Cruise Attire Question

[Yumi696]

Hi, so just a question...

I read the navigators for a 3 night Disney Dream August cruise from last year, and they had a Cruise Casual night, Pirate/Cruise Casual night and then an Optional Dress-Up night.

But I now just read the navigators for a 4 night Disney Dream late Jan/early Feb cruise, and they had one Pirate/Cruise Casual and the rest were Cruise Casual attire and there was no Optional Dress-Up night.

Is there a way to find out if your cruise is going to have an Optional Dress-Up night or not? Do we get an email or something? This is our first Disney cruise and only our second ever cruise. On our first cruise on Carnival we had absolutely no idea there was a dress up night and we were caught off guard when suddenly everyone was dressed up on the cruise.

We just want the opportunity to dress up. If anyone has an answer to this question it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lpizzuro123]

We have done 4, 5 and 7 nights. The 4 and 5 had an optional. Have heard the 3 nights usually do not but hey, wear what you want to. DCL has gone much more casual so even on dress up night you will see people in shorts. We try to do a somewhat dress up night to get some nice pictures.

 

[DCLDVC1]

There's nothing stopping you from dressing up every night if you want to.

 

[mischief32]

I am taking dressed to wear every night except pirate night which will be my wench's outfit. They are nothing fancy. I would wear then to work or a nice dinner

 

[over50visits]

What to wear is often one of the most often asked questions by new cruisers, and almost never asked by repeat cruisers.

DCL dinner dress is so liberal that if you think you look okay, you look okay. They may have a formal night, and you will NOT be out of place if you dress casually. On the other hand, you will NOT be out of place if you dress nicely every night. The dining rooms are elegant, the experience very upscale, and the waiters are very well dressed. If you wear semi formal any night you will be right in place with the experience.

If you want to experience the elegance of the atrium on formal night (fancy photo setups, ships officers in dress uniform, nice music, many people dressed up, then take clothes for one formal night. If your cruise doesn't have it, you still may choose one or more nights to wear them, and you might choose to dine in the adult restaurants where dressing up is the norm.

But, bottom line is there is a huge divergence in what people choose to wear every night, whether it's casual or dress up. Pick where you want to be on that continuum, go to dinner, and relish the experience. You'll be comfortable. And don't stress on this, it's a non-problem.

 

[AndreAggie]

I'm taking a different outfit for dinner instead of shorts/t-shirt for myself, hubs, and son. We got the photo package and take the opportunity to take pictures, so I like us to look a little more presentable. For myself, I'll take sundresses, palazzo pants or trousers and a blouse. We have a semi-formal night and I'm packing a dress that I might wear for a wedding. It's knee length and can be dressed up with heels and some jewelry. My husband will wear nicer jeans or maybe khaki pants with a short-sleeved button down or polo. My son will wear nicer shorts and a button down or polo. Both men will likely be wearing sperrys because, well, we're on a boat. For the guys on our semi-formal night I think they'll be wearing dress slacks and a button down. We're trying to keep packing minimal, but also don't want to look like slobs!

 

[Amanda129]

I've always brought a little dressier than business casual for most nights, and a nice cocktail dress if I'm planning on going to Palo or if I just feel like dressing up a little more. It's fine if you just want to stick with casual, but it's also fine if you want to dress to the nines every night. The last cruise I went on, there must have been a wedding because there was a group of people in formal dresses and tuxes, but they still fit right in. (And I believe that was on pirate night!)

 

[Yumi696]

Thank you everyone for reassuring me!

But is there a way to know before the cruise whether or not there actually will be an optional dress up night? Or do you just find out when you get the personal navigator? I was wondering about that...even if we can dress up whenever we want to.