Shadow - Formal full ship?

[uk1]

There has been some talk previously and since my last cruise that "formal" has been "declassified" to mean only formal in the restaurant. I've searched and can't see what the outcome of this discussion was?!

 

Has the formal guidelines now been relaxed or does formal mean formal "all ship" please? The instructions aren't exact!

 

Jeff

[seagirl2002]

Hi Jeff,

 

I've just spent 6 weeks on the Silver Shadow and I talked about this to the hotel director. It is true that on the formal nights you have the chance to dine also informal. They offer on most formal nights a dinner in the Terrace Cafe and there you don't have to wear a tuxedo or dinner jacket. Of course with this decision you also have the "mixed" dress code in the bar.

I have to say I don't like it because I think it was something special to dress up for the formal nights but as far as I heard from many officers and Silversea office people there have been many passengers requesting and informal way to dine on the formal nights.

I think that this is on all four ships

Regards

Miriam

[uk1]

Miriam,

 

Many thanks for taking the trouble. I guess this approach at least gives those that want to dress up a restaurant where every one does - and those that don't - the Terrace! Each to their own!

 

Thanks again,

 

Jeff

[garydm]

Jeff-When we were on Shadow in December, it was noted in the program that one could dine in the Terrace informally on formal nights. When I made my reservation I asked about this and the manager said he did not know anything about it, but promised to check. He did and affirmed one could dress informally. I went ahead and dressed formally and everyone else there was like attired.

 

Gary

[uk1]

............... many thanks Gary. I guess some of those formal dressers just fancied the terrace food. Informalers hopefully won't upset the formal dressers in that situation.

 

Thanks again,

 

Jeff

[meow!]

garydm:

 

During our cruise (we were on the same cruise with you), we noticed that everyone was dressed formally on both formal nights in both restaurants (we walked by and looked). On the first formal night, among the gentlemen, a substantial fraction were wearing dark suits, while on the second formal night, just about everyone wore a tuxedo. As for the ladies, more wore designer ball gowns with more jewellery on the second formal night than the first. It was as if the second formal night was more formal than the first!

 

P.S. One gentleman even had the courage to wear a reddish jacket, and nobody said anything.

[garydm]

meow-you are correct. And, as I recall, all stayed formal for the entire evening.

 

Gary

[blackbird71]

I think the problem comes up on longer cruises. While I do not mind dressing up for formal night, thinking about Grumpy World cruise post over on the HAL forum, I started thinking, three formals in two weeks does not sound bad but on a 30 dayer, 6 formals does sound a little old.. Just IMHO.

[uk1]

Hi Blackbird,

 

The problem comes up on ALL cruises, not just long ones.

 

You may be aware that on the SS forum this topic became quite heated some time ago. It's not really worth starting it all up again because the same points will merely get repeated!

 

In summary, for what it's worth "the informals" quite understood that some people see the formal nights as being a key part of their enjoyment - almost a "highlight", and this is fine and dandy ........ but then the feeling was that as long as the rules do not mandate that a whole ship is formal on any night then this at least gives ALL people some element of choice to enjoy their cruise. It would be extremely selfish of anybody I guess to say that their eyes must not fall on any informality in any corner of the ship on formal nights!

 

I think the "informals" on those nights would say that sacrificing a more elegant bar and the main restaurant is generous enough but at least allow us smartly dressed casuals to be able to sit in the terrace and a less ornate bar ie somewhere else on the ship to eat and drink other than being "confined to quarters" seems a reasonable compromise.

 

Imposing dress codes throughout a whole ship seems to the majority out of step with the world as it is today. Where the discussions went wobbly last time was the insistence of some that the "informals" should have no ship access at all on those nights. Each of us will make up our own minds as to what is reasonable these days and SS has clearly decided what is in their own best interests in terms of following trends in society.

 

Jeff

[blackbird71]

Hi Blackbird,

 

 

Imposing dress codes throughout a whole ship seems to the majority out of step with the world as it is today. Where the discussions went wobbly last time was the insistence of some that the "informals" should have no ship access at all on those nights. Each of us will make up our own minds as to what is reasonable these days and SS has clearly decided what is in their own best interests in terms of following trends in society.

 

Jeff

 

lol,,, sounds like I stepped into a smoking VS non-smoking issue. :rolleyes:

 

But on today's usenet rec.travel.cruises there was a post about Oceania and how well it was doing. One thing Oceania points out is their "Country Club Casual" dress onboard and how people love that.

 

One of my dreams, is doing a World Cruise. But as a male, that would mean only that for a 100+ day cruise, I would have to bring two tuxes. :p Now for females............

 

Between my getting the docs for my Feb11 Radisson cruise and getting onboard, they changed the rules for "informal" Now it is coat, tie optional. I like that.:), In the end I brought one tux, one suit, and two sports coats. Had I known about the new rule, I would have dropped out the suit. I (again male) have no problems with sports coats, if I had to wear one every night to dinner, I still would have no problems. I just hate white shirts and ties......:cool:

[uk1]

I would be in jeans and a shirt!

 

Jeff

[e.h. beach bum]

Having sailed 5 times on S.S. I appreciate the dress codes of formal nights. I think this helps contribute to this being an upscale cruise. It tends to keep rowdy party goers away

[cruisinsince75]

I would be in jeans and a shirt!

 

Jeff

 

Jeff, Yoooo Bad!!! :D I would hope that it would at least be a tux t-shirt? You know, the one with the painted on bow tie and buttons. LOL

[uk1]

Well ..... my wife has taken 30-odd years to get me to believe that formal means a change of underwear. I'd say that this was progress enough.

[LHT28]

Having sailed 5 times on S.S. I appreciate the dress codes of formal nights. I think this helps contribute to this being an upscale cruise. It tends to keep rowdy party goers away

 

I think one can be civilized without formal attire and I much prefer not to dress up. "Country Club casual" sounds good to me.;)

I do not consider us to be rowdy party goers.

I have seen people in Tuxes and gowns a lot more rowdy than I will ever be.

 

Just because some prefer no Tux and ballgowns does not mean they are rowdy.

[A Tucson Guy]

I live in two very upscale resort communities, Kapalua, Maui and Sun Valley, Idaho. There are no such things as coat and tie. The only time I wear a coat and tie is a cruise or a funeral. If I had a choice, I would opt for county club casual. Since that is not available on SS or RSSC, I guess I will wear a cost and tie. I feel that on an upscale cruise line ($$$) how you dress may not equate with if you are "rowdy" or not. I have seen all types with all type of clothing. I guess that is why Baskin Robbins make 31 flavors.

[lord of the seas]

I live in two very upscale resort communities, Kapalua, Maui and Sun Valley, Idaho. There are no such things as coat and tie. The only time I wear a coat and tie is a cruise or a funeral. If I had a choice, I would opt for county club casual. Since that is not available on SS or RSSC, I guess I will wear a cost and tie. I feel that on an upscale cruise line ($$$) how you dress may not equate with if you are "rowdy" or not. I have seen all types with all type of clothing. I guess that is why Baskin Robbins make 31 flavors.

Yes But they are all served in the same type of cone

 

John

[bechi]

I recently saw one reason for formal attire on the SeaDream board (the old Sea Goddess I and II). There are a few threads discussing SeaDream's policy of booking large numbers of families with small children (where there are 20-30 children on a ship accomodating 40-50 couples). One of the posters mentioned that he books his family on SeaDream rather than on Silversea or Seabourn due to the ship-wide country club casual policy as it wouldn't be fair to expect his kids to dress for dinner.

 

As far as I'm concerned - bring on the gowns and tuxes!

 

Bechi

[london14]

Recently returned from Silver Shadow. As it was my first cruise, I did a lot of research on the web beforehand - and this board was invaluable for information about all sorts of things. So many thanks to people like UK1/Jeff and others for the trouble they take to input advice etc.

 

Know this debate has a long history, and agree there's a danger of old points being re-hashed, with the whole thing going round in circles. So would simply like to add my own observations as a recent passenger.

 

Some people like to dress up. Some don't. Personally, I view wearing a tux as part of the fun of the cruise. If you have one and want to wear it - take it. (There's also a stock of dinner suits / shirts / ties etc in the ship's boutique, though, of course, they might not have your size). When in doubt during the evenings, I dressed up - and didn't feel out of place amid the white-gloved staff.

 

But, equally, there were a minority of guys on formal nights who wore plain suits - one without socks. They didn't look out of place either and were having an equally fine time. Good luck to them if that's what they want to do.

 

First-time passengers often appear to have so many worries about what to take and how others will perceive them. My advice is - don't worry. Everyone is very friendly and having a great experience. It really does live up to expectations.

[jhp]

We all do get stressed out because of this issue! When I was on Shadow, and sometimes on RSSC, sometimes I "opt out" of formal night and have dinner in an alternate restaurant, and still want to see the show after dinner! I usually come in and take a back seat right before or after lights are down, and soon as it is over, run for the door so as not to cause contrariness among the formally dressed!

[JPR]

One of the problems these days is the ridiculously low airline intra-Europe weight allowance for checked luggage, a total of 40-50 pounds or fewer (even with two bags). To haul along a heavy tuxedo or even dark suit to wear once or twice is burdensome, particularly during the summer months. I try to get by with a sports jacket or two.

[Winner]

JPR: the weight limit is 50 lbs. per bag of checked luggage. We take four bags (two each) plus carryons and have yet to have a problem. We weigh our bags before going to SFO. My husband's tux is fairly light-weight wool and packs and travels without wrinkles. I can't imagine booking a cruise line such as Crystal, Seabourn or Silverseas without taking a tux.

 

Just my .02

[bldsld]

JPR: We also travel with my husband's tux, and have never had a problem with exceeding the weight limit. We each take only one suitcase as well, and one carry-on between us. If you pack clothes that can be mixed and matched, while leaving excess pairs of shoes at home (which can definitely add weight), you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Denyse

[JPR]

Yes, I am aware that the major carriers such as British Air, Lufthansa, and Alitalia have a 50-pound per person limit on checked baggage. (The lower-cost European airlines such as Ryanair have much lower weight limits.)

 

The problem is that we are spending 11 nights in London and Rome prior to the cruise and 3 nights in Venice afterwards, from July 17 to August 8. Thus, for us, every pound of luggage counts. A light-weight dark suit is simply more cost-effective, since it can appropriately be worn in nice restaurants off the ship. Hauling along a tux for just one or two nights on the ship is a waste, in my view. If the weight allowances matched or even approached the 70 pounds per suitcase (and up to two suitcases per person, so it's really 140 pounds) allowed on intercontinental flights, I'd have no problem bringing a tux, along with tux shoes.

 

Here's a possible compromise: I have black light-weight slacks that have thin black stripes, and can pass for tux slacks yet be worn without a tux. I will bring a pair of non-tux black shoes. That way I can pack just the tux jacket (heaviest item), shirt, tie and cumberbund. Still, that's a couple of extra pounds--and I wouldn't otherwise bring nice black shoes with me during such a summer trip.

[jhp]

I always thought it from time to time, but I must be stupid. I thought when you were on international travel, you could bring up to 70 lbs. of baggage, rather than the 50 allowed domestic. This does not work between airports in Europe when you are headed back to the states? I have never had a weight problem going to Europe with my luggage, and I have landed in Madrid, gone to Nice when bags weighed more than 50 pounds. You are allowed 2? So does that mean that you can really have more than 50 pounds?