Fomal Nights???

[eddiesgal]

I'm curious as to how many of you out there skip the dressing up on formal nights and opt for a more casual venue for dining? Thanks in advance for your kind answers.

[Banditswife]

I really enjoy the dressing up nights, DH not so much. But he does spiffy up for me even tho he'd rather wear jeans & t shirt. This is just my opinion, but I think it makes the cruise feel more special. We rarely dress up at home, so DH in a suit & me in a fancy dress is fun in my opinion.

 

On the other side of the coin, CCL's version of elegant is pretty lax. So DH could get by with just a pair of slacks & collared shirt while I could get by with slacks & blouse or nicer shirt.

 

All that said- we have never skipped an elegant night.

[MikeM]

Nowdays we skip the dressing up and still use the MDR.

[YubaSutter]

Carnival does not have formal nights. They have a much more relaxed elegant night instead.

[Banditswife]

Nowdays we skip the dressing up and still use the MDR.

 

But it is so much fun. Maybe it has to do with childhood memories of dress up fun. And maybe it is more fun for women. Come on guys humor us.

 

Yes as I said earlier CCL's elegant night is extremely laid back.

[Georgiagolfer]

DW and I do the MDR, but no longer go all out with clothes. Usually dress shirt and tie for me, Nice Sunday dress for DW.

[coevan]

I do not bring a sports jacket and still enjoy elegant night and the steakhouse. We wear the same clothes we would wear at an all inclusive, which they describe as "casual elegant."

[GTO-Girl]

Hubby and I do not "dress up" but still eat in the MDR. Slack and a collared shirt for hubby and slacks with a nice top for me.

 

I got over dragging all the formal stuff long ago.......:D

 

Happy Sailing!!!

[eddiesgal]

Thanks for all the responses. I can see both sides of dressing up or not dressing up and can see that it's all about personal choice. That being said, it's nice to have either option.:)

[Kamloops50]

I'm curious as to how many of you out there skip the dressing up on formal nights and opt for a more casual venue for dining? Thanks in advance for your kind answers.

 

Due to the cost of checking luggage when flying we have opted out of formal nights. We now carry all our clothes as carry on's.

[Room Service!]

I'm curious as to how many of you out there skip the dressing up on formal nights and opt for a more casual venue for dining? Thanks in advance for your kind answers.

 

We skip it. We're all about relaxing on the cruise.

Having choices is good. ;)

[CigarMatt]

I just took a cruise to Alaska on Carnival. The first time they had the 'elegant night' (or whatever they call it), we were caught offguard. Our waiter the prior night didn't mention it, and I hadn't looked at the daily catalog that they gave us. I was sitting in the dining room with jeans and a hooded sweatshirt while everybody else was in suits. We asked the waiter what's going on, and he told us what was up :o

 

During the second elegant night, I wore slacks and a collared shirt, although I didn't pack nice shoes so I wore sneakers.

[CimW]

It is nice to have the choice of how elegant you want to be.

 

On our latest cruise, I wore slacks and a sequined top, my sister wore a long glittery gown, I think my mom wore a blouse and skirt.

 

I really don't care to eat in the dining at all. But my mom and sister do, so I go with them.

 

If it were just me, I would just do the buffet for the whole cruise. Time in the dining room is just to long for me.

[Cruisegirl6]

No dressing up here and MDR

[T. Advisor King]

I go on vacation for fun and relaxation. Dressing up is neither; it is a chore. It is what I used to have to do when I went to work, before the business world slowly shifted to "casual Fridays" and then to "business casual" with "Jeans day" on Fridays.

 

If I go on a regular vacation, I sure don't take a suit or tie and force myself into a stuffy restaurant, so why would I ruin that part of a cruise by doing the same thing? We still attend the "formal nights" but I have done away with the obligatory jacket and tie. I won't say I dress down to the minimum, but I'm certainly closer to the "casual" side of the range than I am to the "dressy" side.

[WAHMto5]

We normally always go to the first formal night and skip the second;)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I think 20% do skip it ..

[marshabear]

we HAVE to do the 1st formal night-it's lobster night!! :)

 

we don't dress up as nice as we used to....but we still adhere to the ""basic requirements"...

 

 

 

 

Marsha

[jayscore]

Myself, I wear a sport jacket, button down shirt (no tie), dockers, and leather shoes. My DW wears "business" type suits.

I agree, airline luggage charges have changed the mind sets of many cruisers, myself included.:rolleyes:

[Wolfie48]

I'm curious as to how many of you out there skip the dressing up on formal nights and opt for a more casual venue for dining? Thanks in advance for your kind answers.

 

Well they replaced formal nights for " Cruise Elegant " I used to wear a suit but now slacks a dress shirt, and a tie. Next cruise I will dircg the tie. :rolleyes:

[Jimmy Geegitz]

we usually dress for elegant nites. i think most people do.

[Fla Mike]

But it is so much fun. Maybe it has to do with childhood memories of dress up fun. And maybe it is more fun for women. Come on guys humor us.

 

Yes as I said earlier CCL's elegant night is extremely laid back.

 

I actually think my DW dresses up to humor me!!

She would be happy wearing a nice skirt or pants, but me... I love to wear my Tux.

 

We are doing a short 4 nighter next month on the Imagination, my Tux is ready to go! :)

[T. Advisor King]

we usually dress for elegant nites. i think most people do.

 

It isn't entirely clear what you mean by this, so I wanted to at least partially rebut. If you mean "most passengers attend" elegant night and "most of those who attend wear less casual clothes than they do for non-elegant nights", then I agree with you.

 

On the other hand, if you mean, "most people dress formally or "elegantly"", then I disagree. There is a range of dress, but at best there are, from a menswear perspective, 50% who wear at least a jacket or a tie and 50% who wear neither a jacket nor a tie.

 

Following my cruise on the Magic last year, I reflected my observations in my cruise review as follows:

 

"(Initially) it appeared that men who were more formally dressed up (jacket or tie or both) would outnumber the men who were not (dressed up) at our (early) seating, but mid-way through dinner I did a count and it was almost exactly 50-50. I saw no tuxes in our dining room, but we did see two on our way to dinner (they may have been in the other dining room, or just seated out of our view). I would estimate the breakdown of men’s attire as 15% in suits, 15% in a sport coat/blazer and dress pants, 10% in a shirt and tie but no jacket, 10% in a jacket with no tie. The remaining 50% were in a range from khakis to dress pants and t-shirts through golf shirts to short-sleeve dress shirts. I didn’t see anyone wearing anything I thought was inappropriate."