Cruise Packing Mistakes I Still See Cruisers Make

First is when you're packing for the wrong person.

The core problem with most cruise packing is that cruisers pack for who they imagine they will be on vacation rather than who they actually are.

Formal nights are the clearest example of this.

Dress codes across mainstream cruise lines, they've relaxed significantly, right, in the last several years.

So it's not everyone donning their full black tie, tuxedos, long, poofy, floor-length gowns, that kind of thing.

So sometimes newer cruisers or first-time cruisers go into this thinking elegant night's going to be like prom night.

And that's just not really what it is these days.

Now, some people do still dress to the nines, but those big poofy gowns, they can take up an entire carry-on or half of a full suitcase.

And a tuxedo, especially if you're trying to take care of it and you don't want it to get wrinkled or ruined, that's going to take up a ton of space as well.

And then you're probably going to have a special pair of shoes that you wear literally for one or maybe two nights if you're on a longer sailing and it has two elegant nights.

So make sure you're not overdoing it with elegant night.

And that same logic extends to your entire cruise wardrobe.

Cruisers tend to pack for multiple personalities across a seven night sailing.

The gym version of themselves, the beach version, the pool version, the elegant night version.

all real cruiser types, and most of us are genuinely not all of them at once on any given sailing.

So the clothes that we bring for the aspirational version of our cruise self, they just end up taking space, they add weight, and they create decisions that we don't wanna have to make at 6.30 in the morning when you got a port to go to.

So my advice, pack in complete outfits rather than individual pieces and be honest about how you actually spend your time on a cruise.

Three to four solid port day combinations that you can mix and match to.

Two to three evening options depending on your cruise line and some are more formal than others and some have more formal kind of dress codes.

Pool and lounge wear for the sea days.

That covers a week.

Everything beyond that is just optimism in a suitcase and you're going to feel it at the airport on your way home.