i am traveling with my husband and a group of friends, and all the girls like to get dressed up. i am just wondering if we will look silly every night in a dress. i do know that there are some formal night that we will be in nicer dresses, but if we wear cocktail dresses everynight will we be looked at?

No of course not. Most people dress up a little bit even on the "semi-formal" and "casual" nights. Men tend to wear sport coats on semi-formal and nice sport shirts and slacks on the casual. Most lines do not allow shorts or blue jeans even on casual nights but some people still break the rules. You will be fine dressing up a bit every night.

We only go on boats that have a casual restaurant. Hate having to dress up but do not want to stop those who do.

NigelWaring, thank you for your reply. My wife and I enjoy dressing up and we like the formal nights. But we do realize others feel differently. To each his own and fun for all!

Hi,

My wife and I are on he other end of the spectrum. We hate getting dressed up. I will wear business casual to most dinners (dockers and a button down shirt, nice shoes). On formal nights, even though I own a tux I will usually just put a sport coat over some similar outfit I wore the previous night. You will not get kicked out of he dining room for not being dressed up. You will for wearing shorts, bathing suits and tank tops. Read the cruise lines website and search the forums for more specific cruise lines and their information.

Plus like others have said, on certain ships you will have 5-7 different dining options. Just choose one that suits you style of dress the night.

If you wear a cocktail dress to the casual grill restaurant or to sit by the pool that may look silly. However, typically there are a variety of evening activities where a cocktail dress will be appropriate attire, i.e. Piano Bar performance after 9pm, etc... It also depends a bit on the cruise line; the probability of seeing female guests on nice cocktail dresses every evening is definitely higher at say, a Holland America cruise.

Not only won't you look silly, but in my opinion you will be a welcome breath of fresh air.

While many people dress the way they should, it seems that there are an increasing number of guests who want to push the envelope by being too casual.

If anything, you might make a few people uncomfortable because they are too casual.... or they might not like it that their husbands/companions are paying extra attention to you!

Have fun and more power to you!

I find those that choose to ignore the posted dress rules to be rude and boorish. If one does not want to wear a suit and tie or tuxedo (and the appropriate attire for ladies) there is the buffet to go to. It is always a delight to see some buffoon in a t-shirt and dockers dining in the main dining room on formal night. Of course, the ship's staff should have the power to decline seating such rude people but of course will not do so for fear of losing later revenue.

What's wrong with sitting by the pool all dressed up? I've done it many times. I say dress up all you want, the dining staff will appreciate it.

I'd rather be over-dressed than under-dressed. Of course, I find I'm definitely in the minority for the most part these days. Dress up all you want and have fun.

We're booked on Cunard's QM2 for Christmas--5 formal and 6 semi-formal nights. Wheeee!!

I enjoy dressing up on cruises, and I never feel out of place anywhere on the ship.

I'm with cruznjan - I also love to get dressed up on cruises, have certainly never felt out of place anywhere on the ship - and I bet the only reason people will look at y'all is that you'll be looking SO fine...! Enjoy, and take this opportunity to Dress to the 9s...