Thread: dress code questions

I read on the Princess website formal means evening gowns, not skirts. How dressed up do I have to be on the two formal nights if I eat supper in the MDR?

Also, what is the deal with jeans on smart casual days? They say no casual jeans. I consider all jeans I can buy off the rack casual, whether they have holes and tears in them or not.

Jeans are just a plain no no. I would never ever wear them in the MDR.

Formal nights are just that. Formal. A dressy top will suffice with a nice pair of slacks or a fancy skirt. And they won't kick you out if you aren't real dressy. Not to worry.

They just don't want people wearing jeans in the MDR for dinner - at others times (breakfast & lunch) it's not a problem.

As like Hanna said, you don't have to get really dressed up for formal nights, unless of course you want to. And a nice dressy top with a pair of slacks or a skirt is fine. This is why my wife always wears although she never takes a skirt or a dress. You'll see a little bit of everything. While they prefer men in suits, I just wear a tie and no jacket - it's too heavy and takes up too much room in my suitcase. Just can't see taking all that stuff along for two dinners totaling maybe 3 hours during a 7-night cruise.

Pete

It is always interesting to look at the disconnect between what they will rent to men for formal nights compared to the clothing available for ladies to rent. Womens rental is more like for a evening cocktail party or New Years gathering, not all that formal.

I think about what I might wear for a wedding -- cocktail length dresses, longish but silky outfits (I don't have any glittery gowns). Before my first cruise, I went to the mall to the store that sells fancier outfits (some prom dresses too) which had a buy two outfits, get the second one for just a penny more. One was a floor length white dress and the other one a floor length black one piece pants suit. Sometimes I'll try them on before a cruise and bring one of them along. But usually I go with cocktail length as they're easily to pack (my hubby brings a garment bag and I put my dresses in it).

About six years ago, I found a little black dress at JC Penney's for under $40 on sale. Wore it on my last two cruises on New Year Eve.

If you bring along a blouse/long skirt, you can dress it up with the right accessories and jewelry. I have costume jewelry that looks like emeralds that works with many of my outfits.

Some people skip formal nights and go eat in the Horizon court or go to the outdoors grill or pizzeria. I think the specialty restaurants are always smart casual, but we don't go to them.

For smart casual, I'll wear my sundresses, gauzy skirts. I save my jeans for day wear when the weather warrants it. I don't bring jeans at all on a Caribbean cruise.

Formal can be anything from your best skirt & top to a dress covered in sequins with a "train". There is a lot in between.

There is a difference in Casual and Smart Casual.
Casual is wearing jeans going to Chili's, Black Eyed Pea or Red Robin (meals around $10) or going on the game show The Price is Right.
Smart Casual is wearing nice outfits going to a Morton's Steak house or anywhere where your meal is at least $50 or like going to be on a game show like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy.

Having done the formal thing to many times we choose to always go a casual as possible. On formal evenings the women can get by with as little as a pair of black pants & a glittery top. Princess has become very lenient about what clothing is allowed & I choose to just go casual even on the formal nights with a pair of dress pants & long sleeve dress shirt even without the jacket.
Jeans on fine with Princess as long as they don't have holes or rips & more & more people choose to wear them on casual evenings as well as changing into them on formal nights after dinner. You always have the option of dressing up every night & will still fit right in.

Right now I have a lot of short sleeve dressy tops and two skirts I can't wear at the same time. I do have black pants but they seem to always be covered with cat fur even though no cats ever sit on them. So I decided I need to either buy a black skirt on Amazon - which luckily has one - or wear my plain black top with both skirts if I can sail without a dress. If I did need to buy a dress it wouldn't be an easy thing to buy so I like knowing dresses are optional on Princess ships.