Formal nights - worth the hassle?

[bostongal123]

We are going on a 7-day trip on Oasis next month and I was told there will be 2 formal nights.

 

I don't really know what to expect on these nights. The thought of having to pack multiple suits, dresses, shirts, ties and shoes for all of us (husband, one teenager, one toddler and myself) seems daunting and unnecessary, unless there are truly 'amazing' food/entertainment/experiences we will surely miss out on if we skip these nights. Are they really worth the effort? Or are these nights mainly for people to play dress-ups and getting pictures taken?

[Clarea]

You can dress however you want, the suggested dress is not enforced.

[luvscruising2007]

Most people will make an effort to look nicer on these formal nights.

You don't have to wear something different on each night. One dress, different jewelry for you.

Nice pants, dress shirt and tie for the guys. The toddler can get away with just about anything.

The food use to be a little more special on these nights, but the menus have changed and/or you may not think the food is that special. Lobster, fisherman's platter, is generally served on the second formal night.

Enjoy your cruise.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

It is a bit of work. We've done it in the past. I'll pack a sports coat & nice button up shirt, but no longer pack a tie. The wife generally wears a nice dress. But we're to the point of skipping the MDR on formal night and check out a specialty restaurant. As you said, it's mainly for people to play dress-ups and getting pictures taken.

[NumnuT]

if you want to got dressed up, then go for it, if not it doesn't matter.

I wear a suit everyday for work so don't want to put one on when I'm on holidays.

 

but hey, that's just me!

Craig

[TonyL128]

Unless it's a special occasion or during Thanksgiving or Christmas, you really don't have to dress up. And, the dress code is only suggested.

 

Personally, we dress up to take pictures because we don't get many chances to take formal pictures on land. However, the picture lines are longer on formal nights too.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[riclop]

You don't have to dress up.

[Desert Cruizers]

We like to dress up on formal nights because we are casual at home 24/7 so for us it makes the evening special and when our Daughter is with us and husbands sister then we like a group Photo. Next April my husbands Niece will join us for her first cruise, so we will definitely want to got a family Photo.. It is your choice.

[Ashland]

We've had enough formal nights onboard...dressy casual is the way we go now.

[TonyL128]

We had a great photographer on the Oasis last time, he actually did the studio portraits, and we were glad we dressed up for the formal nights.

 

Although we've been on 15+ cruises, we still enjoy dressing up for formal nights. Yes, it would be less to pack, but, since we bring our own scuba gear, a few more dresses and a tux isn't that much more. [emoji3]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grapau27]

We are going on a 7-day trip on Oasis next month and I was told there will be 2 formal nights.

 

I don't really know what to expect on these nights. The thought of having to pack multiple suits, dresses, shirts, ties and shoes for all of us (husband, one teenager, one toddler and myself) seems daunting and unnecessary, unless there are truly 'amazing' food/entertainment/experiences we will surely miss out on if we skip these nights. Are they really worth the effort? Or are these nights mainly for people to play dress-ups and getting pictures taken?

My wife wears cocktail dresses every night so doesn't pack long evening dresses now.I am dressed well every night and take a couple of ties and a suit for formal night but after 43 cruises we don't now bother meeting the captain etc but prefer to sit in the DL.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[cruzinlisa]

We dress nice, although not necessarily overly formal. Like nice church clothes or wedding attire for us. DH does not usually wear a suit, usually dress pants and shirt and tie. DD wears mostly dresses in warm weather anyway, so we will pack her Easter dress or something like that. her clothes take up so little space and dresses actually take up less space. For me, I wear a light weight dress usually. We do not take up a lot of room with these clothes and we mix and match things.

 

It is a good opportunity for a family photo if you are into that. We did it a few years ago and still have it hanging up. DH and I were discussing that we needed to update it this cruise.

[srlafleur]

It's not nearly as fussy as, say, going to a prom. We change into more suitable clothes every night anyway (golf shirt and long pants for hubby, something other than jeans and shorts for me), so changing clothes into something a bit "fancier" isn't a hassle, really. I have cocktail dresses that pack nicely and bring the hubby's suit, etc. but it's not absolutely necessary. A man's gotta wear a shirt anyway, so making it a "dress" shirt and throwing on a tie (no jacket required) isn't much hassle.

You've got to pack and put on clothing anyway, so making one outfit a bit dressier isn't a big deal.

Ballgowns and tuxedos are not required.

[JTBCruiser]

We've had enough formal nights onboard...dressy casual is the way we go now.

 

 

Ditto!!! :)

[39august]

No hassle at all. Wear what you are comfortable with. There is no dress "code", just a suggestion. In the Caribbean you will see very few people in formal wear.

[CT Sean]

I usually bring 1 or 2 dress shirts and 2 pairs of khaki/dressy pants and I can use the pants for dinner most of the week. I stopped packing a suit years ago.

 

Regarding "truly 'amazing' food/entertainment/experiences" - it's just my opinion, but there are no "amazing dining experiences" in the Main Dining Room. There are some very good meals, but nothing that compares to actual fine dining where a meal is individually prepared for you.

[Bruin Steve]

Here's what RCCL's website says:

"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 in the near future:

 

This June and July, we will be on back-to-back 7-night sailings in the Med on the Jewel of the Seas...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. (Believe it or not, there are still a lot of passengers who are unhappy when others do not strictly follow the dress code. They think it is their right to make everyone else dress up and think that anyone else in the dining room without a tux or gown will somehow ruin THEIR cruise experience).

 

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...

[grapau27]

If we are cruising in a hot climate I don't now bother with my suit but still bring a couple of ties to go with a shirt and smart trousers.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[cruisegirl1]

OP - it is not necessary to dress up, unless you want to. With that said, we sailed Oasis last week and were surprised at the number of folks who dressed up. We saw a surprising number of tuxedos! Of course we also saw many men who were in simple shirt/slacks.

 

enjoy

M

[TominNC]

We've done Bahamas and Caribbean cruises and I don't bother with a tie. Sports jacket and khakis, button down shirt. I'm on vacation, I'm not going to play dress up.

[Denise5374]

My family is in the camp of "we don't dress up on land" so we do formal on a cruise. The men rent tuxes and the women wear formal gowns. It has made for some beautiful family pictures over the years.

 

For full disclosure, my husband and son started renting tuxes because neither owns a suit :D Easier/cheaper to rent the tux than buy the suit.

[Rocket3D]

If you want formal pictures with the Captain...for posterity... then dress up.

 

After that, the extra luggage costs and weight of formal wear makes zero sense to most people,

especially if you fly and pay by weight.

 

Luckily, no one will say anything if want to wear a tux, gown, jewelry every night to dinner.

[juliea344]

I just got back from Allure and only saw two tuxedos. We didn't dine in the MDR on formal night but we did go to the shows where we only saw a handful of people really dressed up. We wore smart casual clothes and dresses every night. We never felt out of place.

 

Sent from my XT1575 using Forums mobile app

[juliea344]

Oh, also, to address your question. If you view formal night as a hassle then it definitely isn't worth it.

 

Sent from my XT1575 using Forums mobile app

[torpeedo]

We've done Bahamas and Caribbean cruises and I don't bother with a tie. Sports jacket and khakis, button down shirt. I'm on vacation, I'm not going to play dress up.

 

Totally agree with you. DH brings a sport jacket also with a nice button down shirt for formal night. I wear my "smarter than usual casual " clothes and we're better than good.