Boys shoes

[cjsmith]

I actually have this posted on the cruisecritic boards since I'm taking a Princess cruise, but was very curious to see the difference in the answers that I would receive between the two boards. Here goes the question~I'm just looking for opinions, not to get bashed or slammed, just people's views.

We're taking the kids to London for 4 nights followed by a 10 night cruise on the Golden Princess and 2 nights in NY following the cruise in July. On our last Princess cruise I found that everyone was very casual at dining, especially at personal choice dining with the exception of the two formal nights. My two boys, 12 and 14 will only be going to one of the formal nights as they just dont' want to miss the lobster! I hate to not only buy them new dress shoes for that one night to wear with their dress khakis and shirts plus I hate the thought of dragging them with us for only one night, my husband wears a size 13 and my teenager daughter a 10.5 so the suitcase is already full! I'm trying so hard to cut down on some of our luggage and already have so much to pack because of the different climates of where we visit. I realize that it's probably a bit tacky, but does anyone here think that I could get away with them wearing brand new plain white sneakers for that one night? And yes, I can well afford buying them the new shoes, it's more from a luggage stand point.

 

[budwmn]

Sure, it would be nice for them to wear some kind of brown shoes (even those all weather mocs), but I don't blame you for not wanting to bring more shoes for only one night. I say, just wear the tennis shoes. BUT, make a quick dash to your seats and get the feet under the table. Your kids' shoes are not going to ruin anyones evening. Now, If they were in jeans and t-shirts, that'd be a different story!

Sounds like you're going to have an amazing trip. Enjoy!

 

[cjsmith]

You the funny thing, we couldn't believe how many people wore jeans to dinner on our Princess cruise. A lot of the passengers who were from Puerto Rico seemed to wear nice pressed jeans a lot. Maybe it's more acceptable in PR so they just did on the ship as well. I must say that they all looked so nice, very clean cut, nice shoes, and nice pressed shirts and tops that it didn't bother me at all.

 

[musicgirl]

Go for the tennis shoes!!! How many times do boys wear dress shoes before they go out of them?!!!!! Plus, they'll probably be really stiff and uncomfortable.

On all our cruises, ds wore white tennis shoes with khaki pants and black tennis shoes if he had black pants on.

At his school, they have to have either completely white or black shoes so I wasn't about to spend money on something he would wear that one time.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

so I wasn't about to spend money on something he would wear that one time.

Given that the adults pay $100 for tux rentals and dresses they will only wear one night, then I don't see the big deal to spend $10-15 for a cheap pair of shoes to wear for one night.

 

[J/T Gramdma]

I would buy black walking shoes that they can wear everywhere.

 

[tchoney]

I say white tennis shoes will be fine. I cannot imagine that anyone else would care or even notice what type of shoes they were wearing. As long as everyone is comfortable and enjoying themselves, who cares what anyone else thinks anyway!!

 

[banderson]

My boys aged 7 and 9 wear dressy shoes for dinner even when dressed in dockers and a polo. I think it depends on the child's age, but once a boy is 7 years old, I think it's good for him to know the difference between play/sports atire and dinner atire whether you're on a cruise or at a nice restaurant in your hometown.

 

[kaceyisme]

I wouldn't buy shoes to wear for one night. I would let them wear the tennis shoes. You will probably notice it more than anyone else.

 

[musicgirl]

HooKooDooKu,

Well, we didn't rent tuxes nor did I buy an expensive dress for the evening. I got my black dress on clearance at Kohls for $15 and I can wear it again. DH has a suit that he wore and I borrowed a suit jacket for my ds-13. I guess I'm just cheap!

 

[Keggy]

Honestly I don't think I would even notice what shoes your kids were wearing.

Kelly

 

[cjsmith]

Thanks guys. Like I said it wasn't the expense of buying the shoes, I would do that. Actually I did for our last Disney cruise and gave them to charity after we got home and the boys didn't use them again. It's really more the packing and lugging issue. We're flying from here to NY, having to change terminals up at JFK with a long layover, then to London and then to the ship so it's a lot of shuffling baggage.

 

[musicgirl]

cjsmith,

Oh, I totally understand. I can not even imagine trying to travel as far as you are and having to worry about luggage space. We barely made it for the 7 night with 2 suitcases each.

I suppose I could find 6 of the largest suitcases that they will allow on planes, but alas, I don't think I could ever bring enough stuff. I'm one of those over-packers. If I have just a little more room I could bring...........
You just never know when you might need the kitchen sink!!! LOL

 

[HooKooDooKu]

HooKooDooKu,

Well, we didn't rent tuxes nor did I buy an expensive dress for the evening. I got my black dress on clearance at Kohls for $15 and I can wear it again. DH has a suit that he wore and I borrowed a suit jacket for my ds-13. I guess I'm just cheap!

That was something of the attitude we took on the previous 7 day cruise we WERE going to take (until the '04 hurricane season decided otherwise). For that 7 day cruise, I just bought a bow tie to make my black suit look a little more formal. Sure it wouldn't be a tux, but it would be "good enough" for formal nights.

However, we changed our minds for the up-comming 14 day repo cruise after I found out about purchasing a used tux on eBay. [Basically, you can purchase a used tux and all the accessories needed for the price of renting a tux once]. As for DW, we always have a problem finding dresses that fit right. She seems to be one size "up stairs" and a different size "down stairs" and so it's real difficult for us to find a dress that is cut just right to fit all-around. So we usually can't find dresses for her on sale in the $15 range.

So for our situation, after spending $200 to get our selves dressed up, it would seem silly to NOT spend $10-15 for DS to be dressed up as well.

 

[kcashner]

Black tennis shoes can easily double as "dress shoes" on the cruise!

Shoes can be one of the biggest luggage problems. I bring a pair of black sandals for myself that then double as my "dress shoes"...to avoid carrying a pair of heels to wear once or twice.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

. As for DW, we always have a problem finding dresses that fit right. She seems to be one size "up stairs" and a different size "down stairs" and so it's real difficult for us to find a dress that is cut just right to fit all-around.

That cracked me up!

T&B

 

[pppiglet]

My DS will be wearing black size 15 tennis shoes! No way will I spend a fortune for shoes he will wear twice! Then tennis/sneakers,whatever you want to call them.. they are expensive enough at that size and will take up plenty of room in luggage.

 

[SeaSpray]

I'm curious as to what clothing your DSs will be wearing on formal night. Suits? If so, what color? I'm only asking because brand new white sneakers would stick out like a sore thumb if they're going to be wearing dark suites.

If their suits are a light color, like tan, then maybe they wouldn't be as noticable. How about having your DSs wear tan Dockers with a button down shirt and a tie? Then the sneakers wouldn't be as obvious.

Just throwing my 2 cents in here I don't blame you for wanting to keep your luggage as light as possible.


Edited to add: I reread your original post and see that they WILL be wearing khakis. I say go for the nice sneakers and don't worry about it

 

[cjsmith]

Thanks again everyone. They'll probably be in dress khakis, shirt 7 tie so the white sneakers would be fine. I honestly never even thought about black sneakers though, maybe I'll buy them those for the trip, thanks! Even if they dont' wear those at home as much it's okay, at least I can save myself some luggage space!

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Already sprayed myself with flame retardent. Maybe it was the way I was raised, but here goes!!!

Does anyone go to church anymore, and if they do, don't your boys wear shoes? My parents would never have let us go to church in sneakers? So Ijust passed that on to my son, shoes it is! But am I in a time warp? Are sneakers acceptable? On formal night, is dockers and shirt and tie acceptable? (not picking on the OP, but just wondering). I thought formal night was just that, formal? Not questioning anyone other than am I living in the 1950's or some Leave it to Beaver re-run??? Because if people aren't dressing up anymore on these cruises, why hasn't Disney changed the theming?