EHendrix

Unlike most, I don't care what you wear to dinner. It's your vacation, you paid for it, you enjoy it the way you see fit as long as you aren't offending others by doing something that isn't appropriate in public.

We did the exact same thing on our Alaskan cruise; we never ate at the MDR even once. All of the specialty restaurants (in my humble opinion) are well worth any extra cost to avoid the MDR. The food is fantastic and the ambiance is far superior to that offered elsewhere on the ship.