Specialty restaurants and after casual hours?

Question

what's a specialty restaurant and what requirements do you have to meet for it? also, what can you wear after casual hours are over?

Answer 1

A specialty restaurant is one that normally you have to have reservation for. It could be a steak, Itilian, etc. You can wear whatever you are comfortable in. They will say formal however I have been on 22 cruises & only wear jeans & have never been refused service.

Answer 2

Most cruise ships have at least one specialty restaurant which is a restaurant that usually has a higher level of service.  For example the restaurant will have many tables for two so you do not have to sit with others unless you want.  It may have a menu with more exquisite selections, like escargot, or fresh pasta cooked at your table with lobster and/or salmon grilled at your table.  Such would not be available in the regular dining rooms on ships.  Then you may have wine included with the meal and  a higher level of attention to you than you receive in the main dining room.

Not all specialty restaurants give the higher service. Some are specialty simply because they offer menu items that are not available in the main dining room, like for example Japanese food, sushi, or Mexican foods, or French foods.

Norwegian cruise line tends to have the most specialty restaurants, sometimes up to 7 or 8 of them.

The dress on ships is casual until about 6:00 Pm and then after that they request that your wear "sports casual" or resort casual"; both the same thing.  Smart Casual can be defined as slacks and sports shirt or sweater for men and skirt or trousers and sweater or blouse for women. T-shirts, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the restaurants or public areas during the evening hours.

Your cruise will have one or two formal evening.  Formal evenings, ladies usually wear a cocktail dress or gown and gentlemen usually wear a suit and tie or tuxedo.

The Formal evenings are REQUESTED and not REQUIRED but most people do dress up, except on Norwegian ships.  And, after dinner on formal evening you can go change back into comfortable sports casual clothes.