? Men's attire for formal nights on Alaska cruise?

[CO/AZCRUISERS]

We know what the Princess brochure states for men's attire on formal nights in the main dining room, but realistically, what do men actually wear? Is packing a suit necessary or is business casual acceptable, i.e., dress slacks and a nice shirt? Thank you for responses.

[Sequim88]

We found that evening wear was all over the board. Alaska leans more towards frontier casual. Anything short of jeans is probably OK. HAL has switched to "Gala" nights and business casual (slacks and dress shirt) was common. I did not take a suit but did have a sport coat and dress slacks and wore a tie both Gala nights. I would suspect sister line Princess would be similar.

[Ashland]

Slacks and a shirt will be absolutely fine...go enjoy your cruise planning no need to give this subject any more of your time or concern.

[jimmyd]

This has been discussed ad infinitum. My take is: Before baggage charges from the airlines you could bring a garment bag plus+ without a problem). Now the airlines nickel and dime you ( as do the cruise lines obviously) People now travel more casual.

[CO/AZCRUISERS]

Sorry to have bothered anyone; as you may have noticed we are new to this board having just joined this week and this is our first Alaska cruise. Thank you, Ashland and Sequim88, your responses were very helpful and appreciated.

[cruiseguy1016]

I can't speak for what happens on Princess but we were on RCI's Radiance of the Seas last month so I will relate my experience there. I did not purposely look but I don't think I saw a tuxedo in the main dining room on either formal night. If there were men were wearing them, the numbers were few. There were a lot of men in suits and several women wore gowns but the atmosphere was not nearly as formal as what we have seen on Caribbean cruises. The attire did not go the other way either, I saw very few people in jeans. Most people were dressed nicely, not too formal but not too casual either.

[TheCalicoCat]

I've seen the gamut! (tuxes & beaded cocktail dresses to slacks & shirts.)

 

On July 4th 2017 of HAL (similar to Princess) there was a similar report - from shirts & slacks, suits, to tuxes for the men.

 

I've never seen anyone turned away. with that said, my husband did not feel that he was dressed appropriately - so he chose to eat in the Lido. (Totally self-selected!)

 

FWIW, I just packed a shirt slacks & the requested bow tie for my 8 year old son. (I like the photos that I get from the cruise lines of him dressed up - they take the time to pose him, etc.) Not that photography is on every ones mind.

[jimmyd]

Sorry if my post seemed snarky. It was not intended to be. If you peruse the Princess board you will see the numerous posts about dress. As someone who started cruising again (after a 25 year layoff!) I was pretty much just lamenting the baggage policies of the airlines and how (for good or bad) creates a more casual environment on board.