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Thank you for the Amazon link! These look perfect. Just ordered a set.

I am so happy to see pictures of this room. Thank you! I just booked a junior suite with large balcony for Ovation of the Seas in Alaska. I am thinking I will love the larger balcony for site seeing. I have never stayed in a regular junior suite, but the square layout of this room makes it look less cramped.

Hi! I am really trying to get motivated to begin pre packing this weekend! Just wondering what a good "basic" packing list would be for me, dh and ds(13)!:confused: we will all 3 be in a balcony stateroom that I have heard has limited closet/storage space!:eek: I would love to hear what your short, but sweet list is????;)

I told you I'd get back to you on the closet situation. We had plenty of room for the two of us. I think with careful planning you can accommodate 3. I assume your son won't have that much to pack, mostly shorts, swim trunks and T shirts plus some dinner wear. Encourage him to have just a couple of slacks if you're eating in the MDR and just wear them a few times. DH got by with just 2 pair of khaki pants for the 5 non formal nights. And I noticed most men wearing short sleeve shirts (button down or polo style) on non formal nights.

OK, so back to the closet: There are six shelves on one side all about 16" wide. The top one is short, so good for shoes. I slid my packing cubes right into 3 of these. The bottom ones are extra high so you could stack packing cubes. Plenty of room for T shirts, pjs etc. There is a high shelf across the hanging section and I fit 5 pairs of my shoes across there. I put DH's shoes in the bottom. There is a double rod, so hanging space on top and bottom. Ton of hangers! I had my stuff mostly on my own velvet hangers, so I put the wood ones on the bottom to clear some room. Or you could leave the hangers at home and save luggage space. The only bad part is the lower rod goes almost all the way across leaving only about 12" of hanging space for long items. Since I packed so many dresses, this was a bit tight for me. I know others have complained about getting into the closet, but I found the space manageable.

There are 3 drawers in the vanity. The top one is shallow and holds the hair dryer. I also stored my costume jewelry bags in there. I don't bother with the safe as I don't have truly expensive stuff. There are two deeper drawers. I put DH's swim trunks in one and we didn't even use the other one. There are 2 narrow cabinets, top and bottom at the vanity for sunscreen. lotions, makeup, etc. The bathroom has 3 hooks on the back of the door plus two high wall hooks near the sink. We easily hung our toiletry bags here. There are 2 hooks in the shower for a loofah or such, plus a corner caddy for shampoos etc. We didn't need all the space, but there are cute small shelves in the bathroom for all your toiletry needs.

I had packed my over the door shoe storage bag and didn't even need it. We did have two Royal Caribbean robes waiting for us in the closet. These were bulky and took up too much room. I stuffed them in the bottom, but should have just asked for them to be removed.

I noticed our room had a rectangle in the ceiling which I assume was one of the pull down beds. I wish I could have seen it down. This looks like a better option than opening up the sofa bed.

And since I'm discussing the room here, even though it's a fashion thread, I wanted to say I liked the bed near the closet layout. I know so many want the other, but I liked having floor space near the balcony.

I'll report back later on my actual fashion items.

Oh yeah, I've already done that too! I bought a set of blue velvet hangers and all the stuff that makes the cut gets put on those hangers. And yes, some things thought they were going, but then they were replaced.

I do the color scheme thing like your friend so most things are mix and match. This time my daytime clothes are all in neutrals, tan, olive green, cream etc. Think safari, with some fun prints thrown in. I have some fun scarves to add color. My nighttime wardrobe will be mostly black and champagne/gold.

Thanks! that is very helpful info! I look forward to dressing up and all for our cruise!:D But, I don't want to have more stuff than I have room for!:eek:

Since you are traveling after us, I will try to see if I see a problem fitting clothes for three when I am on the Oasis. I need to add my sail date to my siggy, but I am leaving on 3/26/11. Since they are the same room layouts, I will let you know how well I can fit our clothes and if there is any extra room.

I shopped too much and now have a couple of extra dresses that I think are soooo cute, but since I can't find a specific time to wear them, I will have to leave them behind. DH makes fun of me nonstop. I told him to ask the other husbands in our group on the last night, "How many clothes did your wife pack that she hasn't worn yet?" Of course he won't for real, but I assured him I may only have an extra Tshirt or pair of underwear.

I don't know if anyone on here is likely to pack a robe. But I just bought a long sleeve hoodie zippered swim coverup from Land's End. I thought it looked frumpy online. But when I tried it on it was so versatile. I can wear it as a robe on the balcony, over a swim suit to walk to the hot tub, or as a coverup on our excursions if it's windy on the catamaran.

Jack's mom, I think it's so hard to pack just the essentials, but I'm trying to eliminate items myself. Shoes seem to be a problem. While I would LOVE to bring several dressy shoes as where else can I show them off, I have managed to narrow it down to two pair, gold sandals and black heels. I am also bringing some black wedge sandals that work for day or night. And I'm cutting out extra flip flops and sticking with one good pair that is nice enough for lunch, but can be worn poolside.

For evenings besides formal nights I bring 1 pair of dress black pants that can be worn a few times with different fun tops. I also tend to bring simple dresses as that is 1 item vs. pants/tank top/jacket combo. Also my black tank dress works for lunch/bars/dancing/and even a coverup over a swim suit.

If you haven't tried this, midweek there is a laundry special to fill a bag with small items. DH and I put in underwear, his socks, my pjs and a T shirt or 2 if it will fit. This lets us rewear it all at the end of the week. I'm not sure if you can get the special on more than 1 bag per cabin, but you can ask.

I also use the lightweight packing cubes for my foldable clothes. Then I put the whole cube as is in a drawer or on a closet shelf and pull it out when I need it. One for underwear, one for T-shirts, one for pjs, one for swim suits etc.

I know you were looking for a list, but I don't have one handy.

After many hours of shopping I think I have a very nice mix and match daytime wardrobe worthy of the cruise. I'm happy to see that the safari look is in. There are so many olives and tans and browns and creams to choose from. I must confess that a couple of items are actually a cool, more blue tone dark green rather than a true yellow based olive. But I still like them. I have been trying to stick with the warm beige rather than the cool colors, and I even returned some things that I discovered were wrong for me. For the first time I am leaving home almost all of my black tops. Just bring the black pants and bringing color to the top. There is so much great fun jewelry to choose from now too!

I hope your makeup consult is a lot of fun. Then you will look beautiful the rest of the day.

DH caught me trying on clothes today. I told him I was picking out my boarding outfit. He teased me of course that the "boarding outfit was critical". I told him it is, because that outfit will be packed in our carry on. His rolling carry on will have to have our things for the hotel in FLL and the clothes for Sat. Morning. That way we can leave our large luggage untouched on Friday night. Also on our first cruise not one piece of our checked luggage arrived with us. Luckily we retrieved it at the airport in time to board the next day, wearing the clothes we flew in!

I completely agree about having fun and relaxing onboard because there is NO STRESS. At home I may try on 3 outfits before going out. While cruising I will waste no time on that. I love having one week where my only decisions are what to order to eat! Of course thanks to CC and helpful links I have skimmed the menus already.

I forgot to mention how cute your outfits are. Love the slim metallic belt. And i adore the sling back shoes from a few posts ago.

Oh, Indiana, I have to smile. :)

I also put small cards in each jewelry baggie with the outfit listed and what shoes go with it. I was just too embarrassed to admit how much I plan! I poked holes in the cards and just slipped the earrings through the holes to keep them handy. And of course I have a list of which outfit is for which night.

I will pack all these in my carry on, but once onboard I will store them in the over the door shoe holder that so many people recommend. In fact I've been testing this holder by putting my items in it now, shoes, flat iron, scarves, jewelry etc just to see how well it holds everything.

I am a bit more flexible with my daytime clothes as I'm not sure what we will feel like doing each day.

I just spent 3 hours trying on clothes at Marshall's this week. And I was already set for cruise clothes! I do hate to shop retail so I am a Marshalls/TJMaxx gal. However I did buy a few lovely items at Chicos, a fun bolero and a gold crochet sweater, plus tank and travel pants. I am ordering some swim suits from Lands End as they actually have suits with my much needed 36DDD bra inside. I think I've gone overboard with swim coverups, I just bought a fab black Calvin Klein dress that I'm using for one.

I picked out all my jewelry this week. I love fun, inexpensive costume stuff and I rarely get to show it off. So I have 7 sandwich baggies packed with a set of earrings, necklace, rings, bracelet in each. Pretty anal, I know so go ahead and make fun. But each is for one dinner outfit and now nothing will be tangled, jumbled etc. plus I'll bring some generic daytime stuff to mix in during the week.

This has been helpful as I'm pretty sure I'm an earth. It's made me rethink my cruise pallet. I'm adding more champagne golds and removing some black tops. I never thought I looked good in any blues, but I just bought a fabulous teal/aqua wrap that I think will work. I will have to pay more attention in the future to the exact colors I buy.

Cute dresses! I especially like the black and white one!

I was motivated to try on several dresses today while procrastinating on my housework. I will have to take pictures too.

As for evening purses, I have a thing for buying vintage ones at thrift/antique shops. I love using these great older styles if they are nice and clean. Usually they have a small chain so I can hang the purse on my chair. If I have a clutch I usually tuck it below my chair. I am trusting no one to walk off with it.

I have found my soul sisters!

I too, plan every detail of my cruise wear! I try everything on and make a list of what I'll wear each day/night. This takes all the stress out of dressing on the cruise. no decisions to make. Also it prevents overpacking, (except maybe for shoes).

I just bought 3 dresses this week, all a nice travel knit that will work well for days and even casual nights. I prefer dresses because it's one item vs shorts plus top, and they are comfy and so versatile! Since I am a size 12/14 and too self conscious for bathing suits, I always top one off with a cute sundress. No need to remove unless I'm actually getting in water.

I'm wearing a formal long skirt with fancy top one formal night. I'm a bit worried because they are black velvet and may be out of place. But my other formal dress is a fun green satin cocktail dress ala MadMen. I confess to bringing at least 3 evening purses, 2 formal and one all purpose one. Plus I'll have a beach/ daytime carry all. Since jewelry is so compact, I bring a different set for each evening. We travel with the same group each cruise so I see the same 12 people each evening.

Thanks for a fun thread!