Elegant/Formal Night Kaput on Carnival

[geojarvis]

I have been cruising for the last 10+ years and you are always going to see all walks of life. Some in a Tux, some in a sundress, some in a suit and tie and yes some in Prom dresses!! I just dress to make myself comfortable, usually a cocktail type dress on formal nights. I agree that there should be no jeans, shorts or flip flops in the MDR - you can eat on Lido if you don't feel like getting dressed up that night.

 

But the most important thing is that you are on vacation.......vacation on a beautiful Cruise Ship......is there anything better??? :D

 

Relax and have a good time, no mater what ship your on. Good luck on the other line, but you might be surprised to find that there will always be some that do whatever they want. And dress however they want. It is their dime.

[sb4ever]

I am sorry you had a poor experience. I am not speaking for all passengers, but on my last cruise in November, my husband forgot to put one of our suitcases in the car and we didn't realize it until we got to the airport. I had to have our driver stop at the store so I could quickly buy new clothes for the boys in our family before heading to the port. While I picked up a pair of khakis for my husband, it was in no way what we had planned to wear for formal night. So, while we had the best of intentions, formal night didn't work out for us. I know it's not the same for all passengers, but try to think beyond what you immediately see.

[Sargent_Schultz]

 

I will say that none of us in our party owns a gown or tuxedo, so I'm not sure what we're supposed to do. Does formal really mean tuxedos and gowns? I guess i assumed from reading this board that it meant "dressy".

 

There are no formal nights. Carnival calls them elegant nights and tuxedos and gowns are the extreme minority, if at all. You don't even need a jacket or tie.

[Jacky01]

We haven't cruised yet, our first is coming up in September 2011, but I don't think any of us realized when we booked that was even such a thing as "formal night". Granted, we haven't read all of our cruise documents yet, so I'm sure it's in there somewhere.

 

I will say that none of us in our party owns a gown or tuxedo, so I'm not sure what we're supposed to do. Does formal really mean tuxedos and gowns? I guess i assumed from reading this board that it meant "dressy".

 

No, you dont have to bring tux and gowns anymore. The formal nights are now casual elegant. Read the boards, on almost every cruiseline section there is a dress code thread you can get information from.

You will have a blast cruise, enjoy it!

[med2cruise]

My husband and I cruised on Celebrity about 3 years ago. We were very dressy for the formal nights, there were 3 and husband would only attend 2, we ate at one of the other resturaunts on 1 formal night. The other nights we were dressed up, husband had a sports coat, no tie. The dressy clothes stayed on the whole night.

 

I was thrilled last year when we booked our 2nd cruise with kids, 21 and 19 and learned that Carnival does not have "formal" nights. We were on a cruise to the Caribbean and enjoyed being more casually dressed each night for dinner. On the 2 formal nights boys wore khaki/dress pants and shirt with collar and daughter and I wore skirts/sundresses. We were very much on the majority side of dressing.

 

Formal dressing is nice but like other people are saying flying and paying for extra luggage and weight is not worth it. On the 1st cruise we had 2 suitcases full of dinner attire, luckly that was before the per suitcase charge and weight limits.

 

Cruising is what you make of it and what you are comfortable in. No one is getting hurt wearing what they are in the MDR.

 

Keep on cruising!

 

Karen

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Thats sucks. I want to get away fro the lifestyle of fokls who say F the rules. I was hoping a cruise would be different,

 

it still might be. I am sailing next month and will see how it goes. some of us respect rules and hate it when standards are lowered to the slackers who refuse to play by them.

 

Its entirely possible its just the particular ship you were on plus many were probably spring breakers.

[Crazy4Koko]

We haven't cruised yet, our first is coming up in September 2011, but I don't think any of us realized when we booked that was even such a thing as "formal night". Granted, we haven't read all of our cruise documents yet, so I'm sure it's in there somewhere.

 

I will say that none of us in our party owns a gown or tuxedo, so I'm not sure what we're supposed to do. Does formal really mean tuxedos and gowns? I guess i assumed from reading this board that it meant "dressy".

 

absolutely NOT! I consider 'cruise elegant' to be evening wedding attire.

 

I bought my first 'formal' gown for our last cruise on Ebay..$30. I spent more for the girls dresses, but still got both for under $100...but they will get much more use out of theirs than I will of mine.

[captainmayi]

On our last cruise we got all dressed up on elegant night, took some pictures and ate. After dinner we went back to our cabins and changed into "comfy" clothes. We had early dining so we didn't feel like walking around in heels all night. So I'm sure those who had late dining looked at us like we were crazy walking around in shorts or jeans but we already did the "formal" thing.

[travelntreats]

Cruising is what you make of it and what you are comfortable in. No one is getting hurt wearing what they are in the MDR.

 

Keep on cruising!

 

Karen

But for many... the ambiance can greatly be disappointing and dilluted when you see people in flip flops, shorts, raggedy jeans, tshirts, etc..... and there you are dressed more appropriatly and following the suggestions for dress code. So, I can see why many get frustrated by this and can be a turn off to any cruiseline not enforcing the dress code/suggestions. I wish that those passengers not following the guidelines/suggestions would get asked to either change their attire or seek an alternate dining venue where the clothes being worn are more appropriate.

 

Get back to the basics and I think a cruise would be a better "overall" experience rather than a dress however the hell you want to attitude !

[klmorg]

Wow... I cannot believe how people are so easily affected by others' attire on a cruise!

 

I am not very observant of that, I guess. What people wear in the dining room has never bothered me nor affected my cruise experience one bit. So I'm rather pleased to see that type take themselves & their wardrobe to the other cruiselines.

 

Now if we were talking offensive behavior or dirtiness/smell or something along those lines, I could understand; that could impact your dining experience a bit.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Who wants a table with this guy?

 

The rules are the rules. Why is it so damn hard for some people to at least make an attempt? Its not hard, they just don't give a flying F. I guess all you folks who are ok with it are perfectly ok with those folks who save seats in the theater and those who save chairs by the pool or on the deck. You really should be at least consistent and be 100% ok with the same behavior. Rule breaking is rule breaking.

 

They probably shouldn't even bother to enforce any rules other than safety issues right?

[GreenZolie]

The point to the whole debate is that each person/family has a preference for how they want to dress/act/experience/ etc on a cruise and has the right to do exactly what they prefer. And fortunately there are various types of cruises that cater to pretty much every individual's tastes. So, the OP is correct to decide that one cruise line is not suitable for him and his family, but another cruise line is more suitable for them.

 

The fact that he chose to come on to the Carnival forum on Cruise Critic and announce his complaint and decision is simply because he can. That's what Cruise Critic is all about, imo. Reading all the various views of other people is how everyone learns and decides for themselves what they want to do.

 

Isn't the Internet great?! ;):D

[H82seaUgo]

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.

 

and what did you see when you looked down, or into a mirror?

[Sargent_Schultz]

Main line cruise lines are mass market cruise lines and that is who the target market it. The classless aristocrass who like to insult the majority are free to open their wallets and cruise with more snobbish and narrow minded cruise lines.

[GreenZolie]

But for many... the ambiance can greatly be disappointing and dilluted when you see people in flip flops, shorts, raggedy jeans, tshirts, etc.....

 

Exactly. That is pretty much what I posted in my previous post. I like the way you worded it - diluted is a good description.

 

The problem is that on a cruise ship, there are many, many types of folks, with many, many different styles of life - which happens when there are many types of rooms available, costing from very high to very low. If there was a ship with nothing but expensive suites, then it might cater to a more "high class" customer, who would be more likely to dress elegantly on the cruise, even on the Lido deck.

 

The same thing occurs on land. I am no longer surprised when I see people wearing jeans and t-shirts in a nice restaurant because I've been seeing it for years. But, *I* still prefer to dress up a bit when I go to a nice restaurant.

 

Then again, my grandmother was appalled when women started going out in public without gloves and hats on! The standards just get more and more relaxed every generation. My daughter dresses very nicely when she goes out, but it is still more casual than how I dress.

[True Texan]

Pay more money to be sure the other diners are up to your standards. It is your choice. Hope you have a wonderful future cruise.

[klmorg]

Who wants a table with this guy?

 

The rules are the rules. Why is it so damn hard for some people to at least make an attempt? Its not hard, they just don't give a flying F. I guess all you folks who are ok with it are perfectly ok with those folks who save seats in the theater and those who save chairs by the pool or on the deck. You really should be at least consistent and be 100% ok with the same behavior. Rule breaking is rule breaking.

 

They probably shouldn't even bother to enforce any rules other than safety issues right?

 

LMAO... a little extreme, don't ya think? :confused:

[jeanarch]

I guess we were in a different dining room on this sailing because the folks in the London ATD all looked very nice on both Elegant Nights. We had 2 tuxes,a T-neck(black) & sports coat & 2 college young men with a shirt and tie. Our ladies wore "elegant" dresses or dressy pant suits in our group of 8 and the diners around us looked very nice. We never bother about what other people wear. We saw most of the passengers in the halls looking very nice and the lines were lomg for the Formal Night photos. We have sailed on many lines and always dress the same no matter what cruiseline.

 

I am sorry you did not enjoy your cruise but maybe it was because of the Spring Break timing. If you have teenagers you may try Princess but we have sailed Celebrity and I doubt that young people will really enjoy Celebrity. I did not see much for them to do on the trip we took. We enjoyed it but we have never taken a cruise that we did not enjoy. I agree that the rules should be adhered to and at least an attempt made to enforce them but have not seen them all enforced on every cruiseline either. Life is not perfect and neither are cruiselines.

[cdamion]

We haven't cruised yet, our first is coming up in September 2011, but I don't think any of us realized when we booked that was even such a thing as "formal night". Granted, we haven't read all of our cruise documents yet, so I'm sure it's in there somewhere.

 

I will say that none of us in our party owns a gown or tuxedo, so I'm not sure what we're supposed to do. Does formal really mean tuxedos and gowns? I guess i assumed from reading this board that it meant "dressy".

 

No line is going to require that you wear tuxedos and gowns.

 

Carnival: a couple people will have tuxes, a few will have suits and about 30-40% will have sports coat with no tie. Most of the rest will just have a dress shirt.

 

Celebrity/Princess: a few people will have tuxes, most will have suits/sport coats with ties, a few will not wear ties, and a couple will just have a dress shirt.

 

RCI: Somewhere in between

[cdamion]

I just dress to make myself comfortable, usually a cocktail type dress on formal nights.

 

This is fine for formal nights - as long as you are a woman:D

[cdamion]

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.

 

Im a little confused why you would do this for a Carnival or NCL cruise. Neither line is known for their formal nights (Carnival doesn't even call it "formal" night anymore). It seems you did not do enough research about the line before booking. While Carnival's food and service is very good, they are simply a more casual line.

 

You may try Princess. Your family definitely would not have felt out of place on their ships. Also, everybody tends to stay dressed all night after dinner too, unlike Carnival. Celebrity and Holland America would be more formal too.

 

It is very nice that there are different lines out there for different tastes.

[patrice1]

This isn't complicated, ONT. It is well documented on this, and I suspect many other forums/boards that "Elegant" night is used VERY loosely on Carnival. I too have seen many varying degrees of dress on elegant night. On our last cruise on the Miracle, the guy in front of us was literally in a wife beater t-shirt and thank God, the hostess came out and told him we was going to have to have sleeves to enter the dining room. But to him, a wife beater made perfect sense on elegant night.

 

Speaking only for me, I could care less what other people wear, and we do dress up for elegant night (though not in tuxes for DH, as that is over-dressed on Carnival). I have taught my children that there are all walks of life and they should just be themselves and enjoy being so, rather than worrying about what others around them are doing. If you choose to raise your children to be worried about what others around them are doing, then that is certainly your business. Similarly, it is up to you to choose to cruise the upscale lines. We choose Carnival because while we could afford the others, it is important to me to make sure my children are not kept in an "us vs. them" bubble. If I choose to simply cruise where everyone is the same (i.e. the upscale lines), it doesn't expose them to the fact that there ARE differences in people and in the overall big picture, that is perfectly ok.

 

Just my $.02

 

Now THIS is an excellent response.:D

[manmachine]

Celebrity won't do it for you. Yes, you won't find jeans in the dining room, maybe, maybe, but you also are not going to find men in black tie. In fact, the higher up you go in cruise line scale, the fewer men in black tie you will see. On Seaborne, you will see men in silk or linen shirts and dress slacks, no ties, rather than overly dressed. At my yacht club, the only men one sees dressed formally are the servants.

 

Absolutely true.. I have traveled a lot. And can tell you that if it us ab event that does not require an invitation... Most upscale pax will dress nicely, but not formally.

[manmachine]

Pay more money to be sure the other diners are up to your standards. It is your choice. Hope you have a wonderful future cruise.

 

Nyuk Nyuk nyuk

[Blondie008]

I do see your point. We were on a British P&O (so called stuffy at the time) line some years ago, and even then, people ignored the dress codes.

However, my DH and I, walk tall, carry our heads high, and dont give a monkeys how anyone else is dressed although I couldnt abide hairy armpits and smelly toes in a dining room.

Even on land vacations, we get asked "OH, you gotta special occasion today"..THAT annoys us... we dont ask them "OH, you chillin out today"..

We are who WE are. And like the OP, I have paid a damn fortune for my cruise wear over the years I totally want to enjoy them!

It wont stop me cruising, and it wont stop me dressing up to the nines. Our entire family dresses EVERY night in what many might consider formal wear. We woudnt dream of going out at night for a nice dinner, in casuals (would do for a pub meal etc but not in a fine dining restaurant)...so why would we at home.

Many years ago, a restaurant I had, developed its "own" dress code. there were no rules, but I was so proud, that people dressed up to dine in our establishment. It reflected on the service and food we gave. We didnt have any kind of dress code in place, it was just what people did when they came to dine with us...

I am always respectful most of all, of the chefs, and waiting staff..its NICE to make an effort for them. But thats not why we do it..we dress because thats WHO we are...

It wont stop me chatting with someone in jeans etc.. perhaps they spend their lives in a business suit. I live mostly every days in food industry clothing..and on vacation I get my husband to look at me and go WOW!!!!!!

Being Scottish of course he wears full highland dress..and always will on any formal/elegant night.. and my problem there, is I am wasting my time as HE gets all the attention...

(he does lilke a wee lift of his kilt to frighten the ladies in the nightclub:eek:)

If he takes that jokeshop twelve incher with him again he can go on his own:D

Celebrity incidentally, you will still find some people dressed casually. Granted, most dress up..but theres still a few who wear their jeans etc..

Who knows what is behind the reasoning.. all I know is my and mine, we like to party non stop, are dressed to the nines every night, and have a smile for everyone if they have a smile for us...

I draw the line at bare feet and vest tops (dunno wat you call them)...

And yes, it is kinda sad, some folks dont dress in accordance with the ambience of the evening...

BUT..such is life..live with it and ENJOY what YOU do!!!