Cunard Dress Code change: Formal and Informal

[Cruachan]

Spot on. We got off QV yesterday and have never before seen so many cocktail dresses on non-formal nights (twelve in total). Those who have a problem with tieless males may find life a little difficult, however, as the majority seem to have embraced this change with enthusiasm.

 

Those of a delicate disposition may wish to look away now but we ate in the Lido on several evenings (painfully slow service in Britannia, but that's another story), passing though the Winter Garden, the area reserved for those not wishing to conform to the evening's dress code, on our way. It was completely deserted on every occasion and the bar staff looked bored stiff.

 

Apart from the slow service, everything was wonderful.

 

Mary

 

Oh for heaven's sake. Never mind all this trivial chit chat about the Lido and ties.

 

We're all waiting here with bated breath to hear the real story.

 

 

 

 

HOW WAS THE Q1 ?

 

J

[fantasy51]

Oh for heaven's sake. Never mind all this trivial chit chat about the Lido and ties.

 

We're all waiting here with bated breath to hear the real story.

 

 

 

 

HOW WAS THE Q1 ?

 

J

 

Spot on Cruachan! Just what I was wondering myself.

[Norfolk Brit]

Oh for heaven's sake. Never mind all this trivial chit chat about the Lido and ties.

 

We're all waiting here with bated breath to hear the real story.

 

 

 

 

HOW WAS THE Q1 ?

 

J

 

We believe someone called Lord Digby Jones got it:(.

 

I eventually forgave him - he's easily the best speaker I've ever heard anywhere; theatre packed with people occupying every available space. He also appeared to have enjoyed several breakfasts for some years.

 

Mary

[vjmatty]

That is certainly going to be true for me. I have a lot of clothes that I intended to to be worn on semi-formal nights. Now the vast majority of them will be worn on informal nights.

 

Exactly, in fact now informal night will be much easier because with such a range there will always be plenty of people similarly dressed as you if you decide to wear cocktail dresses.

 

I actually love the fact that now I only need to pack gowns and cocktail dresses for dinner without fretting over the amorphous "elegant casual" wear which is so hard to define.

[Cruachan]

We believe someone called Lord Digby Jones got it:(.

 

I eventually forgave him - he's easily the best speaker I've ever heard anywhere; theatre packed with people occupying every available space. He also appeared to have enjoyed several breakfasts for some years.

 

Mary

 

What kind of christian name is "Lord"? What was he, some sort of Jazz musician or something? I hope he's not on the ship in November - I don't want some itinerant saxophonist muscling in on my Q1 action...

 

... or my breakfasts come to think of it!

 

J

[Norfolk Brit]

What kind of christian name is "Lord"? What was he, some sort of Jazz musician or something? I hope he's not on the ship in November - I don't want some itinerant saxophonist muscling in on my Q1 action...

 

... or my breakfasts come to think of it!

 

J

 

Well, if you were christened 'Digby', and happened not to be a dog, would you not change it?

 

Sir Martin

[Cruachan]

Well, if you were christened 'Digby', and happened not to be a dog, would you not change it?

 

Sir Martin

 

Yeah - but I'd opt for something a little less ostentatious. :D

 

J

[Salacia]

We believe someone called Lord Digby Jones got it:(.

 

I eventually forgave him - he's easily the best speaker I've ever heard anywhere; theatre packed with people occupying every available space. He also appeared to have enjoyed several breakfasts for some years.

 

Mary

 

 

Digby Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham? Now Lord? how does one keep up with the titles :eek::)

[Salacia]

Yeah - but I'd opt for something a little less ostentatious. :D

 

J

 

No worries. You are already famous as Jimmy Three Breakfasts.:D

[Cruachan]

Digby Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham? Now Lord? how does one keep up with the titles :eek::)

 

For heaven's sake Salacia! Do try to keep up with the programme...

 

... Sir Martin is on board. Digby Jones is a guest speaker. Digby Jones is now Lord Digby Jones. Do I have to draw pictures? :D:D

 

J

[Salacia]

For heaven's sake Salacia! Do try to keep up with the programme...

 

... Sir Martin is on board. Digby Jones is a guest speaker. Digby Jones is now Lord Digby Jones. Do I have to draw pictures? :D:D

 

J

 

No, just post a photo ! (I do the drawings!)

[Salacia]

For heaven's sake Salacia! Do try to keep up with the programme...

 

... Sir Martin is on board. Digby Jones is a guest speaker. Digby Jones is now Lord Digby Jones. Do I have to draw pictures? :D:D

 

J

 

Oh, ok, I get! The "Sir Martin Cat can look at the Queen, and so can you -but - it will cost ya Franchise".

BTW, I still have a few spots available on a certain bridge in my neck of the woods *wink*wink*

S

[QM1]

... and a lot of us still wear ties even then. Rumours of the death of the Cunard dress code have been greatly exaggerated.

 

Obviously its much ado about nothing. If they would go and abolish jackets on casual nights or allow polo shirts, now that wouldnt be Cunard anymore.

 

But the only difference in the books now is that I can wear those designer shirt types which dont go well with ties. Yes, there are tasteful and elegant ones that dont go well with ties!

 

Thats good, but I did that before anyway with no complaints on elegant casual evenings.

[soc1965]

Obviously its much ado about nothing. If they would go and abolish jackets on casual nights or allow polo shirts, now that wouldnt be Cunard anymore.

 

But the only difference in the books now is that I can wear those designer shirt types which dont go well with ties. Yes, there are tasteful and elegant ones that dont go well with ties!

 

Thats good, but I did that before anyway with no complaints on elegant casual evenings.

 

Yes, absolutely, Armani, Cavalli, D&G, Gucci, the list is endless - there is so much elegance to wear under a man's suit today other than a white shirt & tie, & at last Cunard is recognising a more European style of dressing at night which is tasteful, fashionable & elegant.

We women can still dress to the nines, & the men can be less stuffy on the new so called 'casual nights' which reflects what is seen most nights in hotels like The Splendido / Villa D'Este et all around Europe:)

[rubrrick]

I found that it was very easy to follow the formal and casual wear, with a tux on formal nights, and my suit or suit coat, tie and slacks on casual nights.

 

Unfortunately, on the last evening before landing in Brooklyn, my DW had packed my suits and tux. We headed for the Kings Court, only to find that there were quite a few others that were more casual than the required Cunard Casual.

 

After dinner, it was straight back to the cabin for an evening martini. I felt comfortable as the daily programme states that after 6 PM, if one wants to dress differently than suggested, they are welcome in the Kings Court and Winter Garden, but not welcome in any other public lounges.

 

The only time that I saw some exceptions to the rules happened in the Commodore Club, where some men that were in sport shirts would not leave till close to 7 PM. That happened on several evenings during the crossing. I felt that was inappropriate.

 

As with some others here, I like the dress code, and it sets Cunard apart from any other line.;)

 

Rick

[pmb1]

... The only time that I saw some exceptions to the rules happened in the Commodore Club, where some men that were in sport shirts would not leave till close to 7 PM. That happened on several evenings during the crossing. I felt that was inappropriate. ...

You are right, rubrrick, they were inappropriately dressed. But the staff has been trained to be forgiving of those who cannot tell time and those who cannot read. And, as long as the Maitre d' escorts them from the restaurant, we may be forgiving too.

[vjmatty]

Unfortunately, on the last evening before landing in Brooklyn, my DW had packed my suits and tux. We headed for the Kings Court, only to find that there were quite a few others that were more casual than the required Cunard Casual.

 

I am sorry but as much as I enjoy the formal atmosphere on Cunard, I am not going to begrudge people who have packed the majority of their clothing on the last night before disembarking and have the decency to take their casually attired selves the King's Court when they get hungry.

[rubrrick]

I am sorry but as much as I enjoy the formal atmosphere on Cunard, I am not going to begrudge people who have packed the majority of their clothing on the last night before disembarking and have the decency to take their casually attired selves the King's Court when they get hungry.

 

Ginny, thank you for your understanding.

 

Actually, if you look back, you were one of my guiding lights for the dress code, for this, our first Crossing.

 

And, for pmb1, in the Kings Court, we did not encounter anyone on the staff that came close to a Maitre'd. There is no one that said anything to anyone that was not appropriately dressed in the Commodores Club.

 

However, there were some pretty good stares from those that were dressed for the evening. However, as this was my first Cunard cruise out of over 200 cruises, on many lines, it was a "learn as you go" and as I have mentioned before, in another post, by the end of this crossing, we enjoyed a totally different experience, and will do Cunard again.

 

Rick

[Summergee]

We found it was easy to loose track of time, when not on early dinner, and inadvertently walk through public areas while still in day wear. We will keep an eye on the time more when we are on board Queen Victoria next month as neither of us would want to offend anyone.

[Pennbank]

We found it was easy to loose track of time, when not on early dinner, and inadvertently walk through public areas while still in day wear. We will keep an eye on the time more when we are on board Queen Victoria next month as neither of us would want to offend anyone.

 

Summergee, Exactly

When you are in the Commodore Club,with friends and enjoying yourself onboard, time passes so quickly in the late afternoon to evening. Especially around that 6pm mark,the place will thin out anyway leaving only those that are thoughly enjoying themselves. I have been in CC on the odd occasion between 6pm to 7pm usually due to the efficient staff replenishing ones glass, although you are mindful for the need to be showered and changed prior to when those enjoyable canapés are brought out and the early diners return from dinner I have never found or been in the mind to see the fashion Police around. That is one of the benefits of late dining.

[vjmatty]

Ginny, thank you for your understanding.

 

Actually, if you look back, you were one of my guiding lights for the dress code, for this, our first Crossing.

 

 

:) You're welcome... I hate to see people worry unnecessarily over minor infractions and I don't expect anyone to pack a suit in their carryon because their full sized luggage has already been sent out. Sure you can put your luggage out up until 10pm but who wants to pack late into the evening on the final night of your voyage when you can be socializing with the fine people you have met and may never see again?

[Pushka]

I think newbies would be caught out on the dress code after 6pm when on late dining. Especially on port intensive journeys.

[vjmatty]

Summergee, Exactly

When you are in the Commodore Club,with friends and enjoying yourself onboard, time passes so quickly in the late afternoon to evening. Especially around that 6pm mark,the place will thin out anyway leaving only those that are thoughly enjoying themselves. I have been in CC on the odd occasion between 6pm to 7pm usually due to the efficient staff replenishing ones glass, although you are mindful for the need to be showered and changed prior to when those enjoyable canapés are brought out and the early diners return from dinner I have never found or been in the mind to see the fashion Police around. That is one of the benefits of late dining.

 

This can often be an issue for me with port intensive sailings, as we too will choose late dining to maximize our time in port, or exercise during early seating on sea days. It can be hard to find a path back to your cabin that will avoid a disapproving look, so I finally stopped worrying about it. I think it should be pretty obvious that I have just been in port or finished a workout and am not choosing to ignore the dress code.

 

I do get particularly annoyed when formal nights are occasionally scheduled on port days, especially a port I don't wish to leave early. One voyage formal night was scheduled for the day we were in Santorini, which I think was an epic fail when considering the dual task of catching the funicular or donkey ride, then tendering to the ship.

 

One thing I liked about QE is there are more places on the upper decks to walk or jog in a circle, avoiding the promenade deck where there is a greater chance of a dress code clash upon reentering the ship on deck 3. There are also places up there to get a drink in a casual poolside environment, which is a good idea for us late-seaters who want a drink and don't want to either sit around in formal wear two hours early or hide in our rooms.

[vjmatty]

I think newbies would be caught out on the dress code after 6pm when on late dining. Especially on port intensive journeys.

 

Not just newbies.... anyone who returns to the ship after 6pm and didn't think to change into formal wear on the pier. ;)

[Pushka]

Not just newbies.... anyone who returns to the ship after 6pm and didn't think to change into formal wear on the pier. ;)

 

I wish this forum had a like button. :)