My husband and I will be taking the Classical Greece and Mediterranean cruise in May on the Marco Polo. The brochure that we have states that casual clothing is the standard of dress. 2 Informal nights just call for cocktail dresses or pantsuit yet all videos and brochures we've seen don't depict that casual of dress. We don't want to end up being helplessly underdressed. Could somebody please let us know just how casual "informal nights" are?

Dear Barb: <BR>Marco Polo is just like any other big ship. Casual means golf shirts for guys and matching cotton/silk pants and top for women. I have worn nice jeans with a crisp white shirt and boating shoes! Or... a matching denim shirt and jacket.With casual the only thing you should not wear is shorts and T-shirt. The brochures always seem to show people overdressed. I have been on this ship two times with another planned in November. You really can't go wrong if you take clothes that you would go out to a restaurant like Applebea's or Tony Roma's. I doubt (if you use common sense) you will have a problem. I hate being overdressed. The younger crowds, like 55 and under don't seem to get dressed to kill like the over 65 crowd does. Too darn uncomfortable. Hope this helps.

On Mediterranean sailings the Marco Polo has done away with "formal" night. The one dressy night is Captain's night which still finds most guys in suits and most women quite dressed up. Other nights are either informal or semi-formal. By my standards, dress aboard the MP is still quite dressy-- like one would wear to a fancy party. I've never seen shorts or jeans during dinner on either of my trips. Hope this helps, please e-mail me if you'd like more specifics.