Dress code help for men and kids

[kitkat343]

What clothing  do we need to pack for the formal nights our children and my husband over new years?  My husband would like to pack as little extra things as possible since we already need life vests, Christmas presents and cold and warm weather clothes 

[exlondoner]

Life vests?

[Pushpit]

Yes, life vests are provided by Cunard, and you would be forced to use their provided type, there isn't optionality on that one. They even provide life vests for any dogs in your party.

 

For adults, then for gala night you will need a dinner jacket / tuxedo for him, and a collared shirt for smart attire night, the Cunard site spells this out fairly clearly. A dark suit is an alternative for Gala night, I've only seen a few men wearing that though on this Crossing. Luckily for men it takes remarkably little space and weight. For children, well it's really what you and they fancy wearing. I've seen some 8 years olds on board at the moment wearing very smart formal dresses, you could see what this does for the child's self confidence, they are walking on a cloud. But there is no expectation of this particularly if younger. If they are a bit older, say over 12 years old, then shirt, sweater and tie would probably be fine, but if you can formalise it a bit more then it's a good experience for the road ahead.

Edited December 20, 2023 by Pushpit

[kitkat343]

5 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Life vests?

They provide life vests on the ship, but understandably do not want them leaving the ship.  It's for the small kids to swim with in port.  

[Down-Unders]

On 12/21/2023 at 11:41 AM, kitkat343 said:

They provide life vests on the ship, but understandably do not want them leaving the ship.  It's for the small kids to swim with in port.  

 

On 12/21/2023 at 6:08 AM, kitkat343 said:

What clothing  do we need to pack for the formal nights our children and my husband over new years?  My husband would like to pack as little extra things as possible since we already need life vests, Christmas presents and cold and warm weather clothes 

 

On 12/21/2023 at 6:08 AM, kitkat343 said:

What clothing  do we need to pack for the formal nights our children and my husband over new years?  My husband would like to pack as little extra things as possible since we already need life vests, Christmas presents and cold and warm weather clothes 

If your husband has a suit or Jacket and the kids something simple long pants and shirt and mum something simple but dressy. It looks like you are taking the kids  to the beach as part of your journey, if everyone made sure they wore vests their would be less drownings.   If your vest meet safety standards you will not have any problems. 

 

On 12/21/2023 at 6:26 AM, Pushpit said:

Yes, life vests are provided by Cunard, and you would be forced to use their provided type, there isn't optionality on that one. They even provide life vests for any dogs in your party.

 

For adults, then for gala night you will need a dinner jacket / tuxedo for him, and a collared shirt for smart attire night, the Cunard site spells this out fairly clearly. A dark suit is an alternative for Gala night, I've only seen a few men wearing that though on this Crossing. Luckily for men it takes remarkably little space and weight. For children, well it's really what you and they fancy wearing. I've seen some 8 years olds on board at the moment wearing very smart formal dresses, you could see what this does for the child's self confidence, they are walking on a cloud. But there is no expectation of this particularly if younger. If they are a bit older, say over 12 years old, then shirt, sweater and tie would probably be fine, but if you can formalise it a bit more then it's a good experience for the road ahead.

Forced to use life vests, and dogs in the swimming pool???? 

[Winifred 22]

The life jackets are for the dogs in the kennels on QM2 and I doubt regardless of their provenance you would be allowed to wear/ use  your own life jackets. 

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

The life jackets are for the dogs in the kennels on QM2 and I doubt regardless of their provenance you would be allowed to wear/ use  your own life jackets. 

How do you suppose they would divide the dogs between the lifeboats? Would they all go in a raft with the kennel master, or would they go with their owners? Might one have a dog in one’s lifeboat? Something new to worry about.

[Winifred 22]

11 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

How do you suppose they would divide the dogs between the lifeboats? Would they all go in a raft with the kennel master, or would they go with their owners? Might one have a dog in one’s lifeboat? Something new to worry about.

I don’t know I would imagine the owners would want their dogs with them but there will

be a policy and I would suggest it would be dogs with kennel master separately. 

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, Winifred 22 said:

I don’t know I would imagine the owners would want their dogs with them but there will

be a policy and I would suggest it would be dogs with kennel master separately. 

Life of Pi? 😀

[kitkat343]

On 1/9/2024 at 2:58 AM, Down-Unders said:

 

 

If your husband has a suit or Jacket and the kids something simple long pants and shirt and mum something simple but dressy. It looks like you are taking the kids  to the beach as part of your journey, if everyone made sure they wore vests their would be less drownings.   If your vest meet safety standards you will not have any problems. 

 

Forced to use life vests, and dogs in the swimming pool???? 

Sorry for the confusion - our personal life vests are for pools/beaches in port.  If the ship had an emergency, we would use the ship life vests which always look like very serious and substantial life vests (life vests are rated for different levels of safety and I'm fairly certain the ship ones are better than our personal ones.  They are a lot bulkier at any rate).  But the ships quite reasonably cannot allow passengers to take their life vests of the ship since they might get lost and wouldn't be available in case of an emergency.  So we bring life vests with us since my kids haven't swum in a few months since the end of the summer and it takes them a little while to feel completely comfortable in the water.

 

Oh, and we sailed, and Cunard did a lovely job and my husband brought his suit.  

Edited January 10 by kitkat343

[Host Hattie]

That's good to hear, thanks for reporting back. 

[Down-Unders]

On 1/11/2024 at 9:00 AM, kitkat343 said:

Sorry for the confusion - our personal life vests are for pools/beaches in port.  If the ship had an emergency, we would use the ship life vests which always look like very serious and substantial life vests (life vests are rated for different levels of safety and I'm fairly certain the ship ones are better than our personal ones.  They are a lot bulkier at any rate).  But the ships quite reasonably cannot allow passengers to take their life vests of the ship since they might get lost and wouldn't be available in case of an emergency.  So we bring life vests with us since my kids haven't swum in a few months since the end of the summer and it takes them a little while to feel completely comfortable in the water.

 

Oh, and we sailed, and Cunard did a lovely job and my husband brought his suit.  

Delighted you enjoyed your cruise,some of the negative comments you received, disappointing! 

[kitkat343]

16 hours ago, Down-Unders said:

Delighted you enjoyed your cruise,some of the negative comments you received, disappointing! 

I wasn’t upset by the comments - the other cc boards for family oriented ships are way less civil than this one, plus I learned that there are life vests for dogs on board.