Only about 40% of the guests on formal night on a Disney cruise are reported to wear suits or tuxes. Most simply dress nicer than most night.
Yes, a sports jacket will be fine.
But do think about having fun and dressing up. You can rent a tux right from the cruise line and have it delivered to your stateroom. Women dig it. And do think about your hosts - your in-laws - and what they expect. If your father in law goes in a tux and your mother in law wants a famly photo in formals, its only polite to oblige her. If your father in law says “no way anyone is getting me into a monkey suit” and brings a sports jacket, you should feel free to do the same.
Shorts are requested not to be worn in the dining room. Two pairs of Dockers (Disney says ok to jeans in their dining room now) should get you through unless you plan on spilling.
Guests who don’t want to dress up can eat at the buffet without being out of place. Or order room service.
Oh, and get online at 90 days and book a couples meal at Palo, their adults only dining room! Its an extra $10 a person, but reportedly very worth it.
For lots of information on Disney cruises specificially, check out www.disboards.com and visit the cruise forum.
We took a Royal Caribbean cruise in October, and loved dressing up to eat in the formal dining room, even when it was a casual night, I usually wore at least a skirt when there would have been no problem wearing jeans. My husband also wore nicer pants than jeans most nights, and wore a suit on the formal nights (he doesn’t own a tux and didn’t want to bother renting one). It was perfectly fine attire for the night (there were actually 2 formal nights on the 7 night cruise). I don’t know about the Disney ships, but the main Dining rooms on the RC ships are very fancy, so it is actually odd to NOT be dressed up, based upon the decor, IMHO.
If we didn’t want to eat there, we could have gone to the cafe (sandwiches, pizza, that kind of thing), or to Jade (Asian fusion buffet) or Windjammer (regular buffet), or Chops grille, or Portofino, or Johnny rockets, or ordered room service, or wait for the midnight buffet, or…well, that seems like enough choices there, doesn’t it?
The only times we were FORCED to do anything was to show ID/go through security when we got on and off at ports of call, and be sure to get back on the ship before it left to go to another country. And we had to wear clothes in public (though a bathing suit was fine for most of the hallways and shops and decks). Oh, and we were FORCED to leave at the end of the vacation (THAT sucked!)
No one is being mistreated because they didn’t want to wear a tie. No one went without a meal because of it. No one was thrown overboard or beaten or locked into their rooms to starve. Having the option to wear formal clothes to go to an optional event was not the end of the world for anyone on the ship.
We had a great time, and would love to go back. And we both plan to bring new formal wear next time.
interesting discussion… just to reply, I have no intention of not dressing up or attending the formal dinner, as my wife and MIL are dead-set on it… my FIL and I, however, do not agree and prefer the casual route… since we are thus “forced” to play dress up to appease the ladies, my main question was “why do they have” such an evening, forcing the decision to be made…
of course, I could eat elsewhere, and of course I will have a great time, and of course we will have a nice family photo… however, it still translates to us packing and schlepping extra shoes, suit, dress, etc…
I beg to differ. I wear a suit to work almost every day. But in my mind, there’s a huge difference between dressing up to go sit in my office for eight hours, and dressing up for an hour or two to look nice while I’m having a good time somewhere.
And I’m too lazy to scroll down and give proper credit where it’s due, but whoever suggested that formal night was created for men who love to see the ladies looking spiffy has an almost eerie understanding of the way I think.
If you don’t want to dress up, then just skip the formal night. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of other places to eat on the ship.
I had heard, as some are saying in this thread, that many just don’t participate in formal nights. When I went on a cruise recently, this wasn’t my experience. I didn’t want to pack a suit for a two week trip just to wear one night, so I just brought a shirt and tie. I was very underdressed. EVERYONE seemed to have a tux or at least a suit.
If you don’t want to play dress up then just hang by the pool that night and have a burger. If you do want to do it then do it right.
Formal night was the best night of the Royal Caribbean cruise I took last year. The boyfriend, our friends that went on the cruise and I all dressed in tuxes and had a blast. There was the Captain’s reception which was fun and the formal dinner, which was excellent. We stayed dressed up to shoot craps and play roulette in the casino as well as to attend the floor show. Plus, we got some great photos of us all dressed up and lookin’ good. For us it was a night to pretend we were suave, sophisticated men of the world instead of the middle-aged slobs we are in reality.
In contrast, there’s all kinds of partying and carrying on every night for which one can dress as casual as one likes. Look at it like this, it’s a week long party. One of the parties involves dressing up. Unless you just want not to have a good time, you’ll have a blast all week long. We’re planning on taking another cruise this next year and I can’t wait to go again. I never thought floating around the ocean on a big boat for a week would be fun but damn if it ain’t!
One more thing. Several people have mentioned you can always order room service. Room service is included, sans tip. You must order a late night snack at three a.m. at least once, just because you can!
Go cruise. Dress up. Party all week! A cruise is the best vacation ever.
Appreciate the thought, but my question was why do they have formal night and why do people want this. My wife wants to dress up, my mother in law wants to dress up, therefore we will dress up. There really is no option, so I was wondering (with futility) why these nights exist in the first place and why people would prefer to bring a dress/suit/tux on a Carribean cruise. I think I heard many opinions that differ from my own, but still prefer these formal nights did not exist as there is little choice but to play dress up or end a marriage…
My $.02 on the reasoning is that people just enjoy being dressed up. It’s fun. It’s different. Also, on a cruise, it’s something to do!
The cruise I took was basically a mode of transportation while we saw as much as possible in Europe. I didn’t care so much about the boat, I wanted to see Rome, Barcelona and Florence. That’s why I wasn’t keen on the idea of brining my suit half way around the world for a two week trip where I would only wear it once.
However, if you are a doing a typical carribean cruise or a transatlantic cruise seeing countryside isn’t the priority but having fun on the boat is. If you have all day to sit by the pool and sip a boat drink, I can picture it being nice just having something to look forward to. Instead of the usual dinner routine, you get dressed up nice and make a fancy night out of it.
If everyone involved shared your feelings about dressing up, then I would suggest doing an alternative dining spot, or even room service. I appreciate your point of view but I would recommend playing along and having fun with it, especially since you seem to be in the minority within your family on this!
It harkens back to the grand old days of sailing, when people would dress for dinner. Some people enjoy dressing up and going to dinner. Its like prom for grown ups. Grown ups outside of diplomatic/political fields or orchestra musicians, don’t have too many opportunities to dress up. A cruise is one grown up excuse to do so.
There are plenty of vacations you can take that don’t involve a formal night. A cruise happens to be one that does, but since cruising is designed to appeal to all sorts of folks, all lines have other options for formal night.
My understanding, and I am a VERY frequent cruiser, is that it is a combination of tradition and fun and marketing . Tradition in so far as on the old Ocean Liners, from the early days at the turn of the last century up to the 50s, there were events and dances and dinners in which the tuxedo for the men and evening gown for the women was accepted norm as a way to “strut your stuff.” There are many, including myself and my wife, who still feel that way is fun. Other people like to climb the rock climbing walls on the Royal Caribbean ships… or shop, or sit in the library… its ALL good.
As far as marketing, there is a substantial part of the market that wants it. It caters to a sense of romance and simpler times in many people (different strokes for different folks). Believe me, if a large part of the public didn’t want it… it would be GONE. It is there, because it helps sell cruises. Simple.
The major cruise lines have done an excellent job of providing alternatives, but that doesn’t solve your problem with your spouse. Can’t really help you there, except that I have been married 35 years and still going, and we both make compromises all the time.
People want this because it is different.
A vacation is a vacation because you do different things than your normal routine at home. Me, I prefer a vacation wearing hiking boots and a backpack, not a suit.
But if you gotta do the cruise thing, do it right. I did, and actually enjoyed it. How often are you gonna see your extended family all dressed up together?
You may have to wear suits at work and thus do not enjoy the prospect of having to wear one on vacation, but us middle-class women don’t often get the opportunity to get “dressed to the nines” in evening gowns and up-dos.
I adore getting dressed to the hilt, especially when I’m going out with my fiance. He feels proud of me for looking so classy and sexy, and I look damn good in an evening gown, if I do say so myself, so I love the chance to do it.
Sadly, I don’t get the chance very often.
Which is a damn shame, since I have not one, but TWO evening gowns I picked up this past summer for a disgustingly cheap price on clearance. They sit in my closet, unworn, for I have nothing to wear them to.
Ah well, at least I paid damn near nothing for em. Even if I never get to wear em it was worth the money.
Okay, question for the women here who like to get dressed up…
many guys (myself included) feel women get the better part of the “dressing up” deal in that the clothing they wear is actually comfortable, they don’t have a neck restrainer, or heavy, mobility reducing suit jacket, they have (what appears to be) relatively light, nonrestrictive clothing…
You’ve never heard Ms. D_Odds complain about dressing up then. Plus, I don’t wear " neck restrainer, or heavy, mobility reducing suit jacket." I wear a comfortable, fitted, all-wool suit or tux with a silk tie or bow tie (respectively), tied so that it is not strangling me. My shirts are all cotton, well-pressed, not starched, and fit me at the neck, sleeves and gut. I’m the one who prefers to dress up.
Yes, the reason rental tuxedos are uncomfortable is because they are generally ill-fitting, polyester suits. Stiff, scratchy and the material doesn’t breath, so it’s either too hot or too cold. The rental formal shirts are even worse. The clip on polyester bow ties are either too tight or goofy-looking.
It’s just me but I kept my eyes open and finally found a good wool evening jacket with matching trousers, $60 at the local vintage clothing store, spent another $40 having it tailored, then spent $45 on a new 100% cotton formal shirt. Now, it may sound like alot of money to some but if you spread the cost over the 10-12 years I’ll be able to wear it, it ain’t much. The important thing is that it’s as comfortable as my favorite jeans and t-shirt.
