Dinner Attire

[misty1982]

Hello! My family (my, hubby, and 2 sons ages 8 and 3) are excited about our first Alaska cruise (and our kids' first cruise) next month. We will be on the May 16th 8 day Carnival Legend cruise out of Vancouver. I've read various opinions of appropriate dinner attire. Some say people really dress up because Alaska is more of a "once in a lifetime" cruise. Others say they really dress down (jeans and a nice shirt) other than formal nights.

 

We enjoy dressing up occasionally but want to make sure we are dressed appropriately I certainly wouldn't mind saving some luggage space if possible.

 

Any advice on what attire is expected for Carnival Alaska cruises? :):D

[Budget Queen]

It is the same on every Alaska cruise, what you post is acceptable attire. You are going to find a WIDE range accepted. Including what some consider "casual" on "formal" nights. Just about anything gos. No problem even with t shirts on casual nights.

[misty1982]

It is the same on every Alaska cruise, what you post is acceptable attire. You are going to find a WIDE range accepted. Including what some consider "casual" on "formal" nights. Just about anything gos. No problem even with t shirts on casual nights.

 

Thanks so much!

[TheCalicoCat]

Hello! My family (my, hubby, and 2 sons ages 8 and 3) are excited about our first Alaska cruise (and our kids' first cruise) next month.

 

Do you want a nice family photo - pack accordingly. You won't be over dressed - on my AK cruise there were people dressed to the 9's & some dressed business casual, & some dressed fairly casual.

 

I've been on several Carnival cruises & have never seen them turn anyone away from dinner...

[luvstocruzok]

We sailed the Carnival Miracle in Alaska two years ago. Most people wore jeans in the dining room except for the formal nights. On formal nights, slacks and collared shirt for men and slacks and dressy shirt for women were common. During the day, active wear, leggings, jeans, jackets were what people wear. I do think Carnival is casual plus it was cold. I don't think the ships are heated and with the doors opening and closing to the outside all the time, the ship is cold. Don't miss standing on the upper decks when sailing the fjord. It was really nice. It was cold, but they have blankets for you. I never needed gloves but a lot if people were bundled up from head to toe.

[sherryf]

I don't think the ships are heated and with the doors opening and closing to the outside all the time, the ship is cold.

 

Of course the ships are heated, or air conditioned, as needed. :rolleyes:

[K.T.B.]

We sailed the Carnival Miracle in Alaska two years ago. Most people wore jeans in the dining room except for the formal nights. On formal nights, slacks and collared shirt for men and slacks and dressy shirt for women were common. During the day, active wear, leggings, jeans, jackets were what people wear. I do think Carnival is casual plus it was cold. I don't think the ships are heated and with the doors opening and closing to the outside all the time, the ship is cold. Don't miss standing on the upper decks when sailing the fjord. It was really nice. It was cold, but they have blankets for you. I never needed gloves but a lot if people were bundled up from head to toe.

 

This was my experience on the 2 Alaskan cruises I've done with Carnival as well. I have seen more tuxes on these cruises than any Carnival Caribbean cruise though. (First one I rented a tux, the second one I just brought a jacket.)

[misty1982]

Thanks everyone!!! Hubby and I have lost a combined total of 65 lbs over the past 6 week. I anticipate we'll have lost 80 or more pounds together by the time we sail on 5/16. It's refreshing to know we can save luggage space and keep attire fairly simple :)

 

By the way, the cold doesn't scare us!!! We're from Northern Indiana and are just coming our of our winter season so our cold weather clothes haven't even made it out of our closets yet :)

[poss]

Hi Misty,

 

Just wanted to say that what you've described (jeans and a nice shirt) is, in fact, not acceptable on every Alaska cruise. I know of no luxury line which accepts jeans for dinner (except for the last night).

 

Main thing, though, I want to mention that when I have questions about things like attire, etc., I find that I always get the most accurate information by posting on my "own" ship's board rather than the "place" boards. I greatly value these opportunities to post as well-- they've been invaluable-- but only for certain kinds of things: Details about what's expected (or to be found) on a particular cruise line, I think that the line's boards are usually a better bet.

 

Happy sails to you and your family!

 

(I hope that you're able to do one of the Misty Fjords excursions!) ;-)

Edited April 18, 2016 by poss

[misty1982]

Hi Misty,

 

Just wanted to say that what you've described (jeans and a nice shirt) is, in fact, not acceptable on every Alaska cruise. I know of no luxury line which accepts jeans for dinner (except for the last night).

 

Main thing, though, I want to mention that when I have questions about things like attire, etc., I find that I always get the most accurate information by posting on my "own" ship's board rather than the "place" boards. I greatly value these opportunities to post as well-- they've been invaluable-- but only for certain kinds of things: Details about what's expected (or to be found) on a particular cruise line, I think that the line's boards are usually a better bet.

 

Happy sails to you and your family!

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm new to CC and still figuring it out. We are cruising with Carnival which is certainly not known for luxury cruises and while we've cruised with carnival before it's been about 10 years and always in the Caribbean.

 

The main reason I chose to post here is because I believe my ship has been sailing in Australia and will go to Hawaii prior to heading to Vancouver where we will board for its first sailing to Alaska this year so I was afraid recent cruisers who may read would have a different opinion based on the different iteneraries.

Edited April 18, 2016 by misty1982

[poss]

Misty, click on "Carnival" in the Cruise Lines section of CC (near the top), and then once you're there, look for the word "Search" in the top right of the Carnival section. If you type in the word "Alaska," a number of posts should come up with questions and answers about just Alaska cruising. You may find just the kind of details you're looking for-- and if not, you can post your specific question(s) and start a thread of your own. No doubt, folks who've traveled with Carnival to Alaska in the past will be happy to answer any questions you may have. It's also fun to start a thread on the "Roll Call" section for Carnival: That way you can "get to know" some of your future cruise mates (some of whom may have traveled to Alaska with Carnival in the past).

 

So nice that you're able to do these things with your young family!

[Putterdude]

Here is a link to Carnival's dress code. We don't sail Carnival but our experience in Alaska is that the dress code no different there than on any other itinerary.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1093/~/what-to-wear---evenings

[misty1982]

Here is a link to Carnival's dress code. We don't sail Carnival but our experience in Alaska is that the dress code no different there than on any other itinerary.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1093/~/what-to-wear---evenings

 

Thanks - very clearly says that jeans are acceptable on casual nights. As I posted earlier, it has been 9 or 10 years since our last cruise. It seems that the dress code is more lax now. I don't recall seeing anyone in jeans or shorts in the main dining room. We always dressed up and enjoyed it but clothing appropriate for Caribbean weather takes up much less space than what we'll need for Alaska and since most of what we take will be new due to our recent and ongoing weight loss it'll be nice to purchase more things that we'll use often at home!

[marshhawk]

I plan on layering clothes on our Carnival Legend Alaska cruise-if it's warm enough in the MDR I might actually get to take off enough layers to get to the formal layer.:) But I too don't remember any heat on a ship. In fact when we cruised from Jacksonville once and the temps were in the high 30's we were all given extra blankets and told that the ships had no heat.

 

They may have updated the ships "reconfigured" once they started sailing Alaska, but since they are primarily used for warmer climes, I cant see that being done.

 

I actually think this was a great link to post in, as so many folks who are cruising Alaska this year are here looking for information, including what to wear, on ship and off.