Candles no longer casual?!?!?!

[Redtravel]

Guests on Windstar dress neatly. Most people do not dress flamboyantly. Flashy glitzy dress is left for the big mass market ships.  The casual atmosphere on Windstar is the key to making guests relax.  For those people who need dress rules, dress up nights, and want to dictate what other people wear, Windstar is not the cruise for them.  Clean, neat, and appropriate is what guests wear on Windstar.  If you want to dress up in formal attire, it is ok. I have seen it..  just relax and let go.  

[Donald]

On 8/27/2019 at 3:20 AM, milepig said:

So, I have the answer. The change was three weeks ago after a passenger contacted Seattle and threw a fit about how offended they were at the very sight of jeans in Candles. The code was changed and the ships got a firm message. Apparently it is now also changed Online. I suspect that there was a disjuncture between the actual dress code and practice on board. 

 

When we’re back I will send an equally unhappy message of my own complaining about the sudden change after at least 15 years of being casual, which the person also confirmed had indeed been the case. 

 

The person also confirmed that any change for the BBQ was not true and “total nonsense”. 

Check this out from Page 3 of the Windstar CC Section.

 

[Cometman]

I have worn my dark blue Sketchers on my last three Windstar Cruises. Not a word has ever been said about them.

[MRGACRUZR]

On 8/27/2019 at 7:20 AM, milepig said:

So, I have the answer. The change was three weeks ago after a passenger contacted Seattle and threw a fit about how offended they were at the very sight of jeans in Candles. The code was changed and the ships got a firm message. Apparently it is now also changed Online. I suspect that there was a disjuncture between the actual dress code and practice on board. 

 

When we’re back I will send an equally unhappy message of my own complaining about the sudden change after at least 15 years of being casual, which the person also confirmed had indeed been the case. 

 

The person also confirmed that any change for the BBQ was not true and “total nonsense”. 

I don't think the "policy" changed, just the enforcement. Admittedly, I've only been on 4 Windstar cruises and all on the Pride but I've never seen anyone in that venue, at Night, in jeans.

[drneal]

I was on Windstar 2 weeks ago.

We went to Candles the first night. It was casual. 

There was info in the cabin suggesting what to wear in Amphora only.

No jeans, no sandals.

I saw jeans in Amphora.  I saw sandals in Amphora.  The food tasted the same.

After reading posts like this on CC before I went, I decided not to bring jeans.

I wore travel pants and dark blue Ecco sneakers with a polo shirt to Amphora.

Princess required me to wear a suit on an Alaskan cruise if I wanted to eat in the dining room.

That was my first and probably last Princess cruise.

 

The Bar B Q on deck was casual and very enjoyable.

[Redtravel]

I do not do any cruise that requires dress up formal attire. Years ago, when cruising, you dressed up every night. That was about 40 years ago. A lot has changed since then. It is unusual to be asked to wear formal attire. Even on many mass market lines, formal nights are gone.  

[milepig]

11 hours ago, drneal said:

I was on Windstar 2 weeks ago.

We went to Candles the first night. It was casual. 

There was info in the cabin suggesting what to wear in Amphora only.

No jeans, no sandals.

I saw jeans in Amphora.  I saw sandals in Amphora.  The food tasted the same.

After reading posts like this on CC before I went, I decided not to bring jeans.

I wore travel pants and dark blue Ecco sneakers with a polo shirt to Amphora.

Princess required me to wear a suit on an Alaskan cruise if I wanted to eat in the dining room.

That was my first and probably last Princess cruise.

 

The Bar B Q on deck was casual and very enjoyable.

 

you had casual in Candles 2 weeks ago? The Breeze staff told me it changed 3, now 4, weeks ago. 

Edited September 3, 2019 by milepig

[Redtravel]

Wondering if the woman who complained about jeans had a good time on the cruise.  I also wonder if the woman booked another Windstar cruise.  It would be a shame if loyal Windstar guests have to wear pants that make an unhappy guest who is not on the ship happy. I would bet that she won’t be booking another Windstar cruise. I will be on the Legend this winter.  I would appreciate it, if you see anyone wearing jeans at dinner, let me know if they are not permitted in Aamphora or Candles.  My husband loves wearing dark pressed jeans with a collared shirt.  It looks good. Never been told to change at dinner.  He also packs cargo pants and zip off nylon pants. They look grungier than jeans.  However, if jeans are banned, he says that he will wear the zip offs.  Jeans look better than zipoffs.

[milepig]

Jeans are never officially allowed in Amphora. My question was about Candles, where they had been, as well as shorts and flip flops, but now they aren’t. 

[swixpat]

On 9/6/2019 at 8:25 PM, Redtravel said:

Wondering if the woman who complained about jeans had a good time on the cruise.  I also wonder if the woman booked another Windstar cruise.  It would be a shame if loyal Windstar guests have to wear pants that make an unhappy guest who is not on the ship happy. I would bet that she won’t be booking another Windstar cruise. I will be on the Legend this winter.  I would appreciate it, if you see anyone wearing jeans at dinner, let me know if they are not permitted in Aamphora or Candles.  My husband loves wearing dark pressed jeans with a collared shirt.  It looks good. Never been told to change at dinner.  He also packs cargo pants and zip off nylon pants. They look grungier than jeans.  However, if jeans are banned, he says that he will wear the zip offs.  Jeans look better than zipoffs.

Not sure why the passenger complaining to Windstar milepig wrote about has become a woman complaining to Windstar? Maybe I missed the additional information and would apologise, but I don’t think it’s correct to assume the original complaint was made by a female person. 

[CanadianKate]

We may be overdressed on our cruise. We'll see. Dressing up is one of the things we love about Silversea, especially since we live a very different life ashore and never get a chance to dress up. We have the baggage allowance for the extra bag with the tuxes and gowns so love to play dress-up. (Both of us, my dh bought a dinner jacket and eventually had another formal jacket made in Hong Kong after our first SS cruise.) 

We are unlikely to bring the formal wear with us (I realize that's going too far!)  I've informed dh he doesn't even have to bring a jacket or tie, but he's already said he'd like to anyway. So we'll be the quite dressy people you see on a cruise, not because we think you should be dressy but because we like to be. It adds to the dining experience for us (at home we also don't dine, we just eat.)

 

[Ski Mom 2]

There were several gentleman on our Mediterranean cruise last September that wore jackets to dinner. And a few dressy dresses but not too many of those. I think you should wear what makes you happy and comfortable. If you like to dress up then go for it (although I do think if you wear a tux and fancy cocktail/long dress you might be the only ones). There was a couple of vow renewals on our cruise and they were dressed up just a bit more than country club casual. 

[marinaro44]

I "dress up" for events where "dressing up" is the appropriate thing to do.  Dinner on any cruise ship does not qualify, and I've done a thousand of them.  As for "playing dress up," that went out with the junior prom.

[milepig]

Just an update. My agent contacted a WS VP who said that Candles continues to be casual and they'd transmit this to the ships. This seems in conflict with both what we'd been told and the onboard signage AND the web site. So now I don't know what the story is!

[milepig]

Well well well. The published dress code has been changed and now reads:

 

The evening attire onboard Windstar is specified as "casual elegance" - the emphasis weighted heavily on the casual. However, please note the dinner dress code in Amphora and Stella Bistro requests no t-shirts, shorts, jeans, hats or flip-flops. Country Club casual is acceptable for Candles.

[new_cruiser]

32 minutes ago, milepig said:

Well well well. The published dress code has been changed and now reads:

 

The evening attire onboard Windstar is specified as "casual elegance" - the emphasis weighted heavily on the casual. However, please note the dinner dress code in Amphora and Stella Bistro requests no t-shirts, shorts, jeans, hats or flip-flops. Country Club casual is acceptable for Candles.

 

The last two sentences are the same that I posted from the website on August 27 (#21 in this thread) so no change in the past month unless they had inconsistent info somewhere else on their website.

 

What changed was the the intro, particularly "emphasis weighted heavily on the casual" is new. Maybe they put that in so they can point it out to people who complain that others have dressed too casually? 

[milepig]

1 hour ago, new_cruiser said:

 

The last two sentences are the same that I posted from the website on August 27 (#21 in this thread) so no change in the past month unless they had inconsistent info somewhere else on their website.

 

What changed was the the intro, particularly "emphasis weighted heavily on the casual" is new. Maybe they put that in so they can point it out to people who complain that others have dressed too casually? 

hmmm. Every page I found before lumped all the dining venues in the same dress code. This makes a distinction between the others and candles. I don’t know why I continue to care, candles holds no further interest for me. I’ll miss the warm breezes on deck while dining in shorts, but frankly the chow isn’t all that special. 

[O2B@Cagain]

Google says: "Country club casual dressing is precisely what you think it is. Men in white shirts, polo tops and tan chinos and women in simple blouses, fitted trousers, tennis skirts and beautiful dresses."

 

How is this different from the old "long pants, collared shirt" code??

 

 

 

 

[milepig]

1 hour ago, O2B@Cagain said:

Google says: "Country club casual dressing is precisely what you think it is. Men in white shirts, polo tops and tan chinos and women in simple blouses, fitted trousers, tennis skirts and beautiful dresses."

 

How is this different from the old "long pants, collared shirt" code??

 

 

 

 

 

Definitions of this sort of thing vary all over the place, and the point is that "Casual Elegant" is defined in the Windstar text, and "Country Club Casual" isn't, so we don't know what THEIR interpretation of "Country Club Casual" is, other than that it's something other than, and presumably more casual than " no t-shirts, shorts, jeans, hats or flip-flops" which is already pretty far down the casual scale.

Edited September 26, 2019 by milepig