kids and formal nights

[inluvwithpluto]

Please can anyone tell me how other boys have been dressing for formal night? Do I have to get a suit or are nice pants and a shirt ok? My son is 9. Also on other nights are nice shorts and a nice shirt ok? Or does he need to where pants at all meals?
Thanks

 

[Karel]

My boys will wear nice pants, a button down and a tie for formal night. DCL requests no shorts or jeans at dinner. Casual pants, even cargos, with a polo shirt or button down are good for dinner. If you have an Old Navy near you, I like to shop there for casual pants and shirts that the kids like to wear.

 

[tksbaskets]

My sons were 11 on our last cruise and for formal night they wore black Dockers, a white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and a 'real' tie. They looked great and were very excited to be dressed up. I couldn't see buying a suit for boys who would outgrow them in a month. They wore dockers and a nice shirt with a collar for the other meals. They each brought tan and black dockers and we were good to go for the entire cruise.

Of course they changed immediatly after dinner....

Hope this helps!
Teresa

 

[TnRobin]

When my son was 5, I bought a black suit, white shirt and a tuxedo bow tie for formal night. That way he could wear the pants and shirt to church afterwards. You can not tell in the pictures that it wasn't a tux (see my picture on Meet the Team)

When he was 6, I bought a tux on e-bay for $35 which he also wore to formal night when he was 7.

This year he will be 9. I am going to try to get another cheap tux on ebay.

I just love having the pictures of him dressed up.


Now that is what I did. I have seen many of a young man wearing what I call church clothes to formal night. Nice slacks and a nice shirt sometimes with a tie. It still looks great.

As for all the other nights, Matt has wore pants to dinner on the cruise since he was 4.

 

[FredS]

I bought my son, also nine when we cruised, a black suit (sold as separates) from JC Penney. The pants and jacket were cheap to start with, and on sale were something like $14 for the pants and maybe upper $20's for the jacket. Both were washable. He wore this suit for both formal and semi-formal nights. Formal night he had a crisp white white shirt and wore a tie, semi- he had a slightly colored shirt and tie. I thought he looked great and it was not anything like incurring the expense of buying a top-of-the-line suit or tux. There are many sources of similar inexpensive clothes -- from JC Penney, Sears, etc. as well as other retailers online or even from eBay.

If you are concerned about dressing per the requested dress code:

For a nine-year-old I think that "nice" shorts may not be nice enough. A four or five-year-old might be able to get away with a shorts suit, like would be worn for Easter, but I don't picture an older child be willing to be dressed in truly formal shorts!

As far as dinner on the other nights, since shorts are specifically requested not to be worn to dinner, again, I would try some of the less expensive outlets for a couple of pairs of pants for him to wear (you can wash a couple of times during the cruise if you don't want to buy/bring more than two). A nice shirt (button-type or polo) is perfectly acceptable. I think that shorts are fine for him for breakfast and lunch.

 

[Christine]

My son will be on the Eastern Magic next week. He is 9 and he will be wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt, and tie for formal night. He will wear his Khaki dockers and a collared shirt for the other nights.

He was in play this past May which required that he wear a suit for the part. We found a suit at Kohl's for $49.99. I then went to Wal-Mart and got him the white shirt/tie in a bag for about $12.00. Today, we went to J.C. Penney's and got another tie for about $5.00 so that he can "change his look" for other nights. The dress shoes, again, were pretty cheap. You can do well for a boy that is under 12! Compared to what women/girls spend on their clothing, his was quite easy.

 

[kcashner]

On formal night, boys will be in anything from pants and polo shirt to a tux. It depends on what is in your closet, what is comfortable, and whether you are really doing it up for pictures. If your son doesn't own a suit or tie (or owns one but hates it), let him be comfortable in a polo shirt. Another thought--black sneakers look great with suit and will get a lot more wear after the cruise than "dress shoes"....also might save you taking an extra pair of shoes.

I really think that comfort is a bigger deal than how cute they can be all dressed up. We've been on 10 Magic cruises, and basically seen all levels of dress in the young men. The young ladies tend to like to dress up a little more....princess dresses, fancy dresses, etc.

My DD wore her first pair of heels on the Magic....and learned that beauty can hurt!