What to Wear on Cruise Vacations
Lucky you! You’re off on a cruise. You’ve got your trip booked and now you need to put together the ultimate cruise packing list before you set sail. If you’re wondering what to pack for a cruise, look no further. Our cruise checklist with help you decide what to wear on a cruise as well as other cruise essentials you’ll need to bring onboard. In addition to knowing what to take on a cruise, you’ll also need to know how to dress, how to pack and what little extras are important to bring.
Making a list of what to bring on a cruise is essential. Download my printable cruise packing list! You’ll find it further down in the post. This post focuses primarily on what to pack for a Caribbean cruise but the cruise check list is customisable for any type of cruise you’re headed on. For other location-specific cruise ship packing lists see these posts:
What to Wear on Cruise VacationsWondering how to dress on a cruise? Knowing what to wear on a cruise ship isn’t easy if you haven’t been. When I think about Caribbean cruise clothes, I think of bright, light and airy resort wear. Picking your clothes for a cruise is actually pretty easy. Break it down and think about the tips of activities you’ll be doing on board though and it’s actually pretty easy to work out how to dress for a cruise.
This can be anything from workout gear for active excursions, resort wear for city excursions & shopping or beachwear. It depends on what you plan to do when you’re in port.
Think of your cruise wear clothing as resort wear. Around the pool desk is pretty casual. Dining in the buffet for breakfast, lunch or dinner is also casual. Shorts are acceptable but not swimwear.
In the dining room on regular nights, dress as you would going out to dinner or drinks with friends. I’ve heard it referred to as “country club casual” . People tend to dress nicely. Men wear collared shirts and sometimes a sports coat. Women wear sundresses or pants and a nice shirt or tunic. Jeans are acceptable in the dining room so long as they are nice jeans with no tears.Children can wear shorts & t-shirts in the dining room.
On a 7 day cruise there are usually two formal dining nights. Cruise formal wear isn’t as strict as it used to be. You will see a few tables dressed to the nines in evening gowns and a tux but most passengers will go for nice evening wear. Cocktail dresses or a jumpsuit is perfect formal cruise wear for ladies. Men usually wear a dark suit & tie but if you don’t have it then a dark shirt is fine. Boys should wear pants & a shirt. Girls should wear a party dress. If you don’t want to bring fancy clothing, you really don’t have to as there is also buffet dining, speciality restaurants and room service.
Planning what to pack for cruise needs quite a bit of thought. I would encourage you to get organised now and print out my checklist for cruise packing below. Go through your own wardrobe and look at the clothing you already have and decide what would make good cruise apparel. Then fill in the gaps by buying a few extra items. It’s always nice to have something new to wear for a vacation!
My biggest tip for deciding what to pack for a 7 day cruise is to think of outfits you can create and selecting pieces of clothing that work with one another. My Caribbean cruise packing list consists of a mixture of excursion outfits, clothes for cruise ship wear, resort casual pieces for non-formal evenings and cocktail dresses for formal wear for cruise dinners.
This is a 7 day cruise packing list. For longer cruises, you will be able to do laundry on board. For shorter cruises, just omit a few outfits to suit the length of your trip.
Your swimwear is one of the most important things to take on a cruise! After all, you will be spending a lot of time in the pool or at the beach. You don’t need to bring a beach towel as they are provided onboard on the pool deck or when you’re leaving for excursions in port.
Of course clothes are not the only things you need for a cruise! What to bring on cruise depends a little on personal preference, especially in terms of electronics.
Electronics may come under the list of things to pack on a cruise vacation…. or they may not! A cruise is an excellent “digital detox” vacation as internet is very slow and expensive on board. You’ll pay about $200 for a week long cruise if you want internet in your cabin. You won’t need a travel hair dryer as they are a provided on board.
While you will get some basic toiletries provided in your cabin, it’s often not adequate quality or quantity for me personally so I like to bring my own. I recommend decanting your own shampoo and conditioner into travel bottles. These squeezey silicone ones are the best. Use a hanging toiletries bag for your bathroom essentials. You can organise your toiletries further by using small Ziploc bags for things like makeup, hair accessories and first aid items. Put your sunscreen and bug spray in a large Ziploc bag so you can pop it into your tote when you head off on excursions.
A couple of things to pack for a cruise that I would definitely recommend for everyone is seasickness prevention supplies. You never know how your body is going to react to the motion of the ship so it pays to prepare in advance. Throw all these little items into a Ziploc bag together so you can put your hands on them if you need them. Once you return home, keep them bagged up for your next cruise!
A little seasickness prevention pack makes a nice gift for someone you’re cruising with also!
Pop all your documents in a travel document wallet to keep them organised. A money belt is also a good idea for cruise excursions when you don’t want to bring your wallet along.
My cruise packing list for men is fairly similar to the women’s list above. All the extras can be shared between travel partners so I’ll just cover the list of what to wear on a cruise for men. Men’s cruise wear is relatively straight forward. Cruise attire for men means short sleeved shirts or t-shirts with shorts during the day. Evening cruise clothes for men on non-formal nights is slacks, long sleeved shirts and maybe a sports coat. Formal cruise attire men is a dark suit, shirt and tie with dress shoes or a tux if you’re going full formal. Tuxes can be rented on board.
As a mom it’s up to me to decide what to pack for kids on a cruise. Thankfully the rules for dress codes and cruise wear for kids is a little more relaxed. You know your kids best so feel free to adjust my family cruise packing list.
You won’t need to bring your own portacrib for babies & toddlers. They are provided by the ship.
Here’s what luggage I recommend for a cruise:
Suitcase – Don’t bring a huge suitcase. When you’re packing for cruise trips, remember that your stateroom will be quite small. If you follow my packing list for a cruise below you won’t overpack. A 25″ suitcase should be adequate. This one from Delsey is great!. If you’re sharing a suitcase with your travel partner, then a 29″ suitcase like this will also work. There is limited storage in stateroom closets for multiple large suitcases so it’s a good idea to share one per family.
Tote bag – A tote bag can be used as carry on when you’re travelling to your cruise port and for your items for the first afternoon on board. Sometimes there is quite a wait to get your checked luggage so you need to pack you bathing suit, a pool coverup, sunglasses, hat, sunscreen and any essential items like medication, reading glasses, passport and wallet. You can also use your tote bag on day excursions.
Packing cubes – Packing cubes are a lifesaver when it comes to organising what to pack on a cruise. I never travel without them! Organise your clothing for day and evening, your underwear and your swimwear into seperate packing cubes so you can easily find what you need. You can lift packing cubes straight out of your suitcase and pop them into the drawers in your room. Makes for easy packing and unpacking! If you’re sharing a suitcase with a partner or children, use a different color for each family member. Read my complete guide to packing cubes here including a video on how to use them!
Folding beach bag – If you’re planning a lot of beach excursions, definitely bring a folding beach bag. You’ll get pool towels when you exit the ship for the day so you need something to carry them in, along with your waterbottle, sunscreen etc. This folding mesh beach tote is perfect!
Laundry bag – A mesh laundry bag is a very useful item for travel and makes unpacking when you get home a lot easier.
Wet bag – A wet bag to protect your belongs from a wet swimsuit in your day bag after a beach excursion or when you’re packing up to go home on the last day.
Hanging toiletries bag – Put your toiletries in a hanging bag as there is not a lot of counter space in your bathroom. This one by eBags is perfect and you can read my review of it here.
Luggage tags – It’s important to tag your bags well so they don’t go missing between the cruise port and your stateroom. It’s also a good idea to take a photo of your luggage so you can easily describe it in the event it does disappear.
Kids’ Backpack – If you’re cruising with kids, then bring along a small backpack to keep all their bits & pieces together.
For further tips on packing for a cruise, check out my post 10 Cruise Packing Tips.
Cruise Packing Checklist to DownloadAll of the items from my cruise list above have been collated into an easy cruise packing list pdf that you can download and print. As you lay out items for your vacation, check them off the cruise packing checklist pdf so you can organise yourself ahead of time.
I hope you’ve found my cruise checklist, packing advice and ideas of things to wear on a cruise helpful. Good luck with your packing for a Caribbean cruise!
What do you wear on a cruise? I’ve love to know. I’d love to know what you think are the must-have items to take on a cruise.
If you want to ask a specific question, chat to other cruisers about what to pack for your cruise or share your own cruise packing advice then join our Facebook group on Cruise Packing Tips! We would love to help you work out exactly what to pack or hear your own ideas about what gear you use on your cruise. Join us for some fun and friendly discussions.
