young boy's aged 11 and 16 smart shorts mdr

[comxkid]

Please show us where these "rules" are on the RCI webpage. When looking at their site and searching, this is what comes up:

 

Q: What are the dress codes onboard? A: There are three distinct types of evenings onboard: casual, smart casual and formal. Suggested guidelines for these nights are: Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women

Notice the word that I have changed to red, SUGGESTED. This does not imply a rule. A rule would be use words such as prohibited. Perhaps in the past, they were "rules" and maybe some staff still try and enforce them, but my guess is that now they don't want to push the patrons too much as they rely on their gratuities for their pay. To me the suggestion is an attempt to keep the old tradition going, but not one they are going to "police" anymore as a whole company. If it is written anywhere on their site, I will be glad to stand corrected, but I don't see it anywhere.

 

Further down the same page that you were looking at is the following statement:

 

Remember, shorts, T-shirts, and bathing suits are not considered appropriate attire in the dining rooms at dinner.

[ratpackx5]

No, this is in the "elegant" MDR! :o;) The music is so loud you can barely hear yourself think and then they come out and sing and parade around the room. Thats the ONLY part of the MDR experience I absolutely cannot stand.

 

I have to agree. We went on our first cruise with my Dad who had cruised before and had told us about the MDR and how everyone dressed up as it was a nice place. I recall entering the room and thinking, what is all the fuss about. It is a big room with tables everywhere. Lots of noise from the music and waiters. Not really my idea of a place that would attempt to require such special dress.

[Sitzmark]

Lets just say that I've noticed that you seem to have many very specific opinions about RCI, its ships, policies and cruise experience - for someone who has never been on one. You're right though, that makes it less likely that it will bother me that your strictly second-hand opinions will bother me if they disagree with mine. ;)

 

 

You notice much that escapes me then. But that will keep us both content.

[Sweetest Sin]

Currently, it is printed in the Compass (although VERY small print) that "shorts are not permitted for dinner" and also on a sign outside most of the MDRs. :)

 

But, this isn't fleet wide. I have a February 2014 compass from the Allure and it states for casual attire "Please note that bare feet, short pants, caps and tank tops are not recommended at dinner in the Adagio Dining Rooms or any of our Specialty Restaurants."

 

Not all shorts are created equal. You can put together a very nice outfit, much nicer than khakis and a polo, that include shorts.

 

Also, for formal dining, the note is "Tonight is formal night. Jacket and dresses are acceptable attire for dining in the dining rooms or specialty restaurants." I most certainly see people wearing pants and skirts although they are not considered acceptable ;)

[Sitzmark]

No, this is in the "elegant" MDR! :o;) The music is so loud you can barely hear yourself think and then they come out and sing and parade around the room. Thats the ONLY part of the MDR experience I absolutely cannot stand.

 

lol, sounds splendid. Maybe I can get em to sing happy birthday and bang some trays together.

[CruiseTobey]

lol, sounds splendid. Maybe I can get em to sing happy birthday and bang some trays together.

 

Don't forget to twirl your napkin over your head :rolleyes:! I'm not even required to do that at my local Greek diner (where shorts are definitely permitted).

Edited June 17, 2014 by CruiseTobey

[ratpackx5]

Further down the same page that you were looking at is the following statement:

 

Remember, shorts, T-shirts, and bathing suits are not considered appropriate attire in the dining rooms at dinner.

 

Agreed, but it does not say that they are required, just not appropriate. Take a look around and there are a lot of things that are not deemed appropriate, but they are not prohibited. I am looking for the statement that says they are strictly prohibited. Then it becomes a rule, not a suggestion.

Edited June 17, 2014 by ratpackx5

[MandyMooToo]

Last year we took our 10 DD and 16 DS on their first cruise. Both were dressed as the code suggests. My daughter wore dresses. My son wore dress pants and shirts.

Teaching them how to dress and act at dinner is all part of growing up. No matter what the age. Was there extra cost to me to provide the clothing? Yes, but I considered that part of the expense of the trip.

 

+3 :)

 

Yep, took two boys/young men last year on Oasis, both 17 years old, both wore dress slacks, button up shirts and ties with dress shoes and a nice belt in the MDR. They were told before the cruise that they could adhere to dress code and eat in the MDR each night with us or they could be casual and eat in the many other places offered on the boat. They chose to dress appropriately and dine in the MDR some nights and at Sorrento's on the nights they did not feel like getting gussied up. ;)

[comxkid]

Agreed, but it does not say that they are required, just not appropriate. Take a look around and there are a lot of things that are not deemed appropriate, not they are not prohibited. I am looking for the statement that says they are strictly prohibited. Then it becomes a rule, not a suggestion.

 

So according to your interpretation of the statement, I should be able to dine barefoot if I chose to?

 

Everyone can choose to play the semantics game, but the implied intent of all statements from RCL is that shorts in the MDR at dinner is in the same classification as bare feet, tank tops, and ball caps.

 

Is banning shorts from the dinner room at dinner a good rule in my opinion....no. That is why I suggested earlier that RCL be contacted in as many ways as possible to eliminate the inclusion of shorts in any literature detailing suggested, recommended, appropriate, prohibited, or required items of clothing.

Edited June 17, 2014 by comxkid

[ryano]

But, this isn't fleet wide. I have a February 2014 compass from the Allure and it states for casual attire "Please note that bare feet, short pants, caps and tank tops are not recommended at dinner in the Adagio Dining Rooms or any of our Specialty Restaurants."

 

 

Yes the wording must differ from ship to ship and is at the hands of whoever writes the compass.

 

here is one from a recent cruise that clearly says "are not permitted". You have to squint to read it but its in there :)

 

I do not disagree with you that all shorts are not created equal and very much agree that a nice outfit can be put together using shorts.

 

[Adayatatime]

Yep, took two boys/young men last year on Oasis, both 17 years old, both wore dress slacks, button up shirts and ties with dress shoes and a nice belt in the MDR. They were told before the cruise that they could adhere to dress code and eat in the MDR each night with us or they could be casual and eat in the many other places offered on the boat. They chose to dress appropriately and dine in the MDR some nights and at Sorrento's on the nights they did not feel like getting gussied up. ;)

 

I have to say on my Indy cruise last year I saw many teenage girls dressed up to the nines, but I can't say I once saw any of the boys she had made friends with in ties. And that was during the summer hols in Europe with loads of teens on board.

[poncho1973]

And I must say, a mighty fine job you do at that too :D

Thank you, thank you!

 

Anytime you have extremely loud blaring music and a dancing and singing wait staff I think you can go ahead and scratch the words elegant or classy off.

 

And said blaring music sounds like it is being piped in from 1956 on a tin-can-on-a-string device, but as in Spinal Tap, it is cranked up to 11.

[Sitzmark]

Don't forget to twirl your napkin over your head :rolleyes:! I'm not even required to do that at my local Greek diner (where shorts are definitely permitted).

 

 

Opa!

[BamaGuy44]

Agreed, but it does not say that they are required, just not appropriate. Take a look around and there are a lot of things that are not deemed appropriate, but they are not prohibited. I am looking for the statement that says they are strictly prohibited. Then it becomes a rule, not a suggestion.

 

Take a look at the sign someone posted earlier in the thread from the Freedom. Clearly says "not permitted" but I'm not sure if that's on every ship.

 

But in any case, if something is "not considered appropriate" that obviously means they don't want you to wear it. They're wording it in a non-confrontational way, and it probably won't be strictly enforced since they have chosen not to confront people about it in most cases, but the intent is clear.

 

Nobody on the ship will stop you (probably) so no need to play semantic games to justify it.

[LMaxwell]

And said blaring music sounds like it is being piped in from 1956 on a tin-can-on-a-string device, but as in Spinal Tap, it is cranked up to 11.

 

Yeah, I never got THAT part. On a ship filled with good quality audio gear why don't they ever bring an audio engineer in to the dining room to make it sound good. It's always blaring noise. Like too much power being put through too few garbage speakers.

[ratpackx5]

Take a look at the sign someone posted earlier in the thread from the Freedom. Clearly says "not permitted" but I'm not sure if that's on every ship.

 

But in any case, if something is "not considered appropriate" that obviously means they don't want you to wear it. They're wording it in a non-confrontational way, and it probably won't be strictly enforced since they have chosen not to confront people about it in most cases, but the intent is clear.

 

Nobody on the ship will stop you (probably) so no need to play semantic games to justify it.

 

Not trying to justify anything, just tired of hearing that the dress code is a rule when it is not. It is a recommendation or suggestion, and that is RCI's wording. And stating it is not appropriate does indicate they would like us not to wear it, but they don't prohibit it from happening. At least not on all ships.

[MandyMooToo]

I have to say on my Indy cruise last year I saw many teenage girls dressed up to the nines, but I can't say I once saw any of the boys she had made friends with in ties. And that was during the summer hols in Europe with loads of teens on board.

 

I guess the way that I see it is "me and mine" will follow what we feel is the suggested/appropriate/recommended/etc. dress code and wear our fussy, gussy outfits in the MDR at dinner no matter what the other diners are wearing. I cannot speak for anyone else's teens, nor do I really care about what anyone else is wearing as it does not effect how my dinner tastes (which is what I am really concerned about :D) . I felt like telling the boys that they could wear whatever they wanted was saying the rules (suggestions-whatever) do not apply to them and so I gave them a rule of my own. Dress they way I say for dinner in the MDR or find another, more casual place to eat. Maybe I am in the minority but I did what I felt was best for my cruise, just as everyone else here will do what they think is best for their cruise.

Edited June 17, 2014 by MandyMooToo

[Adayatatime]

I guess the way that I see it is "me and mine" will follow what we feel is the suggested/appropriate/recommended/etc. dress code and wear our fussy, gussy outfits in the MDR at dinner no matter what the other diners are wearing. I cannot speak for anyone else's teens, nor do I really care about what anyone else is wearing as it does not effect how my dinner tastes (which is what I am really concerned about :D) . I felt like telling the boys that they could wear whatever they wanted was saying the rules (suggestions-whatever) do not apply to them and so I gave them a rule of my own. Dress they way I say for dinner in the MDR or find another, more casual place to eat. Maybe I am in the minority but I did what I felt was best for my cruise, just as everyone else here will do what they think is best for their cruise.

 

Fair enough. I think if everyone just applied their own thinking totheir wn familied and didn't worry about what others were wearing / doing it would all work out fine. Unfortunately there is an over interest in what others wear, for some reason.

[BamaGuy44]

Not trying to justify anything, just tired of hearing that the dress code is a rule when it is not. It is a recommendation or suggestion, and that is RCI's wording. And stating it is not appropriate does indicate they would like us not to wear it, but they don't prohibit it from happening. At least not on all ships.

 

Semantics. :rolleyes: rule/suggestion call it what you want. There is a dress code established. You are either complying with it or you're not. Just because there's no pants gestapo tackling people to prevent them from entering the MDR it doesn't change that fact.

 

The mental gymnastics people go through to pretend there's not really a dress code are hilarious. :cool:

[CruiseTobey]

The mental gymnastics people go through to pretend there's not really a dress code are hilarious. :cool:

 

And vice versa. :rolleyes:

[pcur]

I guess the way that I see it is "me and mine" will follow what we feel is the suggested/appropriate/recommended/etc. dress code and wear our fussy, gussy outfits in the MDR at dinner no matter what the other diners are wearing. I cannot speak for anyone else's teens, nor do I really care about what anyone else is wearing as it does not effect how my dinner tastes (which is what I am really concerned about :D) . I felt like telling the boys that they could wear whatever they wanted was saying the rules (suggestions-whatever) do not apply to them and so I gave them a rule of my own. Dress they way I say for dinner in the MDR or find another, more casual place to eat. Maybe I am in the minority but I did what I felt was best for my cruise, just as everyone else here will do what they think is best for their cruise.

 

I had the same question asked of me by my 30-something oldest son a few years ago. He was surprised about the dining room dress code, and asked me if he couldn't just wear his shorts.

 

I told him of course he could wear them, but he couldn't have dinner with me!

[MandyMooToo]

i had the same question asked of me by my 30-something oldest son a few years ago. He was surprised about the dining room dress code, and asked me if he couldn't just wear his shorts.

 

I told him of course he could wear them, but he couldn't have dinner with me!

 

Ha ha!

Edited June 17, 2014 by MandyMooToo

[awhcruiser]

Where is the like button?

I had the same question asked of me by my 30-something oldest son a few years ago. He was surprised about the dining room dress code, and asked me if he couldn't just wear his shorts.

 

I told him of course he could wear them, but he couldn't have dinner with me!

[LetsGetWet!]

Youve been on A cruise ship so you pretty much know what to expect. They are all just about the same when it comes to MDRs I would venture to guess.

 

Anytime you have extremely loud blaring music and a dancing and singing wait staff I think you can go ahead and scratch the words elegant or classy off.

No, this is in the "elegant" MDR! :o;) The music is so loud you can barely hear yourself think and then they come out and sing and parade around the room. Thats the ONLY part of the MDR experience I absolutely cannot stand.

Gee, we just returned recently from a (May) cruise and had dinner in the ship's MDR every evening. There was never loud music played, only soft background music that you had to concentrate on to even hear. No waitstaff ever did any singing or dancing at all the entire week either.

 

I guess apparently they really AREN'T "all just about the same" after all, huh? ;)

[LetsGetWet!]

We can debate whether it's a good rule/suggestion/guideline or not, whether it should be changed, etc but if someone reads that sign and wears shorts anyway, they're rude, sorry. And if the MDR staff choose not to make a scene about it and let it slide, it doesn't make it any less rude.

 

Will it ruin my meal or vacation? Absolutely not I doubt I personally would even notice, because I choose not to let others' behavior affect my mood. But still rude. IMO.

Short, concise, clear - and I agree completely.