Who buys a bit (or a bunch) of new clothes for a cruise?

[Lois R]

On 8/19/2021 at 8:25 AM, awhfy said:

I picked out what I’m taking for our October cruise. Make sure everything fits, is pressed (if needed), & decide if I really need/want anything else. I do the same for my husband (he’s easy, been the same size for over 50 years!)

Hi Melody🙂 where are you sailing next month? You probably mentioned it over on the other thread but I can't remember.

[awhfy]

5 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi Melody🙂 where are you sailing next month? You probably mentioned it over on the other thread but I can't remember.

Western Caribbean (Royal’s Liberty out of Galveston) with our daughter & SIL (their many times postponed honeymoon)

[Lois R]

3 minutes ago, awhfy said:

Western Caribbean (Royal’s Liberty out of Galveston) with our daughter & SIL (their many times postponed honeymoon)

Ahhh.....ok.  I am sure ya'll will have a great time together🙂

[clo]

On 8/19/2021 at 5:25 AM, awhfy said:

I do the same for my husband (he’s easy, been the same size for over 50 years!)

My husband would be naked if he waited for me to take care of his clothes 🙂 (And he's been the same size forever also.)

[ysolde]

I used to.  For post-pandemic cruising, I think I am going to have to shop my closet first and foremost.

[clo]

On 9/16/2021 at 4:39 PM, ysolde said:

I used to.  For post-pandemic cruising, I think I am going to have to shop my closet first and foremost.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean.

She means she is going to shop through her closet.....instead of going out shopping......looking through the clothes that she already owns to see what fits, what is appealing, etc..........

[clo]

36 minutes ago, Lois R said:

She means she is going to shop through her closet.....instead of going out shopping......looking through the clothes that she already owns to see what fits, what is appealing, etc..........

Okay, isn't that what everyone does all the time? I don't know what her "post-pandemic" comment meant. Perhaps she'll explain.

[ysolde]

13 minutes ago, clo said:

Okay, isn't that what everyone does all the time? I don't know what her "post-pandemic" comment meant. Perhaps she'll explain.

It means I ate a little bit more than usual during the pandemic, and I am not entirely sure what items in my closet that I wore on my last cruise (in 2019) will still fit me.  It's a bit embarrassing, actually.

[clo]

1 hour ago, ysolde said:

It means I ate a little bit more than usual during the pandemic, and I am not entirely sure what items in my closet that I wore on my last cruise (in 2019) will still fit me.  It's a bit embarrassing, actually.

I'm sorry. That's funny. I thought you were reluctant to go shopping. You go, girl 🙂 xoc

[GrammieK]

What’s really embarrassing is when you step on the scale with packed luggage to find its overweight....and realize it’s you that is overweight!😂

[wdw1972]

I don't normally go out to buy new cruise clothes, but with the pandemic it's been a long stretch since my last cruise (Nov/Dec 2019 - the March 2020 was canceled when cruise lines shut down) so I did buy a couple things I also wear to work, plus one that's not work-appropriate.

 

I carry my luggage onto the ship, so that means a large carry-on bag plus a Vera Bradley duffel - doesn't matter if it's a 7 night cruise or 11 nights.  Thankfully I'm petite & slim so my clothes don't take up much space.  For my upcoming 11-night cruise I will bring my 2 new dresses (black/wht strip slim fitting pencil dress and all black with a non-pencil shape) and they will cover 5 nights on the ship.  Each will be worn without anything else, then again once or twice with various shrugs/small sweaters to give a totally different look.  I have a sleeveless gold sequin dress I hadn't worn on the last few cruises, and bought a bolero jacket that matches (that's the non-work item) so while I'll really be overdressed a bit, I don't care - life's too short to not have fun!  

 

One thing I do skimp on is shoes.  I need sneakers for walking (exercise), flipflops and then hopefully 1 pair of evening sandals that will work every night.  With not checking luggage, I don't want to waste space on shoes!

 

Oh, and the reason I carry my stuff on is because I always do the expedited departure where you have to carry your stuff off the ship.  I figure if I can carry it off, I can carry it on.  This way I can unpack when I feel like, rather than waiting for luggage to be delivered.  

 

Sue/WDW1972

[conwakr]

Fun post.  We haven't cruised since I can't remember and taking a short one at the end of the month.  It was "fun" to shop my closet and pull all the dresses I wear to dinner on cruises that I've accumulated through the years. They still fit thank goodness and it will be fun to wear them since I haven't worn them for just about 2 years. I've accumulated quite a few dresses that are easy to shake out and don't wrinkle and take little space...gone are the linens, the fancy gowns, the heavy sparklies or sequins.  I'm all about the weight of my luggage and the least amount of space. I've also learned to pack "in colors" to minimize shoes, jewelry etc. and finally settled on black, white, gray and pink for cruises. It even worked for our last Alaska cruise to stick with those colors. I did not bring jeans to Alaska when we went, instead opting for quick dry hiking pants for non-shorts days and I brought a black pashmina wrap and a white pashmina wrap for chillier conditions both casually and for dinners and take little space in luggage. I like silver or gold sandals for dinners...they are neutral and I just choose one or the other and adjust the jewelry I bring accordingly and one pair of those is good for the entire cruise no matter the length.  

[cruise kitty]

fun topic, 🙂  I  usually will buy a few items for our cruises, which somehow tend to be all cold weather cruises...  we don't have much of need for base layers where we live, so I've slowly added to our light layers & waterproof items over the years 🙂

 

For our upcoming cruise in a few weeks though, I'd like to try & shop "in-person"  something I haven't truly done in a few years... (does costco or target count, lol)  I have popped in a tjmaxx once or twice, but I've given up on those as I only very occasionally have good luck there.

 

I need to breech an actual Nordstrom or Anthropologie..

I'd love to get a cute, short sparkly dress for the gala nights.. if not that, then maybe a cute, sparkly sleeveless top to pair with a long silk skirt...  knowing me I 'm going to end up buying it online 😂

[slidergirl]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who finds nothing at TJMaxx.  I think that my local TJMaxx is the store where all the unsold TJMaxx inventory is dumped.  

 

 

[Lois R]

I will say, I like TJ MAXX's handbag/purse selection.........they have a lot of choices🙂

[57redbird]

5 hours ago, slidergirl said:

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who finds nothing at TJMaxx.  I think that my local TJMaxx is the store where all the unsold TJMaxx inventory is dumped.  

 

 

Same with the one near me & Ross as well.

[NBliving]

Hello! 

I found this thread when I thought I'd browse through the "fashion" topic before I start packing for our first cruise since January 2020!!!

 

I usually buy a few new items before a cruise.  Mostly I see something while browsing online or in person and think it would work for a cruise.  The bad thing is, during the past 19 months, I have bought some things on sale and now I am looking at them and thinking hmmm am I really going to wear that?  Nothing dressy, mostly casual dresses and skirts.  One thing I hope works out is a wrap around long casual dress that I'm planning on using as a swim suit cover up.  I found it on Amazon - do y'all get their ads on instagram?  I've bought a few clothing items from Amazon and for the most part have really liked them.

[shipgeeks]

I've been lucky, in that I've acquired a lot of nice dresses, pants, and tops for our coming cruises.  But what I will need, from a real store, is new bras.  Ordering online is not an option for me; even repeating a brand and size that I know is no guarantee of good fit.  So...one day (or several days) a big shopping trip will be needed.

[2BACRUISER]

We're going on a weeks cruise in the Med in 4wks time, at the moment the weather down there looks unsettled so I guess I'll have to pack for all eventualities. 🤔 I usually have all my vacation stuff sort of in ready to go status but since we've been nowhere from Sept 2019 it's all kinda got depleted or outta date. I think one ot two new pieces of clothing may be in order. So much to organize, sometimes I wish I could be my DH and just turn up.and go, I'm sure he thinks the fairies get everything done in our house. Omg do I wish. 😉😜

Edited October 30, 2021 by 2BACRUISER
Grammar

[Ihibernate2]

I can pack for Caribbean in 30 minutes since I live in Florida.  Going to Alaska for the first time in May (I hope!). How do I stay under 50 pounds with boots and jackets, hats, gloves, camera, binoculars….. I have decided to wear a ponytail and skip and hair items. Using packaging cubes but am afraid my puffy coat might explode like a rubber boat! Any suggestions?

[shipgeeks]

When we did our Alaska cruise, I wore my boots, sweater, and lighter jacket on the plane.  My puffy jacket was packed in a compression bag - like a big sandwich bag with a ziploc on one side.  Insert jacket, partly close ziploc, sit on it to force the air out, finish zipping.

[Lois R]

Good morning, I have been to Alaska multiple times over the years (most recently in August). I don't own boots and have never brought them on any of my sailings. Never needed them.  And I have never exceeded the 50lb weight limit. So unless you are doing "heavy hiking" or something of that nature, I would say boots are not necessary.

[shipgeeks]

Good point, Lois.  The boots I wore were lightweight waterproof leather lace-ups with nice treads.  They did keep my feet warm!  I was glad I had them, as my sneakers were mesh and not water resistant.  We only did a small amount of hiking, but we spent a lot of time on the ship's upper decks, sometimes in the rain.

Apart from footwear, my packing was based on layers.  On the coldest and wettest day I would be wearing a silk turtleneck, wool sweater or fleece, parka, hooded rain jacket.  On a warmer day I could wear any two of those.  I took quick-dry synthetic pants (heavy yoga pants) as well as a pair of jeans.

Some people report packing sweatshirts/hoodies.  Not my choice.  Too much bulk for too little comfort, and no dampness resistance.

[conwakr]

I did not bring boots to Alaska either.  I did bring "hiking" sneaker type shoes.  Wet and rain were more of a concern for me than warmth...you can get warmth from layers these days.  I brought a down sweater which squishes down to nothing for the coldest times. I did not bring jeans as they are so heavy and if they got wet would be so uncomfortable, but I did bring synthetic yoga pants in two colors. I did bring lightweight cotton gloves and hat for glacier day and glad I did as it was quite windy and cold but we went at the tail end of "summer". So layers, also for me, with a fleece vest, Patagonia down sweater and a good rain parka with hood. For much of the trip it was warm enough for shorts on board so brought a couple pairs of shorts and tshirts.