How much clothing to pack for 12 day cruise

[Putz]

Just a quick survey to see how much clothing you pack for a 12 day cruise plus 1 night pre and post cruise stay. Do you take enough to last the full trip or do you do laundry half way through? I don't believe Millennium has self-serve laundry, do they? Can you use a travel iron on board?

 

Thanks.

 

Lynn

[sueclark]

None of the Celebrity ships have a self-serve laundry. They do offer laundry/dry cleaning service.

 

Most of our sailings are 11+ days. I usually have some of the clothes laundered. They do a good job and the prices are reasonable. I don't try to pack different clothes for all the days. We all have the things we are most comfortable wearing, so I pack those and have them do the laundry!

[Lotsacruising]

I was on a 14 night cruise this past may and I actually packed for 14 days with 2 outfits per day. What a dumb dumb! I had so much luggage and of course I did not wear everything. My next long cruise next may I am swearing to bring half as much.

 

I did find I could wash in the sink the small things and dry them on the balcony.

 

:rolleyes:

[Hilary]

I agree, plan to have things laundered mid-trip. Also there's no rule that says you can't wear something twice to dinner. My husband and I have gotten to the point where we take shorts and t-shirts for daytime wear (and bathing suits of course!), and just a few outfits that we can mix and match for dinners. For evenings, I have pants and tops (that can interchange), a couple of sun dresses, and 1 or 2 cocktail dresses (for formal nights). My husband takes slacks and shirts, a sport coat, and rents a tux for formal nights.

 

Believe it or not, we can get away with packing only 2 bags for clothing for an 11 nighter!! We usually spread it amongst 3 bags though since we like to have extra room for anything we buy on our trip. Our 4th bag is for our dive gear.

[ISABELLA]

We just came back from Med. 12 days cruise with 1 night pre and post cruise. I have packed 2 colors mix/ match outfits for days and evenings.

2 pairs of shoes for evenings and 2 pairs comfortable walking shoes. I did light clothes washing in the room, when needed. I even worn some outfits on the begining of the cruise and end, so did not looked repeated.For DH - one suit with 2 dress shirts ( we had 2 formal nights), few pairs of casual pants, pair of shorts, poloshirts and some with long sleeve to cover any weather. One sweater each. Did not even took the out of suitcase. Light waight rain jackets. We had more than enought clothes and I fit all clothes into one large suitcase, wheeled garment bag, and two carryons. I used space bags, which allowed me to take a lot of stuff and not a lot of luggage. After taking 26 cruises I am tired to bring back clothes that I never worn during the cruise. I' ve learned my lesson.

[CruisingChick]

Someone needs to teach me to pack. I always have left over outfits that don't get worn, wether it's a 7, 10, or 13 night cruise. I guess I just can't make up my mind what to bring.

 

I do usually bring 2 outfits per day, plus one or two "emergency" outfits.

[ISABELLA]

Key word - MIX/MATCH - two / three colors. One skirt or pants with 2-3 tops. It also eleminates extra pairs of shoes.

[stephy1]

I have agree with the other posters, don't bring extra clothes. Just mix and match. Also, we take a ziplock bag of laundry detergent and just hand wash things in the sink and dry stuff either on the balcony or the clothes line in the bathroom. In most cases you can wear your shorts more than once, it's not worth lugging all that extra stuff with you.

We did a 14 day cruise and only took about a weeks worth of clothes. The only thing I over packed was underwear and socks.

 

Stephanie

[tuggers]

I used to bring a shorts outfit for each day plus dinner clothes but sea days I stayed in bathing suit all day and used a cotton dress looking coverup to go to breakfast and lunch. Now I only bring the shorts outfits for ports days. That's like 6 pairs or shorts instead of 12! Plus the shirts! Big savings! I also have some long slinky material tank dresses that I can put fancy, chiffon blouses over for a different look at dinner and get more than one wearing. I, too, would bring things home unworn.

Now, I don't press a lot of things before I leave. When I get on board, any shorts or things that are too wrinkled for wrinkle release I put in bags for cleaners to press. Last time was 3 pairs or shorts and a pair of capris for $6.25! It's my vacation! Simplyfy!! :)

 

I also use space bags but only for the return trip so I have room for what I bought. And as I take off something I know I won't wear again, I pull the suitcase from under the bed and put it in. Then the last night I'm about half packed.

[slverbell]

My problem wasn't the clothes so much, but the shoes. I had to practically bring a pair of shoes for every outfit I had. Now I bring enough clothes for half the trip. I bring extra tshirts and a scarf or two to change the look on an outfit that I already worn. I bring a pair of sandles and walking shoes, I bring one pair of dress shoes and 1 dressy sandle. I pack only crochet bags because I can mix and match them to my outfits and they don't take a lot of room. The best part of doing this is that if I find a cute outfit or two on the trip I don't feel quilty. The laundry staff does a good job with the laundering and I usually have that done at least once. One suitcase and a carryon, and a small bag for my beauty items and personal items.

[CINDYSUE]

Just about busted the zippers on the suitcases, but we packed for 15 day Hawaiin cruise last year. Checked the two suitcases we were allowed and took a smaller one as a carryon. I had clothes to spare and didn't use the laundry on the ship. And I am a clothes horse, even on a cruise. Didn't wear same outfit twice, etc. You can do it!!!!!

[shipperx]

Be careful with the handwashing the water pulls the color out of some materials. Just a quick rinse with a mild shampoo will do just fine.

[Putz]

Wow...I went out for a few hours and came back to all these great replies. Thanks so much for your help. We've always done 7-day Caribbean cruises and I've packed enough for the week. Sounds like we'll take enough for 1/2 the trip and send stuff to the laundry. I used Tilley Endurables on our last vacation. Their quick dry socks and underwear are fantastic (only need 2 pairs of each)...only take about 4-6 hours to dry.

 

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

 

Lynn

[akeka]

I can't remember (since it's been about 2 years since my last Celebrity cruise) if Celebrity offers laundry specials (such as so much money for as much as you can fit in a bag).

 

Can anyone comment? Thanks.