Proper dress for dinner/freestyle

[michelle49]

Hi, I was wondering what people wear to dinner for freestyle dining, especially women. Do they mostly wear dresses or capri's??? I know you are probably not allowed to wear shorts.

[shoreguy]

Hi, I was wondering what people wear to dinner for freestyle dining, especially women. Do they mostly wear dresses or capri's??? I know you are probably not allowed to wear shorts.

 

From NCL.com

 

http://www.ncl.com/more/fp_mi_w2n.htm#dress

 

[/url]Dress Code in Dining Rooms

Freestyle Cruising gives our guests the freedom to dress as they please. Resort casual attire is always appropriate morning, noon and night. However, NCL/ NCLA does not allow any blue jeans, t-shirts, shorts, cut-offs, tank tops, bare feet, etc. in any of our fine dining restaurants for dinner, including all main restaurants, alternative restaurants, and cover charge venues.

Guests are allowed to wear blue jeans, shorts and t-shirts, in the evenings at the buffets, outdoor barbeques, and 24-hour venues, such as the Blue Lagoon, the Cadillac diner, etc.

Below are a few exceptions to the dining room dress code:

Blue Jeans will be allowed in all dining rooms on all Houston departures, due to the Texas culture.

Blue Jeans will be allowed in the Trattoria's in the evenings.

Bermuda shorts with knee high socks, or Scottish kilts with knee highs will also be allowed in all dining rooms in Bermuda as these are considered formal dress in Bermuda.

Hawaiian shirts are allowed with proper slacks in all dining rooms.

Ladies Capri Pants, which are a length between the knee and ankles, are acceptable in all fine dining rooms as long as they are not blue jean capris.

[jp2001]

No shorts in dinning room is the rule.

You will see people wearing all types of outfits.

I will tell you what I wore and I never felt out of place.

One casual night, I opted for a cocktail dress and while most people were not as dressy, I only got approbing looks(''approbing'' is that a word???? sorry if it's not, English in my 2nd language). We had opted for Salsa, the TexMex speciality restaurant free of charges.

Embarkation (NY in December): black pants with ''chineese style'' top. Closed black shoes.

Monday (formal optional) : black cocktail dress with black and red jewellery and 3'' high red sandals.

Tuesday: Pink skirt (short skirt) with creme and pink top. 1'' high beige sandals

Wednesday: Black skirt (short skirt) with nice black and white top. beige (nude color) sandals

Thursday: White skirt with stripped (white, blue, beige) top. Beige sandals

Friday: Cocktail dress (brown and red) with red sandals.

Saturday: Again a skirt with panty hose and a little vest (coming close to New York, getting colder). Closed black shoes.

As you can see, I tried to cut down on the shoes since they take so much room in suitcase. I brought outfits that fit with 3 pairs of shoes (I would have done 2 if were not leaving from New York in December). I also packed 1 pair of beach flip flops and I was wearing my running shoes on embarkation day. Sometimes, I would wear a skirt for dinner and wearing the same skirt with a t-shirt and comfy beige sandals (or with running shoes, depending on the activities of the day) the day after for shore excursion). I like short skirts, they don't take much room and you can easily dress them up or down depending on accessories. One example: I wore a black skirt for dinner one night with a nice black and white top with a cute necklace. The day after, I wore the same skirt with my running shoes and a tank top for a day ashore. Used the same skirt twice and didn't feel like wearing the same stuff at all.

[mbisson]

However, NCL/ NCLA does not allow any blue jeans, t-shirts, shorts, cut-offs, tank tops, bare feet, etc. in any of our fine dining restaurants for dinner, including all main restaurants, alternative restaurants, and cover charge venues. [/size]

 

Howdy shoreguy,

I've seen so many complaints about the food recently, that I'm sure some would argue that NCL doesn't have any "fine dining restaurants" so therefor anything goes. LOL All I can say is I've never had a problem getting something I like (but I haven't cruised since Dec)

 

I'm having trouble keeping up. We're buying a new house (moving), and I'm retiring at the same time (trying to straighten out any last minute things for the next person).

 

-Monte

[michelle49]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you dressed really pretty.

[can'twaittogoagain]

In the main dining rooms and/or specialty restaurants I have gotten along nicely with a capris/cropped pant and nice top of some sort..sometimes a lightweight shell/sweater set, sometimes something beaded or sequined. I have found I prefer not to wear totally sleeveless or camis alone because some of the air conditioning can be pretty cool...Other ladies are wearing short skirts/tops. I saw an occasional cocktail dress. Most often a dressier top with slacks/capris or skirt. My husband usually wears khaki pant with a polo or a collared short sleeve shirt. I don't pack alot of different shoes, but that is just me...we travel relatively light. I usually wear a strappy sandal and see lots of those. I have seen dressier beaded flip-flops and also open-toed heels.... The beauty of it is you can pretty much express yourself the way you prefer within the guidelines of NCL's policy..and be just fine. Enjoy!

[NorthernNeighbour]

One of the beauties of sailing on NCL is that you can probably dress up or dress down pretty much as far up or down as you like -- within the broad guidelines set by NCL.

 

The last time I was on NCL, I had a lovely dinner in the (for a fee) restaurant called LE BISTRO -- excellent. We dressed up as did almost everyone else dining there.

 

On another night, we just headed for the "cafeteria style" restaurant since we were not very hungry and just wanted a glorified snack.

 

While not the finest of gourmet cuisine is offerred on NCL (except for LE BISTRO which I found to be excellent, especially the BOEUF WELLINGTON and the CREME BRULEE), they do offer a wide choice of restaurants -- and part of freestyle dining means you can pick and choose and not have to dine with the same people every night.

 

(On one NCL voyage I took, I would have hated to have been stuck with the same couple at our table who joined us on the third evening. They did nothing but insult Canadians which was not very pleasant to say the least. However, being the good Canadians we are, we realized every country has its bigots and obnoxious types -- so we got a big laugh later when someone else who was not Canadian managed to make them look foolish indeed.)

 

So, if you are on NCL, just pick and choose -- dine upscale, dine downscale, dress up or dress down -- it's nice to know you can!!!

[jennylane]

we dined most nights in the specialty restaurants. but i dressed basically the same regardless of what restaurant i was going to. i usually wore a fun patterned summer skirt with a strappy (dressy) tank top and a very lightweight sweater. one night i wore a split skirt that looked like a skirt but was actually pants. every night i wore sandles that while they were cute, i would not classify them as 'dress sandles'. nor would i ever say i was wearing anything that was 'cocktail attire'. but i was more dressed up than capri pants.

 

dh wore khakis and a button down long sleeved shirt at his nicest, and wore black jeans and a nice button down shirt one night and had no problem. no tennis shoes, he wore casual brown loafers all evenings.

 

i always saw people dressed up more and also less than we were, so i wouldnt stress about it. capris are fine, i saw lots of them.

 

one thing i did notice that surprised me was ultra-casual in the main dining rooms for lunch. i saw women in shorts and their swimsuit tops with no coverups, and men in their swim trunks and a tank top. yuck.

[Zeno]

On our 3 NCL cruises:

My husband - never anything more dressy than docker style pants and a collared shirt

Me: sundress or pants and tops(not t-shirt but not dressy).

We dined at the main restaurants, the specialty restaurants and the buffet and never felt out of place anywhere.

[mousey]

I just got back from a spring break cruise on the NCL Dream.:)

 

I wore capris and short heels with sleeveless tops and a beige denim jacket just about every night except for the formal night. That night I wore a black jersey top with matching skirt and heels. Every night I dressed up my outfit with different costume jewlrey. I felt perfectly dressed the whole time.

 

The DH wore a suit and tie for formal night but could have gotten away with wearing a collared shirt and docker-type pants which is what he wore all other nights.

 

The DS wore collared shirts and docker-type pants.

 

The dress code is very informal. No shorts! We sailed out of Houston so jeans were allowed and people did wear them. :eek: