Evening Chic -- Practical Advice

[wallie5446]

We are new to Celebrity. I've read the description of "Evening Chic" -- everything from nice jeans to a tux!

 

We are doing a Med cruise. What I'd like to know is what most people wear. In particular, will most men wear jackets with open collar, jackets and ties, suits, or collared dress shirt and slacks?

 

Thanks.

Yes. All of the above! :eek::eek:

 

:confused: Ok, as long as you don't look like you just got off a tractor :D you will be fine.

[ggo85]

Thanks all. I asked about clothing for guys b/c it's more cut and dried. Women can dress an outfit up/down with just jewelry and shoes, so more flexible. A guy either wears a jacker or not.:D

 

Appreciate the replies -- thanks so much. Think DH will bring a jacket -- no tie. He will be very happy.

[cltnccruisers]

I've never worn a suit or even jacket on any of our previous cruises. But last year there seemed to be more folks dressing up so for our next cruise she bought a couple o nice dresses and made me buy a suit. <sigh> Well, I guess I can use it to be buried in down the road......

[thephillykid]

I dont know what to believe, the policy is different than what is being said here on CC, All restaurants follow dress code.

Formal Night gets a modern luxury reboot. Say goodbye to Formal Night, and hello to Evening Chic. It’s your time to shine—your way. Get glamorous. Get chic. Be sophisticated. Now, on up to two nights on every cruise, Evening Chic activities have been introduced, and Evening Chic attire has replaced Formal attire. While dressier than Smart Casual, Evening Chic is intended to be less dressy than Formal attire.

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• A cocktail dress
  
• Skirt, pants or designer jeans with an elegant top
  

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Pants or designer jeans with a dress shirt, button-down shirt or sweater
  
• Optional sport coat or blazer
  

Evening Chic means that you can get glamorous and be sophisticated in your own way. If you would like to still wear a tuxedo or formal gown on Evening Chic nights, you absolutely should.

All cruises that are 7 nights or longer will feature two Evening Chic nights. Any cruise 6-nights or shorter will feature one Evening Chic night. All other nights of the cruise will feature Smart Casual attire. Celebrity Xpedition will continue to feature casual attire for the entire cruise.

Smart Casual attire can be enjoyed every other night of your cruise.

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• Skirt, pants or jeans with a casual top
  

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Pants or jeans with a sport shirt that has sleeves
  

Note: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurant or specialty restaurant at any time. Shorts and flip-flops are not allowed in the evening hours. The dress code will be enforced at all restaurants. And guests are asked to follow the Smart Casual or Evening Chic dress code in the Celebrity Theater for all evening performances. The daily program, delivered to your stateroom and available at the Guest Relations Desk, will be your guide to the correct attire each evening.

[grimace95120]

"The dress code will be enforced at all restaurants."

Hi there, the restaurants will follow the dress code, it just happens to be their dress code is Smart Casual. This applies to the restaurants with the exception of MDR, which will follow the dress codes, Smart Casual on non Chic nights, and Chic on Chic nights.

Another quote from Celebrity :

 

Specialty Restaurants (Including Blu for our Aqua Class Guests)

The dress code at Celebrity's Speciality Restaurants is 'Smart Casual and Above' for every night of your cruise. Evening Chic attire is only required in the main dining room on your "Evening Chic" evenings.

 

Hope this helps.

[dkjretired]

"The dress code will be enforced at all restaurants."

Hi there, the restaurants will follow the dress code, it just happens to be their dress code is Smart Casual. This applies to the restaurants with the exception of MDR, which will follow the dress codes, Smart Casual on non Chic nights, and Chic on Chic nights.

Another quote from Celebrity :

 

Specialty Restaurants (Including Blu for our Aqua Class Guests)

The dress code at Celebrity's Speciality Restaurants is 'Smart Casual and Above' for every night of your cruise. Evening Chic attire is only required in the main dining room on your "Evening Chic" evenings.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Perfectly explained and correct.

 

Also, keep in mind that if you go to the restaurant section of the web site and look up each restaurant individually, they explain what the dress code is for each restaurant. All the restuarants except the MDR say smart casual, MDR says varies.

 

By the way, I don't understand why people keep bringing this up and trying to interpret things differently. This has been accepted policy without question on all ships for at least five years.

[Ma Bell]

It's really amusing that almost all the advice is given by men who focus on the minimum one can get away with. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

 

People who try to look nice always will and others will get by. You just have to decide which person you are.

[Csardas]

It's really amusing that almost all the advice is given by men who focus on the minimum one can get away with. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

 

People who try to look nice always will and others will get by. You just have to decide which person you are.

 

Well said!!

[dkjretired]

It's really amusing that almost all the advice is given by men who focus on the minimum one can get away with. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

 

People who try to look nice always will and others will get by. You just have to decide which person you are.

 

I'm not focusing on what people can get away with, just focusing on clarifying the rules, nothing else. We've had two posters in the last couple of weeks pick out some wording which they interpreted completely different from Celebrity policy. It just confuses people who are asking legitimate questions about a policy that has clearly been in effect for five years. Sorry but that's not right. The great thing about the policy and I have said this many times is it says smart casual and above, so you can wear what you choose to within the policy.

[grimace95120]

It's really amusing that almost all the advice is given by men who focus on the minimum one can get away with. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

 

People who try to look nice always will and others will get by. You just have to decide which person you are.

 

 

That's quite a broad brush statement, basing "looking nice" on gender. I'm a 55 year old man who spends a lot of time ensuring that I'm more than appropriately dressed for the event/occasion I'm attending. I'll be wearing a bespoke jacket, Egyptian cotton shirt, monk-strap Italian shoes and the ... gasp... designer jeans on Chic nights. I'll put that outfit in my "sign of the times" category . And I will be well within the confines of the dress code(s) as published. :)

No one is looking to minimize or get by. As Don said this is about providing facts, not advice.

Some folks are a bit confused about the dress codes. We provided intel based on the rules as published, in order for people to make informed decisions. The poster who we responded to clearly felt there was a disconnect between what they were reading on CC vs the Celebrity policies. The intent was to clarify that

[groryjm]

I'm not focusing on what people can get away with, just focusing on clarifying the rules, nothing else. We've had two posters in the last couple of weeks pick out some wording which they interpreted completely different from Celebrity policy. It just confuses people who are asking legitimate questions about a policy that has clearly been in effect for five years. Sorry but that's not right. The great thing about the policy and I have said this many times is it says smart casual and above, so you can wear what you choose to within the policy.

..... We are doing a Med cruise. What I'd like to know is what most people wear.... .

 

The op's reason for this thread and a number of others recently is not to seek interpretation of the policy or question what the code is but to ask what people on board are actually wearing.

 

Personally I still wear, and will continue to do so in October, "black tie"...... 'though some times I get really chic and wear a purple bow tie 😀 instead

[Ma Bell]

I'm not focusing on what people can get away with, just focusing on clarifying the rules, nothing else. We've had two posters in the last couple of weeks pick out some wording which they interpreted completely different from Celebrity policy. It just confuses people who are asking legitimate questions about a policy that has clearly been in effect for five years. Sorry but that's not right. The great thing about the policy and I have said this many times is it says smart casual and above, so you can wear what you choose to within the policy.

 

So what does that have to do with what I said?

[Ma Bell]

That's quite a broad brush statement, basing "looking nice" on gender. I'm a 55 year old man who spends a lot of time ensuring that I'm more than appropriately dressed for the event/occasion I'm attending. I'll be wearing a bespoke jacket, Egyptian cotton shirt, monk-strap Italian shoes and the ... gasp... designer jeans on Chic nights. I'll put that outfit in my "sign of the times" category . And I will be well within the confines of the dress code(s) as published. :)

No one is looking to minimize or get by. As Don said this is about providing facts, not advice.

Some folks are a bit confused about the dress codes. We provided intel based on the rules as published, in order for people to make informed decisions. The poster who we responded to clearly felt there was a disconnect between what they were reading on CC vs the Celebrity policies. The intent was to clarify that

 

Then obviously I wasn't commenting about you. There is a difference in being "within the confines of the dress code" and trying to look chic. Any dress code that goes from jeans to a tux has nothing to do with being chic. Let's face it, it's just a no code situation and people who like to dress well still will and those who don't can get by. As I said one just has to decide which they are. No arguing with that.

[dkjretired]

So what does that have to do with what I said?

 

I thought you were referring to me...Sorry for the misunderstanding...

[cltnccruisers]

This will be our first cruise on Celebrity. Do they actually enforce the dress code in MDR? We've been on NCL, Princess and RCL and have never seen them enforced. Last September on FOS we even saw a guy in bib overalls and a plain white (sort of) t-shirt. I thought maybe he came from a Hee-Haw parade in the promenade.......

[awhcruiser]

Well said!

It's really amusing that almost all the advice is given by men who focus on the minimum one can get away with. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

 

People who try to look nice always will and others will get by. You just have to decide which person you are.

[awhcruiser]

I have seen this on other cruise lines as well. I don't see bib overalls listed in the dress code. I hope Celebrity enforces it.

This will be our first cruise on Celebrity. Do they actually enforce the dress code in MDR? We've been on NCL, Princess and RCL and have never seen them enforced. Last September on FOS we even saw a guy in bib overalls and a plain white (sort of) t-shirt. I thought maybe he came from a Hee-Haw parade in the promenade.......

[davekathy]

The op's reason for this thread and a number of others recently is not to seek interpretation of the policy or question what the code is but to ask what people on board are actually wearing.

 

Personally I still wear, and will continue to do so in October, "black tie"...... 'though some times I get really chic and wear a purple bow tie 😀 instead

 

Whoa...now your pushing it. :D;)

[cltnccruisers]

Your question was specifically what most men will wear. The answer is that from what I have seen most men will wear either a suit with shirt and tie, or a sport coat with open collar. My estimation is that 75%+ of the men will wear one of those with the latter more common. As was said, you will see a wide variety of outfits from golf shirts and slacks to tuxedos.

 

Most men will wear whatever our wives tell us to wear. Then we'll act like it was our own idea all along.

[dkjretired]

This will be our first cruise on Celebrity. Do they actually enforce the dress code in MDR? We've been on NCL, Princess and RCL and have never seen them enforced. Last September on FOS we even saw a guy in bib overalls and a plain white (sort of) t-shirt. I thought maybe he came from a Hee-Haw parade in the promenade.......

 

Basically, Celebrity is consistently inconsistent about enforcing the rules. It all depends on who is at the door. From my experience they have pretty much enforced the rules.

[ggo85]

The op's reason for this thread and a number of others recently is not to seek interpretation of the policy or question what the code is but to ask what people on board are actually wearing.

As the OP, I'm sorry to see this thread disintegrate as it was not my intent to start a debate about what is acceptable. I read the policy and understand what is permitted. As someone very familiar with cruising but new to Celebrity, I was trying to figure out what we should expect to see. In our experience, certain lines and certain itineraries tend to be more (or less) formal than others.

 

We are comfortable in our own skin (so to speak). But at the same time, if 90% of folks wear tuxedos, we'd like to know that and then can decide what we want to do. Ditto if 90% are wearing designer jeans.

 

I THINK the answer is that we should expect dress to run the gamut. We tend to be a bit more on the formal side -- just our style -- so looks like we'll be more than okay if we go that route. But, my DH can easily skip the suit and tie and I can skip the heels.:D

 

Again, thanks for the replies -- overall, very helpful.

[varoo]

As the OP, I'm sorry to see this thread disintegrate as it was not my intent to start a debate about what is acceptable. I read the policy and understand what is permitted. As someone very familiar with cruising but new to Celebrity, I was trying to figure out what we should expect to see. In our experience, certain lines and certain itineraries tend to be more (or less) formal than others.

 

We are comfortable in our own skin (so to speak). But at the same time, if 90% of folks wear tuxedos, we'd like to know that and then can decide what we want to do. Ditto if 90% are wearing designer jeans.

 

I THINK the answer is that we should expect dress to run the gamut. We tend to be a bit more on the formal side -- just our style -- so looks like we'll be more than okay if we go that route. But, my DH can easily skip the suit and tie and I can skip the heels.:D

I think I can accurately assure you that you have nothing to be concerned about and will find neither 90% of folks wearing tuxedos nor 90% wearing designer jeans.

 

You were absolutely correct in your statement:

"I THINK the answer is that we should expect dress to run the gamut."

 

So wear the suit and tie and heels, or skip them as you wish.

Or mix it up and wear them on one night and not on another, as the mood strikes you.

 

Either way, you will be fine and should not feel out of place.

 

As to your comment about differences between cruise lines, Celebrity is not Cunard and it's not Carnival, but probably somewhere between them in how most passengers dress.

Celebrity eliminated formal nights about two years ago and AFAIK they have not yet hired a jean label inspector to turn away any passengers who dare to show up in jeans that are not approved "designer" jeans.

As someone previously posted here, all jeans were designed by someone.

The Celebrity staff just wants passengers to be happy and comfortable.

A number of them have expressed how relieved they are at no longer needing to play the role of fashion police, because they used to get a lot of flack about the old formal night dress code.

They disliked turning people away at the door, and it created an uncomfortable no win situation for them, regardless of how they handled it.

 

When they tried to enforce the old dress code, there would always be some passengers who would complain and be unhappy, but when they didn't enforce it, then there would be others who would complain and be unhappy.

 

On the ships themselves, people seem to get along well, regardless of whether they are dressed up or down or somewhere in between.

 

Whatever you decide to wear will surely be fine.

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Bobal]

OP my observation of Chic Night is that there are now much less men who wear tuxes than when they previously had formal night, or when 'formal night' is designated on other cruiselines. Certainly, since the introduction of 'Chic' we no longer take tux/full gown but will just dress a little smarter on those nights, which means a nice cocktail dress for me and a jacket for my husband.

[ScreaMa]

Most men will wear whatever our wives tell us to wear. Then we'll act like it was our own idea all along.

 

Exactly. I want to wear my best dress so hubby will need to match me.

Remember - Happy Wife, Happy Life.

 

Our only restriction is a 23kg luggage allowance for a months holiday.

[Mynki]

I dont know what to believe, the policy is different than what is being said here on CC, All restaurants follow dress code.

 

There are many people on here who cruise regularly with Celebrity. Whilst it makes sense to consult the Celebrity website for 'official' advice, the reality is that onboard ship things often differ. The only consistent thing about Celebrity is it's inconsistencies.

 

To the OP, wear what you feel comfortable with. We've sailed a few times since the introduction of Celebrity Chic and found many people still make a real effort. It is completely true that the dress code does not apply to Blu, Luminae and specialty restaurants but don't expect anyone to be wearing wife beaters or t shirts. Almost all will be smartly dressed on Chic nights and many other nights too.