For Disney Cruise Vets...What do you pack?

[jimmytammy]

We have been on 1 cruise, The Fantasy WC cruise. I think we learned a little about packing that time, but wondering what you vets take to keep from packing everything including the kitchen sink

We arent in too formal night though we would like to partake of the meal. How do you handle that?

 

[Meemawto2]

For formal night, I usually wear a dress and sandals, nothing too fancy and my husband wears khakis and button down shirt. But, we have seen far less dressed up cruisers in the dining room on formal night. They are not going to kick you out of the dining room.

I 2-3 outfits for dinner wear and I usually wear them more than one time. We usually eat dinner and go change back into our casual clothes for the movie or show. I take two bathing suits as we are pool people and out there everyday and I am not fond of a damp suit. I usually take a pair of capris, one shorts and then numerous shirts I can wear with either. I do tend to do laundry as I do not like taking home a suitcase full of dirty clothes. I used to pack something for everyday and then add a couple of things and never wore it all. So I would say pack and then subtract about half!!

Hope that helps some.

 

[jimmytammy]

Thank you Meemawto2! Very helpful

 

[JenniferAnneRN]

All dress up nights are optional so you can pretty much go all out dressed up or show up in shorts. There will be people dressed all ways. I'm leaning toward a casual dress for formal night this go around. I tend to dress up more for pirate night.

 

[JenniferAnneRN]

Sorry for the duplicate post... Don't know what happened

 

[anna08]

In reality, we wore our bathing suits/coverups for the overwhelming majority of every cruise we've been on, so we've learned it's better to pack two bathing suits and less of everything else. I always pack a black skirt that I can wear several nights with a nice top and then I only bring one pair of black flats to wear to dinner nightly too. We've never taken formal wear and have never felt out of place wearing business casual clothing. Our dinner outfits are worn for maybe 3 hours max at a time so they are barely dirty by the time we get home.

 

[jimmytammy]

Great info everybody

 

[phinz]

For formal night I put on my nicest Aloha shirt, best shorts and nicest flip flops. Basically the same thing I wear every night.

I also find that having laundry done halfway through the cruise means I only have to take half as much. Leave all those books you think you'll read at home and get a Kindle app. Don't take everything you think you might need in the toiletries bag. The basics work. If you need anything else then you can get it in the store or at the first port.

My luxury item tends to be a small pair of powerful binoculars. I always pack them. I love looking at other boats as we cruise, or standing on deck and looking out over a port. Just leave them out on the balcony or they'll fog up every time you take them out.

 

[ivanp91]

I used to overpack pretty badly and by the end of my trip half of my things hadn't been worn, so I always write a specific list beforehand and make sure I limit myself. It can get so hard when I have so many Disney shirts, but only a limited amount of days on the ship and in the parks...

- 1x outfit for the pool deck (bathing suit, casual shirt)
- A maximum of 5 casual shirts (ie t-shirts) to wear on port adventures or while inside the ship. I don't pack a full week as there will be days where I'm in my pool outfit most of the day, plus it's easy to wash on the cruise.
- 4 nicer shirts, usually something like two polo shirts and two button-up shirts to wear to dinner and to the adults only areas in the evening. On a 7-nighter I take into account formal and semi-formal night and pirate night (I always wear one of my CC shirts that night).
- A sweater or hoodie in case there's a cold day (there were a few on my Magic WC cruise, none on my Fantasy EC, but better to be safe than sorry!)
- A pair of jeans, a nicer pair of pants and three pairs of shorts.
- My formal attire - trousers, jacket, shirt, tie, belt.
- Flip flops, sneakers and formal shoes.

Leave all those books you think you'll read at home and get a Kindle app. Don't take everything you think you might need in the toiletries bag.

Great comments. I collect comic books/graphic novels and would always take a stack of them with me on my first trips, you very quickly learn there's no need because there's always something better to do. Basically you never need as much as you think you do!

 

[JMHDisney]

I have two long sundresses that are made out of a very easy wrinkle free fabric. They work both as coverups or as casual dresses on excursions. One is black and for formal night I just add sparkly jewelry. I'm not the fanciest person there but it totally works.

 

[Skiton]

I like to dress up for dinner but that's the easiest part of packing, IMO, because sundresses take up so little room. Where I go overboard is day-wear. I always pack shorts and tees for every single day and maybe use a third of them. It's ridiculous. Every time, I say I'll only pack three pairs of shorts and tees and then I panic and throw in my entire summer wardrobe.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

I have two long sundresses that are made out of a very easy wrinkle free fabric. They work both as coverups or as casual dresses on excursions. One is black and for formal night I just add sparkly jewelry. I'm not the fanciest person there but it totally works.

Hi! Where do you find these dresses to buy? Thank you in advance!!

 

[JMHDisney]

Hi! Where do you find these dresses to buy? Thank you in advance!!

One came from Macy's and the other from Nordstrom's. I ordered both online.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Hi! Where do you find these dresses to buy? Thank you in advance!!

For cruise attire I always stick with jersey knit dresses, comfy and easy! Linen is so tempting, but maybe one pair of linen shorts is all I allow myself now..spent way too many trips with a half suitcase full of linen dresses and trousers that I never wore due to wrinkles and not wanting to deal with them lol