CC with Less Formal Dinner Wear

[Janet&Ty]

Wondering if anyone can suggest a ship that allows less formal dinner wear. We have cruised Disney before (alas, we can no longer afford them) and had one dressier evening (suit, no tie) with the others being khaki's and nice shirt. We would definately want to avoid anything that required a tux. Obviously my husband HATES to dress up. Our son, who is six, would also be cruising. Thanks for any suggestions. :D

[jckvpa0]

I don't know of any. On a seven day cruise you will 2 formal nights. If you didn't feel like dressing up you could always do alternative dinning on these nights.

[big_duck]

A tux is not required. Jacket and tie is acceptable on Carnival on formal nights.

[rvrgirl]

Wondering if anyone can suggest a ship that allows less formal dinner wear. We have cruised Disney before (alas, we can no longer afford them) and had one dressier evening (suit, no tie) with the others being khaki's and nice shirt. We would definately want to avoid anything that required a tux. Obviously my husband HATES to dress up. Our son, who is six, would also be cruising. Thanks for any suggestions. :D

 

You don't have to wear a tux on any cruise:) Sound's like how you dressed on Disney is fine here on Carnival:)

[hdawson]

About 90% of the guests will be dressed as expected for formal night. Carnival recently included sport coat or blazer with tie as being OK.

 

If appropriate dress is distasteful, then there is the buffet or even NCL cruises which makes formal nights optional. And also, Princess has their personal choice style. Lots of options for today's cruising public.

[bucket_O_beer4john]

I've noticed that on the seven day cruise, the first formal night seems bit more formal. That is when you see more tuxes.

 

If I'm going to wear a suit one night and a sport coat the other, I'll wear the suit the first formal night.

[jenn_saxon]

I love to dress up for formal nights in cocktail dresses. But I know that not everyone likes to and not everyone has formal attire. I personally don't care if not everyone is dressed up, just as long as you don't wear jeans or shorts. You shouldn't have to miss out on the delicious food in the dinning room just because you don't have a suit. I say just dress up as much as you can, a button up shirt is fine with me. This is a vacation! You shouldn't have to worry about being judged on your clothes. Just have fun!:D

 

Just my opinion.

[LornaT]

On my 12/25/05 Pride sailing, we saw every manner of dress on formal and the Elegant Casual nights, running for slack, jeans and sweats. One family at a table near us not only did the kids appear at dinner in sweats, but then the parents showed up at the table with food trays from the Lido deck......Maitre 'D did not ask them to leave or even close the doors 5 minutes after dinner was to start as posted at the entrance to the dining room.

 

Have seen nearly the same (first time seeing Lido deck food coming into the dining room though) attire (Slacks, Jeans, etc.) on every cruise. If your husband at least wears nice slacks and shirt he should be fine. And if the Maitre 'D doesn't like it, have dinner up on the Lido Deck.

[Cotton]

quote=LornaT]........then the parents showed up at the table with food trays from the Lido deck......

 

Surely, you're kidding!? :eek:

 

Maitre 'D did not ask them to leave or even close the doors 5 minutes after dinner was to start as posted at the entrance to the dining room.

 

Hard to believe a Maitre d' let somebody bring a Lido tray of food into the dining room. Just maybe (?) those folks didn't know any better, but the Maitre d' definitely should have informed them they couldn't bring trays of food in.:p

 

Have seen nearly the same (first time seeing Lido deck food coming into the dining room though) attire (Slacks, Jeans, etc.) on every cruise.

 

Fortunately, there ARE Maitre d' who do tell some folks that they are not properly attired, and suggest they have their dinner at the Lido Buffet. I've seen this happen a coupla times. I have never seen any jeans in a dining room. I think MOST passengers know what is appropriate for a formal setting and what isn't...formal night or not.

[cruisin' again]

On our cruise in April, The people at the table behind us had "kids" ages around 18-23ish and they wore shorts (all guys) in the dining room! I will admit that my son, who is 6, wore a very dressy shorts outfit in the dining room (even wore closed toed sandals and not sneakers). But these guys were in cargo shorts and t-shirts! I didn't want to mention it to our waiter, since even though it was a dressy outfit, my son was wearing shorts also.

 

What do you think about kids that young wearing something dressy even if it's shorts? It was also a button-down short sleeved shirt and a sweater vest.:confused:

[Cats' slave]

We were on RCCL's Mariner in February and most of the men wore suits on formal nights. Some wore tuxes. Other men wore sports coats and some just had on nice shirts with ties.

 

I personally think all the really studly looking men in the room were wearing suits or tuxes. :D

 

Seriously, if your hubby doesn't wear a suit, he should wear his best stuff and enjoy the night. Most people are just having a good time with their loved ones. It's a party and you're invited!

[Nliedel]

You know I don't see many tuxes anymore. Gene wears one, but it's not required at all. A suit will be fine.

[rgbs_2000]

as most dressy outfits for young boys are like those you mentioned it should be acceptable.

[zydecocruiser]

Try NCL - only one OPTIONAL formal night.

 

But even on Carnival, no jacket or tie required, no matter what the land lubbers say.

[Happy ks]

We have sailed on NCL twice, they have formal optional. You can cruise without any formal wear at all, it's great. We have only sailed on Carnival once, we prefer NCL over them.

 

Most of the mainstream cruiselines we find to be very similar in the cruise experience. All have formal dining rooms, buffets, room service, shows at night, kids clubs, casinos (well not all, but most) etc... The food (no matter what anyone writes on CC) is always about the same to us, sort of like banquet or chain restaurant food. So, it really breaks down to your own personal taste. Ours is more defined by the appearance of the ship, we prefer a more subdued, understated ambience.

 

Overall, our favorite mainstream choice of ships has got to be Royal Caribbean. We'd really prefer a notch up from that, but that is what the budget can afford until the kids are gone.

 

No matter what ship or itinerary you choose, you can always opt out of formal nights. There are always alternatives, such as the buffet or room service. You can also cut down on the expense of buying a lot of new clothes by wearing the same pants two or three times to dinners. We have the clothes we need already, we just don't care to overpack, so we take a lot less than others do and use the laundry service available. Absolutely no one will notice or care that you wore the same clothes to dinner on the first and last night of the cruise, no one will know those black or tan pants are the same you wore 2 nights ago. Change tops or accessories and keep within the same color family, keep it simple.

 

The cruise is about the experience you have, not the clothing you wear.

[imlulu]

Carnival and RCI fromal nights are fine without tuxes. ON Carnival, you mostly see suits. You will also see many men with dress shirt and tie particularly on 2nd formal night.

 

You will be fine cruising either of these lines. My dh wears a dark suit on formal nights. MY boys (13 and 7 now) wear khaki colored gap pants,french blue(or striped variation there of) buttondown oxford, blue blazer, and a fun tie. They always get complimented and makes a nice formal night family picture.

 

Have a great time on whatever your cruise choice is. Remember you are getting a limited cross section of actual cruisers on this forum. :)

[Andee]

Oceania, our favorite cruise line, has no formal nights--it's "country club casual" every night.

 

BUT, there are no children's program, and rarely many children on board.

[MSSQRL]

On our cruise in April' date=' The people at the table behind us had "kids" ages around 18-23ish and they wore shorts (all guys) in the dining room! I will admit that my son, who is 6, wore a very dressy shorts outfit in the dining room (even wore closed toed sandals and not sneakers). But these guys were in cargo shorts and t-shirts! I didn't want to mention it to our waiter, since even though it was a dressy outfit, my son was wearing shorts also.

 

What do you think about kids that young wearing something dressy even if it's shorts? It was also a button-down short sleeved shirt and a sweater vest.:confused:[/quote']

 

Are you really saying that you were so bothered by what the guys at the next table were wearing that if your child had been dressed in long pants you would have complained???

 

We were on the Miracle last year and there was a young couple at the next table who always, even on formal nights, dressed extremely casual but no one ever said anything. A couple of weeks ago on the Glory, some people came in the dining room in jeans and were asked to leave. What others wear never bothers me. Actually, because it is vacation, I wouldn't mind if they would allow nice shorts in the dining room. It sure would make packing a lot easier and lighter.

[caviargal]

Oceania, our favorite cruise line, has no formal nights--it's "country club casual" every night.

 

BUT, there are no children's program, and rarely many children on board.

 

And if the OP cannot affford Disney, Oceania would be a real stretch :(