Formal dining

[Morris4me]

Cruising on Ruby. Is a dinner jacket required for men on formal nights?

[paul929207]

No, not required. However, from my experience most men do wear a dinner jacket on formal nights.

[JF - retired RRT]

No, not required. However, from my experience most men do wear a dinner jacket on formal nights.

Or at least a suit jacket of some sort.

Dinner jacket brings a completely different thing to my mental picture.;)

[fishywood]

No, not required. However, from my experience most men do wear a dinner jacket on formal nights.

 

 

Actually the vast majority who choose to participate in the formal night dress code wear a suit or sport coat. Dinner jackets (or tuxedos) are increasingly rare.

 

And of course, those who choose to participate at all are becoming rarer in themselves. The correctness of which this thread will inevitably drift to...

[Potstech]

The simple answer is No.

[OCruisers]

Most don't dress nearly as formally as they once did on Princess Formal Nights in the Main Dining Room!

My DH quit taking his tux on Princess cruises several years ago. He now wears a Navy Sports Coat, gray dress pants, and often a white golf/polo shirt rather than a dress shirt & tie ... as do most of his friends. :)

[WmFCoyote]

Below is a quote from the Princess web site. The recommendations are for the MDR and do not apply to the buffet, specialty restaurants or International Cafe, where you may dress "smart casual" on the formal evenings

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gowns and cocktail dresses for women
  
• Tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits with a tie for men
  

[keithm]

Cruising on Ruby. Is a dinner jacket required for men on formal nights?

Some do some don't. The code says yes, but it's not too enforced. You'll find most will make some attempt & wear a sport coat with/without tie.

Edited March 26, 2018 by keithm
punctuation

[Lucky TGO]

A sport jacket or a suit and you will be fine. Most men will be wearing jackets in the MDR.

Tony

[cruzsnooze]

It's more of a suggestion then a policy. You won't be alone if you don't want to wear a suit. People who have to fly and want to fit into one suitcase tend to pack lighter.

[floridalover5623]

Below is a quote from the Princess web site. The recommendations are for the MDR and do not apply to the buffet, specialty restaurants or International Cafe, where you may dress "smart casual" on the formal evenings

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gowns and cocktail dresses for women
  
• Tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits with a tie for men
  

And while most guts do wear a jacket Princess also says "For more

formal settings, men should bring a suit and a nice pair of shoes

(or, at the very least, a shirt, tie and slacks), while women may want to bring an evening dress or a skirt with a good blouse.

I really think a lot of people just don't realize that Princess is actually more lenient then it's led to believe.

If you like being comfortable, you can do without the jacket & you'll be fine.

[C-LAD]

And while most guts do wear a jacket Princess also says "For more

formal settings, men should bring a suit and a nice pair of shoes

(or, at the very least, a shirt, tie and slacks), while women may want to bring an evening dress or a skirt with a good blouse.

I really think a lot of people just don't realize that Princess is actually more lenient then it's led to believe.

If you like being comfortable, you can do without the jacket & you'll be fine.

 

We were on the Caribbean Princess several weeks ago and several individuals were wearing tee-shirts and shorts in the MDR on formal nights. Way too lenient - apparently don't want to "disturb/upset" their casual passengers!

[floridalover5623]

We were on the Caribbean Princess several weeks ago and several individuals were wearing tee-shirts and shorts in the MDR on formal nights. Way too lenient - apparently don't want to "disturb/upset" their casual passengers!

I do agree that shorts & T shirts are a little extreme for any formal night, the casual attire described by Princess is fine by me.

Anything, except wearing a suit jacket to eat dinner on a vacation is OK.

[keithm]

We were on the Caribbean Princess several weeks ago and several individuals were wearing tee-shirts and shorts in the MDR on formal nights. Way too lenient - apparently don't want to "disturb/upset" their casual passengers!

Shorts & T shirts are NOT acceptable on "any" night on Princess. Or most other lines as well. I'll bet the casual crowd can't show me where it's stated as "acceptable" dress on Princess at night in the MDR/specialty rest. No "suggested" or it's your "choice" like they like to have all of you believe. To say otherwise is a blatant lie!

[voljeep]

It's ACCEPTABLE when you show up in shorts and get in...

 

blame it on Princess, not the person

 

deal with it, get over it, move on if you don't like it

[keithm]

I do agree that shorts & T shirts are a little extreme for any formal night, the casual attire described by Princess is fine by me.

Anything, except wearing a suit jacket to eat dinner on a vacation is OK.

Shorts & T shirts are really improper dress for anything but the buffet!(at night) Dockers/Khakis & a nice shirt..that would be fine. Did see a few Guayabera shirts on the Riviera in Jan. Actually bought 2 Cubavera Guayabera shirts for our next Oceania trip next year. We'll still pack a few sport jackets to go with them, though. Kind of like the Dos Equis guy.

[WAMarathoner]

It's ACCEPTABLE when you show up in shorts and get in...

blame it on Princess, not the person

deal with it, get over it, move on if you don't like it

How about a little personal responsibility? It's not acceptable attire according to Princess. Don't like the policy? "Deal with it, get over it, eat in the buffet if you don't like it."

[Potstech]

And we are off and running to see how many worms are in the can.

 

As the OP asked: Are dinner jackets REQUIRED? The simple answer agan is a resounding NO.

 

Continue onward with the ridiculousness.

[Tapi]

Shorts & T shirts are NOT acceptable on "any" night on Princess.

 

 

Yet, when we sailed on the Golden Princess on a 4 night Pacific coast getaway (which had no formal nights), we saw many passengers wearing polo shirts or buttoned shirts and shorts for dinner at the MDR every single night. In general, it was a very relaxed sailing, and because of that, those wearing this type of casual attire blended well with the rest of the passengers.

 

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[swilliams1660]

Wear what you want.

[keithm]

Yet, when we sailed on the Golden Princess on a 4 night Pacific coast getaway (which had no formal nights), we saw many passengers wearing polo shirts or buttoned shirts and shorts for dinner at the MDR every single night. In general, it was a very relaxed sailing, and because of that, those wearing this type of casual attire blended well with the rest of the passengers.

 

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Still not acceptable attire. At least long pants & a polo type shirt should be the rule. 4 day cruises are known as "booze" cruises. I've seen how they look when disembarking a ship in a close to Miami port. Generally not a pretty crowd. Not really representative of cruising as a whole

[keithm]

How about a little personal responsibility? It's not acceptable attire according to Princess. Don't like the policy? "Deal with it, get over it, eat in the buffet if you don't like it."

Thanks. Appreciate it. We don't do formal the way we would on Cunard, but we still make an effort to not look like we're going to Burger King. We did 10 days on Oceania. Liked their "Country Club" casual, as they call it. NO jeans at night. Generally smart casual(but NICE looking casual)Most men wore sport/suit coats to the specialty rest. This is opposite what I've seen on Princess/Celebrity, where it's smart casual. Ties on the ship(Riviera) were few & far between. Still overall a classy looking crowd. It's the reason we booked them for 14 days next year.. Well that & the incredible food. That was some seriously good eatin'!

[floridalover5623]

Shorts & T shirts are really improper dress for anything but the buffet!(at night) Dockers/Khakis & a nice shirt..that would be fine. Did see a few Guayabera shirts on the Riviera in Jan. Actually bought 2 Cubavera Guayabera shirts for our next Oceania trip next year. We'll still pack a few sport jackets to go with them, though. Kind of like the Dos Equis guy.

The point is if Princess allows them to be worn then it must be an OK attire. A choice of clothing shouldn't deter from anyone's enjoyment of the meal.

I personally don't wear them to dinner but if some do, it's fine with me.

You should choose the style that most suits yourself & be content with that.

Also see https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2616983

[Tapi]

4 day cruises are known as "booze" cruises. I've seen how they look when disembarking a ship in a close to Miami port. Generally not a pretty crowd. Not really representative of cruising as a whole

 

 

Having sailed on several of these “booze” cruises out of Miami and Port Canaveral, I can tell you that our 4 night cruise out of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara and Ensenada aboard Princess was completely different. The general atmosphere aboard the ship was more in tune with longer sailings. Fellow passengers were in the most part well traveled and appreciative of a more sophisticated ambiance.

 

As mentioned before, it was a more relaxed cruise, but not in a “party” kind of way, and more in a “resort casual” kind of way. Somewhat like what you’d find at a beachfront casual restaurant at an upscale resort. Truly, this was one time when shorts didn’t look out of place at the MDR. As mentioned on my previous post, fellow passengers paired their shorts with nice polo shirts or buttoned shirts. No t-shirts, flip flops or baseball caps. Once seated, you couldn’t tell who was wearing shorts.

 

Maybe shorts were a departure from what some seasoned Princess cruisers have come to expect, but that didn’t translate into the “booze cruise” atmosphere that you are mentioning. Even though I’m an advocate of following “proper attire” on cruises, this was one time when the more relaxed dress code advertised for this sailing didn’t truly affect the ambiance onboard.

 

 

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[majortom10]

Below is a quote from the Princess web site. The recommendations are for the MDR and do not apply to the buffet, specialty restaurants or International Cafe, where you may dress "smart casual" on the formal evenings

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gowns and cocktail dresses for women
  
• Tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits with a tie for men
  

 

It also states that outside MDRs on a plaque on all the Princess ships I have sailed on and its about time Princess made cruisers adhere to it. Formal is not no jacket, shorts or polo shirts of any kind.