Formal or casual? How to pack for a cruise

Cruise packing can easily go wrong, and the biggest mistake is overpacking. I, personally, have sat despairing atop an overstuffed suitcase battling to zip it closed. And, more recently, I’ve been vigilant to ensure my suitcase does not weigh over 50 pounds -- the new airline limit.
What I’ve learned from experience and misery is that there’s no one-size-fits-all when packing for a cruise. How you dress often depends less on your taste than your cruise line. But after dozens of cruises I finally figured out some packing basics.Buy the perfect formal evening dresses by online store.
For many passengers, dressing up in the evening is one of the big attractions of a cruise; others truly dread it. But these days you don’t have to fashion yourself after the latest issue of Vogue to enjoy cruising. Dress codes have loosened up along with dining options, all in response to the changing tastes of the many passengers who prefer a more relaxed shipboard atmosphere. For example, Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Freestyle Cruising” policy calls for “resort casual” attire; Windstar Cruises has also gone resort casual.

However, formal dress standards are enforced on such luxury cruise lines as Crystal Cruises, Cunard, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line and Silversea Cruises. On Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 trans-Atlantic crossings, formal attire is expected on three of the six evenings at sea. Some luxury lines do waive formal dress requirements for some itineraries. On my recent Alaska sailing with Regent Seven Seas, for example, there were no formal nights, only “country club casual” evenings. Conversely, some passengers on casual cruises like to indulge in swanky attire on occasion. Attend formal night on a Carnival ship, and you’ll see passengers decked out in ball gowns and diamonds alongside those wearing T-shirts and spandex.
With attire running the gamut from L.L. Bean to Neiman Marcus, it can be hard to know what to pack. But don’t fret. Your cruise line will send you information spelling out its dress policy for your cruise. The one thing you really need to keep in mind is that cruise cabins are very small, so you have to pack smart.