Could be in BIG trouble with DW - formal dining

[luddite]

So my DW is currently shopping for designer cocktail dresses and high heels for our upcoming cruise - she loved "formal nights" on our other cruises, but the more I learn about Freestyle dining I have this nightmare vision of her sitting there in Versace while everyone else is in shorts and a ballcap.

 

I just posted another thread about specialty dining and I now plan on doing that every night, but I'm still scared because she knows Karate.

 

Help, am I doomed or is there a dress-up option !!!!

 

If you dine in the big MDR you won't be surrounded by ballcaps and wife-beaters.

[sdmike]

if you're ok having dinner all dressed up next to me in my jeans and polo shirt, you'll have no problems. If your wife likes to be surrounded by dressed up people, change to a different cruise line

[getaway4fun]

Love to dress up! Love to see my teens dressed up! Love to see my DH dressed up! There is just something to being casual by day and then dressing up at night. That is the fantastic thing about NCL: everyone can be comfortable - your holiday, your way! Have a great time! :)

[bobg529]

You really can wear pretty much whatever you like, within reason, on NCL and as everyone has said you will see the full range of dress. Personally I enjoy seeing the ladies done up in their finest. They always look beautiful. I think it brings out the best in them. The only time I find it a bit jarring is when I see a perfectly dressed woman out with a guy in jeans or whatever. I always think it's kind of insulting to the woman. I'm sure that the guy doesn't mean it that way. Probably his wife is used to her husband being a slob and it doesn't bother her either. But I have to say that I don't like it. Me, I go with the flow. I enjoy wearing a tux once in awhile, and I wear a suit almost every day. I can also be very happy in shorts and some of the ugliest tropical shirts you have ever seen. But if I'm out with a lady I always try to dress up as much as she does (or doesn't). :)

[Clem Kadiddlehopper]

What difference at all would it make what other people choose to wear. Wear what you feel like wearing and be happy with yourself. What one chooses to wear and how the choose to feel should not be based on other people.

[Winchester Ranger]

What difference at all would it make what other people choose to wear. Wear what you feel like wearing and be happy with yourself. What one chooses to wear and how the choose to feel should not be based on other people.

 

I know what you're saying. Personally I love lobster and can't understand why others don't, but that's why restaurants have menus ;)

[Winchester Ranger]

Love to dress up! Love to see my teens dressed up! Love to see my DH dressed up! There is just something to being casual by day and then dressing up at night. That is the fantastic thing about NCL: everyone can be comfortable - your holiday, your way! Have a great time! :)

 

I love your outlook on life - your DH is a lucky guy !

[Artcricket]

Took our first cruise last year on NCL Epic. There were lots of people who dressed up - not only on the dress up or not night - but any night. I brought some sparkling clothes and never felt out of place.

[sjbdtz]

Pshaw, you are only in a LITTLE trouble. ;)

 

There might very well be people roaming the ship in baseball caps and jeans shorts...they'll be headed to the buffet.

 

There WILL be some people in the dining room dressed in more casual clothes on the "formal" night. This might include people in jeans (but not baseball caps). Make sure you go to the more formal dining room with the more stringent dress code, or you'll encounter a good portion of cruisers in casual wear. What ship are you on?

 

In my experience, you wife will be in a comfortable minority, meaning she'll be in the 20% of MDR diners dressed to the hilt on "formal" night. She'll get a lot of positive attention for it, I'm sure. I would say another 30% will be in dresses or skirts that are a little more casual, another 30% in business casual (e.g., slacks and a nice top), and 20% in casual wear (but ok for NCL rules in the MDR).

 

So, she'll be a class act and shouldn't feel awkward about it. I don't bring formal wear, but I wear dresses or skirts almost every night for dinner. I do it because it fits the atmosphere, I like how I feel dressed up and it makes the night feel special.

 

 

From NCL FAQs:

Wear smart casual if you are eating dinner in the aft main dining room (our more formal dining room) and in Le Bistro on cruises longer than five days. For women, it includes slacks or jeans, dresses, skirts and tops. For men, it’s jeans or slacks with a collared shirt and closed-toed shoes. Traditional Bermuda shorts along with long socks, loafers and a blazer are all acceptable on a Bermuda cruise.

 

We want you to be comfortable, but tank tops for men, flip flops, baseball caps, visors and jeans that are overly faded, with holes or tears and worn below the hips are not permitted in main dining rooms or specialty restaurants. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants. You may want to pack a sweater too—air conditioning can be chilly.

 

This isn't Princess. Nobody is forced to go to the buffet on NCL, because somebody else feels like dressing up.

 

I haven't worn a baseball cap to dinner since they went of out fashion about 10 years ago... but I may be in my short-shorts, as is my prerogative.

 

(I'm kidding... ain't nobody wants to see that!)

 

.