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Written by Savi, 18 Comments

It’s not everyday that one packs for a holiday that involves lazy days by the pool, walks around cities, black-tie dinners, and excursions in conservative countries. On our recent cruise around the Med, we visited a number of cities in Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Turkey and came back to a formal dinner almost every night. Phew!! That’s a tall order for anyone. Add to that a fondness for packing light – the result is the ultimate packing conundrum 🙁

 

A few hours and some trial and error later, I have it all sorted. Here’s what you need to pack for your cruise holiday :-

 

#1  A Day Dress (or two?)

You’re going to be spending long days, walking around new cities and you want to be as comfortable as you possibly can. Opt for flowy dresses that are appropriate for exploring historic monuments, ramshackle buildings, lush vineyards, or whatever else the city might throw at you. My default look involves a floaty maxi dress, kohl-rimmed eyes, and tousled hair but opt for whatever makes you feel at ease.

 

Try packing day dresses in rich colours and opulent fabrics that can be dressed up with some pearl earrings and heels for the night. It’ll save you the trouble of changing on getting back to the ship. I wore this red maxi dress for a day out in Italy and just spruced it up for a black-tie dinner. Simples 🙂

 

Outfit Details :-

White Maxi Dress  – Details of this entire outfit are included in our article on Pisa

Red Maxi Dress – ASOS

Sandals – Zara

 

 

Red Maxi Dress Cruise Travel fashion
Make sure you pack a comfortable dress for your cruise holiday

 

 

Red Maxi Dress Cruise Travel fashion
You will be walking around a lot, so comfort is key

 

 

Red Maxi Dress Cruise Travel fashion
Add a couple of accessories and voilà you’re ready for dinner – perfect for lazy bums 🙂

 

 

Red Maxi Dress Cruise Travel fashion
Pack dresses you can use on various occassions if you, like me, enjoy packing light

 

 

White backless maxi dress
Flowy dresses are perfect for cavorting in exotic cities

 

 

#2 The Invincible Outfit

Now dresses are all well and good but you won’t spend all your days educating yourself about the history of a city, devouring local food, or lying in a golden field, counting clouds as the grass tickles your back (I highly recommend the latter – just don’t try doing it in a white dress like I did 😉 )

 

There will be days when you will be climbing hundreds of stairs to reach the top of a building, renting bikes to explore vineyards, or just learning cartwheels (never say never!). For those days, you need an invincible outfit – one that refuses to get creased, grubby, or boring. Of course you could resort to a pair of denims for this but where’s the fun in that?

 

I opted for a printed playsuit, a large clutch bag, and my favourite shoes at the minute (silver brogues – nom!) for a long and tiring day spent exploring Venice. The outfit saw me through a food tour, walking tour, sightseeing, and a trek to the top of San Marco Cathedral, so I can’t complain.

 

 

Outfit Details :-

Playsuit – Primark

Silver Brogues and sunglasses – Urban Outfitters

Clutch Bag – H&M (I used it in my first ever outfit post, which we shot in Slovakia)

 

Printed Playsuit travel fashion
A playsuit or a pair of denims are perfect for a day that involves a lot of walking around

 

Printed purple playsuit silver brogues
Exploring Venice can get tiring

 

Printed playsuit silver brogues silver clutch
Packing for Venice

 

#3 Formal dresses

All those sit down dinners can only mean one thing – you do need to pack a couple of formal outfits for special occasions and the Captain’s dinner, a cruise staple. Make sure you opt for fabrics that don’t need much maintenance or you’ll be scurrying around, looking for an iron at the last minute. We’ve written an entire article on Black Tie dressing, so hop over to that if you’re interested in perusing some more photos or curious about our outfits 🙂

 

Black-tie travel fashion
Black-tie travel fashion

 

#4 Swimwear

My favourite part of a cruise holiday is the time spent sprawling by the pool and soaking up the sun. It’s ironic but these phases of idleness inspire me like nothing else – the mind is at its most productive when it has the space to disentangle from the rhythm of daily life. But I digress…

 

Make sure you pack a bikini if you’re packing for a cruise holiday – it’s a no brainer! If you’re a water baby and plan to spend your time hopping in and out of jacuzzis and pools, pack at least 2 or 3 🙂

 

Outfit Details :-

Ombre Bikini and bracelets – ASOS

Tribal Print Bikini – Accessorize

 

tie dye ombre bikini travel fashion
If you read the profound monologue above, you’ll know exactly what I was thinking 😉

 

 

packing for cruise holidays
Water babies need to pack at least 2 or 3 bikinis for a cruise holiday

 

 

#5 Beach cover-ups

Swimwear isn’t allowed in dining areas on cruise ships, so it’s handy to have a cover-up at hand if you want to pop in to grab an ice-cream or a light lunch. I love tasselled kimonos and tie-dye kaftans – they’re the perfect accompaniment to mid-day cocktails  (seriously!) 🙂

 

What’s more, they can double up as the top with a pair of jeans – perfect for those who like packing light!

 

Outfit Details :-

Tie-Dye Kimono – c/o Rosewe (Do you remember it from our post on Festival Fashion?)

White shirt dress – c/o Abadday

Black oversized vest – stolen from errr Vid 😉

Braid trinkets and armlet – Local market in Morocco

 

tie dye kimono
Pack a bohemian cover-up – it will serve you well

 

Packing for cruise holidays
Pair your beach cover-ups with a pair of jeans to explore a city or two

 

 

White kaftan cruise travel fashion
Is this the perfect work desk or what?

 

 

Packing for cruise holiday
If you can’t tell by now, a lot of cocktails were consumed in the making of this post 😉

 

 

packing for cruise holidays
Too many cocktails lead to crooked sunglasses – fact!!

 

 

#6 Location appropriate outfits

Make sure you read up a bit about the places you will be visiting before you pack for your cruise holiday. A number of cruise ships dock at ports in Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, and Tunisia. The backless maxi dress you packed for a hot summer’s day in Italy or the short skirt you packed for Spain will definitely not work in any of those countries. And it’s important to respect the culture of the country that you will be visiting if you don’t want to stand out like a sore thumb. Research beforehand and pack appropriate clothes for the cities you will be visiting. I also love incorporating elements of local cultures in my outfits – homespun elements lend interest to the outfit and make exploration so much more fun.

 

Outfit Details :-

Trousers and top – Zara

Necklace – c/0 Boho Gypsy

Sunglasses – ASOS

 

Cambodia Travel Fashion
It’s best to opt for covered clothes while exploring conservative countries

 

 

Cambodia Travel Fashion
Local accessories lend interest to outfits 🙂

 

 

Phew! That’s it. Some sunscreen and you’re good to go on your holiday.

 

This is our first Lookbook – did you enjoy it or do you prefer individual outfit posts? Leave us a comment below and tell us what you think 🙂

 

FURTHER READING

 

 

 

18 thoughts on “Lookbook – Packing For Cruise Holidays

  1. I love it! Thanks a lot for the great post!
    We used to work on cruise ships and since quitting we have been on one cruise as passengers. It was weird for several reasons; first of all the packing (before we just used the different uniforms for any event!) and secondly we had to get used to the chilling. Especially on turnaround day which used to be the busiest day for us. It was weird sitting on the open deck and sipping on a cocktail – not in a bad way obviously but just SOO different.
    Well, we just decided that we will go on another cruise in February.
    Happy travels guys!

    1. Wow! How was it to work on a cruise ship? I’m always intrigued by the idea of being at sea for long periods of time – can imagine the craziness on turnaround day 😉

      1. We truly loved working on cruise ships! You work long hours, 7 days a week for your entire contract which lasts on average 5 months. It is great to wake up in a different port every day, you get to work with many different nationalities both onboard and ashore and you meet interesting guests. I definitely got to see some places which I otherwise would not have had a chance to visit in my twenties.

        The unconventional lifestyle makes it difficult to ever return to a “normal” life. So I guess we still are in the process of trying to find a way which works for us 😉

        You just inspired me to write a post about our time at sea! Thanks for that!!

        1. True that. I’m sure working on a cruise ship inspires wanderlust. Oh well ‘normal’ is over-rated anyway 🙂

  2. I personally like maxi dresses the best. It works well with all kinds of weather, and then I carry a few cardigans as cover ups whenever needed. And finally I cannot do without my pajama style jersey pants (I wear them with sneaker wedges and a tee) and that’s perfect for road trips or anything that involves a lot of walking.

    xox
    Roxanne

    1. I wouldn’t know what to do without maxi dresses Shikha – I love ’em (as you’ve probably guessed by now 😉 )

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