Casual and informal...what does it mean?

Although we have been on 18 cruises to date, the last one was back in 1996. So, what do the labels "informal" and "casual" mean for gents and ladies in today's fashion world on board cruise ships? Would rather claim ignorance that pack incorrectly. Will be on 3/28 sailing on Infinity. Tick, tock...hurry up 3/28!!!

[jeff]

Informal is between formal and casual. On an informal night I will wear slacks and a jacket (and a tie most of the time). My wife will wear a nice dress or skirt or pants outfit and sandals, usually no hose or stockings...

On casual nights I go for khakis and plo shirts or linen shirts and my ergualr bucks or deck shoes, she is in flowey dresses or pants (khakis) and sandals again.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

Hello abq4us2,
When someone in our house asks,"How should I dress"? we have 3 types of clothing.
1. What you wear when you go out with your friends.
2. What you wear to church.
3. Christmas.
Then we have sub-catagories as in what to wear when you change the oil in your car.
I hope this helps.
Pat.

I appreciated the humor but "dressing up" in the southwest may be jeans and a plaid shirt :-)
I think, however, that I got the message...thanks :-)

Thanks for the info, Jeff. Guess those casual nites will be flowery with Hawaiian shirts!

You will find as many diffinitions of informal, causal and formal, as the people you ask. Everyone has a different opinion. And when you are cruising you will see everything you can imagine on all nights. So good luck with this one!
Here is what I do, for what it is worth: Formal: I wear completely formal attire, i.e., long formal dress. Informal: I wear a nice dress (short) or very nice pant suit with heel and appropriate jewelry. Casual: I will wear flat sandals, pant suit that is not as casual as I would wear in port. Hope this helps!

[Al]

On our cruise (Millenniun 2/11) casual meant slacks and sport shirts (business casual), and informal was sport jackets (lots of blue blazers) and ties.

Jeff & Al are on target for what we saw last week on Mercury--we did OK for formal(tux, dark suits men,, gown , cocktail dress or VERY fancy pantset women) & informal)(jacket & tie men, dress or skirt set women or pantsujit) but our casual was too dress down--go with island comfortable for women or business casual Our photographers were great--not too pushy & everyone came out looking good. you'll want to look nice for the photos!