Cruise Line Dress Code Policies
Please find below the latest dress code policies for many of the cruise lines. As I look around the many cruise forums on the internet, this is one of the most often asked questions. I have researched the cruise lines listed below for their latest policies and gathered them into one location.
I will try to keep this page updated every month or so. If you don’t see a cruise line listed, drop me a note and I will try to add it to the list.
This page last updated: Oct 14, 2009
| Cruise Line | Formal | Semi-Formal | Casual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carnival | Cruise Elegant Dining Dress Code | N/A | Cruise Casual Dining Dress Code |
| Gentlemen - Dress slacks, dress shirts. We also suggest a sport coat. If you wish to wear suits and ties or tuxedos, by all means we invite you to do so. Ladies - Cocktail dresses, pantsuits, elegant skirts and blouses; if you‘d like to show off your evening gowns, that's great too! Not permitted in the dining room during the Cruise Elegant dinner for ladies and gentlemen: shorts, T-shirts, beach flip-flops, bathing suit attire, jeans, cut-off jeans, sleeveless shirts for men, sportswear, and baseball hats.it | N/A | Cruise Casual Dining Dress Code: Gentlemen - Sport slacks, khakis, jeans (no cut-offs), dress shorts (long), collared sport shirts; Ladies - Casual dresses, casual skirts or pants and blouses, summer dresses, Capri pants, dress shorts, jeans (no cut-offs). Not permitted in the dining room during the Cruise Casual dinner for ladies and gentlemen: gym shorts, basketball shorts, beach flip-flops, bathing suit attire, cut-off jeans, and sleeveless shirts for men. | |
| Celebrity | Formal | Informal | Casual |
| Formal Ladies: Cocktail dress, gown or dressy pantsuit Gentlemen: Tuxedo, suit or dinner jacket with slacks | ATTENTION! As of August 1st 2008 Celebrity has dropped informal nights and replaced them with "smart casual and above" nights. | Smart Casual and Above Ladies: Skirt or pants (no holes, rips or tears) complemented by sweater or blouse. Gentlemen: Pants (no holes, rips or tears) with sports shirt or sweater. Shirts must have sleeves. Note: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurant or specialty restaurant at any time. Shorts and flip flops are not allowed in the evening hours. Additionally, guests are asked to follow the "Smart Casual and Above" dress code in the Celebrity Theater for all evening performances. Before Six Dining options abound aboard Celebrity. For breakfast and lunch, jeans, shorts and casual daywear are allowed in all dining venues before 6:00pm. After 6:00pm, this attire is allowed only in casual restaurants and cafés. | |
| Costa | Formal | N/A | Informal |
| There will be two formal evenings where you may choose to either dress formally, elegantly in a suit for men and cocktail dress for the ladies, or more casually in elegant resort wear, as how you want to enjoy your night is up to you | N/A | Most every night is informal, feel free to dress comfortably in resort attire, jackets are not required | |
| Crystal | Formal | Informal | Casual Evening Attire |
| Formal Evening Attire - We recommend evening dresses and gowns of fashionable length for ladies, and a tuxedo, dinner jacket or dark suit and tie for gentlemen | Informal Evening Attire - For ladies, evening dresses, cocktail dresses or pantsuits are suitable. For gentlemen, we suggest a sport coat and slacks; ties are optional | Casual Evening Attire - On casual evenings, a more relaxed attire is accepted such as casual dresses and pantsuits for ladies, and sport shirt and slacks for gentlemen. Ties and jackets are not required | |
| Cunard | Formal | Informal | Casual Evening Attire |
| Formal Evening Attire - Black tie or formal dark suit for gentlemen. Evening dress or other formal attire for ladies. (A range of gentleman’s formal wear is available to hire or purchase onboard ship) | Semi-Formal Evening Attire - Jacket and tie for gentlemen. Cocktail dress or trouser suit for ladies. No jeans | Elegant Casual Evening Attire - Jacket, no tie required for gentlemen. Dress, skirt or trousers for ladies. No shorts or jeans | |
| Fred Olsen | Formal | Informal | Casual Evening Attire |
| Formal Evening Attire - On special formal evenings gentlemen are requested to wear black tie with ladies elegantly dressed in cocktail or evening dress | Informal Evening Attire - On informal evenings gentlemen are requested to wear jacket and tie (lounge suit or sports jacket is fine) and ladies informally smart | Casual Evening Attire - On casual evenings the dress code is smart casual. During the day casual wear is allowed in the restaurant but not swim wear | |
| Holland America | Formal | Informal | Casual |
| On festive formal evenings, women usually wear cocktail dresses or gowns and men usually wear business suits or tuxedos. There are approximately two formal nights per week. (Gentlemen: Although business suits or tuxedos are suggested attire for formal evenings, they are certainly not required. You are welcome to wear a jacket and tie on formal nights) | During informal nights, dresses or pantsuits for women and jackets (tie optional) for men are standard ***Effective May 2007, HAL is doing away with informal. They will go to a Formal and Smart Casual dress code. Smart Casual can be defined as slacks and sports shirt or sweater for men and skirt or trousers and sweater or blouse for women. Printed T-shirts, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the restaurants or public areas during the evening hours. On festive Formal evenings, ladies usually wear a cocktail dress or gown and gentlemen usually wear a suit and tie or tuxedo. There are approximately two formal nights per week | Comfortable, relaxed clothing is fine for evenings designated as casual; however, T-shirts, jeans, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the dining room, Lido Restaurant, or public areas during the evening hours | |
| NCL | Optional Formal | N/A | Resort Casual |
| One Dining Area per night designated “Dressier†| N/A | New NCL Policy is basically all casual all the time and jeans are OK in the dining rooms Freestyle Cruising gives you the freedom to dress as you please morning, noon and night. Casual attire is perfect for all restaurants during the day Khakis, skirts, jeans, casual tops, shorts or whatever. Swimwear with a cover-up is fine at the buffet and outdoor restaurant. For dinner, collared shirts and pants or nice jeans work for guys. Slacks or jeans, dresses, skirts and tops are perfect for women. But if you want to dress up and add a little glamour when you dine out, that's OK too. We've reserved one restaurant each night just for that. For kids 12 and under, nice shorts are appropriate in all restaurants at all times | |
| MSC | Formal | N/A | Resort Casual |
| Cocktail dresses for women and suits or jacket and ties for men are appropriate for formal evenings | N/A | For evenings, resort casual is also appropriate (no jeans, T-shirts, shorts, or bare feet please after 6:00 PM on the ship) | |
| Oceania | N/A | N/A | Country Club Casual |
| N/A | N/A | In all evening dining venues, we request that guests adhere to the appropriate country club-casual dress code. Shorts, jeans, t-shirts, athletic footwear or sandals are not permitted in the Grand Dining Room, Polo Grill and Toscana. As Tapas on the Terrace exudes a resort-casual ambiance, dressy shorts and casual shirts may be worn in the evenings. Tank tops and swimsuits are not appropriate attire for any of our onboard restaurants at any time | |
| Princess | Formal | N/A | Smart Casual |
| Formal Evenings: Evening gowns and cocktail dresses for ladies; Tuxedo, slacks with dinner jackets, or suits for men | N/A | Passengers dress as they would for a fine restaurant at home. Skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies Pants and open-neck shirts for men. In the dining room, items such as cutoff T-shirts, shorts, halter tops, and jeans are not permitted; shoes must be worn at all times | |
| Regent Seven Seas | Varies With Ship and Itinerary | Minimum Evening Dress Code | Day Time Dress Code |
| While Regent has always had variations in the requirement of formal attire from itinerary to itinerary, Starting with the 2009/2010 New Years Eve Cruise, formal attire will be optional when the cruise includes formal nights. The ships will now have a Day Time and Evening Dress Code minimum standard, but will not require formal. See columns on the right for details. | Evening Dress Code (after 6 p.m.) Two types of dress code have been established for evenings in public areas: Elegant Casual and Formal Optional. The number of Formal Optional nights is dependent upon the length of the cruise, as follows: • Cruises of fifteen nights or less will be Elegant Casual for the duration • Cruises of sixteen nights or more will have two Formal Optional nights Elegant Casual: Skirt, or slacks (no jeans) with blouse or sweater, pant suit or dress for ladies; slacks (no jeans) and collared shirt for gentlemen. Sport jackets are optional. Note: Jeans, T-shirts, baseball caps, shorts, sneakers and bathrobes are not considered appropriate in any public area after 6 p.m. Formal Optional: While guests are welcome to dress each evening as per the Elegant Casual dress code, during Formal Optional evenings, guests may opt for a more formal choice of clothing including gowns and cocktail dresses for ladies; tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suit with tie for gentlemen. | Daytime Dress Code (until 6 p.m.) During the day, resort style clothing (including shorts, warm-up suits, jeans and sneakers) is acceptable in all public areas. Bare feet are acceptable only on the Pool Deck. Note: Bathing suits, while acceptable at the Pool Bar and Grill, are not considered appropriate in any indoor venue. | |
| Royal Caribbean | Formal | Smart Casual | Casual |
| Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women | Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women | Sport shirts and slacks for men, sun dresses or pants for women |
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Good morning.
Re Fred Olson cruise line . Ship. Black Watch .
Have you any info on dress code on formal nights etc on the above.
Kind regards
Good Morning Siggins,
Fred Olsen cruises look like they are pretty formal on the formal nights. I found this information on their web page under “FAQ What should I pack”
“During the day casual wear is allowed in the restaurant but not swimwear. During the evening there are formal, informal and casual dress codes in the restaurant. On special formal evenings gentlemen are requested to wear ‘black tie’ with ladies elegantly dressed in cocktail or evening dress. On informal evenings gentlemen are requested to wear jacket and tie (lounge suit or sports jacket is fine) and ladies informally smart. On casual evenings the dress code is ‘smart casual’.”
Have you gotten your cruise documents yet? Sometimes they will have more information about formal nights and how many they have. If I can find more information I’ll put it up here on the dress code page as a listed cruise line.
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I looked around at some of the cruise boards to see what people are saying about Fred Olsen’s dress codes. They said that the dress codes a very much adhered to and that it was rare to see a male passenger dining with-out a coat a tie. Also some of the casual nights are theme nights like “British Night” or “Island Night”. Also be sure to check your cruise documents carefully because it does seem that there is more information there about the evening dress codes. Hope you have a great cruise.
I found one more blurb on the Fred Olsen website about their evening dress codes.
“In the evenings our dress code will be more formal. It is expected that gentlemen will wear a jacket and tie (lounge suit or sports jacket is fine), and ladies will look informally smart. On formal evenings many gentlemen like to wear dinner jacket and ladies cocktail or long dresses. Casual wear is the norm on the first and last evenings of the cruise.”
Hi,
How does the above dress codes compare to Cunard.
Thank you.
Peter S.
Hi Peter,
I can’t believe I left Cunard off my list! I will try to see what I can find out and will try to add Cunard by the end of the weekend. Thanks for the head’s up!
I found the information on Cunard’s site, I’ll put it here quickly, and then I’ll add have my expert programmer add it to the chart later:
“Although shorts and swimsuits may not be worn in the ships’ main restaurants, casual attire (including shorts) is welcome during the day at the Kings Court on QUEEN MARY 2 and at the Lido Café on QUEEN ELIZABETH 2. Swimsuits, brief shorts and exercise clothing should be reserved for poolside lounging, deck activities and the spa.
One of the great thrills of a Cunard voyage is the sheer glamour of the evenings. Evening attire for the ship’s main restaurants, effective from 1800hrs, will be specified in your ship’s Daily Programme and will be required to dine in the restaurants.
Formal: Black tie or formal dark suit for gentlemen. Evening dress or other formal attire for ladies. (A range of gentleman’s formal wear is available to hire or purchase onboard ship).
Semiformal: Jacket and tie for gentlemen. Cocktail dress or trouser suit for ladies. No jeans.
Elegant Casual: Jacket, no tie required for gentlemen. Dress, skirt or trousers for ladies. No shorts or jeans.”
Cunard, is definitely one of the most formal.
going on the western carribean cruise on 10/14/07, and i am taking my two boys, ages 11 and 7. what is the recommended dress code for them. any information would be great. i am having a hard time trying to decide what to pack for them.
Maria, generally the dress code for kids in the main dining room is the same as what you would have for adults. NCL specifically makes an exception to this, and some cruise lines are more likely to look the other way when it comes to kids, while others are more formal when it come to what is expected for kids.
First, you need to decide if the boys will be dining with you every night or will they eat at casual dining with the youth program. (sometimes there is a baby sitting charge for this, depends on the line)
Here’s waht we have done on our Celebrity cruises, which tend to be a bit more on the formal side. My son is 11 and has been on three cruises so far. We always dine in the main dining room together and we look foreward to dressing up for the experience. We bought my son a tuxedo for the formal nights, but I realize this may not be for everyone. You can also rent a tux either from your home town, or through the cruise line. A dark suit is also acceptable. For the informal nights, I got my son a navy blazer at a thrift shop of $5. He wears this with a dress shirt and tie set that I got for him at Walmart of about $11. I pack two or three pairs of nice dockers type pants to wear with the sport coat. The pants with stain repel fabric treatment are great because they won’t get dirty if they spill food on them. On casual nights he usually wears these same pants with a polo type shirt.
For day time t-shirts, polo shirts, shorts and swim wear are the norm.
One of the boys in my daughters school class recently just went on a cruise and they chose to do the casual dining every night. That family just packed casual clothes and loved their casual cruise. We really enjoy the formal dining, so as we look forward to dressing up. However, there are always people in the formal dining room who are not complying with the evening dress codes.
I hope this helps, I might be able to help you even more if you let me know on which line you’ll be on. Enjoy your cruise.
On cunard lines are t-shirts and shorts o.k. during the day or are polo shirts and slacks required???????????
Hi John,
I’ve done some quick research about daytime wear, and it really depends on what you’re doing as to whether or not you are supposed to wear the polo shirt and slacks during the day.
“Although shorts and swimsuits may not be worn in the ships’ main restaurants, casual attire (including shorts) is welcome during the day at the Kings Court on QUEEN MARY 2 and at the Lido Café on QUEEN ELIZABETH 2. Swimsuits, brief shorts and exercise clothing should be reserved for poolside lounging, deck activities and the spa.”
It looks like they want you to wear the slacks and a collard shirt if you are going to take lunch in the main dining room, but your are fine in the casual dining venue.
You may see people more casually dressed during the day, but technically they should not dine in the main dining room.
Hi, What is the dress code for Royal caribbean cruises. How much Jewelry should I bring for Formal nights. Is 1 gold chain enough? I was told to wear 3 Gold chains and cocktail rings from someone who went on the cruise. Thank you for your time. Lor
Lor,
In my opinion the amount of jewelry one wears does not necessarily determine formality.
I sometimes wear only earrings with my formal gowns, or a single simple necklace.
What is more important is the overall look you are presenting. A cocktail dress is fine on Royal Caribbean for the ladies, though many women wear long gowns. The best way to describe a cocktail dress would be a shorter dress that is way to fancy for work or church and something that you would never wear with flip flops. For the men a suit or tux is great, and in that case my recommendation would be no gold chains with the suits or tuxedos.
I just wrote an article with a few suggestions for the formal nights. It might have some helpful hints for you.
Stress Free Guide to Formal Night
I do like to dress up for formal nights, but was wondering why white tie and tails are no longer acceptable for formal nights. They are so elegant. I have a black tuxedo and a white dinner jacket and my tails are just collecting dust in the closet. Larry
Hi, Larry, I have never seen white tie and tails on a cruise. I’m sure there is some reason for this, but I just don’t know. Perhaps because the formal evenings are more akin to a cocktail party and dinner, rather than a very formal gala or wedding.
I’m sure that it would be acceptable, but people might ask if you just got married or if you’ll be performing selections from Rigoletto? Just Kidding there.
I would much rather see you in the white tie rather than a tanktop, running shorts and flip flops.
what is cruise casual for the disney cruise line?
Thanks for your questions Carolyn
When I originally put this list together I had a hard time finding the Disney Information, but they have improved their web-site, and I found it under the dinning FAQ’s:
cruise casual — no shorts, swimwear or tank tops
Looks like any thing else is OK.
Your dress code leaves out one very important item – at least it is important to some of us. What is the dress code at the pool, and are the rules at the adult-only facilities different from the general pool? Specifically: are women required to wear tops when sunning or soaking? Are thong bottoms permissible (men or women)? As a family that has lived in Europe and in the US, we find such useful information hard to come by.
Generally topless sun bathing, if allowed at all, is only permitted on one upper deck for most American owned cruise lines. I’ve never seen that thongs are not permitted, but have seen very very few, if any on my cruises. When in doubt, around Americans, it would be better to be more covered than less covered.
Hello,
your information is very useful for us, as first trime cruisers.
However, I am getting conflicting information from different sources with regards to the men’s dress code for the Carribean, sailing with Fred Olsen. The majority of the nights are Elegant Casual. Their paperwork says the Carribean is more casual than Europe.I have assumed no jacket or tie, but smart casual trousers and a shirt / polo shirt for men. Or even v smart dark denims (please comment re denim). Other websites says men always where jackets. Pleeease put my mind at rest. My hubby is very smart but does not like to wear suits. He is happy to where the tux on the formal nights but does not want to spend unnecessarily. Look forward to hearing from you.
Paula,
Unfortunately, I have never cruise Fred Olsen.
I am hoping one of our readers can do a better job of filling you in than I can. I did a quick search and found basically the same information that you did, that Caribbean is more casual, but could not find specifics as to what is acceptable and what is no.
I am going to suggest that you call FO’s customer service and see if one of their service people can help you with more specifics.
If you find a good answer, please let us know so that we can share the information.
Thanks.