Dress Up Nights?

[lalenalei]

I am apologizing in advance, as I know this has been asked before. I could call and waste my time on hold with Costco while they call RCI, etc. etc. Instead, I am relying on my fellow CC members, because you usually have more knowledge than those who answer the phone anyway.

 

We are on Voyager embarking 15 March. It is an 11-night sailing. I forget...is there only one formal night? Is there a semi-formal night? I get confused between RCI and DCL (we do both). I am planning four nights to dress up (one formal; three in specialty restaurants), but I'm wondering if I should be packing differently.

 

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

[sky0000547]

There should be 2 formal nights. There will be casual, smart casual and formal nights.

[iainmclean]

For 10 to 12 nights there should be

2 formal 3 smart casual an 5 - 7 casual

 

 

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[easyboy]

We are on Voyager embarking 15 March. It is an 11-night sailing. I forget...is there only one formal night? Is there a semi-formal night? I get confused between RCI and DCL (we do both). I am planning four nights to dress up (one formal; three in specialty restaurants), but I'm wondering if I should be packing differently.

 

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/whatToKnow/whatToPack.do

[Seany527]

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/whatToKnow/whatToPack.do

 

 

Lol. They are out of their minds with that chart.

 

 

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[Bruin Steve]

Lol. They are out of their minds with that chart.

 

"7-night cruise: 4 Casual 1 Smart Casual 2 Formal

 

The number of smart casual and formal nights is at the ship's discretion.

Suggested guidelines for these nights are:

Casual: Sport shirts and slacks for men, sundresses or pants for women

Smart Casual: Jackets and ties for men, dresses or pantsuits for women

Formal: Suits and ties or tuxedos for men, cocktail dresses for women"

 

Closing in on 50 cruises, I have always tried my best to comply with the cruise line dress codes. I try to respect my host's rules and wishes and not "rock the boat" so to speak. I have dragged my tuxedo all over the world or have gone to the expense of renting cruise line tuxedos (often only to find the things ill-fitting or completely the wrong size delivered to my cabin).

 

I am MUCH appreciative of Oceania having no formal nights and of Celebrity not that long ago getting rid of formal nights. I believe it is time for Royal Caribbean to follow suit (another pun?)...

 

Here is what I am facing:

 

This June and July, we will be on back-to-back 7-night sailings in the Med on the Jewel OTS...14 nights total. To make matters worse, we have an overnight flight(s) from LAX to Rome followed by 4 nights in 3 different hotels in Italy (Fiumicino, Orvieto for two nights, Civitavecchia) pre-cruise...then the back-to-back cruises, then 4 more nights in Tivoli and Fiumicino post-cruise...so, a bit of traveling and schlepping around our luggage...and, all told, 23 nights/24 days of travel...

 

The airline restricts us to one suitcase each, 50 pounds...and, even if we wanted to pay extra, it would be near impossible for us to drag all that extra luggage around Italy pre- and post-cruise...

 

In order to comply, literally, with Royal Caribbean's wonderful "guidelines" (we would have 2 "smart casual" nights and 4 "formal" nights), I would need to pack a Tuxedo and up to four tuxedo shirts (and, with four wearings, likely have to dry clean the tux onboard if I could work it into the schedule) plus a sports coat, two more dress shirts and one or two ties, my patent leather tuxedo shoes plus another pair of black dress shoes, six pairs of black socks and a pair of suitable dress pants to go with the sports coat......

 

Of course, all of that, on its own, just about fills an entire suitcase...

...and I, somewhere, need to pack clothing for the the other 17 nights of my trip--plus alternate attire for the days--where I will go through a lot of clothes because we will be touring around the Mediterranean Summer heat and sweating into a lot of shorts and T-shirts...

 

Yes, I know I can send clothes to the onboard laundry--but, limited to 50 pounds, after all the required formal wear, I'll be sending my remaining one or two outfits to the cleaners nightly! And, yes, maybe I could rent a tux from the ship--for which I will be charged twice--once for each leg of the back-to-back...and, likely again, find they've delivered a size 46 long pants and a 38 short jacket to my cabin (yes, they've done that before and I had to spend an inordinate amount of time hunting the guy down who could "fix" it...and he didn't have the right sizes onboard to accommodate me exactly). OTOH, my wife cannot just rent formal wear...

 

So, sorry, RCCL, this is what I will have to TRY to do: I will only bring a black "blazer" as my nod to "formal" nights...with a couple of buttoned dress shirts which I will endeavor to wear twice each...and one pair of black "Dockers" which I can also utilize in some way for some of the casual nights with , say, black or gray golf shirts plus my black Merrill slip-on Mocs...I will completely ignore "smart casual"...I am considering those nights to be merely the same level of "casual" as the others...Maybe those are the nights I'll go to the black Dockers and black/gray golf shirts...All other nights, it will be olive or khaki Dockers and golf shirts...

 

I have told my wife to ignore formal nights altogether...Just, whatever she packs, wear the nicer casual outfits on the formal nights...No silk or sequins or beaded floor length gowns...A pair of black pants or a long skirt and a nice blouse will have to pass as "formal"...or formal enough...

 

Fellow passengers: If it offends you if we are "not formal enough" for your tastes, then we are sorry. It is really not our fault. Strict compliance with the dress code is virtually impossible.

 

Royal Caribbean management: Please join the 21st century, understand the current state of luggage weight and size restrictions, etc...and please join your sister line Celebrity in finally removing this unreasonable set of "guidelines" from your policies. Thank you...

[lalenalei]

Thanks, everyone! Appreciate the info.

 

We always dress up. My 10-year-old twins have suits and enjoy wearing them for formal nights. This will be their 15th cruise. We will pack five dress up outfits and I can wear a dress again at Chops, if needed. Fortunately, my airline status allows me to bring three suitcases up to 70 lbs. I do not judge others that don't dress up. I understand that everyone has a different situation. I *am* offended by rude, entitled behavior. But that is rarely dependent on whether or not a person is dressed up haha.