What to wear on a cruise: The discerning traveler’s guide to packing & dressing well

formal night portrait — Yes, there are still formal nights on most cruise lines – a gown and a tux will always be right.

There are two questions potential cruisers ask us about their on-board wardrobe:

What should I wear?
How should I pack?

It comes down to three fundamental issues: the cruise line you’re traveling on, where you’re going on the cruise (and of course the time of year goes along with this), and how much luggage you plan to take. Of course, underlying all of this is the discerning travel assumption that you want to dress well: dressing well meaning that you are comfortable, appropriate for your destination, and looking good. Let’s begin with cruise lines.

Cruise lines have dress codes. These dress codes (and their interpretations) vary widely and are largely, but not entirely, dependent upon the “category” of the cruise line you choose – and how cruise lines are categorized varies as well. For example, the cruise blog “All Things Cruise” classifies them into the following categories: contemporary (others call this group “mainstream”, upscale contemporary, premium, ultra-premium and ultra-luxury. [See their complete listing HERE.]. If we were to use their approach to categorization, we travel exclusively on ultra- premium and ultra-luxury cruise lines (Silversea, Regent and Seabourn fall into the ultra-luxury category, Oceania into ultra-premium for example) – but of course there’s also Cunard which transcends the norms because it has the usual dress codes in addition to three classes of service.

There are also those confusing dress code labels: formal, informal, casual, smart casual, country club casual and the list goes on. The cruise lines do provide descriptions even if they are occasionally a bit opaque. And don’t get us started on the extent to which the cruise lines fail to observe their own rules by not turning away inappropriately dressed cruisers from dining venues (there’s always a place to dine if you insist on wearing your baseball cap to dinner – just not in the dining room).

We have noticed that although over the years dress codes have generally become more informal, on some of the cruise lines you can expect people to dress well all the time. In fact, we recently read of cruisers new to Silversea who felt decidedly out of place in their “casual” wear even on casual evenings. Casual to the average Silversea cruiser is a step or two up from the norm. You won’t find T-shirts or ball caps on Silversea casual nights – although it can happen and these are the guests who tend to feel very out of place (and they do get the stink-eye from many fellow guests!).

Coco Chanel once said that being well-dressed is a “beautiful form of politeness” and that suits our personal approach to life. We have our own interpretation of the dress codes, and it has never made us feel the least bit out of place. Our general mantra is: dress up a bit. On a casual evening, go smart casual. On informal evenings, go cocktail. On formal – well, go all out. So, here’s how we do it and some of the travel-friendly clothing brands we love (strictly our own unbiased opinions – we get no freebies from anyone).

First, let’s consider the difference between what we might wear on a Caribbean cruise where every day is in a casual, tropical port, and a Mediterranean cruise where you might well be in a big city every day. For tropical weather, you need casual tropical clothes: the Caribbean is casual and laid-back, but the evening on your cruise ship might be more dressed up.

In European cities, you need to be mindful of the weather at the time of year you cruise, and be prepared to walk long distances among people who are generally dressed for their usual work day whatever that might entail. In some senses, dressing simply amounts to common sense. Be respectful of your surroundings and the people who live there; be respectful of yourself by dressing in a thoughtful and comfortable way. And no big sneakers and fanny packs! But that’s just us. But then, how do you pack for all of these eventualities. [Art in Sienna, Italy on excursion and Patty on board a Regent ship in Europe a few years back…]

For us, that means selecting types of clothing and brands that travel especially well, and taking pieces that can do double duty. Here are some examples from our recent trip to South America…

Art took three or four Columbia shirts with him and an Orvis (below – top right shirt). Believe it or not, each of these shirts is easily hand-washable and over-night dry-able. They look like real clothes rather than “travel wear.” Columbia is well-priced and easily packable – and looks good!

But not to be outdone, Columbia makes some terrific choices for women as well…

But those Columbia shirts Art wears aren’t just for day-time touring. The right one with a jacket in the evening takes him to dinner on a casual night (remember, casual on a Silversea ship is this kind of dressing)…

In addition to Columbia, Art likes Tilley shirts. They’re more expensive than Columbia, but they last for years…

…and unless we’re headed to the Caribbean or the South Pacific, we don’t leave home without a packable jacket — Cole Haan is a favourite…

…then there are the evenings. Finding packable evening wear isn’t as challenging as it might appear. There are several approaches. First, Art has a wonderful new tuxedo which, since it’s Italian wool, actually packs well. But how can he make a tux do double duty? The wonderful sales associate at “Tom’s Place” in Toronto where he bought the new tux last fall, suggested that this shawl-collared jacket would be terrific as a dinner jacket on a more informal night. So, that’s what it became…

formaltux

dinner jacket

But what about cocktail dresses and formal gowns? Patty has found that Joseph Ribkoff and Frank Lyman are probably the best for “packability.” And now she has added a Lisa Drader-Murphy (all Canadian designers) to her list.

…and a Lauren Ralph Lauren jersey gown never goes astray…

formal lauren gown

…with the SJP (Sara Jessica Parker) sparkly shoes, anything can look dressed up! Patty has owned a strapless Joseph Ribkoff gown for about ten years. Paired with a variety of little jackets, it looks like a completely different dress each time she wears it on a cruise.

formal ribkoff gown

Let’s finish off with a family portrait from the Queen Mary a few years back when our son joined us. Formal nights on Cunard are true formal nights. Love it!

Now it’s time to decide what to pack for the upcoming Asian cruise!

Why we’re not loyal to one cruise line

On more than one occasion in the past we have referred to ourselves as (if you will pardon the expression) “cruise whores.” In other words, we are not monogamous – we cruise around so to speak. Despite the fact that we have never taken a cruise that we didn’t enjoy, we have been making our way around the industry (avoiding several specific lines because of personal experience and research). We might even describe our behavior as moving up the cruise food chain so to speak. Here’s our story.

We like to travel. We like to travel by plane, train (well, not train so much after that overnight “hotel train” between Paris and Barcelona a few years ago), limo, car, foot etc. We just like to experience new places. We sometimes stay in one place for a while; sometimes we stay only a day and move on, either by car or by ship. Despite the snotty travelers who are disdainful of the ‘travel’ value of a cruise, we do enjoy them. They are our way to sample many different places in the world, some of which we have returned to for longer visits. The point is that cruise travel is just one more way for us to see the world. We no longer book cruises just for that week in the sun in the middle of the winter. We’re not knocking that, but for us cruising has taken on another whole dimension.

The first cruise: Carnival

Our first cruise plans began much like any other family’s vacation plans. We had a young child, we wanted to escape the winter briefly, and we had only a week or two of winter vacation. So, we contacted our trusty travel agent (if you want to know why we use a travel agent, you might want to read Why you need a travel agent…really) who chose Carnival cruises for that first trip.

“I would never put you on Carnival if you were going by yourselves,” he said, knowing our tastes and preferences. “But since you’re taking a child, I’d recommend this to you.”

And so we booked a verandah cabin and made our way to Miami. Needless to say we had a wonderful time. This was in spite of the multitude of drunken spring-breakers who spent the entire cruise camped out on the deck, never once even making it into the dining room. The dining was therefore blissful! The kids’ club was a real treat for our young son, and we were introduced to a number of Caribbean islands that we had not at that time visited. We’ve been back many times since, but we have never returned to Carnival.

Why have we not returned to Carnival? You might ask. The reason is the same one that keeps us off NCL and Royal Caribbean: not our kind of experience. The glitzy décor, the loud passengers, the too-happy cruise directors, the big, showy performances nightly (OK unless you’ve seen a London West End show or been to Broadway in New York) – well, let’s just say that we’ve evolved. So it was on to Holland America.

Setting sail on Holland America

We sailed on Holland America three times, including our wonderful Christmas Cruise. We started out in what was then referred to as a Superior Verandah suite (now called the Signature Suite) for the size enhancement, but that began our upward move toward larger and larger suites. The next two cruises on HAL were in Deluxe Verandah suites (now called the Neptune Suite) and we would actually return to this line for the right itinerary.

Celebrity: Second time not up to expectations

The exquisite Qsine on the Celebrity Summit.

We spent our twentieth wedding anniversary on the Celebrity Century in the Mediterranean. Splurging on a Royal suite, we didn’t realize that we were setting ourselves up for a few expensive vacations. After this kind of accommodation – and being in the Med – how could we ever return to a ‘normal’ cruise in the Caribbean in a regular stateroom? Well, we couldn’t. Our return to Celebrity was a couple of winters ago when we wanted to sail out of Puerto Rico; unfortunately, the experience didn’t meet our expectations despite the Jacuzzi on our large, private verandah on the Millennium(although we did enjoy ourselves as always).

Cruise lines always say they want to “exceed your expectations.” The problem with that is when your expectations, like ours evidently tend to be, are very high, it’s difficult if not impossible for the line to accomplish this. If a line can meet our expectations, we’re delighted. Exceed? Well maybe this upcoming one will (more about that later).

Moving up the cruise food chain: Regent Seven Seas

Our desire to move up in terms of luxury cruising (despite their “modern luxury” advertising tag line, Celebrity does not fall into this category: they would be considered premium) led us to Regent. We embarked on our first Regent cruise on the Navigator in a Navigator Suite (448 square feet) in Fort Lauderdale to set sail for a Western Caribbean cruise including Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, places we wanted to visit – or revisit in the case of Mexico.

Regent was our first so-called real luxury cruise experience, and the first one that is all-inclusive. This is a wonderful addition since you never have to take out your key card to sign for your drinks, and your suite is equipped with a well-stocked, included bar. If you don’t want to socialize, you simply pour yourself a drink and repair to your private verandah.

Overall, the cruise was wonderful. The Navigator was, up until that point in our lives, the smallest ship we’d ever been on: 490 passengers. We loved that part of the experience, but were unaware that Regent cruises from Florida carried a much higher number of older passengers. To be clear: we were in our fifties-sixties and were among the youngest dozen passengers on the ship! One evening we took a foray into the piano lounge to find it resembling the day room in a high-priced senior’s home!

Art on board the Regent Seven Seas Mariner in Montenegro. It was a great trip, but not a ship we want to revisit this winter in the Caribbean.

Our next Regent experience was on the larger Mariner leaving from Monte Carlo onward to Venice. Our Penthouse suite was a bit smaller than the Navigator suite, but with its floor to ceiling windows we could sit inside when the weather in the Adriatic was cool and watch the shoreline as we cruised the fjords of Montenegro.

We will probably return to Regent someday.

Moving up again: Embarking on Silversea

After six days at the Crane Resort in Barbados, we boarded the Silver Cloud in Bridgetown for a cruise to Fort Lauderdale. With a capacity of only 296 passengers, we were moving down again, even as we were moving up. And moving up we were.

The oldest ship in Silversea’s fleet, the Silver Cloud was nonetheless extraordinary. But more important than that, the service was impeccable. We truly thought we had died and gone to heaven. Little did we know that we were only part-way to heaven.

Our transatlantic voyage

Everyone should do it once. Of course we’re talking about a true transatlantic voyage on a real ocean liner – not a cruise ship. Three years ago we boarded the Queen Mary 2 in Southampton and spent seven wonderful days at sea making our way across the North Atlantic to New York. What truly made this a step up even from Silversea was that we booked into a Queen’s Grill suite and found ourselves in a ship within a ship. Make no mistake: Cunard has three classes and Queen’s Grill is first class all the way.

With its private dining room and bar, the Queen’s Grill provides passengers with the best of both worlds: the intimacy of small ship service and the amenities and entertainment of a large ship.

A family portrait aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2 last summer. It's the only way for the three of us to get a professional portrait since we live on a different continent than our son. A great opportunity when we're all dressed up. — A family portrait aboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 last summer. It’s the only way for the three of us to get a professional portrait since we live on a different continent than our son. A great opportunity when we’re all dressed up.

Although we would not do a transatlantic voyage again, we will certainly return to Cunard for the right itinerary (there it is again: itinerary).

The pinnacle of luxury perhaps?

Last year we booked passage on a 204 passenger luxury cruise ship: the Seabourn Spirit. After almost a week at the luxurious property The House in Barbados, once again we sailed from Bridgetown. This time, however, it was to ports and islands where large ships can never go.

Everything about the Seabourn experience (caviar and champagne on the beach, anyone?) was above and beyond. The service was superb, as was the food and the accommodation. It truly was like a country club and we savored every minute of this super-luxury experience followed by six days in St. Martin. How could we possibly top that?

Onward and upward?

We aren’t sure we can top that last experience, but we’re going to try. Art is retiring from his private family medicine practice in a few weeks and we’re off to that ultimate, post-retirement reward.

After five days in Tahiti, we’ll board the Oceania Marina for almost three weeks meandering through French Polynesia, Samoa and the east coast of Australia, ending with five days in Sydney. Why Oceania?

Last winter while in St. Martin following the Seabourn experience, we dined one evening with fellow passengers from the Spirit. They asked us if we’d ever sailed on Oceania. We had not. Given that they had just disembarked from a Seabourn cruise which they enjoyed, we had to take seriously their recommendation that we give Oceania a try. But what we were really looking for was an itinerary that would take us to new places.

We hit on Oceania’s South Pacific cruise and the rest is history. Stay with us for a while and come along on that special vacation as we try live blogging and tweeting for the first time.

The Queen Mary 2: Cross another one off the bucket list

Our masks for the masquerade ball. Be sure to take your own. Our son was in Venice a month before the voyage and picked these up for us.

We weren’t supposed to set foot on a ship this summer – but let’s just say the timing worked out impeccably and there we were in late July, stepping onto the gangway of the Queen Mary 2 for one of her classic transatlantic voyages.

And what a beauty she is!

As I counted on my fingers, it occurred to me that this was our tenth cruise on a total of six different cruise lines. Six! I think that makes us credible commentators on the comparative experiences. What I really hate is those Readers’ Choice lists each year in the travel magazines, several of which I otherwise find useful and informative. Readers vote on their favorite cruise line for example and there is no way of knowing if they have ever traveled on any other to be able to make such a statement via their voting. After our first cruise many years ago (on Carnival) we would have said it was our favorite. Today, we have so much more experience and wouldn’t be caught dead on Carnival.

So, back to the Queen Mary 2. Decorated in tastefully elegant art deco style (my personal favorite), she is a true ocean-going beauty. We’re told that she was the first purpose-built ocean liner (in contrast to a cruise ship) that had been built in 50 years. That means that she’s built for the North Atlantic crossing rather than for fun-in-the-sun stuff. The décor, inside and out, is understated, just the way we like it, with a few eye-popping wall murals and scads of wonderful artwork and photographs of the storied history of Cunard Line.

queen mary hall — The hall outside our suite.

In an attempt to recreate the trans-Atlantic crossings of yesteryear, Cunard has done its best on this seven-day voyage from Southampton to New York to evoke the time of the great sailings. To that end, the entertainment is refined and relatively low key. There are, however, four formal (read black-tie formal) and one informal (read cocktail dresses) on this voyage, unusual for such a short time but reminiscent of what it was like in bygone years. So, if you do not like to get dressed up, find another ship to take you where you want to go. Those of us who chose the experience just as it was sold do not want you there! The truth is that there were very few people who did not dress up as “required”, but there were evening venues for those who chose more casual approaches to dining – they were not, however, allowed in the dining rooms and had to pay a surcharge to be served in the casual dining space.

This brings me to dining rooms – or should I say classes of service. Cunard is the only line in service today that actually has three classes of service (although you won’t see this verbiage in their literature. (Others have diffeerent level of service, but this does not extend to the same level. I’ll tell you about the suite life on other lines in later posts.)

They have the Britannia class with its large (and truly beautiful) dining room with traditional two-seating dining. There is also an option in Britannia to have a more open dining experience (for a price) and this is called Britannia Club. The accommodations are the same, the dining is different.

If you choose to travel in what I would call a small suite, you will choose Princess Grill accommodations and will dine in the Princess Grill. Much smaller and more intimate than Britannia, the Princess Grill provides you with a table to which you can go any time the dining room is open (breakfast, lunch & diner): it is always yours.

If you choose the larger suite accommodation, you will choose Queen’s Grill and you will dine in the Queen’s Grill (same table arrangement as the Princess Grill). This is what we chose. So any comments I make from here on in are related to being in what others might call first-class.

The suite was beautiful as the photos show. The service was impeccable. The experience was divine. We will go on Cunard again – when the itinerary is right.

A picture is worth a thousand words…