Acceptable attire for formal night

[Touey]

I need your opinion. We are leaving on the Inspiration for a four night cruise on March 20th. ;) They have 1 formal night. As I am packing, I realize I am taking a garment bag and another piece of luggage just for the formal night. (there are five in our family). I love formal night, but not the extra luggage as we are doing Disney for 3 days after. Would it be acceptable to leave the suitcoats at home and have my husband and 17yo son just wear a nice dress shirt and tie with dress pants or is a suitcoat manditory. I know we could always do buffet, but I do like the dining room. Any input woud be helpful.

 

Touey

[Steve-N-Steph]

We just sailed the Imagination and my husband wore slacks with a shirt and tie. I wore dressy capris and a nice blouse. We didn't feel underdressed at all, in fact lots of men didn't even have ties on. Last time we cruised he did the suit jacket, but this time we also opted to not bring the garment bag. Just laid the shirt flat on the top of the suitcase. :D

[lidodeckbound]

I need your opinion. We are leaving on the Inspiration for a four night cruise on March 20th. ;) They have 1 formal night. As I am packing, I realize I am taking a garment bag and another piece of luggage just for the formal night. (there are five in our family). I love formal night, but not the extra luggage as we are doing Disney for 3 days after. Would it be acceptable to leave the suitcoats at home and have my husband and 17yo son just wear a nice dress shirt and tie with dress pants or is a suitcoat manditory. I know we could always do buffet, but I do like the dining room. Any input woud be helpful.

 

Touey

Hey see you on the ship! We aren't going crazy getting dressed up either. I think you will be ok.

[KenMo]

Is there a dress code for the dining room?Depending on the length of the cruise, either formal dress or casual resort wear is required in the Dining Room. The dress requirement for children is the same. For those not wanting to dress up, the Lido restaurants are open nightly (with the exception of the last evening of the cruise), and have a casual dress code. Formal Wear: tuxedo (optional); suit and tie; sport coat, tie and slacks; evening gown; cocktail dress; pantsuit Casual Resort Wear: sport shirts and slacks; dresses; skirts; pantsuit NOTE: Shorts, t-shirts and bathing attire are not permitted in the Dining Room during dinner.

 

Many of the MD's don't enforce the dress code.

[GOODIES]

i was on crown princess in jan 08 i packed a sport coat in my luggage and wore a nice black pull over, ,

dont listen to me cause you are on vacation and your supposed to be relaxed so do whats best for you, i am going on inspiration 5/08 with my daughters and i will probably do the same thing fold the sport coat in my luggage

[boaterette]

You will be fine. And now days with the luggage restrictions you are going to see more and more casual dress. Not a lot of people are going to be willing to pay the extra surcharge just to take formal clothes. Enjoy your cruise.

[Cleveland Joe]

my wife and i sailed on a 3 day cruise to the bahamas on the Fascination from march 7-march 10. there was one formal night, and both of us stressed about what we'd wear--i hadn't ever been on a cruise before this, but she had gone on several in the past. i brought down a suit and tie and stuffed it into a too-small suitcase. some men had suits, but others didn't have a coat or a tie and one younger guy even had a baseball cap on inside the dining room!

 

my advice: if you can't fit the suit jacket, a pair of nice pants, shirt, and tie will be great.

[Touey]

Thanks for all of your replies. I think we will go with the dress shirt and tie!

Touey

[marving9999]

I generally do not like to dress formally. For all of my recent cruises, I wear slacks, a 3 button shirt and sometimes a sports jacket. I always sit in the dining room and never have a problem. In fact, there are usually many others less formal than me. My wife generally wears slacks and a nice top.

[PINEVIEW01]

Would it be acceptable to leave the suitcoats at home and have my husband and 17yo son just wear a nice dress shirt and tie with dress pants or is a suitcoat manditory. I know we could always do buffet, but I do like the dining room. Any input woud be helpful.

 

Touey

Did the Inspiration in Feb and saw just that. No need to do the buffet. For the ladies, I pack lite, I wear the same black dress pants each nite and fancy top for formal nite not so fancy others.

 

Just go, have fun and relaxe!

[FrogCWR]

Yeah... I read all the "requirements" on the carnival site that said it had to be a full suit on formal night. I haven't owned a suit in years. I don't even own a tie for that matter. In my line of work, who needs one? I wear company provided uniforms. Outside of work, I wear jeans... unless it's a snazzy restaurant, then I break out the dockers and a nice shirt.

 

So, I went to Burlington Coat Factory to buy a new suit for this ONE dinner. I went there because I have heard they have low prices. Well... when I go all out, I really go all out. I ended up spending $180.00 on a basic black suit and a shirt and tie.... oh, right.. and SHOES and thin black dress socks for the nice shoes (all of which were marked down and clearanced). Geesh. I haven't even eaten it yet, but that meal sure has been expensive!:eek:

[Chigirlcruzin]

Yeah... I read all the "requirements" on the carnival site that said it had to be a full suit on formal night. I haven't owned a suit in years. I don't even own a tie for that matter. In my line of work, who needs one? I wear company provided uniforms. Outside of work, I wear jeans... unless it's a snazzy restaurant, then I break out the dockers and a nice shirt.

 

So, I went to Burlington Coat Factory to buy a new suit for this ONE dinner. I went there because I have heard they have low prices. Well... when I go all out, I really go all out. I ended up spending $180.00 on a basic black suit and a shirt and tie.... oh, right.. and SHOES and thin black dress socks for the nice shoes (all of which were marked down and clearanced). Geesh. I haven't even eaten it yet, but that meal sure has been expensive!:eek:

 

 

Wear your suit and be proud. In my opinion, every man should own a suit for weddings, funerals, etc. You never know when you'll need it.

[Sandgnat]

I need your opinion. We are leaving on the Inspiration for a four night cruise on March 20th. ;) They have 1 formal night. As I am packing, I realize I am taking a garment bag and another piece of luggage just for the formal night. (there are five in our family). I love formal night, but not the extra luggage as we are doing Disney for 3 days after. Would it be acceptable to leave the suitcoats at home and have my husband and 17yo son just wear a nice dress shirt and tie with dress pants or is a suitcoat manditory. I know we could always do buffet, but I do like the dining room. Any input woud be helpful.

 

Touey

Please join our roll call. We are also on this sailing. Dress as you like, I believe and nice shirt and tie is fine. My Dad will wear a tux but just because he looks so good in it. Just no shorts or t-shirts and you will be fine. Hope to see you on board. Have a great cruise, you will love the Inspiration, I do. Sandy

[Chan_T]

In the past, DH and I have dressed the part for formal night. But, as many have stated (and witnessed while on board), Carnival does not really enforce their dress code. In most cases, if you are somewhat clean and covered to a certain extent, then you will be allowed in the dining room (and, yes, this tends to be true, even on "formal" night). And, as another poster stated, I think, with the luggage restrictions, you will begin to see even more casual dress. So, if you are basically asking if your husband will be allowed in the dining room on formal night without a jacket, then the answer is yes.

[SaltyBunni]

I need your opinion. We are leaving on the Inspiration for a four night cruise on March 20th. ;) They have 1 formal night. As I am packing, I realize I am taking a garment bag and another piece of luggage just for the formal night. (there are five in our family). I love formal night, but not the extra luggage as we are doing Disney for 3 days after. Would it be acceptable to leave the suitcoats at home and have my husband and 17yo son just wear a nice dress shirt and tie with dress pants or is a suitcoat manditory. I know we could always do buffet, but I do like the dining room. Any input woud be helpful.

 

Touey

 

You'll be fine with a dress shirt and tie :)

[garptsmqt]

Just back from the Victory. I wore nice jeans and a collared shirt on non-formal nights, slacks and a dress shirt for formal nights, always wore appropriate shoes. DW wore either a sun dress or blouse and capri''s on non formal nights, cocktail dress on formal nights. We were dressed the same or better than 50% of the group. Some older cruiser's wore suits every night and a tux on formal nights, along with their spouses in dresses (a generalization, a few younger people did as well). Some younger cruisers wore shorts every night, regardless (not a generalization). No enforcement by Maitre' D.

 

Capers said that beach wear is not permitted in the dining rooms, and encouraged suits and dresses on formal night, but other than that everything goes. Wear what you're comfortable with, and don't listen to the people on these boards who tell you how you SHOULD dress. It's your vacation.

[dan40]

I need your opinion. We are leaving on the Inspiration for a four night cruise on March 20th. ;) They have 1 formal night. As I am packing, I realize I am taking a garment bag and another piece of luggage just for the formal night. (there are five in our family). I love formal night, but not the extra luggage as we are doing Disney for 3 days after. Would it be acceptable to leave the suitcoats at home and have my husband and 17yo son just wear a nice dress shirt and tie with dress pants or is a suitcoat manditory. I know we could always do buffet, but I do like the dining room. Any input woud be helpful.

 

Touey

 

Can you "get away" with it?

 

YES

 

Is it the right thing to do?

 

NO

 

 

Dan

[FrogCWR]

Wear your suit and be proud. In my opinion, every man should own a suit for weddings, funerals, etc. You never know when you'll need it.

I don't do funerals.. and the last wedding I attended, I was in it, so I had a tux like the rest of the guys. Nobody left to get married out of this family for a loooong loooong time.:rolleyes: