Dress Code Comparisons

Overall, RCI, Princess, and HAL dress codes seem comparable at dinner and on formal nights. It is our experience that ACTUAL dress on HAL and Princess meets the code where on RCI it is somewhat more casual. We only have 1 cruise on HAL so maybe your experience is different.

RCI:

Smart Casual: Ladies: Skirt or pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a blouse. Gentlemen: Pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a collared shirt.

Formal: Ladies: Cocktail dress or pantsuit. Gentlemen: Suit (black tie is optional)

Note: Swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurants or specialty restaurants. T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops are acceptable for lunch.

Princess:

For evening dining, keep with what you would wear to a nice restaurant at home: skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies, pants and open-neck shirts for men. Cruises five days or longer include at least one formal dining night: evening gowns and cocktail dresses for ladies and tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits for men.

Casual sportswear, including shorts, lightweight pants and jogging suits, is the order of the day both at sea and ashore in hotter climates. We recommend you bring a sweater, a jacket or an all-weather coat for cool evenings, and for shore excursions, depending on your destination. You'll also want comfortable shoes for strolling on deck.

HAL:

Evening dress falls into two distinct categories: Formal or Smart Casual. Smart Casual can be defined as slacks and sports shirts or sweater for men and skirt or trousers and sweater or blouse for women. Printed T-shirts, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the restaurants or public areas during the evening hours.

On festive Formal evenings, ladies wear a cocktail dress or gown and gentlemen wear a suit and tie or tuxedo.

I think Celebrity dress is more like HAL than not.

One HUGE difference for us is that Celebrity, RCI, and Princess provide much better alternate dining choices on formal nights.

If you wish to remain casual on HAL it is the Lido, Canneleto (Lido tarted up), or in room dining. Plus, Lido starts closing down the steam tables by 7:30.

The others all provide actual restaurant casual dining alternatives-and good ones at that. It surprises me that HAL misses out on this revenue opportunity.

One HUGE difference for us is that Celebrity, RCI, and Princess provide much better alternate dining choices on formal nights.

If you wish to remain casual on HAL it is the Lido, Canneleto (Lido tarted up), or in room dining.

The others all provide actual restaurant alternatives-and good ones at that. If casual diners on HAL had a better choice than is currently the case they might night crash the MDR of formal nights.

I think Celebrity dress is more like HAL than not.

Thank you for commenting Sail. We haven't sailed Celebrity but have heard from those that do that it is upscale and more formal dress. I didn't look at their dress code.

One HUGE difference for us is that Celebrity, RCI, and Princess provide much better alternate dining choices on formal nights.

 

If you wish to remain casual on HAL it is the Lido, Canneleto (Lido tarted up), or in room dining. Plus, Lido starts closing down the steam tables by 7:30.

 

The others all provide actual restaurant casual dining alternatives-and good ones at that. It surprises me that HAL misses out on this revenue opportunity.

I am not familiar with Celebrity, but agree that RCI and Princess have more "alternate" or speciality dining choices at night.

One HUGE difference for us is that Celebrity, RCI, and Princess provide much better alternate dining choices on formal nights.

 

If you wish to remain casual on HAL it is the Lido, Canneleto (Lido tarted up), or in room dining. Plus, Lido starts closing down the steam tables by 7:30.

 

The others all provide actual restaurant casual dining alternatives-and good ones at that. It surprises me that HAL misses out on this revenue opportunity.

It seems they be addressing that on the new Pinnacle Class ships?

We've found the MDR dress codes on HAL, Princess, & Celebrity to be the same.

More lax on RCCL. Very much more lax on Carnival & NCL.

LuLu

One HUGE difference for us is that Celebrity, RCI, and Princess provide much better alternate dining choices on formal nights.

 

If you wish to remain casual on HAL it is the Lido, Canneleto (Lido tarted up), or in room dining.

 

The others all provide actual restaurant alternatives-and good ones at that. If casual diners on HAL had a better choice than is currently the case they might night crash the MDR of formal nights.

I agree, it's one thing we really like about Celebrity.

Thanks for adding your comments Cruising-along and OCruisers. Sail, what restaurants are you thinking of, e.g., Tamarand? I will have to take a look at the Pinnacle Class ships.

We been on many RCCL and Celebrity cruises in the last 5 years and have found little difference in actual dress on formal nights or any other time. We have seen about 5-10% of the men in the MDR with no jackets on formal nights on every cruise line that we have ever been on.

Having just returned from our first Celebrity cruise, we found quite a large number of people dressed more formally than aboard HAL lately. Awaiting the (formal night) opening of one of the restaurants, (we eat early) each of the five couples waiting were dressed formally, with all the gentlemen in tuxes. But each formal night dining experience included most folks being quite well dressed, at least a suit for him and a nice dress for her.

For perspective, it was a three-week cruise in the south pacific and not just a one-week Caribbean or Alaska cruise.

Just my observation.:)

Here's a link to a CC article that might be helpful:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=545

Rod

We been on many RCCL and Celebrity cruises in the last 5 years and have found little difference in actual dress on formal nights or any other time. We have seen about 5-10% of the men in the MDR with no jackets on formal nights on every cruise line that we have ever been on.

Thanks for your comments.

Having just returned from our first Celebrity cruise, we found quite a large number of people dressed more formally than aboard HAL lately. Awaiting the (formal night) opening of one of the restaurants, (we eat early) each of the five couples waiting were dressed formally, with all the gentlemen in tuxes. But each formal night dining experience included most folks being quite well dressed, at least a suit for him and a nice dress for her.

 

For perspective, it was a three-week cruise in the south pacific and not just a one-week Caribbean or Alaska cruise.

 

Just my observation.:)

It's been a while since we have been on a cruise longer than 7 nights, but I do think the length of the cruise is a factor along with itinerary. Thank for your comments.

Here's a link to a CC article that might be helpful:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=545

 

Rod

Your link made me smile. Maybe it was just that we were on a 7 day HAL cruise to the Mexican Riviera but I found actual dress on the Veendam to be not as formal as the feedback I read on this board.

 

For perspective, it was a three-week cruise in the south pacific and not just a one-week Caribbean or Alaska cruise.

 

Just my observation.:)

I think the length of the cruise is the biggie. We have found that people dress more formally on our TA cruises.

I think the length of the cruise is the biggie. We have found that people dress more formally on our TA cruises.

Seems like it. Thanks for adding your comments.

Here's a link to a CC article that might be helpful:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=545

 

Rod

This is interesting- thx for posting.

Does Holland America expect us to stay dressed up throughout the ship all evening? We have no problem "dressing up" for dinner, we even enjoy it. But to remain dressed up all evening might make us uncomfortable. At what time are we allowed to "dress down?" We're curious as to how many passengers actually adhere to this standard.

This is interesting- thx for posting.

Does Holland America expect us to stay dressed up throughout the ship all evening? We have no problem "dressing up" for dinner, we even enjoy it. But to remain dressed up all evening might make us uncomfortable. At what time are we allowed to "dress down?" We're curious as to how many passengers actually adhere to this standard.

I'm not aware of any specific HAL "rule" as to how long into the evening passengers are expected to stay "dressed up", but from my experience on a dozen or so HAL cruises (none longer than 15 days), very few people stay "dressed up" much later than 9 - 9:30. I think it's more a question of common courtesy/common sense that dictates where and when you should be "dressed up" - for instance, I would not feel comfortable in beach casual attire in the Ocean Lounge any time during evening hours on Formal Night but wouldn't hesitate to show up in the casino dressed like that. These are just my opinions on the subject, and I expect many CCers will have much different views on this subject.

Smooth sailing,

Rod

Thx Ky Colonel-

I wouldn't be comfortable in beach "casual attire" even in the casino, but I would like to throw on a pair of comfortable jeans for the casino or for strolling the deck in the evening. Since we are new to HAL, I guess we'll figure it out when we get there. Our 19 day cruise should have 4 formal, 15 casual nights. I guess I am more concerned about the casual nights- DH will want to throw on a clean t-shirt & jeans after dinner.

Thx Ky Colonel-

 

I wouldn't be comfortable in beach "casual attire" even in the casino, but I would like to throw on a pair of comfortable jeans for the casino or for strolling the deck in the evening. Since we are new to HAL, I guess we'll figure it out when we get there. Our 19 day cruise should have 4 formal, 15 casual nights. I guess I am more concerned about the casual nights- DH will want to throw on a clean t-shirt & jeans after dinner.

You'll see all sorts. Once I'm dressed I stay that way because it's a pain to change in something less dressy. I'd feel kinda weird not dressed up but I'm always dressed more formally than the situation dictates.

Thx Ky Colonel-

 

I wouldn't be comfortable in beach "casual attire" even in the casino, but I would like to throw on a pair of comfortable jeans for the casino or for strolling the deck in the evening. Since we are new to HAL, I guess we'll figure it out when we get there. Our 19 day cruise should have 4 formal, 15 casual nights. I guess I am more concerned about the casual nights- DH will want to throw on a clean t-shirt & jeans after dinner.

... I probably shouldn't have used the term "beach casual", as I'm afraid it might be understood to include swim wear, thongs, flip flops, tank tops, and the like when what I intended was just "casual wear" such as khaki slacks, sandals, t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, and, yes, even jeans. IMO you shouldn't have any problems dressed in "casual wear" in the casino or walking on the Promenade Deck in the evenings, even on Formal Nights.

Rod

Thx Ky Colonel-

 

I wouldn't be comfortable in beach "casual attire" even in the casino, but I would like to throw on a pair of comfortable jeans for the casino or for strolling the deck in the evening. Since we are new to HAL, I guess we'll figure it out when we get there. Our 19 day cruise should have 4 formal, 15 casual nights. I guess I am more concerned about the casual nights- DH will want to throw on a clean t-shirt & jeans after dinner.

Thanks for adding your comments Banditswife. Nice explanation Ky Colonel.

You'll see all sorts. Once I'm dressed I stay that way because it's a pain to change in something less dressy. I'd feel kinda weird not dressed up but I'm always dressed more formally than the situation dictates.

Thanks so much for adding your comments cruz chic. You must have a very nice wardrobe.