Does my 17 year old son need to wear a suit?

[Scott1990]

We are booked on the June 2007 Constellation Baltic/Russia cruise. We have never been on a cruise before. How "formal" is formal night? Can my 17 year old son get away with a navy blazer and nice pants, or must he wear a suit?

[Deb C.]

The navy blazer sounds perfect for "informal" evenings.

Maybe you could rent him a tux for the cruise. (buying one that he would outgrow in a few months wouldn't be economical, huh?) If he owns a suit, that would suffice for the "Formal" nights.

Have a great cruise with your son!!

[wa.mama]

On our cruise to Alaska, my sons were the only kids wearing tuxes. There were other kids dressed in blazers and ties, but mostly kids avoided formal night. The kids had fun dressing up though, and plan to bring their tuxes to the next cruise in November.

[The Cruise Advantage]

My take on this is if you leave it up to your child to wera a suit for a formal affair he would dress to what he thought is appropriate or what he wants to wear. A navy blazer and nice pants just doesn't fit in with the formal night attire. It would not be accepted at a wedding, prom or an important business function. A blazer and nice pants may be fine for a HS sports dinner or similar function, but what to do?

When our children came with us they were expected to dress their best for formal night.I didn't but a tux, but my son had a nice looking business siut to wear. I wanted him to understand and appreciate the vaule of looking their best so he could understand this for later in life, especially for important functions whether they be for business or other formal affairs. Encouraging your son to look his best instills a sense of pride in him.

You know your son and I'm sure you will want him to make good positve decisions. So talk to him and point out the upside and downside to a formal night.

There is one very positive side to this. He just might impress a number of females who may not leave him alone. I certainly would not have minded that at 17, even if he meets a nice looking girl from Russia or wherever and the phone bills are a bit high.

Michael

[4 cruisers]

We have always bought tuxes for our sons...the E-bay brand new $99- ones which include tie, cumberbun and shirt! They're polyester so they are light weight for packing, don't wrinkle, are comfy actually! Burlington Coat Factory (if you have one near you) has similar prices. All you have to do is hem the pants.

 

The alternative is a black suit which is perfectly acceptable for a European cruise and he might get more use out of. I think this will most likely cost a bit more to get a young cut that will suit your son's style (from my experience).

 

I'd still take the sports coat too.

 

I think it's a nice way to help our sons feel comfortable when they one day "have" to wear a suit! Someone once posted, our daughter in laws will thank us one day!:D

[2ndsailing]

Last New Year's we were on a 10 day cruise with our teenaged sons (then aged 15 and 18) Most men wore suits on the formal nights (we had 3). They complained before we left about the suits but once we were on the cruise...no problem getting them to wear their suits. We had a great family portrait taken too. There were a lot of young people (late high school, university aged) on this cruise and they were all dressed up.

 

I'd go with the suit for sure.

[AnthonyF]

A suit is fine and everyone should have one. Personally I think a 17 yo in a tux is silly (outside a wedding if in the party).

 

I will bring a dark suit (like last time) and not think twice. My children will dress well appropriate for their ages (10 & 13).

 

A navy blazer and slacks does not work, but do not buy a tux unless he needs/demands one for a formal.

[halos]

A navy blazer and slacks does not work, but do not buy a tux unless he needs/demands one for a formal.

 

Considering the cost of a tux, I wouldn't purchase one for a 17 year old either BUT I'd surely rent one for him...it's easy, you rent it from cruise line formals and it's there waiting for you when you get on the ship.

He may actually like wearing a tux more than a suit! :) especially once he sees what a chic magnet he'll be once he has it on.

[CaribbeanBound]

Yes, suit or tux.

[rebeccalouise]

throw a tie on him with the blazer- not a big deal. Don't sweat it!:)

[junglejane]

We went on a family reunion cruise on the Infinity this summer. My brothers/sisters-in-law opted to buy suits for my two nephews, ages 17 and 19. The boys complained beforehand, but looked great during the cruise and enjoyed being part of the formal nights. The family photos came out great, too.

 

My husband would've preferred to rent a tux because of the convenience. They deliver it to your stateroom with two shirts, so you can wear it more than once. And then you don't have to worry about packing it. But since the other men wanted to wear suits, he brought his suit to fit in for the family pics.

 

Go for the suit or tux. You'll be glad you did.

[mmp13]

my son and his friends went on a cruise with their senior class at 17 to 18. Everyone of them took suits and truth to tell I think they loved being dressed up. Judging from the pictures they thought they looked very James bond!

[poetic license]

I agree with the majority of the other posters: a blazer won't cut it on formal nights. A suit or tux rental is the way to go.

 

When we brought our children with us on their first cruise two years ago, we rented a tux for our son .... difficult to fit at 6'1" and 135 pounds! They did a great job, he didn't have to fuss around packing it, and when he was finished using it, he simply left it hanging in the closet on the ship. All three of our daughters wore long dresses as well ... which wasn't as much of a stretch, since they already had these items from homecoming dances and proms.

 

We got the BEST family portrait that cruise ... something I hope you get, too! Everyone looked smashing dressed up in their formal night duds.

 

Nicki

[Fang]

While I do not have a son, my daughters always get dressed up on formal nights.

 

I think a great option is to rent a tux. It would be a great picture for the family.

[frugal one]

How "formal" is formal night? Can my 17 year old son get away with a navy blazer and nice pants, or must he wear a suit?

Numerous men, young AND OLD, wear navy blazers and nice pants at formal night. We had 2 right at our large table of 10 each formal night. And they fit right in. So no worries, if money is an issue, do not worry about not having suits or tuxes. And please do NOT skip the formal nights, they are quite delightful and no one will look twice. They are all looking at themselves :rolleyes:

 

That being said... hubby wanted a tux. We looked in stores and tuxes were way out of our price range. Next we tried e-bay and alas, what we received was very poor quality: stained and ripped. We returned that and ended up at a tuxedo rental store. We asked to PURCHASE A USED TUX. They measured and hubby tried on different styles. A few days later, we went and picked up a beautiful tux for about $100. It came with the jacket, pants, shirt, cumberbund, bow tie, and a vest.

 

He had so much fun wearing that tux. And is looking forward to our next Celebrity cruise! His comment coming out of the tuxedo shop was that he never would have thought that he would own a tuxedo. He was raised really poor in the south. :p

[slotaddict]

throw a tie on him with the blazer- not a big deal. Don't sweat it!:)

 

I agree

[beauxdammit]

Sorry, Rebeccalouise and Slotaddict, I don't see any exemption for age. Formal night is FORMAL night. We have seen children as young as three years old dressed appropriately.

 

To the original poster, go for it. It makes a great memory, and you can get some wonderful pictures.

[LJAM]

When I took my whole family to Alaska in May I rented my three sons (17, 21, & 23) tuxes and they looked so handsome and made for a great family portrait on formal night. Renting the 3 tuxes (with shoes, shirts and studs) was a lot cheaper than buying one of them a suit and the added bonus is they loved being dressed up and felt very "James Bond". All males look good in a tux. :D

[lauraleigh9mm]

We bought our boys 7 & 13 at the time tuxes of ebay. They were new and cost us about $75 including shipping. Then we sold the little boys back on ebay after the cruise for nearly what we paid for it. My older son was about 5'8" at the time so I thought we would have to get him an adult tux but when we worked out the sizing from the site we got him a 16 boys. It was still a little big which is great because he now uses it for chamber choir.

I like to think that formal night means formal night. The pictures alone were worth it.

[rebeccalouise]

Sorry, Rebeccalouise and Slotaddict, I don't see any exemption for age. Formal night is FORMAL night. We have seen children as young as three years old dressed appropriately.

 

To the original poster, go for it. It makes a great memory, and you can get some wonderful pictures.

 

I disagree with you. I have cruise umpteen times and a nice well-dressed seventeen year old in a nice blazer and tie will not stand out on formal night on Celebrity. I have been on lots of Celebrity cruises and there are all kinds of diners- everything from ball gowns to nice pant suits. Men are about 50/50 with tuxes.

So I don't think that Celebrity or other diners are going to be put off by a nice young man in a blazer and tie- at all. :)

[Drew B]

What does your son say? If he doesn't object to wearing a tux, that is the MOST appropriate option. You can rent or buy on E-Bay as others have said. It seems to me that 17-year-olds don't mind wearing a tux for prom (and their parents don't mind paying for it). I'm not sure why this would be any different.

[halos]

Ok, I'm 44 years old but I'm going to regress back a little bit.

When I first started dating my DH (we were teenagers) HIS idea of being dressed was courderoy as opposed to denim. :eek:

I don't think a blazer with tie will cause the people in dining room to stop and gape in disgust by any means, BUT for the future girlfriends/wives of any sons out there...PLEASE teach your boys what it means to be formal.

Thank you ;)

[ldock]

First of all renting a tux is a waste of money, when as allready stated above by atleast 2 other posters, you can get a tux off ebay (or elseware) for the same price or cheaper as renting. If he grows out of it, so what,sell it, or give it away, you would be throwing money away if just rent one. You can also buy nice suits for very reasonable, you just need to look.

 

For my sister in laws wedding we all put deposites on tuxes, then found them at a local store for $99, this was half of what we were going to pay for a rental. And now my husband can were it cruising.

 

Another point, as stated above that why not teach these young men to dress up while young, it teaches them respect. My husband when he was 18 owned 5 suits, he learned at a early age that looking respectable was important. When it came time to get our first house loan, etc. he didnt question wearing a suit. Infact he would not even pierce his ears, due to being in buisness situations were this would not be respected. My Husband just celebrated his 30th birthday, and well he got his ears pierced, why, because now at 30 he owns over 4 million dollars worth of property and no longer needs to worry about impressing others. However he still enjoys dressing up. By the way, one of the reasons we got were we are, is by not throwing away money (ie: renting), invest in stead.

 

Dont just make you kids do it, Teach your boys, with purpose! They will be greatful you did!

[4 cruisers]

Our son is going to his first formal at school....guess what he's wearing? Yup, the tux we bought last year for one of our cruises! All I have to do is let the hem on the pants down, and the sleeves will be fine since they were a bit on the long side last year...a bit more tux shirt and cuff links showing will be fine!

 

It looks like 99% of us would at least get the suit if not the tux!:cool:

[slotaddict]

I disagree with you. I have cruise umpteen times and a nice well-dressed seventeen year old in a nice blazer and tie will not stand out on formal night on Celebrity. I have been on lots of Celebrity cruises and there are all kinds of diners- everything from ball gowns to nice pant suits. Men are about 50/50 with tuxes.

So I don't think that Celebrity or other diners are going to be put off by a nice young man in a blazer and tie- at all. :)

 

My point exactly.