Dress Code

[lord of the seas]

Writer 100 - in my UK brochure the statement re formal nights specifically says that for the 'black tie optional' evenings men should wear tuxedo, dinner jacket, or dark suit in the main dining room and that the 'alternative dining venues' will welcome guests in elegant casual attire as described, i.e. jacket with or without tie for men. Therefore, to dine in the main dining room on formal optional evenings a man has to be dressed in tux, d.j. or dark suit. Or perhaps I am misinterpreting it?

 

My Seabourn travel planner that arrived today in the UK says

 

"After 6pm,suggested attire for all venues on board will be one of the following"

Resort Casual

Elegantly Casual

Formal Optional

 

Formal optional says

While elegantly Casual is always appropriate during the evening,a formal optional evening will be provided for guests who wish to dress more formally at least once each seven days.

Formal optional attire includes a tuxedo or dark suit with tie for men,cocktail dress or other formal apparel for women.

On Formal optional evenings,we request no jeans in any of the lounges or dining venues.

The number of Formal optional evenings during your voyage is listed on page two of your booklet.

For me it says three nights because I am on board for twenty one days.

 

I always take my Tuxedo and my wife always takes a different long dress for each formal evening.

So in a nutshell Seabourn are saying that on Formal optional evening you can wear the minimum of Elegantly casual,which is a jacket over a shirt or sweater for men worn also with slacks but ofcourse no jeans.No tie is required.

Women can wear a dress,skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse.

[jrmuk]

As usual with Seabpurn the wording is ambiguous however, on Odyssey less than two weeks ago, formal optional meant Tux, DJ or dark suit with a tie in the MDR, on said nights the colonnade and restaurant 2 were elegant casual i.e. jacket but no tie. Apart from the embarkation and pre-disembarkation nights (which were resort casual) every night was either elegant casual or formal optional, this meant a jacket was required on 10 of the 12 nights regardless of your choice of dining venue.

[Chairsin]

I would not dream of suggesting what you wear. If you don't want to follow Seaborn's dress guidelines there are plenty of other cruise lines that will welcome you in the attire of your choice.

[lincslady]

Oh dear! The reason this is confusing is that there are two different messages from SB (right hand does not know what left hand is doing). The instructions in the brochure are as I said; the instructions in the travel planner you get before your cruise are as Lord of the Seas says. No doubt this arose originally because they wanted to do away with formals, and lots of previous passengers did not like this, so they have printed these two messages at different times. SB, are you listening - please put something on this board yourselves (I don't think you ever do) so that we know where we stand.

[cinbeach]

Wow I am confused. I was also looking for clarification to Formal Nights Optional. I have a 14 day cruise in the Med on the Quest and have not been on a Seabourn Cruise in quite some years having done mostly Silversea.

 

When last on Seabourn Black Tie evenings were just that - black tie events. Also on Silversea while some have chosen to eat in alternative restaurants on Formal Nights the majority of guests followed the Formal attire. I guess my question is what percentage of guests still follow this Formal Attire on Seabourn. My husband and I - early 40's love dressing in a Tux and Gown on Formal nights. I had seriously thought perhaps if everyone else does not dress formally anymore than we would be out of place but i think by these posts it must be the opposite and Formal is still the dress of choice.

 

Cindy

[lincslady]

Wow I am confused. I was also looking for clarification to Formal Nights Optional. I have a 14 day cruise in the Med on the Quest and have not been on a Seabourn Cruise in quite some years having done mostly Silversea.

 

When last on Seabourn Black Tie evenings were just that - black tie events. Also on Silversea while some have chosen to eat in alternative restaurants on Formal Nights the majority of guests followed the Formal attire. I guess my question is what percentage of guests still follow this Formal Attire on Seabourn. My husband and I - early 40's love dressing in a Tux and Gown on Formal nights. I had seriously thought perhaps if everyone else does not dress formally anymore than we would be out of place but i think by these posts it must be the opposite and Formal is still the dress of choice

 

Cindy

 

Yes, you will find the majority of guests in black tie or suit, in the dining room. So do join them!

[jrmuk]

Actually it is not the majority, it is by virtue of the rules everybody - however, the mix of Tuxedos versus Suit and tie is around 20% to 80% with tuxedos and DJ's being very much in the minority.

[lincslady]

Actually it is not the majority, it is by virtue of the rules everybody - however, the mix of Tuxedos versus Suit and tie is around 20% to 80% with tuxedos and DJ's being very much in the minority.

 

I was saying the majority of the guests ON THE SHIP would be in the dining room, not that the majority in the dining room would be in Suit or DJ - sorry if I phrased this incorrectly ;)(though I don't think |I did).

[writer100]

My brochure does not say that. It simply states. "Formal Optional: While Elegantly Casual is always appropriate during the evening, a Formal Optional evening will be provided for guests who wish to dress more formally at least once each seven days."

 

That is precisely what my copy of the SB code of conduct says. Which suggests that UK passengers might be getting a different version of the rules of fashion. Still, the American version seems clear and unambiguous. To wit: anything other than a jacket is an option--and ONLY an option--on all nights including optional formal nights. Of course, you can dress up on any night you wish, and in any dining venue if you so choose. To reiterate, I do understand the appeal of everyone looking their best--and all the pleasure of priming that implies. Still, as the passenger net needs to be cast over a wider audience, and that audience skews younger--and less formal--it seems clear as to what direction SB is sailing.

[jagi]

On my recent SB Spirit cruise, I noticed that the majority of guests dressed up on most nights (except resort casual). There were a lot of tuxes and dinner jackets on black tie optional nights. That said, several of our friends joined us for dinner more casually dressed. We still enjoyed their company immensely.

[1straveler]

On our cruise in the caribbean last month I did not find that Tuxedo's and DJ's were in the minority on optional formal night, just the opposite. There were however a number of men in dark suits and some in sport coats or blazers. some even without ties. It did not appear that anyone was turned away.

[lord of the seas]

On our cruise in the caribbean last month I did not find that Tuxedo's and DJ's were in the minority on optional formal night, just the opposite.

 

Glad to hear it.

 

Did the ladies scrub up well?

[JaneBP]

>"Did the ladies scrub up well?"

 

Don't we always?

[t and e]

Just had our Cruise information from Seaborn for Spirit Transatlantic crossing March 2012 and the number of Formal Optional nights is 0

:confused:

[wripro]

Bravo!

[rnn]

My husband and I got off a 12 day Asia cruise in January. We are in our early 50's. Yes, there are many places my husband might dress up in dark jeans with a sport coat but not at night anywhere on a Seabourn cruise. We did not see any jeans in the evening even amongst a handful of people who were 20 to 30 years younger. That does not mean the ship is stuffy but felt elegant. In the southern US, I would call most evening wear, resort elegant.I do believe you would really stick out in jeans and you would look inappropriately dressed. I am not sure if you would be turned around and asked to change though.

 

Last time we were on Seabourn Pride, one evening I had had a hard day and went to the dining room without a jacket; just slacks and a long sleeved shirt. The Maiter Di(how do you spell that?) sat us by the kitchen door and hung a loaner jacket on the back of my chair. No telling what would have happened if I had been in jeans!

[wripro]

You'd have been seated in the kitchen.

[stamfordian]

Last time we were on Seabourn Pride, one evening I had had a hard day and went to the dining room without a jacket; just slacks and a long sleeved shirt. The Maiter Di(how do you spell that?) sat us by the kitchen door and hung a loaner jacket on the back of my chair. No telling what would have happened if I had been in jeans!

 

Maitre d'. It's the French words Maitre d'Hotel abbreviated. To be absolutely accurate should have a circonflex (like an inverted "v") over the "i" and "o" but can't find that in the fonts available on this board!

[MarciAnn]

It is clear from the material I received from Seabourn that formal nights onboard Seabourn are no longer required. For my summer Med sailing on the Quest the brochure says in no uncertain terms that Elegant Casual is always appropriate in the evening and that formal optional is for those who WANT to dress more formally. Personally, my husband is thrilled with this as he really finds it a bother to drag a tuxedo or suit along for one night (especially since we will be travelling both before and after the cruise). For those who want to dress up that is their perogative and I, personally, will bring a cocktail dress, but I think Seabourn has made clear that no one need not feel uncomfortable if he or she choses not to dress formally. Notwithstanding the wonderful people on this board, I think Seabourn has bowed to the majority wish on this one.

[Corner Tavern]

My wife and I are booked on our first Seabourn cruise in late august, the Quest - Dalmatian coast.

 

We've only ever done the large Royal Caribbean ships... so I'm trying to wrap my head around the dress code...

 

Basically, after 5 PM or so, except for the pool area, everyone should be in elegant casual attire in all public areas of the ship...? Meaning: dresses of some sort for the ladies, and slacks/jacket for the gentlemen?

 

....just trying to get an idea... thanks!

[lord of the seas]

My wife and I are booked on our first Seabourn cruise in late august, the Quest - Dalmatian coast.

 

We've only ever done the large Royal Caribbean ships... so I'm trying to wrap my head around the dress code...

 

Basically, after 5 PM or so, except for the pool area, everyone should be in elegant casual attire in all public areas of the ship...? Meaning: dresses of some sort for the ladies, and slacks/jacket for the gentlemen?

 

....just trying to get an idea... thanks!

 

It's always 18.00 (6pm) on a ship that the evening dress code begins.

[lord of the seas]

Just a point about the dress code for those that are new to Seabourn.

Yes,Elegant casual is always welcome and you will feel comfortable durng you vacation but on formal optional evenings you still find a lot of guests dress up in formal attire.

The larger ships less so, especially with a lot of seven day itineraries.

[Corner Tavern]

Just a point about the dress code for those that are new to Seabourn.

Yes,Elegant casual is always welcome and you will feel comfortable durng you vacation but on formal optional evenings you still find a lot of guests dress up in formal attire.

The larger ships less so, especially with a lot of seven day itineraries.

 

thank you, lord of the seas....

 

so, we should be prepared with some formal attire. we are on one of the new/large ships, with a 7 deay itinerary... and so I imagine at least one night will be "formal optional"...

[wripro]

The operative word is Optional. Though many will wear black tie it is no longer required and you will be perfectly comfortable in a jacket and shirt either with or without tie. Especially on the seven day itineraries.

[Corner Tavern]

thanks wripro!