Cruise Clothes (dining)

selflessscoundrel

Ok.....  I've been doin' the research.  I checked out the wiki.  I checked out Royal Caribbean's web page (http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/whatToKnow/whatToPack.do).

So, before I start doing final preps here in a week or two, I want to run by you guys what I'm gonna need to bring as far as the clothes go.  I'm confident I know what to bring for the casual portion of the events - and I will make sure to bring clothes specific to any excursions I may book.

However, the Dining thing has me all confused.

Royal Caribbean recommends the following for 8 nights

4 sets "casual"

2 sets "smart casual"

2 sets "formal"

Suggested guidelines for these nights are:

	Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women
	Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women
	Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women

So, the questions:

1) Do I really need 8 additional sets of clothes just for dining?

2) Are there options for on board laundry, and is this typical?

3) Do people typically get the dining hall dinner every night?

4) How many times has this been asked by new cruisers such as myself?

5) THERE IS NO #5

chicazul

1) Probably not. Depending on your gender and attire preferences you can probably get away with a couple nice mix-and-match pieces. I'll try to dig up packing breakdowns others have posted over the years. *I* bring at least two outfits for every day because I enjoy extravagant dress-up! (:

2) A laundry service is available, though some find it expensive. Royal Caribbean has a price schedule available on their website.

3) Many of us prefer eating in the main dining room for the shared Sea Monkey experience, but there is a contigent who eshews all formal dress codes! The buffet, room service, and Johnny Rockets are all available and you will probably find Sea Monkeys to share a casual dining experience if that is what you prefer.

4) Probably a half-dozen every year! (:

selflessscoundrel

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=287&faqSubjectId=337

For that price schedule.

Ok.  Now I'm feeling ready to cruise.  I can save space on 8 full sets of clothes, and pack in the GAMES.

boiceterous

Last year they ran a special about halfway through the cruise where you could fill a bag and have everything in it laundered for a set fee ($25 maybe?). I intend to take advantage of that this year, and not bring nearly as many clothes as I did.

chicazul

@selflessscoundrel Sorry for the lack of link, it's hard to add them from my phone. (: Thanks for posting it!

arenson9

I was on a Princess cruise that had laundry facilities, and I happily used them. For JCCCX, I have brought a small amount of laundry detergent and done hand washing in the sink.

chetman

My sense, echoed here by Sara and others, is that most of us opt for the MDR experience in the evenings because we're mostly all there -- which is obviously a circular reason, but it's fun. 

You don't need different clothes every night by any means. I admit this is simpler for men than for women, but a key aspect of traveling light -- and I'm a pro, thanks to years of nearly full-time travel for my job -- is realizing you can wear things more than once. 

I'm pretty traditional about MDR attire. This is what I intend to take:

* For "formal nights", my tuxedo and TWO formal shirts, so if one gets spoiled I have a backup. I mix this up with different ties, so it's less boring to repeat.

* For the other nights, I'll have a blue blazer and a couple pair of nice chinos in different colors, plus probably 2 button-downs. 

I won't go party in these clothes after dinner (except for the Fez & Mustache party), so they'll get hung up after dinner before the rest of the evening festivities on any given day. 

This boils down to 2 jackets, 3 pairs of pants, and 4 shirts to cover all the dinners. That's a lot less than 8 suits of clothes.

autojim

Echoing Chet, I lack a tux (something I aim to rectify soonish), but bring 1 or 2 suits (brought 1 last year because of the shorter cruise), a couple of proper shirts for the suit(s) + ties, 2 pair of chinos, and 4 or so shirts for the not-formal nights. Last year, I wore the same suit and the same shirt with 2 different ties and that was sufficiently different.

I've got a "two-suiter" that typically swallows all my formal clothes as well as Kim's. The polo-style shirts I tend to wear on casual nights can be safely folded and placed in the pack bags (I got mine from LL Bean years ago, there are other sources) that go in my main suitcase. You wouldn't think that a simple cloth-and-mesh bag would be an improvement over just putting everything in the suitcase directly, but they are a great help in both maximizing capacity and keeping things unmangled and sorted.

Also, most of our group falls into the "so what?" category when it comes to repeating fashion choices in a closed environment with limited supplies. While it's always a treat to see the special outfits people wear, particularly on the formal nights (and in @chicazul's case, sometimes created THAT VERY DAY), it's far more important to spend time with our friends than worry about whether they wore that same dress on the other formal night.

arenson9

One jacket. One tie. One button down shirt. One pair of slacks. A couple short sleeve shirts that are nice enough to get away with at dinner.

Formal nights, wear the jacket and tie.

Semi-formal nights, wear just the jacket.

Casual nights, wear neither.

I end up being a little under dressed compared to many. No one seems to have been too put out about it yet.

TomWasTaken

arenson9 you won't be alone. That's pretty much what I'm planning to bring along for the cruise dinners.

paulandstorm

As has been the case with previous cruises, we've never seen any appreciable difference in the dining room between the "casual" and "semi-formal" nights. As we've stated in previous years, mostly we think it's a matter of looking like you've "made an effort." And it can be a cumulative thing as well...wearing a plain colored t-shirt with slacks? You may be just fine. Wearing cargo shorts with a Frazetta painting t-shirt? Maybe, maybe not. Wearing a dripping bathing suit and no shirt? They'll ask you to go change.

Your mileage will definitely vary on the formal nights. On the site inspection, we saw some (old) men wearing Hawaiian/golf shirts in the dining room; but I wouldn't necessarily chance that. I'd recommend at LEAST having a jacket, preferably a tie, and pants nicer than jeans.

FWIW,

P

LeeAnn

It may be simpler for the men-folk, with the tux and all, but for ease of packing and space-wise, women win, hands down.  I have a black formal skirt that can be wadded into a ball, a couple pair of comfy but nice looking blue and black pants/leggings, a couple gauzy tops and some dressy cami-type tops with mix and match over blouses/scarves, all of which also travel in a wad just fine. 

My husband's polo shirts, dress shirts and slacks actually need to be folded neatly, and as autojim said, packing cubes are the way to go.  Keeps things much, much neater, and easier to unload, as well.

If you don't happen to have a jacket, or don't want to pack one, a nice vest with a tie would probably work as well.

Kathleen

I either bring one dress and two scarves/wraps or a dress and a suit and tie for the formal nights - all other nights I do some variation of colored skinny jeans and a flowy top. If I'm feeling really fancy for the smart casual nights I might throw on sparkly jewelry or shiny sandals.

My husband brings one or two suit jackets, a couple of ties, a few button-front shirts, and a couple of pairs of dress pants. Sometimes this takes the form of a complete suit, and sometimes it is separates. For smart casual nights, he has been able to wear short-sleeved button-front shirts with black jeans.

I agree that the standard of "look like you're kinda making an effort" matches pretty well with what is allowed in the dining room on the smart casual nights. Formal is a little more... formal, but no need to bring 8 entire outfits for all 8 nights.

Csondra

I think I fall into the "wanting to bring too much" category. I'm glad we're driving, flying with a ballgown sounds like a bad idea. 

snail_rampant

I see women can wear pantsuits...  So that's pretty easy.  <opens pantsuit vault>  Now, 80s pantsuit? 70s?  Gold lame? Tropical?  Bedazzled sateen?  Leopard print?  Parisian nightsuit?

oh, choices, choices

Chaosdreamer

Don't forget to bring an extra pants(uit) for the Fancy Pants parade!