Formal nights

[CruizinKittie40]

Does NCL have formal nights and if so how dressy are they?  We are doing a 7 night to the Mediterranean and have two specialty dining credits.  Are the specialty dining establishments dressy or does the main dining room have a formal night? 

 

Apologies if this has been discussed before.  Either I don't know how to search just the NCL forums or I'm just not good at searching but I didn't find anything. 

 

 

[All-ready2cruise]

No formal nights, just "dress up or not nights" photo opps mostly. Resort casual is the highest level usually.  Some dress formal but not needed. 

 

Specialty dining is casual as well.  Le bistro is the a bit dressier and 1 MDR is  a little dressier too.  

Edited July 22, 2021 by All-ready2cruise

[All-ready2cruise]

From NCL site: 

 

WHAT TO PACK

Clothing

On a Norwegian cruise, you travel from destination to remarkable destination - and only unpack once. That said, cruisers tend to pack twice as many clothes they need.

More Info

What clothes should I pack?

When it comes to what to wear, you can go resort casual or get decked-out and look your best - it's your call. That's the freedom of Freestyle Cruising. We even have special "Dress-Up or Not Night." It's the perfect opportunity to get your portrait taken with your family, that special someone or even with the ship's Captain.

Cruise Casual: the Freedom of Freestyle Cruising

Dress cruise casual anytime during the day, in the buffet and in most specialty restaurants. For women, it includes summer and casual dresses, skirts, regular or capri pants, shorts, jeans and tops. Khakis, jeans, shorts and casual shirts are fine for men. Swimwear is acceptable at the buffet and outdoor restaurant, but a shirt or a cover-up and footwear are required.

Be sure to pack a sweater - the air conditioning can be chilly. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants.

Please Note: 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.

All Decked-out: Smart Casual

Dress smart casual in our more formal dining room or in our more upscale specialty restaurants. 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. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants.

Ready for Adventure: Shore Excursions

Think about the shore excursions you'll be taking and pack accordingly, including comfy walking shoes. For kids and adults it's good to pack a pair of closed-toed shoes. You can check within the specific shore excursion for more information.

Special Events: Theme Nights and Parties

Our newest event, Norwegian's Night Out, is the perfect opportunity to get dressed up for an evening of cocktails, fine dining and great entertainment. You may also want to pack an all-white ensemble for our iconic White Hot Party.

[JamieLogical]

Only two restaurants have any kind of dress code on NCL ships: Le Bistro and Ocean Blue. They require collared shirts, long pants, close-toed shoes, and no baseball caps for men. As far as I know, they do not have a dress code for women beyond no swimsuits.

 

The rest of the ship is wear what you want when you want, except no swimwear in the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Swimwear is only acceptable for dining in the buffet.

[CruizinKittie40]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

Only two restaurants have any kind of dress code on NCL ships: Le Bistro and Ocean Blue. They require collared shirts, long pants, close-toed shoes, and no baseball caps for men. As far as I know, they do not have a dress code for women beyond no swimsuits.

 

The rest of the ship is wear what you want when you want, except no swimwear in the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Swimwear is only acceptable for dining in the buffet.

Thank you! Trying to figure out how to pack and this makes things much easier!

 

[KeithJenner]

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Only two restaurants have any kind of dress code on NCL ships: Le Bistro and Ocean Blue. They require collared shirts, long pants, close-toed shoes, and no baseball caps for men. As far as I know, they do not have a dress code for women beyond no swimsuits.

 

The rest of the ship is wear what you want when you want, except no swimwear in the main dining rooms and specialty restaurants. Swimwear is only acceptable for dining in the buffet.

The aft MDR also has that dress code on many ships.

[JamieLogical]

4 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

The aft MDR also has that dress code on many ships.

 

Oh, you're right. The only ship I have sailed on that had that was the Gem. As I recall, it was basically: men can't wear tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops?

[ColeThornton]

9 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Oh, you're right. The only ship I have sailed on that had that was the Gem. As I recall, it was basically: men can't wear tank tops, shorts, and flip-flops?

 

 

From post #3.

 

All Decked-out: Smart Casual

Dress smart casual in our more formal dining room or in our more upscale specialty restaurants. 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. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants.

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

From post #3.

 

All Decked-out: Smart Casual

Dress smart casual in our more formal dining room or in our more upscale specialty restaurants. 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. Kids 12 and under are welcome to wear nice shorts in all our restaurants.

 

Okay, so it's the same dress code as Le Bistro and Ocean Blue. Do we have a list of ships that have that? I know the Breakaway and Breakaway Plus class ships do not.

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by JamieLogical

[ColeThornton]

1 minute ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Okay, so it's the same dress code as Le Bistro and Ocean Blue. Do we have a list of ships that have that? I know the Breakaway and Breakaway Plus class ships do not.

 

 

I wish I could give you a better answer Jamie, but to be honest in my experience it's really hit and miss on where and when the rules of dress decorum are enforced.  We could discuss the merits of the dress code but that will open up a whole can of worms on this forum.   🙂

[JamieLogical]

1 minute ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

I wish I could give you a better answer Jamie, but to be honest in my experience it's really hit and miss on where and when the rules of dress decorum are enforced.  We could discuss the merits of the dress code but that will open up a whole can of worms on this forum.   🙂

 

Haha! Trust me, I am sailing on Celebrity for the first time this Sunday and the dress code is a WHOLE THING. I had to spend $200 on new clothes just so I could eat food on the ship....

[nolatravelgirl]

While words are helpful, I find that photos are better. We did the chef's table onboard the Spirit in the Mediterranean and they give you a group photo of everyone who attended that night. We did not know everyone at the table and most people consider the chef's table a "special" dress up evening and I think it gives you a good idea of what most people consider dressed up as this was a cross section of people. As you can see most of the men wore khakis and women wore casual dresses. this photo I think gives a good representation what most people wore on the dress up or not evening. I don't consider any of this as "formal" in the strict definition. I guess what I am saying is leave the rhinestones, bugle beads and sequins at home unless you just really want to wear them. I go with the option of a comfortable black short dress  that I can add a fun statement necklace and carry a cute clutch yet that same black dress would also look fine with a casual pair of sandals and a beach tote for daytime touring. 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by nolatravelgirl

[KeithJenner]

6 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

I wish I could give you a better answer Jamie, but to be honest in my experience it's really hit and miss on where and when the rules of dress decorum are enforced.  We could discuss the merits of the dress code but that will open up a whole can of worms on this forum.   🙂

It isn’t necessarily where it is enforced (although that is an issue as well), but on some ships the stricter dress code doesn’t apply in the MDR and on some it does.

 

I’m not aware of a list of which ships it applies on. I don’t think it’s as easy as just saying a particular class of ship.

 

It is generally stated in the freestyle daily I believe.

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, nolatravelgirl said:

While words are helpful, I find that photos are better. We did the chef's table onboard the Spirit in the Mediterranean and they give you a group photo of everyone who attended that night. We did not know everyone at the table and most people consider the chef's table a "special" dress up evening and I think it gives you a good idea of what most people consider dressed up as this was a cross section of people. As you can see most of the men wore khakis and women wore casual dresses. this photo I think gives a good representation what most people wore on the dress up or not evening.

 

 

Those people definitely put on their "Sunday Best" for that Chef's Table experience. That is quite fancy for what I have worn and seen on NCL outside of Le Bistro or Ocean Blue.

[JamieLogical]

1 minute ago, KeithJenner said:

It isn’t necessarily where it is enforced (although that is an issue as well), but on some ships the stricter dress code doesn’t apply in the MDR and on some it does.

 

I’m not aware of a list of which ships it applies on. I don’t think it’s as easy as just saying a particular class of ship.

 

It is generally stated in the freestyle daily I believe.

 

Right, there are definitely specific ships it applies on. I know the Gem had it and the Bliss and Escape didn't. I believe the Epic does. I believe the Breakaway, Getaway, Encore, and Joy do not.

[nolatravelgirl]

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Those people definitely put on their "Sunday Best" for that Chef's Table experience. That is quite fancy for what I have worn and seen on NCL outside of Le Bistro or Ocean Blue.

You are making my point exactly that what someone considers fancy/formal is very subjective. I would never consider this "formal" in fact I would consider this resort wear considering several of the women are wearing sandals and men are wearing khakis and Hawaiian shirts. I am just trying to give a visual as to what I saw as the most "formal" I saw on a ship and in order to fit in one does not need to pack sequins and rhinestones.

[kochleffel]

20 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

It isn’t necessarily where it is enforced (although that is an issue as well), but on some ships the stricter dress code doesn’t apply in the MDR and on some it does.

 

I’m not aware of a list of which ships it applies on. I don’t think it’s as easy as just saying a particular class of ship.

 

It is generally stated in the freestyle daily I believe.

 

The upshot is that it's prudent to have some clothes that comply, or just go to the other MDR (if you want to have dinner in a main dining room).

[DCGuy64]

8 minutes ago, nolatravelgirl said:

You are making my point exactly that what someone considers fancy/formal is very subjective. I would never consider this "formal" in fact I would consider this resort wear considering several of the women are wearing sandals and men are wearing khakis and Hawaiian shirts. I am just trying to give a visual as to what I saw as the most "formal" I saw on a ship and in order to fit in one does not need to pack sequins and rhinestones.

100% agree. This is not fancy/formal. It's definitely casual. But as you say, those terms are very subjective. Well, except when they aren't. For people like me who typically wear a suit and tie to work every day, this kind of dress is super casual. But if you're retired and spend 99% of your time in flip flops and shorts at the beach, this is rather dressy. And that's the kicker: while a lot of people on Cruise Critic clearly belong to the 2nd group, a not insignificant portion of us belong to the 1st. It's all about what you're used to. My dad is retired but he'll wear khakis and a collared shirt no matter what. I like dress codes, because they tend to make people behave better. LOL It probably comes from attending a Catholic high school where we had to wear dress clothes to school and subsequently people rarely misbehaved. (and yes, there are well-behaved people in tank tops and ill-behaved ones in tuxes, but that's the exception that proves the rule).

[bkrickles1]

My last 2 cruises were on the Escape and the Encore and I didn't even bring a pair of pants.

It was shorts and Hawaiian shirts every night for me.

I ate in all 3 MDR's that way in addition to Cagney's, teppenyaki, Los Lobos and Q.

It's one of the reasons we've done more NCL in recent years over RCCL.

We've done enough cruises over the years with the formal and semi-formal dress codes and we've kind of had enough of that for now.

My girls wear sun dresses and such but none of the formal wear.

It's more about comfort for us now.

[BermudaBound2014]

27 minutes ago, nolatravelgirl said:

You are making my point exactly that what someone considers fancy/formal is very subjective. I would never consider this "formal" in fact I would consider this resort wear considering several of the women are wearing sandals and men are wearing khakis and Hawaiian shirts. I am just trying to give a visual as to what I saw as the most "formal" I saw on a ship and in order to fit in one does not need to pack sequins and rhinestones.

 

I don't consider it formal either. It's resort casual at best.  I don't even consider the below formal, but I do consider it on the higher end of resort chic:

 

 

Now this is formal IMO (and what you can expect on Cunard because our English friends TOTALLY know how to dress :))......

Edited July 22, 2021 by BermudaBound2014

[Trimone]

Brown shoes for dinner a definite NO NO

[BermudaBound2014]

10 minutes ago, Trimone said:

Brown shoes for dinner a definite NO NO

 

I think brown shoes are fine for casual nights. And even the sandals in the above photo are find for resort chic. Am I missing something specific about brown shoes? 

[Trimone]

4 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I think brown shoes are fine for casual nights. And even the sandals in the above photo are find for resort chic. Am I missing something specific about brown shoes? 

There is an old and well established rule that brown shoes after 6pm are inappropriate. That only black shoes are acceptable at night. However, this rule is not practiced as widely as it once was. 

[BermudaBound2014]

2 minutes ago, Trimone said:

There is an old and well established rule that brown shoes after 6pm are inappropriate. That only black shoes are acceptable at night. However, this rule is not practiced as widely as it once was. 

 

WOW, thanks for sharing. I had no idea and I'm the person responsible for dressing DH on cruises lol 🙂

[DCGuy64]

7 minutes ago, Trimone said:

There is an old and well established rule that brown shoes after 6pm are inappropriate. That only black shoes are acceptable at night. However, this rule is not practiced as widely as it once was. 

I remember when people used to dress up for airplane flights. Now I see pajamas and clothes so tight you can make out every, ahem, contour beneath. LOL!