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"Formal Nights" What is your preference?

egamigal

By egamigal,
in Royal Caribbean International

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grapau27

grapau27

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My preference would be for a return to great service. Wine stewards, scraping of crumbs from table, sorbet between dishes, white glove service, table side preparation of salads. These things all used to exist on Royal and made the dining experience feel special. Nothing about any Royal Caribbean ship on formal night in the past 10 years feel special to me at all in the dining room. That's why you will see formal nights move from a dining room experience (because there is none) to events around the ship that help make the night different / special.

Thats something that P&O still do and we have had 94 nights with them being from England.

We are newly RC. D+ which we prefer but that silver service on P&O is something we miss.

 

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Cloudsipping

Cloudsipping

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I was on a 5 day cruise to Bermuda recently and I was surprised how many people were wearing formal attire. We saw small children in Tuxes. I opted out as the formal night was also lobster night and I have a severe shellfish allergy. Still it was nice to see so many people dressed up and I must have complimented a hundred people on how handsome /pretty they looked.

And they did! They looked great. I was dressed in smart casual and avoided the dining room and the casino so they could have their fancy fun.

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Paulette3028

Paulette3028

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Formal nights are not thought of by us as 'formal' tuxedo type and gown evenings......yet we do a little bit more dress up on them than on other nights....we like to take pictures that night of a 'different look' than just a dinner out in nice shorts and tops (which we can do ANY night at home, anyway).

 

But what others do or don't do, just doesn't make or break our experience AT ALL.

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BopRN

BopRN

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Really... so you let what others wear bother you. SMH

 

So you seldom dress up at home but feel people on vacation should just because you want them too? Many dress up each day or have worn uniforms and suits nearly all their life and want to getaway from that stuff while on vacation? Why not dress up and go out at home?

 

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Whoa Whoa Whoa! First, your response is very rude! To answer your question .....the answer is YES, when they are sitting across from me at the table, I would expect them to dress according to the guidelines. But if there was no "suggested attire" for the evening, then I would have no problem with people wearing what they want. But in this case plus the fact that there are plenty of other dining options, then I believe people should dress accordingly. I am not saying they should be wearing a gown & suit, but certainly not look like they are going to a picnic! Secondly, I have worn uniforms my whole career and my hubby has worn suits to business casual. What does that have to do with anything? "Getting away from that stuff on vacation" means you eat in the Windjammer! We happen to enjoy dressing for formal nights.

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grapau27

grapau27

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Whoa Whoa Whoa! First, your response is very rude! To answer your question .....the answer is YES, when they are sitting across from me at the table, I would expect them to dress according to the guidelines. But if there was no "suggested attire" for the evening, then I would have no problem with people wearing what they want. But in this case plus the fact that there are plenty of other dining options, then I believe people should dress accordingly. I am not saying they should be wearing a gown & suit, but certainly not look like they are going to a picnic! Secondly, I have worn uniforms my whole career and my hubby has worn suits to business casual. What does that have to do with anything? "Getting away from that stuff on vacation" means you eat in the Windjammer! We happen to enjoy dressing for formal nights.

We dress smart all the time and my wife wears a different cocktail dress every night but to be fair to Milwaukee Eight i didn't think he was rude.

We always get a table for 2 and if you are picky about table companions a table for 2 might be better for you too.

 

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sgmn

sgmn

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My preference would be for a return to great service. Wine stewards, scraping of crumbs from table, sorbet between dishes, white glove service, table side preparation of salads. These things all used to exist on Royal and made the dining experience feel special. Nothing about any Royal Caribbean ship on formal night in the past 10 years feel special to me at all in the dining room. That's why you will see formal nights move from a dining room experience (because there is none) to events around the ship that help make the night different / special.

agree - if RC aren't going to make much of a 'special' feel to formal night then you can't blame passengers if they don't dress up. I leave my long gowns I had for Queen Mary behind - the're heavy and take up too much space but I do like to wear a smart dressy dress. Hubby doesn't take his tux either anymore but wears a suit.

Though it wouldn't bother us if our table mates didn't dress up it is nice to see the ladies and guys making a bit of an effort. At home if I was going out for a pub meal I would wear jeans and pretty top but if going to a nice restaurant I would wear a pretty dress.

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north29

north29

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We just look nicer than every day dining wear. Having said that, a lot depends on the cruse, air travel, or adventures before or after the cruise. Example from our home in Florida, on 7 day or longer cruises, we tend to dress up a little more with nicer outfits and yes a jacket for me NO tie or formal wear. On international cruises with time before or after the cruise, we just try and look nicer on the SUGGESTED formal evenings. It is amazing how good you can make a MINIMUM amount of clothes look with just a few LIGHT weight accessories. YOU do not have to wear a different outfit for each day on the ship NO ONE will notice or even care.

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travelplus

travelplus

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Formal nights are optional. The dress code is for the Main Dining Room and I would hope speciality restaurants as well. What I do is put on my Formal wear for dinner and the show then depending on how I feel lets say going to the Disco I will change into more comfortable clothes.

 

To me if you don't want to participate then you can dine at the Windjammer but its your choice.

 

Now Royal is not to the T that it has to be a full on suit. You could show up in nice slacks with a button shirt and decent shoes and call it formal or you can decide to wear a tie, blazer and suit jacket(which gets too warm for some).

 

As long as you adhere to the basic dress code in the Main Dining Room on Formal night they won't turn you away. I asked a Maitre D' and he said that they just don't want you to turn up in swimwear or shorts for dinner but that Formal wear is to the interpretation of the guest. Now I would not show up in Jeans on Formal night but on semi Formal nights I wore Jeans and a nice shirt and had no issues.

 

Unlike Cunard which is very strict. On Cunard I was prepared to dress up and I loved it just like attending a fancy wedding.

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CRUISEFAN0001

CRUISEFAN0001

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Perhaps if they had just one formal night per cruise, and that was held on the last dinner evening...more people would attend with proper attire or else seize the opportunity to find alternative dining or activities instead. It would also reduce/simply packing for just one such event.

 

We actually enjoy formal nights, but usually only attend one of the two offered in the main dining room. On the other night we have dinner elsewhere on the ship.

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Hobiecat01

Hobiecat01

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We used to dress for formal nights (long dresses and tux) in the past until the airlines luggage fees and limits put the kibosh on that. Now I bring two pairs of slacks (brown and gray) and multiple shirts for formal nights and nice specialty restaurants. Otherwise... shorts and polo shirts.

 

 

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Milwaukee Eight

Milwaukee Eight

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Whoa Whoa Whoa! First, your response is very rude! To answer your question .....the answer is YES, when they are sitting across from me at the table, I would expect them to dress according to the guidelines. But if there was no "suggested attire" for the evening, then I would have no problem with people wearing what they want. But in this case plus the fact that there are plenty of other dining options, then I believe people should dress accordingly. I am not saying they should be wearing a gown & suit, but certainly not look like they are going to a picnic! Secondly, I have worn uniforms my whole career and my hubby has worn suits to business casual. What does that have to do with anything? "Getting away from that stuff on vacation" means you eat in the Windjammer! We happen to enjoy dressing for formal nights.

 

 

 

I'm sorry if you took my comment as being rude. It was not intended that way.

 

You did say and proves my point "We enjoy dressing up because there are just not many occasions to do that".

 

If you feel the absolute need to dress up, go out to a fancy restaurant or something similar. Get it out of your system. Just because you seldom have the opportunity to dress up, don't fault others for not wanting to dress up on their vacation.

 

 

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Paulette3028

Paulette3028

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I'm sorry if you took my comment as being rude. It was not intended that way.

 

You did say and proves my point "We enjoy dressing up because there are just not many occasions to do that".

 

If you feel the absolute need to dress up, go out to a fancy restaurant or something similar. Get it out of your system. Just because you seldom have the opportunity to dress up, don't fault others for not wanting to dress up on their vacation.

 

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Anyone can go to a fancy restaurant and expect everyone else there to dress 'in a certain way' but even that restaurant, when someone comes in 'not wearing what you might expect' they DON'T turn them away. At least from what I have seen, living here in S. Florida.

 

I do want the dining room on my sailings to have a certain suggested dress code and adhere to it. It may not be as 'formal' as it was in the 'good old days of formal' but that will still be much better than 'beachwear at dinner time'.

 

We like dressing up a bit....and my husband has to wear a jacket and tie to work EVERYDAY, even though we are no 'the tuxedo and cocktail dress' crowd.

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Milwaukee Eight

Milwaukee Eight

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Anyone can go to a fancy restaurant and expect everyone else there to dress 'in a certain way' but even that restaurant, when someone comes in 'not wearing what you might expect' they DON'T turn them away. At least from what I have seen, living here in S. Florida.

 

 

 

I do want the dining room on my sailings to have a certain suggested dress code and adhere to it. It may not be as 'formal' as it was in the 'good old days of formal' but that will still be much better than 'beachwear at dinner time'.

 

 

 

We like dressing up a bit....and my husband has to wear a jacket and tie to work EVERYDAY, even though we are no 'the tuxedo and cocktail dress' crowd.

 

 

 

Dressing up is not the issue. Being critical of what others wear is the issue. If one enjoys dressing up, by all means dress up.

 

And again, "the good ole days" are just not what they used to be. Don't let what others wear bother you. So many other things in life to be bothered over.

 

 

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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Dressing up is not the issue. Being critical of what others wear is the issue. If one enjoys dressing up, by all means dress up.

 

And again, "the good ole days" are just not what they used to be. Don't let what others wear bother you. So many other things in life to be bothered over.

 

 

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Say goodbye to the oldies but goodies

Cause the good old days weren't always good

And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

 

Billy Joel

 

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

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Haven't seen too many tuxes lately, but DH is thinking about bringing his on a B2B2B 47 day cruise in 2019 cruising New Zealand/Australia/ TP to Seattle. He missed wearing his tux during the last few years.

I'll bring mine. Both jackets. [emoji6]

 

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