Dining Attire on the Zuiderdam???

[levon10]

I am beginning to get together a list of items to pack and I need some help regarding men's attire. We will be on the Zuiderdam for a 7 day western Caribbean cruise. I know that there are 2 formal nights, 1 casual night and I think that there are 4 informal nights.

On the informal nights are sports jackets a must or is a polo shirt and a pair of dockers sufficient? Do men wear polo shirts with a sports jacket?

Thanks in advance for the info.

[JoyAnn]

Informal nights you are supposed to wear nice pants with shirt and jacket but a tie is not required.

 

I've never seen anyone wear a jacket with a polo shirt. A polo shirt with dockers would be more suited to casual nights, IMHO.

[garydm]

I am surprised there are 4 informal nights. Would think maybe 1 and then 4 casual nights. A jacket for men is the expectation for informal nights.

 

If there were only one informal night, I would bring a suit for formal nights that has a jacket that could pass for a sport jacket with slacks or wear the suit on informal night to avoid packing another jacket. But, if you do have 4 informal nights, I would bring a sport jacket.

 

Gary

[Tarkus]

for my 28-may zuiderdam sailing a sport jacket was NOT a must... while i saw some men wearing jackets, the majority (including myself) were dressed as you describe (i.e. polo/dockers).

[JoyAnn]

On longer cruises I can see this happening, how many times can you wear the same jacket? I'm facing 4 formal and I forget how many informal for a 17 day cruise in September. However, on our 7 day cruises, my husband was able to follow the dress guidelines without a problem.

 

for my 28-may zuiderdam sailing a sport jacket was NOT a must... while i saw some men wearing jackets, the majority (including myself) were dressed as you describe (i.e. polo/dockers).

[RevNeal]

I think you got your figures inverted ... on a 7 day cruise there will be 4 casual nights, 1 informal night, and 2 formal nights.

 

As for the informal night, if you're taking a business suit, white shirt and ties for the formal night why don't you just wear it, with a blue shirt and no tie, for informal night?

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our western cruise on the Zuiderdam in May we had 2 formal nights, 0 informal nights and 5 casual nights even though our documents said that there would be 1 informal night.

 

[joepeka]

On our Zdam cruise last summer, the line between casual and informal was pretty well blurred - dockers/slacks and a polo shirt or other nice, casual shirt (no t-shirts) were the norm for both. Some men wore blazers or sports jackets but most did not. Yes there were people who went too casual (sandals with dark jeans and a button down shirt) but no one questioned them.

[HAL92]

I am beginning to get together a list of items to pack and I need some help regarding men's attire. We will be on the Zuiderdam for a 7 day western Caribbean cruise. I know that there are 2 formal nights, 1 casual night and I think that there are 4 informal nights.

On the informal nights are sports jackets a must or is a polo shirt and a pair of dockers sufficient? Do men wear polo shirts with a sports jacket?

Thanks in advance for the info.

You don't have to dress formal if you don't want to! On the Zuiderdam especially, half of the passengers don't follow the dress code and HAL doesn't do anything about it. There are two "formal" nights, 1 "informal night", and 4 casual nights.

On informal night, HAL says that the sports jacket is a must, but plenty of men don't wear one and get away with it. On casual nights, you can pretty much wear anything you want. You can walk into the dining room with shorts and flip flops on and HAL won't do anything about it. However, the majority of men wear a polo shirt(or something similar) and jeans or slacks. On formal nights, it's a mixed bag. Half of the men are wearing a suit or tuxedo, and half wear casual clothes with a sports jacket. Unless you really enjoy getting dressed up, you can enjoy your vacation and don't worry about HAL being strict with a dress code.

Enjoy your cruise!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I am beginning to get together a list of items to pack and I need some help regarding men's attire. We will be on the Zuiderdam for a 7 day western Caribbean cruise. I know that there are 2 formal nights, 1 casual night and I think that there are 4 informal nights.

On the informal nights are sports jackets a must or is a polo shirt and a pair of dockers sufficient? Do men wear polo shirts with a sports jacket?

Thanks in advance for the info.

 

I just got off the Zuiderdam saturday. There were about 10 - 15% of the men wearing jackets. Nobody was asked to leave. My BIL was asked to leave on the 2nd casual day for wearing shorts.

 

Bill

[HAL92]

My BIL was asked to leave on the 2nd casual day for wearing shorts.

 

Bill

That's ridiculous. I've seen people get away with all kinds of dress code violations.(shorts, flip flops, bathing suite, no jacket on formal night)

[dakrewser]

That's ridiculous. I've seen people get away with all kinds of dress code violations.(shorts, flip flops, bathing suite, no jacket on formal night)

 

And I've seen lots of people roll thru stop signs and red lights without getting a ticket. Does that mean we all should do it?

 

There will always be those who are stuck in junior high school and want to "rebel" against authority. THere will always be those who claim a "right" to slovenly dress. In a civilized society it shouldn't be necessary for "dress code police" to chuck them out, they should abide by the desire of the general populace. That's what "adults" do.

[gizmo]

 

I've never seen anyone wear a jacket with a polo shirt. A polo shirt with dockers would be more suited to casual nights, IMHO.

 

I have seen plenty of guys wear dockers and a polo shirt under a sports coat on informal nights.

[Esme]

That's ridiculous. I've seen people get away with all kinds of dress code violations.(shorts, flip flops, bathing suite, no jacket on formal night)

 

 

Who are you kidding? :rolleyes: Come on - get real and stop trying to disturb the "you know what", because no one's going to believe you. That will be the day you see anyone in a bathing suit in the dining room on a HAL ship. Maybe you saw it in the dining room on another line and dreamed of being dressed like this on a HAL ship. :D

 

Now as for flip flops and no jacket on formal, I can say I have seen this. In fact last year one gal in our group, only had one pair of shoes and they were flips flops - the kind you would wear to the pool. And NO, she didn't lose her luggage - she was just too lazy to pack anything else, including proper attire. :p

[JoyAnn]

I have seen plenty of guys wear dockers and a polo shirt under a sports coat on informal nights.

 

 

I don't ever recall seeing that, it must look bizarre. It's the wrong type of shirt entirely for a sports coat. Collar, sleeves, placket, everything.

[doone]

I have seen the same thing as Gizmo in the dining room, it doesn't look bad and they are conforming with the dress code for the evening.

[JoyAnn]

OK, I'll have to keep my eyes open on my cruise in September. Maybe I just missed the polo shirt under the sport jacket thing. They belong with a wind breaker, IMHO or outdoors type jacket. I just can't picture it at all, maybe that's why I missed it.

 

 

I have seen the same thing as Gizmo in the dining room, it doesn't look bad and they are conforming with the dress code for the evening.

[Tarkus]

as somebody that belongs to a golf & country club, dockers (aka khakis around here), a polo shirt (aka golf shirt), and blue sportcoat is the epitome of "country club casual" for events. it's definitely not at all out of the ordinary, and it's predominantly what i saw gentlemen wearing when i sailed on the zuiderdam... except for most guys not bothering with the sport jacket.

[gizmo]

Like Tarkus posted, the majority of men in jackets wore a polo shirt/golf shirt under the jacket on all my cruises.

[dakrewser]

I don't ever recall seeing that, it must look bizarre. It's the wrong type of shirt entirely for a sports coat. Collar, sleeves, placket, everything.

 

Perhaps it's your "picture" of a polo shirt that needs adjusting. Or, maybe, you've seen them in the DR with a blazer (most of the rest of us have, and many of us dress that way) and it looked fine so you didn't register it as a "polo shirt"...

[JoyAnn]

I will take your word for it, I must be blind to this trend. We always sit by ourselves, I could need new eyeglasses.

 

 

Like Tarkus posted, the majority of men in jackets wore a polo shirt/golf shirt under the jacket on all my cruises.

[Stevesan]

Now as for flip flops and no jacket on formal, I can say I have seen this. In fact last year one gal in our group, only had one pair of shoes and they were flips flops - the kind you would wear to the pool. And NO, she didn't lose her luggage - she was just too lazy to pack anything else, including proper attire. :p

 

If flip-flops are good enough for a White House reception........

[JoyAnn]

That could very well be, or I just need new glasses.

 

We are talking about those knit shirts with the short sleves that have a ribbed sort of edge, ribbed collar, and a button down placket with two or three buttons, etc? I just can't get such a casual shirt into my mind belonging under a sports jacket. I don't think there is anything wrong with them, they are just very casual shirts, IMHO. I always thought you put a short of long sleeved dress shirt under a blazer or sports coat.

 

 

Perhaps it's your "picture" of a polo shirt that needs adjusting. Or, maybe, you've seen them in the DR with a blazer (most of the rest of us have, and many of us dress that way) and it looked fine so you didn't register it as a "polo shirt"...

[Giorgi-one]

Can I wear a ruffled polo shirt with my tux? How about a polo cummerbund? Do you have to play polo in order to wear a polo shirt?

 

Why do some people insist on wearing the same clothes on a cruise that most pople wear when they mow their lawn (dockers and polo shirt)? Does that really make them feel good - like they are on a special vacation?