packing CIE tours
 

We are going on the CIE Tours Odyssey tour. It suggested bringing nice clothes (dress pants for me, dress for women) for dinners. We had initially planned on just bringing nice jeans & shirts. Has anyone been on this tour and could suggest what most people wear to dinner so that we're not out of place? Thank you!

I haven't been on a CIE tour but if they say bring nice clothes for dinner and specify the type, I'd do it. Don't know the lenght of the tour but a pair of pants and a couple of shirts or sweaters, depending on climate, should work for you. For your wife I'd opt for a dressy pair of pants and/or skirt with tops/jacket that are interchangeable. A dress probably isn't necessary.

If they bother to put that in the info brochure it sounds like the tour will include meals in places where very casual wear would be a problem. Either take some slightly less casual clothes (business casual should be OK - it doesn't sound like they're asking for suit/ties and cocktail dresses) or find out which nights this applies to and make other arrangements for those meals/activities.

The tours will have evening meals in a hotel dining room. Some hotels will post an expected dress for dinner. Many tourists do not take dressy clothes, but many do. The more pricey the tour, the more you may be expected to dressup. Your touring clothes may embarrass you, in a fancy hotel, but tours are frequently served away from the main dining room. Some tourists do look out of place in a nice dining room wearing shorts, and dirty t-shirts.

If you don't want to carry additional clothing, I'd bring a nice neclace or a scarf for a different look at dinner.

Well - I just looked at the tour's itinerary. Thress special or themed dinners/entertainment are included - and yes you probably would want to dress up a bit. But just a skirt for you and nice shirt/jacket or Cardigan and slacks woul dprobably be enough. You can dress things upp quite a bit w/ scarves/costume jewelry.

One comment about the "jeans thing". You will be on the move a lot and jeans are not all the practical if they get wet or dirty. You won't be in one place long enough for damp jeans to dry. I'd consider dockers/other casual slacks instead. And they would double duty for the fancier evenings.

"Thress"? What the heck was that? :) Should be "Three special themed . . . ."

The rest of my typos youcan figure out . . . .

About the jeans..I usually include one pair for longer trips, but they really are not the best thing to take for the following reasons:

They take up a lot of luggage space

They take forever to dry if they get wet, and that's a real possibility unless you're touring the desert.

I'd get some wrinkle free, stain resistant, quick-drying pants. These can be found at any number of stores. You might also try Travel Smith for shirts and pants that are light weight, wrinkle resistant. These will work for both casual and dressy occasions and will take up far less space in your luggage.

Thank you for all the dress code tips, this will certainly be helpful as we pack. If you have any more pointers about anything, we'd be happy to hear them. Thank you!

I love the L. L. Bean Baysider cotton/poly twills and their microfiber (very "dressy") slacks for myself. I resist the urge to pack anything but black. My husband favors the Lands End twills in black and khaki. These all travel extremely well and are far more comfortable than jeans. If necessary, they dry overnight (I always pack a hanger with clips) with no ironing required. The deep front pockets are magnificent.

I would recommend a black skirt that travels well over a dress. You can wear anything with a black skirt, even a white tee and nice sweater and be dressed up, especially with a scarf, nice belt, and/or a bit of jewelry.