Dress on NCL freestyle cruise

[coley123]

My husband and I leave for NCL Pearl on the weekend. He hates dressing up and would like to just wear a dress shirt and khaki pants or dark jean at dinners. I know they say you don't need to dress up, but what's the norm? I love to dress up and would prefer him to wear a suit. But if we can go to every restaurant and not feel out of place, I'll get over it.

[Toyz711]

the normal is the picture i have in my avatar. for a couple of "dress up if you want to" nights, you will see some suits, maybe a formal gown or 2, mostly it will be resort casual. we don't pack suits, ties, dress shoes for him and i don't bring any dresses, heels or fancy jewelry. you should go over to the NCL board and read some of the other posts.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

[Nicki61]

We sailed the DAWN last August 07 with freestyle dining.

My husband did not wear a tie each night. In fact he only wore a suit on formal night. The DAWN and with freestyle dining seemed a bit more casual. I did see jeans in the diningroom ( I won't give my opinion about that here). But in my opinion if you have dockers on and a nice shirt(polo or button down) it would be fine and you both would feel comfortable.

We did eat at an earlier time. Around 5:30-6:15, maybe later there is more dress for dinner. We also didn't eat in either large diningrooms. We ate each night in Impressions restaurant.

 

As long as you make some sort of effort to clean up for dinner, I don't think there will be a problem what so ever.

[krystalkruzer]

There are no traditional formal nights on NCL but you can dress that way if you choose to do so.

[henepup]

We were on the Jewel in Jan '07, DH wore khaki and polo shirts all week. Yes, we did see some formal attire, but we were not out of place. Most passengers wore casual clothes.

[newmexicoNita]

My husband and I leave for NCL Pearl on the weekend. He hates dressing up and would like to just wear a dress shirt and khaki pants or dark jean at dinners. I know they say you don't need to dress up, but what's the norm? I love to dress up and would prefer him to wear a suit. But if we can go to every restaurant and not feel out of place, I'll get over it.

Nice jeans or docker type of pants with a dress shirt will work well, you can choose to go a little dressier if you like. The only time jeans won't work: the formal optional night, one of the main dining rooms will be for those dressed is something other than jeans.

Nita

[blindrid]

There are no traditional formal nights on NCL but you can dress that way if you choose to do so.

 

On my last one in December, there was one formal night. We just did the dark suit / dress thing. Balance of the week, I did golf shirt/ slack etc. Have fun and enjoy.

[CC Help Michell]

On my last one in December, there was one formal night. We just did the dark suit / dress thing. Balance of the week, I did golf shirt/ slack etc. Have fun and enjoy.

 

NCL now has no formal nights, on any ship. There is a "dress up if you want to" night (which used to be called formal optional) but it truly is optional, and isn't even well-publicized onboard. On NCL resort casual is acceptable in any restaurant on board on any night. Jeans are also acceptable in all except one dining room (which one will be listed in the Freestyle Daily). At least so far, shorts if you are above the age of 12 are not supposed to be permitted in venues other than the buffet/Blue Lagoon at night -- but I can say we saw them even at LeBistro this summer.

 

To answer the OP, I would say the "norm" on NCL is resort casual on every night. On ANY night you are free to get as dressy as you choose (maybe for a special photo, or occasion, etc.). Here's the link to NCL's FAQ about dinner dress -- http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/cruiser/cmsPages.html?pageId=FAQ#dresscode

[Kurbanfan]

Nice jeans or docker type of pants with a dress shirt will work well, you can choose to go a little dressier if you like. The only time jeans won't work: the formal optional night, one of the main dining rooms will be for those dressed is something other than jeans.

Nita

 

Sounds like Carnival and RCCL. Except they have formal not formal optional.

[songanddance]

My husband and I leave for NCL Pearl on the weekend. He hates dressing up and would like to just wear a dress shirt and khaki pants or dark jean at dinners. I know they say you don't need to dress up, but what's the norm? I love to dress up and would prefer him to wear a suit. But if we can go to every restaurant and not feel out of place, I'll get over it.

 

NCL offers a basic come as you are attire code within reason of course so he will be just fine. Since you love to dress up, I would strongly urge you to do so. The fact that your husband will not fit with you should be of no concern as he seems not to care enough to please you. I feel sorry for the multitude of fine ladies that enjoy an evening out in their best attire only to have to dress down to please hubby who likes to be casual 24/7. Come on guys, give your sweetheart a treat and show that you care.

[caviargal]

I pack a cocktail dress when cruising on NCL for the ormal optional night(s). IME, about half dress up, though very few formally. I stick to the specialty restaurants and prefer to dress for dinner in the evenings so skirts/dresses/nice slacks work best for me.

 

Personally, I would not wear a cocktail dress if my husband were in dockers and a shirt. I think it looks off balance.

[deep water]

it does not matter what cruise line you are on--JEANS IN THE DINING ROOM FOR THE EVENING MEAL---YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING:eek: :eek: :eek:

[CC Help Michell]

it does not matter what cruise line you are on--JEANS IN THE DINING ROOM FOR THE EVENING MEAL---YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING:eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Nope, not kidding about NCL. They expressly permit jeans in all except one dining room at dinner.

[phish tales]

another good reason to stay away from NCL. beside the 25 others reasons i rather not mention.:mad:

[Harley3801]

My husband and I leave for NCL Pearl on the weekend. He hates dressing up and would like to just wear a dress shirt and khaki pants or dark jean at dinners. I know they say you don't need to dress up, but what's the norm? I love to dress up and would prefer him to wear a suit. But if we can go to every restaurant and not feel out of place, I'll get over it.

 

I took one fairly dressy pant suit that was easily packable (Chico's Traveler's). Didn't wrinkle and I had a couple of different things I could wear with the pants (one dressy & the rest more casual that I also wore on shore days). I had a pair of nice black jeans that I was able to use for dinner & shore days. With a nice top, you couldn't really tell they were jeans.

 

My husband took one pair of nice pants that he used just for dinner & a couple of button down shirts that served double duty . . . dinners and for shore days. He didn't take a tie but he did take a lightweight cotton sweater that dressed his shirts up a bit. That was even fine for specialty restaurants. I saw a mix of ties / no ties on non dress up nights (even in the specialty restaurants).

 

We didn't go to the dress up night in the main restaurand (the big draw was lobster & we live so close to the ocean that lobster isn't such a big deal). We went to a specialty restaurant that night and service was excellent because everyone else seemed to go to the main dining room.