Wind Surf semi-formal dining shoes?

[WarrenLong]

I tend to travel with 2 pairs of shoes: robust sneakers and some Keen sandals.  It seems that sneakers and flip flops are pretty much banned outright for the semi-formal dining evenings.  Do I need to bring along a pair of leather shoes just for these 2 occasions?  Seems like a waste when I am trying to pack light...

 

 

[Griller]

I've been on WindSurf for a few weeks and didn't really notice any semiformal dining evenings, and certainly no formal ones.

I dressed neatly, you might call it country club casual at most,  and wore closed toe shoes every night the same, but they weren't shiny heavy ones, just some black Skechers I wore most of the time.

Flipflops are kinda downmarket for dinner anywhere except on the beach aren't they?

 

In the whole 3 weeks of the last cruise I only saw one other passenger wear a tie, some men occasionally wore jackets but mostly it was really casual. Polo shirt or golf shirt or Hawaiian, but not T shirts or wifebeater shirts.

I tend to wear a nice shirt and tie  most nights but they aren't your grandads boring old tie, more fun ties as they tend to have Elvis or Mona Lisa or some other art on.

This is not a ship to dress up in really.

[wolverineinOH]

I’m guessing by your name that you’re male (apologies if I’m wrong!)  My husband usually wears khakis and a polo for dinner with leather closed toe shoes. He brings a pair of sandals and tennis shoes as well. He wears one pair obviously then crams the other with socks and underwear so they fit pretty easily. We usually pack a single checked bag for the two of us 30”. We could easily do a carry on suitcase each, just hate dealing with competing for bin space. 

The only night he would wear shorts and sandals at dinner is the deck barbecue night. Otherwise as griller said country club casual is the norm.

[new_cruiser]

I'm kind of confused about what shoe requirements at dinner on Windstar are.

 

The Windstar website says:

https://www.windstarcruises.com/voyage-plan/faqs/

"Men's daytime wear: walking/ Bermuda shorts, polo shirts, khaki pants; in the evening, lightweight trousers and short-sleeved dress/polo shirts. No suits or ties. And no shorts, flip-flops, jeans, hats or t-shirts in AmphorA or Candles during the evening. "

It doesn't say anything about sneakers, trainers, athletic shoes. 

 

On the other hand, during my last cruise, at the initial talk, they included "trainers' in the list of what shouldn't be worn for dinner. I don't recall that being said on my prior Windstar cruises including one earlier in the year.

 

It was a Pacific crossing and an Alaska cruise and I'd only brought hiking shoes, the athletic shoes I prefer for walking and the ones that I use working out in the gym. I wore the hiking shoes most nights for dinner (Merril Moab) to comply with what was requested even though I don't see why that would be considered more dressed up than wearing my nice athletic shoes. A couple of nights, I didn't feel like wearing them after wearing them all day in port. Those nights, I wore my Brooks Ghost 10 or New Balance 880's and nothing was said about it.  

 

My next cruise is Panama and Costa Rica which has wet landings. So, I'll want to bring Keen sandals (similar to the OP), hiking shoes and athletic shoes. That's about my limit for packing shoes so if they say no trainers, it will be the sandals or the hiking shoes.

[minidonuts85]

My BF plans to wear his Columbia PFG slip ons for dinner. Tan in color, clean and versatile to wear during the day or walking around in port. We've got a week post-cruise land trip so we are trying to pack as light as possible.

[Strenz]

22 cruises with WS, my husband wears kakki pants, polo shirt, your type sandals ( TEVA closed toes ) with dark socks. We only do carry ons. Your shoes ( pucture ) are fine. Happy Sailing  

[WarrenLong]

Many thanks for all the feedback.  I am going with my closed toe sandals, probably with socks! 😎

[ridethetide]

My husband only brings athletic shoes on our WS cruises.  His footwear has never been mentioned in our 9 cruises.  You will be fine with the pictured footwear.  Enjoy!

[Cometman]

I bought some black sneakers before our last Windstar Cruise.... wore them every day... and night.

 

In my opinion I think they just don't want swimwear, shorts and t-shirts in the dining room in the evenings.

[WarrenLong]

Just thought I would add a couple of post-cruise comments to this thread.  We had no problems, and the staff was incredibly tolerant and understanding.  In fact, the first day we were too rattled to have remembered to dress up at all.  We volunteered to go back to our cabins and change, but the staff insisted on letting us through regardless, providing some ready-made excuses for us:  Things like "Maybe your bags were delayed getting to your cabin?" and "It is the first night, no problem".

 

Very pleasant and we never felt pressured by the staff.  Sometimes, we felt a little under-dressed when compared with some of the ladies evening wear.  But it was all good.  An excellent time.

[Cometman]

One Windstar cruise we were on a large group from the Rose Parade Committee was onboard. Those ladies had some very fancy evening gowns - way over dressed. It was a very interesting group to observe during the cruise.

[milepig]

I'm a big fan of some of the Ecco style shoes. Plain black, just formal enough that I can wear them to a business meeting and yet I can hike for miles in them.