Smart Casual Dress?

[MCPayne]

I see that on 5 night cruises, there is 1 "smart casual" night in the dining room, which RCI considers shirt and tie for men, and am wondering if I can get by with a nice button down shirt and dockers (no tie or jacket).

Specifically I am on the Enchantment's 5 night Western Caribbean cruise with stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel, if that makes any difference.

[Cruise Fanatic]

Yes, I believe you will see a variety of dress and you will see others dressed without ties.

[Dave]

am wondering if I can get by with a nice button down shirt and dockers (no tie or jacket).

Absolutely. Not a problem. I wish they'd drop the silly "smart casual" terminology. Few pay attention to it or differentiate it from regular casual. It's like lines which still use "semi-formal". What is that supposed to mean? I guess I could wear blue jeans, sport coat, t-shirt, and a bow tie and cummerbund and say "I'm semi-formal".

[peter l]

I remember the first time I encountered "smart casual attire" and it was on a Celebrity cruise. It required tie and jacket for men and I inquired of a Celebrity rep and was informed that I could be refused entry to the dining room.....I did not chance it on that cruise. On our last RCI I also wore the nice slacks and button down shirt with no tie and had no problem. I agree with Dave and I think "your dress code" is GREAT !

Peterl

[Sonny V]

You definitely don't need to wear a tie.

Sonny

[shauncruises]

I have a question. My family and I are going on a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise over Christmas. There are two formal nights. We do not like to do any of the formal meals. Is it possible to attend the shows on those evenings and not dress up? Our meals on those evenings will be at the buffet or Johnny Rockets. Some insight would be much appreciated.

Shaun

[Cruise Fanatic]

Yes, you can attend shows without dressing up.

[spoheat]

We girls love to dress up--living in a resort/ag community in the midwest we don't get a lot of chances to do so. My husband does not get too excited over the jacket and tie. He changes after dinner, we don't. We don't mind he is underdressed to escort us to the shows and events, and he doesn't mind we are probably overdressed. I would say 2/3 of the people on my last cruise changed between dinner and wherever they were headed next. Fewer and fewer dress up, fewer yet stay dressed up for the evening.

[MCPayne]

Thanks everyone. I looked at my cruise docs, and this contradicts what Royal Caribbean states on their website, so I'm going by what my docs say. My docs state that there will be 4 casual nights, and 1 formal night, and the RCI website says that there are 3 casual nights, 1 formal night, and 1 "smart casual" night. I guess it depends on the crew and the destinations.

[Maurine]

Is it possible to attend the shows on those evenings and not dress up?

Definitely. I changed after formal dinner once and I didn't even go to the second formal dinner. Attire is only for the dining room. You can wear whatever around the rest of the ship.

The cruise compass will tell you what dress is expected for the evening in the dining room.

The first formal night they have a welcome party with the captain and crew and you get your pic taken with the captain prior to this. Then you can buy the picture later. At the party the captain introduces himself and his crew and says a few words.

I actually got to this party a bit late so missed the photo op and the hors d'oeuvres. Oh well. I got a pic with the captain with my own camera later in the cruise.