Elegant Night Question

Would dress pants with a black Hawaiian style shirt be too laid back for elegant night? My husband thinks it will be ok for him but I am on the fence as I kind of feel it's a bit too casual for elegant night. I don't wanna be "those people" everyone complains about. Thoughts please?

pretty much what I wear, no jacket, no tie. Tommy Bahama, slacks and Topsiders are my dress clothes.

I have attached a pdf file which may answer a lot of your questions

Tips For New Cruisers.pdf

It will be fine. You will see a wide variety of dress on elegant night. Some will be in tuxes & gowns, others in slacks & collared shirts. Carnival is pretty laid back.

Concur with those above...that outfit will work just fine. It's pretty much what I wear on normal nights in the MDR. For Elegant Night we dress up! But in comparison to other folks you'll see in the MDR, your hubby will be "overdressed". At least his shirt will have sleeves! :')

Here's what Carnival has to say at https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1093

"Cruise Elegant Dress Code

• Men: dress slacks, dress shirts, and we also suggest a sport coat; men may also wish to wear a suit and tie or tuxedo
  
• Women: Cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses; ladies may also wish to wear an evening gown
  
• Not permitted: Jeans, men’s sleeveless shirts, shorts, tee-shirts, sportswear, gym or basketball shorts, baseball hats, flip-flops and bathing suit attire"
  

As you can see it says dress shirt, but no further info as what they consider what constitutes a dress shirt (it used to say button down or polo). Further more it does not explicitly prohibit either a polo or a Hawaiian shirt just t-shirts, a-line shirts, and sportswear (which to me means team affiliation wear and/or gym clothing). So this is really a grey area, as it lets the Maitre'D make their own determination

On 12 Carnival cruises I can honestly say I have never seen anyone turned away from the MDR or specialty dining that was wearing pants and any type of collared shirt. In fact almost as a standard my DH and I wear matching Hawaiian outfits on the second Elegant Night each cruise, as they make for great pictures that we have used for holiday cards. Mine being a fancy sundress w/ strappy wedge heel sandals and his is a matching print shirt over black or navy dress pants with either docksiders or black walkers. We usually are able to find matching outfits in one port or another with the intention of wearing them the next cruise but occasionally we strike out and will order from http://hawaiianweddingshop.com

That's definitely okay. In fact that's more dressed up than a majority of the crowd would be.

Perfectly fine

Everyday DH wears Khakis, a short sleeved button down and a pair of brown walking shoes. If we do CE Night he'll wear Khakis and a nicer shirt, either a Hawaiian or Guayabera.

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Would dress pants with a black Hawaiian style shirt be too laid back for elegant night? My husband thinks it will be ok for him but I am on the fence as I kind of feel it's a bit too casual for elegant night. I don't wanna be "those people" everyone complains about. Thoughts please?

That is fine, this is Carnival remember.

How about shoes for men on Elegant night? Can my husband wear his "dressy" (black leather, I think) converse sneakers? Or will he be turned away?

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How about shoes for men on Elegant night? Can my husband wear his "dressy" (black leather, I think) converse sneakers? Or will he be turned away?

 

 

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He will be fine. I have worn the same, I have also worn sandals, the cruise I forgot to bring my shoes.... ( dont ask, now I have a packing list).

They are very relaxed now in enforcing any rules about dress in the Dinning room even on Cruise Elegant evening.

Great! Thank you! He will be happy.

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Would dress pants with a black Hawaiian style shirt be too laid back for elegant night? My husband thinks it will be ok for him but I am on the fence as I kind of feel it's a bit too casual for elegant night. I don't wanna be "those people" everyone complains about. Thoughts please?

Your husband will be absolutely fine with what he's planning to wear on elegant nights!

Enjoy your cruise! :D

I get more dressed up than that for elegant night but that's becsue I like to. What you describe sounds fine and very likely much nicer than what a lot of folks will be wearing.

On a side note, as a Hawaiian shirt enthusiast, I'd like to know more about your husband's black Hawaiian shirt - sounds neat! (I wear tropical shirts to work every Friday - a tradition going back some 15 years at this job. Always looking for new and interesting Hawaiian shirts. :) )

I would at least wear a tie, but no one will say a word to him about the clothes you describe.

What he wears will not change the taste of my food at all.

Carnival doesn't care, so why should you?

My hubby wears black sneakers with his slacks - no problem.