Creating a Great Cruise Capsule Wardrobe For Mexico (2024)

What should I wear on a Mexican Riviera cruise?

A good mix of clothing for hot weather, including several casual outfits plus a couple of dressier ones. Swimwear and coverups. Bring a sweater or light jacket for cool temps on the ship.

How many outfits will I need for a seven-day cruise?

A good rule of thumb is two outfits per day, one for excursions or a sea day, and another for the evening. You’ll also need swimsuits and a coverup.

Will I need any dressy clothes?

Most cruise lines have one dress-up night for a week-long cruise, and these are usually optional. You’ll also want to dress a little nicer for premium restaurants. Think “casual chic” for most cruise lines and you’ll be fine.

How do I put together a cruise capsule wardrobe for Mexico?

Read on, and I’ll show you how.

Winter makes me think of warm destinations, and a Mexican Riviera cruise is just the thing to shake the snow off your shoes. We’ve been on two, one a few years ago and one recently, and we had a great time. These cruises generally stop in Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, and Puerto Vallarta, and some also stop in Ensenada.

Chico’s has some of the most beautiful travel clothes, so I did some window-shopping on their website to see what I could find that would be suitable for a cruise capsule wardrobe for Mexico. For shoes, I checked out Zappo’s.

Trip Parameters

For any trip, you’ll need to think about:

Number of days: Seven days for most Mexican Riviera cruises

Season: For Mexico, it varies. Temperatures range from warm to very hot

Dress-up nights: One

With this in mind, you’ll need to choose casual items both short-sleeved and long-sleeved (remember, the ship is air-conditioned), shorts and pants, and sundresses. You’ll need at least one “dressy” outfit, but it doesn’t have to be formal.

For mixing and matching, I’ve selected a variety of items that will make many outfit combinations. You may want to pare this down some if you want to pack lighter.

Color Palette

To facilitate mixing and matching, I came up with a color palette that we’ll adhere to. Note that I’ve chosen a light neutral as well as a dark one, plus a couple of colors.

For this trip, the dark and light neutrals will be black and white, and the colors will be blue and berry.

The Tops

Here are the tops I’ve chosen for the cruise, adhering to the color palette and trying to find a good mix of solids and patterns, both casual and dressier.

SHOP THESE ITEMS

Black Tunic | Black Tank

Floral Dot Tee |Paisley Tunic Top

Tie-Day Navy Top | Blue Floral Tank

The Dresses

Although there will only be one dress-up night, you might want to eat at a premium restaurant, so you’ll want to dress up for that. With that in mind, I chose two dresses.

SHOP THESE ITEMS

Chiffon Dress | Midi Dress

The Shoes

And here are the shoes I chose, trying to keep them versatile and to a minimum. For these, I stuck to the two neutral colors in the palette, black and white.

SHOP THESE ITEMS

Black Mules | Black Heels

Canvas Sneaker | White Sandals

The Swimwear

Of course, you need swimsuits for Mexico, right? Here are a couple of suits plus a cover-up and a sun hat for you.

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Black Swimsuit | Black and White Swimsuit

Cover-Up | Sun Hat

Outfit Ideas

And here are the cute outfits I put together for this trip. Links are included above for each item so you can shop them if you’d like. If they’re already sold out when you click, I apologize, but you can see the look I was going for.

For an excursion

On cruises, excursions will usually have early-morning start times when temperatures are a little cooler, but in Mexico, it will still be hot.

Knowing that, choose a mixture of tops geared toward staying cool. Consider mixing and matching when you choose them, and go for patterns as well as solids.

For this outfit, I chose a tie-dye tee, white shorts, and slip-on canvas sneakers that will be perfect for exploring.

Here’s another outfit: a blue-and-white patterned top, denim capris, and sandals. This outfit would be perfect for a day when you won’t be doing a lot of walking.

For the Beach or pool

Relaxing by the pool is part of the fun of Mexico. Why not look good while you’re doing it?

Onboard on a sea day

Although the temperature on the ship is usually comfortable, sometimes it can be chilly. For staying onboard, I put together these two casual outfits with longer sleeves.

For evening

Evenings can be casual or a little dressier, depending on where you’re having dinner or what your plans are. If you’re going to a main dining room and a show in the theater, you’ll want to dress a little nicer. If you’re dining at the buffet and taking in a comedy show, you can dress casually.

For a dressy evening

For a seven-day cruise, you’ll probably only have one dress-up night, which you’ll want to look nice for. Photographers will be set up around the ship to take photos of you. If you dine at a specialty restaurant, you’ll want to dress for that as well.

I chose two options: a midi-length chiffon tiered dress and a midi-length elbow-sleeve dress, and paired both with a pair of heeled sandals.

Travel outfits

For flying to the port, you’ll want to be comfortable, so choose nonrestrictive clothing that you can layer. I wear my slip-on sneakers to make it easier going through TSA, a pair of travel pants, a tee, and a light jacket in case the plane gets cold, or I’m going home to much colder weather. For the trip home, I wear the same outfit but with a different tee.

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Jacket | Tee | Pants | Slip-on sneakers

Additional Items

I focused on the major clothing items, but you’ll also need to pack something to sleep in, plus underwear, bras, and socks. And jewelry, don’t forget that! Your jewelry and other accessories like scarves, sunglasses, and purses will help give your outfits a unique look.

Here are a couple of items that will accessorize your new Mexican Riviera wardrobe. The simple canvas tote bag will give you something to carry your purchases in during an excursion (because you know you’ll want to bring home some souvenirs), plus it will be helpful carrying your things to the pool. And the sunglasses will look fabulous on excursions or on a beach day.

SHOP THESE ITEMS

Sunglasses | Tote Bag

A Few More Combinations from this Wardrobe

To give you an idea of the versatility of these items, here are just a few of the many outfits you can make with them. Click on the outfit below to see it in a larger window.

Final Thoughts on Creating Your Cruise Capsule Wardrobe For Mexico

Your taste will differ from mine, but these suggestions should give you an idea of how to create your own cute outfits from a capsule wardrobe for your next trip.

Happy cruising!