Originally Posted by Cholula
It may depend on the particular cruise line. We just got off a 7-day Holland America cruise to AK and 2 of the nights were "formal" and on two of the other nights we dined at the Pinnacle Grille. The Grille requested, but didn't require, formal wear.
The biggest problem we had in packing was the wide variation in temps. The cruise stared out in the high-80's from SEA and then rapidly dropped into the 40's and 50's in AK only to reach the 80's again as the cruise came to an end.
It required summer and winter clothes.
This is the exact problem I'm having! Since I live in LA, I only have formalwear for warmer temps, so I'm stuck having to bring a wrap for my sleeveless and flimsy-sleeved formal attire. I'm also bringing a sweatshirt, warm jacket, gloves, shorts, jeans, long-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts, a swimsuit, workout gear...I plan to do laundry once, so I don't actually have to take a full week's worth of clothing for each season. Thankfully, my 2 suitcases still have quite a bit of room in them, but I'm not done yet.
I do want to add that I'm packing old clothes that I can disgard along the way - primarily socks/underwear/workout gear.