How formal for Formal night on Emerald Princess?

[barberesr]

How formal do the men have to dress to get into the dining room for dinner?

 

We have a couple of guys that are not into the tie and jacket thing.

[satxdiver]

For formal nights on all my cruises I wear a pair of docker pants (usually khaki), long sleeved dress shirt, no tie and a blue blazer with sandals. I have never had a problem of any kind. Men have to wear pants (not jeans) and a long sleeved dress shirt as a minimum. I take my blazer off and hang it on the back of my chair since I do not want to eat with it on. Quite a few men do the same. On my Alaska cruise I wore a cotton crew neck sweater instead of the coat as it was a bit colder and I needed the checked luggage space for my backpack equipment that I used later in Alaska on a self guided tour.

 

You will see men in tux, suits, sport coats, blazers and without a coat. Most wear ties but quite a few do not including the suit wearers. It is not unusual to see older men with athletic shoes on formal night due to foot support.

[Times Prince]

How formal do the men have to dress to get into the dining room for dinner?

 

We have a couple of guys that are not into the tie and jacket thing.

There have been many posts with strong opinions on this.

 

The dress suggested by Princess is followed by a majority of men (we had a poll where this was over 90% who wore ties and coats, while most wore tuxedos or suits.

 

Princess offers formal nights to make the cruise experience a little more special and a little more romantic. How special would it make you feel if your guy dressed really nice just for you, even if he's not into it?

 

Forget what other people might tell you about how to dress, and consider how nice the experience can be to join in on the fun and romance of the evening.

[Coracii]

Most men will be in suit jackets or similar, but there are always some (like myself among them) that wear dress slacks and a long-sleeved dress shirt. If the two people in your group that aren't interested in wearing jackets are comfortable in the fact that they will be in the small percent of people it's extremely unlikely that they'd not be seated in the dining room as long as they make some reasonable effort. I never wear a jacket and have never been denied entrance. You'll likely see strong opinions on this expressed here since this group is mostly the "power cruisers" that are on the ships frequently. Once you're on the ship it's a whole different demographic and less people concern themselves in how you're dressed. However, if they show up in shorts or jeans with a t-shirt on formal night they'd likely be excluded.

[bhopal21]

How formal do the men have to dress to get into the dining room for dinner?

 

We have a couple of guys that are not into the tie and jacket thing.

 

You may consider either the Crown Grill or Sabatini's as they are smart casual even on formal evenings.

 

We were just on The Emerald two weeks ago and dined at both venues on formal nights dressed casually. I would advise making reservations ahead of time, especially for the Crown Grill as it was quite busy each evening.

 

Mike:)

[1 HappyCruiser]

My wife & I are among the casual dressers on formal evenings in the DR. A long sleeve dress shirt & pair of pants has been the minimum attire for the guys even without the jacket. The gals can get by with just pants & any dressy top or a simple dress.

 

There has been an ongoing discussion about wearing casual clothes in the Specialty restaurants on formal evenings. Although it clearly states that formal dress is not required on the Princess web site, there have been a number of head waiters insisting on something more than casual. Perhaps they're trying to give a more upscale look to their restaurants but they should at least change their web site before trying to enforce the new policy. I'll be prepared with a written copy of their guidelines on our next visit to the Crown Grill.

[cruiserone]

Just off the Emerald on Sunday. I would say that most people were in some sort of "formal" wear. DH still wears a tux as that is what he likes to wear and I like seeing him in it. We still dress formal. Not everyone was formal, some were in suits and some in sport jackets. there were very few people not dressed./\

 

Happy SAiling:D

[flamomo]

Formal night recommended attire on ALL Princess ships is the same, regardless of where or when one is cruising.

 

As is obvious in this thread, there are always some (men, primarily) who refuse to "dress for the occasion", and love to flaunt the fact that they were permitted to dine one of the dining rooms (instead of the buffet or an alternative restaurant).

 

Fortunately, they are very far in the minority, because the vast majority of Princess cruisers opt to dress within the recommended guidelines, and by doing so, help make the formal night ambiance in the dining rooms and around the ship in the evening really special.

[FredS]

Also can depend on where you are going and the length of the cruise. Some longer, 20+ days, to other continents have had an older crowd that tends to dress up quite a bit. The majority of men in tuxes and women in very dressy gowns. Going to Mexico, just about anything goes.

[pcruz4ever]

I was on the 2/21/10 sailing of Emerald Princess, and can speak firsthand about formal night for men. He may not have to wear the tie or jacket, but definitely needs a long-sleeved dress shirt! We had a group of 32 people and wanted to all eat together Tuesday night because it was a friend's birthday (the underlying reason for the cruise itself!). Two of the men were turned away from the dining room because their forearms weren't covered! Of course, they did end up getting in, after one of our group spoke to the Purser about it, but there was a lot of drama. The alternative is to eat dinner at the buffet - which tends to have most of the same food anyhow, just a more informal atmosphere.

[martyz]

Do you know what the dinner theme nights are? Do you know how much the coffee card costs?

[nchristo]

As is obvious in this thread, there are always some (men, primarily) who refuse to "dress for the occasion", and love to flaunt the fact that they were permitted to dine one of the dining rooms (instead of the buffet or an alternative restaurant).

 

Who is flaunting anything? People are on vacation and want to be comfortable. How does what they wear affect you at all? How would seeing a stranger not as dressed up as you or others in your group make the night less special? As long as you are within reason (not wearing shorts or jeans) I don't think you owe anything to anyone else on the ship.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I was on the 2/21/10 sailing of Emerald Princess, and can speak firsthand about formal night for men. He may not have to wear the tie or jacket, but definitely needs a long-sleeved dress shirt! We had a group of 32 people and wanted to all eat together Tuesday night because it was a friend's birthday (the underlying reason for the cruise itself!). Two of the men were turned away from the dining room because their forearms weren't covered! Of course, they did end up getting in, after one of our group spoke to the Purser about it, but there was a lot of drama. The alternative is to eat dinner at the buffet - which tends to have most of the same food anyhow, just a more informal atmosphere.

 

As you say at least a long sleeve shirt is the minimum required but it's a strange requirement since once seated the sleeves can be rolled up exposing those forearms for all to see. Even a jacket can be removed which many people do when eating.

btw- was it in the anytime DR or traditional?