Viking shorts at dinner?

[FredChopin]

I might not glare, I'm too polite for that, but it would certainly be in my thoughts. I would consider it to be inconsiderate to other passengers to be so casual at dinner. We are thinking of doing a river cruise for the first time, but this has rather spoilt it for me. If my husband (I am female, despite my forum name) wore shorts to dinner I would feel insulted.

[pacmom]

As I have said before, one once in 21 river cruises have I seen shorts in the dining room at dinner. On Viking there is always the Aquavit lounge instead of the dining room.

On the other hand, once you sit down at the dinner table, can anyone see that you are wearing shorts?:D My DH wouldn't wear them, but that is his choice. Enjoy and travel safely. Pat

[waldorf]

We are thinking of doing a river cruise for the first time, but this has rather spoilt it for me. If my husband (I am female, despite my forum name) wore shorts to dinner I would feel insulted.

 

Oh dear, is the fact that another passenger wears shorts such a disaster? Perhaps if the ladies had to dress up in stuffy clothing on a warm holiday they might be less enthusiastic about silly dress codes.

[H2Otstr]

As I have said before, one once in 21 river cruises have I seen shorts in the dining room at dinner. On Viking there is always the Aquavit lounge instead of the dining room.

On the other hand, once you sit down at the dinner table, can anyone see that you are wearing shorts?:D My DH wouldn't wear them, but that is his choice. Enjoy and travel safely. Pat

 

Pat, we just returned from a Grand Circle small ship cruise and I was amazed at the number of men who wore shorts to dinner, even on the Captain's Farewell dinner. One man wore a t-shirt and another camo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. I have never seen such relaxed dress on one of these cruises.

[FredChopin]

Oh dear, is the fact that another passenger wears shorts such a disaster? Perhaps if the ladies had to dress up in stuffy clothing on a warm holiday they might be less enthusiastic about silly dress codes.

 

There are plenty of very lightweight full length trousers that can be worn without discomfort. As a woman, I would not dream of wearing shorts to dinner, but I would be happy to wear full length trousers for the entire evening, and have done so, even it hot weather. It's all about standards.

[mozfoz]

The mere fact that the OP needs to ask this type of question means that they know the correct answer, but are only seeking agreement towards their intentional disregard to others. Of course you can wear whatever you want, whenever you want, but expect that you will look like, and thought of, as being an ass if you do. What difference doe it matter that you are sailing on Viking? Is that to imply that inappropriate dress would be acceptable on one line rather than another.

[mimmy52]

I just returned from Viking's Grand European on the Vili. There were some days when we had hot weather and I saw some men who wore shorts to dinner. I think the only woman in shorts at dinner was a youngster of 15. I can't imagine how the way someone else dresses disregards others. I think most people are having so much fun they don't pay any attention to others' attire.

[I_r_a]

There really is no need to bring along an extra pair of shorts.

 

Two bathing suits, a "wife-beater" shirt and a pair of flip flops are all that is necessary.

 

Ira

[franski]

...once you sit down at the dinner table, can anyone see that you are wearing shorts?:D My DH wouldn't wear them, but that is his choice. Enjoy and travel safely. Pat

 

My thoughts exactly, Pat.

 

I wouldn't wear shorts, but I don't wear shorts anywhere these days... (the old legs aren't really in great shape....) But - one could make the case that capris are just long shorts. And - I will be wearing capris at least once during dinner on our upcoming cruise. Hopefully I won't insult anyone if they look under the table cloth and see my legs...:eek:

 

The beauty of open seating is that you can choose not to sit with anyone who is wearing shorts, if it truly offends you. And, if you are the short wearer, you will probably not have table-mates who insist on "proper" dinner attire... (whatever that means).

 

I would like my table mates to be clean and not smell... This includes heavily perfumed hair products or hand creams and tobacco or cigar smoke. That really does affect my appetite.... But, if I get to dinner and the group at the table isn't what I was hoping for, we won't sit with them again. We have had a few mismatches once or twice along the way... but nothing horrible - and it was never as a result of their dinner attire.

 

Fran

Edited August 22, 2016 by franski

[Redtravel]

I have sailed on Viking in cooler weather. Most people dressed in casual attire.....kakis, jeans, etc. This time, I am sailing when it is hot. Most of the cruise (Budapest to Amsterdam) will be warm. Can I wear shorts to dinner?

 

On Viking Vili now. Wear anything. Lots of shorts and jeans. It is very casual.

[Ohviking]

We just returned from a cruise on the Viking Kara and dined in the dining room a few nights. There were some people who dressed very dressy and other in shorts and some in jeans. Personally I wore shorts. I don't recall seeing any men in t-shirts. All had on polo or collard shirts. Could not speak about footwear. As with most men, who notices shoes? We did not go to the dining room for the Captain's dinner or for the 5 course farewell dinner. Those two are the more dressy dinners and people did dress up a little more. Ironically on the last night my wife and I decided to skip the farewell dinner and eat in the Aquavit. Shortly after sitting down the Captin and Elizabeth the program director came up and we had dinner together. My advice is wear what YOU want to wear. You are the one who paid for this cruise. I can assure you that the only people who will comment on you wearing shorts to dinner are the people posting on threads like this. The people on the ship will be enjoying themselves way too much make any comment to you.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Ohviking

[FredChopin]

I've just seen the photographs of a friend's river cruise on Avalon and was relieved to see, in the dining room that everyone was dressed smartly, as if they were going out to a restaurant at home, so it looks like overly casual wear was not the order of the evening on that ship at least. I will find out from her where the passengers were from, as I see that those championing shorts seem to be from the other side of the Pond to me.

Vive la difference!

[CILCIANRQTS]

The OP has probably realised by now that when you ask about river cruise attire the "CC fashion police" always will direct you to the way they expect you to dress whilst on-board. Now if they've paid for your holiday then of course you should dress the way they tell you BUT if you've paid for the cruise yourself then I would counsel that you can dress as you desire. It is your holiday and your wardrobe.

 

So, as long as "you've paid for the cruise", you can wear (and I assume do) anything you want on the cruise.

If that's your philosophy, you might want to book Carnival for your next trip...

Since we all usually pay for our travel experiences, I guess there are no rules of behavior for any trip we take to any venue on any carrier.

 

Hey, weren't you the guy in front of me at the movies last week who was on Facebook during the entire movie??

Because, after all, he paid for his seat in the theater... :rolleyes:

[Ozjohnno]

So, as long as "you've paid for the cruise", you can wear (and I assume do) anything you want on the cruise.

If that's your philosophy, you might want to book Carnival for your next trip...

Since we all usually pay for our travel experiences, I guess there are no rules of behavior for any trip we take to any venue on any carrier.

 

Hey, weren't you the guy in front of me at the movies last week who was on Facebook during the entire movie??

Because, after all, he paid for his seat in the theater... :rolleyes:

 

Looking for an internet fight? You won't get one from me.

[Daisi]

As I read through this post, all I can think about is my B-i-L, who invited us to a bbq at his new house when they moved up from S. Ontario....he was dressed in a shirt, jacket & tie......and shorts. Knee length ones, but still shorts. I'm more concerned about what my dining companions act & talk about than how they are dressed....if someone wants to wear formal evening dress or go casual, it wouldn't bother me. As long as they are neat, and willing to communicate to their fellow diners, and have polite table manners, that's all I care about.

[laverendrye]

Surely everything that needs to be said on this topic has been said. In other words, on Viking you can wear whatever pleases you in the dining room. If you don't like seeing shorts, jeans, t-shirts, ball caps etc etc at dinner, then don't choose Viking. Travel with a line such as Uniworld which has a dress code for dinner which is observed.

[Mark_T]

If you don't like seeing shorts, jeans, t-shirts, ball caps etc etc at dinner, then don't choose Viking. Travel with a line such as Uniworld which has a dress code for dinner which is observed.

 

You imply that all those things are common on Viking which simply isn't true.

[nsbcpa]

We traveled with another couple on the Cities of Light tour in June/July. The men wore slacks on the 2 "formal" evenings, but other nights chose to wear nice shorts to dinner.(ie not cargo/jean shorts) along with Polo/Silk shirts.

 

Being from Florida, this is acceptable evening attire and never felt out of place on the cruise.

Edited August 24, 2016 by nsbcpa

[mozfoz]

Being from Florida, this is acceptable evening attire and never felt out of place on the cruise.

 

So what is acceptable in Florida, must be acceptable in the rest of of the world.:confused:

Because an establishment tolerates a behavior, does not mean that they endorse or welcome its existence.

[pinotlover]

Personally gave up on this argument quite a while ago. Viking permits shorts, so people wear shorts. On our Rhone tour in Sept of 14 probably 20-25% of the male passengers wore shorts along with their wives. About the same percentage wore shorts at the Captains dinner.

 

I travel Uniworld now, which doesn't permit shorts at dinner and enforces the code, at least on their European cruises. I've never heard a Uniworld cruiser complain about not being able to wear shorts at dinner.

 

I personally think having options is a good thing. For those that want to remain dressed down after a day of touring, or never dress up to start with, Viking is a good option for them. For others that feel some decorum is appropriate, Uniworld and other lines would probably be a better choice. Glad they don't all follow the same guidelines. People just need to research and understand the various choices they have, imo. Cruise Critic provides plenty of feedback for some of that research.

[Ohviking]

Personally gave up on this argument quite a while ago. Viking permits shorts, so people wear shorts. On our Rhone tour in Sept of 14 probably 20-25% of the male passengers wore shorts along with their wives. About the same percentage wore shorts at the Captains dinner.

 

I travel Uniworld now, which doesn't permit shorts at dinner and enforces the code, at least on their European cruises. I've never heard a Uniworld cruiser complain about not being able to wear shorts at dinner.

 

I personally think having options is a good thing. For those that want to remain dressed down after a day of touring, or never dress up to start with, Viking is a good option for them. For others that feel some decorum is appropriate, Uniworld and other lines would probably be a better choice. Glad they don't all follow the same guidelines. People just need to research and understand the various choices they have, imo. Cruise Critic provides plenty of feedback for some of that research.

 

Very well said.

[dln929]

Very well said.

Especially when the shorts that I saw in the dining room were very presentable tailored golf shorts with shirts tucked in! No one was in the dining room with gymn shorts. The overall look in the dining room was always very nice. No slobs. And also--it was HOT weather. I really wasn't too surprised to see a few shorts here and there.

 

All in all, a total non-issue with the shorts. ;)

[caviargal]

 

I travel Uniworld now, which doesn't permit shorts at dinner and enforces the code, at least on their European cruises. I've never heard a Uniworld cruiser complain about not being able to wear shorts at dinner.

 

I sailed on the Rhone with Uniworld last year and was shocked at how many men wore shorts to dinner in the dining room. And these included jean shorts. It was something I never expected to see on this line.

Edited August 25, 2016 by caviargal

[Mark_T]

I think we have pretty much established that if you find shorts at dinner a deplorable state of affairs, you need to avoid river cruising all together !

 

From Viking to Uniworld it can only be a short period of time before they become mandatory it seems :)

 

We have two cruises on Viking with no shorts in sight and now there is a Uniworld report with abundant shorts so we are going to have to assume that while they are a risk on pretty much any cruise line they are not an assured certainly on any line either.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Mark_T

[pully8]

perhaps its weather related too? we have done 8 European river cruises mainly spring/autumn and have never seen shorts in the dining room.

we are about to do 1 with AMA so will be interested to see how that goes, albeit it will not be shorts weather.

 

we have found it to be mainly smart casual and perhaps dressy in the evenings. basically comfortable. its on a small ship and some crowding in sitting/dining areas at times.

 

we love seeing the European clothing on display in shop windows when there. some on the streets are well dressed with an elegant style that is delightful. perhaps the cold climate lends itself to smart well cut jackets, scarfs etc.