Dining Room Attire - Kids

[zina]

We're sailing on the Paradise on May 18 along with our 71/2 year old son. Just wondering, does the "no shorts" rule in the dining room for dinner apply to kids, too? Do I have to pack long pants for him? Last cruise on RCI, they let him wear shorts in dining room on non-formal nights.

 

[OBFam]

Zina, I asked this question on several boards, too, before our first cruise last month. We have three pre-teen boys and I was hoping that their dressy madras shorts outfits that they normally wear to church in warm weather would do. I was told in no uncertain terms, "ABSOLUTELY NOT". So I just took dockers for them, and that worked fine. I did, however, see younger boys in the dining room in shorts, but no adults. The maitre'd, during his nightly announcements, would always make a reference to "no shorts".

Based on our limited experience, you might be able to "get away" with it, but it depends on if you're comfortable with that. I didn't want to "buck tradition", but I saw it done. There was a time when boys didn't even own long pants until they were of a certain age, so I don't personally think it's a huge big deal, but others feel differently.

If you go the dockers route, you could just pack two pairs of dockers and several different shirts (any shirt with a collar will do, whether it's a polo or button down) and alternate the pants. We always had our boys change directly after dinner so they wouldn't dirty up their slacks.

Good luck and happy sailing,
JO

 

[Lady Jag]

Shorts are not allowed in the dining room, even for kids. It just takes away from the elegant atmosphere of the dining room. If they want to wear shorts, have them eat in the buffet area and then you and your husband eat in the dining room.

Our sons hate dressing up. They wear shorts just about all year long. To them, pants and ties are hot and uncomfortable. We made a compromise - one cruise they don't have to dress up and can eat in the buffet area and then the next cruise, they have to dress up at least 3 nights. It works out well.

Believe me, I hate packing pants too and they hate wearing them, but it really, really bugs me when people show up to the dining room in shorts.

 

[joebat1]

I would definably take long trousers for the two formal nights. The over all dress code is fast becoming a dinosaur. On our recent 11 RCL canal cruise I was amazed that probably less than 10% of the men worn Tux's. Even on their smart casual (coat & tie) nights very, very few men had ties on. This was quite surprising to me as almost every one was older and "experienced" cruisers.

The few children under 10 wore short on most evenings except the formal nights. Nothing was said, and nobody was offended.. A good time was had by all. I would not go out and buy a bunch of long trousers to be out row soon just for the cruise... I would match the shorts with a polo type shirt and not t-shirts for the dining room...

This is just my experience and opinion.. I know other will feel different...