What is the magic light-packing formula?

[Pusniski]

I'm good on the clothes, bare essentials and 'other' things. How many pair of shoes do you seasoned cruisers actually take with you? DH wears size 15 and wears his business casual shoes with his cruise casual clothes, then his formal shoes not to mention sneakers and sandals. I'm just as bad, but with 2 pair of sandals for cruise casual, flip flops, formal shoes and sneakers. Any suggestions?

 

I'm tired of carrying our largest suitcase just for shoes. :p

[sherezada]

I am no seasoned cruiser, but to me the trick for light shoe-packing is to plan the clothes around the shoes instead of the other way around. i.e. I'd pick a pair of black sandals for non-formal nights and then pick clothes that would look good with those black sandals for all the non-formal nights. One pair of dress shoes for formal nights-same procedure, and one pair of flip flops for the pool, sea days and ports-again, same principle. Leave the sneakers at home, flip flops are just as comfortable for port days and excursions.

[operafan]

I'm good on the clothes, bare essentials and 'other' things. How many pair of shoes do you seasoned cruisers actually take with you? DH wears size 15 and wears his business casual shoes with his cruise casual clothes, then his formal shoes not to mention sneakers and sandals. I'm just as bad, but with 2 pair of sandals for cruise casual, flip flops, formal shoes and sneakers. Any suggestions?

 

I'm tired of carrying our largest suitcase just for shoes. :p

 

Ahhh... The age old dilemma! We've kind of got the problem solved.......DH packs one pair for formal/semiformal, wears his casual/walking on the plane and I toss his flip-flops in the luggage. I bring one pair strappy (dressy) sandals for formal/semi-formal, one pair casual sandals, one pair flip-flops and wear my casual/walking on the plane. The flip-flops get tucked in the luggage (wherever they fit) after all else is packed since they are relatively flat. Hope this helps......

[Pusniski]

Thanks for responding. :)

 

Ok, I'm tossing the sneakers and I'm trying to convince DH to do the same. We're not doing anything that requires a lot of walking in port. I agree that we really don't need them. I'll wear a pair that I'll need for cruising while travelling so I'm not carrying an extra pair for nothing (that was a good tip!). I will rethink my wardrobe and stick with either white/neutral/black sandals.

 

I should be getting closer. I'm down to about 6 pairs in a suitcase. I have to take 2 pairs of formal shoes this go around since we're renewing our vows. I don't have anything for semi-formal night to match ivory shoes and I really don't want to go shopping for yet another formal outfit. Cruiseline Formal wear doesn't carry size 15 so I'm stuck taking DH's with us. I wish they'd carry larger shoe sizes.

 

My ultimate goal is to only have 3 bags for the 3 of us total (2 large suitcases and 1 carry-on). I got it down to 2 large and 2 carry-on bags last time and I'm determined to do better.

[Happy ks]

I pack as light as possible but have never been able to cut it down any further than 5 pair (including the ones I'm wearing on the plane).

 

I take:

 

1. my most comfortable sandals that I can walk in.

 

2. sneakers (I walk laps, cannot go without them) if we are flying I'll ditch my fashion sense and wear them on the plane to protect my toes.

 

3. flip flops for the pool.

 

4. casual night shoes.

 

5. formal night shoes.

[vfb2girls]

We are first time cruisers and I am really having a problem trying to figure out the different shoes we need to bring. We are doing an Alaskan trip so flip-flops are not going to cut it for us. So far I have it down to one pair of tennis shoes, a dress pair of black shoes that will go with all my dining room outfits, a pair of goretex hiking boots and a pair of crocs for walking around the ship. Packing for this vacation has really been hard! In fact I already know we will have to do laundry before we sail, we are doing a 12 day land tour before the cruise.

[buddyjo143]

Don't forget, when you fly or drive to your port you are wearing something on your feet. Hopefully it is something you will wear on the cruise. So, you are looking at packing 3 pair of shoes, sandals, sneakers, whatever.

[luv2travelWA]

vfb - we are heading to alaska tomorrow (well - now today!).... DH and I are wearing our hiking shoes (heavy, clunky and don't pack well). Packed are a pair of tennis shoes, dress shoes and flipflops/sandals if we go to the spa or venture to the pool :) I usually only take tennies and flipflops, but not to Alaska!

[Cotton]

The method that works best for me is MIX & MATCHyour clothing. Take a coupla pair of shoes that go w/everything...and another pair for deck and shore trips.

[Whimsy]

Shoes are a weakness of mine so I always take too many. One trick I learned is that I can get some of my sandals inside DH shoes. Saves space!

[luv2travelWA]

The other trick w/shoes: those that don't 'fold or breakdown/flatten' pack your socks or something else plyable in them to make use of the space :)

[Pusniski]

Hope DH doesn't mind, but I'm stuffing my sandals in his boats...errr, I mean shoes. He's still taking his tennis shoes. :rolleyes:

[DaisyGirl55]

I laugh now when I remember my first few cruises - I had as many shoes as there were days, and then some! Several style and colors of sandals, different shoes for each evening, sneakers, and even my slippers! :p

 

Next month will be cruise # 9 and I think I am getting better, but still working on it...LOL! I am the queen of list making, and usually after booking a cruise, my packing list is the next thing I start working on. We are going to Alaska, so that will be a new packing experience for us since we live in Goergia where it is warm.

 

I am down to 5 shoes (can you believe it??) for a 7-day cruise. I'll wear my all-weather shoes on the plane, and pack my sneakers, black heels, black flats, and a pair of pool shoes. Hope it will be okay, because I could easily take a few more pairs of shoes!

[celbercrz333]

We wear sneakers on the plane and on the ship. We take along 1 pair of dressy shoes. After even formal night if your dress/gown is long, no one will see if you have just semi- dressy shoes on. The informal nights we can wear the semi-dressy shoes or the sneakers depending on what you wear to the dinner. We don't take sandals. If going to a beach, how many days will you really be going? We did Bermuda and wore our sneakers to the beach. Ok, you do have sand issues, but it all comes out.

[winewanderer]

Four pairs for me covers everything. These will cover 3 weeks land/cruise for me in October.

 

1 pair dressy shoes for the dining room

 

1 pair casual sandals for daytime and casual dinner nights

 

1 pair walking shoes for excursions and gym (considering a pair of sketchers like my sister has. Really cute and far better looking than teenies but still tennies comfy).

 

Flip flops for the pool

[ldock]

instead of runners, we take the jogger style sandles, they have runner soles and are comfortable to wear anywhere, and for a long period. Other than that, stuff your shoes, with socks etc. A fancy pair of Sandles also work for the dinning room, and take p less space. I however dont care how much luggage we bring, and i pack what ever i want, and so does my hubby,i took 6 pairs on our last cruise, with the new rolling suitaces that you can piggyback, go for it.

[piper28]

The secret to the shoe dilema is to recognize that people don't look at your feet :). If it's not a perfect match, it's not going to kill anyone. Personally my everyday shoes are a pair of Irish Setter shoes (which are one of the most comfortable shoes I've ever had). Put a pair of long pants over them, and they can pass adequately for dress shoes. (Course, my wife might debate that, but unless I start going around kicking people, they're not going to notice).

[Boca_Raton]

Think of things that have dual purposes like a pashmina shawl to keep you warm on the plane and wear over your evenng clothes.

My wardrobe is based around five colors - denim jeans, black, white, purple and light blue. I've put everything on the bed in the guest room to pack and (leaving in three days) then remove 25-40%. I know me. I won't wear it all.

Call me Imelda - but I must have my shoes! :D

Heading to Alaska:

1. Sneakers
   
2. Deck shoes
   
3. Sandals for formal night
   
4. Sandals for casual and pool
   
5. Walking shoes (which I'll probably wear on the plane)

 

[Aloha Gal]

I was hoping that I wasn't the only one taking a suitcase (medium-size) designated only for shoes! :o This is for 2 of us on a 7-day Alaskan cruise.

 

Hiking boots

Comfy casual shoes

Sneakers for the gym

Dressy sandals

Flip Flops