How Dressy?

[thejens]

I am getting close to my 75 day mark and am stressing. On the only other cruise we have been on (NCL) we were pretty casual even in nice restaurants. We often wore nice shirt and nice tops. Is this not acceptable in the main restaurants? Will my boys not be allowed to wear kahki shorts and polo shirts? Do we have to wear pants or dresses? What constitues semi formal and formal? I'd like to do Palo (and personally enjoy dressing up a bit, but am the only one.) We like to eat with the kids, but it is very rare that the boys wear anything nicer than a polo shirt and clean shorts in the summer. (we are from Atlanta). What about tennis shoes or sandals? I am trying to figure out how to pack for a family of four (two are messy boys) and not have to do laundry during my valuable vacation time. I hate to bring ship clothes, beach clothes, dinner clothes for every day! Not to mention the "I am wearing my ice cream again" change of clothes. Thanks for any help.

[TammiMcMan]

We often wore nice shirt and nice tops. Is this not acceptable in the main restaurants? Will my boys not be allowed to wear kahki shorts and polo shirts? Do we have to wear pants or dresses?For kids, khaki shorts and polo's are fine. We did find that the restauarants were pretty cool, so you may want to have one pair of docker pants for them. You don't have to wear a dress, I found that one pair of black dress pants and a few different tops cut down on the amount of dinner clothes that I packed.


What constitues semi formal and formal?If you consider khakis and polo's as cruise casual, then semi-formal would be a dress shirt and formal can be black tie or suits. You'll see quite an assortment of dressing styles.


I'd like to do Palo (and personally enjoy dressing up a bit, but am the only one.)You don't have to get too dressy for Palo. It's more of a business casual, or semi-formal look.


What about tennis shoes or sandals?That's fine.

[NJGIRL]

For kids, khaki shorts and polo's are fine. We did find that the restauarants were pretty cool, so you may want to have one pair of docker pants for them. You don't have to wear a dress, I found that one pair of black dress pants and a few different tops cut down on the amount of dinner clothes that I packed.

If you consider khakis and polo's as cruise casual, then semi-formal would be a dress shirt and formal can be black tie or suits. You'll see quite an assortment of dressing styles.

You don't have to get too dressy for Palo. It's more of a business casual, or semi-formal look.

That's fine.


We went on the cruise in 2004 and we were told no shorts, jeans, sneakers or flip flops in the dinning rooms. Has this been changed since then. We are going again in Oct 2008 and it would be helpful to know.

[TammiMcMan]

We went on the cruise in 2004 and we were told no shorts, jeans, sneakers or flip flops in the dinning rooms. Has this been changed since then. We are going again in Oct 2008 and it would be helpful to know.That is still part of their policy, however it's much more flexible when it comes to kids.

[Trakar]

My son wore sneakers, shorts and polo shirts. Formal and semi formal nights, he wore a polo and khakis with dressier shoes. I wore dressy pants, no dresses. I packed two pair of nice pants and various tops. Sundresses/summer slacks and sandals for dinner. My husband wore khakis and polos to dinner. Dress slacks and shirt for semi formal, add a sport coat and tie for Palo and Formal night. He wore a suit for formal night but won't bother this year, just a different shirt and tie.

[DisneyDudet]

I wore flip flops to dinners, but they weren't ratty, they were either black or were dressy looking. Nice shorts and polo's would do well for kiddos. I wore nice capris with nice tops, like you would find at Old Navy and such. Nothing too fancy. To Palo I wore a little black dress, cocktail type that I had for Easter one year. For Formal Night, I wore a beautiful dress that I wore as a bridesmaid (it is an actual dress.. very pretty.. nothing goofy.. and I'm 24) very elegant. There were very few people dressed up as me, but there were more people dressed like me on semi formal night. There were tuxedos and such, but my dad and grandfather work a coat and tie for formal night. Semiformal night, I wore a halter dress, again, that I had for Easter. It was black and white, I would consider it a cocktail type.

So, other than Palo's, formal and semiformal nights, I work nice capri pants and shirt. Tell your clan to dress up, this once, and thats all you'll ask!!!

[TinksPixieDust]

we went on the 3 night cruise in july and we didnt really dress up too fancy. the girls wore skirts/tops or sundresses and my dad and brother wore nice shorts and polos. they didntwant to bring pants and they looked nice so its not a problem. we even asked before hand if pants were mandatory and they said no. they like people to look nice in the restaraunts but they also want them to be comfortable. it probablyis different on a longer cruise but thats what happened with us.

[ElenitaB]

It is different on the longer cruises. On the 3 and 4 night Disney talks about semi-formal. I think young boys in nice khaki shorts and polo shirts are fine.

On our cruise, for our semi-formal night, the entire table next to us showed up in short denim cut-offs and tank tops... everyone at our table was a bit put off considering that dressing up a bit was part of the "specialness" of the evening. My DS-11 wore his uniform shoes, Docker-like pants, a dress shirt and a tie. I wore a nice shirt and skirt. We'll do the same this year as well.

[thejens]

This is reassuring. If the boys can wear nice shirts and polos and nice sandals or nice sneakers on semi formal night, I can wrestle them into some dockers and nice shirts for formal night. I must say though, I hate buying "dress" shoes for the one funeral/wedding per season. I guess going on a cruise is one chance to wear them again!