dress code for kids

[cen822]

Cruising on AOS in April.....will be with 12 yr. old son. If he wore dress shirt and dress pants on formal night would that surfice or do they expect him in suit and tie? Thanks for your help.

[hdawson]

Royal Caribbean clearly expresses their hope that parents will insure that children observe the expected dress standard as everyone else. It's in the back of the catalogue.

[phantom728]

The cruise we were on in January, there were some people not in suits/tie for the formal night. Many just had on a nice dress shirt and pants. No one said anything to them as long as they looked presentable. They definitely drew the line at shorts or jeans, except on the first and last nights because of the luggage situation.

[Bacon Bits]

Royal Caribbean clearly expresses their hope that parents will insure that children observe the expected dress standard as everyone else. It's in the back of the catalogue.

 

And I've seen families wearing jeans and collared shirts too! This includes the parents. Sure it would be nice to have your kids in suits and ties, but I think a nice collared polo shirt and a pair of dockers and shoes ( not sneakers) would be fine. Dressed neat and presentable is best.

[Sun and Fun]

My son (4 years) wore a turtleneck with sweater vest and cords and fit in just fine. We brought along a suit with tie and he never wore it!! We had formal photos taken and he doesn't look underdressed in any way whatsoever (I had on a full length gown, husband in suit, daughter in satin formal).

[familycruzer]

A suit really would be best on formal night but a 12 year old can get away with just a dress shirt, pants, and a tie.

Check out your local second hand shops and see what you can find. It will teach him a lesson early in life when to dress for the occasion.

[hdawson]

familycruzer. I agree. A cruise is a great opportunity to teach the young manners and social graces.

[WeLuvVacation]

The world won't come to an end if no jacket is present, but it would look nice I'm sure!

[barbyma]

I would think it would be more fun for him to wear a suit, but he won't look out of place. If he doesn't want to dress for formal night at all, AO usually has a dinner with the counselors on formal nights. I'm not sure if teens have something similar.

 

Barb

[Ohunion Cruzers]

The following expectation can be found on RCI’s Web Page:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/lifeOnboardFaq.do;jsessionid=00003r7uyfPObwi9-KWfJ3UFI4U:v2mocc7o#8

 

What are the dress codes onboard?

There are three distinct types of evenings onboard: casual, smart casual and formal. Suggested guidelines for these nights are:

 

Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women

Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women

Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women

 

3 to 4-night cruises include one formal night and two or three casual nights.

5 - nights include one formal and four casual nights.

7 to 9-night cruises include two formal nights, one smart casual night and four to six casual nights.

10, 11, and 12-night cruises include two formal nights and two smart casual nights, all other nights are casual.

14+ -night cruises include three formal nights and four smart casual nights. All other nights are casual.

 

We appreciate your usual parental guidance and cooperation in observing these easy guidelines with your children.

[FunCruiser56]

We took our 10 and 17 year old sons on a cruise last October-Navigator of the seas. On formal nights they wore dockers, dress shirts and tie. The 10 year old did wear a sports jacket and thought he was cool cause he was dressed like Dad.

 

We were able to find his jacket for only $15 at a high end department store in the sales racks.

 

They both looked great and enjoyed being dressed up, but were glad for the casual dress the rest of the time!

 

Bev

[jbond]

Your son will be just fine dressed the way you suggest. We just got off Adventure and on formal nights we saw quite a lot of adult males in slacks and dress shirt. On the second formal night we passed a whole group of males entering the dining room in sport shirts, jeans and sneakers.

[familycruzer]

On the second formal night we passed a whole group of males entering the dining room in sport shirts, jeans and sneakers.

 

Yes, but that does not make it right and in my opinion those young men should not have been allowed to enter the dining room. If parents dont teach their children when to dress for the occasion, they are never going to learn.

There is a time and place to dress in jeans and sneakers and a formal dining room is not one of them. Eat in the Windjammer instead.

[TheParrotHeads]

Dress code for kids? We can't even get (supposed) responsible adults to follow the rules.

 

On our Princess Cruise we saw a decent amount of children under the age of 10 wearing sport coats, suits, and some with their own tux on. The young girls also had ball gowns and nice dresses. It was really nice to see these younger kids well-behaved and better dressed than some adults.

 

We have never seen anything like that on RCI.

[barbyma]

 

On our Princess Cruise we saw a decent amount of children under the age of 10 wearing sport coats, suits, and some with their own tux on. The young girls also had ball gowns and nice dresses. It was really nice to see these younger kids well-behaved and better dressed than some adults.

 

We have never seen anything like that on RCI.

 

On our cruise last month the majority of kids ate with the counselors on formal nights, but those that didn't looked great.

 

We saw a baby about 4 or 5 months old in a suit just like the ones my 4 & 7 year olds were wearing. Tie and all! Very cute.

 

My boys really wanted to wear their suits to AO after dinner, so I let them on the second formal night. This was also "pirate night" at AO & my 4 year old insisted on wearing his jacket for pictures! Painted mustache & eye patch, hand-made handkerchief around his head, and navy-blue suit & tie.

 

Barb

[tasbm1]

Last month was my 9yo son's 3rd cruise. He has always worn a suit to formal night. Two of which, I bought used on Ebay. Was it worth it for us? Probably not! He wore the suit to get his picture taken before dinner, walked into the dining room, removed his dinner jacket to eat, put the jacket back on to leave and then went back to the room to change into shorts & tshirt for Adventure Ocean. In total, he probably had the suit jacket on for about 30 minutes of the evening! He could have easily just wore a dress slacks, a nice dress shirt and a tie! He did look very handsome in his suit though and loved the compliments he received when he did have it on!!!!! Will I buy him a suit for the next cruise? Yes.... Do I feel that it is an absolute necessity? No....

[jimbulger]

i smell flames coming

[hdawson]

It's all about parenting.

[flyerwife]

I wouldn't agree that it's all about parenting. I have seen many kids who were dressed in suits and gowns misbehave at all kinds of weddings, parties etc. as well as on cruises. Wearing a formal outfit does not ensure proper behavior (in fact, many kids feel uncomfortable in these clothes and will act more 'antsy' because of it.)

 

On our last cruise, I purchased a suit and tie for my 14 year old son, but my other (15 year old) son would have no part of it. For many reasons (including but not limited to expense, packing restrictions, fact that he would never wear the suit again, etc.) I did not push the suit thing on him. Instead, he brought polo shirts and long pants, and figured he would not be in the dining room for the formal nights.

 

Well, on our first formal night, without him, we noticed MANY men who were wearing polo and sport shirts and pants. In fact, very few were in tuxes (my husband was, however). In fact, a gentlemen seated at our table, in his 60s and a veteran cruiser, was wearing a polo shirt and pants.

 

For the second formal night, I had no problem having my son attend in his polo shirt and pants. He certainly did not stick out and was dressed very similarly to many kids and men in the dining room.

 

Although RCCL has a dress code in place, it is certainly not enforced and there are many who break it.

[MariTenor1]

We just returned from my 3 year old son's 5th cruise. He has worn a tux for formal night on each of his cruises (His first being at 9 months). He now knows that there are nights that we dress up and he likes being able to get "spiffy" with his daddy! He sails in November on this 6th cruise and the tux is ready!

[Onessa]

To the original question - Dressier pants, a dress shirt (oxford or otherwise) and a tie seem to be quite acceptable based upon what I have experienced. A jacket would be a very nice addition and can be purchased at many resale shops reasonably. A full-blown suit or tuxedo are also appropriate but not required for a younger person. If you are unable to borrow or purchase inexpensive dress shoes, a very nice, relatively plain pair of newish athletic shoes in a color that "blends" with his dress pants are generally acceptable.

 

While one could "get away" with jeans or other more casual clothing, it does fly in the face of the ship's guidelines and could be found to be "offensive" by some passengers.

 

Personally, I find a neatly dressed person of any "style" to be acceptable - so if you are at my table, you need not bother dressing on my behalf :). We each have our own idea of what is or is not appropriate (I'd rather have someone in newish blue jeans and a polo style sport shirt, that a woman in a too tight, too revealing evening dress that displays everyone of her tatoos and body piercing to their "best" effect :D )

 

Happy sailing!

[hdawson]

I don't think children should be taught to pick and choose what rules that apply to them. Further, the cruiseline shouldn't have to enforce the policies that are clearly spelled out and understood by anyone that at the least has read the catalogue prior to sailing. And if a waiter says it doesn't matter, do you suppose his/her tip might be the reason to say that? Behavior and social graces are the responsibility of the parents.

[familycruzer]

I can see this is going to turn into the same discussion as all others on attire and it does not matter if it is a child or an adult. As you can see from past posts, nobody is going to turn you away from the dining room if you dont follow the suggested guide lines its just that many of us enjoy the elegance of the dining room and would like others to feel the same way.

[jbond]

Further, the cruiseline shouldn't have to enforce the policies that are clearly spelled out and understood by anyone that at the least has read the catalogue prior to sailing.

From the number of times that you have cruised, it must be obvious to you that many cruisers don't abide by the "suggested" dress codes. If the cruiseline doesn't enforce it's policies, then who else is there? It was obvious on our Adventure cruise that RCI has no intention of enforcing their "suggested" dress code. In Portofinos, my SIL and myself were the only men wearing jackets. In the dining room, on smart casual night, we were part of a small minority, in our part of the dining room, wearing jackets.

I agree with most of what you say, but it's a matter of being realistic. We like to dress up, formal and smart casual, but that's our choice. They didn't have a Country Western theme night on this last cruise, so I didn't get to wear my jeans and boots, in case you're wondering. :)

The answer to the OP's question is, yes, it will suffice and she shouldn't be made to feel that she is breaking any rules, they are after all, just "suggested".

[Bacon Bits]

I want to thank you all for your responses and opinions. They will be taken under cosideration. Yes I know there is a suggested dress code but I just wanted to hear how others had their children dress. It is nice to have the adults "dress up"....just wanted to see how dressy kids got. Sorry for opening up a can of worms.