smart casual?? 1st timer question

[brisbane first cruisers]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone please let me know how strict they are on dress standards at dinner. Can men wear jeans or does it have to be trousers? are ladies able to wear 3/4 pants and a blouse at dinner or jeans? or does it have to be trousers/dress/skirt. I am trying to minimise my packing and i live in 3/4 pants (i only wear trousers at work).

Also on the formal night do all the men wear a suit and tie? We will be travelling on the Pacific Sun.

Cheers,

Kirsten

[Legs11]

Hi Kirsten and welcome to CC,

They aren't really strict on board the Pacific Sun. 3/4 pants should be fine and I saw many men wearing jeans. I have turned up to dinner in my Island night gear and my son has turned up straight from the pool. Formal nights are a bit different but it is always fun to dress up every so often (isn't it?:p ) The main thing is to be neat and tidy - wearing swimmers to dinner may be pushing it :D

[mum and son]

Hi Kirsten,

The Aussie P&O boats are pretty casual. Some people like to "dress" for dinner, but a lot don't. I wore 3/4 pants most nights with a button up shirt. I just avoided shorts and t-shirts but some people wear them as well. I dressed up for formal night (as in black pants, heels, nice top and sparkly scarf) but some people wear ball gowns and others don't bother at all.

Most men were in suits or a shirt with a tie at least (without the jacket). Some wore dinner suits. I did spot a couple of men in casual gear (ie. jeans) on formal night and I think they looked out of place and almost embarrassed to be underdressed.

I really think that it's nice to make some effort but there's no need to overboard - no pun intended ;).

[cheznandy]

Hi Kirsten,

Have been on the Pacific Sun before, and again this Saturday:)
Neat casual for dinner in the dining room, 3/4 pants are fine, neat top/shirt. Hubby always wears jeans to dinner and a polo type shirt.
Beachwear isnt permitted at dinner ie: boardies, swimmers etc.

Formal nights some men are in suits, my hubby wears dress pants, shirt and tie. Women are usually in anything from long evening dresses to short cocktail to dress pants/skirts and tops. Some are over the top some look as thought they havent bothered at all:rolleyes:

Pack light, you will find you wont wear most of what you take and live in same stuff:)

Chez
xx

[Legs11]

Hi Kirsten,

Have been on the Pacific Sun before, and again this Saturday:)

xx

Yeah well - rub it in Chez!!!!!:p

[cheznandy]

Yeah well - rub it in Chez!!!!!:p

:p :p :p oh and did I tell you I did a tour of the Pacific Dawn last week??

Is ok, you can all rub it in when I am back and you are going;)

Chez
xx

[Star-Man]

Have been on the Pacific Sun before, and again this Saturday:)

Chez, what time will you be at the airport to go home on the saturday after that? Ill be there sometime before 8am to fly to melbourne. Also looking forward to seeing the Sun tied up in brissie from the air. Booked my seat especially for it :D

[cheznandy]

Chez, what time will you be at the airport to go home on the saturday after that? Ill be there sometime before 8am to fly to melbourne. Also looking forward to seeing the Sun tied up in brissie from the air. Booked my seat especially for it :D

oh cool Sam!! you get to go to Melbourne now? Good stuff.

In all my excitement about the PD and going to Sydney, I had all my flight times wrong in my head, my darling husband kept trying to tell me they must be wrong, because of daylight savings:rolleyes: he was right:) I had even booked us into a motel near the airport as we had to get up so early to leave Port, now we dont, but will still stay the night before, makes my holiday longer:D

Ok what was it you asked me?? ....we depart Brissy at 2.55pm on Saturday 24th, get to Newy at 3.10pm, quick trip eh?? Will miss catching up with you again:(

Chez
xx

[brisbane first cruisers]

Hey Chez,

We will be down there on Saturday waving you goodbye. that is funny cause you dont even know us. You could just look for the crazy couple with a 3 year old on DH shoulders wearing ear muffs (she is scared of the horn, looks stupid but fixes the problem). Are you going to the cc bbq before you get on board?

Cheers,
Kirsten

[cheznandy]

Hey Chez,

We will be down there on Saturday waving you goodbye. that is funny cause you dont even know us. You could just look for the crazy couple with a 3 year old on DH shoulders wearing ear muffs (she is scared of the horn, looks stupid but fixes the problem). Are you going to the cc bbq before you get on board?

Cheers,
Kirsten


Yes, we will be Kirsten, the lovely MsMinx and JP will be picking us up from the airport:) and we will have about 3 hours at the BBQ to meet everyone!! Looking forward to it:D

Chez
xx

[AuzzieCruiser]

There is a wide variety of dress, especially on Formal nights. I saw people wearing shorts on Casual nights, as well as Formal nights!!:eek: I saw one guys wearing the same pair of shorts for the whole cruise, or I hope he had at least 3 pairs of the same pair of shorts!!
He was even wearing them on disembarkation day!!:rolleyes:
Some people wore tracksuits, other Jeans, others Cargo pants. I never saw anybody get turned away for what they were wearing.
I wore a collared shirt every night @ dinner, with a pair of pants (obviously!!:p ).
One thing I will say, I was pleasently surprised with the amount of people that got dressed up for Formal nights. Most of the men actually wore Suits, and some ven wore Tuxedos!!;)

[LouLou28]

When we were on the Pacific Star earlier this year my husband did get turned away from the dining room because he was wearing shorts (nice dress shorts I will add):eek:

Now he wasn't in the habit of wearing shorts to dinner, but we had flown back on board after our tour in Noumea and they were ushering people straight into the dining room. Our two children and I were allowed in wearing our 'shore' clothes (which were shorts for my son and I and a sun dress for my daughter), but husband had to go back to the room to change!!!

Every other night he wore nice trousers and a collared shirt (polo shirts were fine). I wore 3/4 pants/capris with different tops. On the formal nights, husband did wear a suit and I did the black pants and good top, heels arrangement.

They really didn't seem to worry about too much about formal night. Most of the younger men (ie teens/20's) were in good pants and open neck dress shirts. I think just about everyone made an effort that we saw. (We were at first sitting - so can't answer for the later sitting).

[Star-Man]

The only nights i didnt wear shorts into the dining room were the two formal nights and i never got stopped or turned away. Just made sure i took my thongs off and put on my shoes before going down to dinner.

[LouLou28]

The only nights i didnt wear shorts into the dining room were the two formal nights and i never got stopped or turned away. Just made sure i took my thongs off and put on my shoes before going down to dinner.


Interesting that there are so mant different experiences - I guess it depends who's on the door on that cruise???:confused:

[Star-Man]

oh cool Sam!! you get to go to Melbourne now? Good stuff.

Yeah, worked out a deal with a friend of mine down there. Get to stay for nearly a week for free :cool:

I also found out that the place where the GF is staying that week is the next suburb over from where im staying. Pretty convenient i think haha :D

[cheznandy]

Yeah, worked out a deal with a friend of mine down there. Get to stay for nearly a week for free :cool:

I also found out that the place where the GF is staying that week is the next suburb over from where im staying. Pretty convenient i think haha :D

Good for you! have lots of fun and enjoy:) we had a ball in Melbourne in June, it's a great city, make sure you get the free tourist bus around, it has about 16 stops and you can get on and off, and theres a free tram as well:D

Chez
xx

[ianqld]

My dear Kirsten do not listen to the Riff Raff (sorry Martin) of this forum.

Tuxedos and Evening Gowns are required for all sittings. Your butler must be dress appropriately or will not be allowed to stand at your table to hold hat, coat and gloves.

Top hat and Tiaras are required for formal nights.

And if you believe this ...... I have a nice little bridge for sale down in Sydney :D

Dress code (I don't think they really have one) is very flexible. So it should be, you are there to enjoy and relax. :)

[MsMinx]

Dress for breakfast and lunch is quite casual. Pretty much anything goes for women (as long as it's not a swimsuit). Men's minimum requirement is a shirt with sleeves and closed shoes. So basically no singlet and thongs and he won't be turned away.

Dinner they expect a little more, but not much LOL. Long pants for men and closed in shoes again. Women are not expected to 'dress up' for dinner. Jeans & a top are fine. That's all I ever wear to dinner and have never been turned away.

Formal nights - most people get dressed up. Some go all out. I've seen a group of guys in tuxedos, top hats AND walking sticks!!! I think they did it for laughs though more than anything. A long sleeve shirt and tie is fine for the guys. They don't have to wear a jacket. For the ladies again, anything goes. I've seen the lot, from very formal full length gowns to teeny little cocktail dresses. Pants are fine for ladies on formal nights too. That's what I wore last time :)

And don't worry about finding a matching bag for your formal outfit because you'll just be wasting your packing space! No one takes a bag with them. You just don't need it. Unless you have a whole bunch of makeup and stuff that you want to cart around with you then I guess you do need a bag LOL! :D

[the kids and me]

I was on the pacific sun in april this year and was turned away from the dining room because i was wearing shorts- 3/4pants (nice dress ones)I didn't appreciate this as women were allowed in wearing simular.:confused: Asked the matree'd about it and was told that that was the dress code. Worst part was that i had only packed 1 pair of trousers (it was in the tropics) but had lots of 3/4 pants. Like someone else said it depends i think on the person at the door. I'm going on the xmas cruise on board the Sun Princess and did note in the "cruise questions answered" handbook that shorts were not permitted in the main dining areas after 6pm.

[brisbane first cruisers]

Well Ianqld that goodness for your wonderful amount of honesty!!! :D

Now not only am i taking everything including the kitchen sink, but i have to make room for my butler :rolleyes: . I wouldnt be able to survive if he was not with me to hold my hat.lol.

I will also need secruity for my tiara!!!! Well better be off so i can start packing (only 3 months to go!!!) :D

Cheers,

Kirsten

[MsMinx]

Page 9 of the P&O Cruising Guide states the requirements for dress.

Here's the link (http://www.pocruises.com.au/resource/ebrox_P&OCruising%20Guide.pdf)

My hubby has worn 3/4 pants and not been turned away though. But he's been turned away from breakfast / lunch twice because he was wearing a singlet and thongs!

Also, one of the guys at our dinner table turned up in 3/4 denim shorts and a t-shirt every night of our last cruise, including both formal nights, and was never once turned away. Guess it really does depend on who's at the door :cool:

[brisbane first cruisers]

thanks everyone for your wonderful answers. This really is a great forum. Mind you my bag is getting heavier by the minute!!

Cheers,

Kirsten :o

[xcore]

wear pretty much anything, it doesnt matter. i wore a singlet and stubbies on most dinner nights, except on formal night i wore a shirt and they let me in. im not too big of a suit fan.

[SouthAussie100]

Just do a thread search on "safari suit" or "crocks" and I'm sure all will be as clear as mud :p

Would you like to know the correctness for tipping (AWS) also.....*running away*:D
cheers
ness

[arxcards]

Just do a thread search on "safari suit" or "crocks" and I'm sure all will be as clear as mud :p

Would you like to know the correctness for tipping (AWS) also.....*running away*:D
cheers
ness
I agree, why would you want to wear a singlet when you can wear a dashing polyester Safari Suit.

Cheers
Geoff

[MsMinx]

And don't underestimate the formal power of the Kaftan for the ladies :D

[cheznandy]

And don't underestimate the formal power of the Kaftan for the ladies :D

or a fashionable MuMu:p

Chez
xx

[MsMinx]

or a fashionalbe MuMu:p

Chez
xx

Noice :D You can pick some very fashionable ones up in Port Vila for very good prices Chez :D

[Legs11]

Noice :D You can pick some very fashionable ones up in Port Vila for very good prices Chez :D

damn girls you made me spit up some of my wine!!:D

[cheznandy]

Noice :D You can pick some very fashionable ones up in Port Vila for very good prices Chez :D

Will definately bring you one back Jo, ;) for being such a kind friend and picking us up from the airport and all:p

Chez
xx

[AuzzieCruiser]

God, I'd put people off their dinner if I turned up in a singlet and a pair of stubbies!!:o Just ask Chez!!:p ;)

[MsMinx]

damn girls you made me spit up some of my wine!!:D

Unfortunatley that's a very common problem amongst the P&O Australia CCers :)

Don't forget to pack your crocs!!

[MsMinx]

Double Post - sorry it timed out on me :(

[livingstone]

have to say we thought that dressing up for the fomal night added to the fun, I think it is a good time to get those portrats of the family done for a great price.

[fishtaco]

I see quite a few people turned away from breakfast and lunch in the dinning room on the sun for wearing singlets including women!
If it looks like you are about to, or have been swimming or sunbathing then you may be turned away,open shoes or sleevless tops are a no go for men (except sandles with long socks:eek:) but a grey area for women.
If you would wear it to a "resturant" in town then you can wear it in the dinning room onboard. Also it depends on your seating time, the 8.30 sitting tends have more people dressd up.This may be due to the lower amount of children or that the late dinner is a big part of the nights entertainment.