Nervous I won't fit in

Hi

My mum and dad have booked our first ever cruise on a Cunard ship on 18th July for 21 days. Its a cruise around the Med and although I am looking forward to seeing all the different destinations I am nervous about the formality of cruises

As my parents and I have never cruised before we don't know what to expect.

Probably all silly questions I know for experienced cruisers however I would really appreciate advise on the following:

1. How much luggage can you take. its a 21 day cruise from Livorno, Italy and I was wondering how much I need to pack for three weeks

2. What would I be expected to wear on formal and semi formal nights. Can you get away with most things as long as they look smart

3. What would I wear on informal nights

4. Will there be much for someone my age (I am 16) to do on board ship. Will there be many my age on board. I don't really want to hang out with my parents all the time and they probably want their space anyway

Thanks everyone for any help you can give

Jules :)

Hi

 

My mum and dad have booked our first ever cruise on a Cunard ship on 18th July for 21 days. Its a cruise around the Med and although I am looking forward to seeing all the different destinations I am nervous about the formality of cruises

 

As my parents and I have never cruised before we don't know what to expect.

 

Probably all silly questions I know for experienced cruisers however I would really appreciate advise on the following:

 

1. How much luggage can you take. its a 21 day cruise from Livorno, Italy and I was wondering how much I need to pack for three weeks

2. What would I be expected to wear on formal and semi formal nights. Can you get away with most things as long as they look smart

3. What would I wear on informal nights

4. Will there be much for someone my age (I am 16) to do on board ship. Will there be many my age on board. I don't really want to hang out with my parents all the time and they probably want their space anyway

 

Thanks everyone for any help you can give

Jules :)

Hi,

I was just perusing the boards and came across your post and, seeing as no-one has answered yet, I will get you started. First of all, three weeks in the Med, lucky you :)

1/ This depends on how you are arriving, assuming it is by plane then it will be down to your airline's weight restrictions (which is why sailing from southampton or another home port has major advantages!). I wouldn't try to pack for the whole three weeks, as it will be virtually impossible, maybe a week-10 days and then plan on laundering and reusing some items? It will be hot in the Med, so you can pack lighter items and get more in your case.

2/3 I have only done 1 Cunard trip, QM2 during her inaugural year in 2004 across the Atlantic. I knew it would be full of people who liked to dress up to the nines, and so we spent a LOT of money on posh dresses for the ladies in our group (and tuxes for the men). I have never worn any of my dresses since!

I believe that, although formality still prevails more so on this line than on some others, you can actually get away without turning up in a long evening gown (of course, wear one if you want to) and a nice smart dress and bag will suffice (there will be endless choice in the shops for a young lady like you). Similarly for semi-formal and informal, just choose something you want to wear and looks smart - don't worry - you are 16, so will look gorgeous whatever you wear!

4/ Having not sailed on this ship, I can't say with any accuracy but, seeing as it's near the summer holidays, I would have thought there would be more teens onboard, and the ship will cater for them. Perhaps someone who cruises with Cunard more often can answer this, and all your other questions, in more detail.

Have fun :)

PS, if you are a young man, apologies for calling you a young lady and advice on dresses!

Thanks Nelly. I appreciate your advise. I still think I will be a fish out of water and won't look the part on formal nights. Thanks for your advise though

Jules

I feel exactly the same way. My hubby and I are going on our first cruise to the Med in November. It looks like the people that travel on these ships are way more formal than we are as well. We are in our 30s and wanted to go to that area. At that time. And am very insecure about this cruse. I'm afraid we won't have anything to do for our age. And I don't have a wardrobe to wear on the boat. We are jeans and t-shirt people. I guess we will have to do some shopping....

It does not look ike the Cunard group likes to chat on CC...

we are looking at the QE on Sept 5th.....my reluctance stems from the thought of it being way too formal for our taste...

Wish I had some first hand knowledge of exactly how formal it is???

Any one???

eclue:rolleyes:

You can let me know when you go! I will be a couple of months behind you. With the same reluctance. My hubby and I went shopping this weekend to get him a suit and coat and nice clothes for the trip. We spent WAY TOO MUCH!!:(

You can let me know when you go! I will be a couple of months behind you. With the same reluctance. My hubby and I went shopping this weekend to get him a suit and coat and nice clothes for the trip. We spent WAY TOO MUCH!!:(

I will definitely let you know.......we cruise quite a bit so I have cruise clothes but they are more casual...I am definitely not the evening gown type and my husband wears khakis and a dress shirt, no tie, with sports jacket for formal nights...I wear glittery tops or short dresses....never had a problem...

There is a thread on the Cunard page showing lots of photos, etc...check it out.

eclue:cool:

I will definitely let you know.......we cruise quite a bit so I have cruise clothes but they are more casual...I am definitely not the evening gown type and my husband wears khakis and a dress shirt, no tie, with sports jacket for formal nights...I wear glittery tops or short dresses....never had a problem...

There is a thread on the Cunard page showing lots of photos, etc...check it out.

eclue:cool:

Hi there. I think you will find that Cunard cruisers do dress up more than some of the other cruise lines. It is something that I personally like. Maybe it is a "British" thing. On formal nights the majority of men wear tuxes and the ladies wear long dresses. Of course, if you do not wish to dress up you can use the buffet on board.

Do hope you really enjoy your cruise and enjoy Cunard. The ships themselves are very elegant.

Rgds

Pat

Hi

If you post your questions on the ships forum and not the roll call you will get lots more varied answers.

Don't be nervous there are so many variations of outfits I am sure you will fit in just fine.

Being the school holidays there should be some fellow teenagers on board who usually hang out by the pool and the table tennis area and there are teen events in the evenings in the club area:D

Hi

My husband and I took our first cunard cruise in May and loved it! We have taken over 30 cruises on other lines. I was very nervous about fitting in and we we're fine. There we're people in tuxes and ball gowns, but many others were less formally attired. My husband wore a nice suit and tie on formal nights and a sport jacket on the other nights. I wore both short and long dresses, but no ball gowns. We never felt out of place and really enjoyed ourselves, so much so that we have booked two more cruises on cunard for spring 2015. You will have a good time I'm sure!