I think, after packing for a cruise I am opting for a clothing
optional one next time! I don’t care what anyone says, even packing the
essentials is stressful, especially on a longer length cruise. By the time
everything is piled up on the bed and you examine the size of the cabin, reality sets in. This pile of garbage is never going to fit in
that small box of a room and leave you room to sleep and maneuver without you standing
out in the hallway to change clothes. So why bring any? Note: If in hallway,
please look out for room steward so as not to shock him with your nudity while
changing!
I started out with a very positive attitude packing for my
11 day cruise. Even though it is
business casual for dinner, why not dress up for dinners. Seemed like a great
idea since it is a vacation on a fancy boat and picture opportunities are
everywhere. But looking at the back of my door, reality set it. I have just
enough girly girl in me to want to do the matchy matchy gig. Women know what that means, starting with the
dress, jewelry, shoes and hair accessories, if worn must coordinate. With a two week cruise, the odds of all being
worn more than twice were slim so all the sudden I feel like somebody’s
personal shopper. Hell no comes out of
my mouth quickly and casual outfits overtake the idea of fancy spancy.
When did hair and beauty become so complicated? Why do women have so much product to use on
their hair and face? I think the au
naturelle look if one opted for a naked cruise would be the best choice! It would complement the body well! And the luggage
would be so much lighter. Instead, I sit
among a sea of lipsticks, eye shadows, mousses and of course my specialty
shampoos that cannot be left at home wondering why is my bathroom so
complicated. How can I transport it to a bathroom that is the size of my refrigerator
without walls?
I kinda like what my neighbor Pat said to me this morning,
buy it. Pack what you want and buy the
rest. But, again, if clothing was optional, why would there be a need to buy
much of anything. Think about it for a moment, why cover up when no one else
is? You would look like the odd one, the
nerd!
Why were men not born with a keen sense of color? Anyone married knows part of the job of
packing is matching outfits for the husbands. God forbid you’d get on a cruise,
walk out to dinner and the man you are with has on green shirts with a red
shirt! Oh, and we all have seen it. Call it a daring fashion statement but it is
a sorry bloke who got no help packing!
Undergarments are the easiest part to pack, grab ‘em and
run! Count them and off you go. Thank
God there is one part of packing that is easy.
Because every other part is stress-city!
Shoes kill me. I try
to limit the number I pack because they take up room but they have to be
comfortable and conform to your clothing.
And there has to be a variety.
Shoes seem to be the one thing too, you don’t want to have buy on a
trip. I wonder, on a clothing optional
trip, what shoes you wear. I suppose, being naked, dress shoes are out so you
are wearing flip flops, don’t you think? I mean anything more might look abit
overdone, hence that makes packing easy. Zero options.
Men, it is clear from talking to several, bring all of their
swimming trunks. This consists of two! I
can’t recall ever having only two bathing suits! Wow, would that make packing
easy! Women need to vary for tanning
lines, different looks, mood swings, you know, all sorts of reasons. We have the sexy ones, the practical looking ones,
the barely there, the too tight, too lose, the old ones that should be pitched
but are just hard to say good-bye to and the “I feel fat” day ones. On vacation, I prefer to bring the ones that
make me feel 20 years younger than I am. Too bad none of those exist!
Let’s call it daywear for the clothes you pack to put on for
excursions and days at sea when you aren’t romping around in your bathing suit.
Here we go again with the matching game, shorts and shirts. If you’re smart you
pick solids on one end, top or bottom, to make your life easier! I gave up
trying to match up jewelry for these outfits during the days and instead found
throwing things in a jewelry bag for an in-house game of basketball was much
easier and put an element of fun and chance into packing.
There are so many other miscellaneous things to pack that it
is like being a project manager who isn’t getting paid for doing a superb job.
Your only reward is spending the first day of vacation recovering. However, back to my main point, clothing optional
cruises would enable you to truly enjoy each and every day of the vacation
without this added hassle. Before you
Deep Six this idea, ask yourself would you rather be evaluated on your clothing
when on a vacation or just focus on just having fun?
