<p>I haven’t been on a cruise since college and on that one we stayed in a closet and had maids chasing us down for more tip money.
So. Here we are about 40 years later and dh and I are going on a cruise. It’s a Celebrity ship.<br>
Please tell me what to expect. We have to “dress” for dinner, right?</p>
<p>You have to look decent for dinner. But you don’t have to wear formal attire even on the “formal” nights. A nice dress will do just fine. We did a RC cruise two years ago. We took no formal clothing. But my husband did have a sport jacket and ties, and I had several sundresses. For dinner…no shorts were allowed in the dining room.</p>
<p>We had a great time. Look for the activities on the ship. We did trivia, went to the fitness center, I had a massage, jewelry making, scrapbooking, karaoke, and the shows. We relaxed during the days and spent time reading on the deck of the ship…in the nice warms sun.</p>
<p>Food was terrific. Entertainment was great. </p>
<p>We also did a couple of shore excursions which were very good. </p>
<p>Have fun!!</p>
<p>We did a Princess cruise to Alaska in 2007. We took one nice outfit each for the fancy dinner night … but we could have dressed more casually and been fine, too. It’s a much more casual world today.</p>
<p>“You have to look decent for dinner. But you don’t have to wear formal attire even on the “formal” nights. A nice dress will do just fine. We did a RC cruise two years ago. We took no formal clothing. But my husband did have a sport jacket and ties, and I had several sundresses.”</p>
<p>Wait a minute, dresses, sport jackets and ties aren’t formal wear?</p>
<p>Uh oh. I thought anything but t-shirts, shorts and flip flops were formal wear.</p>
<p>I would think on a celebrity cruise you would want to dress properly for dinner. For formal night, at the very least, this means a sports coat and tie for the man and a dress for the woman. Of course, many people will be wearing tuxes or dark suits, but a sports coat and tie ought to be fine. On the other nights the dress code is resort or business casual, namely a decent pair of pants or khakis and a collared shirt for the man and something decent for the woman (dress jeans ok).</p>
<p>If you take your phone be sure to put it in airplane mode to avoid unwanted charged. If you take a couple of electronic devices, be sure to take an extension cord or power strip, and there is only one outlet for most cruise ship staterooms.</p>
<p>H and I went on a Celebrity cruise to Alaska this past summer. My understanding is that people on Alaska cruises tend to dress more casually than those on some other cruise destinations – can’t confirm this, as that was my only cruise.</p>
<p>We found that for the men, a blazer and tie and khaki pants was sufficient for the formal nights. Yes, some were in tuxedos, but I think we saw others with neither jacket nor tie. For women, dressy pants with a dressy top also seemed OK, as well as formal or cocktail dresses.</p>
<p>For those who want to skip the formal night scene, alternatives are to use room service to dine in your room, or go to the buffet or other dining alternative. Lots of flexibility.</p>
<p>One great website that I frequented at length before our cruise in 2009 was cruisecritics.com. You can even find people who know thing about your particular ship, actual cruises, etc. that know these detailed questions.</p>
<p>On our formal night, people were very dressy. I took a long sparkly dress and felt very much in place. Both my young sons at the time, wore suits. I would say 90 percent were dressed up. It was a beautiful night seeing everyone like this, strolling around before and after, having their pics taken. It was sort of a nod to the olden ways of cruising. My kids even enjoyed it and they were 15 and 12 at the time.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if it is different from ship to ship…that’s why I suggest going t that website. We cruised Royal Carribbean.</p>
<p>I second cruisecritic. We are also cruising Celebrity mid-January, can hardly wait :)</p>
<p>Celebrity tends to be a bit more formal than some other lines, but not outrageously so. I take dressy pants and a couple of sparkly blouses for formal night; DH wears either a jacket & tie or suit & tie. He did wear his tux on a Caribbean cruise on Celebrity and felt very overdressed. </p>
<p>Forty years ago, there was only set dining. Now you can have a set dining time (“traditional dining”) either early or late, or you can have “Anytime Dining”, when you show up when you wish. Breakfast and lunch are both open seating. On Celebrity, if you book Anytime Dining, you must prepay your gratuities; otherwise, you can pay them on the ship.</p>
<p>Be careful as not every dining venue is included in the price of the cruise. There will be several that are, and several that are not (and several that you cannot enter at all unless you are Aqua or Concierge class on Celebrity). They will let you know as you walk in whether the venue is complimentary (included) or not.</p>
<p>Alcohol is not included, nor are sodas or bottled water, unless you’ve bought a package.The packages are in addition to your cruise fare.</p>
<p>Celebrity is a wonderful line; it’s my DH’s favorite. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.</p>
<p>Clothing on cruises changes not only with the cruise line, but with the itinerary. My best friend and I sailed with Celebrity to Alaska, and no one dressed exceptionally “formal” even on “formal” nights. Most women wore dark pants and a nice top/sweater. On other itineraries you will see more formal wear, especially any of the European itineraries. Cocktail dresses and gowns abound and white (coat) & black (formal pants) tuxes on men. But at the same time you will still see many women in nice pants and blouses and men in suit coats (and nearly all with button downs and ties). Caribbean cruises bring out everything simply because it is the Caribbean. Lots of cocktail dresses and the like on women and men in suit coats - some not even with ties.</p>
<p>What itinerary?</p>
<p>It’s five nights only, Ft. L. to Key West to Cozumel and back to Ft. L.
I extremely rarely ever dress up so this is difficult for me. I wear a dress maybe once a year. I bought some black palazzo pants and a couple of tops, a black short dress and a lacy shrug, things like that. If they don’t let me into the dining room well, so be it. LOL.</p>
<p>That sounds perfectly fine. I’ve been on a few cruises to Caribbean, Panama Canal and to Alaska and the only time I have ever seen anyone turned away from the dining room was on our last Caribbean cruise on Princess and that was someone wearing shorts. Men have to be prepared to wear long pants for dinner.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone!</p>
<p>When we were on Princess cruise, folks even work dark jeans and OK tops for dressy nights, so black slacks and a dressy top should be just fine. H did bring a sports coat for dressy nights (plus it was a bit chilly, so the sports coat kept him warm). It was too cold for me to wear any dresses on the ship (we were cruising Alaska and I am used to temperatures of 70-80+ degrees).</p>
<p>Have a wonderful time!</p>
<p>“black palazzo pants and a couple of tops, a black short dress and a lacy shrug” - you’ll fit right in, don’t even bring the dress if you don’t want to. Really! </p>
<p>
That’s exactly what I wear on formal nights (I hate dresses/skirts). No issues.</p>
<p>OP, it is much more casual than it used to be. My family took a cruse back when I was in high school and we dressed up every night. I went on one a few years ago and took maybe two dresses. We were on a New Years cruise and I did take a fancy dress for that. </p>
<p>If you like to dress up you can, but if you would rather not, that is also okay. </p>
<p>There are dress codes, more so on Celebrity and Holland than on Carnival or Norweigan. Men have been turned away for no suitcoat on formal night. Options include the buffet, room service or pay restaurants. This will be our first Celebrity cruise and we’ll opt out of formal nights…have already made reservations in the “pay for” restaurants for both nights, which are not formal, but instead follow the upscale casual rule. My husband went out and purchased a light colored suitcoat and will bring a navy one…some nights he will wear a suitcoat without a tie and other nights he will wear a button down with a tie. Unfortunately, after four months of dieting I still cannot wear a majority of the clothes I had hoped to bring…for me it will be a dress one or two nights and then nice blouses with capris. They do frown on jeans from either sex, no matter how dressy, but I am not the fashion police. I won’t go so far as to say I don’t care what others wear, I will say that if they at least put some effort in, its all good. I certainly dont’ want to dress up to sit next to someone who just pulled themselves from happy hour with jeans and a tshirt that they’ve been in all day LOL.</p>
<p>Unless it has actually happened to you, the “people are turned away for not wearing a suitcoat” on formal night is an urban myth. They will turn away inappropriate clothing (tank tops and shorts on men or women (beachwear, not other types), ripped jeans - not to be confused with nice clean, jeans) but no man is turned away for not wearing a jacket. I have been on no less than 20 cruises worldwide on every major cruise line (including Holland and Celebrity). </p>
<p>Celebrity has “coats to loan” as needed. I also have cruised on most of the lines (not Cunard and the likes) and have never been turned away but we always meet the dress code or opt out of formal nights. I wouldnt’ take the chance if formal night is a big deal to you, bring a jacket, leave the jeans at home lol.</p>