How should a 10 year old boy dress on formal night?

[denrusk]

Going on our first cruise (Carnival Legend) and wondering how most people dress their children (mostly young boys). It's hard to go out a spend too much on something he's gonna wear 1 or 2 times!

[cb at sea]

Carnival has "elegant" night now--not "formal" night. You can easily get away with his wearing pants, shirt and perhaps a tie....maybe not even the tie. Carnival is one of the less formal lines--that and NCL...

Very young children (toddlers and below) need not go "formal" on any line....

[Smartypants72]

Denrusk-

 

You cruise the week prior to us on Legend :) I was wondering the same thing for my 6 yr. old son. Although I've cruised many times it will be his first. Except for the 1 (or 2?) elegant nights I may even let him wear "dressy shorts" on the other dining room evenings.

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

M son always wears Khakis, white shirt, a tie and a blazer to formal night. He needs the khakis at home anyway, and I can usually get a decent deal on a blazer for him. He started cruising at 9, and it is his standard uniform for formal nights.

Hope this helps,

Kim

[penny 4 them!]

Hi, romano & vianni do a rather lovely boys linen suit,

 

John Galliano also do super snazzy waistcoats that go great over a crisp white shirt and dark pants, I love the black and white stripe one, he could even do the super fashionable thing of wearing a bow tie (proper sort you tie yourself not the ready tied one on a clip) loose undone then he doesn't feel too restricted, James Bond style ... :cool:

 

I love the last posters suggestion of the khakis and blazer, sounds really smart but sensible too for a child.

[Happy ks]

My feeling is that a family should dress to compliment each other with the degree of formality. I did not say match ;)

[Warm Breezes]

He just needs dress pants and shirt. Anything beyond that is up to you and your budget. I know how hard it is to keep growing boys in dress cloths. I have to special order DS(15) dress pants because he is 6'3" and 145 pounds. I don't even bother with a jacket. Costs too much to special order for the rare times he may need them.

[GORDONCHICK]

If Dad wears a coat and tie or suit, the boys should at least be in a shirt and tie (and of course, pants). Be sure to have a family portrait or two taken! Our best formal photo was a few years ago on a Carnival ship, end we ended up putting it in Christmas cards.

[Andee]

When my son was that age, I bought his dress clothes at a consignment shop--very inexpensively--and in good shape, as boys tend to outgrow good clothes before they wear out.

[Froufie]

My son was 9 on his last cruise - bought him a pair of black dress pants and a couple of dress shirt/tie combos - he looked very 'elegant' and appropriately dressed - and of course was able to wear the outfits a few more times before he great out of them :)

[simplelife]

I second Andee's suggestion of consignment shops. Also you might try E-bay. Or see if you friends or family have something their kids have outgrown. You may be able to return the favor later.

[wdw1972]

Generally speaking on most lines the dress code applies to children as well. With a boy you can shop cheap at a consignment store to buy a suit or rent a tux through the ship. I bought my son a suit once - he might have gotten 2 cruises out of it since he was growing. After that it was tux rental each time - so much easier. I never would have dreamed of NOT dressing him according to the dress code. He's a person - so he should be dressed appropriately.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

[BondGirl99]

When my son was that age, I bought his dress clothes at a consignment shop--very inexpensively--and in good shape, as boys tend to outgrow good clothes before they wear out.

 

Or you can try Amazon.com or ebay. I saw one today on Amazon.com for $45 including shirt and tie.

[GORDONCHICK]

And Target is known to have separates that are very reasonable as well. Borrowing from friends who have kids. We got about 4-5 suits and tuxes from fellow ccers whose son had outgrown them and were just happy they'd be put to use. I tried to pay them, but they refused. People we met on a fun roll call.

[YoungGangMom]

I just got my soon to be eight year old a tux that incuded pants, jacket, cumberbund, vest, and bow tie, on ebay for under $40.00 with shipping.:D

[Warm Breezes]

Generally speaking on most lines the dress code applies to children as well. With a boy you can shop cheap at a consignment store to buy a suit or rent a tux through the ship. I bought my son a suit once - he might have gotten 2 cruises out of it since he was growing. After that it was tux rental each time - so much easier. I never would have dreamed of NOT dressing him according to the dress code. He's a person - so he should be dressed appropriately.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Eurodam 11/07/09

Just a note - the dress code on Carnival for Cruise Elegant night is dress pants and dress shirt. Anything above that is recommended but not required according to their policy. Don't worry about getting a tie or jacket if you do not think it is worth the money. My DS will be in dress pants and dress shirt.

[ottawa_traveler]

I just got my soon to be eight year old a tux that incuded pants, jacket, cumberbund, vest, and bow tie, on ebay for under $40.00 with shipping.:D

 

I really believe in "Buy less, live more", so I had the same concerns as the OP about buying an outfit for one or two nights on the cruise. However, I also wanted to participate in formal nights, as for me it's part of the cruise experience. With no friends to borrow from, I dutifully hit the three thrift shops and one consignment shop in my area. Nada, zip, zilch. I went several times over the course of 3 weeks and hadn't come up with a single thing--no dress shirts, pants, jackets, etc., let alone a complete suit for either of my boys.:(

 

Reluctantly, I went to ebay and bought two of those inexpensive suits ($20+shipping). I was really surprised when they arrived: the quality is decent and everything you need is included (except socks and shoes of course). After the boys outgrow them I will re-sell them, and someone else checking out the local consignment store might have better luck than I did!:)

[denrusk]

Thanks everyone for the great input. We found some really good deals at Kohl's and he is ready to go! We tried the local consignments shops first, with no luck. We now are going to bring some of his old (and still very nice!) clothes into the shop so someone can use them!

 

Happy sailing!

[daisysheridan]

RCCL has some sort of 'kids club' that you can drop your young ones off at during the formal dinner. This way they don't have to get dressed up. I don't know if other cruise lines have the same type of thing.

[Missy_rntt]

We cruised last Summer (Me and my 12 year old son) For the one "formal" night, I had purchased my son a pair of perma pressed walking shorts in white that I paired up with a white shirt and blue tie. He had a dark blue blazer and matching kneesox and it looked great and fit it fine..