excess clothing

I have left a bag of business clothes at Frankfurt's left luggage and toured a week with only a daypack and change and half of clothes (1 extra pant, 2 extra shirts). It's a little pricey but not as bad as shipping things seperately and better than lugging stuff you won't use. You could also choose to do the entire thing carry-on. My wife and I take cruises (last one a Baltic cruise) with carry-on only (including packing for formal nights). It really isn't hard. For me I add a black suit, white shirt, two ties and two pocket squares (different looks for 2 formal nights). It's not a tux, but I usually look more "dressed" than 90 percent of the passengers. I lose one pair of pants and one shirt from my normal pack list to offset the addition. One pair of shoes (I bring two) is a simple black leather dress shoe that is suitable for walking (mine are water-proof Eccos). My wife packs more items, but they all fit in her carry on and stay under any weight restrictions (last one was SAS to Copenhagen, 18 lbs.). She adds two cocktail length nylon/rayon dresses, a pair of black pumps, a black clutch and some costume jewelry. I suggest one black dress (add a scarf for one of the formal nights to give it a different look) plus a pair of simple black sandals that can be worn for dressy or casual. The rest of your stuff, nicer casual, should work fine for both cruising and traveling.

Nope.

Dangerous question because you're going to get a lot of replies along these lines: "If you have to send clothing home, you've packed too much." Now, arriving by cruise ship, I can imagine that you may have some things that you wouldn't have packed if you'd just been going to Europe directly. There may not be an economical way to send them home, but I am sure you can always send them by mail. The question is whether it is worth what it will cost.

Paul, is correct. Here comes the pack lighter advice. And Brad is correct. Our normal travel fits in two carryon back pack style bags. When we do cruises (6 in Europe) we add one carryon size rolling bag for our the extra clothing/shoes needed for the cruise. Those clothes are coordinated with our regular traveling clothes. Our last trip was 33 days with a 17 day cruise in the middle. It can be easily (for us) done but requires some practice. Do not ask me to describe how much we took on our first cruise in 92. It would be .......

Economical? Depends on your definition. Mailboxes Etc is all over Italy. I'd guess about 60€ to send home a small-ish box. Might be worth it, though!

David is correct.

I sent clothes home from Lake Como in 2005. Still waiting for the package to arrive. A month after I returned was notified via a 3:30am PST phone call from someone in Rome that they needed my social security number in order to send the package. Asked the man to send me an email confirming what he just said. He did. Emailed him twice that he could have my passport number but no way in H he was getting my social security number. Never got a reply. Went to the Italian Consulate in Los Angeles and had them send an email in Italian. Gave them a copy of the postal form with all the information. No reply. No clothes. Simply learned never to send anything via Italian post again and haven't.

Charlenes idea is best one so far,, womens formal wear does not need to take up much space at all, it usually scrunches up pretty good! Mens stuff takes most room,, the shoes alone add like 5 lbs ,, and take 1/4 of the case up( ok, so my ex had size 13 feet!) .

Claudia, I'm sorry for your problems, but the Italian consulate is not responsible for the Poste Italiane business as American consulates are not responsible for USPS, Fedex etc.

On our long trips to Europe it is inevitable that we accumulate a few things that stretch our concept of light weight carry-on. We go to a post office, buy a flattened box, a roll of tape, go back to the hotel and pack up stuff to send, tape it up, go back to the post office, and grit our teeth when we find out the cost. Its either that or don't buy anything. The last box we sent home was last October from Cologne and the cost was 42 Euros. You have to do what you have to do, and pay for it.

@Andre I realize that the Consulate isn't responsible for returning clothes or overseeing the Poste Italiane! Asked them for assistant because I wanted to correspond in Italian, thereby eliminating any misinterpretation. The consulate staff were wonderful. Their concern, assistance and guidance much appreciated.

To help minimize your packing, most cruise lines rent tuxedos for men. My husband did this; it came with 2 dress shirts, socks, even shoes. It was hanging in our cabin when we checked in. Very handy and fit well. That eliminated the need for him to pack these bulky items, and we were able to take a transatlantic cruise, plus 10 days in southern France, with just our carry-ons.

I paid about 22 euros for a medium box from Luxembourg. Only worth it as I was desperate. Before that I had left things with a friend in London and got it at the end. Lesson learned, pack light

I packed my tux on my first cruise - never again. Not only did it preclude me from carrying on, I was one of less than ten percent of men on the boat wearing a tux. Many men wear only a blazer, slacks, button-up shirt (often not white) and tie, with their normal walking shoes. Being underdressed on formal nights is really the norm rather than the exception on the cruises I've sailed. Renting, even if it's a decent fitting tux, is more than I want to spend for a couple of formal dinners - better to spend the money on optional dining in one of the ship's premium restaurants.