Alaska & Formal Nights

[satxdiver]

8 hours ago, Britboys said:

Thanks for the added contributions everyone.  I'm someone who verges more toward the formal than the casual, so have packed a jacket & couple of ties for the two formal nights.  I sail more on P&O UK than any other line and they are more formal, so I'm used to it.  Being a Brit, I have no idea what "Merrel's" is/are 😄.  Case is packed and ready for the long journey from London to Fairbanks via Seattle 😮.

 

Merrel is a brand of mostly outdoor clothing including shoes sold all over the world (US website: https://www.merrell.com/US/en/home).  They are fairly popular in the states.  

 

AK cruises tend towards a more informal look which fits in with what Alaskans wear.  I am on the not so formal side and wear dockers/hiking pants and a short sleeved shirt along with my outdoor footwear.  You will definitely see pax with suits and ties so you will not be alone.  

 

As for temperatures, I have worn a coat, hat and gloves on our visit to Glacier Bay.  I have also worn a tshirt and jeans at Glacier Bay so you just never know.  I have experienced rain in Skagway, Juneau and particularly Ketchikan which is a rainforest and receives 200"+ of rain each year.  The first two ports not so much but the last port I believe it has rained every time.  

[Colo Cruiser]

On 6/28/2019 at 12:52 PM, Thrak said:

All Princess cruises - no matter the destination or itinerary - have the same guidelines which are clearly posted on the web site.

Yes.

 

[Nightowl11]

On 4 Alaskan cruises, my son has worn a tuxedo. When he was younger, he wore the tuxedo with tails. He looked fantastic. My daughter has always worn a long formal gown.  They are now 18 and 21 and they still like to dress formal. On their 5th Alaskan cruise in August, my son will probably wear a suit and tie for the first time since he no longer fits into any of his tuxedos. My daughter wants to buy a new formal gown. I think it’s fantastic that my kids still want to follow the rules/ “suggestions.” I guess they are the exception nowadays for the younger generation.  

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, Nightowl11 said:

On 4 Alaskan cruises, my son has worn a tuxedo. When he was younger, he wore the tuxedo with tails. He looked fantastic. My daughter has always worn a long formal gown.  They are now 18 and 21 and they still like to dress formal. On their 5th Alaskan cruise in August, my son will probably wear a suit and tie for the first time since he no longer fits into any of his tuxedos. My daughter wants to buy a new formal gown. I think it’s fantastic that my kids still want to follow the rules/ “suggestions.” I guess they are the exception nowadays for the younger generation.  

That's what's so nice about Princess dress suggestions. They let each passenger decide if formal dressing is important to their enjoyment or not.

While your children may like to dress up for dinner, it's not everyone's choice on a vacation.

[vicd1969]

While airline baggage fees discourage folks from packing big luggage pieces, it's perfectly fine to wear a dress shirt and jacket/blazer for Alaska formal nights. One nice thing about Princess is that you can iron for free your rolled-up dress shirt / jacket in the laundry room. Basically free pressing. Thus, you can pack a shirt and jacket compactly in your carry-on.

[Colo Cruiser]

9 hours ago, Nightowl11 said:

On 4 Alaskan cruises, my son has worn a tuxedo. When he was younger, he wore the tuxedo with tails. He looked fantastic. My daughter has always worn a long formal gown.  They are now 18 and 21 and they still like to dress formal. On their 5th Alaskan cruise in August, my son will probably wear a suit and tie for the first time since he no longer fits into any of his tuxedos. My daughter wants to buy a new formal gown. I think it’s fantastic that my kids still want to follow the rules/ “suggestions.” I guess they are the exception nowadays for the younger generation.  

Good for them.

My boys always loved to dress up.....and still do.  😎

[Britboys]

Thanks again for all the helpful and interesting replies.  I am now back from my trip to Alaska.  I must say that the general style of dress was very informal.  I would say that the majority of the time the most popular style of clothing was jeans/outdoor, even in the evening.  On the two Formal nights, there was a sprinkling of jackets to be seen and I think I only saw one man in a Dinner Suit.  Dress was certainly not 'policed' in the Anytime Dining Room.  Personally, I would have felt out of place dressed in a Dinner Suit.

 

One other thing I find interesting/amusing as a Brit is some men who seem unable to take off a baseball cap.  There was one guy in particular that I never saw without a baseball cap on his head - even in the mdr at night!

 

Funnily enough, I did notice some Merrell's shoes in a shop somewhere along the line.

 

We were very lucky with the weather.  Mostly warm/mild and dry.

 

Thanks again,

[Potstech]

On 6/28/2019 at 2:52 PM, Thrak said:

All Princess cruises - no matter the destination or itinerary - have the same guidelines which are clearly posted on the web site.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Potstech

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, Britboys said:

Thanks again for all the helpful and interesting replies.  I am now back from my trip to Alaska.  I must say that the general style of dress was very informal.  I would say that the majority of the time the most popular style of clothing was jeans/outdoor, even in the evening.  On the two Formal nights, there was a sprinkling of jackets to be seen and I think I only saw one man in a Dinner Suit.  Dress was certainly not 'policed' in the Anytime Dining Room.  Personally, I would have felt out of place dressed in a Dinner Suit.

 

One other thing I find interesting/amusing as a Brit is some men who seem unable to take off a baseball cap.  There was one guy in particular that I never saw without a baseball cap on his head - even in the mdr at night!

 

Funnily enough, I did notice some Merrell's shoes in a shop somewhere along the line.

 

We were very lucky with the weather.  Mostly warm/mild and dry.

 

Thanks again,

I truly believe that some of these guys have a scalp problem that they would  prefer not to have other people see.

I for one would rather see them wearing their caps rather than some of the medical conditions I've seen on the web.

[voljeep]

5 hours ago, Britboys said:

Funnily enough, I did notice some Merrell's shoes in a shop somewhere along the line.

what's funny about that ???

[dfdub]

2 hours ago, Potstech said:

 

I have said this so many times on this site "A cruise is NOT a camping trip!!"  

[satxdiver]

6 hours ago, Britboys said:

Thanks again for all the helpful and interesting replies.  I am now back from my trip to Alaska.  I must say that the general style of dress was very informal.  I would say that the majority of the time the most popular style of clothing was jeans/outdoor, even in the evening.  On the two Formal nights, there was a sprinkling of jackets to be seen and I think I only saw one man in a Dinner Suit.  Dress was certainly not 'policed' in the Anytime Dining Room.  Personally, I would have felt out of place dressed in a Dinner Suit.

 

One other thing I find interesting/amusing as a Brit is some men who seem unable to take off a baseball cap.  There was one guy in particular that I never saw without a baseball cap on his head - even in the mdr at night!

 

Funnily enough, I did notice some Merrell's shoes in a shop somewhere along the line.

 

We were very lucky with the weather.  Mostly warm/mild and dry.

 

Thanks again,

 

Formal dinner dress code is only a suggestion as Princess does not enforce it.  We have been cruising on Princess for the last 14 years and have never seen them enforce it other than no shorts/swim gear.  I have seen a lot of variance from the posted dress code.

 

AK is our 49th state and very rugged.  Hence Alaskans dress for the area and climate which means rugged clothing like jeans, boots, etc.  On our AK cruises we dress accordingly.  

 

Here in the southwestern and western US where cattle ranches once was the only occupation, cowboys and vaqueros wore wide brimmed hats to protect from the glaring sun.  Since taking them off in a building was difficult since there was no really good place to put them, the tradition of wearing hats inside began I believe.  Today that hat has become a baseball style cap but the tradition of wearing it has persisted.  Men wear hats indoors at restaurants frequently here in the southwest US.  I do like your take on why men wear hats indoors however. 

 

Congratulations on the good weather.  Mainly the shoulder seasons have the cooler weather.   

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, dfdub said:

I have said this so many times on this site "A cruise is NOT a camping trip!!"  

It's only what you make of it. 

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, dfdub said:

I have said this so many times on this site "A cruise is NOT a camping trip!!"  

WELL STATED !!!   it's more of a "GLAMPING" TRIP, amirite?

[Lindaru]

29 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

 

Formal dinner dress code is only a suggestion as Princess does not enforce it.  We have been cruising on Princess for the last 14 years and have never seen them enforce it other than no shorts/swim gear.  I have seen a lot of variance from the posted dress code.

 

AK is our 49th state and very rugged.  Hence Alaskans dress for the area and climate which means rugged clothing like jeans, boots, etc.  On our AK cruises we dress accordingly.  

 

Here in the southwestern and western US where cattle ranches once was the only occupation, cowboys and vaqueros wore wide brimmed hats to protect from the glaring sun.  Since taking them off in a building was difficult since there was no really good place to put them, the tradition of wearing hats inside began I believe.  Today that hat has become a baseball style cap but the tradition of wearing it has persisted.  Men wear hats indoors at restaurants frequently here in the southwest US.  I do like your take on why men wear hats indoors however. 

 

Congratulations on the good weather.  Mainly the shoulder seasons have the cooler weather.   

We were mid-May on an Alaska cruise.  Hubby always wears his Stetson out in public.  He is neither balding nor has a scalp condition.

We simply did not partake of formal nights.  We wanted to wear our normal manner of dress the entire trip (fleece lined leggings for me and plain pocket new looking tee shirts, Dockers type pants and button down short sleeve shirts with Stetson hat for him).  We live in Idaho and lived in Oregon before that.  We even earned the nickname from some of our newly met friends on board of "Willie Nelson and Loretta Lynn".

Our first time in the main dining room was for breakfast before Juneau.  I had to remind him to take his hat off and place it on his lap before the waiter arrived.

 

😁

 

[Britboys]

On 7/30/2019 at 4:17 PM, voljeep said:

what's funny about that ???

 

Maybe that's a phrase that doesn't cross the Atlantic very well.  I just meant it was a strange coincidence that having never heard of them before, I then saw some in a shop - and I wasn't even looking for shoes at the time either!

[Potstech]

On 7/30/2019 at 11:47 AM, dfdub said:

I have said this so many times on this site "A cruise is NOT a camping trip!!"  

Okay, I see no one disagreeing with that BUT?

[dahuffy]

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 10:12 AM, voljeep said:

as Alaska is highly skewed to blue and gold cards ... it would seem natural that those passengers don't know any better , dress up per the website guidelines, and get the picture ...

 

after that , ... well, honey ... sorry, not this time

Having only cruised with Princess one time so far, what do you mean by "blue and gold cards"?

 

[c-boy]

his definition of first time cruisers that comply with guidelines set by  Princess 

[satxdiver]

5 hours ago, dahuffy said:

Having only cruised with Princess one time so far, what do you mean by "blue and gold cards"?

 

 

Cruise card for those sailing on Princess the first time the card will be blue.  The cruise card for those on their second or third voyage will have a gold colored card.