British Isles Cruise: Shorts in Port and on Excursions?

[ricka47]

We've taken mostly Caribbean cruises, and we live in Florida. So, I live in shorts. We are taking a 12-night British Isles cruise in mid-July and don't want to stand out like a sore thumb by wearing shorts in port and on excursions if that's not the local custom. Any advice would be appreciated; thanks!

[Pink-belle]

No right or wrong to this.  My husband would dress for the weather, it needs to be bright and no chance of a shower for him to wear shorts.  My brother in law who lives in Cornwall wears shorts and flip flops regardless of the weather! 

[ricka47]

1 minute ago, Pink-belle said:

No right or wrong to this.  My husband would dress for the weather, it needs to be bright and no chance of a shower for him to wear shorts.  My brother in law who lives in Cornwall wears shorts and flip flops regardless of the weather! 

Shorts and flip-flops are my daily dress here as well!

[Pink-belle]

1 minute ago, ricka47 said:

Shorts and flip-flops are my daily dress here as well!

Others may not agree, but I would say don’t wear flip flops in port here.  Many of our pavements and walkways are ancient and that means uneven. Flip flops would be uncomfortable. 
also men don’t wear fanny packs, or bum bags as we call them.  Nothing says tourist more than that 😉

[JimmyVWine]

Most of your port stops will be overrun by tourists, so wearing the tourist uniform of shorts and t-shirts would have you fitting right in.  While walking around in shorts in Florence on a workday might make you scream "tourist", walking around Weymouth on a day when one or more cruise ships are in town will put you in the middle of the curve. 

 

Edit to add:  I agree about not wearing flip-flops.  Not from a sartorial standpoint, but because you will do a lot of walking on varied terrain and a better pair of footwear is in order.  We just returned and our step counter app showed that on three of our days, we logged 12,000 steps, 14,000 steps and 17,000 steps. I would rather do that in my Merrill's than in flip-flops. 

Edited May 11, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[ricka47]

Right - flip flops are not good for touring. Our feet would get so sore!

[mtnesterz]

This 40 second scene from British TV show, Top Gear comes to mind. Yeah, you'll stand out.

https://youtu.be/5qjd_SVAnZk

Edited May 11, 2023 by mtnesterz

[Lady Arwen]

In The UK, we look like locals (well, to be fair, my DH is a local), so for excursions,  we take our umbrellas, our slip on waterproof shoe covers and hooded rain jackets all packed in our backpacks, just in case.  We both wear lightweight long pants, sturdy walking shoes and short sleeved shirts topped with a fleece hoodie.  Layers work well, because you just never know.  We never wear shorts or sandals when out on excursions,  but that’s just us.  If it’s cool out, my DH will wear his cap, but never a baseball hat (that’s the Brit in him, although the young men now do wear them).

[Catchum]

Nothing wrong with looking like a tourist - you are on holiday, if it is warm Brits will break out the shorts and BBQ (any excuse will do when you don't have reliable weather). Maybe you will see fewer shorts in cities like Dublin or Edinburgh than at seaside towns. Don't rely on it being warm from a Florida perspective it might be in the 80s or the 60s on the same day.

 

Though the last time we were in Orlando we had to break out the woolly hats and gloves it was freezing.

[federalexpress]

Shorts are fine, if you wear them in Jan in Miami, you should be OK here. Just check the weather cos we can see some pretty heavy downpours in July. As others have said, there's quite a bit of difference from north to south of the UK, so around north Scotland, likely to be somewhat cooler, especially evenings.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

you won’t look odd wearing shorts. If it was a cold day no one would say anything. It’s more a case of if you will be warm/comfortable enough. I agree with no flip flops because of comfort

 

Our weather can be very changeable from one day to the next, and it’s usually a big difference between S. England and N. Scotland

 

Southampton July 25C would be pretty normal

(last July we had 32C which we are not used to at all! And we moaned about it a LOT 😂)

 

Equally Orkney N Scotland July 15C would be pretty normal 

 

Advice-

take layers you can add to / take away

Comfy shoes because of the walking you’ll do, and the surfaces you’ll walk on

A waterproof jacket (light or pack-away should be fine)

What excursions are you planning on?

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

[TM]

We did this British Isles cruise in 2019 and it was preceded by a Norwegian Fjords cruise.  I wore shorts every day, even on chilly days in Norway, and never did feel out of place.  My wife typically wore capri or regular length pants each day.  Wear whatever is comfortable for you.

[newport dave]

Just dress for the weather, you'll see loads wearing shorts if it's nice enough. Our postmen wear them virtually all year round... 

[niknot]

Currently on the Regal Princess - over the past few days I have noticed locals wearing shorts in Cobh, Cork and in Dublin. The temperatures have been between 50 and 60 degrees (sorry, too lazy to convert to Celsius). 
 

As others have said, wear what makes you comfortable.

[nini]

My BIL wore shorts most days for our Alaska cruise, just because that is who he is. In all fairness, it was never really that cold. Flip flops are fine for being on the ship, however as has been mentioned for off of the ship, you will be walking on uneven ground, etc.

Edited May 12, 2023 by nini

[dxmedia]

July in the UK, will probably be raining, it hasn't stopped for more than 2 days here since before Christmas. But I also wear shorts most of the year too so you'll be fine. Just check the weather each day.

[jdacombe]

No problem at all in wearing shorts, I live about 25 miles north of Portland and wear shorts 9 months of the year.

Agree what others have said about flip flops on shore, would not recommend it.

If Portland is on your itinerary there are several good attractions in the area, a couple: The Nothe Fort, the old harbour area in Weymouth, if you are able to do so visit Portland Bill or get a view of the stunning Chesil Beach

[DCThunder]

Get a pair or two of pants that have legs that zip off around the knee.  If it's cool in the morning, wear the long pants, then zip off the bottoms to make shorts when/if it warms up.  It's a bit more difficult to put the bottom of the legs back on while wearing the pants, but it's doable.  I got some on Amazon a couple of years ago and they're great for travel.