How formal is formal?

[nurseteacher]

Getting ready to go on a 7 night Carribean cruise on Fantasy. How formal is formal night? Don't want to overdress. What about semi-formal night?

 

[lbus42]

Getting ready to go on a 7 night Carribean cruise on Fantasy. How formal is formal night? Don't want to overdress. What about semi-formal night?

On formal and semi-formal nights, you will see passengers wearing tuxedos and cocktail dresses, men wearing suits or sport jackets and women wearing dresses or skirts. You will also see jeans, polo shirts, blouses, and pants suits. You dress up or down as you see fit.
As long as you are not wearing pajamas or swimwear, you will be fine.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Whatever you feel comfortable with. DW & I go with tux & gown on formal night with suit & floor length dress on semiformal night. We like to dress for dinner every night - every night is date night! At the same time, others aren't comfortable/prefer to go with dress down. The only hard and fast dress code is in Palo & Remy. I've seen couples held up as he ran back to the room to get closed toes shoes vs. his flip-flops.

 

[Bonnie1222]

Well... DH wore a dress shirt, sports coat, shorts and hiking style boots to semi formal night. I have seen Tux and gowns on formal night down to regular cruise casual. Many people get dressed to the nines, then have portraits done. They usually have several locations set up with different back drops. Do what you are comfortable with, if you like to dress up - Go for it!

It's Disney - just don't show up in your bathing suit

Have a great cruise!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Last time I wore a full-length gown for formal night I felt over-dressed. Cocktail dresses are the most popular. DH has never worn a tux on a cruise. He takes a sport coat and leaves the suits at home.

As others have said, wear whatever makes you feel most comfortable.

 

[MSPeeler]

Sorry to take over the thread but I have a similar question. What is the difference between formal and semi-formal night if most wear a cocktail dress to formal night? Isn't that what one would wear to semi-formal night also? I do not dress up, ever, so I'm unaware and would like to know prior to our cruise as well.

Also, What should children wear? Church attire?

 

[darnheather]

Sorry to take over the thread but I have a similar question. What is the difference between formal and semi-formal night if most wear a cocktail dress to formal night? Isn't that what one would wear to semi-formal night also? I do not dress up, ever, so I'm unaware and would like to know prior to our cruise as well.

Also, What should children wear? Church attire?

The nights are what you make it. Disney isn't checking the length of anyone's dress. Make sure your children are comfortable. My 16 year old wore a suit with bow tie while my 11 year old wore a cocktail length fancy dress and I wore a floor length gown. We did not have a semi-formal on our past cruise.

 

[adg06]

I like dressing up, and wanted some great family photos of us all. For formal night, I wore a floor length black dress with beading, my husband wore suit & tie, my son wore slacks, tie & vest (no jacket), and my daughter wore a dressy dress. For semi-formal, my husband and son wore button down shirts without ties, I had a floor length coral dress, and my daughter was in a Tinkerbell dress. We had fun with it, we rarely have an opportunity to dress up at home.

Edited to add: I just updated my profile pic to our semi-formal night photo.

 

[AquaDame]

Sorry to take over the thread but I have a similar question. What is the difference between formal and semi-formal night if most wear a cocktail dress to formal night? Isn't that what one would wear to semi-formal night also? I do not dress up, ever, so I'm unaware and would like to know prior to our cruise as well.

Also, What should children wear? Church attire?

Honestly the biggest difference on our last few cruises has been the number of people in dresses/sports coats and not really what people were wearing. There were more light colored dresses on semi formal night as well. Only on formal night did we see a couple of tuxes and a good number of ladies in longer dresses/sequins.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Also, What should children wear? Church attire?

Lots of little girls wear princess costumes to dinner, complete with tiaras. Occasionally, you'll also see a Queen Mom with a tiara.

 

[JW9DVC]

Sorry to take over the thread but I have a similar question. What is the difference between formal and semi-formal night if most wear a cocktail dress to formal night? Isn't that what one would wear to semi-formal night also? I do not dress up, ever, so I'm unaware and would like to know prior to our cruise as well.

Also, What should children wear? Church attire?

Church attire? Most churches would be happy that people attend in the first place. While it can be nice to dress up some. It’s not required to dress up at church.

The only reason we dress up on the cruise is to have the photos before dinner done with the shipboard photographers.

This saves some as to going to a studio to have them done.

 

[Momee]

I get what you're asking.
"Church attire" is what our kids wear for semi formal and formal nights. My son may wear a bow tie with his sports coat if he wants, but it's not required.
Our daughter wears a couple of her fancier dresses- think Easter Sunday.

 

[apathetic]

It's impossible to overdress. What is your definition of formal? Then that is exactly what you wear. What anyone else wears is irrelevant because they have a different definition. If you worry about how you dress based on comparing it to what others are wearing, there is a 100% chance you will be disappointed.

 

[CM Dad]

I have rented a tux for our recent cruises. This last time I rented a combo packages with tux for formal night and white dinner jacket for semi formal.

 

[kiford]

I usually wear floor length for formal night and cocktail length for semi-formal. DH wears suit and tie for formal and sometimes suit with no tie or with tie for semi-formal but a slightly less formal shirt (still collared and long sleeved but a more casual style).

 

[Vicki106]

My kids wanted to dress up for formal night on our 7 day Fantasy western Caribbean this past August. My teenage daughters wanted to wear floor length prom dresses, but they were concerned that they would be overdressed. I inquired on this board and we received many wonderful responses that were right on the money. The girls wore there fancy, sparkly gowns and tiaras that I picked up at Kohl's. (They were concerned about wearing tiaras, but I told them "It's DCL! Everyone's a princess.") My 9 year old son wore a black suit because he didn't want to be left out of the fun. The only on who initially complained was my husband, but he went along with the fun and wore a suit. I went with a cocktail dress - not floor length. We pre-bought the Shutters digital package and our photos came out wonderfully. We ended up with about 175 photos for the week. Many people complimented the girls on their dresses. It was fun. But hauling all those formal clothes did require us to pay to check a large suitcase on the flight to MCO.

I'd say get as dressy as you want or be as casual (no PJs or swimsuits) as you want. Both are fine. My girls really enjoyed getting another wear out of their floor length dresses.

 

[Yokelridesagain]

It's impossible to overdress. What is your definition of formal? Then that is exactly what you wear. What anyone else wears is irrelevant because they have a different definition. If you worry about how you dress based on comparing it to what others are wearing, there is a 100% chance you will be disappointed.

"Formal" and "semi-formal" do have accepted definitions, but in six cruises on DCL I have seen one male dressed 'correctly' in formal attire (white tie and tails)--and no, it wasn't me. Tuxedos and floor length gowns are rare, but not unheard of. Many men will wear sports coats and ties on formal night and women nice dresses, while a substantial minority will make no special effort at all.

On 7 day and longer cruises, which have both formal and semi-formal nights, the former will have an opportunity to take pictures with the captain as well as family photos with the ship photographer--so if you care about those photo-ops, wear whatever you'll be happy with for the pictures. Anything beyond a nice dress and coat and tie would probably look out of the ordinary on "semi-formal" night (although again, "correct" attire would be black tie).

Otherwise, the people wearing tuxedos and evening gowns look happy, as do those wearing jeans. If you want to dress to the nines, go for it!

 

[mmouse37]

I usually wear flowy Palazzo pants and a beaded top and husband wear a sports jacket with tie. I have worn a full length gown before as well. I will wear the same Palazzo pants on semi-form night with a different top. Husband wears the same jacket with different dress shirt and tie. Our 2 year old granddaughter wore her Belle dress on formal night.

MJ

 

[xQuizx]

My family likes to dress up for formal night. I will wear a tuxedo, my wife will wear a cocktail dress, our little girl a dress and the boys in slacks shirt and a tie. Have fun!

 

[jdb in AZ]

My kids wanted to dress up for formal night on our 7 day Fantasy western Caribbean this past August. My teenage daughters wanted to wear floor length prom dresses, but they were concerned that they would be overdressed. I went with a cocktail dress - not floor length. We pre-bought the Shutters digital package and our photos came out wonderfully. We ended up with about 175 photos for the week. Many people complimented the girls on their dresses. It was fun. But hauling all those formal clothes did require us to pay to check a large suitcase on the flight to MCO.

When airlines began charging for luggage, that's when a lot of cruise passengers started packing fewer suitcases, hence more casual attire on formal night.