what do you wear to dinner on formal & semi-formal nights?

[Fleury]

On our 7-night on the Fantasy this March we have a formal and a semi-formal night in the MDRs. What do you wear to dinner on these nights? I've always thought of formal being black-tie or tuxes and evening gowns and semi-formal as suit & tie and cocktail length dresses. But I'm not sure everyone will really be this formal. What does everyone do?

 

[alexturner74]

Some will wear tuxes, most will not and it will be a wide range from tuxes down to casual. I wear a coat and tie for formal and semi-formal because we like to dress up regardless of whether the folks around us do.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Generally for formal night DD & I wore long gowns (once with a tiara), while DH & sons wore a suit. For semi-formal I generally wear a cocktail length dress and DH wears his suit (he doesn't mind dressing up), but our sons just wore a dress shirt and tie, pants.

All that said, I've worn a long gown, cocktail length gown, dress black slacks or midlength black skirt with various fancy tops for both formal or semi-formal nights, depending on what my whim was when I packed my suitcase.

 

[Fleury]

Thanks! That's very helpful!

 

[jplum13]

I wear a black suit with black sweater vest and grey shirt (I don't do ties). My wife actually wears one of her bridesmaid's dresses, black,white, a little poofy and reaches the ground. On semi formal night, I wear the same set up, but grey with purple vest. She wears a nice cocktail dress. I recycle the jackets on other nights paired with a button up shirt and designer jeans. She would wear dress pants or a skirt and nice blouse. We never felt under dressed. Most nights, we were the better dressed family in our section of the dining room. Hopefully that helps a little...

 

[Mickeyhugger]

My DH wears a tux with a Mickey vest. When we cruised this summer I wore a red full-length gown on formal night and a black cocktail dress on semi-formal. (DH wore a suit.) We love to dress up.

 

[csmith1004]

On our formal night next week DD and I'll wear a gown and DS and DH will be in suits. Semi night I'm wearing a short black dress, DD in a nice dress but DH and DS will just be in dress pants and a polo. It was hard enough getting them to dress up for formal night so I didn't want to push my luck.

 

[mdvlprof]

We wear 'Sunday-go-to-church' clothes.

 

[Plaid Princess]

On our last cruise:

Semi Formal Night:

We all wore black, and had matching shoes for the ladies and bow ties for the gents.

Formal Night:

Everyone just wore a formal dress or suit that they already owned.

 

[Castillo Mom]

My young adult sons wear suits for formal and semi-formal night, I wear a cocktail dress both nights.

 

[AlmostAmber22]

We wear 'Sunday-go-to-church' clothes.

I typically do this as well. I haven't actually had a formal night on a cruise as of yet, but on our semi formal night in my first cruise I wore a peach coloured sundress I bought from Old Navy with a black bolero cardigan. On the last cruise in September I wore a purple cocktail dress I had worn in my best friends' wedding. It's really up to you. I even saw others wearing nice maxi dresses and such.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Our experience was that just as many folks DO NOT dress up as do.

Lots of people in shorts both nights, many in just slacks and a polo shirt. Saw very few tux or formal gowns

I just wore a lightweight sport coat(no tie) and slacks.

 

[wiigirl]

Generally for formal night DD & I wore long gowns (once with a tiara), while DH & sons wore a suit. For semi-formal I generally wear a cocktail length dress and DH wears his suit (he doesn't mind dressing up), but our sons just wore a dress shirt and tie, pants.

All that said, I've worn a long gown, cocktail length gown, dress black slacks or midlength black skirt with various fancy tops for both formal or semi-formal nights, depending on what my whim was when I packed my suitcase.

 

[Fleury]

This is great info! We like to dress up too but we wanted to be roughly in line with everyone else.

 

[DH6230]

I wear a tux and my wife wears a dressy dress for formal night but I was lucky, a formal wear shop in our town was selling all their tuxes for $99(cheaper than a nice pair of pants and a nice shirt). On semi night I just wear a nice button down shirt and dress pants and my wife wears a nice dress. For the other dinners I just wear a polo and khaki's. I really don't care what others wear for formal night if you want to wear shorts I couldn't care less but we like to dress up and get pictures.

 

[AlmostAmber22]

Our experience was that just as many folks DO NOT dress up as do. Lots of people in shorts both nights, many in just slacks and a polo shirt. Saw very few tux or formal gowns I just wore a lightweight sport coat(no tie) and slacks.

. My dad usually wears dress pants and a sport coat and he brings along a tie or two to wear if he feels like wearing a one. Of course it's up to the cruiser, but I really don't like the idea of shorts in the MDR.

 

[ilovetexas]

I wear a tux and my wife wears a dressy dress for formal night but I was lucky, a formal wear shop in our town was selling all their tuxes for $99(cheaper than a nice pair of pants and a nice shirt). On semi night I just wear a nice button down shirt and dress pants and my wife wears a nice dress. For the other dinners I just wear a polo and khaki's. I really don't care what others wear for formal night if you want to wear shorts I couldn't care less but we like to dress up and get pictures.

^^ This! Buy a tux if you like to wear one cruising. You can pick up a decent, wool tux at JC Penney for about $150 (including shirt, cummerbund, tie, cuff links). It's not Armani but it's nice and you get your money back out of it very quickly.

In answer to the OP's question, DH wore a tux on formal nights and at Remy. I wore a long gown. He wore a suit and tie semi-formal and Palo, I wore a nice dress of some sort, I honestly don't remember what I wore.

Same thing on Celebrity the following year. We enjoy dressing for dinner!

 

[Maddysdaddy]

For me, Formal = Tux and Semi-Formal = Dark Suit.

Recently lost a bunch of weight, so put my tux in the charity bin, as it was far too baggy. Still have a bunch more weight to lose, so think that I'll just rent my formal wear onboard this time (might try the dinner jacket combo) and wear it to Formal Night and to dinner at Remy. This way, I can save my suit for Semi-Formal Night and for our brunches at Palo and Remy.

 

[gotomu212]

On our first cruise I thought formal meant tux and long gown, but we felt very over dressed once we got in the MDR. Now my husband wears a suit and I wear a nice shorter cocktail dress for formal and semi formal is just a button up and tie for him (no jacket). I found that folks were more dressed up on our longer cruises (Panama, Transatlantic, Baltic) but black tie wasn't standard on the 7 night Caribbeans.

There's no harm in dressing as up as you want, but you might not want to tell the husband that "everyone will be in a tux" like I did.

 

[holula]

My fiancée always wears a suit and I will wear a cocktail dress or full length gown, depending what I have room to pack! Dress up to your comfort level! I enjoy dressing up on a cruise because it's a special event, not something I can do every day.

You will see everything from shorts to full length gown and tux on formal night. There is no right or wrong answer.