Dining Room Attire

Can someone remind me what is appropriate for dining room attire? Is there still a formal night? We will be traveling RC over Thanksgiving break, so I'm assuming Thanksgiving would be the formal night...? I haven't been on a cruise in about 7 years...appreciate the response!

Formal nights, with long gowns and tuxes, have pretty much gone away. You'll find most wearing nice dresses or pant suits, and the men in sport coat/ tie or a suit. But in reality, you'll see just about anything including people just wearing slacks and shirts.

Your formal night may not be on Thanksgiving, as it all depends on your itinerary. If you're in port on that day, it's unlikely that you'll have the formal night then.

If you don't want to do formal nite, just dress as if you are going out to a very nice restaurant with your grandmother! Dress nice :)

I recently took my first RCI cruise and was pleasantly surprised (I like dressing for dinner) with the number of people who made the effort to go "formal". Far more floor length dresses and tuxes than I anticipated (truthfully, my expectations weren't very high from comments I had read).

On HAL, it is now called Gala night.

On our recent HAL cruises there were only a few men dressed in tuxedos. And only a few women dressed in long gowns.

With the airlines charging so much for luggage, people have cut back on they take on a cruise -- thus the cruise lines are changing their rules as well.

While there are still some "no-no's" in place (no flip-flops, no cut off jeans, no tank tops, no bathing suits), most of the cruise lines have relaxed their dress codes for informal and formal nights. Go to your cruise line's home page and look for the F.A.Q. section. There should be a section regarding MDR dress code. For formal nights, you no longer have to dress like you're attending the Oscars in Hollywood.

Over the years, we've moved further away from the all-out glam night on formal night. We carry a LBD and a bit of jewelry. With restrictions on luggage from airlines, people going on longer cruises and trying to make the most use of the clothes they carry, people starting their trip with a few days pre-cruise or ending with a few days post cruise, cruises that start in Europe, we've all become aware of the need to par down what we carry and make them "multi-functional." I carry a short black dress I could wear to a cocktail party and a pair of dress slacks with a sparkly top. Neither of them take up much space in the luggage and can be worn with a pair of sandals that can also be worn on the other nights in the dining room. You will see a few in a tux and some long gowns, but most seemed to be young girls in very skimpy gowns that they probably wore to a prom and thought they would never get a chance to wear again. A few are older women that this is a rare opportunity to glam it up to the max. We are just more practical, and seem to be in the majority of what you'll see. You'll see lots of ladies with a simple dress and a sparkly wrap added, which also doesn't take up valuable packing space.;)

Can someone remind me what is appropriate for dining room attire? Is there still a formal night? We will be traveling RC over Thanksgiving break, so I'm assuming Thanksgiving would be the formal night...? I haven't been on a cruise in about 7 years...appreciate the response!

on Royal the biggie is NO SHORTS at dinner.

for formal night a collared shirt/nicer slacks is fine for the guys and pantsuit or skirt/dress on the ladies.

tank tops do not belong in the DR at dinner on either gender

and no do not assume they will shift things around to make the formal night to match the holiday.

Formal nights are the first full day and the second to last night.

Whatever you do, leave the "wifebeater" tee-shirts and backwards-turned, labels-still-on baseball caps at home or in your cabin.

Was on the Emerald Princess recently and saw men wearing shorts turned away from the dinning room. One was giving the hostess crap and the maître d took over and the guy left in a huff. Left his wife standing there with an embarrassed look on her face.I am assuming that the maître d politely explained to him that no shorts in the dining room means just that.

Can someone remind me what is appropriate for dining room attire? Is there still a formal night? We will be traveling RC over Thanksgiving break, so I'm assuming Thanksgiving would be the formal night...? I haven't been on a cruise in about 7 years...appreciate the response!

Here is Royal Caribbean's dress code ...

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Q: What are the dress codes onboard?

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A:

Onboard Dress Code

Smart Casual: Ladies: Skirt or pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a blouse. Gentlemen: Pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a collared shirt.

Formal: Ladies: Cocktail dress or pantsuit. Gentlemen: Suit (black tie is optional)

Note: Swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurants or specialty restaurants. T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops are acceptable for lunch.

Note: Smart Casual is allowed on Boarding Day at The Grande Restaurant (should only be included where we are speaking about The Grande)

Boarding day is ULTRA casual...no worries...even shorts are fine. RCI has "dumbed down" the dress code for the last several years...it's pretty much, anything goes.

I would also be sure to post on the RCI Board about this and all RCI rated items.

People board in a range of dress.

Have a wonderful time.

Keith

It is not at all difficult to find out the dress code for whatever cruise you want to book. Where people seem to have difficulty is in being sufficiently courteous to their fellow passengers to comply with the dress code suggested for the cruise they chose.

Was on the Emerald Princess recently and saw men wearing shorts turned away from the dinning room. One was giving the hostess crap and the maître d took over and the guy left in a huff. Left his wife standing there with an embarrassed look on her face.I am assuming that the maître d politely explained to him that no shorts in the dining room means just that.

I appreciate when the maitre d has the ba**s to keep the dining room respectable. :cool:

Why is it that when someone asks a simple question about the MRD dress code that people act like the person is planning to dress like Miley Cyrus?

I wore a formal dress the first formal night, and a shorter cocktail dress the second. Husband and two adult sons wore suits & ties. On non-formal nights the guys wore dress pants & polos, and I wore dresses.

Why is it that when someone asks a simple question about the MRD dress code that people act like the person is planning to dress like Miley Cyrus?

:D Good point.