Your Cruise Wardrobe

Having a good and versitile wardrobe is essential in making a good cruise into a fantastic cruise.  Everyone has their own idea of what makes a good wardrobe and for me it is having a good selection of formal gowns, cocktail dresses, evening casual, day wear and beachwear to choose from.  It should include classic, timeless designs that can be worn again and again.  It has taken us around eight years to create and grow our cruise wardrobe and it does include several formal gowns from our first cruise which we still used to this day. 

New bag for 2016 cruise

Our wardrobe also includes a large selection of evening bags and on a 14-day cruise I will normally take 3-5 while Karen takes 1-2 staple bags.  When it comes to bags there is no right or wrong but what just suits you.  
Shoes is something that you need to think about.  For evening wear we usually have 2-3 pairs each.  When it comes to day wear I would suggest you consider what activities you are planning on doing.  If you are going to do a lot of walking off ship I would suggest you wear an old pair of comfy shoes, sandals or trainers that you know are not going to give you blisters.  
It is now just under 8 weeks until our next cruise and having a cruise rail or wardrobe makes life so much easier.  By this time you should know how many formal nights your cruise will have and on a 14 night cruise and there will typically be 4 formal and 10 evening casual.  One of the formal nights is always a black and white night.  Many ladies typically have a black dress and use white accessories such as a handbag, jacket, shoes or gloves.  Formal attire for men it is a penquin suit (tuxedo), dress uniform or national dress.  
For me the dressing up is a something I enjoy doing and look forward to the formal nights.  If you do not want to adhere to the ships dress codes you will not normally be allowed to dine in the restaurants and will have to eat in the self-service food courts.  There are several cruise lines that have abolish formal dress code and they are:  

• Azmara Club Cruises  

• NCL

• Oceania Cruises  

• Windstar Cruises 

Everyone has their own idea of what is an appropriate dress for evening casual and when I have been asked my advice is to wear an outfit that you feel comfortable in, having eating room is essential.  Wear an outfit that you would normally wear if you were going to a nice restaurant that would be my advice to first time cruisers.  
What clothes you pack are often defined by the type of cruise and destinations you will be visiting.  Sunny destinations like the Caribbean you will pack more beachwear and somewhere like the Baltic you may pack more day wear.  My advice would be that if you are cruising during the summer months I would take a mix of both because there are sea days on whatever cruise you choose.  Also be aware of what clothes are approprate when visiting different countries.  Shorts and skimpy tops may not be appropriate when visiting religious sites.
When we started cruising we didn't know what a cruise wardrobe was but it is something that you quickly pick up especially if you intend to continue cruising.  It does take time to built up your wardrobe but once you started it does become an invaluable asset.  It is not just the dresses or suits but it is also the accessories that can embellish your outfits.