Kids under 12 in the dining room???

[ciship]

Can my 11 year old son "get away" with wearing dressy shorts and polo shirt for NON formal evenings in the dining room? I hate to have to take long pants for him for 6 nights of the cruise. I already have his formal attire prepared.

[VikkiGarcia]

The rules say no shorts in the dining room. I don't know if they will inforce it on your son, but I did see them turn away a couple adults on our Oct. 3 cruise. Plus the dining room is really chilly., sitting 90 minutes in shorts would probably be uncomfortable. On our last cruise the teen at the next table brought 1 pair of navy "dockers". He wore them to dinner every night except formal. After dinner he went right back to the cabin and hung them up for the next evening. My son saw him back in his "day outfit" at the teen club right after dinner. I have seen plenty of kids in cargo style, very casual looking pants, but they are pants, so they met the minimum criteria. Hope this helps.

[merela]

we struggled for over 30 minutes, so I just gave up! He wore dark stretchy pants (his favorite pants), a white shirt and a red tie (that was a struggle too) for formal nights. I thought shorts would be too cold on his little legs if air conditioning is on high in the dining room. I think any dark pants (not jeans) will do for meals in the dining room. My son wore the same type of pants the entire trip. I would just bring a pair of dark pants for your 11YO son and have him change into it every time he goes into the dining room for dinner. I don't think they are that strict for lunch in the dining rooms. This was on a Princess ship. BTW, Princess has self-laundry, so you don't need to pack that much clothes. Just do a load of laundry every 2-3 days.

 

HTH.

 

Jennifer

[pescado!]

Hi

 

We were on the Princess Star to the Mexican Riviera Christmas 2002. My sons at the time were ten, thirteen and fourteen years of age.

 

Each boy brought one or two pairs of khaki dockers and several nice polo and buttoned down shirts. For formal dinners, the two younger boys wore black suits and my fourteen year old and husband wore a tux.

 

We live in a rural area and dress pretty casually, so planning what each of them would wear for dinner took quite a bit of forethought (not to mention a lot of room in their suitcases!). I am glad that we took the time and energy to make sure that the boys were dressed appropriately.

 

"Dressing up" for dinner was a great learning experience for my sons. I thought they would gripe and complain, but they actually seemed pleased to know how to dress appropriately for the occasion.

 

My sons are now 12, 15 and 16 years old. The two older ones take great pride in how they dress. I am so pleased.

 

I hope you and your son have a funtastic cruise!

janet

[serene56]

The ship at night is rather cool. All public areas will be chilly.

The dining room will state NO shorts or bathing suits. This is the perfect time you can teach your son great formal manners.

[busybusybusy]

My son was 10 when we cruised last summer on Princess, and I had him wear a shirt and tie on the formal nights, and a polo shirt and nice pants on the others. I didn't see any children in shorts. We are cruising with Celebrity next summer, and I am told that he will need a jacket on their formal nights, a shirt and tie on informal, and a polo shirt on casual.

[lvz2cruz]

My son was 10 when we cruised last summer on Princess, and I had him wear a shirt and tie on the formal nights, and a polo shirt and nice pants on the others. I didn't see any children in shorts. We are cruising with Celebrity next summer, and I am told that he will need a jacket on their formal nights, a shirt and tie on informal, and a polo shirt on casual.[my 10 year old has cruised celebrity 5 times and has never worn a jacket. the documents will say a jacket is required on informal nights, but probably no guy under about 65 wears one. my son wears a polo shirt with dockers-type pants on casual night, a long sleeve button down shirt on informal night, and a solid dress shirt with tie and dark pants on formal night. he is definitely one of the better dressed kids on the ship--not that I'm trying to brag but some people come to formal night in a black tshirt and cargo pants with dozens of pockets and are nowhere near the standard. if your son is opposed to dressing up, celebrity offers pizza parties on most nights and they are more popular on formal nights. i would never do this at home, but you can get 2 or 3 uses out of a pair of pants because he will just wear it a few hours. we do bring a different shirt for every night. Celebrity has a reputation for being uppity, but i don't think it always deserves it. I'm sure what he wore on other cruises will be fine there. have a great time!/QUOTE]

[cali-croozer]

No shorts in the dining room. Bring him shopping and have him pick out some blue and tan docker type pants. This is what my sons have worn, along with hawaiin type shirts/polo shirts for the non-formal nights. When we went shopping, I just told them this was what was expected on the cruise and gave them choices of what to buy. It was nice to see them in neat clothes for a week. And, they even got used to their new clothes and used them once we got home.

[MMsteffey]

We got our 6 year old shorts-only son to wear the kind of pants where the legs zipped off to "transform" into shorts to dinner. He "transformed" with gusto after dessert on his way to the kids club. Otherwise it was a lesson in how to dress appropriately for the occasion.

[iamwatiyam]

On the NCL Wind, Hawaii, 12-01 to 15 there was no enforcement of attire in any of the fancy dining rooms. However, the Wind is free-style. I had a 10 and 11 yr old girls and they wore regular clothes. I even saw men with shorts. When I asked the hostess about this she just shrugged her shoulders. I'm not sure what the rules are on non-free-style ships. With kids, I will always seek out free-stylers. Heck, even without kids I'll sail only free-style. I saw a lot of old people who dressed to the max. Of course, the men all looked uncomfortable, lol.

 

Eddie

[Happy ks]

Your 11 year old is old enough to understand the rules, but I am reading this as more of a packing/buying that many pair of pants issue. My advice, buy 2 pair of long pants and 2 nice casual shirts. They do not have to be slacks for casual nights, khaki or carpenter style pants are fine. Then, if one or both pair get dirty, use the onboard laundry service. If he is careful, he may be able to wear the pants 2 or 3 times each to dinner, then he can change and go to the kids club after.

 

Getting laundry done is much cheaper than buying more clothes.

[unique]

I have been on 4 cruises...3 Disney and 1 Celebrity. My child has always worn shorts to the dining room and on formal night I had him put on a pair of pants and polo type shirt. No one has ever said a word to us.

[hstrybuf]

Carnival requests no shorts in the dining room. Little kids look cute in them but an 11 year old should follow the dress request. Take him shopping for something that he likes and also looks good. :)

[Donnask8pro]

My son is 4 and he will wear kahki's and sport shirts on regular nights and a shirt and tie on formal. Good to learn early on whats appropriate. He always wears kahkis and dress shirts for all Holidays.