Dressing Up for Dinner

[TiggerKing]

I want to know something about dining on the ships, and please don't flame me for this question. I have seen many posts on here asking essentially "what can I get away with wearing at dinner?". I know that comment sounds a little harsh, but that is they only way I could think of to word it.

Maybe I am too much of a romantic, but when I think of cruises, I think of a very special vacation where you dress up for dinner on some nights. I know this is a Disney cruise, but I still am looking forward to dressing up to go to Palo and being a little dressy to go to Lumiere's.

So, my question is this: How much do you dress up for dinner (not including formal or semi-formal nights) and why do you or don't you dress up for dinner? Also put a little poll for curiosity's sake.

And please, don't slam me for my opinion, but I would love to hear your opinions.

 

[daisy112878]

I marked Polo and nice pants for DH and a nice dress for me but this would be on the casual nights. Which DH is going to be actually wearing nice pants and a long sleeve nice shirt instead of a polo. For semi-formal night he'll wear a tie and all. For formal night and Palos we are going all out. I have a black and white long bridesmaids dress from a wedding that I was in. I'm going to get some more wear from it. And DH is getting a tux. I can't wait to get pics done.

I'm like you. I love to get dressed up and go out. To me it's so much fun and just makes the mood better.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

One thing you should factor in is the weather. On our last cruise (end of June) it was very hot and humid 90+/80% humidity. Wearing a jacket during that season means you stay inside the ship or sweat a lot.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

We like to dress up for dinner because the restaurants are nice. I wouldn't wear shorts to a nice restaurant on land, so I ouldn't do it at sea.

That being said, I usually wear a skirt or a pair of nice pants to casual nights in the restaurants. Dh will wear a pair of khakis and a polo or button down shirt on those nights. On semi-formal nights, i wear a dress and he wears a suit and tie. On formal night, he wears a tux and I wear a dress, but not a gown. He also has a very nice 3 piece suit that I think is appropriate for formal night, but I know that others disagree.

And i don't wear ddresses on casual night because at any moment, I may need to nurse dd2, and that's not a pretty sight in a dress.

 

[ma2patrick]

Originally posted by wdwoldtimer
One thing you should factor in is the weather. On our last cruise (end of June) it was very hot and humid 90+/80% humidity. Wearing a jacket during that season means you stay inside the ship or sweat a lot.

Or take the jacket off when you go outside?

 

[invaderzim]

I voted jacket and polo and skirt and blouse for Lumiere's, Tritons, Palo's. However, on formal and semi-formal nights, it's suit, tie and gowns. We like to dress up. Don't get to do it all year!

 

[crisi]

Its an odd question.

For our four day there was no formal/semi formal night. I wore dresses or skirts or capris. I wore a fairly formal silk ankle length dress to Tritons. I wore tropical capris to Parrot Cay. I work a black skirt with a black and white print blouse to AP the night it changed colors, a informal khaki skirt with a knit shirt another evening. In general, I was "themed" to the dining room.

I wouldn't dream of going in shorts (unless there was an issue with my luggage or something) because they ask I don't. Dressing for dinner is fun, but dressing for dinner means different things to different people - for me it meant tropical dress for the tropical dining room. You may have looked at my somewhat casual outfit that night (I'd never wear capri's to work - and we are a "khakis are dressy" type of place. I think capris are really casual clothes) and be agast at the nerve.

Your hierarchy suggests you think a skirt and blouse more formal than a dress - but - except for sundresses, I always think dresses are more formal - and dresses sans jacket more formal than a dress with a jacket. Sundresses I'd put with skirts and blouses on the formality level.

 

[TiggerKing]

Your hierarchy suggests you think a skirt and blouse more formal than a dress - but - except for sundresses, I always think dresses are more formal - and dresses sans jacket more formal than a dress with a jacket. Sundresses I'd put with skirts and blouses on the formality level.

That is what happens when a man tries to post a question about fashion.

Also, as a point of clarification, I meant to exclude formal and semi-formal nights from the thought pattern for the poll. I was only talking about the normal dinner rotation and Palo.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

LOL! The "floppy hat" gave away your gender -- a woman would have listed number 4 as "a belly shirt and short shorts".

 

[JenKatt]

I wear a dress most night to dinner except Parrot Cay/ Mexicali night. Formal night I wear a gown/ hubby is in a suit or tux.
I don't get to dress up or look girly much so darn it I'll do it on the cruise!

 

[tkd lisa]

I chose number 2, but it's not exactly accurate. I usually wear a dress , but DH usually is in a shirt and tie. He sometimes wears a blazer, sometimes not, but always a tie at Lumiere's. At AP or Parrot Cay he might wear a tropical shirt or a polo, and I might wear pants and a nice sweater. I'd say we're slightly dressier than the average on the 7 nights.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

Originally posted by ma2patrick
Or take the jacket off when you go outside?

Not when I also end up holding everyone else's jacket/sweater/purse/camera/camcorder etc etc as well. And if you tend to go in and out of the ship, you end up taking it off/on/off/on. Either that or you just leave it off and carry it all night, which then defeats the purpose of having it in the first place.

 

[crisi]

Originally posted by TiggerKing
That is what happens when a man tries to post a question about fashion.

Fashion, and women's fashion in particular, as any business trying to do a dress code knows, can be very difficult. Blue jeans are usually recognized as informal - but is black or tan denim just as informal? A tank top is really informal - but made of silk? A white silk tank top with black silk pants could be very formal - especially once you add a little sparkle in jewelry - much more formal than a casual skirt and blouse. I lust after a beautiful silk pair of Tommy Bahama shorts and matching silk tank (the outfit runs around $200) but where will I wear it? It would be perfect for the dining room of the cruise - if it weren't shorts. Too casual for work, dinner, weddings - too formal for running around with the kids. How about skorts? Denim skirts? Fabric and cut can be just as important as "item of clothing" in the women's heirarchy.

Men are easy - are you in a jacket? A tie? Slacks?

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I don't see why a jacket makes someone so suddenly all dressed up. DH had a beautiful blue long sleeve dress shirt and a great tie. Looked better than some of the men in their jackets.

This was on the four day, Palo night. Lumiere night he did wear a jacket, so we aren't that horrible of people.

 

[Buddy Bear]

Threads about dress are always the most humorous and most hotly debated. I have participated on this board for over two years (recently changed my ID) and I love "dress up" threads.

I checked the third option as well as about half the others.

The bottom line is some people like to dress up and others don't. My wife and I dress up once or twice a year when the holidays or occasion calls for it, but dressing up in the summer months while on vacation is about as foreign as it gets.

We also don't like to pack a lot so adding dress clothes to your packing list is just a hassle for us.

I don't think that people should have to dress up while on vacation, but on the other end shorts and sandals is not appropriate dinner attire.

Jeff

 

[TootyJane]

I, like many other posters, chose the third option. However, because we don't dress up much at home we do dress up for semi-formal and formal nights.

 

[NYGiantsRule!]

I also chose the third option. On the Wonder, there are no formal nights and even though they recommend a jacket for men in Triton's, you probably only see about 30% of the men wearing one.

 

[ma2patrick]

I'm with Jeff. These dress debates are really very funny. Especially when they get into semantics as far as cut and length, and style of fabric, and designer names and bla bla bla.

"I have swaroski crystal encrusted short pants woven with threads of pure gold that have been blessed by the pope and carried across the continents on a fashion pilgrimage. Palo says no shorts, can I still wear them?"

Oy!

 

[Buddy Bear]

Lauri:

Oh My God!!

That is one of the funniest posts I have ever read.

I sure wish more people had your attitude.

Thanks for the laugh.

Jeff