Deciding what to wear on a luxury cruise is hard when there are so many different dress codes. Whilst you may be embarking on a luxury cruise, not all cruise lines expect tuxedos and ball gowns. A lot of the time, you will come across elegant casual as the dress code on board many ships. This is likely to be polo shirts, trousers, sports jackets for men and dresses, blouses and pant suits for women.
Below is a guide for what to wear on each cruise line.
Abercrombie & Kent
Complimentary polar gear for Arctic and Antarctic voyages is provided. This includes polar essentials, custom-designed expedition parka, multi-use backpack, water bottle, winter boots, waterproof trousers, trekking poles. Comfortable, casual clothing is recommended onboard with wool base layers and warm clothes. Although formal attire is requested for the Captain’s Dinner.
Amawaterways
Amawaterways suggests comfortable clothing for during the day and casually elegant attire is recommended for the evening. Pack something a little dressier for the Captain’s Dinner and Farewell Dinner.
Azamara
Azamara have no scheduled formal nights whilst onboard meaning women can wear casual dresses, skirts and blouses and men can sport polo shirts and casual trousers. They often include white-themed parties in their itineraries so make sure you pack something suitable. Baseball caps, swimsuits, shorts, tank tops and jeans aren’t permitted in the dining rooms.
Emerald Cruises
Casual clothing is accepted during the day and dinner is also informal. Relaxed evening wear is perfect except on welcome and farewell dinners, dressing up is encouraged.
Explora
There are no formal nights onboard Explora so there is no dress code. However, they do suggest a resort elegant casual style.
Oceania
Country club resort attire is appropriate onboard Oceania. Shorts, casual jeans, tshirts, athletic footwear and sandals are not permitted in the Grand Dining Room, Jacques, Red Ginger, Polo Grill, Toscana or Tuscan Steak. With no specific formal nights, it is a more casual dress code in the evening. Dressy shorts and casual shirts are allowed in the Terrace Cafe in the evening. Jeans shorts, t-shirts and tennis shoes shouldn’t be worn at dinner or in any public areas after 6pm. Tank tops and swimsuits aren’t appropriate for any onboard restaurants.
Ponant
Onboard Ponant, they have a laid back yet stylish dress code. There will be a Captain’s Dinner where more formal attire is recommended, plus the itinerary could include a white party too.
Regent Seven Seas
For cruises that are less than 2 weeks long, the dress code is elegant casual. Men tend to wear collared shirts, sweaters and sports jackets. Women wear sundresses, a classic little black dress and silk blouses. During the day, guests are encouraged to adopt a country club casual, however, shorts are not permitted after 6pm. For cruises longer than 2 weeks, you can expect two formal nights where tuxedos or dinner jackets and gowns are required.
Scenic Eclipse
There is no requirement to dress up in the evenings onboard but you may like to if you are going to the Teppanyaki Grill at Koko’s or the Champagne Bar at Lumiere.
Seabourn
On cruises up to 13 days, Seabourn requests formal attire for only 1 evening, for those dining in the restaurant. A dress shirt and tie and cocktail dresses are acceptable in the other dining venues. Most nights onboard are elegant casual with dress shirts minus the sports jacket and a fancy sundress. During the day, it is resort casual. Swimming and exercise attire should be reserved for around the pool only.
SeaDream
They have the most relaxed dress code. Resort casual attire is the nightly dress code with bathing suits, cover ups and shorts being daily wear.
Silversea
Silversea has 3 different evening attire categories; casual, informal and formal. Polo shorts on casual nights, dress shirt and tie on informal nights and dark suits with a tie on formal nights. Ties are required. For women, sundresses on casual nights, a little black dress or a pantsuit on informal nights and the same for formal evenings, paired with heels and added jewellery. Alternative dining is always an option if you want to skip formal wear.
Uniworld
Comfortable, smart-casual clothing is appropriate for the daytime onboard. On an evening, resort casual style is perfectly suitable but shorts aren’t acceptable for dinner. Clothing such as a sports jacket or cocktail dress is recommended for finer dining like the Captain’s Welcome and Farewell festivities.
Windstar
Windstar adapts a more laid back style with no formal nights. The casual elegant evening dress code leans more towards casual with women wearing informal cocktail dresses and collared shirts and trousers for men.
