Dressing for Dinner

It's been a few years since we cruised and I can't remember how much a man needs to dress up on "normal" dinner nights? I know the website says "smart casual" but does he need to wear a tie every night? My daughters and I all bought dresses, but if a button up shirt and slacks will pass for "smart casual" for my husband I don't want to bother packing ties except for formal night. I have friends who have cruised Carnival a few times recently and said that there a polo shirt and slacks was perfectly acceptable in the dining room, but from my experience years ago I remember Royal being a little nicer...

Also, for formal nights it says he needs to be in a suit or tux, so is that saying that he can't get by with just a suit jacket (black) and slacks (khaki) but needs an actual matching set?

Thanks for any input.... I want to be sure we pack everything needed but really don't want to pack anything unnecessary (especially if we have to out and buy it like we would a suit! :Dlol).

The rules that used to apply now do not. Shorts are now perfectly accepted in the dining room. On formal nights there are about 1/2 in sport coats or tuxes. I am old school, tux on formal night & smart casual on other nights. In my humble opinion, if you want to wear shorts to the MDR stay home & eat at McDonald's. My opinion, flame away.

My smart a$$ reply- it's better to dress for dinner than not to... ;)

No, ties are not needed, tuxes are not needed, even jackets for formal night are not required.

It's more a matter of how you want to dress than anything else. If you want to dress up, great, go for it. If you want to pack super light- then pants and a nice shirt will do. They may turn you away in shorts, or may not. For sure, they will turn you away with swim suits and flip flops.

I see it only took one post to pull out the old "I'm better than the people who eat at McDonald's" reply.

May be a new CC record.

OP, wear what you're comfortable in. If that is shorts and a polo, go for it. If that's a tux, go for it.

Class comes from how you look at and treat other people, not how you dress.

The "dressiest" outfit I've ever taken on a cruise is some nice designer jeans, a button up shirt and some basic loafers.

If you want to go above and beyond, that's totally up to you.

As long as you don't look like you just came from the pool, then nobody (whose opinion matters) will care.

WOW.... things have really changed in the last few years if they allow shorts in the dining room for dinner.

I definitely want dinners to be special (which is why I bought my teenage daughters - who HATE dresses - dresses and told them they will be required to wear them)... I want us to dress up for formal nights - to me that's a huge part of what makes cruising fun! (totally agree with the McDonald's comment) I just didn't want to force my husband into a tie every single night or spend a fortune on a FULL suit unless that was expected.

Thanks for the input :D

And that's fine. You will definitely see some people dressed up like it's Prom Night.

But if it would ruin your evening if the guy at the next table over us wearing, for example, khaki shorts... Then you may want to consider a different (more expensive) cruise line.

And that's fine. You will definitely see some people dressed up like it's Prom Night.

 

But if it would ruin your evening if the guy at the next table over us wearing, for example, khaki shorts... Then you may want to consider a different (more expensive) cruise line.

Haha... I'm not a snob about what other people wear (except my daughters who I am trying to teach to dress for the occasion). If the people next to us are wearing shorts it really doesn't affect me.

I just don't want to be turned away from "the good food" and sent to the Windjammer LOL

I'm on the fence about this one. While I am always happy to dress nicely, I find the "formal night" to be an oddly arbitrary declaration on a cruise ship. Particularly to go to the same venue that is resort casual the other nights. I mean, if I'm getting dressed up for a formal dinner with my wife, I don't take her to the same local joint we hit after work.

As for the shorts, yeah I'm in agreement with that one. If you're over the age of twelve, wear pants at night.

You'll see a little of everything. When we sailed on Celebrity they had "evening chic" instead of formal, which left it open to interpretation. DH would prefer not to take a suit, so his black dress shirt and

Dressy pants made it Into,our luggage on our most recent. I think that will be the way we roll from now on. I usually wear a short formal on one night and black pants and dressy top on the second formal night. As far as McDonald's, we kind of like going there for a casual meal, but if we wanted to wear relaxing at home kind of clothing on a cruise we would go to the buffet.

I think it's nice to have the option. With the airlines charging for extra bags, etc, people are enjoying packing a little lighter.

It's nice to see people dressed up formal as well so I like the fact that RCI calls formal night "suggested". Many people dress formal so by all means dress formal if you want to (and leave your husband's ties at home if he doesn't want them).

I'm on the fence about this one. While I am always happy to dress nicely, I find the "formal night" to be an oddly arbitrary declaration on a cruise ship. Particularly to go to the same venue that is resort casual the other nights. I mean, if I'm getting dressed up for a formal dinner with my wife, I don't take her to the same local joint we hit after work.

 

As for the shorts, yeah I'm in agreement with that one. If you're over the age of twelve, wear pants at night.

Follow the money. Dressing nice leads to taking pictures.

Just off Explorer. MDR seems to have changed a lot over the past 12 months. There is no one supervising the dress codes that are advertised (being in the Compass and on the signs at the entry). That said, increasingly we saw that shorts and t-shirts were worn. That said, it was not a common thing, but a noticeable variation.

The post cruise surveys have no capacity for feed back, except for the specific questions asked. As we wanted to acknowledge staff, plus pass comment, MDR being there (and the poor in cabin entertainment), below is an extract from the reply:

While we understand the dress code impacts the finedining atmosphere, we want everyone to feel relaxed and comfortable duringtheir vacation. We apologize if this diminished your overall dining experience.Your comments are appreciate and will be taken into consideration.

We do not always have a staff member encouraging ourguests to utilize hand sanitizer in the main dining room like we do in theWindjammer; however, we do still have sanitizer available for those guests whowish to utilize it. We do when there is an increased number of illnesses.Otherwise, the potential of spreading an illness in a buffet setting is muchmore likely than in the main dining room.

I definitely want dinners to be special (which is why I bought my teenage daughters - who HATE dresses - dresses and told them they will be required to wear them)... I want us to dress up for formal nights - to me that's a huge part of what makes cruising fun!

I hope you told your daughters that it is your rule that requires them to wear the dresses because it won't take long for them to realize it's not a Royal Caribbean rule!

Ok, I'm expecting to get flamed for this, so here it goes...

I am going on VACATION. I DO NOT GET DRESSED UP ON VACATION! I chose a cruise because I like the "all-inclusive" atmosphere and not staying in one place for the entire week. Another reason is one of our family members does not fly, so being able to uber to the cruise ship is KEY.

I am planning on wearing JEANS to dinner at most, unless I see a bunch of other people wearing NICE shorts. I get dresssed EVERY DAY for WORK, there should be NO reason to have to get dressed up on VACATION!

Now, I've only been on one cruise in my life, and that was on NCL (11 years ago). I do not remember how I got dressed up, but we did spend a few nights in the buffet with our then 3 year old son.

Someone please answer me this: WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO GET DRESSED UP ON VACATION????? People, please. It's not the 1920's cruising on the Titanic, you don't get dressed up in a shirt and tie to go fly in a plane like the "olden days". It's 2018, we've overcome this stigma of having to "Dress to Impress" and WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPRESS????

Let the games begin!!!

Ok, I'm expecting to get flamed for this, so here it goes...

 

I am going on VACATION. I DO NOT GET DRESSED UP ON VACATION! I chose a cruise because I like the "all-inclusive" atmosphere and not staying in one place for the entire week. Another reason is one of our family members does not fly, so being able to uber to the cruise ship is KEY.

 

I am planning on wearing JEANS to dinner at most, unless I see a bunch of other people wearing NICE shorts. I get dresssed EVERY DAY for WORK, there should be NO reason to have to get dressed up on VACATION!

 

Now, I've only been on one cruise in my life, and that was on NCL (11 years ago). I do not remember how I got dressed up, but we did spend a few nights in the buffet with our then 3 year old son.

 

Someone please answer me this: WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO GET DRESSED UP ON VACATION????? People, please. It's not the 1920's cruising on the Titanic, you don't get dressed up in a shirt and tie to go fly in a plane like the "olden days". It's 2018, we've overcome this stigma of having to "Dress to Impress" and WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPRESS????

 

Let the games begin!!!

I agree. Dress how you feel (within reason). I dress up several days per week and prefer not to wear a suit and tie on vacation.

there will always be the guy at a wedding wearing jeans and a t shirt, and there will always be guys wearing shorts in the MDR, but most people dress appropriately for the location and the occasion. In this case you will be dining in a white table cloth restaurant. Your daughters will look great in their dresses and you will get some nice family photos. Make dinner a special occasion.

Enjoy your cruise!

there will always be the guy at a wedding wearing jeans and a t shirt, and there will always be guys wearing shorts in the MDR, but most people dress appropriately for the location and the occasion. In this case you will be dining in a white table cloth restaurant. Your daughters will look great in their dresses and you will get some nice family photos. Make dinner a special occasion.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Well said!

A collared shirt and long pants is fine. Golf/polo shirt qualifies as "collared"....can be worn tucked in or out! For dinner, long pants..they don't have to be "dress pants"....chinos are fine. Even decent jeans.

A collared shirt and long pants is fine. Golf/polo shirt qualifies as "collared"....can be worn tucked in or out! For dinner, long pants..they don't have to be "dress pants"....chinos are fine. Even decent jeans.

Per above .... He never needs to wear a tie unless he wishes to do so. :D

Would you go to a fancy restaurant in a t-shirt and shorts? Doing so diminishes the experience and atmosphere for you and others.

IMO eating out at a fancy restaurant is a special occasion in itself and so is a cruise. It deserves appropriate clothing.

If you don't care what you look like you have options. Eat in the buffet.

Is the MDR fancy?, Very mediocre food at best and calling it fancy one night doesn't make it so. With that being said, I do try to wear khaki pants and a non- tshirt when dining

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The rules that used to apply now do not. Shorts are now perfectly accepted in the dining room. On formal nights there are about 1/2 in sport coats or tuxes. I am old school, tux on formal night & smart casual on other nights. In my humble opinion, if you want to wear shorts to the MDR stay home & eat at McDonald's. My opinion, flame away.

I wear a suit and tie 5 days a week. Last thing i want to wear on a vacation is a heavy suit just to eat a meal. I have also had the great fortune of cruising on Crystal and Silversea. I guess those folks eat at McDonalds very often. Plenty of shorts at dinner in the MDR.

I’m not going to flame you, you did nothing wrong.

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I think it's nice to have the option. With the airlines charging for extra bags, etc, people are enjoying packing a little lighter.

It's nice to see people dressed up formal as well so I like the fact that RCI calls formal night "suggested". Many people dress formal so by all means dress formal if you want to (and leave your husband's ties at home if he doesn't want them).[/quo

 

I would only say, If you can afford to cruise you can afford an extra bag, isn't that the argument they use for tips??

I see it only took one post to pull out the old "I'm better than the people who eat at McDonald's" reply.

 

May be a new CC record.And only two for you to flame him/her, is that also a new CC record? nah it's the norm.

 

.

 

Class comes from how you look at and treat other people, not how you dress.

Class comes from not flaming the posts you flamed... I too have done it so now we both have no class;p