). 15-3=12, which I divide by 2, aiming to wear everything twice, so that's 6 outfits, give or take, that I would need for the non-formal nights. I then go through my closet and see what's on offer (I believe they call that "shopping your closet" . . . ): if I have six dresses appropriate for the type of cruise (what works for a Caribbean cruise might be out-of-place on a northern Atlantic crossing, plus some dresses are too "office" for a cruise vacation), then they all get packed and worn twice. If not, I might throw in a pair of black pants and a couple of tops. On warm-weather cruises, I have taken dressier capri pants (linen, silk) , maybe one pair of white with two different tops.

To me, the key for a long cruise is to break it up into 7-day chunks, rotating the outfits for each chunk. That way, I can take the same size suitcase for a 15-day or 21-day or longer, as I do for a week-long cruise.

Just as PartyBarbie is, I'm a dress afficionado.

 

For a 15-day cruise, I'll bring two cocktail-length dresses and wear one twice (because I love it and it looks smashing, so it gets more reps than my other cocktail dresses). 15-3=12, which I divide by 2, aiming to wear everything twice, so that's 6 outfits, give or take, that I would need for the non-formal nights. I then go through my closet and see what's on offer (I believe they call that "shopping your closet" . . . ): if I have six dresses appropriate for the type of cruise (what works for a Caribbean cruise might be out-of-place on a northern Atlantic crossing, plus some dresses are too "office" for a cruise vacation), then they all get packed and worn twice. If not, I might throw in a pair of black pants and a couple of tops. On warm-weather cruises, I have taken dressier capri pants (linen, silk) , maybe one pair of white with two different tops.

 

To me, the key for a long cruise is to break it up into 7-day chunks, rotating the outfits for each chunk. That way, I can take the same size suitcase for a 15-day or 21-day or longer, as I do for a week-long cruise.

 

 

I love your strategy. Perhaps I can learn from it! I’m a clothes horse in the worst way. Your plan sounds smart and cool.

I love your strategy. Perhaps I can learn from it! I’m a clothes horse in the worst way. Your plan sounds smart and cool.

Why, thank you. It works for me because it's flexible: I can always throw in an extra dress or extra something else if I'm feeling expansive. The other key to making this work is to literally plan out your outfits day-by-day/night-by-night.

For a 15-night-cruise, with three formal nights, I would pack three formal/cocktail dresses, and six to eight smart casual dresses. Although I do own pants, I'm not a big fan of them.

pants, i think you mean leg prisons :D

i'm doing a Christmas/new year's cruise, so i'm going to pack a few nice dresses for dinners, formal or not. i just have a bunch of nice dresses i don't get to wear often enough.

and a bunch of skirts and tops for day time. i also have 2 Christmas theme dresses.

and since it will be Christmas, i have all kinds of santa, elf, and reindeer accessories.

i live near port, but even so , i don't expect to bust the bags with all of this, it all packs well and small.

pants, i think you mean leg prisons :D

 

Lol, so true. I have found that I do like wearing Betsy Johnson leggings, with a long top and boots. :)

Just as PartyBarbie is, I'm a dress afficionado.

 

For a 15-day cruise, I'll bring two cocktail-length dresses and wear one twice (because I love it and it looks smashing, so it gets more reps than my other cocktail dresses). 15-3=12, which I divide by 2, aiming to wear everything twice, so that's 6 outfits, give or take, that I would need for the non-formal nights. I then go through my closet and see what's on offer (I believe they call that "shopping your closet" . . . ): if I have six dresses appropriate for the type of cruise (what works for a Caribbean cruise might be out-of-place on a northern Atlantic crossing, plus some dresses are too "office" for a cruise vacation), then they all get packed and worn twice. If not, I might throw in a pair of black pants and a couple of tops. On warm-weather cruises, I have taken dressier capri pants (linen, silk) , maybe one pair of white with two different tops.

 

To me, the key for a long cruise is to break it up into 7-day chunks, rotating the outfits for each chunk. That way, I can take the same size suitcase for a 15-day or 21-day or longer, as I do for a week-long cruise.

 

 

We use the same formula and I too love clothes. I have a huge wardrobe at home and have to restrain myself from taking too much.

I usually pack a pair of leatherette leggings and a couple tunic tops for first and last night. But pretty much everything else rdsqrl said.

For shoes for the above outfits I pack wedge sandals (not particularly dressy) one nude, one black

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Also, question about outlet, I want to bring an extension cord, do I bring a 3 prong one or a 2 prong ground?

We live a very casual lifestyle at home so we love the opportunity to dress for dinner when we cruise. For 15 nights I would pack two formal gowns, three or four cocktail dresses and black trousers with a handful of dressy evening tops. I take a pair of silver/platinum dress shoes and a pair of classic black heels. Why do you want an extension cord?

You can actually leave them all home & make due with a few pair of pants & some fancy tops.

Change can change off with different tops & no one will even notice.

You do need that extension cord though. :cool:

We live a very casual lifestyle at home so we love the opportunity to dress for dinner when we cruise. For 15 nights I would pack two formal gowns, three or four cocktail dresses and black trousers with a handful of dressy evening tops. I take a pair of silver/platinum dress shoes and a pair of classic black heels. Why do you want an extension cord?

Why an extension cord??

We live a very casual lifestyle at home so we love the opportunity to dress for dinner when we cruise. For 15 nights I would pack two formal gowns, three or four cocktail dresses and black trousers with a handful of dressy evening tops. I take a pair of silver/platinum dress shoes and a pair of classic black heels. Why do you want an extension cord?

I think people are wondering about your question, but I'm with you...we have never brought an extension cord on board...only thing we plug in are phone chargers or hair dryer. Perhaps someone can explain the need!

My wife is like you...wants to dress up every night...to the nines on formal nights, because she wears scrubs every day and when we go to dinner it's usually pretty casual (Myrtle Beach does the very casual look being a tourist destination...lots of shorts and flip flops at dinner). I personally like the tuxedo...or in the specialty restaurants (since it will be December) a long sleeved shirt and Christmas tie.