New Cruiser - Dress code questions

[kbknepp]

I am new to the cruising-thang. We will be taking a cruise with my in-laws next summer. We will be traveling with our 3-year-old son. I have noted the rather inflammatory thread regarding appropriate dress code for children on this site. I had assumed we would probably put our son in slacks and a button-down shirt for most evenings, but now I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. My two questions are:

 

1. Is a button-down Aloha shirt inappropriate?

 

2. It sounded like slacks and a button-down shirt are NOT appropriate for the formal night. What can you suggest, short of renting a tux. My husband will be wearing a coat and tie but I wasn't sure if this was necessary for our son.

[ElvisandTracey]

I am new to the cruising-thang. We will be taking a cruise with my in-laws next summer. We will be traveling with our 3-year-old son. I have noted the rather inflammatory thread regarding appropriate dress code for children on this site. I had assumed we would probably put our son in slacks and a button-down shirt for most evenings, but now I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. My two questions are:

 

1. Is a button-down Aloha shirt inappropriate?

 

2. It sounded like slacks and a button-down shirt are NOT appropriate for the formal night. What can you suggest, short of renting a tux. My husband will be wearing a coat and tie but I wasn't sure if this was necessary for our son.

 

For formal night, my 2 & 10 year old boys have suits (J C PENNEY the best place to get them cheap). If you don't want to mess with it, leave the kids in AO or babysitting for formal night, it may be easier.

 

Bu they should have at least a suit if they come for formal night, a shirt and pants isn't really formal enough for that one night.:D

[Chawoobie]

Sounds fine. I never wear a tux - I just take a suit and a sport coat. For kids - they're kids!! If someone wants to get bent out of shape about what a three-year-old is wearing to dinner, sounds like they've got a problem.

 

Dressing up is a nice tradition - kinda like being on the Titanic, but it isn't for everyone.

 

Main thang - have fun!!!

[kbknepp]

Are there dress codes in any of the other restaurants?

[wrp96]

Are there dress codes in any of the other restaurants?

 

The only dress code for the Windjammer Buffet is that you be wearing clothing and not your swimsuit.

 

The specialty restaurants have a smart casual dress code but they also are only for age 13 and up.

 

On casual nights your child will be perfectly fine in a pair of slacks and a button down shirt so don't worry about it.

[Alexis]

I am new to the cruising-thang. We will be taking a cruise with my in-laws next summer. We will be traveling with our 3-year-old son. I have noted the rather inflammatory thread regarding appropriate dress code for children on this site. I had assumed we would probably put our son in slacks and a button-down shirt for most evenings, but now I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. My two questions are:

 

1. Is a button-down Aloha shirt inappropriate?

 

2. It sounded like slacks and a button-down shirt are NOT appropriate for the formal night. What can you suggest, short of renting a tux. My husband will be wearing a coat and tie but I wasn't sure if this was necessary for our son.

 

Is a button-down Aloha shirt inappropriate?

If you mean a Hawaiian type floral shirt? I would say yes for casual nights.

A button down dress shirt is better for formal.

In 21 cruises, I have seen many children in the dining rooms on formal night in button down shirt and long slacks. Most of them might wear a vest or a tie. Many of them do not wear a jacket.

Do not fret over putting him in a suit or tux.

Do not fret over the answers you get that he has to dress more formal.

A little one his age, he should be adorable in anything you dress him in.

Having had 4 children of my own, I know how fast they outgrow clothes.

Save your money and enjoy the cruise. ;)

 

EDIT: Check your ship before you cruise. Many of them have done away with the "smart casual nights" and just have formal and casual. The Navigator is one of those ships.

[Cruisin Dave]

I agree with the previos OP. A suit is great for adults and a sport coat and tie for older kids but for a 3 y/o, a nice shirt and pants sound great. Have fun and don't worry about what some stuff shirt has to say.

[cruisenut2001]

My question is somewhat different, but concerns smart casual. Chawoobie indicated he brings a suit and a jacket. I'm assuming the jacket is for the smart casual nights. So if I wanted to bring just one coat do you suggest wearing a suit for the formals and smart nights? I have cruised only on Princess, but RCI is beginning to sound like a cruise line that I better have a butler for. I am not one of those that say "I'll wear what I want!" and I do fully agree with following dress codes (I wouldn't sail on Celebrity if it were free, for that reason), I just don't want to look stupid wearing a dark suit on smart nights. Why am I even looking into RCI, you might ask? Only for the longer stay in Cabo.

[DonnaK]

I am new to the cruising-thang. We will be taking a cruise with my in-laws next summer. We will be traveling with our 3-year-old son. I have noted the rather inflammatory thread regarding appropriate dress code for children on this site. I had assumed we would probably put our son in slacks and a button-down shirt for most evenings, but now I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. My two questions are:

 

1. Is a button-down Aloha shirt inappropriate?

 

2. It sounded like slacks and a button-down shirt are NOT appropriate for the formal night. What can you suggest, short of renting a tux. My husband will be wearing a coat and tie but I wasn't sure if this was necessary for our son.

 

The aloha shirt is fine for the non-formal nights.

 

On formal night, it isn't necessary for you to go out and buy your 3 year old a suit or a jacket. He'll be fine in dressy slacks and button-down shirt. If you want, add a belt and a tie, and he'll be better dressed than a lot of other children at dinner.

[DonnaK]

My question is somewhat different, but concerns smart casual. Chawoobie indicated he brings a suit and a jacket. I'm assuming the jacket is for the smart casual nights. So if I wanted to bring just one coat do you suggest wearing a suit for the formals and smart nights? I have cruised only on Princess, but RCI is beginning to sound like a cruise line that I better have a butler for. I am not one of those that say "I'll wear what I want!" and I do fully agree with following dress codes (I wouldn't sail on Celebrity if it were free, for that reason), I just don't want to look stupid wearing a dark suit on smart nights. Why am I even looking into RCI, you might ask? Only for the longer stay in Cabo.

 

Please don't go crazy fretting over the dress code. For the two formal nights, my husband brings one dark suit, with one white dress shirt and two different ties.

 

For the rest of the nights, there really isn't a distinction between casual and smart casual anymore. My husband wears Docker-style pants. I usually pack a tan pair and a blue pair, with five mix-and-match shirts. The shirts are a combination of button-downs, golf-shirts and Hawaiian shirts.

 

We don't do alternate dining, but if we did, I still wouldn't bring an additional jacket. Either he'd wear the dressiest of the casual shirt with Dockers, or the suit, depending on the atmosphere of those restaurants at the time.

[SilkieGirl]

I'm going on the Grandeur on the 29th, and based on what I'm reading, I should be wearing a formal gown on the formal nights... would that be correct?

 

What is appropriate for the other than formal (smart casual?) nights (for an adult woman and young woman)?

 

Thanks!

Mary

[Sue L]

Check out ebay as they have some beautiful NEW merchandise for great prices. I got my friends son a brand new suit for 15$. He looked adorable.

[CruisinFinsUp]

Recently we were on the Jewel of the Seas and for formal night my 6 year old daughter wore a very nice dress and sandals and my 3 year old son wore dress pants, a white button down shirt, tie and suspenders.

He loved "dressing like daddy" cause that is what daddy wears to work (daddy leaves the jacket at the office so ds never sees it :rolleyes: )

 

I did not spend the extra $$ on the jacket because I figured he wouldn't stay in it long (too constricting on a little kid to move arms and eat in).

He looked great and the tie and suspenders will last him for years.

[Sue L]

Recently we were on the Jewel of the Seas and for formal night my 6 year old daughter wore a very nice dress and sandals and my 3 year old son wore dress pants, a white button down shirt, tie and suspenders.

He loved "dressing like daddy" cause that is what daddy wears to work (daddy leaves the jacket at the office so ds never sees it :rolleyes: )

 

I did not spend the extra $$ on the jacket because I figured he wouldn't stay in it long (too constricting on a little kid to move arms and eat in).

He looked great and the tie and suspenders will last him for years.

 

 

They look sooooo adorable!!!

[Host Kewlguy]

Having just returned yesterday from our Enchantment of the Seas cruise sailing from Fort Lauderdale. All I can say is you would never know there was a dress code on this sailing. You didn't have to search too hard to find jeans being worn in both the main dining room and the specialty restaurant. It was the most "dressed down" cruise we've ever sailed. We were told by our waiter that the cruise line has given up trying to enforce any dress codes on the shorter sailings as the clientele refuses to obey it.

[DonnaK]

I'm going on the Grandeur on the 29th, and based on what I'm reading, I should be wearing a formal gown on the formal nights... would that be correct?

 

What is appropriate for the other than formal (smart casual?) nights (for an adult woman and young woman)?

 

Thanks!

Mary

 

Although some woman will be wearing formal gowns, regular cocktail dresses are very commonly worn too. (Like what you'd wear to wedding or a fancy dinner party. ) I have a simple, inexpensive black dress that I wear on both nights with different accessories. My mom wore slinky palazzo pants with a dressy sparkly jacket on formal night and was just fine.

 

On the non-formal nights, I wore capri pants and cotton tops with flat sandals. What you'd wear to the office or to church during the summer is fine.

[DonnaK]

Yes people disregard the dress code and call the ones adhearing to the DRESS CODE stuffed shirts. But question so cutely asked, "Formal night- I assume formal attire?" Makes me chuckle.

 

Where's the question?

 

Folks, as Sally said, "Happy-smile, Sad-frown, use the corresponding face for the corresponding emotions!" (When Harry met Sally)

 

Formal-Formal (tuxes gowns, and now suits and cocktail dresses)

 

Why is it so hard to understand this?

 

I will qualify that young children can get away with being psudo formal, and not have to go full tie, but the beauty of a formal night on a cruise is dressing up!!!!

And guess what? All you, "You can do whatever you want" people, can do that......

 

JUST NOT ON FORMAL NIGHT IN THE FORMAL DINING ROOM!

 

Why is this so hard?

 

Heidi

 

 

Geez - there's really no need to yell or come down so strongly here. Nowhere in this civilized discussion did anyone say they were thinking of breaking the dress code (maybe you meant to reply to the other, more contrary, thread that's running on this board now).

 

Newbies were simply asking for guidelines, and those who replied gave examples of what's appropriate attire for both formal and non-formal nights. They don't deserve this kind of harsh reaction

 

Relax.

[SilkieGirl]

 

Why is it so hard to understand this?

 

I will qualify that young children can get away with being pseudo formal, and not have to go full tie, but the beauty of a formal night on a cruise is dressing up!!!!

And guess what? All you, "You can do whatever you want" people, can do that......

 

So, let's see... my daughter and I, who are both very reasonable people, and extremely pleasant to be around, sometimes funny, always polite and well mannered, would be remiss in not wearing a fancy enough dress, but you can yell at virtual strangers on a message board? Hmm... This is our first cruise, and we didn't want to be embarrassed in the dining room. When I was in the Navy, I guess the dress code was easier for me to figure out.

 

For your clarification, let me spell it out... (someone else obviously knew what I meant, because she understood the differences in the dress I was talking about) I wanted to know if I was supposed to be wearing a freaking huge ball dress, or if a cocktail dress was enough. She answered my question, but then I got to your post, and WOW, you have bad manners! If the dining room is full of FORMAL FORMAL, but nasty people, I think I'll just eat in the Windjammer.

 

You know how it is, sometimes you can dress them up, but you can't take them out. Fortunately, we can do both.

 

Mary

[dak_friendly]

And guess what? All you, "You can do whatever you want" people, can do that......

JUST NOT ON FORMAL NIGHT IN THE FORMAL DINING ROOM!

Why is this so hard?

Heidi

 

And Royal Caribbean will be enforcing this diligently I assume.

 

I got brainwashed by my first cruise by visiting here and being told tux, tux, and nothing but a tux by everyone. Fortunately, I then read the official Cruise Critic reviews ... "mostly dark suits" and thus followed their advice on the "mostly". Didn't feel out of place one bit in fantasy formal land on my 9 night cruise.

 

Subsequent cruises later, I just gauged my dress by my tablemates and just ignored the hype of formal night. This has resulted in continuing with a dark suit being worn ... which apparently is perfectly alright. When the day comes and a tablemate wears jeans (oh the horror), I'll just be glad they got me at their table because I will just not give a flip, try to look down my nose at them, or talk about them behind their back.

 

The best part about it all is that I really don't worry about what other people wear. I'm not going to stomp off to my cabin going "My night is ruined!"

 

At this point, I think formal night is just an excuse to sell pictures and make a buck or two. Unless people in jeans jump into one's formal night pictures ... why should one care? Really, why should one care?

[Sue L]

I'm going on the Grandeur on the 29th, and based on what I'm reading, I should be wearing a formal gown on the formal nights... would that be correct?

 

What is appropriate for the other than formal (smart casual?) nights (for an adult woman and young woman)?

 

Thanks!

Mary

 

 

I have a long black skirt that I wear for formal night with two different tops. Or I wear the skirt one night and I do have a full length gown that I will be wearing on our 11 day. I will mention that the first formal nite always seems more dressy than the second. So you might want to plan the outfits accordingly.

 

You could wear the same cocktail dress or similar both nights and maybe accessorize differently.

 

Smart casual and nice pants set or capris would be fine. I would bring a sweater or shawl as the dining room and the show rooms tend to be cool

[Chawoobie]

Hear, Hear!!

 

And besides, Formal Night isn't like a Law or something, where the dress code police will put you in the brig if you don't dress properly.

 

Formal night was established to relive the days of the luxury liners where everyone dressed formally for dinner - remember the Titanic movie??

 

Cruise lines continued the tradition, though limiting the number of such nights for those who want to participate. But it is MY cruise and MY money that is paying for it. I wear a suit and tie, but I don't own a tux, and I'm not going to spend the money to rent one just to eat dinner.

 

From what I've read about RCL as well as other cruise lines, it seems that the idea of formal night may be losing its appeal, as more "regular" people begin to experience the joys of cruising, and may not own or be able to afford a gown or tux for one or two night every year or so.

[Ohio-C-Luver]

Enjoy your cruise. I just came off Adventure of the Seas, and most people just dress as if they are going to church, or a nice dining establishment. Suits for men and nice dresses for the ladies. The kids were dressed neatly, but I nor my husband saw many young children in suits. There are people dressed to the nines, but maybe they dress that way at home also. Listen to yourself. Dress the kids to your taste, and to the comfort they will tolerate. Bring the children to dinner with you! Dinner is family time, that is how children are taught the importance of family and manners. Enjoy all the time you have together!

Have a great cruise!

[Chawoobie]

Not a Law. You are correct, just what is asked of you. Manners. Courtesy.

 

I know, those where once meant for something too, but apparently not anymore.

 

Heidi

 

Well, excuuuussssseeeee me!! If you can afford to wear a nice formal gown or a tuxedo, please feel free to do so. But please don't put other people down who can't afford to do so.

 

What do manners, courtesy have to do with the issue?? If I come to dinner dressed like Larry the Cable Guy, I can see where that might offend some people, but if I'm wearing a suit and tie, where's the beef?? :confused:

[texancruzer]

Please please post a pic of your little one in his "Hawaiian shirt" when you get back !!!!!! That sounds perfect for regular nights.

 

The idea of a shirt with a little tie or vest sounds really cute too for formal.... he is 3 and a jacket at dinner for that age would be mean !!!!

[kbknepp]

Thanks to everyone who provided helpful insight and advice. It looks like I'll probably try to get him a couple of little dress shirts and tie or two, although I probably better go with a bow tie instead of a long one. I can just imagine the lovely assortment of food stains that the long one would accumulate. Perhaps I should just go with a kilt. He already has one thanks to an uncle who lives in Scotland. I'm sure we'd probably get just as many looks from the kilt as from anything else.

 

I have to say that my first impression of cruisers is that they fall into two categories: those who just want to enjoy themselves and not inflict their problems on the rest of the world and those who are walking around with a chip on their shoulders looking for things to complain about.

 

Thanks to those of you in the first group for helping out.