Formal Nights and Blu Restaurant

We booked an Aqua class cabin on the Equinox and thus are entitled to eat in the Blu restaurant where the dress code is smart casual even on formal night. The main restaurant has an occasional formal night where most get dressed up. I do not like to get dressed up but my wife thinks that most of the rest of the cruise people will be all dressed up and I will look out of place.

Can anyone comment on the above. Are most people on formal night in formal wear and thus do the Aqua passengers look out of place. I have been a many cruises and on formal night most have formal wear on.

Bringing semi-formal wear on a warm Caribbean cruise adds a lot of volume and weight to my suitcase.

Thanks, Rick

We booked an Aqua class cabin on the Equinox and thus are entitled to eat in the Blu restaurant where the dress code is smart casual even on formal night. The main restaurant has an occasional formal night where most get dressed up. I do not like to get dressed up but my wife thinks that most of the rest of the cruise people will be all dressed up and I will look out of place.

Can anyone comment on the above. Are most people on formal night in formal wear and thus do the Aqua passengers look out of place. I have been a many cruises and on formal night most have formal wear on.

Bringing semi-formal wear on a warm Caribbean cruise adds a lot of volume and weight to my suitcase.

Thanks, Rick

In Blu, you can wear "smart casual" every night of your cruise, even on formal nights. Yes, there will be folks in Blu that do dress up more. It's all personal choice.

In Blu, I usually wear a long sleeve button down shirt and dress pants on formal nights. Whatever you want that you feel comfortable in AND meets the dress code is acceptable.

Enjoy your cruise.

I've never been embarrassed by smart casual. My wife may have been.

Keep in mind that you'll probably never, ever see the other passengers again in your lifetime.

A few years back, we went on a Caribbean cruise last minute. Didn't even bring a sport coat along. Ended up being invited to "Captains" table--even thought the hostess knew we didn't have "proper dress".

People do not dress up like they used to on formal night.You occasional see a woman in a gown but that is what is more unusual.You will not be out of place. In the Caribbean you even see people in shorts. I suppose they have eaten in the buffet or bistro on five.

Because I am not in Aqua for my next few cruises we will eat in the specialty restaurant s we don't have to dress up

There will be a mix in Blu. Some will put on a jacket with open collar so that when they're out and about in the rest of the ship they'll "fit in" with the ambiance of formal night, if that's important to them. But it's not necessary except in the MDR.

We have recently returned from a silhouette cruise and was also in Aqua class.. Like you I'm not a fan of formal dress and for the 2 formal nights we spent one in Blu & one in a speciality restaurant and on both occasions I wore dark jeans and a shirt and didn't feel out of place... And to be honest we didn't see that many tuxes around the ship on either formal night... There was quite a lot in normal suits & also jackets without a tie so I guess a varied selection of everything within the code...

I think in the carribean the formal dress is becoming less & less on show!

As others have said... It's your holiday so wear what your comftable in not what others think you should or would like you to wear!

(As long as it's within the code of course! 😂)

We booked an Aqua class cabin on the Equinox and thus are entitled to eat in the Blu restaurant where the dress code is smart casual even on formal night.

Thanks, Rick

Just as an FYI, Blu is your assigned restaurant not the Main Dining Room, you will not have a seat assigned for you in the MDR.

The dress code is "smart casual and above" so you should not be embaraased about dressing in formal clothes or smart casual.

On the Equinox in Europe last year, I think people in Blu were a bit smarter on formal nights than on non-formal ones. Perhaps a small majority of men in jackets of various sorts. Women in slightly (or much) smarter dresses / trouser suits. I think I'd have felt conspicuous in a bright short-sleeved shirt and no jacket, but others might not have been.

I'd guess that around 25% were in dress suits / tuxes across the ship, but perhaps only 10-15% in Blu.

hth,

Stuart

We were Aqua on our 2013 Med cruise.....As others have stated, u can do smart casual every-night! Only reason I somewhat paid attention to dress was because of cruise critic,lol But there was mixed of suits, few tuxes, but most remained smart casual and yes that included blue jeans! I really do not think its a big deal...unless its here on CC

We have always dined in Blu. I laugh about taking a suit to wear as the only reason is the free dry cleaning coupon that I get thru the Captain's Club.

I wear it for dinner and most times am out of place walking thru the ship at 5:00 as many are wandering around in their bathing appeal or pool deck cloths. Many are also still in shorts and etc.

Besides those that dine in Blu there are also those that use the buffet or attend a specialty restaurant to avoid dressing up.

After seated at dinner I usually remove my jacket because it is too hot. Then after dinner I immediately go to the cabin and get into something comfortable for the night and blend in with many that have done the same. I could never understand sitting in a dark theater wearing a suit, attending a party on the pool deck, or sitting outside at the Sunset bar.

The next cruise also being in AQ I may take a sport jacket and if that doesn't need to be cleaned I would be doing the smart casual dress.

Happy cruising 🌊🇺🇸🚢🌞

We dressed for the first formal night in Blu (and there were plenty of others dressed, too, as well as plenty not), and then the unthinkable happened...they CHANGED the formal night! It was a 14 night cruise, and at the beginning they said, say, that "Wednesday" was going to be the second formal night, which we though was strange because it was a port day.

Well, on Tuesday, we went for our pre-dinner drink and noticed everyone looked spiffier than usual. Way spiffier. We though uh-oh...sure enough, they changed it some time during the week to Tuesday (I'm sure it was in the Daily but neither of us noticed it)...so, for the first time, EVER, in our cruising career, we wore smart casual on a formal night (to Blu, but still, the first time EVER).

We survived, and realized you could go either way, and no one would care :)

Now, had we not been in Blu and in the MDR instead, we would have gone back to the cabin and changed, but it was fine.

OP wear what works for you in keeping with the ships policy. It's your vacation, so enjoy yourself.

Just don't give me dirty looks when I wear my tux on formal nights in Blu and the occasional suit and tie on non-formal nights. Other nights it may be a long sleeve shirt and slacks. I like to be comfortable too and it just depends on my mood that evening as to what I wear. That and having a beautiful woman on my arm makes me up my game!:D

Let's all enjoy ourselves, we're on vacation!!

We have always dined in Blu. I laugh about taking a suit to wear as the only reason is the free dry cleaning coupon that I get thru the Captain's Club.

 

I wear it for dinner and most times am out of place walking thru the ship at 5:00 as many are wandering around in their bathing appeal or pool deck cloths. Many are also still in shorts and etc.

 

Besides those that dine in Blu there are also those that use the buffet or attend a specialty restaurant to avoid dressing up.

 

After seated at dinner I usually remove my jacket because it is too hot. Then after dinner I immediately go to the cabin and get into something comfortable for the night and blend in with many that have done the same. I could never understand sitting in a dark theater wearing a suit, attending a party on the pool deck, or sitting outside at the Sunset bar.

 

The next cruise also being in AQ I may take a sport jacket and if that doesn't need to be cleaned I would be doing the smart casual dress.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🇺🇸🚢🌞

I agree. If I'm going to go out by the pool after dinner or to see a late night hot glass show I'm outta that tux and into some shorts. Being on a cruise ship makes that easy to do.

We've done many cruises eating in Blu. Other then the caribbean, we've always found about 20% in tuxedos, 60% in suits or sports jackets and 20% in nice smart casual clothes on formal nights. In the carribbean, the number of smart casual goes up a bit and suits/sports jackets goes down.

After many years in business, I really dislike having to put on a tie and jacket, but I always take a lightweight blazer anyway, and I wear it about 1/2 the time with no tie...sort of depends on the cruise.

There have been occasional reports of blu or specialty restaurant maitre d's trying to insist that the MDR dress code applies to Blu (clearly it doesn't) and there is the occasional Cruise Director or Hotel Manager that insists that only people wearing a jacket, suit or tux can sit in the orchestra (main deck) of the theater (clearly not celebrity policy). IMHO, the only thing that's consistent on Celebrity is their inconsistency.

We had B2B earlier this year on Solstice in Aqua and on formal nights we and others did "Formal" in Blu, but this was personal taste as like to dress up. The majority of diners were smart casual, but this was not an issue for us and why should it be?

Incidentally and thankfully, the smart casual dress code was politely enforced in Blu.

We were on the Infinity in Oct 2014 for an 8 night Caribbean Cruise and I only saw 3 couples wearing formal attire on formal dining nights in the Blu.

But

We were just on the infinity in April for a Panama Canal Cruise and I was one of the few that wore Smart Casual on formal nights in the Blu.

The next day after the first formal night there was notice in the evening program that formal attire was expected to be worn in "all" dining rooms on formal nights.

One of the reason we enjoy Aqua Class is that we do not expect we have to wear formal attire on formal nights. I did not have a suit or sports jacket and I continued to wear smart casual for the remaining formal nights and the staff did not question me.

I agree, there is inconsistency with Celebrity's dress code when it comes to the even though smart casual is clearly indicated on their website.

We booked an Aqua class cabin on the Equinox and thus are entitled to eat in the Blu restaurant where the dress code is smart casual even on formal night. The main restaurant has an occasional formal night where most get dressed up. I do not like to get dressed up but my wife thinks that most of the rest of the cruise people will be all dressed up and I will look out of place.

Can anyone comment on the above. Are most people on formal night in formal wear and thus do the Aqua passengers look out of place. I have been a many cruises and on formal night most have formal wear on.

Bringing semi-formal wear on a warm Caribbean cruise adds a lot of volume and weight to my suitcase.

Thanks, Rick

it was mix bag, some people were dressed formal but most of men either shirt with tie or jacket...

I love playing dress-up and my husband likes to see me have fun with my outfits and jewelry. He usually wears a sport coat and tie to most dinners, but the tie quickly comes off after dinner. We'll be in Aqua on the Equinox next cruise, and I'll dress up in Blu too!!! In my cruising experience, I've seen it all. All kinds of dress from too casual at dinner to formal. Although Celebrity tends to have a higher standard of dress code than the other cruise lines.

 

The next day after the first formal night there was notice in the evening program that formal attire was expected to be worn in "all" dining rooms on formal nights.

 

The standard phraseology that celebrity uses is (perhaps intentionally) confusing....it says that the dress code is formal and you should follow the dress code for each restaurant.

That can, of course be interpreted two ways. The "proper" way to interpret it is that each restaurant has a dress code that you should follow....and this is very clear on Celebrity's web pages. Many, however, assume it means that everyone must wear Formal dress code in every restaurant.

Now your cruise may have had some other phrase that clearly stated that everyone was expected to wear formal wear in every restaurant. If so, I hope you saved that statement because you should send it directly to customer service and complain loudly (for all of us). That is not celebrity policy...in fact, it is specifically NOT celebrity policy.

There was a couple of cruises where ship personnel went rogue, they were very quickly corrected. How any restaurant on board could expect passengers to get formal clothes after packing smart casual as per Celebrity's written policy.

OP wear what works for you in keeping with the ships policy. It's your vacation, so enjoy yourself.

 

Just don't give me dirty looks when I wear my tux on formal nights in Blu and the occasional suit and tie on non-formal nights. Other nights it may be a long sleeve shirt and slacks. I like to be comfortable too and it just depends on my mood that evening as to what I wear. That and having a beautiful woman on my arm makes me up my game!:D

 

Let's all enjoy ourselves, we're on vacation!!

We dress smart casual in Blu on formal nights, might spiff it up a bit with a casual black dress & flat sandals, but still, definitely not formal by any definition. :) There are quite a mix of people wearing full tuxes/cocktail dresses in blu, suits on non formal nights, I can't imagine giving someone a dirty look for choosing to dress up any more than I can imagine giving someone a dirty look for going smart casual, we're all following the dress code :)

We booked an Aqua class cabin on the Equinox and thus are entitled to eat in the Blu restaurant where the dress code is smart casual even on formal night. The main restaurant has an occasional formal night where most get dressed up. I do not like to get dressed up but my wife thinks that most of the rest of the cruise people will be all dressed up and I will look out of place.

Can anyone comment on the above. Are most people on formal night in formal wear and thus do the Aqua passengers look out of place. I have been a many cruises and on formal night most have formal wear on.

Bringing semi-formal wear on a warm Caribbean cruise adds a lot of volume and weight to my suitcase.

Thanks, Rick

Your wife is correct . Many people do dress up in Blu on Formal nights. While it isn't mandatory on the cruises I have been on many Celebrity cruises in Blu where most people do dress.

Rather than bringing a jacket on a warm Caribbean cruise, DH wears a bow tie, long sleeved dress shirt, black slacks and vest. Never had a problem entering MDR and this look fits in well on formal nights.

So what is the definition of smart casual really? Going on a british islands cruise in 2 weeks and will be in Blu. I usually wear a more casual knit dress to dinner, and wear cocktail dresses for formal night. Will I be too dressed up? My pants will all be very casual, such as colored denim and leggings

Most diners in Blu adhere to smart casual or business casual guidelines. Some do dress formally on formal night - more on some cruises than others. You will feel comfortable either way.

Here's what the Celebrity website says about smart casual:

Smart Casual and Above

Ladies: Skirt or pants/trousers (no holes, rips or tears) complemented by sweater or blouse.

Gentlemen: Pant/trousers (no holes, rips or tears) with collared sports shirt or sweater. Shirts must have sleeves.

Note: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurant or specialty restaurant at any time. Shorts and flip flops are not allowed in the evening hours. As a courtesy to our guests, we respectfully require and enforce compliance with dress code at the entrance of your restaurant of choice.

Specialty Restaurants (Including Blu for our AquaClass Guests)

The dress code at Celebrity's Specialty Restaurants is 'Smart Casual and Above' for every night of your cruise. Formal attire is only required in the main dining room on your formal evenings.