Viking River Cruise

I have read conflicting info about dinner dress. Help me know what to pack.:)

From the horse's mouth: http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/frequently-asked-questions.html#LIFEABOARD-FAQ-LIST/55706

Is There A “Dress Code” On The Ship?

Dress during the day is casual including shorts (if the season is warm), trousers or jeans and comfortable shoes for walking tours. There are no “formal nights” and recommended evening dress is “elegant casual” such as a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse for ladies; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. Ties and jackets are optional. We suggest you pack comfortable walking shoes, dressier shoes, a collapsible umbrella/lightweight rain gear; items you can layer like lightweight jackets/sweaters; sunglasses, a sun hat/visor, sunscreen; and toiletries including a travel-sized hand sanitizer. Depending on the season and destination, you may also want to add a warm coat, gloves and water-resistant footwear.

We have been on two Viking river cruises. Dinner dress is fairly casual. Most ladies wore slacks and a nice blouse or sweater. I did see the occasional skirt or dress, but not very often. If your excursion comes back late to the ship and you don't have time to change, it's not a problem. Many people wore the same clothes they wore during the day. Men generally wore casual slacks (like Dockers) and a shirt/sweater.

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We've done the imperial China tour with Viking, I wore a dress to dinner every night, the kind that you would wear to a nice restaurant (but I like to dress up on a cruise). I'd say that most people were dressed more casually but quite a few people that we met said they wish they had taken smarter clothes. So I'd make sure you have something smarter with you just in case. We did have a captains cocktail party. You'll love it [emoji2]

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On our Viking Cruise, it seemed that everyone changed before dinner. The ladies were split with about 50% wearing dresses/skirts and 50% wearing slacks - not SUPER dressy, but what you might wear to church, a nice restaurant etc The men wore khakis or slacks, with long sleeve dress shirts (no ties, no blazers). I didn't see any jeans in the MDR for dinner.

I personally took one pair of black slacks, and one skirt. A varied number of tops that I could wear during the day with jeans when we were off the ship, but would also work at night with my slacks or skirt. My husband brought gray slacks and a pair of khakis, and he ended up wearing the gray slacks every night. He wore a long sleeve button down shirt every night.