We love to cruise and often find that we come home with clothes that were never worn. So I decided to make a simple list of what we need for a cruise or for any trip no matter how long or short. But first let me give you an idea of how we travel and what we see.

Reva and I only travel with one carry-on and a backpack, no matter for how long we will be travelling. Its amazing seeing people checking into a cruise cabin with 3, 4 or 5 large pieces of luggage. I can’t even imagine where they are going to store their empty luggage after they unpack. We have learned that two carry-on bags slide nicely under the bed and can be used to store dirty clothes or souvenirs during the cruise. Cruise cabins are typically only a few hundred square feet in size…if you are lucky! You can expect to have one or two small closets and maybe 4-8 drawers total. Often there are several shelves and several hidden areas but the space is limited and small.

We have also learned that if you are going to be traveling for several weeks or months, its fairly easy to wash clothes weekly or so and adds to the overall adventure. Booking an Airbnb with a washer is also a big plus. And don’t worry about having different outfits for every day…..no one notices.

Getting down to the fundamentals, here is my basic list of items to pack for a cruise:

Men:

Suit or suitcoat (If you want to dress for formal night)

2 Ties

Pair dress pants (If no suit)

Pair Kaki pants

Pair black jeans

Pair blue Jeans

3 Pairs of short pants

2 – Swimsuits

2 – Workout shorts

2 Long sleeve shirts

2 Short sleeve shirts

4 Polo shirts

2 White t-shirts (to wear under shirts)

6 T-shirts (at least 3 dry-wicking)

8 Pair of boxer-briefs – (my favorite)

2 Pair of dress socks

5 Pair of ankle high socks

Solid black tennis shoes (For walking and serving as dress shoes for dinner – No one looks at men’s shoes)

Running shoes

Flip flops

Light rain jacket

Baseball cap

If going to a colder climate, add a sweatshirt for layering and possibly a warm coat.

Now its important to note that this includes the clothes I will wear on the ship or to the airport. Reva will wash a few things out for me during the week and often I will wear my swimsuit to work out in and then jump in the hot tub or wash it out in the shower. Also, since on ships you change clothes often, your clothes don’t get exceedingly dirty and can be worn more than once between washes (underwear excepted…at least for me).

Women:

Reva’s list is a little different of course and women are more complicated and don’t like to limit their options. But here is an idea of what Reva’ packs for our trips:

Pair workout/ walking shorts

2 t-shirts for workout/walking

Tennis shoes

3 pair nice shorts

2 to 3 tops for each pair

Comfortable sandals for walking around the ship

Pair of jeans

Pair of nice jeans or capris that can be dressed up for casual dinner

2 dressy tops for casual dinner

Formal dress plus dressy sandals for formal night

3 sundresses plus comfortable dressy sandals for dinner

Sweater or wrap for cool evenings

A light jacket

Raincoat for layering on cooler cruises

6 pair socks

8 undies

4 bras

Two bathing suits

Coverup

Flip flops for pool and beach

Assorted Jewelry

Toiletries

Other items that we like to pack for a cruise include:

Sunscreen

Sunglasses

A few bandaids

Toiletries for at least 2 weeks

2 Umbrellas

Small clock

Magnetic hooks for hanging clothes in the room to dry (work well on ceiling)

USB powered personal fan, great if the room gets hot.

Now if we are traveling less than a week, obviously we will take less. But if the trip is two weeks or two months, this is all we bring. We still pack more than we need and often pick up a t-shirt on our travels that we don’t need. This easily fits in a carryon bag enables us to navigate plains, trains, busses, ships and even stairs (Europe loves 5 story walk-up rooms). So when you pack, pack lightly and second guess what you bring…..your back will thank you later.