Help! Husband is freaking out on Formal Night!

[Shell427]

We will be first time cruisers in January 2010!!! I am so excited! We are planning to cruise on the 7 night Western Caribbean. As I was going over the itinerary, things to do, etc. I came upon the attire for the cruise. I mistakenly mention to my DH that there is a formal night and semi-formal night.......oops! He is going nutso on this!

What are the requirements for Formal and Semi-formal attire? Do we have to rent tuxedos for him and my DS who will be 9?? I thought I saw a blurb about Disney giving us some Tuxedo rental info......

I also told him about the dinner rotation and table seating. Again.....freaked out! Does not like the idea of sitting with strangers every night (what if I don't like them? What if I don't want to sit at that specific table? etc.)

I am much more easy going than he is. How can I soothe his anxiety on all of this? He actually said, in the heat of the moment, that we were not going!!!

HELP!!

 

[JoiseyMom]

No...they can wear suits...or a nice shirt and tie.

 

[dznymania]

I wore a shirt and tie, with a pullover vest.

 

[WDWLVR]

As others have stated he can wear a suit or even a dress shirt and tie. Think about a tux rental though for some really great formal family pictures.

As for the dining. You can request a table for just your family but it is just that a request. One suggestion for you. Find the cruise meets thread (on the cruise meets board) and get to know your fellow cruisers. We've linked dining with fellow DISers on our past 6-7 cruises and have had a blast. You might even find families with kids your sons age and he'll have built in friends when getting on the ship!

 

[iloveokw]

First of all on a Disney cruise your husband and son do NOT need tuxedos. A shirt with a jacket (no tie) is all your husband needs and if he doesn't want to wear a jacket just a dress shirt is all he needs even for Palo - he does need Dockers and not jeans for formal night. Your son does NOT need a jacket. Some people dress up big time, not for my husband. They will not turn him away and my attitude is that you won't see these people ever again. Yes you do sit with the same people every night in the dining rooms, but is your choice if you go there or Topsiders or have room service or have pizza a couple of nights. Disney is the most relaxed cruiseline we've been on.

 

[AlexandNessa]

I made my husband bring his tux for our May 2008 Western. Let's just say I did not live it down when we went to the show, and he only saw one other person in a tux. Sure, he made a friend that night as he commisserated with the other lone guy whose wife made him bring his tux too, but I never heard the end of it.

 

[Evil Queen 2]

Suit or sport coat is good enough for your hubby. Only reason my hubby takes a sport coat for dinner is in case we are seated near a air conditioning vent. He stated before first cruise "No way am I wearing a monkey suit on vacation!"

As long as they have some dockers or similar type slacks and maybe a dress shirt they are fine.

 

[bob23]

we just sailed on the 7 night western, and I wore a suit for formal night, which seemed to be the norm, on the semi fromal night dress pants and dress shirt were fine. Didn't see may tux's

 

[luv that cruise]

formal nite is as formal as you want to make it. my husband is anti-formal and wore dockers and a nice golf shirt to all dinners. i have developed the fine art of a black skirt, black pants and an assortment of tops with a comfortable pair of black shoes. packing is a breeze! it's fun to see people dress up and so cute to see the little kids all decked out. Great op to get a picture. but... I can't remember seeing anyone and thinking "gee, they didn't dress to the occasion." It's vacation - do what is comfortable for you. did see one guy politely refused at palo for jeans (he looked nice and neat but still jeans). Enjoy your cruise.

 

[Shell427]

Thank you for all your replies! I have brought DH up to speed and he is coming around.....thank goodness!

I am planning on booking within a day and then the countdown begins!!

Michelle, Terry, Kolten
escaping WI winter in January 2010

 

[crafty91]

One thing is for sure Disney will try their best to make it right if you don't like it! If you get to dinner and don't like your mates (IF you have any) then just request to be moved and they will do everything they can to make you happy. "formal" is relative I promise! Khakis and a polo and you are all set! Tell DH not to stress on it, its a vacation and as one poster said you can always eat pizza or room service, or any place else you like!

 

[jlowejd5]

Our group went full-on tux and gown for our Western trip last December, but that was mostly becuase we rarely get to do it, plus we knew we'd get some awesome pictures. Didn't feel out of place at all, although I may have been the only guy on board (other than the crew) who wore the white dinner jacket.

As far as your table-mates, don't fret. They're more scared of you than you are of them.

No, wait...that's bears...

 

[scottie]

As a hubby, I can say I was not all that excited about getting too dressy on formal night, though I liked the idea of looking nice We actually decided we will do Palo on formal night. I usually wear a shirt/tie there and feel like I fit in fine.

 

[mmackeymouse]

I am gonna pass this message onto my mom. She is freaking out about formal and semi-formal nights, saying we probably will not do them because she knows my dad is not going to "go for" wearing a suit.

Everyone we know that has cruised before has told her about the "formal" night and bringing a jacket, and this, that, and the other. Well, of course, they were on much less casual ships than DCL.

I keep telling her that as long as he wears a dress shirt, dress pants, and a tie, he should be fine. She does not believe me, because these people have been on a cruise so they should know.

She will flip out when we get the dress code info in August. Maybe I will hide it from her.

 

[DisHokie]

my DH was very worried about this too.. we brought his suit and then at the last minute decided to skip it altogether and order in room service! We had a great night vegging out and decided next time we won't even bring the suit and just do roomservice again!

 

[MaryKLady]

formal nite is as formal as you want to make it. my husband is anti-formal and wore dockers and a nice golf shirt to all dinners.

My setiments, exactly. Don't sweat it

I do, however, make my DH wear his tux. We bought it when we got married and I've only gotten to see him in it a few times since.

 

[jrabbit]

The guys in my party wear Dress Shirt, Tie and slacks to formal and semi formal dinner (usually the same shirt, different tie). I've even worn sandals and dark socks with this "outfit".

The following is my wierd sence of humor....

Clothes Hierarchy

The Tuxes look down upon the suits
The Suits look down upon the sport coats
The Sport Coats look down upon the dress shirts
The Dress Shirts look down upon the polo shirts
The Polo Shirts look down upon the tee shirts
The Tee Shirts look down upon the tank tops
The Tank Tops look down upon the shorts
The Shorts look down upon the swimming suits

and so it goes

and everyone looks down on me because I'm wearing sandals and dark socks

 

[jrabbit]

Oops. Forgot the other thing hubby is freaking out about... Dinning with strangers (stranger than what you ask )

For a 7 night cruise the people you eat dinner with should be strangers for only the first night. After that they should be at least acquaintenances - and for us usually - by the end of the cruise they are friends.

You are assigned a "starting restaurant" that gives you your rotation. Additionally you are assigned table number. The restaurants change every night (Lumiers, Animators, Parrot Cay), but your table number (it's in a different location in each restaurant) and your servers and your tablemates remain the same.

Some people here are violently opposed to the sharing of tables with strangers, some accept the fact that this is the way it is, and others of us enjoy getting to know another family or two over the course of a week and sharing the days experiences with each other. My family is very shy, but this is one of the more enjoyable aspects of cruising - it forces us to meet new people. And when our tablemates have not come to a dinner (Palo ressies for example) - we have found out how boring we really are with each other!

 

[LOLA2]

We have never sat with strangers, call before your cruise and request a private table.

My husband wears shirt and tie never suit or tux.

If he does not want to to do dining rotation go to topsiders. It is very nice though a different flair to each resteraunt and the dinner show at Animators is great. You will have the same servers all the time, they go to same resteranut you eat at.

 

[tow-mater-1]

We are also first time cruisers in Jan 2010! Just wondering how many are at a table? We are travelling with our 5 kids so 7 in total.