What to wear - Formal nights on Princess

[missdenise]

I keep hearing that the formal nights on Alaskan Cruises are not as "formal" as on other cruises.

 

Which nights are the formal nights? What do the women wear? Can I get away with dress slacks and a fancy top? What about my husband - does he need a suit or will dress pants, shirt and tie suffice?

 

Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

If you look on the Princess board, dress codes are discussed every day.

[Budget Queen]

A random question- is a formal night important to you? Is the attire you list what you want to wear? Then go ahead, no problem.

 

I gave up formal nights years ago, and certainly get disapproving looks, as I continue walking about the ship in my ugly faded jacket with binoculars around my neck, sometimes my ugly hat is on too. :) This is what is important for me- Alaska, not any meals. :)

[Assateague Island Princes]

Your comment about giving up formal nights made me smile, BQ:). Not only have we given up formal nights, but we've given up the MDR as well. Just not our thing. We're perfectly happy in HAL's Lido or getting room service or Canaletto for our meals. And like you, I'm sure we got looked at sideways for our jeans and hoodie w/raingear, plus binoculars and cameras in tow in the evenings. But it is how we do Alaska, its all about what is outside the ship as you say. Glad to hear we aren't the only ones who don't lug our finery onboard. To each their own, of course, but for us, casual all the way.;)

[missdenise]

A random question- is a formal night important to you? Is the attire you list what you want to wear? Then go ahead, no problem.

 

I gave up formal nights years ago, and certainly get disapproving looks, as I continue walking about the ship in my ugly faded jacket with binoculars around my neck, sometimes my ugly hat is on too. :) This is what is important for me- Alaska, not any meals. :)

 

That's a great question! The actually event of formal night is not important to us but what is more important is the menu. We are "foodies". We usually hit the specialty restaurants on a 7 day, 3-4 nights. I don't want to miss a meal that I have been looking forward to because of the dress code. If I had access to a menu ahead of time then I would know if I even wanted to take clothes for formal nights. Doing a 5 day land tour pre-cruise, I really was hoping to limit my suitcases to 2 but just don't think that is going to happen. Hate spending $85 RT just for luggage.

[rayliang]

meals in general are not impressive, IMO

 

Its nice and plenty good, but not impressive, unless you shell out the extras and go to one of the higher end restaurants.

 

If you don't want to do formal wears, I really don't think its worth the hassle just so you won't miss a better meal. I really didn't detect any change in quality between formal and regular dinners.

[missdenise]

Are things like escargot served on formal nights on Princess?

What about Alaskan King Crab or Lobster? Or do I need to hit the specialty restaurants for those things?

[rayliang]

on my specific Cruise (Diamond Princess NB), I don't remember ever seeing escargot in the MDR. We got a taste of king crab in 1 or 2 nights, can't remember exactly, as appetizers. One was the night we got out of Juneau and one I think was the dinner at College Fjord.

[LaurieCM]

We were on the Coral Princess last April and yes, they serve escargot in the MDR. A Princess secret is that once something has been on the menu you can order it even if it is not on the menu that particular night- last April we had escargot almost every night of a 15 day cruise- we told the waiter the night before so that he would be ready.

[hollydog]

Last April on our Panama Canal transit on Coral Princess, there were a number of men wearing dress shirt, slacks and (maybe) a tie on formal nights. Never saw any of them turned away from the MDR. We're doing a 23-night Beijing to Vancouver cruise in May without checking bags: one daypack and one roll-on for each. My husband takes his black suit and I take black skirt and pants with lt-wt fancy tops. Having laundry facilities on Princess is important to us; we take a week's worth of clothes no matter how long the trip.

[sherryf]

The most recent menus posted do have escargot and lobster. I've seen the lobster - you get one tail and 2 jumbo shrimp. Once taken out of the shell, the lobster tail is about the same size or smaller than the shrimp. :eek:

 

King crab was still on the menu in 2011 but was gone in 2012 and I didn't see it on the recent menu postings.

[missdenise]

@sherryf - I would love to get my hands on a recent menu for Alaska spring sailings. Maybe I can talk someone on one of the 3 wks before us, into posting the menus. Guess if the lobster is that small, I would order 2 servings..;)

 

@LaurieCM - great tip on being able to order something another night once it shows up on the menu.

 

Thank everyone!

[CruiserguyAK]

I never miss a chance to dress up. But you are fine in your slacks and blouse... It isn't any more formal than any other cruiseline

[sherryf]

@sherryf - I would love to get my hands on a recent menu for Alaska spring sailings. Maybe I can talk someone on one of the 3 wks before us, into posting the menus. Guess if the lobster is that small, I would order 2 servings..;)

 

The menus are pretty much the same for all Princess sailings. They used to have a specific "Alaskan Night" but don't know if that changed with the new menu revisions. Will have to wait and see when the Alaska season starts again. Someone did post photos of the new menus for their recent 14 day cruise here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1776039

 

Of course, we only get 7 of those on the Alaskan 7-day itineraries. I can guess at which ones, but can't be certain until the season starts and someone reports. Usually first day and last day have been the same as the first and last menus in this posting. We've always had the Italian Night and hope that stays the same. Formal nights are the Captain's Welcome and Captain's Gala. The Chef's Dinner has also always been on the 7-day sailings. I can almost guarantee these 3 (Welcome, Gala, Chef's) will be the same for us unless they make further changes between now and then. That covers 6 out of 7. The last might be an Alaskan Night or might be one of the other menus from this set. Anyway, these give you a pretty good idea of what we will have.