How formal are formal nights?

[MinnesotaTraveler]

First time cruisers....DH, DS6 and myself are on the Norwegian jewel which departs MIA on Feb 24th. DS loves to dress up and has a suit, I have a black dress very basic, sleeveless and to the knees and DH (who doesn't care to dress up) has dress pants, shirt and tie. Will we be OK? There is still time to go shopping so any help would be appreciated!

[Toyz711]

you will see everything from nice jeans to polo shirts to after 5 to a tux or 2. it's "optional" formal night....if you want to dress up, go right ahead and enjoy yourself. personally, we do the resort casual..slacks and a polo shirt for him and nice long pants and a nice blouse for me. on NCL it's what works for you.

[DMRick]

As we were waiting to get into diner on formal (or not) night this week, some people did come up to where we were waiting, and decided to go elsewhere after seeing many were dressed up. Although others see differently, we saw about 80% dressed up for dinner when we got on last week. We were in the "back" room in Aqua on the Star, and in our actual back room, all but one table was dressed up. By dressed up, I don't mean gowns and tuxes, but suits and very dressy dresses. In the main part, it was closer to the 80%.

We walked through the buffet, and it was causual as usual. Many had changed by showtime.

In the reservation type restaurants (pay or free) we noticed much more dressing up (even in the Tex Mex, which supprised me) than I had seen in the past. We went resort casual to Tex Mex and church type clothes to Gagneys and the Italian Restaurant. Others in Cagney's were much more dressed up than us.

[jp2001]

First time cruisers....DH, DS6 and myself are on the Norwegian jewel which departs MIA on Feb 24th. DS loves to dress up and has a suit, I have a black dress very basic, sleeveless and to the knees and DH (who doesn't care to dress up) has dress pants, shirt and tie. Will we be OK? There is still time to go shopping so any help would be appreciated!

 

You will be fine. As Toyz mentionned, NCL has only ''Dress up (or not) nights''. Even on those nights, resort casual is acceptable in any Dinning Room. With the type of outfits you listed, no worry, you won't feel out of place.

[dshefter]

Agree with the above posters. I wore a sportjacket and tie and my wife and daughter were in a nice dress. We wanted to dress up a little for the portrait photo. But we saw all kinds of dress for the formal/not-so-formal night.

 

The rest of the week, we just dressed in resort casual attire. For me, it was a golf shirt or Tommy Bahama-style shirt and slacks.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[gizmo22a]

Any attempt to dress up will be fine. I'd say over half of the guests made an honest attempt the first night. Most men wore suits, and most women wore nice cocktail dresses. A suit and black dress for you and your husband will be just fine. It's really up to your tastes of how nice you want your pictures to be.

 

About 20% of the guests made any attempt to dress up for the second optional formal night.

 

Frankly, we only felt it necessary to dress up only for the pictures and dinner. Afterwards, we went back to our rooms and changed into something more casual.

[DAGVBSB]

I have never worn more than a polo shirt, kahki pants and sneakers to dinner on any NCL ship on any night. I have found that it is about 50-50 on optional formal night.

 

Regardless of what you choose, it is perfectly fine on NCL. That is the joy of Freestyle, the ability to dress as YOU want for dinner.

[AFT_LOVER]

resort casual is dinner wear. If you want to do formal, that is your enjoyment but no one else is required to. This is NCL, freestyle not Princess, RCCL, etc formal nights.

[MinnesotaTraveler]

Thank-you for all the help. It makes feel comfortable about what we plan to wear. We would really like a nice picture of all of us and our DS loves to wear his suit so it gives him another oppurtunity to do just that. He will have a blast.

[WinnieinWA]

Thank-you for all the help. It makes feel comfortable about what we plan to wear. We would really like a nice picture of all of us and our DS loves to wear his suit so it gives him another oppurtunity to do just that. He will have a blast.

 

You and your family will be dressed perfectly! Enjoy your cruise!:)

 

Winnie