Evening dress code

[PantyLiner]

Can anyone tell me what the dress code is for dinner please? Are some companies more relaxed than others? We have never cruised but quite fancy trying it this year. People we know who have been on several cruises to different destinations all say you have to dress smartly (evening dress) for dinner. This puts us off really as we are slobs more comfy in smart, casual clothing

Maybe I meant Cunard . They are definitely one of the more formal cruises , possibly the most formal.
I am sure some fellow cruisers told us that P&O were more formal than Royal Caribbean. I think it always depends on the ship. Our most recent cruise was on Anthem of the Seas which seems to be marketed to families and first time cruisers and so it felt more informal than a previous cruise with the same company.

I wear full length gowns and DH wears a tux on a RC cruise but I like dressing up.

We've done quite a few cruises from Carnival to Cunard and many in between. We don't do formal nights, we don't like dressing up in tux and dresses. If it's not a formal night, trousers and a nice top are perfectly fine for women. Most dining rooms don't like shorts for men, even tailored shorts but smart trousers and a shirt are fine. On formal nights we've avoided the dining room and eaten in the buffet instead.

Our most recent cruise (July) was with Celebrity who are my favourite to cruise with. They no longer have formal nights but have 'Casual Chic' instead (I think that's what it was called). On these nights, some people did the full dressing up but we found that they were in the minority and most people were just in nice clothes that you would wear to any smart restaurant.

We also did anytime dining on that cruise and always, always had a table for two - we don't want to sit with strangers and make polite conversation all the way through dinner. It's nice to do in a bar over a drink or standing in a queue somewhere but it's not what we want for dinner. This has also become very popular and a lot of people were asking for tables for two which the ship accommodated. On other cruises where we've been allocated a large table we speak to the Maitre D on the day we get on the ship to see if we can be re-allocated. Sometimes it's worked, sometimes it hasn't.

Generally the more upmarket cruise lines dont do. Black tie formal nights any more just smart clothes like you would wear to go to a nice restaurant. On the mainstream cruise lines like p and o and R CI you could just wear what you want within reason eat in the buffet. Anything bar shorts.