Packing for & dressing on our Euro Cruise

[hova]

This September, we are booked on a 12 day cruise out of Barcelona (first with RCCL). As we plan on travelling in France for a few days on either end of this cruise, I don't want to be dragging along a full suit to use on formal nights on the cruise ship. I plan on packing some dress pants & dress shirts (maybe a couple ties). Also, I am not interested in a tux rental.

 

So.... my question(s) are, on European cruises, how are the guys dressed in the main dining room on regular nights? How about on formal nights? Will dress pants/shirt/tie cut it?

 

If needed, we can do the Windjammer or speciality dining, but prefer main dining room.

 

thanks for your help

 

hova

[Desert Cruizers]

Dress pants will be fine, for formal nights, you will see men in suit & tie some dress more casual. Casual nights, again ladies in slacks and men in pants and shirt, no tie.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Desert Cruizers

[delirious9876]

This September, we are booked on a 12 day cruise out of Barcelona (first with RCCL). As we plan on travelling in France for a few days on either end of this cruise, I don't want to be dragging along a full suit to use on formal nights on the cruise ship. I plan on packing some dress pants & dress shirts (maybe a couple ties). Also, I am not interested in a tux rental.

 

So.... my question(s) are, on European cruises, how are the guys dressed in the main dining room on regular nights? How about on formal nights? Will dress pants/shirt/tie cut it?

 

If needed, we can do the Windjammer or speciality dining, but prefer main dining room.

 

thanks for your help

 

hova

Many men are just in trousers and smart shirt, many men will wear a tie and some men will try and get away with jeans or shorts on formal evenings :)

[peteukmcr]

And many like us will wear tuxedos. Far more formal in the Mediterranean with sailings out of Barcelona than in the Caribbean IMHO and we've done our fair share of experiencing both.

[delirious9876]

And many like us will wear tuxedos. Far more formal in the Mediterranean with sailings out of Barcelona than in the Caribbean IMHO and we've done our fair share of experiencing both.

Oh yeah ! Whoops ! Forgot to mention tux's and that is what I wear as well - lol :)

[CyberTag]

We did a similar cruise a few years ago. My DH brought slacks, a nice shirt and tie. Skipped the suit and jacket. He did not feel out of place.

[griffy116]

Done this itinerary twice. Once in the past year. The men carried suits because we had been told it would be more formal and more men in a tux. We thought the first cruise it was just a fluke that there were so many men in shirt and ties, rather than suits so on the second European cruise, we hauled the suits. Don't get me wrong, you'll see many men in suits, but you'll also see many men in shirts and ties. We could have easily gotten by with shirt, tie, slacks. There were MANY more men in shirt and tie than tux.

[hova]

Done this itinerary twice. Once in the past year. The men carried suits because we had been told it would be more formal and more men in a tux. We thought the first cruise it was just a fluke that there were so many men in shirt and ties, rather than suits so on the second European cruise, we hauled the suits. Don't get me wrong, you'll see many men in suits, but you'll also see many men in shirts and ties. We could have easily gotten by with shirt, tie, slacks. There were MANY more men in shirt and tie than tux.

 

thanks for your help. I believe that I got the information that I was looking for.

Shirt and tie for me!

hova

[PCWalton1]

We have done two cruises in the Med, one out of Barcelona and one out of Venice. There were many men in shirt/tie for formal nights so it should be fine.

[RustyHull]

Done this itinerary twice. Once in the past year. The men carried suits because we had been told it would be more formal and more men in a tux. We thought the first cruise it was just a fluke that there were so many men in shirt and ties, rather than suits so on the second European cruise, we hauled the suits. Don't get me wrong, you'll see many men in suits, but you'll also see many men in shirts and ties. We could have easily gotten by with shirt, tie, slacks. There were MANY more men in shirt and tie than tux.

 

Coming from the UK and having cruised many times in the Med and in the Caribbean, I have found generally that more men wear suits on formal evenings in the Med than in the Caribbean.

Edited January 14, 2015 by RustyHull

[mimimoo2]

When we did our 12 night Med cruise out of Barcelona, I rented a tux for the DH through the cruise line, that way we didn't have to haul formal wear at all for him.

[austinlw]

Thanks for the original question and the answers. Very similar to my situation. We are booked on a 10 day cruise out of Venice, but will be in Italy before and after the cruise (3 week trip total). My issue is room in the luggage. We intend to each only bring one suitcase and a carry on bag, so that we can comfortably lug them around and board trains and buses. I have no problem packing a suit or tux for a Caribbean cruise out of the US where I'm going straight from home to the ship and then back home. We normally enjoy cruise ship formal nights. But I don't want to pack a suit or tux, and especially my size 14 dress shoes that take up half a suitcase, just for 2 formal nights on the ship. So as I see it, my options are:

A. Renting formal wear on the ship as I have done once before. Do they still do that? Having a hard time finding that info on the RC website.

B. Just bringing nice long sleeve shirt and slacks that I can wear multiple times, along with a tie.

Thanks for the constructive answers! From what I've see so far, B seems like a reasonable money saving option.

Edited March 1, 2016 by austinlw

[powelweb]

Or you can skip the formal evenings in the MDR, and book in specialty restaurants on the formal evenings where the dress recommendation is semi formal- that what's we decided to do for our 12 night med cruise last may when we also spent 5 days in Ireland pre cruise.