Quick Question - Sport Coat - Formal Night
 

Should the sport coat be paired with a dark pair of pants or would it be acceptable with something lighter?

2 weeks from now, we should be in Miami.

Your advice and experience is appreciated.

Kevin

Kevin,
I know that I will get my virtual hand slapped for this, but dark or light slacks should be fine. Some people will say that a sport coat is not formal enough, but unless you are going on one of the higher end cruise lines, don't worry about it. My hubby is a musician. He does not own a tux or a dark business suit, which is technically what cruise formal means on most lines. He resents the idea of spending money on clothing just to satisfy a few people who want the world to be their way. We are not rebelling or indifferent to social etiquette, but money is hard to come by for a musician (as well as many other professions), so I don't push the issue.
Cheers!
Marty

While I don't like to see dress standards dropped entirely, I agree with colorcrazie. I get weary of self-righteous threads that discuss tux with tails, top hats etc. Do we really want to put cruising back into the realm of only the rich and famous? Perhaps those men who are only wearing a very nice sport coat or dark suit could promise to remain in 'steerage' and leave the dining room to the grander, self-important group. LOL
You will be fine

Re: Quick Question - Sport Coat - Formal Night
 

Kevin,

Argh! You did not say with which line you are cruising, so I'm really not sure which answer to give you. A little "truth in advertising" on the part of the cruise lines would really, really help.

>> Factually, a sport coat is not proper attire for a "formal" evening. The "premium" cruise lines (Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America) expect what's commonly called a "modified formal" standard of dress, which admits a dark -- and I do mean DARK -- business suit in lieu of a "tuxedo" or dinner jacket. If you are on one of those lines, it would be better to spend the $90 or so to rent formalwear for the week than to show up in a sport coat.

>> Unfortunately, some of the "mainstream" cruise lines "suggest" a standard of dress that really does not match the normal definition of "formal" in standard social etiquette. If you are on one of these lines, you can wear whatever color of slacks you wish with your sport coat because the evening is not really "formal" in the first place.

Have a great cruise!

Norm.

Actually watching the endless debate I would say that the anti-formal crowd is just as self-righteous as the formal fans. Some of them seem to revel in the "look at me I am in rebellion" attitude.

Its my vacation and I will do what I wanna..... LOL (apologies to Lesley Gore)

Sports coat with slacks is OK, but barely so.

ok, before things heat up on this topic lets try to put it into perspective.
since you are cruising on one of the mainstream lines you will see that the vast majority of men will be wearing dark suits, you will see a few men in tuxedos and a few men in suit separates-i think that dark is better but thats just my opinion.

I agree with you both Doug and Lisa. This is certainly a hot topic and for once Norm and I agree that a sport coat just sneaks in under the wire. My hubby wears a black suit, white shirt or tux-style shirt on formal nights but we have certainly had tablemates in sport coat, shirt and tie. We are not likely to purchase a tux or rent one for that matter. My point was that a cruise is a wonderful experience and I would hate to see someone miss out because they felt out of place. Actually, we experienced some of that feeling on our first cruise because it was last minute and we hadn't really checked out appropriate dress. Good cause for this board to encourage appropriate dress but insert some reason.

We don't get to do formal very often so when the occasion arises we take it to the hilt. If those two dinner nights were called simi-formal then that would be a different story altogather. For the type of money that is spent on cruising I don't feel it's that unreasonable to spend a couple a hundred bucks on a nice suit. IMO. Plus DW looks very beautiful when she goes formal. 8)

Wear a dark coat and dark pants and spring for a tie to wrap around his throat :wink: LOL

Hello,

Usually i have noticed that people wear their men' s sport coat with light color trouser or just match it with their sport coat, think you should wear what looks good on you, if you are comfortable in wearing dark color trouser go for it, there is no hard and fast rule for it ,I suppose.



Regards,
sarah_9

I ususally don't notice what everyone else is wearing unless the other person is so drop dead gorgeous (or handsome) one can not help but nitice. That or they are dressed like the Beverly Hillbillies. I usually wear a dark suit but a nice sprt coat and slacks should do just fine, IMHO.

On our first cruise the dress code caught us by surprise and to be honest I was just acceptable at the formal night with a tie and dark pants. Of course my wife had a dress that looked great, but then she makes a potato sack look great.

As a retired military officer I have my dress mess uniform (It is the military answer to a tux) and that is what the little lady said was my appropriate dress for formal nights thereafter. To be honest, it is fun to wear the dress mess uniform. Often get mistaken for the ship's captain but it is amazing the number of dinner conversations generated with guys about their previous military service.

Where I fall in the debate on formal wear though is, if you feel comfortable in a shirt and tie then have at it. If you like the look and feel of a tux then by all means wear it. Let's not get all wrapped up in what to wear, rather lets have a great cruise, good table conversation, and meet some great people.

Joker 51
48th AHC