Dining attire for children?

[CJJSmith]

Hello... I have been on 5 cruises with my husband but on May 19th we are actually going to cruise with our children for the first time. :) We've decided to take them on the Monarch for the Mon - Fri cruise since it's their first time sailing. My question is what is appropriate for kids to wear in the dining room? I have three boys ages 6, 7 and 9. Also, on formal night, how formal should they dress? My husband and I like to dress up for dinner, but we never paid attention to what children wear in the dining room. Thanks for you help!

 

Cathy

[JJ2sail]

My kids are teens now, but they usually wear a suit for formal night, but they take it off as soon as the pictures are taken and dinner is over!:rolleyes:

 

I think you could pretty much do what you want, for your kids, dress them up take the pictures and then go change. Or just do dockers and a button down shirt. You will see a little of everything on the Monarch.

[vator90]

Our kids dress to what the compass says is the proper attire for the evening. Not saying we are right or wrong, just following the sugested guidelines.

[Sue L]

The dress code is the same no matter the age. It is up to you how you want to interpret it:)

[jerin]

We followed the adult dress code for the most part. Usual nights in the dining room meant slacks and button down shirts (sometimes just a polo shirt with the slacks) for my boys (7 and 9), casual dresses for the girls (3 and 8). On formal nights, the boys were in suits and ties (Penneys usually has reasonably priced boys' suits). When we can, we go with 3 piece suits, so once seated the boys can remove their jackets and still look dressy in their vests. The girls were in dressy dresses on formal nights.

[cb at sea]

If the kids are little, then they don't have to do the tux thing! (Teens should follow the "adult" standards, but small children should be dressed nicely--they don't need gowns or suits!)

[goscudder]

My 5 year old did wear a suit on the first Formal Night, and the suit pants, a different shirt and tie on the second Formal Night. The other nights he just wore pants and a button down shirt with a collar.

[Crosboro]

We have found that young gentlemen of that age attract a lot of positive attention in a sport coat, tie and chinos. Very handsome, indeed, and you definitely must buy the formal night picture of them--it's a great memory!

[wdwfamily]

In December we were on a 5 day (the Enchantment) w/ our 4 kids. The boys (ages 8 and 10) wore dockers and short sleeve polo shirts on casual nights and dockers with button down shirts on formal night. We only saw 1 guy wearing a tux and a handful of kids with suits.

[hooked-on-travel]

I don't think it takes too much to be dressed up. Formal night... I don't think anyone really expects a child to be in a tux or suit, but slacks, a nice shirt and maybe a tie(?) would probably be fine.

 

Our child is a girl, about 2 and a half now. It always seemed easier to 'dress up' a girl. Any decent looking dress is dressed up. A boy seems to need slacks and a nice shirt. But that's just my opinion.

 

<hooked-on-travel's spouse>

[WeBCruisin]

My boys are currently 4 & 8.

 

This will be the 5th cruise for my 8yo (disgusting isn't it). Most nights they wear khaki's and golf shirts or button down shirts to the dining room. For formal nights they wear tuxes. They look adorable and it makes for great photo ops - especially great for Christmas Cards.

 

You can find some amazing bargains on tuxedos on e-bay. It's been my experience that I can outfit them in a full tuxedo (that they can wear for both formal nights) than if I tried to purchase sports coats, ties and formal shirts.

[Ohunion Cruzers]

RCI does not discriminate...dress code is the same for kids as it is for adults.

[andnickali]

We dress our kids according to the guidelines. Although, on our first cruise with them they did not have a suit so they wore shirts and slacks to formal night. Since then, I've bought them suits and they wear them on formal night and slack with a shirt on other nights. Packing for five to go on a cruise takes two days of ironing!!!!!!! My daughter wears a dress every night- which now she hates- but they know I am in charge of selecting their dinner attire and that is the rule of cruising with the parents ;) .