I live in jeans. They're comfy, they're flattering, they're stylish ... and they are forbidden from cruise ship dining rooms even on the most casual nights. Well, at least that's the case on paper.

I've started a little experiment to see which cruise lines' maitre d's will actually insist that I change. Below is what I've found so far.

Jeans-friendly (at least in practice)...

• Azamara - Technically, Azamara forbids jeans in the dining room. However, with heels and a rather nice top, Armani Exchange seemed to be A-OK.
• Carnival - On casual evenings, even Carnival's dress code says jeans are fine. The new "cruise elegant" attire for formal night explicitly forbids jeans, one member of our Editorial Board reports that a Brooks Brothers shirt and nice shoes meant he had no problem wearing his usual San Francisco uniform even on formal night.
• NCL - They are surprisingly ambiguous about jeans, saying only that "nice jeans ... are welcome in many of our restaurants as well, but not in all." That said, in practice jeans do not seem to be a problem.
• RCI - Jeans are not explicitly forbidden, though the RCI dress code seems to suggest that even casual nights should entail "slacks" or dresses. That said, in practice the rules seem to be much more relaxed. On a 7-night Caribbean, my fabulous Levi's Capital E's, paired with great heels, sailed right past the Maitre d'. Heck, I even saw jeans on a formal night.

"Madam, I'm afraid we have a dress code..."

• Oceania - Busted! I got away with it on the first night (some guests were still waiting for their checked luggage), but later in the cruise the Maitre d' (politely) asked me to change. Oceania's dinnertime dress code explicitly forbids jeans. Fair enough, but that basically means their claim to a relaxed dress code means little for me. If I can't wear jeans, I might as well wear a formal dress. It's not like slacks are any more comfortable or packable.

I have yet to try this experiment on Celebrity and Holland America Line. Both technically ban jeans, but heck, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't keel-haul me for a first offense....