Cruise Line Attire

[dgroet]

Just a quick question for those who have been on the cruise regrding cruise line attire.

My in-laws have booked the entire family (12) on the land/sea vacation in August. Since I didn't make the reservations, and have never been on a cruise, I was wondering about the proper attire on board the ship. Shorts okay for most of the day? Also, I have read about the controversy regarding the "formal" attire in the dining rooms. What exactly is the proper attire for dining (for all three meals) for my wife and I and our 3 sons (2, 6 & 7)?

Thanks so much for you assistance. BTW, anyone else going on the 4 day, leaving 8/25?

 

[prymsu]

I would say you can be in shorts the majority of the time. I have done breakfast and lunch in the dining room wearing shorts. However for dinner, I always wear a dress. On formal nights, we dress up quite a bit. You will get a wide variety of comments on what is appropriate for dinner wear...

 

[Karel]

Short or bathing suit 95% of the time.

As what to wear for dinner, there are a lot of opinions on this. Disney requests no shorts or jeans for dinner - and I take that to mean any age.

I don't think you have to go out and spend a fortune on new clothes. What ever passes as dressy in your household will probably do. I think my boys wore sneakers to dinner most nights, except when they wore their ties. My boys, 9 and 10 at the time, were very excited about wearing ties and button down shirts. They also wore cargo pants, and polo shirts. Most of the time I wore twill pants and a blouse or a dress for formal night.

Since you will only be on the four night, you won't have formal night. I would bring a sports jacket. Bring a tie if you want to go to Palo's. Nice pants and polo or button shirts will do for your boys. We dressed for dinner, ate and went straight back to our cabin most nights to change back into shorts.

 

[TnRobin]

For daytime wear - shorts and bathing suits are the choice attire of most cruisers on all cruises.

Since you are doing a Land/sea vacation, you will be doing either a 3 or 4 day cruise. There is no formal night on the 3 and 4 day cruises.

Disney does ask that no bathing suits be wore in the dining rooms (lunch or dinner) and no shorts in the dining rooms for dinner. (Note: Beach Blanket Buffet is not considered a "Dining room") They do ask that a jacket be worn at Triton's and Palo's. So khakis, a polo and jacket are fine at Triton's and Palo's. I wore sundresses most of the time to dinner on our 4 day cruise.

 

[dave54]

just my opinion but i think the men can sneak by without a jacket (especially if Palo's is not in the plan). On the 7 night cruise I wore a nice shirt and tie but no jacket to the semi-formal night and I felt very much in the middle of the pack.

 

[doombuggy]

I just got my cruise brochure yesterday, and it states that there is semi-formal and formal night on the 7 night cruise. As a person who has been on several cruises (none Disney), the rule of thumb is if you are not in port, dress up (like you were going to dinner at a nice resturant, not Mc Donalds).

Ahh, to be back on the QE2......................

 

[Whiskers]

We are going on the 7 day eastern in Aug. I've organized the dressy clothes for myself and DH for formal and semi-formal nights, but I'm still confused re what to do for DS7 and DS5. They already have dressy black pants, button down shirts and ties, but do I really have to go out and buy jackets for them? I can't seem to find any inexpensive jackets and they'll never use them again. Should I try to find vests?

 

[Dodie]

Have you gone to the official DCL website? There's a long FAQ for cruisers that may answer a lot of the "first timer" questions that you have.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by dave54
just my opinion but i think the men can sneak by without a jacket (especially if Palo's is not in the plan). On the 7 night cruise I wore a nice shirt and tie but no jacket to the semi-formal night and I felt very much in the middle of the pack.

Actually, Palo is less formal than the formal and semi-formal nights. Palo is simply "Jacket Recommended, no shorts or jeans please." That's the same as Lumiere's during your regular dining rotation -- although passengers tended to dress up more for Palo.

But for formal and semi-formal nights, the vast majority of men wore a dark suit with a dress shirt and tie, or a tuxedo. Of those who didn't, there was a whole range of attire from those in sport coats and ties all the way down to those who made no effort at all.

 

[TnRobin]

Just a reminder, the person posing this question is not on a 7 day cruise and thus there is no formal or semi-formal dress request.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by TnRobin
Just a reminder, the person posing this question is not on a 7 day cruise and thus there is no formal or semi-formal dress request.

Good point.

I was replying to dave54's advice about the 7-night.

 

[Michelle]

Whiskers, no, no need at all to get jackets for the boys. They will be fine with exactly what you described.