Almost 10 years ago, we went to Disney World with my extended family. I thought it would be cute to have matching shirts for my kids and their two cousins (my daughter wasn’t born yet). I printed a design on iron-on material at home and made the shirts myself.
After seeing so many cute matching shirts at the park that year, I decided to take it up a notch for our next trip two years later. I ordered matching tie-dye shirts from Etsy for my three kids for our first park/cruise trip:
Everywhere we went, people were complimenting us on those shirts. I was surprised by the number of people who love tie-dye.
Two years later, I decided to join in on the fun. I ordered a new set of matching tie-dye shirts for me and my kids. My husband refused to join, so he was the odd-man out in pictures.
On our next cruise, we were part of a large cruise group that met through social media. One of the members owned a t-shirt company and designed a shirt that all members of the group could purchase. I somehow convinced my husband to wear one, reluctantly.
Two years later, we had matching shirts again. I may have accidentally ordered one for my husband without getting his buyoff. But he’s smiling anyway, because we were on a cruise.
Why Get Matching Shirts?
My husband asks me this all the time. But why?
Well, I hate to admit this, but it’s partly because everybody else is doing it, mainly at Disney and Universal parks. If you go to Disney World, you will notice large families, small groups and student groups all wearing matching shirts. On a Disney Cruise, many families wear matching shirts on embarkation day.
In the parks, it’s a great way to identify your kids and group members in order to keep them from getting separated. On a cruise, wearing matching shirts may give you a leg up for being selected as the family of the day (which comes with special privileges including early boarding and gifts).
Plus, don’t matching shirts look great in photos?
My 14-year-old said he will gladly wear a matching family shirt if it means we’re going on a Disney Cruise. Good thing, because I purchased these for our upcoming Star Wars Day at Sea cruise for my whole family:
Plus a mother-daughter matching set:
I probably wouldn’t order matching shirts for most other vacation spots, and I’m not sure if I’d wear them on another cruise line without doing more research first. But Disney and matching shirts go hand in hand, so why not?
So, matching shirts: yay or nay? Don’t worry, I won’t be offended.
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Guess my hubby is unique. I planned a cruise several years ago for his mom’s 80th birthday. He ordered shirts for whole family of 18 saying ” grandma’s cruise club”. Needless to say, his mom loved it!
@Lynn I love that! We are going on a cruise with my mom a few months after she turns 80.
Love the tie-dye idea. I think it makes sense in the situations that you mentioned. If the family is wearing something unique like the tie-dye, you can easily identify them in a crowd (and vice versa – they can identify you).
@Erik We may go back to tie-dye for the next round! Except my husband is a definite “no” for tie-dye.
Maybe a Hawaiian-style print might be more acceptable to him?
@Erik Hmmmm, maybe!
I say Yay. My daughter and I have a few matching outfits and she loves it. I know one day she won’t so I enjoy it while I can. I love the Minnie and Minnie Me one. So cute. My husband is to the point where he just goes along with my ideas and doesn’t grumble too much.
@Jennifer I think my daughter is very quickly approaching the age where she won’t want to match me. Sniff sniff.
I actually think it’s cute! But I don’t think I could ever convince my husband to join in. Hmm, that would be an interesting challenge.
@Leana I get it. Most men just aren’t into it, including my husband. He’s a good sport, though. It helps if the shirts have Star Wars on them.