Do many wear dress slacks to dinner?

[KKB]

DH is accustomed to other lines where we dress for dinner. Dress slacks with a nice golf shirt or a dress shirt on “formal night”. (Gave up suit/jacket some time ago...)

This is our first NCL cruise & I’m telling him khaki jeans or nice golf shorts r fine in MDR. He isn’t convinced. (Hilarious for a guy that has a pretty casual work environment...)

Will we see many in dress slacks?

[1025cruise]

Probably not.

One of the DRs is more "formal" than the other, but most people will be casual. Even in the specialties, except for the ones that require it, you won't see much.

 

However, if your DH wants to wear dress slacks, go for it.

[OCruisers]

You'll see both.  My husband wears dress slacks to dinner because they fit him better.  

[KateQ22003]

I see a lot of dress slacks in the specialty restaurants.

[Sauer-kraut]

Shorts and jeans are allowed in almost ANY restaurant on board.... just check the daily for the dress code. 

[Two Wheels Only]

He will see dress pants, khakis, jeans, and shorts in most restaurants. Even in the restaurants that require long pants, jeans are fine.

 

Some will wear a tie, some will wear a t-shirt. There are no formal nights on NCL but there are "dress up or not" nights when some will dress "higher" for photo ops. He will fit right in with "Dress slacks with a nice golf shirt" on any night in any restaurant on NCL. 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[havanadaydreaming]

I wear khakis at every non buffet meal, mainly cause I don't bring jeans. 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, KKB said:

DH is accustomed to other lines where we dress for dinner. Dress slacks with a nice golf shirt or a dress shirt on “formal night”. (Gave up suit/jacket some time ago...)

This is our first NCL cruise & I’m telling him khaki jeans or nice golf shorts r fine in MDR. He isn’t convinced. (Hilarious for a guy that has a pretty casual work environment...)

Will we see many in dress slacks?

Dockers and a polo shirt is ok in ALL restaurants. 
 

ALL restaurants except Le Bistro and one other allow shorts for ALL meals (the one other is ship dependent).  Le Bistro (being the fanciest NCL Restaurant) requires dockers or jeans. 

[ziggyuk]

I think shorts must be a bit ship dependant, I saw people turned away from the MDR (Tsar's Palace) on the Jewel last year.

 

[brookie848]

17 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

I think shorts must be a bit ship dependant, I saw people turned away from the MDR (Tsar's Palace) on the Jewel last year.

 

Shorts are fine in at least one of the MDRs (sometimes all -- depending on the ship).

 

Some of the ships have a no shorts rule for the "fancier" MDR. My husband usually brings one pair of khakis along with the jeans he wears on the plane. The nights he doesn't feel like dressing up, he wears shorts. No one bats an eye. If we go to a restaurant with a dress code, we follow it.

 

This is one of the main reasons we sail NCL. My husband dresses up for work every day. He doesn't want to have to do it every night on vacation -- and we are not buffet people, so that wouldn't work for us.

[JimR24]

We always eat in the main dining rooms when we cruise and I wear shorts/polo shirt every night.  They are nice shorts that I golf in but I don't bring any long pants at all and have never been turned away.  

[gymbomb]

We don't do shorts for dinner, but DH usually wears jeans. Sometimes we pick 1 night to wear nicer clothes, sometimes we don't.

[havanadaydreaming]

2 hours ago, brookie848 said:

Shorts are fine in at least one of the MDRs (sometimes all -- depending on the ship).

 

Some of the ships have a no shorts rule for the "fancier" MDR. My husband usually brings one pair of khakis along with the jeans he wears on the plane. The nights he doesn't feel like dressing up, he wears shorts. No one bats an eye. If we go to a restaurant with a dress code, we follow it.

 

This is one of the main reasons we sail NCL. My husband dresses up for work every day. He doesn't want to have to do it every night on vacation -- and we are not buffet people, so that wouldn't work for us.

I wear suit everyday day at work too. I look forward to not doing so on the open seas...

 

We usually hit buffet 1-2x a week on NCL. I'm not a food mailer but I like the spread and relaxed atmosphere.  

[All-ready2cruise]

For me, one of the things I love about NCL is that you can really be you. In other words, no one will critique your wearing apparel. You can be casual, resort casual, business casual, semi formal or formal. It's all up to you.  My DH and I would dress to the 9s when we were celebrating a special occasion. It's important that you and yours feel comfortable... just be you. JMO. Enjoy your cruise. 😉

[zqvol]

7 hours ago, KKB said:

DH is accustomed to other lines where we dress for dinner. Dress slacks with a nice golf shirt or a dress shirt on “formal night”. (Gave up suit/jacket some time ago...)

This is our first NCL cruise & I’m telling him khaki jeans or nice golf shorts r fine in MDR. He isn’t convinced. (Hilarious for a guy that has a pretty casual work environment...)

Will we see many in dress slacks?

 

Nothing wrong with dress slacks, about 40% will have them on, another 55% will wear "dockers" type chinos, and 5% will wear shorts. IN the Caribbean very few will have jeans, In AK and Canadian cruises maybe 35% of the men will wear jeans.

[don't-use-real-name]

Factor in the destination or ports of call weather and perhaps the time of the year

 

Caribbean - Mediterranean - any where it is warm and sunny shorts

Alaska Pre-Post season - fall New England Canada - Baltic - South America trouser/slacks/pants/jeans are more the norm

 

Whatever your legs can tolerate with the extremes

 

I wear kilts as a norm (my legs are acclimated to any weather) and have never had any problems with the restaurants

dress code requirements

[chill6x6]

I wear khaki's at the least.  If I go into  the MDR regardless of cruise line, I'm wearing some type of chino/khaki and a shirt with a collar. 

[calizona]

Sorry but I am on vacation I will be wearing jeans even bought a new pair last night just to wear to Le Bistro.

[Greek Boss]

On 11/28/2019 at 12:15 PM, Sauer-kraut said:

Shorts and jeans are allowed in almost ANY restaurant on board.... just check the daily for the dress code. 

On the Breakaway 2ish weeks ago we were turned away from the Manhattan Room because we were wearing shorts, so we changed into jeans and we were good. Happened to us on the Gem as well back in 2017. Seems like that along with Le Bistro is the only place where they enforce it. Never had any issues anywhere else.

[Two Wheels Only]

3 minutes ago, Greek Boss said:

On the Breakaway 2ish weeks ago we were turned away from the Manhattan Room because we were wearing shorts, so we changed into jeans and we were good. Happened to us on the Gem as well back in 2017. Seems like that along with Le Bistro is the only place where they enforce it. Never had any issues anywhere else.

 

The dress code for the Manhattan Room differs from ship to ship.

On some ships, shorts are allowed and on others, shorts are not allowed. 

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, Greek Boss said:

On the Breakaway 2ish weeks ago we were turned away from the Manhattan Room because we were wearing shorts, so we changed into jeans and we were good. Happened to us on the Gem as well back in 2017. Seems like that along with Le Bistro is the only place where they enforce it. Never had any issues anywhere else.

It isn’t a difference in enforcement, It’s a difference in the dress code Itself. Shorts are not allowed at Le Bistro On any ship, and at Manhattan (or similar aft restaurant) on most ships. Shorts are allowed everywhere else, other than maybe places like Ocean Blue/Bayamo.

 

Shorts are allowed in other places like Cagneys, for example.

 

Of course, enforcement does vary, as is demonstrated by reports of people being allowed into Le Bistro with shorts, but your experience fits in with the stated dress code.

Edited November 30, 2019 by KeithJenner

[ray98]

Khaki's are my go to for dinner.  

[delaware32]

Of the two MDR, the smaller allows shorts . Specialty restaurants ask that long trousers be worn .

[Oakman58]

When I go to dinner in the main dining rooms I always wear a pair of black slacks but they really aren't dress slacks.  The ambiance in some of the main dining rooms is quite elegant so I try to look like I know how to dress in such a setting.  I really don't want people thinking I have no couth or proper upbringing and manners.  On my last cruise in September on the Breakaway I was surprised that I didn't see any men wearing baseball caps on their heads in the Manhattan Dining Room.  That was a nice surprise.  Also I don't think that wearing slacks and a collared shirt should be considered dressing up.  Just my opinion of course from an "old school" kind of guy.

 

[KeithJenner]

53 minutes ago, delaware32 said:

Of the two MDR, the smaller allows shorts . Specialty restaurants ask that long trousers be worn .

That isn't correct.

 

Shorts are fine in most speciality restaurants. Only Le Bistro and possibly Ocean Blue/Bayamo don't allow them.