I have never been on a crusie before, and it seems to scary on what to take. Does my husband really have to take a suit to wear for dinner? I was told that you have to dress up for every dinner and no shorts allowed in the evening. I want to enjoy myself and not worry about all these rules.
What do you think?

If you want to eat in the dining room in the evening then prepare to dress according to the requested dress code. But if you don't mind eating in the other food areas, you can wear your shorts all the time. My DH always balks when being told what to wear, but once you're on the cruise & in the elegant setting of the linen covered tabled dining room, being served, it is nice to feel special. Have a fantastic trip!

It depends on which cruise line you are using. Most ships have alternative dining, but when we went into the diningroom people dressed up in the evenings. Two nights were formal and we posed for family portraits. For breakfast and lunch you could wear shorts, but not bathingsuits. Enjoy your cruise!!

We dressed for dinner every night on our cruise! It was so much fun. We left our 2 year old at home with Nana. It was like date night every night for a week! But no you don't have to dress up every night. You can eat in the more casual dinning places. It really is fun to dress up though and eat in the formal dinning room. :)

The one cruise we went on only had 1 formal night. My husband did wear a jacket and tie that night. But the rest of the nights he just dressed nice. He does not own dress pants, so he wore colored Wranglers & Levis & a nice shirt. I dressed a little nicer, but not everyone did. I did not see any ladies in jeans & definitely not shorts in the dining room (for dinner, lunch is different). I would be comfortable wearing dress pants if I were to go again. Have fun!!!

Relax and have a wonderful time!!

We cruise every year and on a few different lines, I would ck on CruiseCritic.com and look around there and you will get all the answers to anything you might have a question about.
These days alot of the dress code rules have changed especially in the last 2 years. It isnt like it was and is now very relaxed. We have never done those elegant nights when we are on a cruise after all with having to pay for baggage now it adds up when you take all that with you.
Men were allowed nice dressier shorts and a polo type shirt and women a nice pr of capri's , sundress ETC and it was fine. Other than the dining room you can wear ANYTHING you want...anytime.

Mom and Dad just went on a Carnival cruise to Belize. My Dad wore nothing but jeans. He does not dress up for anyone for any reason. Dad is not into elegant dining, so he just ate at the other places. In his case, mostly the pizza buffet.

Depends on what cruise line you are going on. DH and I cruise on Carnival. 1st night is "come as you are" as a lot of times all the luggage has not been delivered to all the cabins yet. So no holes barred in the dining room that night (except NO bathing suits). The other nights, men don't "have" to wear coats and ties. DH wears dress pants, khakis, even nice jeans or shorts with polo type shirts. I wear pants or capris. For dress up night, DH does wear a tie.

Enjoy your cruise. You will have to give us a review once you're back. Sandy

I just got back from a VI cruise with Royal Carribean. They had two formal nights, the rest were casual. On formal nights I have seen men from one extreme to the other. Tuxedos all the way down to business casual but most people dress really nice for at least the first formal. I wore a long formal dress for first one and short cocktail dress for second. Hubby wore suit and tie for first one and simply a button dress shirt with a tie for second. Casual dinners I have gone in with jeans, sandals and a simple top and did not feel weird or out of place and the staff does not say anything to you. I wore sun dresses the rest of the casual dinners. Hubby wore jeans, sneakers and collared shirt like a polo or button down. No problems!
Carnival is even more easy going. I have even worn short sets to dinners and never had a problem. As long as you look neat, clean and tidy and you are not wearing your bathing suit, and your hubby's hairy armpits, back or chest isn't sticking out they are fine. Many ships have tuxedo rental right on them so if hubby doesn't want to pack a suit but wants to get dressed up he can rent a tux. Really if he just wears a nice button down collared shirt with a tie and a nice pair of khaki type pants he will be fine for formal night. On casual nights just a simple polo shirt and jeans are fine. It really is fun to get all glammed up for at least one of the dinners.

In St. Thomas we went to a place called Sapphire Bay for snorkling it was GREAT! St. Maarten we rented a Harley and rode all over but never made it to Orient Bay (the nude beach).