Yangtze River cruise - Captain's dinner/dress attire?

[CJcruzer]

Am trying to keep the packing to a minimum - but it was mentioned that we should bring some "evening" wear for the Captain's dinner (we are on a 4 day/3 night yangtze river cruise - and also for the Tang Dynasty dinner in Xi'an....

 

Doe hubby need a sports jacket? Also, I really don;t want to bring an extra pair of shoes for each of us just for men's dress slacks and a dressier women's outfit?

 

CJcruzer

[aneka]

HI,

 

We did a China trip with Uniworld in 2005. We went to the Tang Dynasty show in Xian. You'll enjoy this excellent show. A nice shirt and slacks would be acceptable for men, ladies were in dresses or pant outfits. Sandles (even flats) for women and a nice looking pair of shoes for men are fine (do not have to be "dress" shoes). We had a 4 day Yangtze cruise on a Victoria cruise line ship. For the captains party, many of the men were in sport coats or suits, but not all. Again, a nicer shirt and pair of slacks would suffice. Women were in everything from sparkles to casual pant outfits. Laura Asley makes a line of Trip Ready Knits that I just love. The jerseys pack and do not wrinkle and you can mix and match bottoms and tops. They have taken me all over the world.

Don't worry about the clothes, you'll have a wonderful trip. The Yangtze cruise is wonderful. The scenery is magnificent. You are going at a good time before the Three Gorges Dam project is complete.

Enjoy,

Annette

[smeyer418]

The three Gorges Dam is complete. What is not is the filling of the lake behind it but its more than 2/3 full. Even when its full it won't effect the experience too much....IMO...

[MARRYREV]

Just returned from the Viking Jewels cruise. I had on a Longsleve dress shirt and Khakis no tie and my wife had on a nice pant suit. I did not feel out of place. Some men wore blue blazers and some women took the oppurtunity to wear the dresses purchased in Beijing. Very causal

[Ocala]

We did Viking Jewels a couple of years ago and for the "formal" nights we all bought silk shirts in Shanghai to wear with slacks. The crew all thought it was great that we dressed up in our fancy Chinese silks instead of Western garb. Have a great trip!

[CJcruzer]

thanks for the info - End of Oct-mid November is hard to judge what to pack anyway!!! We will be in Beijing and Xi'an before the 3 day cruise - I need the "evening wear" for Xi'an Tang dynasty dinner and the Captain's welcome dinner, so the silk blouses from Shanghai doesn't work!!! I'm wondering if Palazzo pants is a little too dressy - with a linen shawl.....

 

Hoping to buy silk tops in either Shanghai or Hong Kong - we will also be in Souzhou....

 

CJcruzer

[travelsfun]

CJ..I think you are over-stressing on the evening wear. River cruising is very casual. Don't think I saw any man in a suit on our Viking trip in China and nice pants outfits were about the dressiest clothes that the women wore. I don't think you will feel out-of-place no matter what you are wearing. Just try to relax and enjoy the trip!

Dorothy

[terpla]

CjCruiser we are going Oct. 23 with Vantage and they do suggest a sport jacket for the men for the Tang Dynasty Dinner. Are you on this cruise? For the Captains dinner I'm wearing a dressy black pants and green two piece top. A friend just came back from Viking and they did not have to dress for the Tang Dinner so each line is different and they have their own ship also. We are going on the Victoria. I counted and a sport jacket is mentioned 3 times between Vitoria and Vantage for the men and of course we can get away with pants suits or dresses.

[Miss Priss]

CJ: Listen to Dorothy. The ship is casual and dressy casual. Only a few men had jackets, and the women wore dressy casual with flats. I took two pair of shoes on the trip, walking and flats. It served me well. Nice top and slacks to the Tang Dynasty, and my "genuine" Chinese jacket to the Captain's dinner. I purchased the jacket on the street in Fengdu, along with 5 or 6 other ladies on the trip. We bought them for about $10.00 each. Of course others got theirs for less, but oh well. Many of the other ladies on the ship had beautiful Chinese outfits made for them on the ship. On the night of the Captain's dinner, we all looked great, and the servers loved it. Dorothy's right. It's just fun. I'll wear my jacket over the holidays and look very festive for $10.00. And I know there was one vendor in Fengdu that loved me, because I brought all the ladies to him for jackets. It was a win, win situation and i got a hug and a big thank you. Priceless.

 

Marian

 

Marian

[SakeDad]

I agree with the other posters. China is not like other cruises or countries. It's very casual. We went to these events and slacks and shirts for men and even women were accepted and no given a second look. Enjoy the trip! You can see my China pics at the link below.

[travelsfun]

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my "fashion report"...that was nice of you. I, too, bought a "genuine Chinese jacket" from a vendor near the ship one day for the huge sum of $8.00 and plan to wear it again for the holidays. On our trip on the Viking Century Sky we did not have anyone on board making clothes, though.

Dorothy

[lobsterlover]

Dorothy and Marian are right......don't stress over the clothes. Nicer slacks and top work for ladies,( with a pashmina shawl if you like) and most men wear a dress shirt, nice slacks and no tie or jacket. I just returned from this trip last week. The Tang Dynasty show is great... and you are walked in right to your table and seated, the lighting is subdued and no one notices what anyone else is wearing. I spent my time checking out the theater setting and the wonderful dishes on the table and of course, the entertainment. I can't stress enough....underpack and leave room for purchases. (This is experinece talking....I learned a big lesson this trip.)

 

L.L.

[lobsterlover]

Dorothy and Marian are right......don't stress over the clothes. Nicer slacks and top work for ladies,( with a pashmina shawl if you like) and most men wear a dress shirt, nice slacks and no tie or jacket. I just returned from this trip last week. The Tang Dynasty show is great... and you are walked in right to your table and seated, the lighting is subdued and no one notices what anyone else is wearing. I spent my time checking out the theater setting and the wonderful dishes on the table and of course, the entertainment. I can't stress enough....underpack and leave room for purchases. (This is experience talking....I learned a big lesson this trip.)

 

L.L.

[terpla]

Just got back from our China trip and all the men in our group wore jackets and we all dressed for the Captain's dinner and the same for the tang dynesty dinner show. When I say dressed I am not talking formal but all our men wore sport jackets and we wore dressier pants suits and or dresses. So it seems it depends on what group or tour company you go with. They are all different. Our guys also dressed for our farewell dinner so my DH actually wore his sport jacket at least four times.

 

Just letting you know our experience.