What To Wear On Your Cruise

This is a common question that is on first time cruisers minds - "What should I bring to wear?"   The biggest concern here is for the evening meal times and especially the formal nights.   Now for the women that is usually not such a concern as most women love to dress up but when it comes to putting a tie around a guys neck while on vacation then the whining usually starts.  

Formal Nights

Now let me start by saying that when you are planning your vacation and the topic of dressing up for supper pops up a common reaction is "Hey I'm on vacation, not at work, I'm not wearing a tie". Well coming from a guy who doesn't wear a shirt and tie very often I must say that I didn't mind getting dressed up for a couple of nights because it makes you feel a little special.  I find that after a great day of hanging out in the sun wearing shorts and tees all day it actually feels good to head to your stateroom, get showered up and throw on a nice outfit to wear to supper - it's a great way to end your day.   It's like having a night on the town where you wear your fancy duds, go out for a great meal, and then head off to the theatre for some great entertainment.   Aboard the ship these nights are very exciting for men and women alike and even the children like it as most don't get this chance when at home.   Also these times are a great chance to get a family picture taken as there are plenty of photographers scattered thoughout the ship who will take your photo and you don't have to pay for it unless you like it.  

All of the ships I have been on have had two formal nights where you are exected to dress up a little more than usual.   Women usually wear your typical long evening dress but you don't have to run out and buy the latest Christian Dior outfit to fit in as you will see a wide variety of dresses and styles including many off the shelf $30.00 dresses.   For the men a dark suit with tie is pefectly acceptable but you will see some men wearing tuxedos which can usually be rented aboard the ship (that would have to be arranged before you set sail - don't go looking for a tux one hour before dinner).   So guys if you want to go all out and really impress the women here's your chance.

Regular Evenings

For the nights that are not classified as formal you are not required to dress up but there is still a dress code that the ship would like you to adhere to for the evening meal.  Shorts, tees, and jeans are not acceptable in the dining rooms for supper.  This does not apply during the day as you can head to the same dining rooms for breakfast or dinner and the only restriction is that everyone must wear footwear and the men must wear a shirt and women must wear a coverup over their bathing suits.  Now there is no need to be concerned about this as these rules are always posted just outside the door of any dining room that these rules apply to and if you forget then one of the dining room staff will very politely take you aside and explain the rules.

Daily Wear

During the days pretty much anything goes (as long as you are wearing something - and of course there are cruises available for those who might like to bend those rules).   Treat being on deck in the daytime the same as heading to the beach, swim suits are the norm here.   Make sure you bring sandals to wear on deck because in 30 degree weather the deck surface can get very hot to walk on barefoot.   Please note that if you want to go to the dining room and even go to a buffet during the day you still have to wear a shirt and/or a coverup - hey it's only being courteous.

FreeStyle Cruising

The last ship we vacationed on was the Norwegian Sun and Norwegian has a concept that they call FreeStyle Cruising which is designed to provide an option for those of us who don't want to get all gussied up.  FreeStyle Cruising also allows you to eat wereever and whenever you like - you don't have a set time that you have to get ready for.  So if you are having a great time up on deck there isn't any need to stop at 5:00 pm and head to the cabin to get cleaned up for supper at 6:00.  You can eat later if you like.  Also they don't require you to dress up for formal nights but they still do have two formal nights where you can pull out the shirt and tie if you like and on those nights the majority of folks were wearing dresses, shirts and ties - even though it was optional.

When we all first booked this cruise this idea seemed very appealing but the funny thing was that we unamimously determined that we actually missed the dressing up part.  As a matter of fact I would say the majority of people aboard our ship dressed up anyway for evening meals even though it wasn't required.  As I said before this part of the evening is special and a great way to end the day.    

The other part that we missed was not having the same wait staff each night because since you can eat any time you will rarely get the same wait staff at each meal.   What's the big deal with that you might be thinking well when you have a set time to eat you are assigned a table to sit at and then you have the same waiter or waitress each night for the duation of the cruise.   Each day your servers get to know you a little better and they really provide you extra special service like having your favorite drink ready for you when you arrive at the table.   As well you begin to become more relaxed around your servers and they chat to you about your day.  Your servers are also an excellent source of knowledge for determining what you want to do on days that you are visiting one of the islands.