Cruise Diary: What I Wore, Part 1

I just got back from an 8-day cruise with Carnival; JJ and I had such an amazing time!! Over the next few days I’ll be sharing a diary of everything I wore (even to the gym). Generally I don’t divulge a lot about my daily life, so I hope it will be fun to switch it up a bit and go behind the scenes and see what I wore, as well as get some ideas for what to pack on your next cruise!

First up is what I wore to board the ship. Orlando is only a quick hour drive to the port in Cape Canaveral, however, it was a long day for us. We made a detour to drop of Bella (my dog) and eat lunch with JJ’s mom, and boarding the ship takes about an hour, so I was going for comfort. I also could not wait to bust out these printed pants and the fedora I bought specifically for the trip! (here)

After safety drills and getting settled in our room we were ready to chow down at our first dinner, so I changed into this black jumpsuit. We did “your time dining” which worked really well for us. On Carnival cruises usually you pick one of two times for dinner – 6:15 or 8:15pm, but with “your time dining” you can eat dinner anytime you want. You just show up to the reservations desk and let them know you are ready – most nights we walked right in, or sometimes there was a short wait. You can ask for a private table, or sit with a group. We met a lot of new people that way, including different waiters. As always on Carnival cruises, the food was delicious and I ate way too much at dinner! 

This was probably the most casual outfit I wore to dinner all week. I was exhausted and this jumpsuit is one of the most comfortable things I own so it was the perfect thing to throw on. (Side note: I think I wore this jumpsuit more than any other outfit this summer! I lived in this thing. First featured on the blog here.) I headed to bed straight after dinner – I was fast asleep by 10pm thanks to the ship rocking me to sleep.

The next morning, I was ready to hit the pool! We had a day at sea, which means spending the whole day having fun on the ship (there are several pools, hot tubs, water slides, mini golf, to name a few). On a cruise you will find most people running around in swim wear all day. Dress code when you enter the casual dining areas is to add a cover up, so this dress (from this post) is what I wore over my suit off and on all day.

After the pool, JJ and I hit the gym for a bit. I was rocking my usual colorful gear for working out!

Night #2 on the ship was a formal night. For a week-long cruise, generally two nights will be deemed “formal” night and the dinner dress code is different for those nights. I like to think of the dress code as wearing something formal enough to consider wearing it to a wedding, and this sequin dress I wore to the ballet last year (here) fit the bill. I loved having an excuse to wear it again!

Generally after dinner we would do something fun like the free shows and movies they have on-board, but this was another early night. We had a 7am port time the next morning in Grand Turk and a stingray excursion booked, so my next outfit was pajamas for bed. 

We had a blast on the first two days of the cruise, but really the fun had just begun. Stay tuned to see our four stops on the cruise: Grand Turk, St. Thomas, St. Martin, and San Juan. As well as two more days at sea! 

This post was created as part of my collaboration with Carnival. As always, all of the opinions, thoughts, and ideas in this post are my own.