Forget About Dress Code - This isn't About That

[sail7seas]

Without any consideration for dress code, I am sensing the desires of many cruisers are changing in many degrees and in ways that don't involve dress. I think many of today's cruisers are looking for different things in their cruises than the generation ahead of them and among the differences are where and how they wish to eat dinner.

 

Is it my imagination or is there a large percentage of cruisers who do not go to the dining room for dinner because they (a) don't want to sit as long as it takes for the meal to be served (b) don't want to 'share' tables and won't risk not getting a table for themselves/their own group © don't want as big a meal as dinner in MDR ir (d) other reasons

 

Are you choosing to not have dinner in the Main Dining Room for reasons other than dress code?

[Grumpy100]

It depends which cruise and how the service in the MDR has been. Two years ago we went on Carnival and the service in the MDR was very very slow so the last 3 nights we went to the buffet because of the service.

Also if we are going on an excursion and come back late or need to leave early then we will eat in the buffet.

But most of the time I like the food and the service in the MDR especially DH like formal night for the lobster and filet mignon.

Sometimes we look at the menu and if we don't like it we will go to the buffet or just grab a piece of pizza.

I never like dressing up but will comply with the rules.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[calliopecruiser]

On a previous cruise I avoided the MDR because I was sailing solo and I was seated alone at a large table and felt uncomfortable.

 

I do believe that people don't like to "share" their social space as much any more and don't want to meet, chat, or even have to interact with new people......and that's not just about vacations but applies in their everyday lives too. They want to take advantage of the benefits of vacationing with lots of people, but don't actually want to have to deal with other people, LOL.

[Keith1010]

From time to time we go to alternative dining not because of dress code but to enjoy the ambience and cuisine of those specialty restaurants.

 

Keith

[mr green]

IMO it is great once in a while to have a good relaxing meal, along with conversation with friendly table mates.

True once in a while, if, we wish to have a full meal within a an hour and a half, we just mention the fact to our waiter while we are being seated, and then we can relax, knowing that we can leave in a reasonable time.

As cruisers, we consider dinner to be one of the days highlites, so to us it seems a pity that others may think otherwise.

 

john

[NoobCruise]

We selected Open dining for our upcoming cruise for the following reasons:

 

We prefer a table for 2. While I enjoy meeting others and getting to know them in other situations, I don't like trying to make awkward small talk during my meals, especially if we're seated with people we just don't click with. DH and I just want to relax and enjoy each others company and enjoy our meal.

 

We tend to be very relaxed travellers, just going with the flow, doing whatever we feel like at the moment. We don't keep too much of a schedule while on vacation, other than excursions we have booked and the all aboard time. We prefer flexibility in what time we dine. We don't want to have to eat at a specific time every night.

 

The 2 hours for dining does NOT appeal to us. While we don't want to be rushed, and we'll take our time to enjoy the meal, we don't want to be forced to linger either. 2 hours for dining every night is too much. We enjoy the fancy dining, the table settings, and atmosphere. We don't enjoy being held hostage waiting so long between courses.

 

We also plan to try the specialty dining restaurants. On a 7 day cruise, with 4 restaurants to try and 2 nights we'll be in port until 10pm and midnight, we probably won't eat in the MDR more than a night or 2. With that in mind, there's no reason to book fixed dining. We appreciate that others prefer fixed seating, so we'll leave the seats to them.

 

NONE of our reasons for choosing Open Dining have anything to do with dress code. We plan to dress in cocktail dress and black suit for formal nights and eat in the Pinnacle and MDR. We also plan to dress for dinner on the other nights. We just want to keep our options open.

[Sinppu]

WE haven't dined in the MDR often simply because there has been so many other options we have wanted to try.

It has really not very much to do with the MDR per se.

[jamessemaj]

I travel solo and generally prefer the MDR. The reasons for not going are no group table to join (won't sit alone in the MDR, will go to the buffet then), or packed light and didn't bring clothes for formal night (off and on, not always).

[MorgannaLeFey]

We (as a couple) have never cruised before, but I'm just starting to investigate cruise options. Saw this thread and decided to answer.

 

Formal clothing is a huge concern for us. Well, me less so than my husband. He's a very large man and he doesn't own a suit, or a jacket, or anything formal. Buying such things for him just doesn't make any economical sense, and he hates wearing them with a passion. Basically he hates anything that's even close around his neck. So shirts with collars are a pain, as well. He can put up with them on occasion, like if he has to make a presentation at work, but he wears slacks (like chinos) and a button down shirt. Not even usually a tie, and he is profoundly uncomfortable in them the entire time.

 

So yeah, if the MDR is formal only, it is highly unlikely we could eat there (even though I think I'd really love to, and *I* have a really nice cocktail dress that would be totally appropriate).

 

Now this has me wondering if I can find suitable clothing for him to wear for a reasonable price so we could eat there if I really really wanted... :)

[cb at sea]

For most nights, chinos and a golf/polo shirt will be fine for your hubby....those shirts don't need to be buttoned to the top! On almost every line, there are only 1 or 2 "formal" nights where dressing a bit better will be an issue!

[paul929207]

We sail mostly longer cruises on the small Ocean Princess. She has one dining room and it is for Traditional Dining. Maybe once a week we will go to the Buffet or Bistro for dinner. Usually when we are tired after a long day in port.

[OCruisers]

On ALL cruise lines we either have dinner every night in the MDR or a Speciality Restaurant. :)

 

LuLu

[Blondilu]

Generally I like the MDR for the atmosphere and better food. On my first two cruises I had fixed dining but had trouble with the idea of the set time. Stayed in port one time, fell asleep another. Then I felt bad when it was mentioned that I had missed dinner by the waiter or other diners. It wasn't planned, it just happened. I'm too random, I guess.

 

Anyway, I now choose anytime dining and once that happened the door opened to any and all possibilities. I (or we, if I'm traveling with someone else) go through the day with no thought to dinner, and eat where and when the mood strikes. The buffet is so casual that I/we go there more often than not. On formal nights, we'll put in the extra planning and effort it takes just to share in the more festive atmosphere. So, the buffet becomes our main dining and the MDR our special dining.

[ducklite]

I don't have a problem with having no formal nights, but I do have a problem with ships staff that will allow anyone wearing anything into the dining room. It's one of the reasons we will never cruise mass market again.

 

We enjoy leisurely meals, hate "TGIF style" dining where they try to feed you and push you out in 45 minutes or less. I have no problem with a three + hour meal if the food and company are both fabulous--and that can even be at a table of people we've never met before.

[meggie711]

I really, really don't like eating around other people. I love meeting new people (especially while we travel), so my not enjoying the MDR isn't because i'm anti-social, just that I don't like to eat around people I don't know well. Just a weird quirk of mine. I save my socializing for other venues. It's also not a dress code thing, as I will probably be wearing a dress most, if not all, evenings of my cruise.

[euro cruiser]

While I may not always feel like pulling on the "good" clothes, the idea of eating in a glorified cafeteria is much less appealing, so I almost always eat in the MDR. As for seating, I usually cruise with so much family that we have a table to ourselves. The few times I was seated with others worked out great, so that's not an issue for me.

 

I don't mind the buffet for breakfast, and will suffer through it for lunch, but not for dinner.

[CruzieSue]

Hubby and I took our first cruise this past March (ages 46 and 51). We tried the MDR on the first and second evenings (the first formal night), and one morning for breakfast. For us personally, we just did not enjoy the formality of it all, the head waiter came across as very aloof (although I'm sure he did not intend to be, but we felt as if he thought we were beneath him the entire time - and it was very hard to understand his accent), the limited selection of items on the menu, the very small portions of everything, the length of time it took between courses being served - overall, just not our way to enjoy a meal. We decided to give the Windjammer a try and later Johnny Rockets. We were very pleased with the variety of foods to choose from in WJ and the taste was every bit as good as MDR, if not better. Also liked not having to be more dressed up to dine, we could come and go whenever we wanted to, sit wherever we wanted to, take as long or as short a time as we desired, and feel comfortable doing it. Loved Johnny Rockets as well !!

 

Like I said, this was our first cruise and I'm not sure if its a "generation" thing or lifestyle thing or what. We felt that we were on vacation and on any other vacation we would not be running in to clean up and change into "dress" clothing for our evening meals (obviously we clean up and don't go anywhere smelly or dirty). Just saying that we were cruising to be relaxed and comfy and for us, the MDR did not fit.

[Pelham]

Morgana, perhaps your husband wouldn't mind wearing a guayabera shirt (also known as Cuban or Mexican wedding shirt). There are some beautiful ones available and they do not button to the neck or tuck in. They can look quite dashing.

[tulsacubfan]

We (as a couple) have never cruised before, but I'm just starting to investigate cruise options. Saw this thread and decided to answer.

 

Formal clothing is a huge concern for us. Well, me less so than my husband. He's a very large man and he doesn't own a suit, or a jacket, or anything formal. Buying such things for him just doesn't make any economical sense, and he hates wearing them with a passion. Basically he hates anything that's even close around his neck. So shirts with collars are a pain, as well. He can put up with them on occasion, like if he has to make a presentation at work, but he wears slacks (like chinos) and a button down shirt. Not even usually a tie, and he is profoundly uncomfortable in them the entire time.

 

So yeah, if the MDR is formal only, it is highly unlikely we could eat there (even though I think I'd really love to, and *I* have a really nice cocktail dress that would be totally appropriate).

 

Now this has me wondering if I can find suitable clothing for him to wear for a reasonable price so we could eat there if I really really wanted... :)

 

Or you could look into renting something for him...

[fabnfortysomething]

We (as a couple) have never cruised before, but I'm just starting to investigate cruise options. Saw this thread and decided to answer.

 

Formal clothing is a huge concern for us. Well, me less so than my husband. He's a very large man and he doesn't own a suit, or a jacket, or anything formal. Buying such things for him just doesn't make any economical sense, and he hates wearing them with a passion. Basically he hates anything that's even close around his neck. So shirts with collars are a pain, as well. He can put up with them on occasion, like if he has to make a presentation at work, but he wears slacks (like chinos) and a button down shirt. Not even usually a tie, and he is profoundly uncomfortable in them the entire time.

 

So yeah, if the MDR is formal only, it is highly unlikely we could eat there (even though I think I'd really love to, and *I* have a really nice cocktail dress that would be totally appropriate).

 

Now this has me wondering if I can find suitable clothing for him to wear for a reasonable price so we could eat there if I really really wanted... :)

 

we like NCL for the freestyle dining-do change for dinner in to "smart casual" but sometimes want quick meal in which case will go to buffet, smart casual for him is collared shirt and chinos but on the "dress up or not" nights often spot people dressed up in tux and cocktail dresses to have photo ops with the captain

 

However we have discovered the roll call and have organised a couple of the "meet and greets" provided by the cruise line.This has introduced us to some really nice people who we have chosen to join for meals/tours/social nights

[cruzeluver]

Great topic!

 

We love long, leisurely dinners with good food and great conversation. To us its a highlight of our cruises and a big part of what makes a cruise special. To me there is nothing special about eating food off of a buffet that has been sitting around who knows how long.

[jocap]

Sailing with NCL changed our thinking- until then we'd trotted along to the MD most nights on different lines, and sometimes endured the event rather than enjoyed it.

After NCL, we now rarely visit the MD on any line except perhaps for the formal nights, prefering to graze a little in the early evening, and having a bowl of something else in the late evening. It works for us that way.

Jo.

[cruisemom42]

Count me as another that enjoys a good, leisurely paced meal. I enjoy them when dining out at home (with friends or colleagues), while on land trips (try getting out of a good restaurant in Italy or France in under 2 hours!) and onboard ship.

 

I am not a fan of buffet dining and would only consider it for dinner if I were dead tired or if there were no other option -- for example, if I returned to the ship too late for dinner; although that generally means I ate ashore. I do not generally eat at the specialty restaurants (on principle).

 

I've cruised since I was about 7 or 8, so dressing up, for me, DOES seem like what one does on vacations. I'm not a huge fan of formal nights any longer, but I participate. I probably dress up more than most for the remaining nights.

[Paula_MacFan]

Without any consideration for dress code, I am sensing the desires of many cruisers are changing in many degrees and in ways that don't involve dress. I think many of today's cruisers are looking for different things in their cruises than the generation ahead of them and among the differences are where and how they wish to eat dinner.

 

Is it my imagination or is there a large percentage of cruisers who do not go to the dining room for dinner because they (a) don't want to sit as long as it takes for the meal to be served (b) don't want to 'share' tables and won't risk not getting a table for themselves/their own group © don't want as big a meal as dinner in MDR ir (d) other reasons

 

Are you choosing to not have dinner in the Main Dining Room for reasons other than dress code?

 

We rarely go to the MDR for reasons (a) and (b). When we sail Princess we get Anytime Dining, but still only go to MDR a couple times. On our Royal Caribbean cruise, we NEVER went to the MDR since we were placed at a large table and had a fixed seating time. We ate in the buffet every night.

[dsrdsrdsr]

One reason for dining in the buffet is if cruising in Norway, my favourite destination - you can enjoy the view from the picture windows. Presumably it would apply in Alaska too.