Formal Nights

[Mostonian]

My wife and I are on the Ruby out of Sydney next month sailing to Fiji and New Caledonia. We have been on Princess many times and have always participated in the Formal Nights, even in Australia and NZ.  However it’s over three years since we have been ‘down under’ and have never been to these islands. What I would like to know is will passengers tend to participate in the Formal Night events, or should we leave our gladrags at home and go for a smart casual look.  Would like to think that passengers still took the trouble to dress up but if the trend is otherwise will follow suit.

[GUT2407]

I haven’t seen any real difference, I’d say on a rough estimate about 10% in Tux, 10% other, the rest suit or equivalent,women similar percentages.

 

[satxdiver]

I have not been down under yet (next spring) but have been on the South American cruises with a lot of Aussies aboard.  I did not see all that much difference in formal dress than I see in North America.  My suggestion would be to take along some nice clothes, go to formal night and have a great cruise. 

[keithm]

15 hours ago, Mostonian said:

My wife and I are on the Ruby out of Sydney next month sailing to Fiji and New Caledonia. We have been on Princess many times and have always participated in the Formal Nights, even in Australia and NZ.  However it’s over three years since we have been ‘down under’ and have never been to these islands. What I would like to know is will passengers tend to participate in the Formal Night events, or should we leave our gladrags at home and go for a smart casual look.  Would like to think that passengers still took the trouble to dress up but if the trend is otherwise will follow suit.

Pretty much up to you. See if you can find some youtube videos of the type of cruise you'll be on. It should give you an idea of the dress style. For us, we just bring sport coats, ties, & vests & just mix & match. Other nights is smart casual for us: Collared button down shirts & khaki type pants. 

[Mostonian]

Thanks everyone for your replies, going to take the gladrags.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We are currently on the Ruby Princess transpacific from LA to Sydney. This is a long cruise, which might affect attire, but I haven’t seen so many tuxedos on men in quite awhile. Tonight was our fourth formal night and I lost count of how many there were. I do remember attire on the Golden Princess in Australia as being a bit less dressy.  

[Kate P.C]

Nah, Aussies go more for the smart casual look, although there are some that like to dress up. At the end, it's all up to you and how you feel like dressing.

[Mike45LC]

10 hours ago, Mostonian said:

Thanks everyone for your replies, going to take the gladrags.

I don't care what the others do.  Formal nights on a cruise are my only chance to wear my tux these days, now that I no longer go to black tie events at home.

 

[getting older slowly]

One always suite up..... It is nice to dress up .... and prove it still fits....

 

Also Formal Night with everybody dressed give the ship a nice feel.

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

Cheers Don

 

 

[PCWalton1]

On the topic of formal night we are going to be on a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise in May 2020. Any idea what nights would be the formal nights? I'm thinking day 2 and 6. 

 

Day 1 - LA

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - Cabo

Day 4 - Mazatlan

Day 5 - Puerto Vallarta

Day 6 - At Sea

Day 7 - At Sea

 

 

[GUT2407]

13 minutes ago, PCWalton1 said:

On the topic of formal night we are going to be on a 7 night Mexican Riviera cruise in May 2020. Any idea what nights would be the formal nights? I'm thinking day 2 and 6. 

 

Day 1 - LA

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - Cabo

Day 4 - Mazatlan

Day 5 - Puerto Vallarta

Day 6 - At Sea

Day 7 - At Sea

 

 

Sounds close to me. But they could change it.

[Mike45LC]

I've done a lot of 7 day Mex Riv out of LA, and the formal nights are always Day 2 and Day 6. 

 

Day 1, everyone is too rushed and frazzled, no time to get the clothes pressed, the hair and makeup done.  Day 2 is perfect, at sea, lots of time.

 

Days 3, 4 and 5, in port.

 

Day 6, again, plenty of time to get ready for the dress-up event.

 

Day 7, you are already packing and stressing.  Can't dress up in formal clothes, they are already in the suitcase!

 

[PCWalton1]

Thanks for the replies. 👍

[Aus Traveller]

On 10/18/2019 at 4:14 AM, Kate P.C said:

Nah, Aussies go more for the smart casual look, although there are some that like to dress up. At the end, it's all up to you and how you feel like dressing.

No. I have a similar estimation to GUT2407: 10% in tux, 70%-80% in suit (or sport coat) and 10%-20% in collared shirt with or without a tie or maybe with a waistcoat with or without a tie.

 

I don't think it makes any difference whether the cruise goes to Fiji, NZ or North Queensland, except some cruises have a slightly younger demographic than others.

[cruzsnooze]

This month I was on 2 cruises, 10 nights each. We sat next to a couple who did not dress and some who had shirt and tie. There were about 50% who did not dress on formal on my cruises. We were in club class if that makes any difference.

[NSWP]

On Princess there is no consistency in enforcement re dress codes, For example on formal nights, some Maitre'D's/Head Waiters will not allow you into MDR unless you have jacket and tie on.  However some will permit access to MDR on formal nights in shirt and trousers, no tie & no jacket.  I wish they would enforce it 100% or get rid of the formal nights and its dress requirements.

Edited October 19, 2019 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

No. I have a similar estimation to GUT2407: 10% in tux, 70%-80% in suit (or sport coat) and 10%-20% in collared shirt with or without a tie or maybe with a waistcoat with or without a tie.

 

I don't think it makes any difference whether the cruise goes to Fiji, NZ or North Queensland, except some cruises have a slightly younger demographic than others.

There was a surprisingly high number of tuxes on our recent Hawaii/Tahiti cruise, probably more like 15-20%, and a lot of suits and sports coats. Very few people dressed inappropriately, apart from one couple I saw in the theatre one night who wore shorts, tshirts, and flip flops loudly proclaiming it was "their holiday and no way are we getting dressed up" (I assume they ate in the buffet that night). It made me wish that Princess was more like Cunard restricting people who want to wear beach attire all the time to the buffet and the pool bars.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

This month I was on 2 cruises, 10 nights each. We sat next to a couple who did not dress and some who had shirt and tie. There were about 50% who did not dress on formal on my cruises. We were in club class if that makes any difference.

Presumably, these were not Australian-based cruises?

[Creekside89]

5 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

No. I have a similar estimation to GUT2407: 10% in tux, 70%-80% in suit (or sport coat) and 10%-20% in collared shirt with or without a tie or maybe with a waistcoat with or without a tie.

 

I don't think it makes any difference whether the cruise goes to Fiji, NZ or North Queensland, except some cruises have a slightly younger demographic than others.

On our last Princess cruise there was 2% in tux, 10% in suits, rest in collared shirt most without a tie and they were older than us.

Husband doesn’t even own a sports jacket, or a suit and we’ve had no problems entering the MDR on any cruise line.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Cathy611 said:

On our last Princess cruise there was 2% in tux, 10% in suits, rest in collared shirt most without a tie and they were older than us.

Husband doesn’t even own a sports jacket, or a suit and we’ve had no problems entering the MDR on any cruise line.

Maybe it depends on the particular cruise - age demographic, length of cruise etc.

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

There was a surprisingly high number of tuxes on our recent Hawaii/Tahiti cruise, probably more like 15-20%, and a lot of suits and sports coats. Very few people dressed inappropriately, apart from one couple I saw in the theatre one night who wore shorts, tshirts, and flip flops loudly proclaiming it was "their holiday and no way are we getting dressed up" (I assume they ate in the buffet that night). It made me wish that Princess was more like Cunard restricting people who want to wear beach attire all the time to the buffet and the pool bars.

Princess dress recommendations are for the main dining rooms only.  There is no requirement to be dressed up in public areas around the ship.  IDK why they would need to "loudly proclaim" this, but it takes all types, doesn't it?

[Steelers36]

10 hours ago, NSWP said:

For example on formal nights, some Maitre'D's/Head Waiters will not allow you into MDR unless you have jacket and tie on.

When and where?  Have not heard of this at all.  Never seen it happen either.

[c-boy]

don't turn this into another butter pats thread my Canadian friend 😉

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, c-boy said:

don't turn this into another butter pats thread my Canadian friend 😉

...

[cruzsnooze]

13 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

Presumably, these were not Australian-based cruises?

One was Canada New England from Quebec to NY the other 10 nights Mexico into the Sea of Cortez. Both were within the last 30 days so it's current.