When is formal/elegant night - and what do men wear?

[sallybrown2012]

We're going on a five night cruise, with sea days on the first full day and the fourth full day. Any way to find out when formal night will be? I assume there will be photo taking opportunities?

 

Also, can men get away with a shirt and tie and dress pants, or do most men wear suits?

 

Thanks.

[cloudninecat]

It is usually the first full sea day on a 5 night cruise.

 

A shirt tie and dress pants is fine. Very few wear suits. I wish more did.

[fuddrules]

We're going on a five night cruise, with sea days on the first full day and the fourth full day. Any way to find out when formal night will be? I assume there will be photo taking opportunities?

 

Also, can men get away with a shirt and tie and dress pants, or do most men wear suits?

 

Thanks.

 

About a billion or so dress question threads to read up on but the man wouldn't even need to wear a tie, let alone a suit. Some do really dress up and others wear khaki's and a polo. Yes, photogs will be everywhere.

[First and Ten]

We're going on a five night cruise, with sea days on the first full day and the fourth full day. Any way to find out when formal night will be? I assume there will be photo taking opportunities?

 

Also, can men get away with a shirt and tie and dress pants, or do most men wear suits?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Main Dining Room(s)

Following is the dress code in the Main Dining Room(s) for both men and women and pertains to children as well:

Cruise Casual Dress Code

• Men: sport slacks, khakis, Jeans (no cut-offs), dress shorts (long) and collared polo shirts
  
• Women: summer dresses, casual skirts, pants, capris, dress shorts, Jeans (no cut-offs) blouses and tops
  
• Not permitted: Cut-off Jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, tee-shirts, gym or basketball shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops and bathing suit attire
  

Cruise Elegant Dress Code

• Men: dress slacks, dress shirts, and we also suggest a sport coat; men may also wish to wear a suit and tie or tuxedo
  
• Women: Cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses; ladies may also wish to wear an evening gown
  
• Not permitted: Jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, shorts, tee-shirts, sportswear, gym or basketball shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops and bathing suit attire
  

Cruise Elegant Evenings / Formal Nights

The length of the cruise determines the number of 'Cruise Elegant' evenings in the Dining Room. The first 'Cruise Elegant' evening is scheduled for the 2nd or 3rd evening of the cruise and the second 'Cruise Elegant' evening is scheduled for the 2nd or 3rd evening prior to the end of the cruise, schedules permitting.

• 2-day to 5-day cruise: one Cruise Elegant evening
  
• 6-day or longer cruise: two Cruise Elegant evenings
  

[riffatsea]

You can even get away withOUT the tie!

The only real requirement is long pants and a shirt with a collar.

Up to you how dressy you want your guy to be!

Mine wore suits every day to work and now in retirement would never wear one for a vacation!

[mediccruzin]

It is usually the first full sea day on a 5 night cruise.

 

A shirt tie and dress pants is fine. Very few wear suits. I wish more did.

Being married to a teacher we could only cruise in the summer. Why in earth any man would want to wear a full suit in 100 degree heat is beyond me. The days yore are not coming back. Cruising is getting more casual.

[easyboy]

We're going on a five night cruise, with sea days on the first full day and the fourth full day. Any way to find out when formal night will be? I assume there will be photo taking opportunities?

 

Also, can men get away with a shirt and tie and dress pants, or do most men wear suits?

 

Thanks.

You can wear your planned attire.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[ryano]

Cruising is getting more casual.

 

Thank goodness!

[mediccruzin]

Thank goodness!

Yup, after the first few cruises "FormaL" night wears off fast.

[bUU]

Being married to a teacher we could only cruise in the summer. Why in earth any man would want to wear a full suit in 100 degree heat is beyond me. The days yore are not coming back. Cruising is getting more casual.

While I won't be wearing a suit for sure, the ambient temperature is really not that much of an issue since generally speaking you're talking about interior spaces and they're often kept rather cool.

 

 

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[coevan]

First and Ten do you have the dress code saved on your desktop? I'm just being funny as it is asked every other day

[coevan]

P.S. I do not even bring a jacket or tie

[billfish]

Carnival is liberal in enforcement of the elegant night dress code. Two elegant nights on a seven day cruise is over the top It is simply a way sell more photos and disrupt travel around the the ship.

[First and Ten]

First and Ten do you have the dress code saved on your desktop? I'm just being funny as it is asked every other day

 

LOL, that's a good idea coevan....maybe I will make it my wallpaper :')

[bUU]

LOL, that's a good idea coevan....maybe I will make it my wallpaper :')

Some keyboards can be programmed to store a block of text like that so you can enter that block of text with alt shift F1, for example.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[coevan]

cruise critic most posts, Cheers and Dress Code,

[First and Ten]

Carnival is liberal in enforcement of the elegant night dress code. Two elegant nights on a seven day cruise is over the top It is simply a way sell more photos and disrupt travel around the the ship.

 

 

OK, I gotta bite on this one....how is it "disruptive"? :confused:

 

We all agree that the dress codes on most, if not all cruise lines have gotten more relaxed....Back in the 60's and 70's, at the bare minimum it was a suit w/tie....many cruisers wore tux's and evening gowns for dinner....Any reasonable person agrees the dress codes have relaxed significantly....Fast forward to today that on a 7 day cruise, 2 nights are considered "Elegant". Elegant consists of a pair of slacks and a collared shirt for me, yet that is unreasonable? Seriously?

[Open Mind23]

OK, I gotta bite on this one....how is it "disruptive"? :confused:

 

We all agree that the dress codes on most, if not all cruise lines have gotten more relaxed....Back in the 60's and 70's, at the bare minimum it was a suit w/tie....many cruisers wore tux's and evening gowns for dinner....Any reasonable person agrees the dress codes have relaxed significantly....Fast forward to today that on a 7 day cruise, 2 nights are considered "Elegant". Elegant consists of a pair of slacks and a collared shirt for me, yet that is unreasonable? Seriously?

 

It's just the times we live in. People would rather be relaxed than pressured to be dress up (even to the lowered 'dress up' standards).

 

That being said, as long as you don't go into the main dining room, you can really dress however you want, even on cruise elegant night.

[mediccruzin]

OK, I gotta bite on this one....how is it "disruptive"? :confused:

 

We all agree that the dress codes on most, if not all cruise lines have gotten more relaxed....Back in the 60's and 70's, at the bare minimum it was a suit w/tie....many cruisers wore tux's and evening gowns for dinner....Any reasonable person agrees the dress codes have relaxed significantly....Fast forward to today that on a 7 day cruise, 2 nights are considered "Elegant". Elegant consists of a pair of slacks and a collared shirt for me, yet that is unreasonable? Seriously?

Disruptive as it is hard to get around on the ship with all the picture taking going on. Much the public space is tied up with either the ships photographers or the passengers themselves taking a plethora of photos.

[First and Ten]

It's just the times we live in. People would rather be relaxed than pressured to be dress up (even to the lowered 'dress up' standards).

 

That being said, as long as you don't go into the main dining room, you can really dress however you want, even on cruise elegant night.

 

 

Thank you!!!! its called a compromise....Carnival is not saying they wont feed you if you don't dress up. You can wear whatever you want, just don't go into the MDR. Go to the Lido deck or order room service. Some people take this as an affront. The mindset of "I want to do what I want to do and if I don't like the rules then I shouldn't have to follow them" is downright annoying....Whats next, if these people don't get their way will they threaten to hold their breath until they turn blue? :D

[Micahs Grandad]

Yup, after the first few cruises "FormaL" night wears off fast.

 

Very true. Once upon a time you and your wife were introduced to the capt at a welcome aboard party and there was a reason to get all dressed up.

 

Now it is an excuse to sell overpriced pictures.

[bUU]

Disruptive as it is hard to get around on the ship with all the picture taking going on. Much the public space is tied up with either the ships photographers or the passengers themselves taking a plethora of photos.

I can see your point about hard blockages (setting up professional picture taking venues) if the available space wasn't designed for such blockages. However, in our most recent cruises (on other cruise lines) these venues were always tucked into a corner and didn't bleed over into what I would consider passageways. Is blocking passageways something that Carnival's photographers regularly do?

 

Thank you!!!! its called a compromise....Carnival is not saying they wont feed you if you don't dress up. You can wear whatever you want, just don't go into the MDR. Go to the Lido deck or order room service. Some people take this as an affront.

What I've seen people taking as an affront is the claim that they should eat at the buffet if they don't dress to meet some random poster's personal standards for what people should be wearing, standards that either apply cruise line suggestions as requirements or otherwise exceed the minimum requirements the cruise line sets forth.

 

The mindset of "I want to do what I want to do and if I don't like the rules then I shouldn't have to follow them" is downright annoying....

Again, that cuts both ways. There is far more entitlement mentality in play when some random poster tries to browbeat others into complying with their personal dress code in excess of the minimum requirements the cruise line sets forth than even minor violations of those minimum standards, since the cruise line has chosen to express their minimum standards in a polite manner rather than by browbeating.

[First and Ten]

 

What I've seen people taking as an affront is the claim that they should eat at the buffet if they don't dress to meet some random poster's personal standards for what people should be wearing, standards that either apply cruise line suggestions as requirements or otherwise exceed the minimum requirements the cruise line sets forth.

 

 

My personal standards?????? the dress code I have posted is from the Carnival Website, not "First and Tens" dress code website.

 

Cruise Casual Dress Code

• Men: sport slacks, khakis, Jeans (no cut-offs), dress shorts (long) and collared polo shirts
  
• Women: summer dresses, casual skirts, pants, capris, dress shorts, Jeans (no cut-offs) blouses and tops
  
• Not permitted: Cut-off Jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, tee-shirts, gym or basketball shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops and bathing suit attire
  

Cruise Elegant Dress Code

• Men: dress slacks, dress shirts, and we also suggest a sport coat; men may also wish to wear a suit and tie or tuxedo
  
• Women: Cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses; ladies may also wish to wear an evening gown
  
• Not permitted: Jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, shorts, tee-shirts, sportswear, gym or basketball shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops and bathing suit attire
  

so the term "not permitted" is more of a suggestion to you as opposed to a rule? :confused:

[BallFour4]

Carnival is not saying they wont feed you if you don't dress up. You can wear whatever you want, just don't go into the MDR.

 

"Fun" filled post I truncated. Wear pants. The rest is just details. Cruise Elegant night means khakis and a polo or Tommy Bahama shirt and casual shoes or sandals. Casual nights the khakis go in the closet and shorts come out with the same style shirt and sandals.

 

Thirty-seven cruises in the past forty-one years, it's been casual on Carnival for more than a decade.

 

.

[Havingfun2010]

Being married to a teacher we could only cruise in the summer. Why in earth any man would want to wear a full suit in 100 degree heat is beyond me. The days yore are not coming back. Cruising is getting more casual.

 

Well, I live in the South, and wear long pants, and on occasion ties and a jacket. Very seldom is it 100 outside, but normally in the low 90's. On a ship, for dinner, you are inside, not outside, and a jacket is not hot or even uncomfortable if it fits right.

 

It's hot, I'm on vacation, I wear at work, I'm retired, I'm this, I'm that, luggage fees, no room to pack, it get's wrinkled, etc etc are all excuses, and not reasons for keeping the philosophy it's my vacation and no one will tell me what to do.