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REAL reason for new evening chic


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http://www.f-cca.com/research.html

 

This link will take you to the PDF page for this years research figures and past years.

 

Makes for very interesting reading and makes us realise that with such a rapidly growing industry and the billions of pounds profit the cruise monster that has been created will only increase in size as will the new ships.

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1. The menu selections are usually special. Lobster, Rack of Lamb, etc.

 

6. They try to make the nights during a sea day instead of a port day. (Not always possible)

 

These are two points we noticed on our recent New England/Canada cruise on the Summit.

 

1. I always pack a jacket, tie and dress shirt. We look forward to a special meal on the formal nights. Actually our last Crown Princess 7 day cruise we had 2 formal nights - one with lobster, the second with scallops. Both unlimited and fantastic. On our recent 14 day New England/Canada Summit cruise we had 3 formal nights. The chef's Main Restaurant Recommendations ranged from chicken to salmon to veal or pork. Not too special. No scallops in sight. Our lobster night was after Portland, not formal night (or sea day) and we were limited to one lobster ( I figured we would be limited to one lobster when the chef proudly announced over the ship speaker that he had obtained 2,000 lobsters in Portland).

 

6. The third formal night was after a late (6:30pm) Halifax departure non-sea day so we could not make a 6pm formal night MDR dinner. Not sure why they did not wait for the following sea day for the formal night.

 

Long story short, we skipped all three formal nights even though we had packed for them. On this cruise the formal night menu was nothing special. That is not to say that it was not the usual very good menu. Some of the non formal nights actually had better fish selections like snapper, cod, and sea bass. Our fantastic waiter told us not to worry about formal and to come dressed smart casual but we did not feel comfortable doing that. With this new program we will not need to be concerned with having "special clothes" for the "special meal" I realize that a lot of people want to dress up for many other reasons than the special meal but for us, that is the main reason.

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Evening Chic FAQs

 

What is "Evening Chic"?

We are evolving the traditional cruise ship formal night. Now, on up to two nights on every cruise, Evening Chic activities are being introduced, and Evening Chic attire is replacing Formal attire. While dressier than Smart Casual, Evening Chic is intended to be less dressy than Formal attire.

 

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

•A cocktail dress

•Skirt, pants or designer jeans with an elegant top

 

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

•Pants or designer jeans with a dress shirt, button-down shirt or sweater

•Optional sport coat or blazer

 

Can I still wear a tuxedo/formal gown on those nights?

Yes. Evening Chic means that you can get glamorous and be sophisticated in your own way. If you would like to still wear a tuxedo or formal gown on Evening Chic nights, you absolutely should.

 

Why is Celebrity making this change?

Celebrity stands out for offering a modern luxury vacation experience. When it comes to attire, modern luxury travel is often more relaxed than traditional formal attire. So, rather than tell our guests they need to wear traditional formalwear to fit in on certain nights onboard, we’re giving formal night a modern luxury reboot. We want our guests to feel free to get glamorous and be sophisticated in their own way.

 

When will the change go into effect?

For all sailings beginning on or after December 4, 2015. (Celebrity Xpedition will continue to feature casual attire for the entire cruise.)

Can I wear jeans on Evening Chic nights?

Evening Chic is dressier than smart casual, but less formal than a traditional "formal night." Designer jeans are absolutely acceptable on Evening Chic nights.

 

Do men need to wear a jacket on Evening Chic nights?

No, jackets are optional on Evening Chic nights.

 

How many Evening Chic nights will there be on every cruise?

All cruises that are 7 nights or longer will feature two Evening Chic nights. Any cruise 6-nights or shorter will feature one Evening Chic night. All other nights of the cruise will feature Smart Casual attire.

 

Will the formal night traditions will be affected (Captain's Table, lobster on the menu, photos, etc.)?

We will continue to offer lobster on the menu on Evening Chic nights. We also plan to put a modern luxury twist on several traditional formal night traditions, including a new Captain’s Reception featuring destination-inspired cocktails, and photo/portrait opportunities as well as senior-officer-hosted tables at various restaurants throughout the cruise.

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After reading a fair bit of the reports and research done by the CLIA the figures speak for themselves and the cruise industry is acting on this research.

 

70% of passengers said they preferred a more relaxed ambiance with only 20% wanting formal.

 

With over 20 million cruise passengers next year its a case of the majority rule.

 

The forums may seem to say otherwise but no facts and figures to show the percentage age rages of members of CC. Guessing if we have the time to post and read the threads we are not all in the younger age group and working.

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Latest when I just looked ... 58.68% in favour of the change

 

27.69% would prefer formal

 

 

Think those figures are quite close to the research taken the amount of voters so far.

 

And the 13.7 % that just don't care, where we are. Where do we fit?

 

Heck, on this side of the pond, we elect leaders with a smaller spread!

Edited by wallie5446
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And the 13.7 % that just don't care, where we are. Where do we fit?

 

Heck, on this side of the pond, we elect leaders with a smaller spread!

 

In the UK 63% of people who voted at the last election didn't vote for the current government!

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And the 13.7 % that just don't care, where we are. Where do we fit?

 

Heck, on this side of the pond, we elect leaders with a smaller spread!

I believe the formalists have labelled you a traitor. You will be forced to walk the plank wearing a wife beater and speedos (cap optional) ;) :)

Edited by Adidas4fun
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The cruise industry will develop into having 1 possibly 2 traditional lines such as Cunard. family lines such as disney , royal etc and chic lines. the chic lines will have a smart casual approach with many high end speciality restaurants plus the buffet.

 

celebrity will become one of the chic lines . they will aim to have the first michelin starred restaurant at sea.

 

IMHO the ending of formal is the first obvious step (although luminae was the first somewhat botched attempt)

 

Sorry but the first 2 paragraphs aren't my opinion. a Hotel Director on our honeymoon 2009 gave us his 'personal' vision at dinner one night. I just added the chic word [emoji32].

 

. Eclipse jan 2015 murano was at or very near michelin standard . reflection in june murano not as good and luminae obviously nowhere near but time is on their side.

 

Perhaps photo area scrapped as business inevitably plummets and replaced by another spec dining venue ?🤓

Edited by LA_Design
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In the UK 63% of people who voted at the last election didn't vote for the current government!

 

 

 

Well threads have dragged in religion and now politics.

When you consider that some of the 63% voted for the raving loony party then we really are scraping the discussion barrel. In fact approx 2 million more people voted for the winning party than the closest competition.

 

Let's get back to discussing cruising.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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I have read most of the threads on formal vs chic. The cruise line is just moving with the way things are now. We enjoyed the experience of sitting in a beautiful dining room with well dressed diners for a truly wonderful and formal meal. I guess its like going to a Halloween party and the host says "dressing for Halloween" is optional and/or you can come in your jeans. I mean really are you going to go thru the trouble of dressing when the rest of the party is coming in "Jeans"? No, you will wear something more casual. I guess in some ways it will be easier. Throw a couple pairs of jeans and a few tee shirts in a bag and you will be all packed.

 

The other point I have been thinking about is Celebrity already has a dining room for the suites Luminae and a dining room for the upper class cabins - blu. I have wondered how much longer the cruise lines will be allotting a "main dining room" for the ordinary cabins. I think in the coming years the ordinary cabins will have the buffet. All that space that is now used for main dining room will be converted into a for fee dining or more customer cabins or other areas that will add to the ships bottom line. As it is now these big open spaces bring nothing to the revenue of any cruise. I guess we just need to move with the times.

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I think RCCL's approach on Quantum class ships will become more of the standard (many more dining venues...some for fee, and some with a fee). I do think the MDR will get smaller and smaller...and eventually become just another dining venue.

 

As for formal vs. chic....I am sorry to see formal go. I enjoy wearing a suit, or jacket/tie at dinner and having others dressed similarly. Clearly I can still dress formally (and I will), but it bothered me when other pax would wear tank tops, flip flops, jeans, and shorts to dinner in the MDR and the line would not endorce the dress code somas not to make amscene or offend the pax - even though the "rules" are stated before you buy your ticket (now I travel in AQ and Blu doesn't have that issue). I think changing formal night will only encourage more sloppy dress. If people follow the code as Celebrity describes...will be fine...but I suspect it will be an even more likely excuse for people to wear sheedded jeans (which to me look sloppy even if you pay $250 for them) and flip flops or Crocs ("oh...but their my dressy Crocs").

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I have read most of the threads on formal vs chic. I guess its like going to a Halloween party and the host says "dressing for Halloween" is optional and/or you can come in your jeans. I mean really are you going to go thru the trouble of dressing when the rest of the party is coming in "Jeans"? No, you will wear something more casual. I guess in some ways it will be easier. Throw a couple pairs of jeans and a few tee shirts in a bag and you will be all packed.

 

 

Actually I don't think I've ever been to a Halloween party where the host says "don't bother coming if you're not dressed up." They've all been "we'd love for you to wear a costume, but if you don't want to, we just want you to come." So some are in costume, some are in jeans. Everyone has fun.

 

At work they say costumes are optional the day before Halloween. Most people don't wear them, but a handful of people who want to (and have work appropriate costumes) do.

 

The Renaissance Festival is another big costume optional where some people get decked out head to toe, while others are in shorts and t-shirts. The shorts and t-shirts don't seem to ruin the fun of the people in full-blown Renaissance finery.

 

I can think of so many instances where people have mixed dress and it works and all are happy. Everyone is running around screaming that the sky is falling and formal night is ruined, but if you love formal night and want to dress formal, nothing needs to change. I agree that it would look weird if you showed up to a random dinner in a tux people may look odd. But if you show up to evening chic where the dress code specifically states that you can wear formal or not, no one is going to raise an eyebrow. If your tux isn't making the person in designer jeans uncomfortable, then their jeans shouldn't make you uncomfortable either.

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I wonder how these changes will affect the servers' dress code. It's bad enough to be seated next to a sweaty passenger in a tank top and ragged cut-offs. But I certainly don't care to have an unobstructed view of my waiter's armpit hair when I'm being served my choice of an "elegant chic" hot dog or a "modern luxury" peanut butter sandwich!

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I wonder how these changes will affect the servers' dress code. It's bad enough to be seated next to a sweaty passenger in a tank top and ragged cut-offs. But I certainly don't care to have an unobstructed view of my waiter's armpit hair when I'm being served my choice of an "elegant chic" hot dog or a "modern luxury" peanut butter sandwich!

 

Is it okay to sit next to a sweaty passenger in a Polyester Tux? You're equating followers of a more relaxed dress code as been less hygienic? Why is that?

 

Do servers currently dress this way on smart casual nights?

Edited by DYKWIA
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