Alaska cruise attire

[flcraigs5]

What do the majority of guest where to dinner on an alaska cruise? Is formal night really formal or has it gotten laid back like alot of the caribbean cruises?

[igraf]

I have been on three HAL Alaskan cruises and am happy to report that almost all of the passengers dress nicely in the MDR for dinner on formal nights. Formal attire is at least a jacket for men, which isn't asking very much.

 

We always use traditional late fixed dining in the upstairs dining room.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

What do the majority of guest where to dinner on an alaska cruise? Is formal night really formal or has it gotten laid back like alot of the caribbean cruises?

[B Russo]

I guess we are old fashion, still dress up on formal nights. I have a tux . Don't get to use it much so it is kind of fun to do it. :D Bill

[sail7seas]

On our Oosterdam Alaska cruise in June, I wore a lace black cocktail dress one night, another night I wore a black sheath dress with a cobalt blue silk shantung jacket over. I could wear the sheath on its own one night or add a different jacket, shrug, shawl to wear another time. I try to get multiple uses out of LBD's when we travel.

 

Most of the gentlemen wore dark suits though we saw a sprinkling of tuxedos.

[sail7seas]

I have been on three HAL Alaskan cruises and am happy to report that almost all of the passengers dress nicely in the MDR for dinner on formal nights. Formal attire is at least a jacket for men, which isn't asking very much.

 

We always use traditional late fixed dining in the upstairs dining room.

 

igraf

 

 

Just to avoid confusion and/or disappointment, HAL requires jacket and tie as 'minimal' dress code for formal night.

[Northshorecruisers]

DH & I always dress up for formal nights - he in a tux and me in a long dress. It's one of the things about cruises that we like.

 

On our Zuiderdam last summer, maybe 10% of men wore tuxedo's - same for women in long dresses. Lot's of knee length nice (fancier) dresses on women and men in suits. Some men were turned away from the diningroom for no jacket.

[1160451]

Just to avoid confusion and/or disappointment, HAL requires jacket and tie as 'minimal' dress code for formal night.

 

So why do they allow pole shirts, shorts and sandals in the MDR on Formal nights. As some people on the Ryndam were dressed three weeks ago.

I am not kidding and on other nights I thought many people in the MDR were dressed for round the pool.

HAL's code was a huge disappointment to our party from the UK.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I guess we are old fashion, still dress up on formal nights. I have a tux . Don't get to use it much so it is kind of fun to do it. :D Bill

 

We are still old fashioned as well.

We had to dress up for many functions when we worked and DH wore Tuxedos then.

And we still dress up and he still wears a tuxedo.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have seen quite a few men wearing tuxedos on Alaskan cruises.

And we saw men turned away from the dining room becuase they did not have a jacket on formal nights.

[startwin]

So why do they allow pole shirts, shorts and sandals in the MDR on Formal nights. As some people on the Ryndam were dressed three weeks ago.

I am not kidding and on other nights I thought many people in the MDR were dressed for round the pool.

HAL's code was a huge disappointment to our party from the UK.

 

Seems very strange that they allowed shorts and sandals in the MDR on any night, let alone formal night. Maybe that's a question you should be asking HAL rather than on here.

[Krazy Kruizers]

So why do they allow pole shirts, shorts and sandals in the MDR on Formal nights. As some people on the Ryndam were dressed three weeks ago.

I am not kidding and on other nights I thought many people in the MDR were dressed for round the pool.

HAL's code was a huge disappointment to our party from the UK.

 

On our cruises I have seen people turned away for dressing as you have described.

Sounds like the dining room manager needs to get tough.

[Krazy Kruizers]

DH & I always dress up for formal nights - he in a tux and me in a long dress. It's one of the things about cruises that we like.

 

On our Zuiderdam last summer, maybe 10% of men wore tuxedo's - same for women in long dresses. Lot's of knee length nice (fancier) dresses on women and men in suits. Some men were turned away from the diningroom for no jacket.

 

Until I had to start using a walker/rollator, I had a couple of long skirts that I wore on formal nights with fancy tops. Now I have had to switch to 3/4 length skirts.

[sail7seas]

So why do they allow pole shirts, shorts and sandals in the MDR on Formal nights. As some people on the Ryndam were dressed three weeks ago.

I am not kidding and on other nights I thought many people in the MDR were dressed for round the pool.

HAL's code was a huge disappointment to our party from the UK.

 

 

DH wore tuxedos on the ships for years and purchased a new one a year or two ago but we stopped bringing it. While it is inconsistent on various HAL ships, we have seen a great decrease in gentlemen in tuxedos and DH finally said he was finished with it.

 

In the last two or so years, we have sailed Noordam, Westerdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Oosterdam, Maasdam, Eurodam....... it is inconsistent what the various Dining Room Managers permit for wardrobe in the MDR. I agree we have seen some get ups that should not have been admitted but we have also seen some improperly dressed turned away. It is very variable.

 

[callmehalia]

I wore a full-length gown - very plain though - for the first formal night on the Volendam when we went to Alaska and I must admit I felt a bit overdressed. However, several people did come up to me to say how nice my dress was/how nice I looked, so perhaps it was my own insecurity.

 

I felt better in a knee-length dress for the other formal night. I didn't really notice any tuxedos (or a lack thereof) so most men must have been dressed appropriately - but I did notice when one of my tablemates wore blue jeans to formal night... but he was an a$$ to be honest! ;)

[1160451]

Seems very strange that they allowed shorts and sandals in the MDR on any night, let alone formal night. Maybe that's a question you should be asking HAL rather than on here.

 

It was more of a statement rather than a question.

I suppose,if I thought it would make the slightest difference, I should tell HAL but we will just let it go and book our next cruise with a line who enforce their code.

I was sorry to read by the way that the Ryndam is in Code Red at the moment.

[momatibm]

It was more of a statement rather than a question.

I suppose,if I thought it would make the slightest difference, I should tell HAL but we will just let it go and book our next cruise with a line who enforce their code.

I was sorry to read by the way that the Ryndam is in Code Red at the moment.

 

 

What if the people dressed like you saw flew into Tampa and their luggage didn't -- that would explain a lot. Most people don't fly dressed for 'formal night' -- which may be why they were allowed. They shouldn't be punished if their luggage didn't show up.

 

In the 'olden days', there used to be shops on board that could solve the problem, but as is said on another post the shops currently --pardon my French -- suck.

 

I have been sailing on HAL since 1988 -- very seldom have I seen egregious 'violations' of the dress code --- and most of the time they were based on 'luggage issues'. Granted there were a couple of folks who didn't abide, but they were still clean and neatly dressed, but not my place to judge, even if they were at my table.

[1160451]

What if the people dressed like you saw flew into Tampa and their luggage didn't -- that would explain a lot. Most people don't fly dressed for 'formal night' -- which may be why they were allowed. They shouldn't be punished if their luggage didn't show up.

 

In the 'olden days', there used to be shops on board that could solve the problem, but as is said on another post the shops currently --pardon my French -- suck.

 

I have been sailing on HAL since 1988 -- very seldom have I seen egregious 'violations' of the dress code --- and most of the time they were based on 'luggage issues'. Granted there were a couple of folks who didn't abide, but they were still clean and neatly dressed, but not my place to judge, even if they were at my table.

 

Fair comment, interesting enough we were on a UK line, Fred Olsen, and a passenger lost all his luggage. They would not let him into the MDR on any night except casual. In the end we had a whip round and all the guys of a similar build lent him bits and bats.

[PathfinderEss]

We had that happen on our last cruise, a couple came into the Pinnacle wearing very casual coths to say the least, but found out their luggage did not make the ship. They were very nice, tried best they could to melt into the wall.

We ask about it because we were really taken back about the they way they were dressed for a formal night, when we were told about their situation, we felt really bad.

[sail7seas]

We had that happen on our last cruise, a couple came into the Pinnacle wearing very casual coths to say the least, but found out their luggage did not make the ship. They were very nice, tried best they could to melt into the wall.

We ask about it because we were really taken back about the they way they were dressed for a formal night, when we were told about their situation, we felt really bad.

 

 

That's a good lesson for us all, Melodie.

We shouldn't get to upset at what people are wearing when we don't know the whole story.

 

Thanks for sharing here about those folks.

 

[In Toronto]

I once overheard a woman saying that she couldn't go to the MDR that evening as it was formal night and although she had a dress, the baggage with all her shoes had not made it to the ship. Only had the sport shoes she traveled in.

 

We went to my cabin, tried on an extra pair of heels, they fit and she wore them that evening. Bright and early in the morning, I found them hanging on my cabin door in a bag with a lovely note. Cabin attendant told us that the woman said I would know what it was all about.

 

I still remember her and I am sure that she still remembers me. Simple for me but made me feel really happy!

[momatibm]

I knew I wasn't the only one who had that perspective. We are all basically kind folks, however sometimes we forget the 'external forces'

 

Elaine

[sail7seas]

I once overheard a woman saying that she couldn't go to the MDR that evening as it was formal night and although she had a dress, the baggage with all her shoes had not made it to the ship. Only had the sport shoes she traveled in.

 

We went to my cabin, tried on an extra pair of heels, they fit and she wore them that evening. Bright and early in the morning, I found them hanging on my cabin door in a bag with a lovely note. Cabin attendant told us that the woman said I would know what it was all about.

 

I still remember her and I am sure that she still remembers me. Simple for me but made me feel really happy!

 

 

How very thoughtful and kind of you.

I am sure that lady well remembers you. :)

 

You 'done good'. ;)

 

[startwin]

It was more of a statement rather than a question.

I suppose,if I thought it would make the slightest difference, I should tell HAL but we will just let it go and book our next cruise with a line who enforce their code.

I was sorry to read by the way that the Ryndam is in Code Red at the moment.

 

Sorry, I was speaking in general terms when I said "you", I didn't mean to sound abrupt. Honestly, I think I would follow up with HAL as dress that casual is definitely a no-no usually, both on formal and non-formal nights in the MDR.

[1160451]

Sorry, I was speaking in general terms when I said "you", I didn't mean to sound abrupt. Honestly, I think I would follow up with HAL as dress that casual is definitely a no-no usually, both on formal and non-formal nights in the MDR.

 

Hi there, no problem I didn't take it personally.i think your right and I might just bounce it off HAL.

I am not a dress code snob far from it, but it does rankle us when people seem to ignore codes.

Ok some might have lost their luggage but on the Ryndam those three weeks it just seemed really slack.

I think we perhaps expected too much as we are used to Fred Olsen and P and O out of the UK who are pretty tight on Dress Codes. We are used to three levels, formal, semi formal (tie and jacket) and casual.

Take it easy and Happy Cruising ........

[geoherb]

What if the people dressed like you saw flew into Tampa and their luggage didn't -- that would explain a lot. Most people don't fly dressed for 'formal night' -- which may be why they were allowed. They shouldn't be punished if their luggage didn't show up.

Then you should go up to them and say, "You must be the unfortunate people I heard about whose luggage missed the ship."