Formal nights on Solstice - 12 day cruise

[PennyB]

Just booked a 12 night cruise in December from New Zealand to Sydney. How many nights are formal and which nights? I know the MDR steps it up a notch on those evenings, so if we wanted to do a specialty restaurant would it be better to do a non formal night? Will a sport jacket and tie be good enough for formal nights? My Honey HATES to dress up ! :)

[harcin]

We prefer specialty restaurants on formal nights because you don't feel the same pressure to dress up, at least we didn't. My husband took a sports coat & only wore it once even though there were two formal nights. You should do what you are comfortable with doing!

[Aloha 1]

Wore a tux on my first Celebrity cruise, a suit on the second, and only taking a sport jacket and dress shirt for the 3rd and 4th. When the cruise lines restore the level of food quality they had when i wore the tux ( caviar, lobster, crab, etc.), I'll bring a tux. Until then, elegantly understated.

[gek]

Formal nights will probably be on the first and last sea days, and one of the Trans-Tasman days.

 

Sports jacket and tie are adequate but definitely towards the more casual end of what you will see in the MDR. You will see a significant number of tuxedoes and suits but some men go tieless too, and the dress code is not too strictly enforced in Aus/NZ waters. However even the specialty restaurants and BLU tend to be full of suits on formal night, although you will see a wide range of styles. Fortunately people are too busy having a good time to care how other people are dressed.