Packing for a River Cruise vs Ocean Cruise

[AAAMomOfOne]

Hi!

Very excited to be going on our first river cruise. Although it's not until June 2016, I wanted to ask for those that have both river cruised and ocean cruised, do you pack differently? As an example, for ocean cruising, I have my "cruise stuff" over the door organizer, clips to hold curtains together (very light sleeper, can't deal with light ;-), etc. I should mention we are going on Emerald, I think the Belle.

In advance, thanks!

Edited September 18, 2015 by AAAMomOfOne

[pbnjrockette]

You won't need a bunch of "dress-up" clothes! River cruising is a lot more casual.

[AAAMomOfOne]

Excellent! Nothing worse than having to lug "formal" clothes! Actually the last ocean cruise we did had freestyle dining, which I found was more casual.

[Hydrokitty]

Hi!

Very excited to be going on our first river cruise. Although it's not until June 2016, I wanted to ask for those that have both river cruised and ocean cruised, do you pack differently? As an example, for ocean cruising, I have my "cruise stuff" over the door organizer, clips to hold curtains together (very light sleeper, can't deal with light ;-), etc. I should mention we are going on Emerald, I think the Belle.

In advance, thanks!

 

Welcome to river cruising....prepare to become addicted! :D Bring both of these items. I've done 8 trips on Vantage and find their cabins to be quite generous storage wise with the exception of the bathroom. I always bring my over the door organizer for all the "stuff" I may (or may not) need, like cosmetics and preventative drugs. As for the curtain clips bring them as well since you are a light sleeper but also if you are rafted to another ship you might feel more comfortable. Most river cruises are less formal than ocean cruises so you can leave the heels, jewelry and dresses at home. I usually bring a pair of black jeans with a few gauzy top and black ballet flats for dinners. Vantage provides plenty of hangars and a blow dryer so check with your company to confirm those. They also have a clothes line in the shower. You will not need to bring washcloths, but you should pack a converter for European plugs. Vantage use to provide 2 US plugs but this last trip (a week ago) there was only 1! Where are you going? That could have bearing on what to bring.

[AAAMomOfOne]

Hydrokitty

Thanks! We're going the end of June. We are doing Nuremberg to Amsterdam. I've been to London in that same time period, at the very least it may be a bit cooler. But I'm a layered clothing kind of person, so I figure that's the way to go. I also always pack dry cleaner hangers and just leave them when our trip is complete.