Kid attire on formal nights?

[careywv]

We've recently decided to take our niece and nephew with us on our cruise to Mexico. It's really a pain to get the hubby to dress up, and he wants to try to wear khaki shorts and a button up or polo for formal night. But I'm trying to persuade him to pack khaki pants (or I'm going to sneak them in my bag) ;)

 

So my nephew is exactly the same, and he is even groaning about wearing khaki shorts. So my question is...how formal do kids have to be?

 

My niece is a girl after my own heart and is excited about dressing up. :D

[cb at sea]

If you get hubby to dress, then that's a great example for the nephew.

 

See, before you book this sort of vacation, you really need to let everyone know what's expected of them....

I mean...it's 2 hours out of an entire week....

[RoadTripFanatic]

First off I would tell them the rules state there are no shorts to be worn in the dinning rooms in the evenings. It doesn't matter if it is formal night or a regular night on the ship. Most cruise lines do have this rule. You are NOT supposed to wear shorts in the dinning room. Period. In fact I'm more prone to ignore jeans in the dinning room than I am shorts. Formal night is honestly what you want it to be. If they want to wear khaki PANTS then let them. It's their vacation and if they want to be comfortable so be it. If you REALLY want them to dress up then talk to your DH and tell him how you really feel. He might be talked into it if he knows how much it would mean to you.

[crusinmama06]

This is for Carnival Triumph? What are the latest rules for Carnival Triumph? Isn't it called Elegant Night now? Is it optional?

 

I am asking because I seriously can't remember. :confused: Maybe I am blocking it out :D

 

The Triumph was pretty informal. My kids dressed pretty formal -- the pics in my signature are from Triumph (but they are girls and they like those kind of thing)

 

So its what you make of it. What are the current rules on CCL?

[Set Free]

I'm on HAL but I'm bringing polos and slacks for my son for the regular dinners and then two dress shirts, a tie, blazer and dark slacks for formal nights. I'm borrowing the blazer since there is really no reason for us to have it otherwise but the rest of the stuff I was handed down for him. I even got a pair of dress shoes from this same friend! VERY cool!

 

I'd beg and plead. I know my hubby hates getting dressed up but he's just going to have to suck it up. :)

[SuperCoolOne]

You can wear shorts on Carnival to the MDR except for elegant night.

 

Khaki pants for elegant night for both of them would be fine. The website says shorts are not permitted on elegant night and I didn't see any on the Fascination that night either.

[careywv]

I actually don't know what the rules are, since I've never been to a formal night. We've skipped it on both cruises (RCL and Carnival), because DH did not want to dress up.

 

I've read some posts where people have seen jeans on formal night. I think khakis (even khaki shorts) and a nice button down or polo is dressier than that.

[illinoismomof4]

I didn't give my husband a choice, It's 8 day's he will dress up nice every night for dinner and I have now bought him a suit along with my 10 year old son.

 

They can live in jeans and t-shirts every other week of the year, but will dress up for dinner

 

That was the agreement we all made

[mikesteg]

First, kudos for taking the nephew and niece on a cruise. A very generous thing to do. :)

 

Second, maybe DH and nephew should do buffet on formal nights. Sounds like they'd prefer that. Then take your niece her to the premium restaurant, and do some formal photos on the way. :D

[SuperCoolOne]

Our son is 3.5 and wore khaki pants, a shirt and tie for elegant night. The other nights, he wore nice shorts, a nice short sleeved polo shirt and usually sandals. The girls wore sun dresses on elegant night and casual but nice summer clothes the other nights they ate with us.

[careywv]

First, kudos for taking the nephew and niece on a cruise. A very generous thing to do. :)

 

Second, maybe DH and nephew should do buffet on formal nights. Sounds like they'd prefer that. Then take your niece her to the premium restaurant, and do some formal photos on the way. :D

 

Thank you for that. It's kind of a harsh reality, but they wouldn't see things if it wasn't for us. We get really excited to take them new places.

 

I think I'm working them both on the khaki pants idea. So hopefully it will work out in the end. I'd hate to split our party up for dinner, since it's just as much for them as it is for us.

[eh24fan]

We were recently on the Carnival Miracle. My husband grumbled about the dressing up thing prior to going as well, so that meant my 9 1/2 year old did too. Once onboard, they were fine. Regular nights my husband wore khakis and a polo, the kids wore nice khaki shorts or plaid shorts with polos or button up shirts and sandals. For the 2 elegant nights they all wore khaki pants, button up shirts and ties on the first one, the 2nd one my husband still wore a tie, but my boys didn't.

[RoadTripFanatic]

I actually don't know what the rules are, since I've never been to a formal night. We've skipped it on both cruises (RCL and Carnival), because DH did not want to dress up.

 

I've read some posts where people have seen jeans on formal night. I think khakis (even khaki shorts) and a nice button down or polo is dressier than that.

 

 

In all honesty formal night does not require you to wear a formal to go to dinner. On our last cruise we were on vacation for 18 days. I did not have room to pack a formal/shoes for evening wear. I just wore khaki pants and sweater to dinner on formal nights. We had no problems. (BTW we were in Europe in February and it was cold!!)

[mrs.mobster]

We are of the "formal night = formal dress. no exceptions." mentality. DH wears a dark suit with shirt and tie, I wear evening and cocktail dresses, and for DD's first birthday cruise this past Jan, she had a fancy little silk dress. :)

[akcruz]

We are of the "formal night = formal dress. no exceptions." mentality. DH wears a dark suit with shirt and tie, I wear evening and cocktail dresses, and for DD's first birthday cruise this past Jan, she had a fancy little silk dress. :)

 

Love the picture, your DD is adorable. One of my favorite memories is of a little boy (barely walking) in a white tux with tails on formal night. I always appreciate when people take the time to dress their kids this way. It makes the night so much more special.

[Set Free]

We are of the "formal night = formal dress. no exceptions." mentality. DH wears a dark suit with shirt and tie, I wear evening and cocktail dresses, and for DD's first birthday cruise this past Jan, she had a fancy little silk dress. :)

 

She is SOOOO cute!! Thanks for sharing the picture.

 

 

 

 

I think I want another baby. LOL

 

 

 

Shhh - don't tell my hubby. ;)

[Havingfun2010]

Why is dressing up such a big deal? If you don't want a full suit, than a shirt and tie is fine. But really, wearing shorts?

[lwf99]

I agree - formal in our family means formal. I'm the only female and NEVER get the opportunity to dress up in formal attire except on cruises. My hubby and two sons (8 and 9 years old) dress up each Sunday for Church in suits and ties. It is not a HUGE shock to their systems when I say "Pack your dress clothes!" I also torture the three of them by requiring one dance from each of them on the formal nights!:p

[careywv]

Why is dressing up such a big deal? If you don't want a full suit, than a shirt and tie is fine. But really, wearing shorts?

 

 

In all reality, these children don't have dressy clothes. So that means Aunt Amy (me) would have to purchase them. Their mother told us that if they need dressy clothes that she wasn't buying them. :(

 

So I've been scouring the internet for really good deals over the past few weeks, and I think I've found some items that will work with reasonable price tags. :D

[foxesden1]

short pants and a navy blue blazer is totally correct for a child to wear. or maybe you could do short pants, (nice dress shorts of course) and a waste coat? (ie vest?) a school uniform would also be correct to wear. lots of boys in europe where short pants and a jacket. no big deal.

[foxesden1]

http://tinytux.com/cart/boys-formal-short-sets-c-33.html

[Tggrtoes]

I've done the suit thing for my 2 yr old DS on his previous cruises, but this time I just didn't have the energy to find something or spend even a small amount of money on something I knew he'd never wear again. It just seemed wasteful.

 

Adding to that is the fact that we flew so had to pay $25/per bag each way and space was tight as it was. I dressed him in a dressier polo shirt and khakis instead of shorts that he wore the other nights. I love dressing up, but even opted to just do black pants and switch up various sparkly blouses to save space.

 

I found the elegant night on Carnival to be VERY different than what we've seen on Princess. Course, that could also be that we were on a 5 day, rather than a 7 day or longer like we've done before. Dressy Casual was definitely the majority... I say if you want to dress up , do it... but don't stress out about it, especially given your situation.

[SuperCoolOne]

How old is your nephew?

 

Our son is 3.5 and he wore a linen shirt with a tie and khaki pants and was fine. The girls wore simple sundresses.

 

The dresses were less than 15 each at Target. The shirt and tie were 20 dollars at Children's Place. He had the pants already.

 

 

[careywv]

How old is your nephew?

 

Our son is 3.5 and he wore a linen shirt with a tie and khaki pants and was fine. The girls wore simple sundresses.

 

The dresses were less than 15 each at Target. The shirt and tie were 20 dollars at Children's Place. He had the pants already.

 

He's 8 years old, and very picky about his pants. He only wears things with elastic waist. :eek: I told him he needed to wear "big boy pants" but what I say really doesn't stick, since I'm not around 24/7. The only khaki pants with elastic waist I've found are cargo style (which I don't like, but I think I'm stuck with). I live in a very small town in WV, and I've checked Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Magic Mart, and Pebbles - which is basically all shopping in my area.

[SuperCoolOne]

Ugh, I avoid walmart at all costs!

 

I would not want to live somewhere without a Target!

 

Here is a link to Children's Place khaki pants. Maybe they have his size but you'd have to pay for shipping.

http://www.childrensplace.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category_10001_10001_-1_26918__26601|26908|26918_big%20boy|bottoms|pants