Revealing a Stylish Cruise Wardrobe For Dinners
I’m finally sharing our dinner cruise wardrobe from our Royal Caribbean cruise touring the Western Mediterranean areas.
As someone who enjoys clothes and dressing up, it’s no surprise that I embraced all of the themes that our ship had suggested for the evenings on our trip.
Quote of the day: “We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.” Stevie Wonder
Let’s talk about the facts when it comes to thinking about a cruise wardrobe.
Yes, we are limited to what we pack.
Yes, packing can be the hardest part of our Travel.
Yet, there’s something so special about putting on a nicer-than-usual outfit and being served dinner every night.
Our cruise had a couple of themed nights for what to wear for dinner, so the three of us took full advantage of embracing these prompts. I’m sharing my dinner cruise wardrobe as well as a couple of options for my husband and bestie.
This isn’t the first time I’ve shared ideas for what to wear on a cruise. Since much of what you pack is dependent on your destination as well as the time of year you are traveling, I hope you check out my other articles also.
- How to get creative with cruise dinner outfits
- Essentials for a Caribbean cruise
- 4 ways to wear a dress when traveling
Formal Nights for A Cruise Wardrobe
We had 2 formal nights on our cruise, and I consider this the best time to pull out those dresses that you haven’t worn in ages.
I wanted to show both my dress alone and with my topper because if it’s one thing I’ve learned with all of our cruises, the dining room can be chillier than the rest of the ship.
So my biggest suggestion is to take a topper. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Outfit details:
Dress-I’ve had this for over 12 years and now that I have my comfortable strapless bra, it’s so much easier to wear. This kind of dress is great if you don’t want to lug around necklaces and lots of extras since there is so much bling attached.
Cardigan-You’ve seen this cardigan over 9 years ago as part of a wedding outfit. Since it’s gold, it’s one that will go with almost any dinner cruise outfit yet I was surprised I only wore it once.
Sandals: It’s nice to have a dressy pair of shoes for your cruise, but it’s still important to have comfy ones because many times you walk more than you think on a big ship. This pair from Ros (formerly Walking Cradles) is called “Porsha” and comes in 8 colors.
Clutch: My friend, MK, recommended taking a small clutch because you only need your room key and a couple of essentials for dinner instead of your travel purse.
For this set of photos for our dinner cruise wardrobe outfits, I’m including my husband’s outfit and Maureen’s look.
Rob’s look:
You’ll notice that Rob brought this one sports coat for the cruise. It looks pink from far away but that’s because it’s really red and white seersucker striped. I love how he put together such a colorful look with the rust pants and print shirt.
Rob’s black shoes were his “dressy” pair of footwear for our trip.
Maureen’s outfit:
My bestie wore a black dress with sparkles at the neckline and that necklace is attached to the dress. What you don’t see is that one evening she removed the necklace and wore it with a different outfit by using clear elastics (from Amazon). She’s obviously a pro at being the boss of her clothes.
She also wore a sheer sparkle topper even though she doesn’t run as cold as I do.
Her shoes of choice were black flat mules that had metal studs on them.
My Outfit Details:
Dress: I thrifted this dress right before our Carribean cruise at the beginning of 2020 however, I didn’t include it in our cruise dinner outfit post because I thought I would write one on what we wore to celebrate the new year on that ship. I never got around to that, but I have worn it with a graphic tee in the past. Because it’s not fitted, I pulled together some of the material at the waist with a clear elastic and added a flower pin that my mom made.
Insider tip: I figured out I needed this “extra flower” when trying on my outfits BEFORE the trip. I seriously consider that a non-negotiable thing to do when packing. When I figured out this looked good back in my bedroom, I just left the flower on the dress, so when I got dressed on the cruise ship, it was already in place.
Boots: The white cowboy boots were a last-minute idea for the trip, and I love how I could wear them for excursions as well as on the plane AND for dinner. While my heels would have gone with this dress, I thought the boots gave the look more personality.
Purse: This is the purse I bought in Rome and if you look closely, it’s shaped like a dog.
Accessories: Since I had the blue flower pin at my waist, I wore blue earrings too.
Themed Evenings Dinner Outfits
We had 2 other themed nights on our Royal Caribbean ship. One was “All White” and the other was “Caribbean Night”.
Here’s the breakdown of both.
All White Night Cruise Wardrobe
It was smart that the cruise had the “All White Night” as the second night’s theme for dinner. If you are a minimalist with packing, this meant you could then re-wear the evening’s look for one of your day outfits depending on the pieces. More about that in Maureen’s outfit.
Maureen’s look:
Maureen found this white shift dress right before the cruise and figured it would be perfect for the All-White night. Since it was sleeveless, she layered a white button-down over it. This button-down was worn as a kimono one day when she went on a tour. That’s a great way to get double-duty for your clothing.
Insider tip: In case you tend to spill when eating, it’s good to take these natural stain eraser wipes in your toiletry bag.
Rob’s Outfit:
Rob wore his white jeans a couple of times for our dinners and even on the plane ride home. He did a simple all-white outfit by wearing a white t-shirt with a button-up shirt over it that also got worn on another day on one of our tours.
My Outfit Details
Jumpsuit: This is a jumpsuit I won in a giveaway this summer. It was originally too long so I shortened the pants. It was perfect for the cruise since it has somewhat sheer sleeves to keep me warm in the dining room.
BTW, I wore my Gatherall strapless bra since it’s sheer in the back.
Sandals: The gold sandals were a great metallic option with the white jumpsuit.
Poncho: Instead of a scarf, I brought this yellow poncho which I also wore on our most recent trip to NYC.
Clutch: The same pink clutch was used that you saw on one of the formal nights.
Caribbean Night Outfit
Initially, I wasn’t sure what I should wear for the Caribbean night. Until I remembered this dress that I thrifted last year. When I first wore it last year, I had a lot of comments that it was the colors of the Jamaican flag. So I figured it would be perfect for this prompt.
The t-shirt underneath was an easy way to keep warm but I also brought my poncho just in case.
Instead of wearing my heels with this look, I grabbed my Cariuma sneakers which were packed for many of our day trips. I also found these fun hair clips when we were in Barcelona. Since my hair decided to curl in every which way with the humidity, the clips came in handy.
More Men’s Outfits For Dinner on a Cruise
Rob found that his sportscoat went with a variety of pants.
One evening he wore it with white jeans and a green t-shirt.
Another night he wore the same sportscoat with a pair of charcoal grey pants, burgundy top, and yellow tie.
Notice he wore the same black loafers for most dinners on the cruise ship.
Casual Cruise Wardrobe Ideas for Dinners
The three other evenings on our Royal Caribbean Mediterrean cruise were considered casual. Now in my fashionista language, “casual” does not mean jeans and a t-shirt because this is a celebratory time. We are on vacation (and are celebrating our 20th anniversary) and enjoying this incredible trip.
For my way of thinking, the way we present ourselves says a lot about how we think of ourselves, PLUS it’s a nod of respect to the people around us.
Casual Cruise Wardrobe 1
This day we were out touring around the entire day. It was when we were in Rome hanging out with Rob’s cousin. Because of where our room was in relation to the dining room, we didn’t have time to go to our room get changed, and make it for our allotted dinnertime.
Knowing that I took this topper to put on quickly in order to change up the look for dinner.
Dress: This blue dress is a basic that I wore on our Vegas trip many years ago. It’s one of those you can easily layer over the top portion and even the skirt portion if needed.
Topper: This hi-low lace topper was a great find at my favorite local boutique called, Just Be Youtiful. I wore it earlier this summer over a white tank top outfit.
Sneakers: These are my Cariuma sneakers that were worn many a day touring the various cities since they are comfy and stylish.
Socks: I tried out the new Sheec socks that have compression in them. They aren’t available on their site yet, but I absolutely love them, so you’ll hear about them when they can be purchased.
Casual Dinner Outfit 2
When I was planning my outfits for my cruise wardrobe, I thought the first evening on the ship, I would wear the same thing I wore during the day. What I forgot to take into account was the humidity that had me sweating through my clothes more than I thought I would.
Luckily, I found this pair of Palazzo pants when we were walking around Barcelona. (In all reality, the three of us thought it was a skirt until I put it on). Since the pants are a tad long, my heels worked perfectly with them.
I also found this white sweater vest at the same store in Barcelona, so I threw it over the T-shirt I was wearing that day.
As you’ve seen with the other photos, my yellow poncho was included in case of chill, and my pink clutch had my cruise dinner essentials.
Casual Outfit 3
I know, I know, this doesn’t seem very casual. But when I was pulling out dresses as contenders for my cruise wardrobe, I decided this dress would be perfect. I’ve worn it in the wintertime years back, but it’s great because the dress has sleeves.
Insider tip: Dresses like this are easy because you don’t need a topper, you don’t need to match a top to the bottom, PLUS the material doesn’t wrinkle—much.
Again, I wore my gold heels and I carried my dog purse. Yes, I tried to straighten my hair but trust me, it didn’t last long.
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