What does one wear on a cruise?

[Ohwhatfuckeryitistoride]

DH is sniffing around cruise adverts(which means we'll be going on one) but I've no clue what to wear?(my concept of cruise wear varies between Agatha Christie and Abigails Party in style) It will be adults only and probably older passengers. Don't know where yet or when yet. I've seen some say formal-is that long dresses and suits? Do I need to invest in kaftans and sparkly frocks?

As you please really. Most cruises will have 1 or 2 formal nights but how formal you go is up to you. Last cruise I went on I wore jeans and leggings during the day and changed into trousers and a top for dinner most nights.

Wear what you want. Mostly shorts in the day. Some people dress for dinner, others are very low key.
If you wear kaftans, that's fine, nobody will comment.

Depends on the cruise line , if your going Cunard I’m guessing more long dresses for their formal nights , but most of the popular lines Celebrity, P and O Royal Caribbean lines nowadays are a nice dress or trousers and nice top at night and more casual day time. Really up to you nowadays you can go all out and wear your kaftans and sparkly frocks should you wish but over the years we’ve found it’s getting much less formal.

Depends on the ship too some are more formal.
Formal Night is suits/tuxedo for men (if they want to dress up)
Cocktail dresses /long dresses for women (if they want to)

IMO if anyone doesn't dress up on Formal Nights they shouldn;t be allowed in the dining rooms ( they won;t starve )
On other nights I'd wear trousers or skirt and a nice top.
It;s part of the whole experience for us .

If we've been out on a trip and CBA changing then the buffet .

I bought some dresses from eBay , not paying ££ for something I;ll wear a couple of times a year but my long sequinned Monsoon dress has come on every cruise with me

During the day, and most evenings it is pretty much up to you. But it also depends which cruise line you go with.

Cunard is considered to be the most traditional. We went with my in laws last year, on our first cruise, although my MiL had been before, on Cunard’s Queen Anne, and were informed in advance of the themed formal nights - black and white, 1920’s and masquerade.

There were still loads of people, seasoned cruisers, I guess who didn’t follow that theme, and they weren’t prevented from entering the dining rooms.

The Commodore Club, which was the ship’s classier bar, had a no shorts, no ripped jeans after 6pm, but even on the themed night, a decent pair of trousers and a smart top and you wouldn’t look out of place, or a dress that you might wear to a nicer restaurant for a special birthday or anniversary dinner, for example. And swimwear is considered a universal no-no in any of the dining areas, but a simple dress or other cover over, and a t-shirt for the men with shorts, and you are set for lunch.

Other cruise lines have their own posted dress codes for evening events but I think it’s very rare that they are implemented, except for what I said above. And they all have a dining area that is casual all the time - the buffet restaurants. Queen Anne’s was EXCELLENT last year. And although it was called a buffet, you were served by staff, and there were sneeze guards everywhere. The options were AMAZING, whether you were there for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack before bed.

watch some YouTube reviews of a cruise line or specific ship you like the look of, and dive into the rabbit hole of cruising!!!

If you love it, you’ll love it forever. I’m sold now. Next one in 13 days.

oh, and waking up somewhere new without having to repack your stuff is just the BEST! THING! EVER!!!

^Depends on the ship too some are more formal.
Formal Night is suits/tuxedo for men (if they want to dress up)
Cocktail dresses /long dresses for women (if they want to)^

Sounds like my idea of hell.

Cruises I go on - and no, I'm not saying which lol! - it's more hippy-type-style.
Some dress up as above. Each to their own.

Utterly love it, and have made life-long friends from all over the world.

I've always done solo cruising. You get to meet so many more people. Love chatting to the crew too (from all over the world, I've travelled a lot so great to find out the bar man is from Bali.They love it that you've been there).

They're all fabulous and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.

Enjoy OP.

And swimwear is considered a universal no-no in any of the dining areas

I would say that is standard all over the world, in whichever country,

Nothing worse than seeing a topless fat pot-bellied man (or any type!) at a beach bar with a restaurant.

This! It's fantastic, enjoy - kaftans or not!

Definately bring a kaftan or 2. Unless going to the Arctic lol.

If you're going to see the penguins in the Antarctic, you'll need one of those heavy duty red anoraks. Toasty!

I was being tongue in cheek about kaftans, though the idea of wafting gracefully along the deck trailing clouds of Opium is tempting. 😁
I doubt we'll be Cunarding it, but there's a temptation to string DH along that's its one long string of white tie and fancy dress. Thanks very much for all your tips, any more for a cruise virgin gratefully received.

Good quality deck shoes. Straw hat. Long cotton cardigan as a cover up/extra layer. Copy of any prescription.

Where whatever you’re comfortable in. We went on a very expensive, one in a life time cruise (and like a previous poster, I’m not saying which one either!) and it really was a mixed bag. I think the idea of everyone wearing ballgowns & tuxedos is a very dated one, but if that’s more your style then by all means go for it!

P&O have one formal night per week on most ships, except Britannia which has two per week.

tbh it’s not that bad. On formal nights, men need to wear a suit (ie shirt, tie, trousers, jacket) and proper shoes so no sandals. It doesn’t have to be a dinner jacket/tux with bow tie, a lounge suit is fine. It’s broader for women - basically, any smart dress is fine, as are trousers with smart top or a jumpsuit. We found that there was a broad range of attires on formal nights. If you really hate dressing up, then you can go to the buffet or a couple of speciality dining places (not all) but some of the bars also insist on the dress code.

All other nights, it’s smart casual in most places - dark denim is allowed on these nights . Again, you can always go to the buffet but I find it a less enjoyable experience.

Apart from that, it’s pretty standard.

The best way is to Google the name of the cruise line + dress code. P&O have such a page on their website and I think most others do. Alternatively, look at cruise vloggers/bloggers - they will tell you what a cruise line is like.

I certainly did not wear a kaftan when I was on a cruise in May but we were sailing the Baltic and despite being good weather, it wasn’t that warm! 😂

OP I have been on a few cruises and Virgin is not formal at all, very laid back. The big night is Red Night when everyone glams up in a a red outfit.

I must admit I found Red Night a bit much, but other people seemed to enjoy it. I don't think Virgin is suited for an introverted personality, put it that way.

I saw today that Virgin won't be using Portsmouth as a port after 2026, their UK cruises will involve a flight from 2027.

So basically they’re saying they don’t want to cross the Bay of Biscay anymore. They say its customer demand but it doesn’t cater for those that won’t fly.

Yes, I think that is a real shame as for us the lack of flight is a big draw for a cruise.

I was very surprised on our cruise from Portsmouth though how many people had flown from the US especially for it. I think for them the draw was the ship rather than the ports.

Depends where you’re going ( we’re going to Norway and the Arctic circle next year , so I doubt I’ll need my bikini and factor 50 )
Have a look on the forum on cruise critic.com , lots ( and lots ) of info there

You see all sorts, from people wearing tatty old stuff during the day I wouldn’t even wear to hose out the bins to dinner suits and long formal gowns in the evenings. I would wear shorts/trousers and t shirts during the day and a dress at night, long formal ones for the formal nights.

Btw you can totally skip formal nights and eat elsewhere if you want to!

I’ve been on a few cruises and seen everything - jeans/joggers, chinos and dress shirts, posh dresses and then ofc the formal wear.

I bloody love cruises!

Cunard are more formal/traditional, p&o and princess less so and msc and royal carribean not so formal and more relaxed.

Apparently Roman is the go to clothing store for cruisewear.

Normal holiday clothes you might want to dress up one of the nights for the captain's night which is cocktail dresses or floor length but not compulsory on most

If you don’t want to dress up on “formal nights”, go with Marella (cheaper end) or Celebrity, Royal Caribbean or Virgin (more expensive).