Dress Code 2022

[Cupkakes]

Hello! Would someone please advise of the dress code for the main dining room on the NCL Dawn? We are from FL, so pants is not something we typically wear unless it's cold. Are men's dress shorts appropriate or have the rules been lax these days? 

 

I also understand NCL is freestyle, however, how many "formal nights" could we expect on an 11 day itinerary if we choose to participate? 

 

 

 

Thank you in advance,

Sunny

[palpieha]

In the MDR, you are not allowed to wear a swimsuit. Any other type of shorts are fine.

 

There are no formal nights.

[palpieha]

Here are the full details from NCL:

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/what-clothes-should-i-pack

[ggTexasGal]

12 minutes ago, Cupkakes said:

Hello! Would someone please advise of the dress code for the main dining room on the NCL Dawn? We are from FL, so pants is not something we typically wear unless it's cold. Are men's dress shorts appropriate or have the rules been lax these days? 

 

I also understand NCL is freestyle, however, how many "formal nights" could we expect on an 11 day itinerary if we choose to participate? 

Thank you in advance,

Sunny

I would guess that you are about to get bombarded with advice!

With NCL you are not required to "Dress Up" (formally) on ANY night.

There will be one Main Dining room. On the Dawn that is either The Venetian (deck 6 AFT) or Aqua (deck 6 MID), and also Le Bistro, which DO NOT allow short for evening meals.

 

Don't feel that you "Shouldn't dress-up if you are so inclined!  Many cruisers still love to dress nicely for photos and such!!!

Edited November 28, 2022 by ggTexasGal
added info

[Two Wheels Only]

I believe that Venetian and Le Bistro require long pants for dinner. 

[KeithJenner]

4 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

I believe that Venetian and Le Bistro require long pants for dinner. 

That is correct.

[KeithJenner]

12 minutes ago, palpieha said:

In the MDR, you are not allowed to wear a swimsuit. Any other type of shorts are fine.

That is incorrect. Shorts aren’t allowed in most aft dining rooms on NCL. On the Dawn it is Venetian.

[don't-use-real-name]

There are two MDRs on the DAWN - the Aft Venetian dining room is the more formal of the

two (the other being the Aqua). For breakfast and lunch purposes there really is no dining

dress code - in the evening the Venetian the dress code is smart casual with men wearing

l-o-n-g pants - the Aqua shorts are OK.

The first cruise night on the ship - your checked luggage may not arrive at your stateroom

timely to change so with that all restaurant venues there is no dress code.

Subsequent cruise nights the Venetian MDR and LeBistro (specialty restaurant) have the

smart casual dress code in place.

 

If your cruise is into a humid tropical hot weather area - dress codes {maybe} lessen

[gmbhardy]

5 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

That is incorrect. Shorts aren’t allowed in most aft dining rooms on NCL. On the Dawn it is Venetian.

It’s been my experience on the breakaway class ships that only the Manhattan room on the Epic requires men to wear pants. I know technically the Epic is not a breakaway class ship but have the rules changed on the others.   Normally each ship has two restaurants with the pant dress code, those being Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.

[mjkacmom]

When we were on the Jewel years ago, my 12 year old son wore shorts in the fancy MDR, he was asked his age. I should’ve just packed some pants for him, he was tall.

[KeithJenner]

38 minutes ago, gmbhardy said:

It’s been my experience on the breakaway class ships that only the Manhattan room on the Epic requires men to wear pants. I know technically the Epic is not a breakaway class ship but have the rules changed on the others.   Normally each ship has two restaurants with the pant dress code, those being Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.

The lack of dress code in the aft MDR does, as you say, seem to be more on the newer ships (Breakaway and plus), but not all of those. I have certainly been on ships where the no shorts rule applied in 3 restaurants (Le Bistro, Ocean Blue and aft MDR).

 

This discussion is about the Dawn. The dress code in the aft MDR is much more common on the older ships.

 

I can say for sure that they shorts weren’t allowed in the aft MDR on the Dawn two months ago.

[palpieha]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

That is incorrect. Shorts aren’t allowed in most aft dining rooms on NCL. On the Dawn it is Venetian.

 

Sure, if you choose to go to the more formal MDR or Le Bistro, then pants are required.

 

But the point for the OP is that they don't need to pack pants, and can still eat in the MDR, wearing shorts, every night. It might not be every MDR, but there's always an MDR that allows shorts.

[cruiserbear55]

2 hours ago, Cupkakes said:

I also understand NCL is freestyle, however, how many "formal nights" could we expect on an 11 day itinerary if we choose to participate? 

 

   You'll have at least one "Dress up or Not" night. Some folks " dress to the nines" on these nights, have dinner, and then have formal photos taken, sometimes including the Captain, if he/she is available.

[KeithJenner]

14 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

 

   You'll have at least one "Dress up or Not" night. Some folks " dress to the nines" on these nights, have dinner, and then have formal photos taken, sometimes including the Captain, if he/she is available.

There may not be a dress up or not night. There hasn’t been one on either of our cruises this year, including on the Dawn.

 

Since covid they don’t seem to have restarted on some ships.

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Cupkakes said:

Hello! Would someone please advise of the dress code for the main dining room on the NCL Dawn? We are from FL, so pants is not something we typically wear unless it's cold. Are men's dress shorts appropriate or have the rules been lax these days? I also understand NCL is freestyle, however, how many "formal nights" could we expect on an 11 day itinerary if we choose to participate? 

You can wear shorts in all dining rooms for all meals except the Venetian main dining room and Le Bistro specialty dining where the ship requests that gents wear long pants (dockers or jeans are fine).

 

There are no formal nights. The "dress code" above holds for all nights. You can dress up any night you want and there will be photographer stations around the ship if you want to take a photo. Costs nothing to take as many photos as you want. Just costs if you want a print or the image. 

[The Traveling Man]

18 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You can wear shorts in all dining rooms for all meals except the Venetian main dining room and Le Bistro specialty dining where the ship requests that gents wear long pants (dockers or jeans are fine).

 

There are no formal nights. The "dress code" above holds for all nights. You can dress up any night you want and there will be photographer stations around the ship if you want to take a photo. Costs nothing to take as many photos as you want. Just costs if you want a print or the image. 

The last time we were on the Dawn was in September 2019 on a New England / Canada cruise from NYC.  I was somewhat surprised to see several men in Le Bistro wearing shorts, T shirts, and sandals.  The dress code requiring long trousers for men was on display at the hostess desk, but the restaurant staff did not seem to make any effort to enforce it.

[New2cruise2022]

I think NCL has done a good job creating an atmosphere of “vacation”. I understand some people liking dressing up and I encourage them to do as they like. But a vacation seems more fun to me if you aren’t spending time worrying about what other people are doing. If you are wearing pants and they are wearing shorts, I don’t think that it should be bothersome to either person. Raise a glass and offer a smile. People are different, so it shouldn’t matter. Some people will go to Cagneys and order a 32 oz tomahawk steak while another diner will order just a salad. It doesn’t matter. Just do you and enjoy. 

[TrumpyNor]

This sign was posted outside most restaurants on board on both the Gem and the Escape in July/August.... 

[Yesimapirate]

On 11/28/2022 at 2:38 PM, Cupkakes said:

Hello! Would someone please advise of the dress code for the main dining room on the NCL Dawn? We are from FL, so pants is not something we typically wear unless it's cold. Are men's dress shorts appropriate or have the rules been lax these days? 

 

I also understand NCL is freestyle, however, how many "formal nights" could we expect on an 11 day itinerary if we choose to participate? 

 

 

 

Thank you in advance,

Sunny

Hate to be off topic but I totally love that you're Sunny from Florida!

 

Enjoy your cruise 

[complawyer]

read my lips:  there is no dress code,(of course, within reason) only minor exception is le bistro requires men to have collared shirts. we have had dinner in the mdr, and i was wearing jeans, no one said a word. besides, there are ususally 2 mdr's with essentially the same menus. so if one doesnt work, go to the other.

[Two Wheels Only]

20 minutes ago, complawyer said:

read my lips:  there is no dress code,(of course, within reason) only minor exception is le bistro requires men to have collared shirts. we have had dinner in the mdr, and i was wearing jeans, no one said a word. besides, there are ususally 2 mdr's with essentially the same menus. so if one doesnt work, go to the other.

 

Jeans are allowed in EVERY restaurant on NCL. It's the length of the clothing that is the requirement for Smart Casual.

[gmbhardy]

On 11/28/2022 at 3:13 PM, gmbhardy said:

It’s been my experience on the breakaway class ships that only the Manhattan room on the Epic requires men to wear pants. I know technically the Epic is not a breakaway class ship but have the rules changed on the others.   Normally each ship has two restaurants with the pant dress code, those being Le Bistro and Ocean Blue.

Yes, I’m responding to my own post with updated information. Apparently on the Breakaway there are three restaurants with dress codes - Le Bistro, Ocean Blue, and Savor (one of the MDRs).

[Nilbog]

I cannot speak personally of the Dawn, but I just got off the Pearl and shorts/sandals were frequently seen in both main dining rooms.  The professed dress code for Le Bistro is smart casual, but we didn't eat there, so I can't attest to what was worn and/or acceptable there.  The aft dining room on the Pearl is the Summer Palace and we ate there frequently on our 11-day cruise and I often wore shorts and a t-shirt, and even sandals on some nights.

[ChiefMateJRK]

18 minutes ago, Nilbog said:

I cannot speak personally of the Dawn, but I just got off the Pearl and shorts/sandals were frequently seen in both main dining rooms.  The professed dress code for Le Bistro is smart casual, but we didn't eat there, so I can't attest to what was worn and/or acceptable there.  The aft dining room on the Pearl is the Summer Palace and we ate there frequently on our 11-day cruise and I often wore shorts and a t-shirt, and even sandals on some nights.

What the heck is “smart casual”?

[Nilbog]

8 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What the heck is “smart casual”?

Not very smart on dress codes, so we didn't eat there.  🤪