Prediction: Formal Nights gone by 2020

[BigHouseFootball]

I'm sure formal nights will have their place on different lines but it does seem a bit out of place on a Royal ship. I can be zip lining, rock climbing, flow ridin, putt putt golfing, ice skating during the day but then I have to throw on a suit for dinner?

 

I really don't care what others wear to dinner. It doesn't affect the taste of my meal and doesn't take away from the night for myself and my wife. Don't be so worried about others.

[MrsKC08]

I think airline luggage fees were the beginning of the end for formal night. Nobody wants to pack extra evening wear.

 

I would agree that the airline luggage fees did have some to do with what people bring and pack for a cruise. It becomes less of a priority for them.

 

I'm sure formal nights will have their place on different lines but it does seem a bit out of place on a Royal ship. I can be zip lining, rock climbing, flow ridin, putt putt golfing, ice skating during the day but then I have to throw on a suit for dinner?

 

I really don't care what others wear to dinner. It doesn't affect the taste of my meal and doesn't take away from the night for myself and my wife. Don't be so worried about others.

 

I disagree with this. I don't feel that it has lot it's place on Royal or any cruise ship for that matter, even Carnival. I've sailed several different lines and see people dress up all the time. Just because you were rock climbing or zip lining doesn't mean you can't get dressed up for dinner. For heavens sake, I sure hope that you took a shower after all those activities before you entered the dining room or the buffet for that matter.

 

 

As for DH and I...we will always get dressed up for formal nights. I don't think 2 nights out of a 7 night cruise is too much to dress up for. I actually wear some sort of dress or slacks every night and DH wears a tux on formal night and khaki or dress pants on the other nights. I don't think that formal nights will ever go away because there are always seasoned cruisers and even those who only get to cruise once every few years that will enjoy the dressing up. For some, it is Sunday/Church clothes and for others it is formal gowns and tuxes.

 

The resolution is simple...if you don't want to dress up, then by all means don't, but don't expect the cruise lines to do away with something because you don't want to participate. :)

 

As for the person who mentioned sending those that dressed up to a specialty restaurant one night for free...that would never happen because all of those who didn't want to dress up will all of a sudden throw on a suit so that they can get a specialty dining meal, duh. Not to mention, there are still quite a few people who do dress up that would likely over fill the specialty venue capacity.

[bUU]

I would agree that the airline luggage fees did have some to do with what people bring and pack for a cruise. It becomes less of a priority for them.

True, but I think the dehumanization of airline travel, in general, plays a role. Dressing for dinner on a cruise began in an age when steamer trunks (named after the ocean liners on which they were used) were the preferred form of luggage. The airlines will not accept a steamer trunk as my checked bag, but even if they would, I don't have footmen from my manse to transport it.

 

I disagree with this. I don't feel that it has lot it's place on Royal or any cruise ship for that matter, even Carnival. I've sailed several different lines and see people dress up all the time. Just because you were rock climbing or zip lining doesn't mean you can't get dressed up for dinner.

If you accept that once "everyone" understood the appropriateness of formal dinners aboard cruise ships, then the fact that the previous poster questions that is evidence, all by itself, of what that poster suggests: Not everyone sees things the way you see them anymore, which is undeniably a change. Is it the specific activities that cause this? Or is it just a change in society altogether? I say it is the latter, but does it really matter? The effect is the same.

 

The biggest mistake, though, that I think some make is that they confuse fine dining with formal attire. If there ever was a requirement that one went with the other in the past, it should be very clear now that that's no longer the case. There are far too many restaurants putting out superlative food without a dress code.

 

I don't think that formal nights will ever go away

I agree, but that doesn't mean that they won't go away on certain cruise lines, and specifically because there will be other cruise lines that deliberately leverage that part of their offering as a product differentiator. For people who really care about this, the fact that there are niche cruise lines that offer it with a greater level of integrity than the mass market cruise lines will mean that the money associated with that preference will go to those niche cruise lines. Those who don't have the money or don't spend the money in that direction become a shrinking minority (as measured in dollars) on the mass market cruise lines. It isn't just that this is something fewer people care about, but also that that change in preference is more drastic in the mass market where many of those who held that preference are exiting through the "top" and many who never held that preference are entering through the "bottom".

 

The resolution is simple...if you don't want to dress up, then by all means don't, but don't expect the cruise lines to do away with something because you don't want to participate. :)

And by extension don't expect the cruise lines to keep something because you want to participate.

[bUU]

Wow! Someone gave their thesaurus a workout! Would you mind repeating that in English please? :D

It is English. No thesaurus necessary, just normal vocabulary developed in American school systems.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[Journey2016]

This is all a consequence of cruising becoming the habitat of mouth breathing people who live in trailers and cruise to get likkered up and eat some fancy vittles. Sorry, but there is a time and a place for wearing tank tops and shorts, and there is a time and a place to wear nice clothes. I still think that a dress code needs to be enforced, but I appear to be in the minority as I watch people wearing swimsuits, flip flops, and ball caps sit in the MDR. Formal night disappearing is yet another symptom of this.

 

They might as well become Carnival and begin serving fried chicken with mac 'n cheese.

[TominNC]

This is all a consequence of cruising becoming the habitat of mouth breathing people who live in trailers and cruise to get likkered up and eat some fancy vittles. Sorry, but there is a time and a place for wearing tank tops and shorts, and there is a time and a place to wear nice clothes. I still think that a dress code needs to be enforced, but I appear to be in the minority as I watch people wearing swimsuits, flip flops, and ball caps sit in the MDR. Formal night disappearing is yet another symptom of this.

 

They might as well become Carnival and begin serving fried chicken with mac 'n cheese.

 

It's convenient that you go from one extreme to another. Most here are happy to wear "nice" clothes that isn't formal wear. Why does lack of formal wear mean tank tops flip flops and the dreaded ball cap?

[LMaxwell]

I don't think that formal nights will ever go away because there are always seasoned cruisers and even those who only get to cruise once every few years that will enjoy the dressing up. For some, it is Sunday/Church clothes and for others it is formal gowns and tuxes.

 

The resolution is simple...if you don't want to dress up, then by all means don't, but don't expect the cruise lines to do away with something because you don't want to participate. :)

 

 

There's a big difference between seasoned cruisers who paid big bucks in the 70's, 80's, 90's to sail 1000-2000 pax ships and were treated to deluxe service and food, and the massive ships of today sailing with 4000, 5000, 6000, or more guests at lower prices.

 

I'm not saying people can't, or shouldn't dress up, just that Royal will stop with the Dining Room pretending and move formal "Royal" activities out of the dining room and to venues that will generate revenue. I don't expect them to get rid of it in the dining room because I don't want to participate, I expect them to get rid of in the dining room because they can save a lot of money and just re-theme a string of events for a similar effect. Once they cut out the relatively pricey to source food that people tend to associate with "formal night", what reason is there to dress up for dinner? If you feel like it and there are other activities going on, yes, that makes sense.

[LMaxwell]

This is all a consequence of cruising becoming the habitat of mouth breathing people who live in trailers and cruise to get likkered up and eat some fancy vittles. Sorry, but there is a time and a place for wearing tank tops and shorts, and there is a time and a place to wear nice clothes. I still think that a dress code needs to be enforced, but I appear to be in the minority as I watch people wearing swimsuits, flip flops, and ball caps sit in the MDR. Formal night disappearing is yet another symptom of this.

 

They might as well become Carnival and begin serving fried chicken with mac 'n cheese.

 

You missed the entire point, unfortunately. This is the cruise lines making. They have ruined the MDR experience, not the guests. Really surprised that has flown past so many people.

 

BTW - Carnival just got rid of the fried chicken...

[LMaxwell]

Why does lack of formal wear mean tank tops flip flops and the dreaded ball cap?

No one will give you an answer, because they have no answer. Someone said it one day and everyone else has just been repeating it without any logical or rational thought to support it. Of course not dressing formal doesn't mean like dressing for the beach. No one is going to suddenly rush out to dress like that due to relaxation of the rules. the ones that would dress that way would dress that way regardless of the rules.

[Big_G]

No one will give you an answer, because they have no answer. Someone said it one day and everyone else has just been repeating it without any logical or rational thought to support it. Of course not dressing formal doesn't mean like dressing for the beach. No one is going to suddenly rush out to dress like that due to relaxation of the rules. the ones that would dress that way would dress that way regardless of the rules.

You're trying too hard. You made a prediction that may have merit but now you're trying to beat into others.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[bUU]

This is the cruise lines making. They have ruined the MDR experience, not the guests.

That's consumerist pablum. This is 100% the passengers' making. Like all service providers in a capitalist market, the cruise lines will do whatever passengers pay them the best for. As a public company, they're not allowed to deliberately sub-optimize. By contrast, passengers are completely free to behave in an irrational and self-defeating manner if they wish.

 

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

It's convenient that you go from one extreme to another. Most here are happy to wear "nice" clothes that isn't formal wear. Why does lack of formal wear mean tank tops flip flops and the dreaded ball cap?

 

One will all warm up to the humble ball cap with the first sighting of the saggy pants, requisite with, of course, a viewing of the passenger's briefs (boxers if you're lucky). I have (although it was actually on board a HAL ship).

[cruzinlisa]

There will be a $7,95 charge to participate!:D;p

 

 

That charge will be up to $9.99 by then.

 

OP, I think you are right, but I predict them gone by the end of 2018. At the latest. I think they are circling the drain now. I also agree it will be replaced by a semi-formal night like Celebrity.

 

And to the person knocking Carnival and their "fried chicken and Mac and cheese"-

1. Carnival has "elegant" night and my experience is that most people dress up in at least nice wedding/Church clothes. I have not seen ball caps or tank tops on formal night

 

2. What exactly is wrong with fried chicken and mac and cheese. In some places people have it for Sunday dinner. My 6 year old could live on Mac and Cheese. And although I would not necessarily choose these options if they did not have anything good that night I might consider the fried chicken. I don't eat it often because its not healthy so it would be a bit of a treat.

 

And I think Carnival stopped serving it as well. When they did it was part of their every day classics, meaning the alternate menu for those that are too picky to find anything on the regular menu- not one of their main offerings. ;)

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I suspect there will be a formal night for quite some time to come.

 

What may happen is a change to having just one.

 

Last week on our cruise on Harmony...it was nearly comical to see the last formal night with about 80% compliant dress and another 15% nearly formal dress...and then a handful of people - mostly millennials - showing up in shorts and T-shirts.

 

Guess they didn't read the memo.

 

That"s OK...all the tables in our area got a good laugh prior to the great meal. :evilsmile:

[TominNC]

Is there something different about Harmony, because most I've read here aren't seeing 80% formal on any cruise.

[LMaxwell]

You're trying too hard. You made a prediction that may have merit but now you're trying to beat into others.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

I'm simply explaining why no one ever answers that type of question.

[Mary229]

Is there something different about Harmony, because most I've read here aren't seeing 80% formal on any cruise.

 

The last HAL cruise I was on with the inaugural Gala night only about 10% were formally attired.

 

edited: of course I do early dinner, maybe late dinner is more formal

[LMaxwell]

As a public company, they're not allowed to deliberately sub-optimize.

 

As a public company they must act in the best interest of their shareholders. What year did you take your first cruise? You may notice cutbacks or changes since that time. Those are the cruise line decisions to maximize profits, not the guests decisions to have a lesser experience. This is a consumer focused website, I don't go for that blame the pax, bless the company mindset that is prevalent throughout this forum.

[TominNC]

The last HAL cruise I was on with the inaugural Gala night only about 10% were formally attired.

 

edited: of course I do early dinner, maybe late dinner is more formal

 

I've not been on as many cruises as many here have been, but my experience also falls in the 10-20% range as far as formal. Then certainly many more percentage of people in suits and dresses (but not "formal") And a high percentage in shirts and long pants, no jacket or tie.

[LMaxwell]

I suspect there will be a formal night for quite some time to come.

 

What may happen is a change to having just one.

 

 

I don't see it happening on the 5 day or longer cruises. People will say I am not doing all that extra packing to wear the clothes only ONE time. And then you will have the same old arguments intensified. Why should this continue? Where's the adequate staffing levels, roaming musicians, table scrapers, white glove service, between course sorbet? gone, gone, gone. It's just words in the Compass now.

 

Remember, the "Formal Night" revenue is NOT generated in the MDR. The lobster isn't the be all, end all but per ounce surely costs more than chicken and beef, or many other seafoods, so you will see the formal night eliminated and focused outside of the MDR towards more revenue generation. Ever been on an NCL ship? That's exactly how they do it and RCI seems to crib NCL policies and activities in time delayed lockstep.

 

How many thousands of dollars per cruise could RCI save by moving formal night out of the MDR? How many thousands of dollars extra revenue could they generate this way? Net it out and it seems like formal night is doomed. Like the OLD RCI way? Try MSC or Princess. The current format isn't sustainable on mega ships; the demographics are too varied.

 

Look at it this way, RCI can take make these "Royal Nights" something really nice for those that want to participate. Right now Formal Night is just a label and many see through it. Do better, or do away with it.

[Cauzneffct]

I suspect there will be a formal night for quite some time to come.

 

What may happen is a change to having just one.

 

Last week on our cruise on Harmony...it was nearly comical to see the last formal night with about 80% compliant dress and another 15% nearly formal dress...and then a handful of people - mostly millennials - showing up in shorts and T-shirts.

 

Guess they didn't read the memo.

 

That"s OK...all the tables in our area got a good laugh prior to the great meal. :evilsmile:

 

I wonder if having just one formal night might actually hasten its demise. I could easily see more people thinking its not worth it to pack a suit (or whatever) to use just once.

[TC1957]

I will never wear a tux on a cruise...because I don't own one, will not buy something I will wear once every two or three years and won't rent own just to eat a meal. I will probably wear a suit...in the past with a tie. Like I mentioned earlier I am still debating that for our cruise in a couple of weeks.

 

What frustrates me are people who refer to those who want to wear more casual attire as "riff raff", "mouth breathers", etc. To those posters I will point out that even when you put on a tux or an evening gown you will probably still be and/or act like the south end of a north bound horse...just one wearing fancy clothes.

[TominNC]

I will never wear a tux on a cruise...because I don't own one, will not buy something I will wear once every two or three years and won't rent own just to eat a meal. I will probably wear a suit...in the past with a tie. Like I mentioned earlier I am still debating that for our cruise in a couple of weeks.

 

What frustrates me are people who refer to those who want to wear more casual attire as "riff raff", "mouth breathers", etc. To those posters I will point out that even when you put on a tux or an evening gown you will probably still be and/or act like the south end of a north bound horse...just one wearing fancy clothes.

 

Well said

[42CruiseCrazy]

Well said

 

 

 

Yes. I especially liked the "south end of a northbound horse "part. LOL

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CRUISEFAN0001]

I wonder if having just one formal night might actually hasten its demise. I could easily see more people thinking its not worth it to pack a suit (or whatever) to use just once.

Possibly...then again...if it is properly communicated as "enforced" from a dress code perspective...

 

1) It has the potential to be restored as a nice traditional experience many cruisers enjoy

2) People could plan accordingly and perhaps simply packing somewhat

3) Royal could plan their meals to make it even more special

4) Those who wish to pass on it could schedule alternative locations

 

...just to name a few upsides...