How much dressier is Celebrity than Carnival?

My husband and I sailed on Carnival Victory in March '03. We will be sailing on Celebrity Century this October. From what I'm reading it sounds like Celebrity is a bit dressier than Carnival but I'd like more details from someone who has sailed on Celebrity. On our Victory cruise for casual nights my husband wore dockers and polo shirts and I wore slacks with a knit top. Should I expect that casual night on Celebrity is more than that? It sounds to me like he should be wearing dress pants and a cotton or silk shirt, correct? What is appropriate for women for casual night? I'm not looking for the "wear what you are comfortable in" answer as what I am comfortable in is blending in to the expected attire. Carnival does not have informal nights so I'm pretty much clueless on that. I assume my husband needs to wear a jacket on informal nights but what about a tie? Please give me some suggestions for myself for informal night. I think I'm okay for formal night. I'm bringing a long gown with a beaded top and my husband will bring his good suit. I'm trying to talk him into renting a tux but haven't succeeded yet. What percentage of men actually wear a tux on Century?

Thanks in advance to all for any suggestions you can give me. Planning my wardrobe for an upcoming cruise is a huge part of the fun of planning for my trip.

I love reading this board. I've learned so much.

Carol

Hi Carol.

I have sailed on both Carnival and Celebrity. Celebrity is much more formal with its dress....specifically on Formal Nights.

It is very common to see a man in a tuxedo on a Celebrity Ship. I highly recommend the tuxedo rental.

Casual on Celebrity is just that. Khaki pants and shirt for him. Nice pants/capri's for you.

Informal on Celebrity: Suit or at least a jacket for him. A nice dress for you.

Formal: Dark Suit or tuxedo for him. A gown or other very dressy outfit for you.

When I cruised on Carnival, I saw everything from casual to formal on formal nights!!!

Have fun with your planning. I agree..... A big part of the fun in cruising is the planning stage!! ;)

Carol.... BTW, The Century was our first ship to cruise on! We loved it!

We have only been on one cruise and it was a 14-day cruise on Celebrity Summit. I got a LOT of info from these boards before sailing and was prepared for our cruise to be particularly dressy, especially since the longer cruises are a bit older, fewer families, etc.

Everyone was dressed very nicely, but I must say we were some of the better dressed since I had been so paranoid during planning!

For casual nights, I brought casual cotton skirts and wore them with very nice but simple T-shirts or camisoles, with a lightweight cardigan sweater or shawl, and I wore strappy sandals. Most women were in capris and casual T-shirts with nice sandals or flats. My husband wore khakis with casual cotton collared shirts meant to be untucked. We brought him some casual loafers but by the third casual night, he was wearing his brown leather sandals since everyone was more casual than us (and they're pretty nice sandals). Most men were in khakis and polo-style shirts.

For informal or semi-casual nights, I wore many of the same skirts, but dressed them up with nicer blouses. I brought one casual flowy dress. Most women wore something similar to me. My husband wore the same khakis but paired them with nice T-shirts and a jacket. No tie and no long sleeve shirts. Most men chose the jacket with no tie rather than a tie with no jacket. I think the official Celebrity dress code is one or the other but not both.

We had 3 formal nights since it was a long cruise. So for formal nights, I had one long formal outfit, and two black cocktail outfits that I dressed up with strappy sandals and glittery jewelry. My husband actually volunteered to get a tux for the trip so of course, I was all for it. So he wore a black tux, white shirts, and because he is a big guy, we went the vest and long tie route rather than cumberbund and bow tie. He looked really sharp and I was very glad that we dressed up since we don't EVER dress up that much at home. However, I would say that there were some women in long gowns but generally, what I would call Sunday church clothes were the norm. Most men were in suits, NOT tuxes, although you could definitely see the tuxes around the dining room. I know this is not what you normally read on these boards, but I can truly say that I think your husband will be absolutely FINE in a suit instead of a tux (unless of course you want him to get a tux!! ).

Good luck and have a wonderful cruise!

For some strange reason, 7 day cruises tend to be a little more dressy than the longer cruises. I guess the reason is that's it's just easier to pack more dressy clothes for 7 days than it is for 10 days or longer. I've found that on Celebrity, people tend to go all out on their 7 day cruises, but because you have to have much more clothing for the longer cruises, passengers tend to be a little more lax. Not that they don't comply with the dress code, but it's a little less of everything.

Previous posters have given you very good advice, but I can add one thing. On Celebrity, passengers stay dressed in the suggested attire for the entire evening. I found on Carnival that passengers tended to go back to their rooms after dinner and change into shorts. Not so on Celebrity.

The difference is huge. We've sailed on Carnival and Celebrity twice each. Both lines have their pros and cons. When it comes to dressing for dinner, you will see anything and everything in the dining room on Carnival. There seems to me to be more of a "It's my cruise and I'll wear what I want." attitude. Where Celebrity cruisers are much more likely to take the suggested guidelines and add a bit. At least half of the men on Celebrity wore tuxes and women in elegant gowns.

Beth

Thank you all for your responses. I'm really looking forward to this cruise. I love to get dressed up for dinner. My husband would probably prefer his shorts and t-shirts for the entire week but understands about the dress code and is great about going along with whatever I pack. I would LOVE for him to wear a tux. I'm hoping I can talk him into it. Our daughter was married last December and I thought my husband in his tux looked fabulous! I guess it will depend on what others in our group are doing. On our last cruise on Carnival we did not sail with a group. We were seated in the dining room with another couple that we really enjoyed. But they did not really dress up much and I felt kind of out of place when I showed up on formal night in my beaded dress. So the second formal night I just wore a dressy skirt and blouse. I don't know the other people that we are sailing with (incentive cruise for my husband's insurance business) but we are hoping to all get together a month or so before the cruise for dinner so we can meet each other and talk about shore excursions, etc. Hopefully I can get a feel for what kind of wardrobe they are planning to pack. Maybe I can hint about tux rentals. I can hope anyway.

Thanks again to all for giving me some insight on what to wear. This board is great.