formal night with kids - Help! :)

[bunnkins]

We will be cruisin on our first 7 day cruise (we've been on 3 3 day) in August with our 4 kids (17,13,11,&7). I have no idea what is expected of them for formal wear. Do the girls have to have formal dresses or for them is just a dress okay? They're not the girl types that have alot of dresses in their closest. I alos have no clue for my son (7). He has nothing fancier than khakis and a hawaiin shirt at this point. Help! And I cant decide weather we should do one formal night with them and one with out. Any thoughts will help alot!

Thanks, Marion

[jj'smom]

A shirt and tie for your son will be fine. A regular dress for the girls will work. Maybe a little fancier than a sun dress but no need to bust out the prom dresses.

 

Costa Victoria 2/99

CCL Fascination 2/00

Celebrity Galaxy 4/02

Costa Atlantica 1/03

NCL Sky 9/03

Golden Princess 10/04

[momdebomb]

I got my son - who will be 7 when we sail - a nice suit at a local thrift store for $7. It wasn't to great an expense for something that will come in handy for other times too - weddings, church etc.... He's really looking forward to formal night. He loves looking sharp! We're going to take him to one formal night and not the other. I think the ship does a pizza party or something in Adventure Ocean on those nights. The other 4 kids in our party are all older teenagers, 15-19, and if they go or not will be up to them.

Roll Call - Legend of the Seas - 8/22/04 click here!

 

Sharon

 

Legend of the Seas - Mexican Riviera

[ginag]

No worries! You'll see children and adults dressed in a variety of things. Usually something you would wear for church. Our youngest daughter is 13 and 6', so we do have trouble finding her clothes that are half-way stylish. She just wore skirts and that worked well for her...wasn't out of place at all.Our oldest daughter is 18 and she wore things that she has gotten for dances at school. She was going to take her formal dresses, but that's just too much to haul! We aren't foo-foo dressers either, but I think we looked just fine. What ever they decide to wear will be just fine. Have a great cruise!

 

 

 

~gina~

 

11/20 Ecstasy cruise

[elaineo]

for girls, nicer dress is fine---don't buy a new one, just the nicest of what you already have---and if it is a sundress---well, I saw those for formal night---for son--pants and button down, amybe tie---personally, I would just buy a suit off of ebay for about $10-15 for him--also, if you want dressy dresses---I bought 2 for my girls (silk organza wedding type, for $9 and $12 dollars--that included shipping) boht had been worn 1X and were in perfect condition. some older girls wear their old prom/bridesmaid dresses, just to get another chance to wear them. I would paln to do 1 formal night with younger ones---but be prepared--they might REALLY want to go to kids formal night instead of with you---mine did!! so we let them---we eat together 7X week at home!!

[bunnkins]

Thanks for all the good advise. My husband and I travel and dress up all the time but rarley do we take the kids places they need to dress up. I guess I'm just a bit nervous about that aspect of the cruise. This will be the first big trip we've had all together in a couple of years and may be the last with our oldest going off to college soon. I tend to over think things a bit. I guess I'll just realax and enjoy the antisipation! August can't come soon enough!

Marion

[skigirl]

Relax - formal night can be fun and it's a great chance for some beautiful family photos. My oldest daughter usually wears an old prom dress but no need to be that fancy - she just likes to get some more use of of it. My younger just wears a nice, short dress. You will have a good time.

[luvscruzin]

My DD is 15 and is just now getting interested in "dressing up" for something special, like formal night. She is athletic, but still feminine, so it's nice to see her dress for formal nights. This is the best time of year to buy something special for the teen girls. Prom dresses are all on sale! We bought a beautiful one today at half price!

 

7/10/04 Carnival Triumph

Carnival Holiday 6/94

Dolphin Seabreeze 7/96 (now sunken!)

Carnival Paradise 7/99

Celebrity Century 7/02

[m&m1]

Ask to borrow from friends or shop your local thrift stores and Goodwill stores. Formal night dress code per the cruise line should be adhered to by all. It is a great time to teach your kids a different level of formality than what they are used to. I was very concerned for my 17 yr. old ds who thinks formal means his good jeans. We rented tuxedos and though he didn't want to wear it, he did for mom. After all was said and done, he was glad he had dressed appropriately even though his dark (Goodwill for $12)suit would have also been fine. I bet there is someone your kids go to school or church with that could loan them something. Shop yard sales and thrift stores though - great places to find the formal things for next to nothing. Your children are all definitely old enough to understand the dress codes of the cruise lines. It's is an awesome opportunity for some great family photos too!

 

Cruise addict in the making -scratch that... Officially a Cruise Addict

 

MOS June 6, 2004

Fantasy Nov. 7, 2002

[kimanjo]

When my nephew first cruised with our extended family, my sister went to a local thrift store and bought him a navy blazer--it appeared that it had never been worn. He wore a polo shirt and Docker type pants underneath..one would never have known. He was 11 then. Three years later, almost 100 pounds heavier, he just borrowed one of his Dad's suitcoats.

 

My daughter (11 1/2 but a size 3/5 junior) had only one "formal" outfit, if you could call it that: a left-over from Christmas worn only once. She is bringing that. However, for the past two weeks of her summer vacation, we have gone out bargain hunting in some of the larger department stores *(Macy's, Dillards) and have seen some exceptional buys...Easter outfits and semi-formals as well as prom gowns all on clearance for as low as $8 up to a whopping $15. She had a blast (normally she hates shopping) trying to find inexpensive but cute outfits--especially in the large stores where there is a wide selection. She bought two outfits dresses, crepey tings with linings, etc. each for undr $15-. Also, Ross Dress for Less and the "faddish" stores like Rave always have cheap clothes. And I noticed the back-to- school clothes are already out and the summer sundresses, etc. are being reduced.

 

Really, you could definitely get by with just a few sundresses for the girls--but make sure they take a nice sweater/cardigan for the dining room, as it is almost always freezing. To make things a little fancier and to save yourself money, just buy each girl a new "cover". My daughter bought herself (with her allowance) the newest fad, one of those shawl/poncho things made of a lacy type crochet. She was first attracted to the ones at Macy's, till she saw the $34 tag! So we went across the mall to Rave where she bought a similar shawl for $12.

[merela]

Macy's ought to have its Easter fineries on clearanced by now. I'm sure you can get the girls some nice dresses for less than $20 each. I always find it's not the dress that will cost an arm and a leg, but girl's accessories--shoes, stockings, earrings, etc....I have a 4YO, her dress shoes will likely to cost more than her dress. I buy all her fancy dresses on sale/clearance after Easter.

 

I read somewhere that Walmart may still have its Easter inventory on clearance.

 

Definitely check JCPenney or Sears for young boy's "formal" wear. I think a nice pair of pants, a shirt, tie, and a vest would do. No need for a suit if he is going to grow out of it in 6 months.

 

Your older girls can wear any kind of dresses--something they can wear to a wedding and/or church service. I think any dresses longer than their knees would be nicer than those above their knees (a teenager's definition of fancy dressing may be different than ours). They don't need to wear gowns. Nice pant suit will do the job too. I'm not sure what stores are available near where you live, but do try TJMaxx, Marshalls, Ross for Less for nice dresses at reasonable prices. Kohls have some clearance sale right now also.

 

HTH.

 

Jennifer

[GolfingDV]

Dito on the Marshalls, TJ Maxx, idea. I have gotten so used to the bargins at those two stores I rarely shop anywhere else.

 

We've done six cruises (leave on our seventh next week) and our two girls always love formal night.

 

Don't miss out.

[bunnkins]

I just wanted to thank you all again. I think we've managed to put something together for this trip that will be acceptable. My oldest has 2 formals from dances that fits her and her sister and then we found cute wedding type dresses at Nordstroms Rack. My son surprisingly found 2 outfits athat hvae ties and one has a vest. He wouldnt go for a jacket but he will look more dressy than his normal t-shirt and jean shorts! My youngest daughter was the toughtest but I think she'll be okay. She really hates dreese and almost refuses to wear them. We found of couple of long skirts and shirts that I think she'll be happy in. If we do the first formal and no is happy about dressing up we'll feed them somthing and my husband I will go alone! I'm not as worried as I first was.

Thanks, Marion:)

[cruisead]

Marion, you might just be surprised by how much your youngest will want to dress up once she sees how everyone looks so great dressed up for formal night. Our youngest absolutely refused to wear any kind of formal clothes, but once he realized that all the cute girls on the cruise would be dressed up, boy did he change his tune. He went all out, because after all, the boys all want to look good for the girls---and vice versa.

[bunnkins]

Cruisead,

I hope you're right! She is such a little tom boy but is at the age where boys do matter a bit. I hope seeing her older sisters get all dolled up that she will want to do the same. I think I'll let my 17 year old do her hair and mybe a bit of makeup to make it fun.

Thanks! Marion:)

[meag]

For almost all of my cruise dresses in my teen and pre-teen years, I bought my dresses at a store called DEB that you can normally find at your local mall. They are usually very cheap, and they usually have great sales. I usually spend about $10 - $20 per dress, and they have all kinds of styles. I bet any teenage girl could find one she LOVES. I always do, and I'm not really a preppy or dress up kind of girl, I'm more of a jeans and tee-shirt kind of girl. They have sizes that would fit 12 year olds to 18 year olds. I've even seen an older woman, probably about late 20s to 30s, wearing the same dress as I was on a cruise and I was about 13 then.

[Maria65]

I also had great luck for my daughters at the Deb shop. They had very nice prom type dresses for $20, some less than that too. I'm lucky, my girls love the idea of formal night and theyr'e always trying on their dresses to make sure they still fit. My younger one is only eleven but I was able to find a dress which wasn't too mature looking. They have lots of cute short sundresses too on the clearance rack.