DT_PB_all_at_sea

Worries me because we have cruised on Cunard and Princess many times and the last time we were on Princess an American at our dinner table on formal night thought black t shirt and black trousers was formal so god knows what is idea of smart attire would be. Smart attire on most other cruise lines meand open shirt and trousers no jacket or tie required and I fear this is the way Cunard are going.

It has to be asked why did the restaurant Maitre d'Hotel not deny him access for not meeting the dress code? Certainly wont try Princess as an alternative to Cunard

I saw this question re. Gala nights in a FB forum yesterday.

My answer was that I think Cunard are going down the route of Holland America, using the word Gala instead of formal.

In other words, Gala night means dress up if you like, or if not dress as you like.

Last year at this time of the year I took my first HA cruise since the early 1980’s.

The Gala night was something that concerned me and my husband as we always dress to the nines for dinner.

With this in mind we booked fixed dining and a table for two, My reasoning been, if we sat at a large table we could end up sat next to someone in shorts.

My fears were squashed once onboard as on Gala Night many people dressed in formal wear. There were many passengers from Holland onboard who like to dress.

Men in DJ”S. Ladies in long dresses but not glamorous as you would see in Cunard, but they dressed up. The main dining room we found most passengers were well dressed.

I wore my long beaded dresses they were well admired and I did not care if no one else was in such a glamorous dress.

I wore what I like. I also took calf-length dresses for two Gala nights. Again glitzy beaded numbers, again well received.

This made me realise there is life outside Cunard.So much so we have booked another cruise on HA.

We have cruised mainly on Cunard for many years , hundreds of nights onboard so we were reluctant to change

I have after 40 years of cruising, now I am finally coming round to thinking the glory days of an era that Cunard try to portray are over.

Sad as it is, I do think this is no technical hitch.

Shame, and very disappointing as over the years we like many people have spent thousands of pounds on clothes alone to dress up for formal nights. Evening gowns, evening shoes, bags jewellery all bought for Cunard cruises.

Themed balls dresses also, only to be worn on Cunard.

Men on Cunard spend more than some ladies. They love to dress for formal nights.

Now if these nights go these clothes are mothballed.

I always used to say, once the dress code goes, I stop cruising.

Now after experiencing a ”Gala” night on HA. I realise you dress to please yourself and do not stress what others think or do.

I would like to think Cunard will uphold the dress standards, but as things are I doubt it. I for one will be upset at this as it was what made Cunard special.

Things are getting too difficult for staff to enforce any dress code. They should be trained to know how to deal with passengers who wear jeans anoraks hoodies, in the Chart Room as they did on our recent Christmas cruise.

Staff not trained to approach them and refuse service.

I like others on here, we will have to consider more cruises on different lines if the dress code goes to this mish-mash of things. Why pay for something that is advertised as old-time glamour and get just the norm for other cruise lines?

 

BTW, the dress code may not be too formal on HA but on the plus side, their food was far superior. In the meantime we have three cruises to partake on Cunard so just hope and pray the dress standards are kept .

Sorry to say I have to agree with you - Cunard look to be going the same way as Holland America Line - down 'The Head'. Run out of Miami by so called Managers who have no idea of style. Dress code is a dress code - if you enter a place/hotel/restaurant ship you should be asked to comply with the dress code or be denied access. On land I am fortunate to go to the 'London Ritz and its restaurant a few times a year; love its style - despite the fact I go a few times I know if I arrived inappropriately dressed they would respectfully and politely ask me to comply or tell me I can not dine/drink there. I know that - I accept that. Its called rules and style - something HAL clearly do now have

I'd love to believe that this is all some glitch or April Fool joke. Sadly though we have seen things show up in the system before there was a formal announcement - like deck 13 statesrooms online before it was announced that there would be any up there. I'm so mad I want to cancel my June sailing because what they are delivering is a substantial departure compared to that at time of booking. I'm stuck unless I want to eat a huge cancellation penalty. Not too late to cancel my later sailing however.

I am as mad as you are and totally disappointed in the so called 'management' at Cunard/Holland America that they fob loyal passengers of with a total spin of rubbish. We too have cruises booked with Cunard because we love the formality and smartness - 14 days June 2018 - 14 days September 2018 - 107 days January 2019 (the World Cruise) and 14 days in June 2019!!! So you can understand why I am totally disgusted with Cunard if this goes the way it looks = dumbed down Cunard.

My last cruise on Holland America was shortly before they changed "formal " to "gala." The definition of formal included "jacket or tie" and it wasn't enforced. The majority of gents, however, did wear jacket and tie and there were several in dinner jackets/tuxedos, including me. There were also two young men wearing T-shirts and baseball caps. HAL's definition of gala has been dumbed-down from what it was for formal.

 

Some on this forum have mentioned the number of dress codes. When we first started crossing on the Queen Mary 2 there were three dress codes: formal, semi-formal and elegant casual. Each had a definition.

 

If the dress standards are lowered, it is not mandatory for any of us to follow it. I think most regular Cunard travellers view the dress code as a minimum. I have never gone to dinner on a Cunard ship without a jacket and tie since our first crossing in 1973 and I don't intend to lower my standards.

With respect I believe on Cunard the only reason most if not all passengers look smart is due to the current dress code. The new one (which Cunard deny will change anything!!) will be far less clear and will attract new passengers previously put off by the old dress code and they will simply wear what they feel like. IMO and no disrespect but the US and Australia do have a different angle on what is appropriate dress in a very smart upscale restaurant, particularly when on vacation/holiday. So Cunard will go down the head just like Holland America Line is headed. Two downgraded classic cruise lines - thanks to Carnival Corporation.

Here is HAL's evening dress code and definition of "Gala Night." Let's hope Cunard isn't going to this.

 

• Most evenings smart casual attire is appropriate. Shorts, pool/beachwear, distressed jeans and men’s tank tops are best left to the daytime and are not permitted in fine dining restaurants.
  
• Gala Nights evoke the grand traditions of cruising as guests dress to impress for special events on board, including our five-course gourmet dinner in the Dining Room. For gentlemen, collared shirts and slacks are required in all fine dining restaurants.
  

Collared shirt and slacks--polo shirts and khakis, as someone said--is not my idea of dressing to impress!

 

Sure, we can all dress up if we want to. But if Cunard dumbs down the dress code to this extent, the ambiance of formal (oops "gala") nights will be diluted to the point of nonexistence before long.

Don't forget HAL (and presumably Cunard now) allow denim jeans on 'Smart Attire' nights - so long as they are not ripped - SO HOLLAND AMERICAN LINE STILL HAS STYLE - NOT!!!!

I just called Cunard and they think the dress policy is changing. My Voyage Personaliser now states Smart Attire for some nights (used to be informal) and Gala Evening for what used to be formal nights.

Will be a couple of weeks until new definition.

I think the changeover will depend on the date of your cruise.

Which is very interesting as I FB Messengered Cunard who completely deny anything is changing - which to be frank I consider to be a total 'crock' - their Customer Service staff member said:

- Hi David, I totally understand why you are worried about this, so rest assured, I have fed these comments back to the relevant department. I know they are just trialing new language and wording, to keep things fresh. It does not mean the dress code will be changed at all. I hope this helps to address your concern. Just to confirm, the dress code will remain the same as before. Kind regards, James

It does many one wonder if the exectives at Cunard/Holland America actually know what they are doing and actually cascade down the line their dictates!!!

I have emailed Cunard asking for clarification. I will let people know when I get a reply.

Good luck with that I just got fobbed off with PR bla bla bla. See my input to the thread here.

Ours is showing the same for our next cruise and we have a Black & White Ball on our last night [emoji33]

Depending on when you sail you may want to check your Voyage Personaliser - if it is later in the summer the definitions could have changed - ours in June was the same - the one in September has now changed to the HAL type dress code!

I just noticed something curious regarding the dress code designations in voyage personaliser for our upcoming voyages on QM2. We are booked on three consecutive voyages M821 (eastbound crossing), M822 (Norwegian Fjords), and M823 (westbound crossing).

 

The dress code for our first crossing was posted in voyage personaliser a little over a month ago and is what I was expecting.

 

Voyage M821

10 June - New York Embark - Dress: Informal (Jacket Required)

11 June - Sea Day - Dress: Formal (Royal Cunard Ball)

12 June - Sea Day - Dress: Informal (Jacket Required)

13 June - Sea Day - Dress: Formal

14 June - Sea Day - Dress: Informal (Jacket Required)

15 June - Sea Day - Dress: Formal (Roaring Twenties Ball)

16 June - Sea Day - Dress: Informal (Jacket Required)

17 June- Southampton Disembark

 

The dress codes for our next two voyages were just posted today in voyage personaliser and are not exactly what I was expecting. Here is what is listed within the itineraries for those two voyages.

 

Voyage M822

17 June - Southampton Embark - Dress: Informal (Jacket Required)

18 June - Sea Day - Dress: Gala Evening (Black & White Ball)

19 June - Bergen - Dress: Smart Attire

20 June - Alesund - Dress: Smart Attire

21 June - Flaam - Dress: Smart Attire

22 June - Stavanger - Dress: Gala Evening (Masquerade Ball)

23 June - Sea Day - Dress: Smart Attire

24 June - Southampton Disembark

 

Voyage M823

24 June - Southampton Embark - Dress: Smart Attire

25 June - Sea Day - Dress: Gala Evening (Black & White Ball)

26 June - Sea Day - Dress: Smart Attire

27 June - Sea Day - Dress: Gala Evening

28 June - Sea Day - Dress: Smart Attire

29 June - Sea Day - Dress: Gala Evening (Masquerade Ball)

30 June - Sea Day - Dress: Smart Attire

01 July - New York Disembark

 

The best I can make of this is that Cunard is starting to call the "Formal" dress code "Gala Evening" instead and is starting to call the "Informal" dress code "Smart Attire" instead. I hope that's all there is to it. I can find no definition of the "Gala Evening" and "Smart Attire" dress codes. I fact, the "What to Wear" page within voyager personaliser still refers to the dress codes as "Formal" and "Informal", so I'm not sure what to make of this.

 

Just wanted to bring this up in case anyone else has any other ideas about what Cunard may be up to with these new "Gala Evening" and "Smart Attire" dress code designations shown in our voyage personaliser itineraries.

 

John

I queried this with Cunard, conversation is further down the thread, but IMO I only received a PR foboff.

Looks like the Cunard dress code definition will be changingduring the summer. We have a cruise withthem in June 2018 that has the old definitions – FORMAL/INFORMAL, yet ourcruise with Cunard in September 2018 has the new definitions GALA EVENING/SMARTATTIRE, hence my contact with them.

Holland America Line now manage both Cunard and P&O UK. Holland America Lineuses the same dress code definitions now being rolled out to Cunard later inthe Summer – FORMAL became ‘GALA EVENING’, whichsuggests men wear a jacket and tie instead of a full-blown dinner suit!!!!!. INFORMAL became ‘SMART ATTIRE’ which suggests menwear a collared shirt and slacks, no mention of ajacket!!! and women wear a casual dress or trousers and blouse.

Hardly the Cunard we now know and love after 19 voyages withthem. I do hope this is not the dumbingdown of a fine traditional cruise line. We have our first full World Cruise and one toAlaska in 2019 and truly hope we have not made a mistake given these changes.

I queried this with Cunard via FB, FB direct messaging and Twitter. IMO the short of it is given that Holland America now manage Cunard and P&O in Europe Cunard certainly seem to be dumbing down the dress code - in line with the dress code definition of HAL: Which I consider to be yet another poor Cunard marketing decision/policy - despite Cunards 'customer services' staff denial. I am sure others share this concern and they too may want to blitz Cunard with queries regarding this dumbing down by stealth. Others members may want to take this up with Cunard - good luck!! Here is my conversation with them:

-

- Hi David, Thank you for your message. I believe I just replied to one of your comments on Facebook, so apologies as I had not seen you had messaged directly. As you may have already seen, there are currently no plans to change the dress code on board. The wording is just slightly different.

Here, here. QV pre refit is my favourite of the two as well. It will be awful to see that dreadful dark corridor like they have on QE. Why couldn't they have taken part of the Britannia restaurant upper deck instead? Or the photo gallery? Such a shame.

Carnival Dollar revenue generating pre occupation sorry to say IMHO - they charge a very high premium for Britannia Club staterooms with very little extra expense on their part - same size stateroom, same Britannia menu IMHO the only advantage for the price spike is flexible dinning time. Hopefully Cunard will stop keeping on cramming ever more staterooms in to every nook and cranny they can find!! Having said that I still love Cunard over all other large/mid ship lines.

I had a response from Cunard/Cunard World Club:

"Hi David, we will be creating the new Britannia Club restaurant in the space on the ship currently occupied by The Chart Room. We are still working through our designs and development plans for the rest of Queen Victoria’s 2017 refit. As always, we will be working closely with our on board teams and listening carefully to our guests as we define this exciting new chapter of Queen Victoria".

I suggest if you agree that a new bar should be installed you may want to FB the Cunard page.

Totally agree - Cunard are not being direct when asked, I love the room and use it often. With the extra passengers it is going to be a difficult to get a pre dinner drink as it is on QE. Such a shame between QE and QV I prefer QV. Crazy.

The QV is due a refit mid 2017 - based on the new deck plans for 2017/2018 Cunard will be adding new Britannia Club Staterooms and ripping out the lovely Chart Room Bar - which is where the Club Restaurant will go. The same as on QE. So far Cunard have been evasive as to this plan, come regular passengers have even been told the Chart Room will be relocated!!! Can't see where. Love Cunard but they are simply just cramming in more and more cabins on their lovely ships - reducing the public spaces for all. Does anyone else know about this or have an opinion?