I have some first time cruise questions

[picnicpat]

I have booked a trip on Royal Caribbean in late jan 07. I am traveling with my husband and two 15 yr old girls. None of us have been on a cruise before. My first question is my husband WILL NOT wear a suit jacket at all. He believes vacations are for soaking up the sun and drinking only. He will however put on a pair of dockers and polo type shirt. Will this be ok for dinner? Also the 2 girls Is there a good chance that there will be teenagers their age on ship as well? Any advice is greatly appreciated Thanks

[Mary loves to travel]

Hi Picnicpat --

 

my husband and I were on RCCL Serenade in late Jan of this year (06), on the Southern Caribbean route. There were very few teenagers on the ship at this time, as I think most were in school. There were a few young children, but the cruise was for the most part adults of all ages. I don't recall seeing any college aged kids, either. This may vary depending on route; our cruise departed from San Juan.

 

As far as attire, dockers and a collared shirt should be ok for the dining room on casual nights; for Smart Casual your husband may want to add a sweater or a bit dressier shirt. On formal nights, though, the majority of the passengers did indeed dress up -- we saw about 1/3 of the men in tuxes, most of the rest in suits, and a few in dress shirts & ties. We find the formal nights fun; if you don't those 2 nights could be a good time to try out the specialty restaurants, which are always Smart Casual in attire. Or even have room service deliver & enjoy a private dinner on your balcony.

 

Enjoy the cruise -- don't know if you are doing the same itinerary we did, but we loved seeing a different island each day (5 ports), and found this to be one of our best vacations to date.

 

Cheers,

Mary

[SimplyAddicted]

First of all, welcome to cruising! Soon you will be hooked like all of us! What your husband likes to wear is perfectly appropriate for the dinning room with the exception of formal nights. On the formal nights, if he refuses to wear a jacket, you can always eat in the Windjammer as the dress code is not applicable for dinning there.

 

Have a great time!

[rosie40]

Other than the formal nights (1 or 2 depending on the length of your cruise) you will be just fine in the dining room not wearing a jacket. If your husband prefers to skip the formal nights you could always enjoy the windjammer. It also has a very nice ambience at dinner time. It is a much different feel than during the day. They put out the tablecloths, and candles as well. I'm not sure about how many teens will be traveling at that time... There is so much to do, though. Actually, my girls learned to enjoy each others company and stuck around together a lot, which was really quite nice. That's not something they would normally do at home. You will have a great trip. You can make it as "low key" as you choose to.

[ziggydaddy]

picnicpat

There are many options for dinner most nights he will be fine but take along a shirt and tie and maybe a jacket, just incase he wants to go to the dinning room formal nights. After he is waited on hand and foot he may find he does not want to miss out on the dinning room those two nights. This is all assuming you are going on a 7 nighter. If your going on a 3 or 4 night he will be fine. Tell your girls to get involved right away with the kids program, they will make friends and have a ball.

[howard6933]

Welcome to CC picnicpat. The previous posters have made it pretty clear about what to wear at dinner, so I won't go into that again. One thing you didn't mention was which ship you will be sailing with. If it's one of the Voyager class ships like Voyager, Explorer, Mariner, etc. your girls will find plenty of things to do even if there are not many teen agers on board. There's the ice-skating rink. the roller blade course, miniature golf, wall climbing, and many other things to keep them busy. Almost all of the ships will have a video games room as well. I believe you will all have a great cruise regardless of what ship you sail on. ENJOY!!!!! ;)

[BillOh]

I have booked a trip on Royal Caribbean in late jan 07. I am traveling with my husband and two 15 yr old girls. None of us have been on a cruise before. My first question is my husband WILL NOT wear a suit jacket at all. He believes vacations are for soaking up the sun and drinking only. He will however put on a pair of dockers and polo type shirt. Will this be ok for dinner? Also the 2 girls Is there a good chance that there will be teenagers their age on ship as well? Any advice is greatly appreciated Thanks

 

I felt the way he did before our first cruise. I took the suit and Tie along anyway. Just the one suit for 2 formal nights. Since men are quick dressers, I didn't put the tie and jacket on till time to walk down to the dining room, and it came off in the elevator on the way back to the room after the dinner. It was only an hour or so each formal night, no big deal on a 7 day cruise, and a reasonable compromise for my wife.

 

[sunlover5]

My husband hardly ever wears a suit, but takes it puts it on and he actually leaves it on all night, dinner, show, Having a drink. I think with the atmosphere, everyone else dressed up, me all dressed up, its just fun and the food is usually exceptional on formal nights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[cb at sea]

It's true that everyone else (mostly!) will be dressed to the nines! If he wants to feel out of place, that's up to him! If I were you, I'd dress up, bring a coat and tie for him and if he wants to do formal night at the buffet--tell him to enjoy--and you go out and turn heads!!!! The formal nights are a big part of the "cruise experience"! You'll be missing out on alot by eating in the Windjammer on those nights!

[lmmn]

If he's like my husband, if he doesn't want to dress up, he could care what others are wearing. Skip the formal nights...order room service and eat on your balcony (if you have one) or the Windjammer, which others have suggested. The suit and formal night is simply not worth all the whining.

[gooselover]

Your cruise is going to be everything you imagined and MORE!!!! Ton's more! I am so excited for you! We have only cruised once before, but we are addicted already!

 

What everyone told you is true....you DO have alternatives if he doesn't want the suit and tie...but hey, who knows???? Maybe DH will decide that he wants to wine and dine you for a night????? I bet then he will dress up!

 

However, just have fun...that's what cruising is all about...oh, and relaxing too! Your girls will hook up with some other kids there too...tell them not to worry...

[bray]

I am like your husband and agree 100000000% :)

 

In any event I took along a dark blue sports coat and shirt and tie and of course slacks and went to one formal night just for a peaceful life. You dont need a tux or a suit. In fact I saw several men in long sleeve shirts and slacks, no tie, and they were NOT turned away. I guess it was nice for one night for me, and the wife agreed. So on the second formal night we went to the windjammer and the buffet is very good. Also formal nights were the ones at sea.

 

Its also ok to wear sports shirt and slacks on casual nights. I wore a regular polo shirt. Just make sure you find out when lobster night is and go. For us it was on a Wednesday, casual dress...

 

 

Our cruise Navigator Oct 21-28th 06...so recently returned...man did it ever go by quickly:(

 

Enjoy and have fun.

 

Bill

[Micki Dee]

My husband is a jeans and tshirt guy. He rarely dresses up and hates to do so. However, when we cruise, he always wears a suit on formal nights. For our upcoming cruise in Dec, he is renting a tux. It's fun to get all fancied up for one night, and he looks hot, so he doesn't mind doing it.for me. Also, formal night is a great night to get some really nice pictures of your family. Some of the photos from formal night are some of our favorites. You can always eat at the Windjammer, but I think you'll be missing out.

[rosie40]

My husband is a jeans and tshirt guy. He rarely dresses up and hates to do so. However, when we cruise, he always wears a suit on formal nights. For our upcoming cruise in Dec, he is renting a tux. It's fun to get all fancied up for one night, and he looks hot, so he doesn't mind doing it.for me. Also, formal night is a great night to get some really nice pictures of your family. Some of the photos from formal night are some of our favorites. You can always eat at the Windjammer, but I think you'll be missing out.

 

This is a great point about the photo opp's. Some of our favorite pics are throughout our home of all of us with that glorious rested, happy, island glow. They bring back such fond memories. That is one of the best opportunities for us to get a great family photo. You can also plan ahead and take clothes if you wanted to plan for a "casual" sitting. They have great backdrops for those as well.

 

As far as the formal nights go... It really depends on what you and the family are looking for in your vacation. I do understand that when you are eagerly anticipating a vacation, the last thing you want is to be "forced into" having to get all dressed up if that's not what you're in to. It seems to be defeating the purpose of what vacation is all about. I will say, however, once you get on that ship, all the stress melts away and you hit that vacation stride... It can be pretty fun to get out of that bathing suit and t-shirt for a little while and get fancied up with the ones you love. I know as my girls get older I cherish every memorable moment more and more.... Take along the jacket and tie as others have suggested. Go with the flow and if you're feeling the moment, go for it. If not, that's great too, there are other dining options. It's your vacation! Enjoy!! :)

[wraithe]

FWIW, he can probably "get away" with not wearing a tie or jacket to the dining room on formal night. Would he feel out of place, probably not, but he might! You never know until you get there and see how others are dressed. It isn't likely, but there's a very slim possibility that he would get turned away from the DR by the maitre d' if he's not dressed. If you want to attend and would feel out of place, I would recommend that you make a quiet production out of getting your formal finery together and tell him that he can do what he wants, but you're going to the DR dressed per the dress suggestion, and see what it's all about. That way you'll have the knowledge to decide what you want to do in th future, since I'm sure that after this first cruise, you're going to want to do it again. I have to agree about the pics as well, these are some of our most prized photos.

 

I'm exactly the opposite of your husband. I love the formal nights and dressing up. Matter of fact, on my first cruise, I felt a little out of place in a suit and tie, with the other two gents at my table in tuxes, so when I got home from that cruise, knowing that I was now a cruiser for life, I bought my own tux, and have taken it with me on two cruises now. My wife and I enjoy ballroom dancing as well, and a waltz looks really nice when you're dressed in formal. Good luck with it, and happy cruising.

[Inshape]

RCI is so relaxed about the other night...strictly casual and smart casual except for the 2 formals. If he is totally against it, then order room service or go to Windjammer. A total shame though since it really is fun and nice. I ahve even enjoyed staying dressed for the evening after dinner. But if he hates it that much, it is for 2 hours only. Be forewarned, the head waiters do meet and greet you and if he wears shorts into the dining room at night he will be told that he cannot dine in that attire. I saw it happen more than once.

We used to cruise in jan also... and there were so few kids it was hard for my teen to meet anyone. When she was 17 she took her best friend and they meet 5 boys her age...no other girls. Now that she is 18 she does not wish to go with us since there are few people her age when we cruise. We just tried a fall cruise, oct 22 off the mariner, and i was shocked to see how many more kids there were on this cruise as compared to 5 other January cruises. So it all depends on the time of year... and the cruise. They will still have fun...tons to do!

[fridaythe13th]

My friends DH literally refused to pack a jacket, wouldn't need it, wouldn't wear it. To make a long story short, he felt so out of place waiting in line for the DR to open (formal night) that they left for a few minutes and went to rent a jacket onboard. Then he tried to say, why didn't you tell me?:rolleyes:

 

We enjoy dressing up, but head right back to the cabin to change after dinner. We have also skipped formal night and enjoyed the Windjammer.

 

If your DH feels comfortable wearing what he wants to wear I say go for it but be prepared to feel out of place if it's formal night. For any other night dockers and a polo shirt is perfect.