Back from the Carnival Valor- dress info

[OC Mom]

Hi everyone. I came back with a nasty cold/flu that hit on the plane, but wanted to take a sec to hit some of the "dress-code" info as I saw it. We were on the Eastern Carib route.

 

1)Embarkation was very very casual. Mostly tanks and shorts. I was the only one that I saw in a dress. I probably looked wierd.

2)We dressed up for both formal nights and had lots of pics taken. I had my hair done in an up-do for the second formal night. Mostly long dresses for the women and mostly dark suits for the men. The few tuxes I saw were mostly worn by older gentlemen.

3)They got all of the luggage to the rooms very early and made a special request for everyone to adhere to regular dining room standards (ie: no shorts, tanks, etc). So many people did, especially the men. Tennis shoes and flip flops too! My seating was also the late seating, 8:30 pm. The head of the dining room (can't spell that title ;)) even made a comment over the PA that the men weren't dressed accoding to the standards. He made another announcement on the formal night about how that ladies must have found new men to bring with them because they look so much better than the night before.

4)People at in the casual dining room (Lido restaurant) in the swimwear.

5)Most people changed back into their more casual clothes, on formal night, after the show, and some before.

6)I probably worried way to much about what I was going to wear. It didn't look like too many others had the same affliction. ;)

 

I'm not trying to sound snotty at all. I also realize that I was travelling during "kid and family season", but the trip was far more casual than I expected. I will post pics as soon as I get them loaded. And yes, we had a great time!:D

[Jane110]

HI OC,

 

Welcome home. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

You stated that that on at least 2 of your nights during dinner, the Maitre'D made public announcements over a PA system in the dining room. Is that typical on Carnival? Did he do that every night? I've never experienced that on any cruiseline I've been on.

 

Glad you had a good time.

 

Thanks,

Jane

[caviargal]

HI OC,

 

Welcome home. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

You stated that that on at least 2 of your nights during dinner, the Maitre'D made public announcements over a PA system in the dining room. Is that typical on Carnival? Did he do that every night? I've never experienced that on any cruiseline I've been on.

 

Glad you had a good time.

 

Thanks,

Jane

 

Jane, on Glory the Maitre'd made announcements every night on the PA system. I found it highly annoying. They announced the results of a silly Red vs White vs Blue team game every evening over dinner. Then he would ramble on about other things. Then came the piped in music and signing and dancing waiters, some up on tables.

 

Not my idea of a formal dinner by any stretch but then the dining rooms actually had booths, and felt like a diner as well!

 

I thought it was very tacky but the Carnival fans aboard loved it.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks for the posting and providing some insight on what actually does happen on the ship. We are first time cruisers and appreciate the "first hand" info. I am anxious to see what, if any, differences will be for the med cruises.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to post!

:)

[caviargal]

HI OC,

 

Welcome home. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

You stated that that on at least 2 of your nights during dinner, the Maitre'D made public announcements over a PA system in the dining room. Is that typical on Carnival? Did he do that every night? I've never experienced that on any cruiseline I've been on.

 

Glad you had a good time.

 

Thanks,

Jane

 

Jane, on Glory in May, the very wordy Maitre'D made announcements on the PA system every evening at dinner. They were related to a contest going on amongst the passengers, who were somehow divided into teams: red, white and blue. There was much yelling and applauding, etc. He then made other general announcements. Next came the piped in music and dancing waiters, some on tables.

 

This is most certainly not my idea of formal dining but the Carnival fans seemed to love it. I found it all to be quite intrusive.

 

Also, the dining rooms actually had booths in them and everything was very close together. It was like a fancy Denny's.

[Sunrunner3]

Thanks for the info!!!!!

[momofmeg]

Well from what you have posted it sounds as though Carnival are trying to improve their image-as announcements were made- it was just pasengers chose to ignore them.

 

I do not understand why Caviergal finds it so offensive that the maitr'd actually complimented people on dressing up. It is obvious to me that he realizes you catch more flies with honey. People respond to praise and not to critizism. He knew by complimenting those who chose to dress correctly he was shaming those who chose not to dress correctly. I hope that all the Carnival ships will start doing this. Then I may be more open to cruising with them again.

 

Jane yes Carnival will make announcements during dinner. This is not an upscale line but more of a casual family atmosphere. RCCL does this also. But HAL, Princess and Disney I do not remember doing this.

[Jane110]

Jane, on Glory the Maitre'd made announcements every night on the PA system. I found it highly annoying. They announced the results of a silly Red vs White vs Blue team game every evening over dinner. Then he would ramble on about other things. Then came the piped in music and signing and dancing waiters, some up on tables.

 

Not my idea of a formal dinner by any stretch but then the dining rooms actually had booths, and felt like a diner as well!

 

I thought it was very tacky but the Carnival fans aboard loved it.

 

Caviargal,

 

Oh geez!!! Team score announcements....singing/dancing waiters?

Yikes! I'd be hiding in my cabin ordering room service w/ the PA system turned off!

 

Thanks for the info, Kim.

[Lois R]

Hi, which post stated the Maitr'd complimented the passengers? I went back

and tried to find it.

I think I saw he made annoucements about teams??? Red and White teams?

Not sure I get it.......

I never realized announcements were made during dinner...formal, semi or

casual. Unless it is an emergency of course.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well from what you have posted it sounds as though Carnival are trying to improve their image-as announcements were made- it was just pasengers chose to ignore them."

 

"I do not understand why Caviergal finds it so offensive that the maitr'd actually complimented people on dressing up."

[joelmarj]

momofmeg - I think the point that Caviargirl was making was not that the Maitre'D complimented people, but it was the general annoyance of having the announcements made during dinner. It's not something that is done on many lines, but Carnival and RCCl are targeted more towards families and are certainly less "formal" than some other lines like Celebrity. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, it's just different lines cater to a different clientel. That's why we all get to choose who to sail with. Its also IMO kind of tacky to have those announcements going on during dinner. It reminds me of summer camp, when everyone is gathered in the mess-hall. Just creates that image in my mind, so to have that going on while I'm dressed in a gown seems kind of tacky. But that's why I select a different line to sail with when I don't have my kids with me. When my kids come, Carnival or RCCL are my two choices, knowing that it is more casual of an atmosphere.

[OC Mom]

Let me try to be more direct.....The Maitr'd made an announcement the first night about how the men (mostly) did NOT adhere to the dress code. He then made an announcement the second night about how much better they looked than the night before. It was done pretty tactfully.

 

He did make announcements about the red white and blue color contests. They divide the dining room up in sections and assign a color. I guess if you compete in various activities during the week, you earn points for your color. they even asked us to dress in our "color" for a nighttime deck party. I could care less about the whole color contest and found it stupid and annoying.

 

There were quite a few booths around. We had a table for 2 (we wanted a large table) that basically was like an afterthought table set up in an aisle. Another thing I found odd (maybe it's just me) was the silverware setting. Instead of having all of the silverware for the evening's meal set at the start of the meal, they only set each place with one fork and knife. They would take away the fork and knife after each course and replace it before the next course. So you constantly had someone clearing and resetting your silverware. They did NOT do this in Scarletts Supper Club. Maybe they think the average person won't know what to do when faced with a complete place setting? They also only had a water glass and white wine glass at each setting. When DH and I ordered red wine, they would take the red wine glasses from the table next to ours who weren't ordering red wine. They finally wised up by the third day and had red wine glasses at our table (and removed the white wine glasses).

 

Regarding the waitstaff dancing. There seemed to be much less of it on this cruise than our last cruise. and they didn't dance on tables.

 

There were more announcments than normal due to a group of 13, 15 year old girls celebrating their Quinceanera. They wore the traditional formal white gowns and had to be introduced as they descended the dining room's staircase.

[caviargal]

Well from what you have posted it sounds as though Carnival are trying to improve their image-as announcements were made- it was just pasengers chose to ignore them.

 

I do not understand why Caviergal finds it so offensive that the maitr'd actually complimented people on dressing up. It is obvious to me that he realizes you catch more flies with honey. People respond to praise and not to critizism. He knew by complimenting those who chose to dress correctly he was shaming those who chose not to dress correctly. I hope that all the Carnival ships will start doing this. Then I may be more open to cruising with them again.

 

Jane yes Carnival will make announcements during dinner. This is not an upscale line but more of a casual family atmosphere. RCCL does this also. But HAL, Princess and Disney I do not remember doing this.

 

momofmeg, my post said nothing about him complimenting people on being dressed up. You confused me with another poster. What I found offensive was having loudspeaker announcements made during dinner, period.

 

I have never been on a RCI ship where announcements like this were made. They do make BRIEF announcements on the last night when they are pushing for ratings, and sometimes to introduce the chefs, et., but I have never heard any discussions about contests, etc., made at dinner.

[Jane110]

........ it was the general annoyance of having the announcements made during dinner..........

 

...It's not something that is done on many lines, Its also IMO kind of tacky to have those announcements going on during dinner. It reminds me of summer camp, when everyone is gathered in the mess-hall. Just creates that image in my mind................

 

 

Joelmarj,

 

After OC's original post, that's exactly the image I had.....put me right back to summers at sleep-away camp.

 

It's great that it was posted so people know what they're getting before they pay their money and get onboard.

 

Jane

[caviargal]

My idea of dinner is a pianist playing background music. I have also experienced a violinst and harpist during dinners onboard various.

 

I am not one for conga lines and frankly sat solidly in my chair while all this stuff was happening during dinner during dinners on Glory. I dined in the supper club two nights to experience good food, service and an elegant atmosphere. It was steep at 30pp IMO but a welcome break from "Hot, Hot, Hot" and dancing waiters.

 

It is absolutely a matter of taste but for me, Carnival just does not deliver.

[momofmeg]

momofmeg, my post said nothing about him complimenting people on being dressed up. You confused me with another poster. What I found offensive was having loudspeaker announcements made during dinner, period.

 

I have never been on a RCI ship where announcements like this were made. They do make BRIEF announcements on the last night when they are pushing for ratings, and sometimes to introduce the chefs, et., but I have never heard any discussions about contests, etc., made at dinner.

 

No I understood you fine and the person who posted. She was trying to say although dress was not what she desired that the matr'd did compliment those who chose to dress correctly. She was trying to make a POSITIVE point.

 

Jane then asked do announcements happen on Carnival at dinner that she had never heard of that and then YOU chose that as a chance to bash Carnival again as you always do. (even though your fav. line does that also)

 

To the other person who posted about Celebrity-I did not find offense at anything you said. I understand that Celebrity, Princess and HAL are a notch above both Carnival and RCCL. Read all of Caviergal's posts and you will understand where I was coming from.

 

She absolutely obsessively loves RCCL although she also likes Celebrity, hates Princess. It is as though she loves anything owned by RCCL and if Carnival corp. owns the line then the line is no good as far as she is concerned.

 

It really irritated she went on and on about the "mouthy marit'd" on Carnival and then conveniently forgetting her favorite line-Carnival's competition does the same thing.

 

Guys I am not crazy about Carnival myself. I absolutely hated the last couple of cruises I took with them that people were dressed so sloppily. I also do not like their new smoking and non smoking lounges policy because it seemed to me the lounges that had good entertainment were all smoking and the ones that had no entertainment were non smoking. To me it seemed they were biased in favor of smokers. I like the piano bar and I like live bands. But I don't like the smoke being so thick I could not breathe as I experienced.

In the past before this policy- I did not have a problem. I can tolerate cigerette smoke-just not THICK cigerette smoke.

 

But the differance in me and Caviergal is I will tell you real problems with Carnival. Not things like "babies were in diapers in the pools" something I have seen on other lines and was not corrected until someone complained to the staff-or that there were "too many announcements" in the dinningroom.

 

 

As a travel agent I just think she should not sound so biased but instead give us good info and the good, bad and ugly about all the cruiselines. After all that is how a new cruiser can make an informed choice before booking a cruise. That is the info a new cruiser needs-plus as we all know a new cruiser usually is considering price. Price does come into it for I am guessing like 95% of people- after all we would all choose fillet mignon over a hamburger wouldn't we? But sometimes it has to be the hamburger.

 

Plus as we all know it is all relative. What I find negative may be a positive to you. So I just want the facts- then I can make an informed choice.

 

Here is another ex. A new cruiser was trying to decide between Sovereign of the Seas and Fanasty. She got both good and bad on both ships but then caviergal told her she had been on Sovereign over 20 times and Fanasty once because Fanasty was so bad.Well this poor woman posted ahe had decided on Sovereign because her kids wanted to go to Johnny Rockets-did Caviergal post and tell this woman there was no Jonny Rockets on Sovereign. Ofcourse not. I was the one that told the poor woman.

[momofmeg]

My idea of dinner is a pianist playing background music. I have also experienced a violinst and harpist during dinners onboard various.

 

I am not one for conga lines and frankly sat solidly in my chair while all this stuff was happening during dinner during dinners on Glory. I dined in the supper club two nights to experience good food, service and an elegant atmosphere. It was steep at 30pp IMO but a welcome break from "Hot, Hot, Hot" and dancing waiters.

 

It is absolutely a matter of taste but for me, Carnival just does not deliver.

 

It was on Sovereign of the Seas that my then 15 year old daughter danced the macarena with our waiter. So what is the differance in that and a congo line? Ofcourse there is not "hot-hot-hot" on RCCL as that is Carnvial's signature song.

 

Guys that stuff is for the kids and the kids love that. We loved it for our daughter and we tipped that young man considerably above "suggested amount" because he was so nice to our daughter.

 

Now that she is 21-that would not be why we chose a cruiseline though-but that stuff is good for the kids. You know what I mean- you take your kids to Chucky Cheeses and endure it because THEY love it but you would much rather be at Olive Garden.

[momofmeg]

Hi, which post stated the Maitr'd complimented the passengers? I went back

and tried to find it.

I think I saw he made annoucements about teams??? Red and White teams?

Not sure I get it.......

I never realized announcements were made during dinner...formal, semi or

casual. Unless it is an emergency of course.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well from what you have posted it sounds as though Carnival are trying to improve their image-as announcements were made- it was just pasengers chose to ignore them."

 

"I do not understand why Caviergal finds it so offensive that the maitr'd actually complimented people on dressing up."

 

First post Lois. Lois I do feel you would hate Carnival as you are single with no children. A lot of this stuff is for the kiddies. But I am not so sure you would like RCCL any better-Radience class ships would have to be really differant from other RCCL ships. Maybe they really are-I do not know. If you do ever cruise one please post and let me know. You give such good info that never sounds biased.

 

By the way I have almost talked hubby into us booking Celebrity Zenith this winter for a little mini cruise so we can try them out. Since we are going to spend so much for our 25th anniversary- I wanted to try out Celebrity before we booked that-so we may go with Celebrity instead of Princess for our 25th anniversary cruise.

[OC Mom]

Momofmoeg, you're right. Before I went on this cruise, I read over and over on this board about how dress codes should be enforced and people should even be turned away if need be. So when I heard the dining room announcements trying to do just that, and reported back to this board, the topic turned to the PA itself versus applauding this Maitr'd for trying to enforce the dress code. It's interesting. I don't love everything about Carnival, but I don't think they are as uncouth as many posters try to make them out to be either. As annoyed as I was with the color competition, there were others cheering as loud as they could for their team. They were having a ball. I may try a different line for our next big cruise, but I wouldn't discourage others to cruise with Carnival if it was a fit for their needs. There is a cruiseline for everyone. :)

[caviargal]

No I understood you fine and the person who posted. She was trying to say although dress was not what she desired that the matr'd did compliment those who chose to dress correctly. She was trying to make a POSITIVE point.

 

Jane then asked do announcements happen on Carnival at dinner that she had never heard of that and then YOU chose that as a chance to bash Carnival again as you always do. (even though your fav. line does that also)

 

To the other person who posted about Celebrity-I did not find offense at anything you said. I understand that Celebrity, Princess and HAL are a notch above both Carnival and RCCL. Read all of Caviergal's posts and you will understand where I was coming from.

 

She absolutely obsessively loves RCCL although she also likes Celebrity, hates Princess. It is as though she loves anything owned by RCCL and if Carnival corp. owns the line then the line is no good as far as she is concerned.

 

It really irritated she went on and on about the "mouthy marit'd" on Carnival and then conveniently forgetting her favorite line-Carnival's competition does the same thing.

 

Guys I am not crazy about Carnival myself. I absolutely hated the last couple of cruises I took with them that people were dressed so sloppily. I also do not like their new smoking and non smoking lounges policy because it seemed to me the lounges that had good entertainment were all smoking and the ones that had no entertainment were non smoking. To me it seemed they were biased in favor of smokers. I like the piano bar and I like live bands. But I don't like the smoke being so thick I could not breathe as I experienced.

In the past before this policy- I did not have a problem. I can tolerate cigerette smoke-just not THICK cigerette smoke.

 

But the differance in me and Caviergal is I will tell you real problems with Carnival. Not things like "babies were in diapers in the pools" something I have seen on other lines and was not corrected until someone complained to the staff-or that there were "too many announcements" in the dinningroom.

 

 

As a travel agent I just think she should not sound so biased but instead give us good info and the good, bad and ugly about all the cruiselines. After all that is how a new cruiser can make an informed choice before booking a cruise. That is the info a new cruiser needs-plus as we all know a new cruiser usually is considering price. Price does come into it for I am guessing like 95% of people- after all we would all choose fillet mignon over a hamburger wouldn't we? But sometimes it has to be the hamburger.

 

Plus as we all know it is all relative. What I find negative may be a positive to you. So I just want the facts- then I can make an informed choice.

 

Here is another ex. A new cruiser was trying to decide between Sovereign of the Seas and Fanasty. She got both good and bad on both ships but then caviergal told her she had been on Sovereign over 20 times and Fanasty once because Fanasty was so bad.Well this poor woman posted ahe had decided on Sovereign because her kids wanted to go to Johnny Rockets-did Caviergal post and tell this woman there was no Jonny Rockets on Sovereign. Ofcourse not. I was the one that told the poor woman.

 

momofmeg:

 

I do not "hate Princess". I was on them once and did not enjoy it enough to go back. And, contrary to your assumption that this is related to Carnival buying them a few years ago, I sailed with Princess in 1991, way before they were bought by Carnival.

 

Nor do I hate Carnival, I simply do not care for the experience they offer.

 

I did think Fantasy was pretty awful and cannot remember the comment about Johnny Rocket's that you choose to point out.

 

I do feel I know the good and bad of all the major cruises, based on personal experience on those lines.

 

If you took the time to read my posts as you claim to, you would know that I do not "obsessively love" RCI. I have posted many times about Voyager class ships being too large and too crowded and about the poor food and service on Vision. I do find the Serenade, a Radiance class ship, to be very good across the board.

 

If you do not personally find diapers in the pool dangerous and disgusting, that is your perogative; I personally find it a health risk.

 

And, you have no idea what my favorite line is, but make assumptions based on some of my posts that you have read. I enjoy RCI's Radiance Class, Celebrity, Radisson and MSC, and all for different reasons.

 

And, finally, I would never consider a meal at Olive Garden. I am not a fan of chain food restaurants, period, and prefer to cook at home to choosing any one of them.

 

I guess that just makes me snotty in your book.

 

Oh, well.

[momofmeg]

Momofmoeg, you're right. Before I went on this cruise, I read over and over on this board about how dress codes should be enforced and people should even be turned away if need be. So when I heard the dining room announcements trying to do just that, and reported back to this board, the topic turned to the PA itself versus applauding this Maitr'd for trying to enforce the dress code. It's interesting. I don't love everything about Carnival, but I don't think they are as uncouth as many posters try to make them out to be either. As annoyed as I was with the color competition, there were others cheering as loud as they could for their team. They were having a ball. I may try a different line for our next big cruise, but I wouldn't discourage others to cruise with Carnival if it was a fit for their needs. There is a cruiseline for everyone. :)

 

 

I never compete in those stupid contests either. But I guess it is something more for the kiddies and also the young adults who love Carnival for meeting other people. Neither group applies to me anymore so I doubt I will be cruising Carnival that often anymore.

 

We have friends wanting to go with us and they wanted to go Carnival Holiday as it is close enough to drive and reasonable both. They are not poor-they probally have more money then my husband and I-these guys own a motorboat and a motor home and are always taking trips to places like Hawaii but they have this mindset that cruising is expensive. I found though Celebrity Zenith doing cruises this winter almost as good as reasonable as carnival Holiday. Hubby has a couple of flight passes he can give them if we decide to fly stand-by 9he works for a major airline) but I also found some super flight deals to Miami on a couple of the "bargain" airlines.

I have hubby convinced. Now I have to convince them. But even if we do go back on Carnival with them-I won't mind-I can have a good time on ANY ship and Carnival definetly gives you value for your money. (Like I said-I may prefer the fillet mignon but most of the time it is settle for the "chopped sirloin"-hamburger so I can go either way.)

[momofmeg]

momofmeg:

 

 

If you took the time to read my posts as you claim to, you would know that I do not "obsessively love" RCI. I have posted many times about Voyager class ships being too large and too crowded and about the poor food and service on Vision. I do find the Serenade, a Radiance class ship, to be very good across the board.

 

If you do not personally find diapers in the pool dangerous and disgusting, that is your perogative; I personally find it a health risk.

 

And, you have no idea what my favorite line is, but make assumptions based on some of my posts that you have read. I enjoy RCI's Radiance Class, Celebrity, Radisson and MSC, and all for different reasons.

 

And, finally, I would never consider a meal at Olive Garden. I am not a fan of chain food restaurants, period, and prefer to cook at home to choosing any one of them.

 

I guess that just makes me snotty in your book.

 

Oh, well.

 

You still do not get what I am trying to say but instead go on the defensive.

 

I get you love RCCL by all your posts saying they are so wonderful. You also like Celebrity but your posts do not sound obsessive when you talk about Celebrity. You do sound like you hate Carnival when you post about things that happen on all cruiselines. No I do not care for the diaper thing. I am the "bad guy" who reports it to the ship's officers. I have seen this happen Yes on CARNIVAL- but I also saw and reported on this on RCCL and Princess both. On my HAL cruise there was one infant on the whole ship and very few used the pool as that was Alaska so it was not a problem there. On Disney I only went to the adult pool. No babies at that pool although I did have to complain about a father bringing his 10 yr. old there.

 

I agree diapers in pools are discusting-and also most dangerous to is the little ones as THEY are the ones that are apt to swallow pool water-that is why I cannot understand why parents don't get it- don't they realize if THEIR child is allowed in the pools that other children in diapers would have to be allowed and it might be the other child sick with diarrhea who will cause THEIR child to get sick and die? That is just selfish unresponsible parenting. Parents are SUPPOSED to protect their children-not endanger them.

 

As far as Olive Garden-that was an example-I don't eat there because I have diabetes and there is nothing on the menu I can eat that does not run my blood sugar up. We do have a very nice privately owned Italian restuarant here called Carollos but unless you lived here would you know what I was referring to? (there is very little I can eat there too-so I also cook at home most of the time- a nice greek salad, a very good steak, some sauted mushrooms and a veg. like cauliflower is what I consider a good meal. I love all those foods and none run up my blood sugar ) So I chose to use Olive Garden instead of Carollos-I was not even directing it to you but to people with children-anyone that has EVER been to Chuckie Cheese's would know what I was talking about.

[Happy ks]

OK, back to the OP and what she stated. From what you wrote and what I've read on the Carnival board, it seems this is the direction this line is going in. Which, is fine, there are plenty of people in this world who want that experience. We choose not to cruise Carnival after just one cruise with them, but, we are looking for something different than what they offer. For anyone who takes offense to this statement, I said different, not better.

 

I notice you have only sailed on Carnival, so perhaps you should try a different line next time. You sound like you like things a bit more dressy and sophisticated. We enjoy a more understated elegance rather than glitter and neon. I will have to say that, RCI, even though the cruise experience is similar to Carnival, the ships seem to be a bit more upscale. But, even there, we know we would not be happy on their mega liners, too much crowding. I can even tell the pax going on RCI are starting to sound as if they are more interested in a more casual experience.

 

Our last cruise was on Celebrity, a very welcome change. I think the entertainment was not as lively as the above mentioned, but I don't really go on a cruise for the onboard entertainment. There were no announcements during the day, other than letting us know we were ready to disembark at ports and the glacier day (Alaska) there was a naturalist speaking. It was very nice to not be hawked at all day. I have always read the crowd is older on Celebrity, but I did not find that to be the case, there was a broad range of ages. I never saw anyone dressed innapropriately, never saw anyone out of line. I take that back, there was an old, drunk, obnoxious guy in the jacuzzi one day complaining about the lack of partying like Carnival had.

 

My point is, don't limit yourself to one line, try others as well. We choose, first, our itinerary, then the ship we sail. We aren't taking a week long cruise for a while, but we do have 3 weekend cruises coming up within the next year. We are sailing RCI, Cunard and NCL, all out of Los Angeles. So, we aren't loyalist to anyone, we want to try them all. Jane110 has convinced me that when we are finally able to sail Europe, we will try Oceania. I'd love to sail the premium lines (someday) as you can find good bargains on those lines at times. We have hopes of sailing Windstar at some point in our lives.

 

On embarkation day, you probably did not look weird at all, just a little nicer than most. You also did probably worry too much about your clothes, so what? We all do, to a point, here on the fashion board.

 

BTW, Happy Belated Birthday:)

[Jen&Bill5104]

Just returned from Legend today. May family (there were a total of 7 of us) dressed up for the two formal nights and had a great time doing it!!We took lots of pics and enjoyed it. For us, our casual nights were usually sundresses, capris, slacks and button down shirts or polo shirts. On our cruise, many many passengers didnt follow the guidelines and it want enforced. On the first formal night, a man at the table next to us wore a crappy t-shirt and jeans. His family didnt look quite as under-dressed as he but there were very casual as well.I thought maybe they didnt know, but when the second formal night came, there they were dressed way down!! It didnt affect our dining, but now that I have experienced this, it does affect the atmosphere when others dont follow the dress guidelines. Btw, most passengers skipped the jacket as well on formal nights and I think I saw one tux.

We wished a few times they required a little more clothing on the lido deck buffet. Way too many hairy chests among other things hanging over the food.

We would definiely try a different cruiseline for a more sophisticated experience before sailing Carnival.

[momofmeg]

Just returned from Legend today. May family (there were a total of 7 of us) dressed up for the two formal nights and had a great time doing it!!We took lots of pics and enjoyed it. For us, our casual nights were usually sundresses, capris, slacks and button down shirts or polo shirts. On our cruise, many many passengers didnt follow the guidelines and it want enforced. On the first formal night, a man at the table next to us wore a crappy t-shirt and jeans. His family didnt look quite as under-dressed as he but there were very casual as well.I thought maybe they didnt know, but when the second formal night came, there they were dressed way down!! It didnt affect our dining, but now that I have experienced this, it does affect the atmosphere when others dont follow the dress guidelines. Btw, most passengers skipped the jacket as well on formal nights and I think I saw one tux.

We wished a few times they required a little more clothing on the lido deck buffet. Way too many hairy chests among other things hanging over the food.

We would definiely try a different cruiseline for a more sophisticated experience before sailing Carnival.

 

When I get back from my Mariner of the Seas cruise in Oct. I will post and let you know if it was any better. To me it seems every since Sept.11- the dress on cruises have been going down hill on the "family" cruiselines.

 

I took 2 Carnival cruises 4 months apart in Dec. 03 and April 04 and was very disapointed at how sloppily dressed people were. So last fall we took a Disney mini cruise on the Wonder. I figured since that cruise for a 4 day was almost double the price of our 7 day Carnival cruise maybe it would be better. Now Disney Wonder did not have a formal night- but requested dress for Tritons was a suit or sportcoat and tie for men and a dress or nice pantsuit for women.

Well Hubby and one other man were the only suits we saw. No sportcoats were seen. Most of the men wore golf shirts and khakis. Same for women, my daughter, me and a handful of women, wore dresses.

 

For Parrot Cay their "casual wear " restaurant- the place where the khakis and golf shirts were supposed to be worn-many men were in shorts and tropicial shirts-the women also were not dressed any better. (lots of jeans) the only restuarant where people dressed to suggested code was Palo's-the upscale restuarant where an extra fee was paid-and that was only because people were turned away if not dressed correctly.

 

I know on our Palo's night my daughter Meg actually wore a formal prom-style dress-I wore a very dressy sort of a "mother of the bride or groom" type dress and hubby wore a suit and tie. Before dinner we went and had our formal family cruise portraits made. Several women complimented us in a wistful sort of voice on how nice we looked. I could not help but think they were a little disapionted that THEY were dressed so casually and maybe sort of regretted they had not dressed nicer after seeing us.

 

Anyway it seems to me this is the trend. I expect to see this on Mariner of the Seas also. I know I have been reading posts over on the RCCL messageboard and I keep reading these same complaints from people there. But I will not know that for a fact until I do that cruise.

 

I am beginning to think you have to get away from the "family" cruiselines and go up a notch to Celebrity or Princess or even better cruiselines like Radisson or Crystal to get away from this trend of sloppiness.

 

Older people still like to dress nice but it seems to me as a rule anyone under 40 just do not want to do this anymore.

[OC Mom]

I notice you have only sailed on Carnival, so perhaps you should try a different line next time. You sound like you like things a bit more dressy and sophisticated.

 

We agree with you. We are probably going to cruise again with Carnival this winter, a 3 dayer with the kids, but we're looking for another cruiseline to check out after that. I have only been able to find mini-cruises out of LA on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Thanks for the advice. :)