tux or suit?

[oceanfreaks]

Hello cruisers! We will be on the Conquest in less than 5 weeks, and my husband is wondering what men wear to the formal dinners. I see that Carnival offers tux rentals, has anyone done this?

Also, are their specific nights set aside for formal dinners?

Thank in advance!:D

[serene56]

It will be a mixture of suits and tuxes. You will see everything. Fine young men in uniforms. Men have white and dark tuxes.

Carnival rents the tuzxes onbaord for 100.00 which includes everything AND two shirts which you can use all week. Even includes shoes. Which is nice since you wont have to pack any suits or stuff for the man.

Yes, formal nights are specific. First sea day will be your first formal night..usually the first full day. Its the same day wekk after week

[gsb]

you will be just fine.
You could get by with a sport coat and shirt with no tie.
You'll see a lot that don't even bother with a coat or tie.

[oceanfreaks]

Thanx for the info...

[artsytart]

Just back for m Conquest 7/11. For our late seating dinner in the Monet dining room there were quite a few tuxes and everyone seemed to be in at least a sport coat and tie. On this cruise we thought that generally people dressed better than on our previous cruises.

[BillnBobbi]

We're on the 8/1 Conquest.

I'm packing an unconstructed linen suit, silk shirt ( Haven't decided to go with dark or light color yet, so packing a few anyway) and for footwear, canvas huarache style loafers. Haven't decided to with or sans socks.

It's the Caribbean and frankly I have something against a tie in any climate over 80 F. The outfit dosen't work with a tie anyway.

The offspring will look dashing in something similar. He may opt for a tie.

The women are going with silk pants suits and camasoles.

I'm sure the pictures will be for the memory book - that's what counts.

We believe in dressing for the climate. I thought it used to look absurd when the Brits used to walk around in the subtropical Raj with their full suits, starched shirts and ties, and the women in full dress, with a parasol to keep them cool (how was that done?).

Anyway a tie is a vestige of a time when men wore cloth or silk napkins over their shirts and overcoats to prevent them from drooling food or tobacco juice all over their garments. Dry cleaners hadn't yet come into being.

I think the point is to look smart, but not too casual or sloppy. At least this is the modern interpretation.

Unless you absolutely want those pictures in a tux and a gown, I certainly wouldn't spend the money renting off of the ship. Rented tuxes always look ill fitting - because they are.

BnB

[hstrybuf]

On formal nights my DH will wear a dark suit, with a long-sleeved dress shirt, [b]dress socks[/b], [b]tie and dress[/b] [b]shoes[/b]. I'd love to see him in a tux, but it isn't going to happen. :rolleyes: The dining rooms can be chilly. Brrrrr!

[cruisegirl1990]

On formal night, the 2 men in the family wear suits with ties, they look great!

[cruztime]

Hi,

I realize in this day of casual business attire dress codes are becoming somewhat slack. But to me "formal" means at least a coat and tie. I usually go with a black or charcoal suit. You can brighten it up with a blue, pink, gold etc shirt. The formal pictures always look great as well. If the ladies go through the trouble of buying gowns and getting all dressed up, the least the guys can do is put on a suit. Also, if you want a tux, try the Mens Wearhouse. They usually have tux's they rented for a period of time at very reasonable prices to buy. They still look great and for a couple of times every few years, you can't go wrong. As far as packing men's suits, fold the jacket in half length wise and then roll it. Also, roll the pants. That way, it won't crease and simply hanging it up will straighten it right out.

Here's a tip for the ladies looking for gowns. My wife hits the stores right after prom season. She gets great looking gowns at bargain prices. She has gotten tons of compliments on a gown she ended up paying less than $30.00 for.

So much for my two cents. Hope this helped.

[chieft26]

This may sound really tacky, but it works. My husband has a great looking and well-fitted black suit. We tried a tux-style shirt with bow-tie and cummerbund with the suit and it really didn't look much different than some of the tuxes you see for rent. He's worn that the past two cruises and no one (for the most part anyway) knew the difference between it and a regular tux.

[oceanfreaks]

Wow! So much information! Thank you again everyone, I'm sure he'll look great in whatever he chooses!

[dtchem1]

Our last cruise I rented a tux, only because we were getting married on board, but not woryying about a wrinkled suit or were to pack it, made it soooooo much easier. I'm hooked, no more carrying a suit around, let them take care of it. Plus; damn I look good in it!