Dress code suggestions

[SPNJHockey]

Will be on Breakaway for 7 nights going up to Maine, Halifax, Boston & Newport.  Will there be theme nights or types of dress for certain evenings?  We like to dress semi formal.

[www3traveler]

There should be themed dance party nights- but no special clothing is required.

 

Norwegian does not require semi or formal dress.  The only time you will see people dress up is at Christmas and New Year's.  Resort casual is how most people dress.  Long pants and close toed shoes are required for the French restaurant and maybe one of the main dining rooms.

 

Enjoy your cruise 

[cruiseny4life]

You'll feel right at home each evening if you dress semi-formally. There aren't formal nights, gala nights, or dress your best nights. There's come as you are, within certain parameters.

From what I've noticed, it seems Breakaway might have a slightly more upscale dress code for the Manhattan Room (largest of the various main dining rooms). By slightly more upscale, I mean that I've read comments from people that claim they weren't allowed in with fancy shorts or flip flops on. That's just me identifying trends as I peruse Facebook and Cruise Critic over the last couple of years. I haven't sailed Breakaway. 

Here's what the dining room dress code placard stated from Pr1ma stated back in November 2023:

 

 

Personally, I wear shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops or sneakers to every meal. 

[JSar]

22 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

There should be themed dance party nights- but no special clothing is required.

 

Norwegian does not require semi or formal dress.  The only time you will see people dress up is at Christmas and New Year's.  Resort casual is how most people dress.  Long pants and close toed shoes are required for the French restaurant and maybe one of the main dining rooms.

 

Enjoy your cruise 

OK... regarding Christmas and New Year's... will we feel out of place if we choose NOT to dress  up? Or will there be enough of a mix of casual vs fancy to go either way? I will be on a cruise for both this year. In the Caribbean. Wasn't planning to bring any fancy clothes for a beach/cruise holiday

[mcmomny]

We have been on many NCL ships before but on The Breakaway two weeks ago my husband felt under dressed at Ocean Blue, he was wearing his typical resort casual of long khaki's and a button down shirt.

 

He wished he had brought dress slacks, as many men were in sports coats.

 

With that being said, all other meals he felt comfortable, including The Manhattan Room as we saw shorts and t-shirts on men often. And several men who did not remove their baseball caps!

 

Which we frown on but it seems to be allowed more and more often.

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

3 minutes ago, JSar said:

OK... regarding Christmas and New Year's... will we feel out of place if we choose NOT to dress  up? Or will there be enough of a mix of casual vs fancy to go either way? I will be on a cruise for both this year. In the Caribbean. Wasn't planning to bring any fancy clothes for a beach/cruise holiday

I say no. We sailed New Year's 2022/2023. We don't dress up, as I stated above. On New Year's Eve I had a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on. I didn't feel out of place, but I don't feel out of place. If you care what others think, then perhaps you will. I find it easier to worry about my husband - if he's good with what I have on, then I'm happy. Having said that, there were plenty of other folx dressed like us. We did notice more cruisers dressed up on our New Year's cruise than on any other cruise, though. 

[www3traveler]

10 minutes ago, JSar said:

OK... regarding Christmas and New Year's... will we feel out of place if we choose NOT to dress  up? Or will there be enough of a mix of casual vs fancy to go either way? I will be on a cruise for both this year. In the Caribbean. Wasn't planning to bring any fancy clothes for a beach/cruise holiday

NO not all all.  You will find that sometimes one member of a couple will dress up and other not.  I have seen ladies all dressed up and their partners in blue jeans and t-shirts.  I have a long comfortable dress that is at least 20 years old that I wear.  Comfortable is the word.

[complawyer]

along with the concept of free style dining, and other than the few requirements for le bistro and manhatten. there are no dress requirements for anyone on an ncl cruise. Regardless of the length 

of my cruise, i'm usually in jeans, sweats, and old navy t-shirts, (not the underware type)

 

footware, usually tennis shoes/ no-socks most of the  time, and i never bring any clothes more dressy than that. you will feel right at home dressed casually. for whatever nights may be set aside for formal picture taking, I dont even bother. only sailed one time for christmas/new years, and i dressed as if it were an ordinary day.

 

i assure you, you will never (unless it's your personal paranoia) feel underdressed or out of place.

 

having had to wear a suit and tie almost exclusively for 40 years, if wherever i may be requires that, surprise/surprise, i aint going!!! LOL

[yakcruiser]

5 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

NO not all all.  You will find that sometimes one member of a couple will dress up and other not.  I have seen ladies all dressed up and their partners in blue jeans and t-shirts.  I have a long comfortable dress that is at least 20 years old that I wear.  Comfortable is the word.

I was going through my closet the other day and found a couple of shirts I had not worn for 20 years or so. It was amazing how much they shrunk just sitting there.

[grouchomarx]

You can dress up if you like.  I was one of the most dressy people on my last two NCL cruises but that is just my style.  I always wear a nice dress or skirt and blouse with heels usually, nice jewelry and a clutch.  Most others were much much more casual so it’s really anything goes aside from the few rules mentioned here already.  I dress on a cruise how I would to dine out at home.

[SPNJHockey]

Thanks everyone.  All info provided - was helpful.

[JSar]

5 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

If you care what others think, then perhaps you will. 

Normally I don't care, but my kids might if we are practically the only ones "under dressed" on the holidays! If it is a nice mix of casual, business casual, dressy, and formal... they will be fine. But if we are casual and almost everyone is dressy/formal... might put my daughter into a tailspin. 

[grouchomarx]

16 minutes ago, JSar said:

Normally I don't care, but my kids might if we are practically the only ones "under dressed" on the holidays! If it is a nice mix of casual, business casual, dressy, and formal... they will be fine. But if we are casual and almost everyone is dressy/formal... might put my daughter into a tailspin. 

On NCL I would not worry.  It’s literally anything goes.  Just do what you like. Nobody I saw was like a super slob or anything, it was just a wide range of styles.  We all felt ok around each other.  There will be nobody formal trust me.

[complawyer]

jstar, if anything, you might find your self over-dressed. rare on an ncl cruise is there anyone that fits under dressy formal

[cruiseny4life]

10 hours ago, JSar said:

Normally I don't care, but my kids might if we are practically the only ones "under dressed" on the holidays! If it is a nice mix of casual, business casual, dressy, and formal... they will be fine. But if we are casual and almost everyone is dressy/formal... might put my daughter into a tailspin. 

I think you'll be fine being casual. The only exception I would make is New Year's Eve/Day. Those are the two meals (dinners) that I saw more folks dress more fashionably than any other time. You would, however, be totally fine with a pair of Dockers and polo shirt. I'm not so sure that's "fashionable" anymore, but it would certainly be formal enough to fit right in the middle of those dining. 

 

(And yes, y'all, I know Dockers/polo is not actually formal and certainly isn't fashionable).

[DorothyB]

I will be one of those who is dressed in clean, dark jeans and a blouse for any formal occasions on board 🙂

[BirdTravels]

20 hours ago, SPNJHockey said:

Will be on Breakaway for 7 nights going up to Maine, Halifax, Boston & Newport.  Will there be theme nights or types of dress for certain evenings?  We like to dress semi formal.

No one cares what you wear.

 

Shorts are allowed in all restaurants for all meals except Le Bistro and Ocean Blue specialty restaurants where gents are asked to wear long pants (jeans or dockers are fine). If you dress "semi formal", you would be overdressed for NCL, but no one cares. The only ones who are dressed up are the 20-somethings that dress to impress.

Edited Tuesday at 04:06 PM by BirdTravels

[JSar]

@grouchomarx @cruiseny4life   @complawyerYeah.... I was only asking because someone talked about Christmas and New Years in particular. I just wanted to be prepared if a huge percentage of people dressed up for the holidays. The rest of the time we would dress more comfortably but appropriate for general restaurant dining. Nothing fancy.... but not too underdressed either. 

Edited Tuesday at 11:04 PM by JSar

[complawyer]

no one will look down on you if you are casually dressed, even if it's christmas or new years eve.

 

besides, why would you care what a bunch of strangers, that you will probably never,ever see again, much less talk to, in  your entire life, think.

 

me, i dont care, i'm wearing jeans or sweats, and laugh on the inside if anyone is seated in a tux or formal dress (overkill for ncl)

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, JSar said:

@grouchomarx @cruiseny4life   @complawyerYeah.... I was only asking because someone talked about Christmas and New Years in particular. I just wanted to be prepared if a huge percentage of people dressed up for the holidays. The rest of the time we would dress more comfortably but appropriate for general restaurant dining. Nothing fancy.... but not too underdressed either. 

We do Thanksgiving cruises and wear shorts to the buffet for dinner. Our philosophy is that the buffet is more like Thanksgiving dinner at home (and we would be in shorts for Thanksgiving at home). Eat what you want, as much as you want. I don't need to go to the MDR had have a waiter serve me what NCL considers a "Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner". And the buffet often makes an effort by setting all of the tables with tablecloths and festive decorations. 

 

 

[Panhandle Couple]

Resort casual for men these days includes faux Hawaiian shirts from various mid-level fashion labels.

 

People tend to dress a little nicer at all specialty restaurants, including Cagney's.  The worst dressed folks we have seen recently (Escape in Europe - June 2024) at Cagney's were a party of six from France sitting near us. Maybe Euro-grunge (and that is being polite) is a thing?

 

Our Christmas cruise last year had plenty of cute-sie matching flannel pajamas for the whole family. OK, it was Christmas morning, then midday, then evening, then 3 days AFTER Christmas.  Yeah, too much.

[BVILady]

On 9/16/2024 at 3:38 PM, www3traveler said:

There should be themed dance party nights- but no special clothing is required.

 

Norwegian does not require semi or formal dress.  The only time you will see people dress up is at Christmas and New Year's.  Resort casual is how most people dress.  Long pants and close toed shoes are required for the French restaurant and maybe one of the main dining rooms.

 

Enjoy your cruise 

Closed toe shoes for ladies? Had not planned on bringing any and have reservations for the French Restaurant.

[debenson0723]

2 hours ago, BVILady said:

Closed toe shoes for ladies? Had not planned on bringing any and have reservations for the French Restaurant.

I don't even own a pair of closed toe shoes and have eaten at Le Bistro multiple times.

[www3traveler]

4 hours ago, BVILady said:

Closed toe shoes for ladies? Had not planned on bringing any and have reservations for the French Restaurant.

Think it5 is a men only rule.  If you are going to do a Behind The Scenes tour, then everyone needs to wear closed toed shoes-  tennies work.

[armwinder]

On 9/16/2024 at 1:03 PM, mcmomny said:

We have been on many NCL ships before but on The Breakaway two weeks ago my husband felt under dressed at Ocean Blue, he was wearing his typical resort casual of long khaki's and a button down shirt.

 

He wished he had brought dress slacks, as many men were in sports coats.

 

With that being said, all other meals he felt comfortable, including The Manhattan Room as we saw shorts and t-shirts on men often. And several men who did not remove their baseball caps!

 

Which we frown on but it seems to be allowed more and more often.

 

 

The ball cap thing is disappointing, we were on the Prima a few months back and a family came in to Hudson’s all wearing ball caps. They were asked to remove them and they did only to “re-apply” them immediately. No class, some wear them sideways or backwards possibly to look more formal or it could be the locked position. Great to see folks nicely dressed, the ladies usually put in more of an effort. We have done many Christmas cruises and it’s fun to see all kinds of outfits, some dress as elves and there is usually a Santa or two. Families sometimes all dress alike in matching sleepwear and the like.