Still another formal night question

[iancal]

No room in our carry on bags for any formal wear.

 

And no desire to pack formal wear, suits, etc even if we had room and were OK with the weight.

 

Airline baggage fees have nothing to do with why we have not bothered with formal/gala nights for the past ten years or so.

 

HAL has fortunately adjusted their attire requirements to reflect changing attitudes.

[Florida_gal_50]

Wearing a suit on the plane for the first day of a 3 month holiday does not work for us. Where do you suggest we put the the suit and my 'gala' dress, shoes and tiara ;p for the remainder of the time. We will be clean, neat and tidy, collared shirt but definitely no jacket or tie.

That will be fine. Hal has approved that. I do dress up for gala nights but I'm not motivated to do it much anymore. On my last cruise several people on gala night looked like they hadn't changed from their day ashore. If Hal approves of it, no one else should worry about it. I did get a bit if a laugh one night. A guy came to the table in a well worn short sleeve shirt and pants. He made note of how nice everyone looked at the table and how he didn't really measure up (his words). I didn't say anything but a lady at the table gave him a proper dressing down. I think he was a bit surprised at her reaction.

[Florida_gal_50]

You can fit suit or tux in a #50 limit suitcase easily and have plenty of space left over. DH does it all the time. Keep your tiara in your carry on. You wouldn't want anyone to steal it, would you?

 

With todays lightweight, no-wrinkle easy pack dress fabrics it makes no sense to complain there is no room in a suitcase. There might be other reasons, but suitcase space is highly unlikely to be one of them. Perhaps it is also time to invest in a new light weigh suitcase too - why pay the airlines extra to just take a heavy suitcase instead of using that same weight for clothes. I recommend the IT brand - a 5# open box rolling suitcase can easily hold it all for up to a month long cruise.

Hal has relaxed the dress code. No need to go and buy a new suitcase to bring something that is not a requirement.

[OlsSalt]

Hal has relaxed the dress code. No need to go and buy a new suitcase to bring something that is not a requirement.

 

Who is talking about a requirement? Just reporting for those who think they have no room for formal wear and their tiara , that is can be done easily if this is what they would like to do. And if they don't like doing it, just say so. No need for silly smokescreen excuses.

[Florida_gal_50]

Who is talking about a requirement? Just reporting for those who think they have no room for formal wear and their tiara , that is can be done easily if this is what they would like to do. And if they don't like doing it, just say so. No need for silly smokescreen excuses.

If I was gone for 3 months and a cruise was a small part of it the gala night clothes would stay at home. I take mine but I do struggle a little with keeping it under 50. I'd be delighted if Hal went smart casual all the time. That way I can take more things that I like and will wear more often.

[iancal]

IF you bothered to read my post you would have seen that I said 'we have no desire.."

 

Has nothing whatsoever to do with what you call a smokescreen excuse.

 

We don't need an excuse or a smokescreen excuse to dress how we wish on a cruise.

[OlsSalt]

IF you bothered to read my post you would have seen that I said 'we have no desire.."

 

Has nothing whatsoever to do with what you call a smokescreen excuse.

 

We don't need an excuse or a smokescreen excuse to dress how we wish on a cruise.

 

Hear, hear. Moratorium on all smoke-screen excuses. Just tell it like it is.

[RocketMan275]

Hear, hear. Moratorium on all smoke-screen excuses. Just tell it like it is.

 

I've been very clear. We drive to the port and have plenty of room to carry all sorts of "nice clothes". We simply see no reason to do so. To be quite honest, if HAL were to provide a complementary tuxedo, I wouldn't wear it. Gala/Formal Nights are a thing of the past. Time to get over it.

 

Each of us use the same kind of carry on one could use on an airplane. It's sufficient for us for a seven day cruise. Simply no room for "nice clothes".

[cruisemom42]

You can fit suit or tux in a #50 limit suitcase easily and have plenty of space left over. DH does it all the time. Keep your tiara in your carry on. You wouldn't want anyone to steal it, would you?

 

With todays lightweight, no-wrinkle easy pack dress fabrics it makes no sense to complain there is no room in a suitcase. There might be other reasons, but suitcase space is highly unlikely to be one of them. Perhaps it is also time to invest in a new light weigh suitcase too - why pay the airlines extra to just take a heavy suitcase instead of using that same weight for clothes. I recommend the IT brand - a 5# open box rolling suitcase can easily hold it all for up to a month long cruise.

 

The OP's first post (#20) makes it clear they are traveling for 3 months in Europe, of which their cruise is only 24 days. In their exact words: "We simply cannot afford the weight of something that doesn't have many uses." That doesn't strike me as a "smoke screen" excuse. :confused:

 

 

While a "little black dress" may not take up much room, the same cannot be said for a man's suit. And likely these mean another pair of shoes each, and other proper accoutrements.

 

 

It also seems they are traveling close to 24 hours (from Australia or NZ I'd guess?). I can fully understand not wanting to wear a suit or dress clothing on the flight as someone else suggested. In fact, traveling for that long I'd probably want them to just zip me up in a snuggie and sedate me.

[OlsSalt]

The OP's first post (#20) makes it clear they are traveling for 3 months in Europe, of which their cruise is only 24 days. In their exact words: "We simply cannot afford the weight of something that doesn't have many uses." That doesn't strike me as a "smoke screen" excuse. :confused:

 

 

While a "little black dress" may not take up much room, the same cannot be said for a man's suit. And likely these mean another pair of shoes each, and other proper accoutrements.

 

 

It also seems they are traveling close to 24 hours (from Australia or NZ I'd guess?). I can fully understand not wanting to wear a suit or dress clothing on the flight as someone else suggested. In fact, traveling for that long I'd probably want them to just zip me up in a snuggie and sedate me.

 

Practical considerations are not "smokescreen excuses".

[iancal]

I think the root of the issue is that there are some people who think that formal wear should be worn on formal evenings. And people who choose not to are doing so by making an excuse not to rather tacitly deciding on casual attire only.

 

How silly is this? We, like the OP, often travel for two-three months at a time. We may include a cruise, indeed we may leave home with no cruise booked but pick one up during our travels. We make no excuses to anyone for our choice of casual attire....and most especially to anyone on this forum.

 

This may be a challenge for some people to understand we be choose casual. Even if we took a large suitcase and had excess room, we still would only pack casual clothing. Nothing to do with airline bag fees (usually free for us) or the fact that we prefer travel with carry on only. We, like many others, live a casual life and we prefer to dress in the same manner when we travel.

[OlsSalt]

I think the root of the issue is that there are some people who think that formal wear should be worn on formal evenings. And people who choose not to are doing so by making an excuse not to rather tacitly deciding on casual attire only.

 

How silly is this? We, like the OP, often travel for two-three months at a time. We may include a cruise, indeed we may leave home with no cruise booked but pick one up during our travels. We make no excuses to anyone for our choice of casual attire....and most especially to anyone on this forum.

 

This may be a challenge for some people to understand we be choose casual. Even if we took a large suitcase and had excess room, we still would only pack casual clothing. Nothing to do with airline bag fees (usually free for us) or the fact that we prefer travel with carry on only. We, like many others, live a casual life and we prefer to dress in the same manner when we travel.

 

Do you mind eating at the Lido on "gala night"?

[Stratheden]

Do you mind eating at the Lido on "gala night"?

Why should we.

[bUU]

So I'm confused at this point. Are we talking about people who deliberately violate the explicit requirements of the dress code? Or are we talking about people who don't live up to other people's expectations based on suggestions in the dress code?

 

The former is pretty clear-cut: The cruise line is your host. You are a guest. It is a serious breach of the guest's obligation to deliberately violate the rules of the house. If you can't be an honorable guest then don't visit.

 

The latter is also pretty clear-cut: The cruise line is your host. You are a guest. It is a serious breach of the guest's obligation to make your hosts other guests feel unwelcome, when it is your host's intention to make them feel welcome.

 

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[KroozNut]

some wore shorts, and we actually saw a couple admitted wearing rolled up sweat pants and flip-flops. We have never seen anything like this before, not even in the Caribbean.

 

Unbelieveable.. :(

 

I wouldn't do this if my feet were not attractive.

 

Assuming you have corroborative opinion on this.. ;p

[bUU]

You keep forgetting the stated rules.

 

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[RocketMan275]

Not 'formal' attire by official definition, but if the golf shirt is collared; certainly in line with HAL's guidelines for Gala night attire. :)

 

But what does this have to do with your original comment that "Gala/Formal Nights are a thing of the past"? This is what I was responding to..:confused:

 

The dress code for Gala Nights (minimum: slacks and golf shirts) is essentially the same as the dress code for Smart Casual. The cruise line is only playing word games in an attempt to have things both ways, an attempt to appease those who like to dress up without alienating those who do not.

 

I guess you could say that Gala/Formal Nights are still alive and well but to do so you have to accept that slacks and a gold shirt are appropriate attire for a special festive evening. Or, you can just be consistent and admit that the old idea of a formal and festive evening is now a thing of the past.

[bUU]

I guess you could say that Gala/Formal Nights are still alive and well but to do so you have to accept that slacks and a gold shirt are appropriate attire for a special festive evening. Or, you can just be consistent and admit that the old idea of a formal and festive evening is now a thing of the past.

That is a false dichotomy. It is possible, and clearly actual from the video evidence I've seen, that there are special, festive, "gala" evenings in the MDR, without them being, explicitly, as per "the old idea" (your words) of formal nights. The reality is that "the old idea" is regularly replaced by new ideas and that has been going on since cave people rubbed two sticks together.

 

 

 

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[iancal]

The cruise line is not my host. I am not a guest. I consider myself to be a customer .

 

There is no barrier to entry, no invitation. The only requirement is that we pay the fare in full prior to boarding and that are credit card has at least enough room to pay for the gratuities.

 

All the rest is window dressing. Let's call it out for what it is.

[RocketMan275]

That is a false dichotomy. It is possible, and clearly actual from the video evidence I've seen, that there are special, festive, "gala" evenings in the MDR, without them being, explicitly, as per "the old idea" (your words) of formal nights. The reality is that "the old idea" is regularly replaced by new ideas and that has been going on since cave people rubbed two sticks together.

 

 

 

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Exactly, and "the old idea" being replaced is the special dress up night.

[bUU]

The cruise line is not my host. I am not a guest.

We take hospitality very seriously here in Georgia and so perhaps that accounts for our disagreement in this regard.

 

I consider myself to be a customer .

A distinction that holds no distinctive consequence regarding rules of the house. Customers don't get to unilaterally impose provisions on a contract. In the mass market, a supplier makes an offer and customers can either accept the offer or decline it. They don't have "line item veto" to provisions of the contract.

 

Exactly, and "the old idea" being replaced is the special dress up night.

Precisely: What is being replaced is the attire aspect, not the gala aspect.

[iancal]

Bottom line for us is that we continue to pack only casual clothes, as we have done for several years now.

 

We have noticed two trends. The first is that formal nights/gala nights are no where near what they used to be in terms of food, food quality, food preparation, service, and indeed entertainment. Same on all the mass market lines. Cutbacks. We understand why this is. They used to be special. Now for us they really are not. The waiters, the m'aitre d and the wine steward may be wearing their best uniforms and the table settings are very attractive however this does not, in our opinion, compensate in any way for the decline in the MDR.

 

Second trend is how many people in our age group, early sixties, and below have adapted a more casual dress and seem to have fewer concerns with absolute conformity. This may be attributable to the fact that we do not take long cruises, 12-21 days or so is the norm for us . Not certain why this is. We do not really care what others wear but we certainly see fewer and fewer tuxedos, suits, and ties,jackets, long gowns, etc,

Edited June 4, 2017 by iancal

[RocketMan275]

Precisely: What is being replaced is the attire aspect, not the gala aspect.

 

So, it isn't the attire that makes Gala/Formal Nights special and festive?

[RocketMan275]

Second trend is how many people in our age group, early sixties, and below have adapted a more casual dress and seem to have fewer concerns with absolute conformity. This may be attributable to the fact that we do not take long cruises, 12-21 days or so is the norm for us . Not certain why this is. We do not really care what others wear but we certainly see fewer and fewer tuxedos, suits, and ties,jackets, long gowns, etc,

 

The older I get, dressing up has become far less important. I've learned that I can have as good a time in blue jeans as I can in a tuxedo. I no longer have a need to impress others so I dress for myself. Freedom is a wonderful thing.

[bUU]

So, it isn't the attire that makes Gala/Formal Nights special and festive?

I feel that attire is a superficial aspect and that festivity is intention not superficiality. Many years ago, my spouse and I spent an anniversary hiking Rich Mountain in the Smokeys. At dinner after the hike, we were sweaty, in t-shirts shirt and shorts, and it was as festive as any dinner we ever had. We were together; humans in connection with each other. Festivity is intention.

 

And that extends beyond festivity. On Sunday we worship. We praise, we reflect, we commit. And some folks are wearing jeans. And it is still just as much worship.