5 weeks in Italy, followed by a Greek Islands/Turkey cruise. How do I pack light?

Different cruises have different "requirements" but I'm sure there's no rule that you can't wear the same dress twice. I expect most cruisers can pack lighter than they do. Rick's Mediterranean Cruise Ports book expounds on that topic for several pages. I assume you'll travel during a time when a light dress and wrap or a travel blazer (see Travel Smith, etc) will be warm enough. www.cruisecritic.com is another widely recommended resource for cruise info and comparisons.

To add to the previous cruise advice, is this quote from Emma's recent posting (A locals guide...) under England: The answer to all questions about clothing is usually "layers." And I'd add -- scarves and accessories.

Thanks for the cruise info Laura. I will check that out. Thanks Lo for the scarf and accessories suggestion.

Are you flying home from a different place than where you're arriving in Italy? Will you be returning someplace (even in passing) after the cruise? Perhaps there's a hotel or Left Luggage in that place, where you could deposit some of your Italy clothes and bags and just take your cruise luggage on the boat. A lightweight, foldable nylon duffle bag would let you stash some things without toting another whole suitcase(s).

By the same token, if there are cruise clothes that you don't want to lug thru Italy, you could even mail or ship them ahead of you, to be collected prior to the cruise. Or ship some stuff home from Italy before the cruise. The shipping costs or bag storage fees might be worth the convenience, and they might even not cost too much, but with any method, at some point you'd need to find a way to get all of your belongings back.

Have sent you 2 PMs with detailed info. TC

It can be done! We did it with 2 weeks travel (prior to the cruise) in the Alps, then on to 100* Italy! talk about a diverse wardrobe! I found the secret was not only a three color mix and match wardrobe, but black knit skirt and tee (looks like a dress from afar and can wear in other combos later) a black knit dress and accessories. We had two formal nights, I wore the same black knit dress with different accessories, a pretty cardigan and next time a black one, nobody was the wiser. Also, our ship had a laundromat so we did our wash the first day on board! Realistically you can rotate the same pair of dark shorts and a dark skirt for a week if need be, and frankly you will find that you don't need half of what you bring. Have fun, we loved it!