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Elegant/Formal Night Kaput on Carnival

OneNewTexan

By OneNewTexan,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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raylene5

raylene5

Posted
Posted
Some of the most expensive cruise lines out there have no elegant or formal nights. That's because people with real class don't equate a tux, a gown, nor anything else that is merely aesthetics to someone actually having class.

 

I absolutely agree! I've been thinking of a way to say this for a long time but didn't know how to word it the "right" way :) I've read this many times before...that people dress much more informally on the expensive lines than those on the cheaper lines for formal nights. It's just a crack up to me that people think it's necessary to dress formally in the MDR. It's not a 4 star restaurant. The food is great, no doubt, but I think of it more like an Olive Garden in the sense that it's really big with a lot of people. Your very "fine" restaurants are almost always very small and intimate. With that being said, I do abide by the dress code and dress more formally on elegant nights and appropriately for all the other nights. Oy!!!

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mcwebber

mcwebber

Posted
Posted
I absolutely agree! I've been thinking of a way to say this for a long time but didn't know how to word it the "right" way :) I've read this many times before...that people dress much more informally on the expensive lines than those on the cheaper lines for formal nights. It's just a crack up to me that people think it's necessary to dress formally in the MDR. It's not a 4 star restaurant. The food is great, no doubt, but I think of it more like an Olive Garden in the sense that it's really big with a lot of people. Your very "fine" restaurants are almost always very small and intimate. With that being said, I do abide by the dress code and dress more formally on elegant nights and appropriately for all the other nights. Oy!!!

 

The smaller fine dining restaurants I'm familiar with tend to be far more casual than the larger fine dining restaurants like Ruths Chris, Flemings, Roy's and other locally owned fine dining restaurants I'm familiar with.

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richstowe Great Review Rare

richstowe

Posted
Posted
I absolutely agree! I've been thinking of a way to say this for a long time but didn't know how to word it the "right" way :) I've read this many times before...that people dress much more informally on the expensive lines than those on the cheaper lines for formal nights. It's just a crack up to me that people think it's necessary to dress formally in the MDR. It's not a 4 star restaurant. The food is great, no doubt, but I think of it more like an Olive Garden in the sense that it's really big with a lot of people. Your very "fine" restaurants are almost always very small and intimate. With that being said, I do abide by the dress code and dress more formally on elegant nights and appropriately for all the other nights. Oy!!!

I see your point but you have to differentiate between the the two types of non casual restaurants.

 

There are the "foodie" type places, which you are mostly referring to with innovative food and a hip chef.

 

The other kind is the more old fashioned type, like you would find at the country club, a wedding reception hall or in the MDR.

 

This second type has good (but not superb) food.

It is at this second type wher you find this reverence for dressy clothing.Nothing wrong with either place.

Its just that the people at the second have certain clothing expectations .

 

The people at the first type save those expectations for the food alone.

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raylene5

raylene5

Posted
Posted
I see your point but you have to differentiate between the the two types of non casual restaurants.

 

There are the "foodie" type places, which you are mostly referring to with innovative food and a hip chef.

 

The other kind is the more old fashioned type, like you would find at the country club, a wedding reception hall or in the MDR.

 

This second type has good (but not superb) food.

It is at this second type wher you find this reverence for dressy clothing.Nothing wrong with either place.

Its just that the people at the second have certain clothing expectations .

 

The people at the first type save those expectations for the food alone.

 

Good point.

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WeBeCruisin'

WeBeCruisin'

Posted
Posted

After reading a very recent post here which had literally or perhaps I should say "illiterally" :)) a mistake in grammar, punctuation and spelling in every other word (and it's even sadder, because it was obvious the person was using spell check and still made that many mistakes) I've decided it's absolutely pointless to even attempt to try to use reason, logic or facts with the McDonald's Army.

 

Just out of curiosity, I re-read quite a few of the other posts and there was a frighteningly strong correlation between the people who rant and rave over and over and over and over again about the "snobs", "losers", "fashion police" "old fossils" and "dementia" and their lack of basic communication and comprehension skills.

 

Whereas, before, I had thought they were pretending to be ignorant as part of the redneck persona they were advocating, now I realize that it wasn't an act at all and that they definitely have numerous mental challenges and that it's not fair to attempt to educate them. They just get all frantic and excited and start sputtering the same lame insults and lack of logic.... over and over and over and over..... and it's usually the same handful of people.

 

So, it's been fun.... and depressing.... and I'll see ya on the flip side. :)

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jsarratt

jsarratt

Posted
Posted
After purchasing a new tux for my son (he outgrew his old one) and spending nearly a $1,000 total for new fancy dresses for my wife and two teenage daughters for the two elegant nights (must have a different dress for each night), it is disappointing when your daughters comment that they feel out of place in their new beautiful dresses when they are surrounded by jeans, shorts, and t-shirts. Our trip wasn't ruined, it just wasn't what was expected. I will note that our cabin steward was fantastic (called us each by our name and was always so friendly) and the food in the main dining room was very good.

 

If you are spending $1000 for a dress, you are on the wrong cruise. Nothing wrong with spending $1000 for a dress but you are cruising with people that do not nor would not spend that kind of money on a dress.

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iceleven

iceleven

Posted
Posted

I always thought that most of the people who dressed up for elegant night were those who wanted to take advantage of the professional photographers that are always around on those nights. People are always lined up for those photo opportunities.

 

I am guessing Carnival makes a good amount of cash from these photo sessions so there is not likely a chance they will do away with the formal nights. It's always enjoyable to watch the families in their fine clothes being photographed.

 

Clothes don't make a man/woman but a certain level of respect for others says a lot about who you are.

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Sailor_Sally

Sailor_Sally

Posted
Posted

So' date=' it's been fun.... and depressing.... and I'll see ya on the flip side. :)[/quote']

 

That's sort of a lame exit. I have to think that you might have actually begun to realize that my points were valid and you just couldn't handle it. :)

__________________

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BeachChik

BeachChik

Posted
Posted
After reading a very recent post here which had literally or perhaps I should say "illiterally" :)) a mistake in grammar' date=' punctuation and spelling in every other word (and it's even sadder, because it was obvious the person was using spell check and still made that many mistakes) I've decided it's absolutely pointless to even attempt to try to use reason, logic or facts with the McDonald's Army.

 

Just out of curiosity, I re-read quite a few of the other posts and there was a frighteningly strong correlation between the people who rant and rave over and over and over and over again about the "snobs", "losers", "fashion police" "old fossils" and "dementia" and their lack of basic communication and comprehension skills.

 

Whereas, before, I had thought they were pretending to be ignorant as part of the redneck persona they were advocating, now I realize that it wasn't an act at all and that they definitely have numerous mental challenges and that it's not fair to attempt to educate them. They just get all frantic and excited and start sputtering the same lame insults and lack of logic.... over and over and over and over..... and it's usually the same handful of people.

 

So, it's been fun.... and depressing.... and I'll see ya on the flip side. :)

 

You're rude. Name calling and so judgemental of people you don't even know. Just curious if you win a prize for putting "Class" or "Mcdonald's army" in every post.

 

The horse is dead, no need to keep beating it.

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Vanessa L

Vanessa L

Posted
Posted
If you are spending $1000 for a dress, you are on the wrong cruise. Nothing wrong with spending $1000 for a dress but you are cruising with people that do not nor would not spend that kind of money on a dress.

 

OTOH, if you break that down per person, it's ONLY $333.33 (and one at $333.34) per PERSON. Musta been shopping at Wal-Mart or a bargin basement to "settle" for those prices :rolleyes:

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capndinghy

capndinghy

Posted
Posted

Note to self:

Pack Flip Flops

Wife Beater T-shirt

Crummy Shorts

For Formal night. Sheesh. If some wants to wear a TUX more power to them. It does not hurt to dress nicely on Formal night.

 

I suspect a Coat and Tie are needed for dining on Cunard!!!

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Capt. JC

Capt. JC

Posted
Posted

Spring break + Carnival + Caribbean =Tux? Not for me. Perhaps my best hawaiian shirt & slacks for formal night. Sorry if I offend anyone. Those that want to dress up and are certainly welcome to and I hope they enjoy it.

 

My real thoughts are that Formal Night type of cruising was what my parents and grandparents did when they cruised (which they did extensively back in the 1930-1970's). It was a different world back then. Some people today seem to try to pretend they are living back then and are a part of that world. That is fine but don't expect everyone to buy into that (whether the cruise line is trying to promote that or not). My DW and I are taking off on Sunday for a week's cruise in the Caribbean with our son, daughter in law, and 3 year old grandson. It will be fun to introduce this 5th generation cruiser to the cruising world but it will be in this century.

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stewpapa

stewpapa

Posted
Posted

On all our cruises (Royal and Carnival) we always dress nicely for every MDR dinner. It is part of cruising for us. We don't take notice of what others wear to dinner and have never felt out of place no matter what we wore. I think more people dress up than down on every evening in every MDR I've been in.

If they didn't, I wouldn't care and we would still dress up and sit at our table for two and enjoy each other's company. We don't even notice that all the other "cattle" are there at all.

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MountainLakesDrive

MountainLakesDrive

Posted
Posted
Just returned from our second and very last voyage on Carnival. Our first Carnival experience was over the Christmas holiday in 2008 and the passengers dressed reasonably well, probably due to the holiday season. Yesterday, we left the Triumph in New Orleans with the conclusion that the "Elegant Night" is really a joke on Carnival. Out of 3,500 passengers on board (1,100 of them children), only about five percent made any attempt to dress well in the dining room on "Elegant Night." Most were in jeans, shorts, T-shirts, and other very casual attire. I even saw some folks wearing flip-flops and one fello wearing gym sweats to the dining room. I did see about 20 men and boys wearing a tux. My son and I were two of this 20 or so. My wife and our two daughters were dressed appropriate for a formal dinner. This was really a let down to our family and is not what we expected. I know that many of you out there like this new super-casual dress standard, but it is not for us and we will be booking our future cruises on more upscale cruise lines where the passengers dress up more. I just cancelled a NCL booking this morning as we did not want to encounter the same lax dress code as we saw on Carnival. This is an FYI to all those new cruisers looking to book future trips. I will be booking Celebrity to replace the cancelled NCL booking.

 

You may wish to try Holland America if Celebrity does not meet your expectations. I will share that you and your family may find "too many old folks" on Holland America. If that happens, then try Princess. What your financial priorities are is none of my business, but if your unmet expectations come to dictate a change in your priorities, then consider checking out Crystal, Regent Seven Seas (sp?), or Silversea. From seeing the photos of friends who have cruised with these three lines, I do not believe you would be disappointed. Good luck and HAPPY CRUISING!

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