Cruise Outfit Planning: Top Strategies to Ditch the Stress

Sharing is caring!

Outfit Planning for a Cruise

Cruise outfit planning can be stressful, especially for first-time cruisers.  But there’s no need to worry.  Overall, cruise line dress codes have become more about offering suggestions rather than enforcing dress codes.  

In this post, I’ll share simple tips and strategies to get your cruise outfits all set.  I’ll even share my cruise outfit planner, which you can download for free to get you super organized and ready to cruise!

This post may contain affiliate links. As an affiliate, I may earn a small commission if you click, purchase, or apply for an offer. This is at no extra cost to you.

First, dividing your outfits into three major categories is helpful for easy planning. 

1. Sea Days
2. Port Days
3. Evening Activities

Related Post: How to Pack Light for a Cruise.

Outfits for Sea Days on your Cruise

Appropriate outfits for your sea days depend upon a couple of things:  Itinerary (weather) and your preferred activities.  

If you are cruising in the Caribbean and LOVE hanging out on the pool deck, your sea day outfit will look very different than some cruising in Alaska who want to attend the wildlife seminar or the onboard trivia.  

Example: Suppose you have two sea days on your seven-night cruise.  You would like to spend at least one sea day out on the pool deck, and the other, you’d like to focus on all other onboard activities such as zip-lining, a roller coaster, laser tag, or checking out the casino.  

Sea Day 1:  Swimsuit, cover-up, flip flops.  

Tip:  It’s important to know that swimwear is not allowed in dining venues, so you will need an appropriate cover-up or shorts/shirt and shoes.  Plan to dry off a bit before you head to lunch.

Sea Day 2: Shorts/pants and a T-shirt. For certain onboard activities, laced-up shoes may be required.  

Check out some of my favorite items for travel

Certainly, if you combine activities for both sea days, you may need to plan and change at the appropriate time.  We often enjoy the morning sun out on the pool deck and then change into shorts/tee before heading to lunch, then move on to other activities in the afternoon.  It’s all about how YOU want to spend your day onboard.  

Cruise Outfits for Port Days

You’ll want to go through a similar process when choosing outfits for your port days.  How will you be spending your day ashore?  If you plan to go to an all-inclusive beach day such as Paradise Beach or Nachi Cocum, you only need to plan for a swimsuit and cover-up.

Related Post: Packing for a Warm Weather Cruise

Conversely, if you plan to spend your day taking Salsa lessons, on a walking tour, or on a long bus ride to visit Mayan ruins, the outfit you plan will be quite different.  In this scenario, you would focus on comfortable shoes and maybe even athletic clothing.  

Active excursions may require special equipment such as hiking or water shoes and snorkel gear.  Make sure you read all of the information provided for your scheduled excursion.  

Related:  8 Tips for Planning Your Cruise Port Excursions

What Outfit is Best for Evenings on a Cruise?

Finally, the outfit planning for a cruise that seems to give cruises the most stress – Evening wear. Evening is such a fun time on a cruise ship.  Many cruisers enjoy getting dressed up and having a glass of wine or grabbing a sunset picture before dinner.  After dinner, they may head to a Broadway-style show or listen to live music.  There is so much to do on a cruise.  

But what is “the right” thing to wear?

Let’s cover the basics.  If you are booked on a 7-night sailing, you will typically have 1-2 nights that are suggested to be dressier than the other 5.  Clear as mud?  Trust me, it’s intentionally subjective.  

Related Post: Top 25 Questions from First-Time Cruisers

Cruise lines may refer to these nights as formal nights, dress your best night, dress to impress, etc.  At the end of the day, it only means that if you’d like a couple of nights where you wear YOUR dressiest outfits, this is the night they suggest. 

If your “dressiest” is a cocktail dress or a suit, go for it!  If your “dressiest” is a sundress or a pair of slacks and a polo, cool!  On a Caribbean cruise, you will see more men in floral button-downs and women wearing sun dresses.  For Alaska or cooler climate cruises, it’s common to see men and women in nice jeans, slacks, and sweaters.

You should choose evening attire that makes you feel nice.  

I used to tell my kids that as long as they’re showered and they look like they put effort into their appearance, that’s all I ask.  No, we don’t wear basketball shorts or jean shorts to the dining room.  But my husband hasn’t worn a full suit in years.  In fact, on the “non” dressy nights, he wears nice golf shorts and a button-down, and he’s as happy as a clam!  I wear summer dresses every night because they are comfortable and easy to pack.  I also prioritize dresses I can wear with the same pair of shoes because I like to pack light.

If you prefer to bring two large suitcases and have a different pair of shoes with every outfit, Please Do it!  It’s your vacation.  For dinner and evening entertainment, wear what you would wear out to a nice restaurant at home.  

Pro Tip: The first night of your cruise (embarkation day) is usually the most casual evening. The crew needs to distribute thousands of pieces of luggage. If your luggage doesn’t arrive in time for your early dinner, or you just don’t want to plan an evening outfit, wear your embarkation day outfit to dinner. It’s okay!

Are you ready to start planning your cruise outfits? 

I hope you have found this post helpful, and if so, please share it with a friend or social media.  To help you out a little more, I’ve included my Cruise Outfit Planner.  It’s a PDF you can print and use as many times as you’d like. The outfit planner is just ONE printable in my 56-page Ultimate Cruise Planner – Available soon! 

Pin for later!