1563 What to wear on a river cruise

Casual. I checked with my friend Nancy who travels a lot--in fact, she’d been on a Rhine cruise earlier this year. Casual, she said, very casual. So I carefully went through my Wal-Mart and K-Mart clothes and threw in a few better quality accessories, like Chadwick's and Kohl’s. I really didn’t need my basic, dressy black dress (plus it was a bit snug), but we had plenty of room, so I did take it just in case we had a dress-up occasion. Our weather was great--about 50s in the morning, maybe 65 in afternoon. Cool is better than hot, when you're struggling through cobblestone streets and hills. Here’s what I took.

We had 2 carry-ons bags and one smaller and one larger suitcases. We divided our clothes between the 2 larger suitcases, so that if one got lost, we’d each have at least 3 changes of clothes. Medications and make-up were in the carry-ons. We each packed one change of clothes in our carry-on and a change of shoes. One couple on the cruise did not have their luggage until the 5th day, and had only their carry-on. So pack that bag very carefully!

I chose a brown, black, cream and beige color scheme, with just a couple of other colors, like a bright blue and moss green thrown in so I didn't get too bored.

black, brown, cream

Brown knit slacks
Black knit slacks
Black cotton pull-on slacks to wear on the plane

Black knit skirt (rolled up for carry on)
Brown print skirt
Denim skirt

Cream knit short sleeve sweater (rolled up for carry on)
Cream long sleeve blouse
Black, brown, cream striped turtleneck
Cream long sleeve cotton knit shirt with small blue brown print
Moss green long sleeve turtleneck
White 3/4 sleeve blouse to wear on the plane
Dressy blue/black/pink jacket with sleeveless blue blouse
Short sleeve white knit shirt (never used)

Beige moleskin over-shirt, cardigan style
Beige linen blazer
White cardigan (never used)
Two scarves, one in blue tones, one in autumn colors
Lined, light weight, rain resistent blue jacket with hood

PJ’s, underwear, hose, anklets etc.
Black athletic shoes, loafers, sandals, heels
Tan sandals

If I'd packed differently, I would have left out the dress and bought a dressy sweater set to wear with slacks or a skirt. Dresses do seem to be a dying breed. My husband had two sport coats and two ties, but one would have been sufficient.

Because this is hurricane season, we chose to fly out of O'Hare rather than Charlotte, and it is actually a shorter distance to Frankfurt. But I like Charlotte's airport better.