Formal Dress Question

[Wildblue]

Just wondering if anyone hesitates to wear their uniform depending on where they are sailing. Or have I just seen too many AFN commercials about Force Protection and "Keeping a Low Profile in Other Countries"? :)

Personally, if it were an "American-centric" cruise that embarked and/or disembarked in the US/Canada, I wouldn't hesitate to wear it. I would think harder before wearing it on a cruise with a strictly foreign itinerary, but that's just me. (the thing that pops right in my head is the Achille Lauro)

 

On our last cruise, when formal night rolled around, I wished I had brought my mess dress, but the tux was still fun. Our next cruise is on Oceania, which doesn't have formal night. That's a bit of a disappointment for us, as we do like getting dressed up every now and then, but I know it's a definitely attraction for others.

[stingau]

THe Australian Defence Force prohibits us from wearing ANY uniform for non military occasions. At one stage we were not even allowed to wear our uniforms when going to the local shopping mall near the base. To get around it we had to remove our shirts and headdress and wear the pants with an undershirt.

 

I have 2 dress uniforms one a ceremonial one c/w sam browne and sword frog and the other a mess dress which if im lucky to wear 3 or 4 times a year.

[MerchyBum56]

You are correct Colonel; but the prohibition of wearing ANY military uniform by persons not ACTIVE in the armed forces on occasions, other than those you mentioned is against the law. Unauthorized wearing of the uniform is contained in Title 10, US code, section 772. Each of the military services has their own uniform regulations, explaining and clarifying this.

I am proud of my uniform and my service, and have worn my uniform on the occasions that you mentioned. As a retiree, (and not in physical shape to do the uniform proud) I do NOT want to "impersonate" an active military service member.

P.S I look forward to meeting on the "Riviera".

[MerchyBum56]

You are correct Colonel; but the prohibition of wearing ANY military uniform by persons not ACTIVE in the armed forces on occasions, other than those you mentioned is against the law. Unauthorized wearing of the uniform is contained in Title 10, US code, section 772. Each of the military services has their own uniform regulations, explaining and clarifying this.

I am proud of my uniform and my service, and have worn my uniform on the occasions that you mentioned. As a retiree, (and not in physical shape to do the uniform proud) I do NOT want to "impersonate" an active military service member.

P.S I look forward to meeting on the "Riviera".

 

I'm inexperienced at replying on these boards. In my post above, I am referring to an earlier post on this site (#13) by "Col(ret)Wes". who cites Army regulations about the occasions that a miitary uniform can be worn by a former member of the Armed Forces.

I realize that people do wear their uniforms on cruises, recognizing that there are no MP's/SP's/FBI, on board.

[stingau]

I'm inexperienced at replying on these boards. In my post above, I am referring to an earlier post on this site (#13) by "Col(ret)Wes". who cites Army regulations about the occasions that a miitary uniform can be worn by a former member of the Armed Forces.

I realize that people do wear their uniforms on cruises, recognizing that there are no MP's/SP's/FBI, on board.

 

Just because there is no authority on board does not give anyone the right to break Discipline. In saying that I am proud of the uniform that I wear and as an Officer I understand and accept the reasoning behind why it is not allowed. I will be cruising on 9/11 and would understand if on this date a formal night was held pers. would want to wear their dress uniforms.

[crusinsteve]

I'm retired Army, and had four years in the Marine Corp and also of Scots descent so I wear my Combat Infantry Badge, Jump Wings and USMC Jump wings (all minature) on my Prince Charles Jacket with my kilt. No min medals or full size, as they would look strange with a kilt, but I served 2 tours in Vietnam and I'm proud of my service and wish I could wear my dress blues and jump boots, but I'm old and fat so I would not do justice to the uniform.

Semper Fi and Airborne!

[Kiln Wood]

I'm retired Army, and had four years in the Marine Corp and also of Scots descent so I wear my Combat Infantry Badge, Jump Wings and USMC Jump wings (all minature) on my Prince Charles Jacket with my kilt. No min medals or full size, as they would look strange with a kilt, but I served 2 tours in Vietnam and I'm proud of my service and wish I could wear my dress blues and jump boots, but I'm old and fat so I would not do justice to the uniform.

Semper Fi and Airborne!

 

Thank you for your service to our country and WELCOME HOME!!

[Navywife1]

First I want to thank everyone for their service. My husband always wears his uniform on formal nights.

[waterdave]

Ar 670-1

15-11.

a.

The Army green service uniforms are intended for wear during most duty, non-field, or utility occasions, and for travel and off-duty purposes. While both the class A and B uniforms are authorized for year-round wear, the appropriate uniform is worn based on weather conditions, duties, and the formality of the occasion. When a specific service uniform is not prescribed for formations or other occasions when uniformity in appearance is not required, soldiers may wear the class A or any of the variations of the class B uniform, with the accessories authorized for these uniforms.

 

15

[MerchyBum56]

Thank you. This is accurate and applies ONLY to active duty military personnel.

[waterdave]

Question- if i ETS out of the army on September 3rd third year, and I am going on a cruise September 4th, can I wear my Class As at the formal night?

Im probably goign to do it anyway because Im cruising with my 81 year old army dad and it makes him proud, but wondering if i could justify it as travel home from being disharged from army (not retiring, only did one 8 year contract). The army reserves been good to me but it time to move on....

 

SSG waterdave

[MerchyBum56]

Question- if i ETS out of the army on September 3rd third year, and I am going on a cruise September 4th, can I wear my Class As at the formal night?

Im probably goign to do it anyway because Im cruising with my 81 year old army dad and it makes him proud, but wondering if i could justify it as travel home from being disharged from army (not retiring, only did one 8 year contract). The army reserves been good to me but it time to move on....

 

SSG waterdave

 

Go for it. I think you qualify with the spirit and intent of the law, if not the exact letter of the law. Thanks for your service.

[waterdave]

Go for it. I think you qualify with the spirit and intent of the law, if not the exact letter of the law. Thanks for your service.

 

Thanks merchybum.

 

Also, my thoughts an prayers go out the families to those 30 soldiers that went down in the chinook over the weekend... We here are all so lucky to be out of the kill zone and enjoying our family life. And any of you guys still in we have so much respect for too!

 

I think that why a lot of us vets like cruises- it is such a safe environment with so much good people, and the best mess halls...

[DrFootball]

OK. After having been "Out" (Hon./Med) since 1984 and fully "Out" since 1990(reserves w/ Med. waiver For Crappy Desk jb I never was happy in:-(

 

In 2009 I was Informed Through one of our serviceman's groups I belong to(and MY VET LAWYER!) That the DOD Was "Redacting" some info(also received "official letter from DOD & Dept OF VET. affairs informing me of "promotion" & Award), and that I would be receiving a "Promotion in Retirement" and a commendation from events of October of 1983(Urgent Fury). I was told, and given aid (as I was "In process" of getting my disability status changed to a higher %, and was also in process of medical ret. from civ. career) to go get a new Class A that FIT correctly(signifigant weight gain due to disbility) and did so. SO NOW DW wants me to bring it on our next Cruise...after aurguing with her up and down for weeks I was about to give in esp. since several of our VFW wifes make their husbands wear their's on Cruises as well. Now I can show her this thread!(esp. since I look like crap in it & I still can't put the Dammed Beret on correctly with one hand!!!) I'm "Perfectly Fine" with My Suits with auth. Minatures......(never one to be "bodacious"):cool:

 

So one ?: Does anyone wear their "Wings" of any type as a lapel pin? I have a Mini(Sr. Pilot) but if The Miniature medals are worn correctly, does the "lapel" pin belong on the Same Suit(or tux)? I also have "Mini" lapel Pins of my three Unit/Command assignments, Same ?: "670" is not clear to me on some of that & I used to go back an forth on this With DD(a Ret. SGM US Army & Federal Agent) & DFIL(Also RET. Army Combat Eng.& Ret. NYPD) but both are not with us anymore.. TIA..and welcome home to all my brothers(and Sisters) of all branches...

 

Bill(DrFootball)(CWO-4 (ret.)U.S. Army Aviation Branch-Active 1979-84, USAR 1984-90, ROTC & JrROTC Inst. 1992-99)

 

("All of my heroes wear uniforms. Some even wear flight suits...")

Bill's Brainiac Random Quote Generator V0.94 final beta for Mac

[Two Tumbleweeds]

Wearing my class A uniform was great, but it sure added a lot of weight in the suitcase, so I bought a white dinner jacket and tux pants and just wear my miniature medals. Now I don't have to bring my uniform cover and worry about where to put it (no hat racks).

You could even wear your miniatures on a suit and that would be acceptable too. For veteran's meetings I wear a baseball cap showing my service. With Princess I get cruise credits starting at $100 for a 7 day cruise and on Veteran's Day they had a super program hosted by the Captain of the ship.

[cj_one2000]

We are USAF currently stationed in Germany. We have booked an RCI cruise in June 2012 that goes out from Barcelona. Hubby is active duty and has his blues as well as a nice suit. Is it appropriate on a sailing outside of the US to wear his blues? For OPSEC reasons as well?

[JMG680]

We are USAF currently stationed in Germany. We have booked an RCI cruise in June 2012 that goes out from Barcelona. Hubby is active duty and has his blues as well as a nice suit. Is it appropriate on a sailing outside of the US to wear his blues? For OPSEC reasons as well?

 

 

I wear mine any time I sail, I would check with the ATO office on the ports of call, but there should be no problems in wearing his blues. Enjoy your cruise.

[2zhaus]

Wearing my class A uniform was great, but it sure added a lot of weight in the suitcase, so I bought a white dinner jacket and tux pants and just wear my miniature medals. Now I don't have to bring my uniform cover and worry about where to put it (no hat racks).

You could even wear your miniatures on a suit and that would be acceptable too. For veteran's meetings I wear a baseball cap showing my service. With Princess I get cruise credits starting at $100 for a 7 day cruise and on Veteran's Day they had a super program hosted by the Captain of the ship.

 

I have tried to get my DH to wear his miniatures. I am so proud of him and the service that he gave. Maybe I should just smuggle them into the suitcase. (lol):p

[jaxfl]

Do not go out and buy them.... but... Dress Blues always draw attention and look better that Class A's.... in my opinon... I always liked wearing mine to functions back then.

[americandream]

I wanted to post this here before I posted on the line specific boards (hoping not to get 10,000 responses as I'm sure I would on there based on other questions). We have only sailed previously on Carnival but are booked on a Celebrity Cruise in January. On Carnival, my husband has always worn his Class A Uniform on the first formal night and something a little less formal the second formal night. There are usually several people in uniform.

 

I know that Celebrity Dress code seems to be a little more formal and wanted to know if any of you who may have been on Celebrity know if it will be ok for him to wear his Dress Uniform (Army Dress Blues). I know it's obviously ok but I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be people who thought it was not appropriate. I can't imagine they would (but I want to enjoy my vacation and don't want anyone acting weird). He has nice pants/sports coat but I really don't want to invest in a suit for him considering in most cases where he would need to wear a suit- he has to wear his dress uniform anyway (and we're having to buy a new one since he still has his same Class A's from Basic 5 years ago and they are getting a little tight!)

 

Thanks for any input you might have!

 

I have worn both Blues and Mess and have always had a positive reaction from the other passengers.

 

Just wondering if anyone hesitates to wear their uniform depending on where they are sailing. Or have I just seen too many AFN commercials about Force Protection and "Keeping a Low Profile in Other Countries"? :)

 

This is a concern. I usually limit it to "domestic" cruises that depart and return to U.S. or Canadian ports where I know the majority of the passengers are going to be U.S. citizens seconded by our friends from the North. I haven't done it on the two Mediterranean cruises we have done. So far as I recall, we are technically allowed to wear our dress uniforms to any function where equivalent or similar civilian dress would be worn (i.e. Class A, now ASU, in lieu of a suit and dress blue or mess in lieu of tuxedo). In the past, service members were encouraged to always be in uniform to include all travel. That has changed over time with societal changes and current threats. When I wear my dress uniforms on cruises, I consider it to be keeping certain traditions alive. I also generally wear my uniform to funerals and sometimes to weddings as well for the same reason. I have received some grief from peers regarding the threat issue, but I look at it from the perspective that I put myself intentionally in harms way when I'm deployed when I know that people want to harm me, so why wouldn't I do it when people "might" want to harm me. It's for the same cause. In the end, it becomes a personal choice.

[Anemix]

Wear your uniform with pride...You have earned it and you will look great!

 

Thank you all for helping me change my mind!

 

My DH mentioned that he was considering bringing his formal uniform to our upcoming cruise... I wasn't very encouraging. I do not like to be the center of attention, and I thought a uniform will make us more visible. After reading this thread, I will encourage him to wear it proudly!

 

Thank you all for serving this beautiful country!

[frecgenswl82]

Great to read all the comments in here...they gave me a heads up on what to wear on our forthcoming cruise.

 

It will definitely be miniatures and tux..

 

Cheers, ;)

 

From what I have been reading my husband and I can wear our miniature medals on formal nights. Did not even think we could wear them on our cruise. More to pack. I thought we could only wear them on certain days like Veterans day, Memorial day and other days. Susan

[Proseknitic]

From what I have been reading my husband and I can wear our miniature medals on formal nights. Did not even think we could wear them on our cruise. More to pack. I thought we could only wear them on certain days like Veterans day, Memorial day and other days. Susan

Don't depend on what is posted here. Go pull the uniform reg for your branch of service since they are updated on a regular basis. What you also have to consider is your service's force protection regulations. If they say "no wearing of uniform in non-military occasions out side the US" then I would conform.

 

There is also a difference with what is allowed for "formal occasions" and regular business attire.

 

If you are on a US based cruise (especially Alaska) there is likely going to be a security issue. If you are in the Med or Mideast, I would honestly exercise caution. Remember, there are two groups of people on the ships. The passengers are one, the staff - many of whom come from countries that may not have the best relationship with any military

 

-Holly

 

(now retired after 33 years US Army....)

[AZbeachboy]

Be proud! I would not worry about it being on ship. Its a whole different world of attitude these days. I have seen others wear it on cruises, never a problem.

 

As a veteran, I do get offended by those who have not served wearing any uniform for fashion or decoration. But, if you did it, you earned it.

[C130Nav]

When I was on AD, I wore my Mess Dress on Formal Nights. Received a lot of complements and always told folks that I was proud to serve them.

 

Now that I have retired, I will wear a tux for Formal Nights. I would only put military medals, wings, and so forth on a tux or business suit if there was some form of recognition for Armed Forces Days, Veterans' Day, or similar patriotic event or perhaps a military themed cruise.