Formal dinners: Help me dress like an adult
So I am the kind of person who, given the choice, would be in t-shirts and jeans (or shorts) all day, every day. Royal Carribbean's guidelines suggest that there will be 1 "smart casual" night, and 2 "formal" nights, and I'm a little worried that I'll end up looking like a rube. 
For the "casual" nights, I was thinking khaki pants (eg, Dockers) with a colored dress shirt. (but no tie or jacket). For both the "smart casual" and "formal" nights, I was thinking dress pants, dress shirt, jacket, and tie. (No tux for me). Is that going to be sufficient?
Also, I have never been able to pack any nice clothes without needing to do some serious ironing when I get to my destination. Will there be anywhere I can iron stuff? Any laundry facilities available? Past JCC attendees, how have you handled this?
And this seems like a lot of clothes to pack, too. I can feel my dream of flying down to FLL without checking a bag slipping away from me. How do you guys minimize the amount of clothing you pack while still having enough?
EDIT: Fixed typo. Thanks, ghalidrim.
Comments
What you've described for your "casual" dinner outfit should in fact suffice for smart casual—maybe nicer slacks instead of khakis. I've been led to believe there will be two formal nights on our cruise, one the night of the moustache formal and one others. For those, jacket and tie are recommended, but if you REALLY don't want to pack that much you can choose to eat somewhere other than the main dining room!
Another option is to rent a suit in Florida—it's a common enough issue that cruise lines offer a tuxedo rental service, and there should be other options in FLL. If you'd rather bring your suit (which may fit better!), RCI offers a pressing service for about $5, and dry cleaning for $10.
monkeys to eat at the buffet (where you can wear casual clothes) on one
of the formal nights, although that was cancelled if I remember
correctly. So (just in case you thought so, and you turn to Famous
People for guidance) there's no shame in skipping the main dining room
with its formal dress requirements if you prefer to stay casual, and
you're likely to find sea monkeys to dine with either way.
That
said, if there is a tiny part of you that would like to dress up and
just hasn't because the environment never seemed to warrant it, go nuts.
Whatever you wear, even if you're the only one in the crowd dressed
that way, sea monkeys are unlikely to think think you are underdressed
or overdressed, just comfortable or expressing creativity/cosplaying/wearing sequins
just in case you end up on stage. It's only the RCI staff that might not let you into the dining room if you're not formal enough, and even they are unlikely to throw you out for some subtle difference between smart casual and formal that you can't perceive yourself.
As for ironing, I haven't done it since sewing class in high school, though as a woman I have a lot of iron-free options when it comes to formalwear (gowns, smart-looking tops that aren't made of stiff, wrinkle-preserving fabric, etc.) My only two dress shirts are wrinkle-resistant ones from Tilley that don't need ironing, so that might be an option for you. It looks like Tilley also has dress pants and blazers, though everything they sell is more expensive than I remember. Alternatively, I remember hearing about sea monkeys in other years that brought some kind of steam thingy to iron their clothes with, since actual irons are a fire risk that's not allowed. Yet another option (assuming you're not doing any long-haul flights, and don't mind cosplaying a CEO) is wearing the suit on the plane.
As for packing strategies to both maximize space and minimize wrinkles, there are two schools of thought. One is to lay out the suit in the bottom of the suitcase, then pack all your other items on top, and fold the suit over the clothes. The other is to roll all your clothes. We have done the latter in the past but I am going to try the former this year since I plan on wearing suits myself on formal nights. We have thus far managed to go on all prior JCCCs without checking a bag, so it is doable.
And you can create a "steam-room effect" to help relax not-so-drastic wrinkles by hanging the slightly wrinkled clothing in the bathroom when you take a nice hot shower. Depending on how bad the wrinkles are, you may need to shake the clothes out and/or let it hang out in the bathroom with the door closed for a bit after your shower. Just make sure to give yourself enough time for said item to then air dry in your room before you wear it.
I cannot recommend wrinkle release spray enough. Downy makes one and you can find it in the travel aisle or the laundry aisle if you wish to make your own travel bottle. I've used it for years and just keep refilling the little bottle. The trick is to hang & spray the item in plenty of time for it to dry. I usually do it several days before (when I unpack) or at least the night before.
Rolling + using the spray works great for us.
@paulandstorm Any rants will be performed in the buff.
Even if I wear my nicest Aloha shirt, everyone will just think I'm dressing like I'm on vacation. I haven't taken my suit out of the bag in years.
@rhaje: Everyone has different things they consider fun and things they consider as work. I'm told some people even like cleaning, and think doing anything with a computer is work.
Because of this, the jacket from a navy blue suit can be pressed into service as a blue blazer, worn with unmatched pants, for a less formal look, which is especially useful for packing light situations.
Also just as a general FYI, the ship's tailor can help make adjustments to your own clothes if needed as well. Last year a pair of my pants were a bit long, and the tailor hemmed them for me for free. (Though he was also making some alterations to my tux as well.)