How do you dress for "smart casual?"

[ltsally]

I'm pretty confused...what do you wear, and what do most other pax wear, on Smart Casual evenings? Do some women still turn out somewhat on the 'dressy' side? Or.....?

 

As (more or less) retired folk, our day-to-day life is already pretty darned casual. So a chance to spiff up in some halfway decent duds in the evening - and see others in theirs - has been a nice part of past cruises (not HAL). Help!!

[CroozeAddict]

I'm pretty confused...what do you wear, and what do most other pax wear, on Smart Casual evenings? Do some women still turn out somewhat on the 'dressy' side? Or.....?

 

As (more or less) retired folk, our day-to-day life is already pretty darned casual. So a chance to spiff up in some halfway decent duds in the evening - and see others in theirs - has been a nice part of past cruises (not HAL). Help!!

 

For men, a polo shirt and nice trousers is the minimum I would think. I'm bringing some collared button down shirts too. Same for women.

 

Business casual pretty much equals smart casual IMHO.

 

As long as you don't show up in shorts or blue jeans, you'll be fine.

[ANSalberg]

I think HAL changed the vocabulary from "Country-Club" casual -to "Smart Casual" . But basically it means "Look NICE; but you don't have to expect formal wear". Defining what is "proper" is always difficult because SOMEone will always push buttons. On another cruiseline -on FORMAL night -one table for 8 came dressed in [literally] dirty T-shirts/jeans. I could care LESS what they wore/how they looked; EXCEPT they were 2 tables away from us and proceeded to have a FOOD FIGHT!!!!!!!! [ on FORMAL night!] BEHAVIOR that was totally unexceptable! IF you look "nice" you'll be fine! One of DH's FAVORITE things to wear is a "collarless" sports shirt; a banded collar/long sleeved/NOT knit shirt. What that means to him is he doesn't need a tie! I have 3 pair of knit/navyblue/ slightly different slacks - I can wear almost anything from a ruffled blouse to tunic shirt to dressy sweater with them and feel "dressed up but not TOO dressed up"........

Anne

[Frick_&_Frack]

My Dad wears button down short-sleved shirts (print type - subdued print) or a polo-type with collar (and a few buttons). DH wears either a less formal button down shirt or polo with collar.

 

Mom only wears slacks with various tops (tropical prints, etc.). I run the gamut of slacks with similar type tops to "fancier" sundresses (not the "stretch" variety - real dresses without sleeves - but wide strap top - no string ties - is how I define them). I would wear these dresses to work with a white/linen suit jacket.

[PalmBeachMom]

I dress as I would at any nice hotel for dinner so I guess I am dressier than most but it is part of the fun of cruising for me!

[bUU]

For men: Dockers with a shirt with a collar.

[caviargal]

I am always on the dressy side. For dinner, a silk dress or skirt and top, or dress slacks worn with heels are my choices.

 

DH wears dress slacks and button down shirt or turtleneck, sometimes with a sport coat.

[Krazy Kruizers]

My Dh wears dress slacks and either a dress shirt, polo shirt or a Hawaiian shirt if it is BBQ night. If we go to the Pinnacle on smart casual night. DH wears a jacekt.

 

I wear dress slacks or fnacy skirts with dressy tops. Some times I wear heels or sandals.

[caviargal]

I am always on the dressy side. For dinner, a silk dress or skirt and top, or dress slacks worn with heels are my choices.

 

DH wears dress slacks and button down shirt or turtleneck, sometimes with a sport coat.

[dakrewser]

As it says on the HAL web site:

 

"Smart Casual can be defined as slacks and sports shirt or sweater for men and skirt or trousers and sweater or blouse for women. T-shirts, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the restaurants or public areas during the evening hours."

[hammybee]

Seventeen days into the new year and we are overdue for a juicy dress code thread. Here's my take:

 

I think a lot of people confuse the terms country club versus and smart casual. Typically, a country club is a private club requiring its members to have some skin in the game ,via financial equity. As such, the members can and do decide for themselves, what is/ is not appropriate attire on and off the golf course.

Last I checked, Zagat reported there are only 2 restaurants in NYC requiring a jacket and tie for service. This says all that can be said about the preference in attire of those who prefer finer dining. If the majority of consumers preferred jacket/ties, the restaurants would have maintained their formal attire requirements.

Cruise lines, like restaurants, are open to the general public and as such bow to what the general public prefers or they risk that consumers will go elsewhere. And so, like with restaurants, cruise lines have and probably will continue to relax their suggested guidelines for attire. No where is this more obvious than after dinner, where people are increasingly changing into what they deem to be more comfortable clothing. This is happening on all cruise lines, including the true luxury cruise lines.

There is no way to predict what the majority of other passengers will deem formal, let alone smart causal on any sailing, especially on 7 days sails. Some itineraries, such as Alaska, are known for passengers who prefer to be more casual, than not. A large and dominate group can sway the attire in any direction, on any cruise. The end result often resembles a wedding, where the bridal party is in black tie and the guests will be wearing anything ranging from a suit/tie and cocktail dress to baggy jeans and stained tee shirts. You just never know.

Most people want to fit in with the majority and not over or under dress for the occasion. I think poster CrooseAddict nailed it, that the majority of HAL passengers dress in what passes for business casual, in a corporate office, on smart casual evenings. Contrary to the beliefs and /or preferences of some, jeans are allowed on smart casual evenings, on most cruise lines, including HAL.

[RuthC]

Do some women still turn out somewhat on the 'dressy' side?

This woman does. :) I would never wear any of my daytime clothes in the evening.

I have a lot of lovely clothes left from my working years; they were always good on HAL's informal evenings. There's no way I'm just going to throw them out, or buy another wardrobe just to dumb it down.

I also have some fairly dressy Hawaiian dresses. With smaller diamonds or pearls they're in the mix.

[GraceNWill]

We just returned from a cruise on Hal's Veendam. This is a cruise in the Western Caribbean, off of Mexico. For non-formal dinner evenings, we wore what we would wear to a nicer restaurant - Ruth's Chris, Roys, for example. DH wore a nice shirt with blazer and I chose a sundress with jacket or dressier sweater with matching pants.

We find the dining room cool so this is not a problem with the jacket and sweaters.

We were at a table for 10 and except for one couple, all the gentlemen wore jackets to dinner. One of the men took his jacket off at the table.

I believe the age range was from late 50s to late 60s.

 

I wanted to mention that we did not see anyone wearing jeans in the dining room at night during our cruise. Many on the cruise were "elderly" which is in their 80s or so, to me. Not a lot of jeans on those people, anyway.

 

I did notice on this ship that there were hundreds of "older" women with beautifully styled silver, grey and white hair, wearing the most fashionable ensembles and jewelry, complete with make up. Those gals really know how to dress for a cruise, in my opinion.

 

We had a great time every night!

 

Grace

[caviargal]

I wanted to mention that we did not see anyone wearing jeans in the dining room at night during our cruise. Many on the cruise were "elderly" which is in their 80s or so, to me. Not a lot of jeans on those people, anyway.

 

I did notice on this ship that there were hundreds of "older" women with beautifully styled silver, grey and white hair, wearing the most fashionable ensembles and jewelry, complete with make up. Those gals really know how to dress for a cruise, in my opinion.

 

We had a great time every night!

 

Grace

 

Grace, we had the same experience on the Noordam and Oosterdam, a very nicely dressed crowd. Isn't it fun?

[hammybee]

 

I did notice on this ship that there were hundreds of "older" women with beautifully styled silver, grey and white hair, wearing the most fashionable ensembles and jewelry, complete with make up. Those gals really know how to dress for a cruise, in my opinion. Grace

 

On my first HAL cruise I was stunned by the elegence of the women on HAL. I made it a point to position myself in the closest bar so I could sit back with a glass of wine and watch them leave early seating and another group arrive for late seating.

 

It's nice to hear that these ladies are still cruising but as we know, they are a vanishing breed, everywhere.

[momofmeg]

For men, a polo shirt and nice trousers is the minimum I would think. I'm bringing some collared button down shirts too. Same for women.

 

Business casual pretty much equals smart casual IMHO.

 

As long as you don't show up in shorts or blue jeans, you'll be fine.

 

really, I was just told by a poster on the fashion board that jeans are now allowed on HAL. I had my doubts about that.

[mjwood77]

We tend to be on the dressier side. We like to get dressed up (probably because I can't wear nice clothes to work). I tend to wear nicer blouses with dress slacks or a dress. He wears khakis and either a buttoned shirt or polo shirt. Often with a jacket. We've seen all sorts in the dining room. Doesn't bother us.

 

So take out those "spiffy" clothes if you want. You won't be alone. As my partner says "There is no such thing as being overdressed. Everyone else is just underdressed."

[bUU]

I don't think that's a reasonable assumption.

 

I did see a lot of people who I considered over-dressed on my previous cruise (as well as a lot of people who I considered under-dressed). The fact that they're inappropriately dressed from my standpoint didn't bother me, nor does it make me think I'm over- or under-dressed -- not in the slightest.

 

I think the reality is that there is a wide range of appropriate dress on-board, and the greatest likelihood is that unless there isn't anyone who is more casually dressed than you, you're probably in the realm of appropriate-ness. Similarly, unless there isn't anyone who is more formally dressed than you, you're probably in the realm of appropriate-ness. It is only those who are the most formally-dressed or the most casually-dressed that need think twice.

[kryos]

I could care LESS what they wore/how they looked; EXCEPT they were 2 tables away from us and proceeded to have a FOOD FIGHT!!!!!!!! [ on FORMAL night!] BEHAVIOR that was totally unexceptable!

And they weren't shown the door by the Matri 'd? Amazing! Somehow I think on HAL a food fight in the dining room ... on formal or any other night ... wouldn't be tolerated. At least I hope it wouldn't.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[caviargal]

It is only those who are the most formally-dressed or the most casually-dressed that need think twice.

 

So if there is a guy in shorts and a ball cap at dinner and I choose to wear jeans and t shirt, that makes it ok, simply because I am not the worst offender in the room?

 

IMO, the only truly appropriate attire is that which is specified by the cruise line. Individual interpretation or opinion is not the issue.

[RevNeal]

My Smart-Casual attire really hasn't changed from the older Casual Evening outline, with the exception that some evenings (particularly when I'm dining in the Pinnacle Grill) I'll dress up to the old "Informal" standard. I was once told by someone that I was "overdressed" when I dared to do this ... but I just ignored them.

 

For me, as I dress, this means at a minimum:

 

Dockers and a polo or silk print or button down dress shirt. I will sometimes add a jacket to this. I will also, sometimes, dress in dress slacks, dress shirt & tie (or clericals) and a jacket.

 

While jeans are allowed in the code for Smart Casual night, I don't wear them; speaking just for myself, here, jeans are for yard work, for building Habitat for Humanity Houses, and for going on highly active shore excursions. While others may feel comfortable dressed this way aboard ship on Smart Casual evenings, I do not.

 

What the Line expressly forbids on any evening is outlined in the Dress Code thusly:

 

T-shirts, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the restaurants or public areas during the evening hours.

 

This simple, straight forward, and easy to understand and follow directive is sometimes ignored by both passengers and staff, often with unfortunate side effects (like, apparently, food fights in the main dining room :eek: ).

[mjwood77]

I've never been told I'm overdressed. I can't imagine why people would care enough to point it out. I want to wear a lot of my dresses and my partner has suits that he never gets to wear, but will want to wear his tux on formal night. So I'm going to "overdress" I guess.

 

In the past we have been complimented on our clothing. This is probably because we were in our late twenties during school break, so most other people in our age group were not partcipating in formal night.

 

Last year we went to the Royal Opera House in London to see a Wagner Opera. Since his opera's tend to be on the long side, it started at 2pm. I figured people would still dress up (since it went until 10 or 11 pm) since the tickets were not cheap. I was wrong and I was one of the few women in a fancy dress. But I looked good and had fun wearing my pretty dress. :p

[Jsipes]

really, I was just told by a poster on the fashion board that jeans are now allowed on HAL. I had my doubts about that.

On The Oosterdam Jeans were not turned away...... I think Jeans are inappropriate, but I also believe all Cruise Lines are afraid of alienating the "noveau customers" who may be the mainstay of future business, so they turn their heads when jeans show up a the dining room. :) Jer the Bear

[bUU]

So if there is a guy in shorts and a ball cap at dinner and I choose to wear jeans and t shirt, that makes it ok, simply because I am not the worst offender in the room?

That isn't what I wrote. Please pay closer attention to the messages you reply to.

[Golfette]

I don't think that's a reasonable assumption.

 

I did see a lot of people who I considered over-dressed on my previous cruise (as well as a lot of people who I considered under-dressed). The fact that they're inappropriately dressed from my standpoint didn't bother me, nor does it make me think I'm over- or under-dressed -- not in the slightest.

 

I think the reality is that there is a wide range of appropriate dress on-board, and the greatest likelihood is that unless there isn't anyone who is more casually dressed than you, you're probably in the realm of appropriate-ness. Similarly, unless there isn't anyone who is more formally dressed than you, you're probably in the realm of appropriate-ness. It is only those who are the most formally-dressed or the most casually-dressed that need think twice.

 

The above post really sums it up. On our recent Oosterdam cruise, we saw a wide range of "casual" clothing from really casual to somewhat dressy. You will be o.k. whatever you wear as long as you use some common sense.