Most 3- and 4-night cruises have one formal night; most 7-night cruises have 2 formal nights; most 10-night cruises have 3 formal nights, and so on. A dark suit and tie is acceptable attire for formal night on all MSC ships.
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A more polished look is recommended for evening wear when dining in the Main Dining Rooms and Specialty Restaurants and while enjoying the entertainment in the theater, bars, and lounges. Collared shirts, tailored pants or shorts, skirts, and dresses are suggested.
Guests request either an early dining option (between 5:30pm-7:30pm) or a late one (between 7:45pm-9:45pm) and a dining time within that range will be assigned on MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview, MSC Bellissima, MSC Grandiosa and MSC Virtuosa; 6:00pm or 8:30pm on all other ships, according to availability.
Times vary per ship. My Choice is a free time dining style. Guests can dine any time they want during opening hours of the main restaurants. MSC Yacht Club offers guests the crème de la crème, with its own dedicated restaurant on each ship.
To the delight of many passengers (or to the chagrin of those watching their waistlines), cruises offer no shortage of nibbles at all hours of the day. Although cruise midnight buffets are nearly extinct, several lines still offer a spread of snacks that are available into the wee hours of the morning.
There are some clothing items to avoid if you plan to eat in the dining room on formal night. This includes shorts, tank-tops, t-shirts, and swimsuits, as well as flip-flops. If you'd wear it to the pool or the beach, you don't want to wear it to formal night.
I usually dress for dinner, but they don't have to be completely different outfits for each evening. Usually a long skirt and a pair of dress pants, and 2 or 3 dressy tops (which are incredibly small when rolled) will do me for a week or 10-day cruise. For your 4-nighter, 1 or 2 evening outfits will be fine.
Dinner or “smart casual” attireIf you're having dinner in the main restaurant or any meal at one of the specialty restaurants, you'll follow a “smart casual” dress code on most nights. This means long pants, jeans, a dress or skirt, a stylish top, or a button-down.
items forbidden on boardkettles, hotplates, candles, incense), drones. If explosive material, guns or illegal drugs are detected, law enforcement will be immediately alerted. MSC MSC Cruises will be forced to deny access to any guests not complying with these mandated regulations.
Shipboard dress is casual during the day. Shorts and tasteful T-shirts are acceptable even in the dining room. At dinner, dress codes will vary daily, among the following: Casual: Slacks and sport shirt for men (no jeans); slacks and blouse, sundress or pantsuit for women.
If you booked your MSC cruise during one of the “All In” promotions that includes free drinks and WiFi, you will receive the Easy Plus drink package. You may upgrade this package if you choose to do so. The upgrade prices are listed as: Easy to Easy Plus- $15 per day.
After the Welcome Cocktail, a special Gala Dinner menu will be served in the main restaurant, giving guests an opportunity to toast to their waiters. The dinner will include live entertainment, a special dessert offering and a special thanks from the Captain to the dining staff.
Men may wear slacks with collared dress shirts or sweaters, but jackets are optional. Women should choose dresses, pantsuits or skirts or slacks with nice tops. On formal nights, proper attire includes tuxedos, suits or slacks (jackets required) for men and evening gowns, cocktail dresses or dressy pantsuits for women.
For evenings, the recommended onboard dress is elegant casual for most ship venues. Suggested attire for men includes trousers and collared shirts (ties and jackets are optional but not required). For women, dresses, or skirts or slacks with sweaters or blouses are recommended.
So how much money do you need? The answer to this question varies a lot by person, their travel habits, spending preferences, length of the cruise and destination. Many people suggest $100 per day, and this has generally worked well for me in my cruising experiences, but there are a lot of variables to consider.
Dressy shoesIt's a good idea to bring just one pair of dress shoes that can go with your outfits for formal nights. I like to bring a pair of gold strappy dress shoes, as they look fabulous with every color of dress (black, white, navy ect).
Viking Ocean Cruises also eschews formal nights, but requests no jeans at dinner. Virgin Voyages has perhaps the most liberal policy of the big ship cruise lines, saying, “We encourage you to wear more than a bathing suit if you go to a restaurant and kindly consider shoes, but your style is your style.”
Day: Casual shirts, shorts, trousers and beachwear are ideal. The main restaurants require a casual wear dress code for breakfast and lunch, however you may wear shorts in either the Kings Court (Queen Mary 2) or Lido Restaurant (Queen Victoria & Queen Elizabeth).
Much like any hotel on land, room service tends to be operational 24/7 and that means passengers can have breakfast in bed at 2 p.m. if they so please or enjoy a hot pepperoni pizza at 3 a.m. by the sea.
Cruise ships are good at making food available 24/7, so if you're hungry, there's usually no one to blame but yourself. The main dining room usually has set meal times, but sections of the buffet will always be open, and you'll usually be able to find a diner, cafe, or pizza shop that's open at all hours.
The only bar that will be consistently open late and may stay open 24/7 is the casino bar on most ships. As far as am drinks, the main bar in the atrium is usually available earliest, pool bars shortly there after.