What to pack for a Cruise Vacation? As soon as hurricane season is over, the Cruise Vacations begin. We are already getting calls for swim wear ensembles for next months vacations. What to wear??? This is always the question we ask ourselves almost the second we finish booking our vacation plans. I want to share a few suggestions on how to make packing a little less of a puzzle. First of all, the most important thing is to pack are items that are multi purpose items. If there is something you can wear to the pool and still walk around the ship in, that is key. Let's start with swim wear. No one can go on vacation without an awesome swim suit. Some of my favorite swim wear options are three piece swimsuits or swimsuits that have matching skirts. Below are two bathing suits by Carol Wior that are three piece ensembles: These two Carol Wior swim suits are a great example of the three piece ensembles that are available. They can be worn all together as an outfit, yet you are ready to swim at any moment. You can swim with or without the skirt. The skirt is made of the same quick drying fabric as the rest of the suit. In addition, Carol Wior swim wear has incredible bust support. So, you would feel totally comfortable if you had to walk around in this outfit or go for a quick day tour wearing this suit. Carol Wior also has a two piece tankini that they offer: What is so great about this tankini is that it comes with a removable strap so you can get a tan on your shoulders without any strap marks. Yet, you get that same great Carol Wior bust support in this garment as you do in the others. In addition, there is a separate skirt you can buy to match this two piece set. This skirt could be used to go back with other swim suits or outfits in your wardrobe. For example, if you bought the 2pc ruffle tankini above in black and then also bought the halter one piece shown above, then you would only need the one black skirt to turn two of your swim suits into skirted multi purpose outfits. Personally, that is how I like to pack mix and match. Our sister site, www.AlwaysForMe.com also offers many other skirted and mix and match options for our customers. It Figures recently launched a new younger collection called I.F. by It Figures. Below is some of the mix and match skirted options they offer: These three items above would be fabulous for any vacation. The first one piece suit has beautiful beads dangling from the bust line. This is definitely a show stopper. It would be perfect for those "dress up nights" on a cruise where you have to show up for Caribbean night. Just throw on a colorful sarong and some make up and you will be ready to go. The brown skirt in the middle goes with both the one piece suit and the two piece tankini. This skirt is made out of the same fabric as the one piece suit and the bottoms on the tankini are the same fabric. This tankini has sequins sewn at the neckline for a very special touch. Both of these suits also offer great bust support. If you want to step into a little more fashion, then the ensemble below might be more your style: The swim suit and the skirt are sold separately. The two piece tankini has a halter top that ties at the neck. The neckline is a little more low cut and has attached accessories which "make" the suit. The matching skirt also has the same accessories attached. Next, we will move on to the next category of merchandise to pack Cover Ups. It is always great when a cover up can do double duty. I always look for two types of cover ups. One would be a cover up that could also work as a dress. Some of my favorites are below: The first style is a terry cloth tube top dress. You have the option to wear this with the strap tied around your neck or with the strap tied into a bow at the front of the dress. Either way it is very sexy and the elastic in the tube top is snug enough to keep it up by itself. The second item is a gauze pullover. This pullover has beautiful embroidery detail which makes it very special. You get a little more coverage with this item, yet it has slits on both sides of the shirt to add a bit of sexiness. As for the rest of your packing, here is what I would suggest: *Two pairs of wrinkle resistant twill pants. Dockers are great. They offer both young styling and more conservative styles too. You can usually find them at Sears.com *Five great cotton shirts both fun and basic. For the younger looks, I would suggest SizeAppeal or Delias. For more conservative yet very cute looks, I would suggest Coldwater Creek and Elisabeth. *One great dress. Again, I would recommend the same resources as the shirts. * Two pairs of shorts and a skort. You can usually find these at Sears.com. *Undergarments I find that BareNecessities.com has the best assortment of undergarments in plus sizes. They have everything from great cotton Jockey panties, to sexy and silky panties. They also offer a huge assortment of large cup bra sizes. You should check them out, you will not be disappointed. *Shoes Try not to go to crazy with how many pairs of shoes you bring. One pair of sneakers, flip flops, one pair of sandals, and one more pair of whatever favorite shoes you must have. I have found the most luck at Zappos.com for wide widths. They have a lot of very cool shoes there and they have free return shipping if they don't fit. And, last but not least, I think it is much easier to pack in a duffle bag versus a suitcase. A duffle bag weighs less and has more room than a suit case. Two of my favorite items from Eddie Bauer are pictured below: I really like the rolling feature of this duffle bag. It is easy to move around. My shoes fit in the outside pockets so they don't get my clothes dirty. Then there is plenty of room inside for all my clothes to fit. I also like having the matching toiletry kit. It fits everything and is enclosed just in case something leaks. Also, one last tip I always throw in a laundry bag. You can pick them up anywhere very inexpensively. Then I hang it in my room and throw my clothes in there every day. At the end of the week, it is quick and easy to pack. I just use the drawstring to close the bag and shove it in the duffle bag. And, if there are any clean clothes left, they are protected from the dirty clothes because they are all in the laundry bag. It sure makes unpacking easy when I get back home. By the way, if you see someone at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon in October, wearing any of the swim wear suggestions above, then it is probably me. Of course, I could not figure out what to leave at home so I am bringing them all. But, hey, give me a break I am in the swim wear business. I have to be my own walking advertisement ---- shouldn't that be some sort of write off???? Until next time.....have a great vacation! (If you would like to tell us about your great vacation then you can submit your story at the following link. Submit to Travel- Feature Stories. Let us know about your own great wardrobe finds. And, if you have any photos of yourself in any of the swim wear from our www.AlwaysForMe.com site, please share your photos with us and tell everyone what you like about your vacation swim suit.)