Clothing for Explorer cruise to Europe

[OceanCruise]

Taking an 8-night Smithsonian Journeys cruise summer 2025 to Italy. We have taken many cruises on Celebrity and RCCL but this is our first Ponant cruise. We want to dress appropriately but also want to minimize how much we have to bring. General info for this cruise on the Ponant website recommends that men should bring a suit for 2 gala nights and a sport coat for the other dinners. Is a suit truly necessary for men or would a sport coat, button down shirt and tie suffice? Is a sport coat really necessary for all the other nights or is a polo shirt and Dockers ok? For daytime sightseeing tours to ruins and around the cities in the summer, do women wear mostly sundresses or are neat capris or "skorts" acceptable? I assume shorts for women is only appropriate for the pool area. Would a plain but "nice" black dress be ok for women for gala nights or do I really need to bring something sparkly? 

[AussieBoyTX]

Ponant is fairly relaxed on their dress code compared to other high-end lines. European cruises tend to be a bit more dressy, but Smithsonian cruises, almost exclusively Americans, are less dressy. 
 

I’d be comfortable with a sport coat on gala nights. I might wear a tie on those nights. On other nights, I’d probably wear a long sleeve shirt at night, but the only real rule is no shorts at night. If it’s summer weather, I might wear a Polo. 
 

The black dress would be perfectly fine, IMO. 
 

Wear whatever you’re comfortable in during the day both on ship and on the excursions. 
 

We look forward to hearing about your cruise!