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Men who used to feel compelled to wear a tux, simply don't have to. A suit and tie are
fine. And women can easily wear something bordering on a cocktail dress but
more relaxed, perhaps strapless soft linens or flowing cotton silks.
Forget the dripping
jewels even if they are faux! It's just not done that much anymore; with
rare exceptions. Yes, there ARE exceptions. If you really want to dress to
the inth degree then, Cruise lines like Crystal, Princess'Grand-class ships,
Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and some of Regent Seven Seas Cruises; the Seven Seas
Mariner and the Seven Seas Voyager are the cruises for you!
Most cruises are
casual like Carnival, Norwegian and Disney.. These cruise lines like others
offer a more formal dining room if you wish.
Most of the time
while cruising and even when you get off to explore you will want to be
comfortable packing walking shorts, comfortable shoes and one or two lights
sweaters just in case. As you count your days and nights think of underwear!
Pack plenty of socks, panties, boxers or briefs. It's amazing how important
this becomes when you are far from home. Organize and economize. How many
tops will go with how many bottoms. Can you get away with just taking four
tee shirts versus 12? And think about laundry. The upper scaled Cruises
offer laundry service with no charge but most Cruises charge and that can
become expensive.
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To summarize: For men:
Think, khakis, navy sport coat, nice polo shirt or Oxford. Nice jeans. Dark
suit if very formal. No bare chests any other place but the pool. Bathing
suits should be of the boxer type.
For women: Walking
shorts, nice tee's or blouses, nice jeans, sundresses, sun visors or hats.
And for the evening if formal ... upscaled casual chic, flowing cottons,
linens, tencile, cotton-silk, faux suede, cocktail length. For non-formal
everything from nice jeans to resort pant suits, casual skirts, walking
shorts. Do not run around in your bathing suit or short, shorts! Bathing
suit cover-ups can be very tasteful and attractive so if you want to keep
your bathing suit on while running around, that's a good idea.
When visiting a port
you can wear pretty much what we've talked about while onboard. Do know
though if you are going to be going to a yacht club or golf resort, check
specifically as often there is some sort of dress code even today.
What to pack. It's
amazing how important your favorite emery-board becomes when you don't have
it not to mention your razor which will shave you like none other. So let's
categorize and organize. Think: bathroom stuff. Then think, hair stuff,
medicine cabinet things, cosmetics. Stand in the bathroom and focus on each
drawer and shelf. Take the things you can't live without and leave the rest.
Not all Cruise ships provide hairdryers. Here are just a few things that may
be VERY important to not forget, tweezers, ear plugs, hand lotion, lens
cleaner, band aids, germicidal handy wipes, bug spray. When you've covered
the bathroom then move on to electronics.
Laptop? Battery
charger, adaptors and converters, PDA, digital camera, and the batteries.
Memory cards, night light, flash light, travel clock, walkman plus tapes.
Cell phone and don't forget the charger. If you focus on specific topics
like this you'll most likely remember everything. Then think documents:
All tickets,
passports, visas (if needed) driver's license, insurance papers (travel and
car when you rent a car) medical history or prescription proof, printed
emergency contacts back home, ATM card other credit cards, some cash,
Picture ID, phone card. With really important documents, have copies stashed
back home to be faxed to you. Put even more copies in your luggage, purse,
tote bag .. you'd be surprised how this will keep the peace between loved
ones. Where there's a document, there are three more just like it in case
something gets misplaced, which it usually does. Keep thinking of each
person you're traveling with including yourself, one at a time and what
specific documents each needs. This will keep you on track. Then thing
miscellaneous:
Miscellaneous things
would be like duct tape! We're serious. There otta be a book written just
about duct tape and all that situations that have been saved from this
resourceful tape. Other things you might miss are; extra reading glasses,
crazy glue, deck of cards, wine bottle opener, zip loc bags for dirty
clothes, maps, clothes pins,a sewing kit, extra buttons, small bottle of
woolite in case your favorite sweater gets sloshed by something, fold-up
umbrellas ( it rains a lot unexpectedly in some areas) and extra contact
lenses. Keep thinking out of the box like this and you'll love yourself for
being so brilliant when far away from home.
Don't let packing at
all overwhelm you, remember the Cruise Lines live to please you and most
likely if you have left that cherished personal something behind one of the
staff will go to great lengths to solve your problem. Make lists! Just
making the lists before you pack a sock will make you feel superbly in
charge. Happy sailing!!!
Claudia Chestelson is a "Renaissance Woman" covering the gamut of
challenging careers of actress, model, builder- re-modeler, B&B owner in the
world famous Napa Valley, Weight-Loss Consultant for Women, and current
Netpreneur and Advocate of leisure and vacation..Claudia loves navigating
people to the right Cruise including the best Cruise insight and advice at
http://www.ourfirstcruise.com (if you are taking your very first
Cruise Vacation go to Claudia's web site. Save yourself from all the
stressful details.)
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