Sunday, August 3, 2014

Dressing up on vacation?

We are finally in the last stages of our long-awaited 7-night cruise on the Disney Fantasy, and our # of weeks countdown is in the single digits. We have been planning this vacation for over 2 years!

We are starting to plan what clothes to pack for our cruise. We usually pack very lightly on vacations, with 2 or 3 suitcases shared among the 5 of us. But this vacation might require more luggage, since we will be bringing costumes for the Halloween on the High Seas events and we will also be dressing up for formal night.

Our past cruises have been shorter and have only included an "optional semi-formal night." We always chose that night to go to Palo (the adults-only restaurant on Disney Cruises) and our kids ate in the kids' clubs, so they didn't have to dress up. The dining rooms on Disney Cruise Line are fairly informal, even on the dress-up nights. Almost everything is allowed except tank tops and swim suits.

We broached the topic of dressing up for formal night on this cruise with our kids a few months ago, and much to our surprise, the kids were very excited at the idea of dressing up! The boys asked if they could wear ties. We said yes. My oldest asked if we could buy him a tuxedo with a bow tie. Ummm.....no.  I hope they are this excited to dress up when they are teenagers.


Happy about dressing up?

Yes!

My daughter will be easy to dress up--she is going to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique before dinner on formal night since it is also her birthday. She will be dressed in a princess dress.

Dressing up boys is more expensive for us since they don't own many dress-up items. So we have to get shirts, ties, pants, belts and new shoes. Hopefully we will find another occasion to wear these items!

My husband was a little reluctant to bring dress-up clothes on our first cruise when I told him he needed them for Palo...but I think the food and quiet atmosphere won him over, and we've dined there on every cruise since.

Even on formal night, I imagine there will be some folks on our cruise that are not dressed up for dinner. And I'm totally cool with that. It's their vacation, why not be comfortable?

Do you ever dress up on vacation?  How about the kids? Or do you prefer shorts and jeans all the way?



2 comments:

  1. Your kids are beautiful! I would love to try a Disney cruise, but they tend to be more expensive.
    We do dress up while on a cruise, which includes the entire family. I don't normally do it to our kids, unless we are attending a place of worship during our vacation. It is a lot of trouble!

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    1. Thanks, Leana!

      Disney Cruise Line has some great last-minute fares and Florida Resident fares during the off-season, especially Jan and Feb. We got a great deal on a 4-night cruise last February during one of the Kids Sail Free sales.

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