How formal is Formal?

[spiceyxi]

I notice you are next scheduled for the Royal on a Greek cruise. Europeans mostly dress by the rules so you won't have as much shirt sleeve company on this cruise. The maitre Ds tend to adhere to jacket and tie in the dining room.

 

Now as an FYI that is personally related to my husband and I, we were not prepared for formal dining on our recent B2B on the Regal. We decided to skip the dining room and eat elsewhere. We packed without the usual suit and dressy cocktail outfit. When we got to our cabin, we had a voucher for our free specialty dining for Sabatinis on the first formal night. We went to confirm that we could enter in Smart Casual attire and the Maitre D suggested we change our dining night. They prefer you dress up. We changed nights and ate a delicious meal in the Horizon on each formal night.

 

The notion that the food is of better quality in the dining room than the buffet is not our experience, especially on the Royal and Regal.

 

I will see how it goes as stuffing a jacket and dress shoes for 2 nights on a 15 day trip to Europe doesn't sound ideal. Probably book a specialty restaurant and follow the smart casual rules or go semi formal. My wife has a slew of dietary restrictions so a buffet tends to be less optimal.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

[DebJ14]

We just got off the CB and I must say most people were pretty dressed up. Quite a few tuxes, lots of dark suits and very few without a jacket. But we eat traditional late dining and that tends for some reason to be dressier.

[sabbrina]

Not so -- "dinner jacket" is another term for a tuxedo - in isn't a blazer or suit jacket.

 

In any event, only a distinct minority of men on any line other than Cunard wear a tuxedo - a suit is all right on any ship, and, on all but Cunard, a jacket and tie is acceptable on formal nights.

 

DJs/tuxedos are still very popular on P&O. A majority on formal nights.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The lobster is spiny lobster (warm water lobster) and not Maine lobster. Some lines do have Maine lobster but it's in the specialty restaurants which are an extra charge. I've found the spiny lobster served on cruises is not good bc spiny lobster should be grilled, and not boiled or steamed like Maine lobster, but that is exactly what they do to them, steam the spinies. Results in tough and dry meat.

 

According to the Princess cookbook they are broiled (ie grilled) with lobster butter, and the pictures in the cookbook look identical to what arrives on the plate in from of you. So far I haven't had tough dry lobster on Princess, it's always been cooked perfectly, but I did on Celebrity - very disappointing.

Edited February 1, 2016 by OzKiwiJJ

[royalcruz]

Dinner jacket or "DJ" in slang is the British term for tuxedo or "tux". The Brits also wear "swimming costumes" to the pool, LOL!

Edited February 1, 2016 by royalcruz

[whataboutport]

Dinner jacket or "DJ" in slang is the British term for tuxedo or "tux". The Brits also wear "swimming costumes" to the pool, LOL!

 

And their term "fancy dress" actually means costume to us Americans! :D

[ccruisequeen]

You can also pose this ? on the princess boards.

 

The reality you can get by with as casual as jeans and polo shirt to full on tuxs, others will debate this till the cows come home.

 

It is similar to going to a wedding or a nice place to eat. There is what is "expected" then there is what won't get you thrown out. You are a customer, you'll have to be really terribly dressed to not be admitted for dinner :D

 

I thought this was the princess board??:what:

 

 

 

I no longer see carnival from my condo front porch :(

[colonialinnkeeper]

Will be on Emerald on short cruises in March--two formal nights. Plan to take tux and dressy dresses. What is the consensus on formal and short cruises in Caribbean?

[floridalover5623]

Will be on Emerald on short cruises in March--two formal nights. Plan to take tux and dressy dresses. What is the consensus on formal and short cruises in Caribbean?

 

People still dress up on the shorter cruises but there seem to be many more that can't be bothered compared to longer cruises. After all on a 9 day cruise made up of 1- 5 day trip & 1- 4 day trip there's only one official formal night. If you like dressing up then by all means do so. They'll be many that do likewise.

[elliair]

We just booked a cruise on the Regal Princess and there will be two formal evenings. Can I wear a sport coat w/slacks or do I need to wear a suit? The FAQ states a dinner jacket is acceptable but a haven't a clue as to what is a dinner jacket!? :confused: Also, are the formal nights the only night Lobster is served in the main dining rooms? Thanking you all in advance!

 

Sport jacket and slacks is fine. It's not as "formal" as I have seen in past cruises. Looks like people are going more casual due to less clothing they have to bring along for only 2 nights. I wear a nice blouse and slacks and jewelry to jazz it up. DH wears a collared shirt, slacks and tennis shoes due to problems with his feet. It's clearly stated when entering the MDR that no sleeveless T-shirts, shorts or flip flops in the MDR for dinner. I saw one guy trying to enter one evening wearing a wife beater T-shirt, shorts and flip flops, and they turned him back - and rightly so.

 

Lobster on our Hawaiian cruise was served at only 1 formal night. We went to the Crown Grill one night and was served way too much lobster.

[sheeper370]

Dinner jacket or "DJ" in slang is the British term for tuxedo or "tux".

 

The US tuxedo (from Tuxedo Park) evolved from the UK dinner jacket.

 

The following link describes how they came about. Quite interesting.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxedo

 

Just substitute the words British for English and UK for England. The author doesn't appear to appreciate the difference.

[shredie]

I thought this was the princess board??:what:

 

It was posted elsewhere and then moved here by mods.

[davekathy]

And their term "fancy dress" actually means costume to us Americans! :D

 

Now that's funny.

[birdiebill]

We are currently on the Royal Princess on a ten day Carribean cruise. First formal night in the anytime dining room at the earliest seating showed most men in a suit or sport coat; one man in sport coat with no tie. We saw five or six men with no sport coat or suit. I was one of a small number of men in a tux or white dinner jacket. I wear my ballroom dance shoes with the tux since I have them with me to dance on the ship. The vast majority of the men that we saw either in the dining room or in line to enter as we left were following the recommended guidelines. Of course there are two other dining rooms and later dining where we were not able to observe how the men were dressed.

[keithm]

We just booked a cruise on the Regal Princess and there will be two formal evenings. Can I wear a sport coat w/slacks or do I need to wear a suit? The FAQ states a dinner jacket is acceptable but a haven't a clue as to what is a dinner jacket!? :confused: Also, are the formal nights the only night Lobster is served in the main dining rooms? Thanking you all in advance!

Sport coat & tie will do fine. Some say no tie, but sorry a tie just goes well. A suit is fine as well. We take our tuxes for when we do Cunard.

[keithm]

According to the Princess cookbook they are broiled (ie grilled) with lobster butter, and the pictures in the cookbook look identical to what arrives on the plate in from of you. So far I haven't had tough dry lobster on Princess, it's always been cooked perfectly, but I did on Celebrity - very disappointing.

A shame. Our Lobster in Murano(Celebrity Eclipse) over a few years was always excellent. Being from New England it's obviously not the same as our Lobster, but still done very nicely.

[floridalover5623]

Sport coat & tie will do fine. Some say no tie, but sorry a tie just goes well. A suit is fine as well. We take our tuxes for when we do Cunard.

 

Whatever suits you style.

[gklingel52]

After checking around we have decided on shirt/tie only, no coat. Replies were all over the map but it appears our "no coat" decision will be OK.

 

 

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[arizonaperson]

We just booked a cruise on the Regal Princess and there will be two formal evenings. Can I wear a sport coat w/slacks or do I need to wear a suit? The FAQ states a dinner jacket is acceptable but a haven't a clue as to what is a dinner jacket!? :confused: Also, are the formal nights the only night Lobster is served in the main dining rooms? Thanking you all in advance!

 

Lobster is usually only served on 1 of the formal nights of a 7 day cruise ,not both, just so you don't get the wrong idea.( in any of the MDR) And they are very small ,so if you like lobster you may ask for more. The shrimp they serve with them is almost as big.

Dress for men on formal nights, yes what you described is fine-sport coat,shirt,tie, and pants .

A dinner jacket is a short coat without tails and usually black worn formally with a bow tie(think tux). I also think a white/cream jacket with black pants looks very dapper and very acceptable Princess formal.

Julie

Edited September 22, 2016 by arizonaperson

[Potstech]

After checking around we have decided on shirt/tie only, no coat. Replies were all over the map buyt it appears our "no coat" decision will be OK.

 

 

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You will be fine with that outfit. Never had a problem wearing a long sleeve shirt, tie and nice pants. Acceptable on Princess ships.

[floridalover5623]

After checking around we have decided on shirt/tie only, no coat. Replies were all over the map but it appears our "no coat" decision will be OK.

 

 

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You will be fine with that outfit. Never had a problem wearing a long sleeve shirt, tie and nice pants. Acceptable on Princess ships.

 

Same here. It's been that casual on Princess for years now.