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New at Cruising: what to wear on formal nights


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We are sailing next week on Harmony of the Seas. Very excited! I had a question about the formal night dress code.

 

My husband, at the minimum, would wear dress pants and a nice dress shirt. He could also add a tie, if needed. And he could also bring his suit, but he would prefer not to.

 

Thoughts? Which of the three are acceptable for formal nights?

 

Thank you!

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I always wear a pair of summer dress slacks and sport jacket with a button down short sleeve shirt with tie. I usually bring two pair of pants and shirts that will go with one sport jacket.  I've seen less to include shorts and more to include suits and tuxedos. I usually snear at the guys in shorts, especially after I've had lots of wine!

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My husband, at the minimum, would wear dress pants and a nice dress shirt. He could also add a tie, if needed. And he could also bring his suit, but he would prefer not to.

Yes, he will be fine with that approach. Tie is definitely not required.

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We just returned from Freedom of the Seas eight night cruise....which has two formal nights.   I saw everything from full length evening gowns and tuxes to nice dresses, slacks and tie to shorts and flip flops in the Windjammer.  Frankly, it looks like anything goes...and I have decided I will NEVER take a sport coat again.  The first formal night I wore my sport jacket and the second night I wore a LL Bean two button Polo Shirt.  Never felt uncomfortable or out of place, including dining at Chops.  I am getting the impression the "prom date" formal dress night is becoming a thing of the last century.   

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We just returned from Freedom of the Seas eight night cruise....which has two formal nights. I saw everything from full length evening gowns and tuxes to nice dresses, slacks and tie to shorts and flip flops in the Windjammer. Frankly, it looks like anything goes...and I have decided I will NEVER take a sport coat again. The first formal night I wore my sport jacket and the second night I wore a LL Bean two button Polo Shirt. Never felt uncomfortable or out of place, including dining at Chops. I am getting the impression the "prom date" formal dress night is becoming a thing of the last century.

I stopped bringing the dress jacket about 10 cruises ago. Unnecessary and just takes up too much space. The only cruise line that I believe so requires a jacket on formal night is HAL.

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What is  women  on formal night dress code ?

Traditionally, some sort of dress/skirt. Despite the name, formal night does not require guests to be that formally dressed up.  It's essentially a step above what one might otherwise wear to the main dining room.

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My husband was happy to hear that the dress jackets were unnecessary.

 

I on the other hand, have two very nice dresses to wear to the formal nights.

 

Thanks everyone, we fly out in 36 hours and I am beyond excited!

Then he should dress accordingly to accompany you in your nice dresses! 

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My husband was happy to hear that the dress jackets were unnecessary.

 

I on the other hand, have two very nice dresses to wear to the formal nights.

 

Thanks everyone, we fly out in 36 hours and I am beyond excited!

You will find some people dressed up more, and like rjac said, nothing wrong with you two getting a bit more dressed up for fun.

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Guest toodle68

Then he should dress accordingly to accompany you in your nice dresses! 

Totally..  if my wife dresses up then it would be a cold day in hell before she would allow me out looking like a ragamuffin ..

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My husband will be soooooo happy to hear that he can wear his slacks, dress shirt, and dress shoes and that be good enough for the formal night! He is a blue collar worker and anything more than that makes him feel like a stuffed sausage (his words lol). I am looking forward to wearing my dress that I never really have an occasion to wear otherwise.

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​My son and I are wearing our kilts, complete with dress Argyle jackets and plaid fly

On one cruise there was a Scotch tasting on a formal night in which we participated, and there were two fellows there that had the full, formal kilt outfit on.  That was really neat as far as I was concerned!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Congratulations !  I can't think of a better honeymoon for anyone.  You are going to love it !

 

Formal night can be as formal or NOT as you want it to be.  You will see everything from shorts to full length evening gowns and tuxedos.  In fairness, most of the ships will turn you away from the Main Dining Room if you wear shorts there on formal nights (justifiably, IMO) but most people just wear slacks and a nice shirt.

 

Since it's your honeymoon I'm sure you will want to dress up a bit so do whatever you are comfortable with.  Things are not nearly as formal as in the "old days" when everyone dressed to the 9's for dinner (every night, not just on formal nights !).

 

Cruising is about having fun so do what makes you happy !

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you want to dress up, dress up.  If you don't want to, don't.  Men can wear a nice shirt and slacks; women can wear a long sundress and sandals.  If you live somewhere where dressing up is fun, then do it.  If you live somewhere where dressing up is a drag, then don't do it.  Just don't wear shorts, t-shirts and flip flops and you'll be fine.

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If we leave out of a Florida port we'll dress up more, easy enough to pack the fancy clothes for us. When we had to fly to Boston for NE&CAN we opted to leave the fancier clothes due to suitcase weight restrictions. We did 1 formal night dressed up with what we had in the MDR, then one formal night dressed down at Rita's Cantina.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

 

Sorry to be a bit thick about all of this, but I'm still unclear on dress code in the main dining room.  We have opted for the same 1800 reservation in the dining room each evening.  Is black tie the norm for men?  We have only cruised twice - Fred Olsen and P&O and dress code for formal nights was strictly adhered to.  Whilst personally we like to dress up and I'll wear a cocktail dress most evenings, my husband does not want to stand out like a sore thumb.  

 

Thanks.

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You will see very few tuxes, residuary in the Caribbean. For both my Caribbean and European cruises, I've simply gone witha dress shirt and tie and felt like I was fine. While you will see people in suits, too, you'll also see people in simply dockets and polos.

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I read somewhere that the grande on the anthem has a mandatory suit jacket policy (for all nights). Perhaps this article was during the dynamic dining phase that has since been modified. Anyone have any insight on this?

That used to be the case when Anthem had Dynamic Dining.  Dynamic Dining was cancelled in November 2016 and so the restaurant dress code changed.

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​My son and I are wearing our kilts, complete with dress Argyle jackets and plaid fly

I'm planning on wearing my US Army Dress Blue uniform with a black bow tie.  Or just a jacket and tie.  Depends on my mood.

 

A lot of high end restaurants in Manhattan still have loaner ties and jacketds for people who do not meet the dress code - usually something really out-of-date for the current fashion.  Do any of the boats do this?

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