Repeating outfits and Pirate Night

[youalleverybody]

Do you ever repeat outfits?

We are going on a seven night eastern cruise. It's my husband and I and our 5 children. I'm hoping that the kids can wear the same outfit twice, for the semi-formal nights, and a different outfit twice (maybe even three times) on the more casual nights. Especially the boys. They HATE to dress up, and will want to change as soon as they are done eating.

I'm a bit overwhelmed thinking about packing 7 nights of "nice" clothes, for 7 people. That's 49 outfits if we don't repeat.

But, I want us to look nice, and I"m REALLY looking forward to having us all dress for dinner. I've been reading the "Show Me Your Formal Wear" thread, and it's just so lovely. Thank you all for sharing your photos.

Also, I've read about Pirate night. Do you wear the Pirate outfits to dinner?

 

[sayhello]

Do you ever repeat outfits?

We are going on a seven night eastern cruise. It's my husband and I and our 5 children. I'm hoping that the kids can wear the same outfit twice, for the semi-formal nights, and a different outfit twice (maybe even three times) on the more casual nights. Especially the boys. They HATE to dress up, and will want to change as soon as they are done eating.

I'm a bit overwhelmed thinking about packing 7 nights of "nice" clothes, for 7 people. That's 49 outfits if we don't repeat.

But, I want us to look nice, and I"m REALLY looking forward to having us all dress for dinner. I've been reading the "Show Me Your Formal Wear" thread, and it's just so lovely. Thank you all for sharing your photos.

Also, I've read about Pirate night. Do you wear the Pirate outfits to dinner?

I totally wouldn't worry about it. People are on vacation and aren't going to notice if you wear the same outfit more than once. Maybe you could mix & match tops & bottoms to give it a bit more variety.

Some people do wear Pirate outfits, but most wear a hat or scarves or something like that, rather than a whole costume.

Sayhello

 

[Anal Annie]

We repeat our bottoms for dinners with different shirts/tops/blouses. During the day you will probably find that you will often be in your bathing suit UNDER a pair of shorts or something - you don't need a whole different set of clothes for each day either - plan to repeat your shorts too. I DO have a different dress for formal / semi-formal nights. Shorter dresses are easier to pack than long ones.

We're doing a 7-night MED cruise next summer plus tacking on days before & after and I am trying to get each of us into ONE checked bag each + a carry-on each for the 2 weeks. For myself I will be bringing 2 dresses + 3 pair of nice capri pants (1 pr. black, 1 pr. white & 1 pair patterned). I plan to wear the patterned ones to one dinner & also to Palo brunch. I will bring 2 tops for each pair - it's especially easy to match black & white! I also got a couple pair of switch flops to bring with different straps so I don't have to pack a different pair of shoes for each outfit. For daytime I will probably pack 6 pair of shorts + 2 pr. of casual capris for the 2 weeks along with a top for each day. I have found that packing cubes & packing folders are KEY to being able to consolidate and make everything fit.

On our last Wonder cruise there were several people dressed for pirate night but more were NOT dressed up. I think that is a DIS thing and there are a lot more people on the ship who are NOT on the DIS than who are. WE dressed in the theme of it (I wore a casual black tiered skirt with a puffy white blouse & lots of plastic beaded necklaces while DH & DS wore bandanas & matching skull Tshirts I had found for like $9 at Kohl's). I am NOT planning to pack pirate night attire on our Med cruise as I don't think it will be full of people who are dressed up. I think many will be from Europe & it will be their first DCL and they won't even KNOW that people over here do that. It will likely just be our MOST casually dressed night. I have a red & white striped top that I might bring to wear with my black capris that night.

I also plan to bring some of those convertible zip-off cargo style pants for both DH and DS. I found them for men at Kohl's. I always pack them for our shoulder season trips to WDW & they're very handy. We will likely be touring a church or two in Europe and etiquette says you have to have your knees covered - yet it will be August so it's likely to be hot so the zip-off thing will be convenient. While I don't expect DH to wear them to dinner I think that DS can easily wear these pants to dinner on cruise casual nights and then wear them as shorts the next day.

 

[lisamarch]

Yes, it's fine to repeat outfits. For semiformal, DH and DS just wore their formal clothes without ties. Nobody notices or cares!

 

[kcashner]

There is no way that I've ever taken 14 sets of clothing for each person (7 for during the day and 7 for dinner). As you noted, you'll wear the dinner clothing for a few hours each night. 2 pairs of decent pants can get your guys thru all the dinners; if disaster strikes and they have a major spill on them, you can always toss in a load of laundry.

As above, mix and match tops and bottoms for some variety, but no one knows or cares that you are repeating clothing. With the luggage fees, limited space in the cabins, etc. make your life easy!

 

[HappyPeach]

I plan my outfits so that I repeat mostly the bottoms. By packing neutral colored shorts, pants and skirt, I can rewear them with different tops and have a lot of different "looks" with fewer pieces.

As far as pirate night, I'm packing a costume for my young son. My DH has a t-shirt that he can wear and I'm planning to wear normal clothes with a skull-patterned giant scarf (ebay.) You will see people in extravagant, fancy costumes. You'll see plenty of people shopping on the ship; paying $$ for pirate accessories. You'll see people who aren't dressed up at all. I think the thing is to please yourself!

 

[iloveokw]

I have three rules for packing for a DCL cruise:

1. No one is never going to see you again so .....
2. Be comfortable...
3. KISS...keep it simple simple.....

 

[sayhello]

I have three rules for packing for a DCL cruise:

1. No one is never going to see you again so .....
2. Be comfortable...
3. KISS...keep it simple simple.....

I don't think that's quite what KISS stands for...

Sayhello

 

[glassslipper2004]

I personally love dressing up for pirate night, and my kids and DH do too! But yes, you can do whatever you want - you can't go wrong either way. My girls have already informed me that they need new pirate outfits for next summer, since they have outgrown their last ones. We got some amazing pictures on pirate night last time around.

What kills me on these trips (and especially our ABD to Italy a few years ago) is if you get all hot and sweaty during the day, and really want to change at night... that adds up to a lot of outfits. I try to bring enough so that I can mix and match, but I never seem to get the math right. I like the idea of using packing envelopes/containers that sort your things and keep them orderly. For those who have used them, do you like them? If you suck all the air out of them, do they wind up making creases in your clothes?

 

[rcchello]

How can you repeat clothes. Everyone on the ship will notice. We take pictures of you each day and compare them day to day and will catch you even if all you use again is a pair of socks.

We all go on cruises to embarass our fellow cruisers, it is the only way we have fun. We don't really go for the Disney characters and that silly Disney Island. It's the embarrassment we go for.

RELAX! Have fun!! If anyone says anything, have a good laugh at their expense.

 

[croppincolburn]

We are repeating for formal and semi-formal. I'm going to try to see if I can use what I wear the (casual) night before during the day.

 

[youalleverybody]

Thanks everybody!

I found a GREAT wrap dress for myself...the straps can be configured in several different ways: strapless, over one shoulder, twisted, crossed over, etc. There's my outfit for a bunch of nights!! OH, and for formal night I"m going to use a Bridesmaid's dress that's lurking in my closet.

 

[ImprovGal]

What kills me on these trips (and especially our ABD to Italy a few years ago) is if you get all hot and sweaty during the day, and really want to change at night... that adds up to a lot of outfits. I try to bring enough so that I can mix and match, but I never seem to get the math right. I like the idea of using packing envelopes/containers that sort your things and keep them orderly. For those who have used them, do you like them? If you suck all the air out of them, do they wind up making creases in your clothes?

I always change into fresh tops at night for dinner. I'll repeat skirts and mix and match with different tops. The shirt that's only been worn a few hours in the evening can then be worn the next day for the hot & sweaty stuff.
Now I just need to get started on my packing list for the Panama Canal.

 

[kimberleeJohnston]

I repeated both my sons clothes on a regular basis for dinner. We dressed up for almost every dinner, I think I used the same pants for the whole 7 days, they only wore them for 2 hrs tops so they were not dirty or anything. They wore polo shirts that they also wore as casual clothes around the ship, but once paired with dress pants they were dressed up instantly. I did have to hand wash 2 shirts in the sink, but it wasnt a big deal, I just hung them to dry on the chairs on our deck.
People really do not notice what anyone else is wearing, I could not tell you what any other person besides my family was wearing on our cruises. lol

 

[mommy_grrl]

I'm a big fan of black (as you can tell by my wardrobe) and I always have packed a black skirt and black trousers...and then a few extra tops to mix and match...Actually, I tend to bring a few (inexpensive) necklaces as they take up less room and really change the look of an outfit, lol!

oh, and a pretty cardigan or a wrap (those dining rooms can get COLD).

:0)

Would much rather save the room for an extra swimsuit! (and my shoes. I'm rubbish and narrowing down shoes on any trip.)

 

[ducky_love]

Our first cruise I packed 2 outfits a day for each of us plus special outfits for dinner. I'm so glad it was only a 3 night!! I brought home more than half of the clothes I packed!!

Also, don't forget you are going to buy T-shirts on vacation! I didn't wear a single shirt I packed because I kept buying new ones!!

I would pack a sweater or fleece for everyone. I was surprised how cold I was in the dining room! (after all that planning, I am wearing my DCL sweatshirt in half my dinner pics on that first cruise!!!)

 

[glassslipper2004]

Here are the outfits my girls wore a few years ago for their formal night. What really made them excited were the strappy sandals from Target - just like real grown-up ones!

 

[glassslipper2004]

Sorry - I posted the wrong picture in my last post (I've been reading this post and the one about formal night at the same time). Anyway, here is my family, all dressed up for pirate night, three years ago:

 

[mattmommy]

We definitely pack pirate outfits. Make them junky old clothes and you can just toss them (keep accessories of course) after pirate night. We wore these to the show and through dinner.

DH and ds wore beige slacks on the other nights with different colored polos. I wore beige capris. We all had one set of bottoms. Of course I was the only one who got a stain and had to get it cleaned. Otherwise we only wore them for dinner and went back to the room and febrezed the pants.

Definitely two bathing suits--especially for girls because they take forever to dry.

 

[Presentation]

We repeat cloths.

We are a family of 5. We each bring a carry on + a personal item like a back pack.

For our entire family we check 1 bag.

Not one bag per person, one bag total.