Formal nights on Alaskan Princess cruise?

I just read that Princess Cruises have formal and smart casual nights. How do I find out which nights and how many ? Sailing May 30th on Coral Princess.

Does anyone have tips on what to pack for this cruise ? Thank you

Pack layers, layers, layers. You don’t need anything super heavy. I’m going in late April and living in Southern California, I don’t have the same clothing I did when living in New England. I’m packing pants, t-shirts, lightweight sweaters, lightweight jacket, waterproof jacket and a fleece vest, hat and gloves. They can all literally be worn together if it’s very cold.

On a 7-night cruise, there’ll be two formal nights. People generally dress “dressy” rather than formal. I’ll bring either black pants and a sparkly top or a very packable long dress with a shawl. Most men wear a jacket with pants or a suit.

The patter for the first day will have the schedule for the cruise and will indicate which nights are formal.

I asked a similar question on the Alaska board and several people responded that the Alaska itinerary is much less formal on Princess with pants and a collared shirt for men being acceptable on "gala" nights. No jacket or tie required. Woman also fine with pants, skirt/dress, nice shirt. Formal clothing not required.

We sailed an Alaska cruise on the Coral last May. And we just got off an Eastern Carribean cruise on the Regal last Sunday.

I did notice a difference between the two cruises on formal nights as far as what men wore. I definitely saw more men in dark suits in the Carribean than I did on the Alaskan cruise. Men with long-sleeved collared button shirts with a tie were allowed into the dining rooms with no problem as far as I could tell.

I think the term “formal” is a misnomer in the Princess setting. Outside of a rare man in a tux and a lady in a formal gown, people are wearing “dressy” - not formal.