Elegant night

Most ships do not allow swim wear in the dining room...but ir can be quite casual. Some of us would like to see a little less "super" casual on "elegant" night. (Did I notice a bit of bitterness in your comments, Kennicott?)

Only time we "dress up" on elegant nite is for 7 day cruises as they have lobster. 5 days a definite no. Most time we eat on Lido deck if we cannot get a table for 2. We like to eat alone rather listen to braggarts.

As far as I can determine there are only two cruise lines that still stick to the real "formal" nights, they are Princess and Cunard. None of the rest do formal, although they might like to deceive and portray by saying you can wear your tux anywhere anytime; that includes all the rest of the mass markets and the so called luxury lines, like Regent, Crystal, Seabourn-- Ect. including the imposters who like to sell themselves as the best of everything, but they don't do formal either, so don't kid yourself, example ----Oceania.

In summary, most of the lines don't care what you wear, so wear anything you like even on dress up nights. Getting to the point you might have on your tux and the guy next to you for dinner is still is wearing his "speedo" from the pool deck.

You have already had the best answers! Some people prefer not to dress "elegant" at all. They want to wear shorts and very casual clothing. so on "elegant" night they tend to eat on the Lido deck for dinner. Many people, like Bubba54, change right after dinner...some of are "crazy" enough to stay dressed up until bedtime. Personally, I like to dress up... but then I'm "old"and have all these clothes that would sit in my closet otherwise.

Elegant night also depends on the length of the cruise. If it is a 3 or 4 night cruise I wear black jeans, a button down shirt and dark leather shoes. If it is a 7 night cruise I wear Dockers and button down shirt. Keep in mind it is Carnival. Go comfortable but nice, take things that you will wear other nights on the cruise, no point packing an outfit that you only wear a few hours.

Thank you

BonMike addressed it very well. My wife and I on any cruise line will dress up for formal night if we are going to MDR. However, immediately after dinner it’s back to the cabin and back into casual/relaxed wear. Enjoy your cruise!

Carnival’s elegant night is nice, but it’s definitely not what I would consider “elegant”. The suggested dress code for the dining room those evenings indicate elegant wear, but you will see people dressed the same as any other night, and others in suits and lovely dresses. You may even see a few tuxes and gowns, but not many. There are fancier backdrops for photos if you wish to have them taken. You don’t have to be dressed any differently to wander anywhere on the ship. The captain and a few officers will pose for photos with guests for an hour or so before dinner, but you don’t have to be dressed “elegantly”even for that if you don’t want to. My husband sometimes wears a sports jacket with dress pants, sometimes a tie and I wear a dress that I would wear to a summer wedding, or church or I wear capris with a nicer top. In the dining room you will see white tablecloths on each table instead of the plain tops for the elegant evenings.

Hope you enjoy your cruise.