skipping formal dining?

[MarieFan]

I just discovered that we will be taking our first Disney Cruise this summer! We have cruised Carnival and Norwegian before, and are "over" formal dining. It sounds like no fun to us to have to pack dress shoes and extra clothes to wear once, let alone to wear them! I know we want to see the dining room that changes colors - will we chance missing that? (I am realizing I have so much research to do - I know WDW inside and out, but have no idea the names of things on the ships!) I KNOW we will not be sorry we missed dressing up, but I don't want to miss anything else because of it.
Jen

 

[mmouse37]

On a 7-night cruise you rotate through all three restaurants twice so you will not miss Animator's Palate color change.

You will find out your dining rotation on your Key to the World Car which you get at check-in.

P.S. Welcome to the cruise board and your best resource for all things DCL. Just read each thread and you will learn so much that way...plus we are all here to help answer any questions!!! Have fun planning!! Also the DCL website has a lot of info as well on excursions, things to do onboard, etc.

 

[DCLLVR]

You DO NOT need to "dress up" for formal night. You will see some people dressed in Tuxes and other formal wear, but it is NOT manditory! We dress up a little more than usual on formal nights, but not much! I usually wear a "Hawaiian shirt" to dinner each night, I just save my best ones for formal night ... same thing for Palo Brunch and Dinner. Contrary to what others might say, you will not feel out of place if you do not wear a Tux or Suit, etc.

... Jackets for men are NOT REQUIRED on formal nights or in Palo.

 

[Grandma4ever]

Just because you are opting not to get all dressed up does not mean you can not eat in the dining room on formal night. That is one of the things I love about DCL. You will not be the only ones who are not all decked out. I know they have a formal night on the 7 day cruises but not so sure on the shorter. I know they don't on have one on the 3 day cruise.

I might recommend that you keep your nicest caual dinner clothes for formal night but if you don't want to bring a formal that is fine. I would say about 75% of us dress up and 25% wear somthing more caual. If not comfortable going to the diningroom then you can go to the deck nine buffet or eat chicken stipes or a hampuger or pizza. All avalable on desk nine. There are many other item available on deck nine.

Just go and have a great time. Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[MGM94]

You DO NOT need to "dress up" for formal night. You will see some people dressed in Tuxes and other formal wear, but it is NOT manditory! We dress up a little more than usual on formal nights, but not much! I usually wear a "Hawaiian shirt" to dinner each night, I just save my best ones for formal night ... same thing for Palo Brunch and Dinner. Contrary to what others might say, you will not feel out of place if you do not wear a Tux or Suit, etc.

... Jackets for men are NOT REQUIRED on formal nights or in Palo.

Yes, this is true. You do not have to dress up. And many don't. A solid color camp shirt (Really a Hawaiian style in 1 color) like black with tan khakis can look very smart. Polo shirts and all. Mix and match black, white, and tan and have a nice eve look. (For gents) For ladies a simple black sun dress or top with khakis or jeans can also look very smart. We just tend to move away from the lighter colors in the eve on dress nights and work with tan khakis and black or dark tops. Many ways to look nice without a jacket or tux etc.

 

[Kim&Chris]

On our first DCL cruise (7-day Magic Western Caribbean), we opted to totally skip the formal night as well. Like you, we had no interest in dressing up or packing all that stuff, so we decided to have dinner at the buffet restaurant intstead....and we were not alone! There were lots of folks there who also dreaded the idea of bringing dressy clothes.

We had a nice, relaxing dinner at the buffet, and never regretted our choice.

 

[happymommy]

We don't plan on getting totally dressed up at all our our cruise next month. That won't stop me from eating wherever - as long as you're not in shorts and a tee shirt in the regular dining rooms, I'd think you're fine. Do whatever you're comfortable with!

 

[MGM94]

On our first DCL cruise (7-day Magic Western Caribbean), we opted to totally skip the formal night as well. Like you, we had no interest in dressing up or packing all that stuff, so we decided to have dinner at the buffet restaurant intstead....and we were not alone! There were lots of folks there who also dreaded the idea of bringing dressy clothes.

We had a nice, relaxing dinner at the buffet, and never regretted our choice.

We have also done that many times. But then one time we noticed when people were coming out of the main dinning, that not all were done up for formal. What we had on could have worked in the main dinning and up top for the more casual dine. We enjoyed our meal up there, but if there is a restaurant you don't want to miss, don't let not being in formal attire stop you from attending. Too many get intimidated by this. It's your trip. Enjoy.

 

[Kim&Chris]

We have also done that many times. But then one time we noticed when people were coming out of the main dinning, that not all were done up for formal. What we had on could have worked in the main dinning and up top for the more casual dine. We enjoyed our meal up there, but if there is a restaurant you don't want to miss, don't let not being in formal attire stop you from attending. Too many get intimidated by this. It's your trip. Enjoy.

Yes, I agree. We also noticed some people who were dressed pretty casually for formal night.

 

[CraftyMouse]

On a 7-night cruise you rotate through all three restaurants twice so you will not miss Animator's Palate color change.

Actually, this is not correct. You might miss the change.

They only do the color-changing show on the first night you eat at Animator's Palate. After that it will be black & white for your entire meal. Your first visit to Animator's Palate will be one of the first three nights of the cruise. Formal Night is on Sunday (Eastern) or Monday (Western). So, if you end up with the LAPLAPL rotation on the Eastern you will be in AP for Formal Night andthat will be the only night they do the show. If you end up with PLAPLAP on the Western the same is true. On very rare occasions they have run the show more than once but it does not happen very often. On both of our December cruises AP remained black & white after the first night.

But...you don't have to dress to the nines on Disney. You could bring a dressy skirt/top and your DH could wear a shirt/tie/slacks. You'll see others in everything from tuxes and gowns to what I suggest above and even the occasional pair of shorts . You could just plan to go in your less-formal attire or you could wait and see what rotation you get and then make your decision.

 

[mmouse37]

Actually, this is not correct. You might miss the change.

They only do the color-changing show on the first night you eat at Animator's Palate. After that it will be black & white for your entire meal. Your first visit to Animator's Palate will be one of the first three nights of the cruise. Formal Night is on Sunday (Eastern) or Monday (Western). So, if you end up with the LAPLAPL rotation on the Eastern you will be in AP for Formal Night andthat will be the only night they do the show. If you end up with PLAPLAP on the Western the same is true. On very rare occasions they have run the show more than once but it does not happen very often. On both of our December cruises AP remained black & white after the first night.

But...you don't have to dress to the nines on Disney. You could bring a dressy skirt/top and your DH could wear a shirt/tie/slacks. You'll see others in everything from tuxes and gowns to what I suggest above and even the occasional pair of shorts . You could just plan to go in your less-formal attire or you could wait and see what rotation you get and then make your decision.

Thanks for clarifying....I was not sure which nights were formal and semi-formal.

 

[MarieFan]

Thanks for the warm welcome and all of the speedy replies! We would be happy in skirts, and semi-casual attire. I know dh does not want to bring a jacket or dress shoes. He is a stockbroker, and likes his casual time. It will be a 4 day cruise, I forgot to clarify. Thanks again! I am looking forward to reading everything here!
Jen

(It's a whole new world of trip reports!)

 

[CustardTart]

Thanks for the warm welcome and all of the speedy replies! We would be happy in skirts, and semi-casual attire. I know dh does not want to bring a jacket or dress shoes. He is a stockbroker, and likes his casual time. It will be a 4 day cruise, I forgot to clarify. Thanks again! I am looking forward to reading everything here!
Jen

(It's a whole new world of trip reports!)

Hi!! Actually I don't think there's a formal as such on the 4 day cruise - they just have one night as 'dress-up' night...

 

[CraftyMouse]

Thanks for the warm welcome and all of the speedy replies! We would be happy in skirts, and semi-casual attire. I know dh does not want to bring a jacket or dress shoes. He is a stockbroker, and likes his casual time. It will be a 4 day cruise, I forgot to clarify. Thanks again! I am looking forward to reading everything here!
Jen

(It's a whole new world of trip reports!)

There is no formal night on the 4-night cruise. The second night is "Dress Up Night" but it is still fairly casual. Your skirts and semi-casual attire will be perfect for "Dress Up Night".

On the 4-day the rotation works a bit differently than I posted above. You don't rotate on a 1-2-3-1 pattern on the 4-day. Instead you do a 1-2-2-3 pattern, dining in the same dining room on nights 2 and 3. The first two nights and the last night are the rotational dining nights where each restaurant serves its own menu. You will be in Animator's Palate on one of these nights and that is the night they will do the show. The third night is Pirate Night with the Pirate Night menu served in all three dining rooms. One third of the passengers will be in Animator's Palate on Pirate Night but there will be no AP show.

 

[Zandy595]

We did the formal attire thing on our last cruise and I will not be doing it again. I was so uncomfortable that I didn't enjoy dinner at all. That does not mean I will be missing out on eating in the dining room on formal night. I plan to wear a skirt and nice top. And I won't argue with DH or DS if they don't want to wear ties. I hope no one feels like they have to eat at the buffet. You're paying a lot of money for your cruise, you deserve to enjoy every part of it. That said, I myself would never wear shorts or jeans in the dining rooms, not even on pirate night