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Formal Nights


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8 hours ago, steelers36 said:

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

Sapphire Princess in Europe last year, Scandinavia and Baltics B2B, the senior MDR staff had the intestinal fortitude to enforce what was written re formal night dress requirement in Princess Patter and at the door.  Good on them, maintaining the traditions.

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3 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

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. 

The original question was about formal nights on Australian-based cruises to Fiji.🙂 I realise that comments often go off-topic.

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8 hours ago, steelers36 said:

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?

Yes, I realise the recommendations only apply to the MDRs but even so beachwear, especially slightly scruffy beachwear,  in the inside bars, lounges, theatres etc at night is a bit out of place even on smart casual nights.

 

I suspect they were getting a few dirty looks from other passengers. They were sitting behind us so I didn't see what prompted the loud comments.

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1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Sapphire Princess in Europe last year, Scandinavia and Baltics B2B, the senior MDR staff had the intestinal fortitude to enforce what was written re formal night dress requirement in Princess Patter and at the door.  Good on them, maintaining the traditions.

Well I can see where you stand on this and you are entitled to that but those are recommendations and not requirements.  The requirements are no shorts, sandals, t-shirts, etc, although some have reported seeing that.  It certainly seems an isolated case.  Are you suggesting men with ties and no jackets were turned away?  Men with jackets and no tie?  Men in lighter colored suits?

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12 hours ago, steelers36 said:

Well I can see where you stand on this and you are entitled to that but those are recommendations and not requirements.  The requirements are no shorts, sandals, t-shirts, etc, although some have reported seeing that.  It certainly seems an isolated case.  Are you suggesting men with ties and no jackets were turned away?  Men with jackets and no tie?  Men in lighter colored suits?

We're happily seeing the Crown Princess now allowing no jackets or even dress shirts on formal nights in the DR. Just a pair of Dockers & a Polo shirt are fine.

On casual nights even shorts are now being tolerated with some people even wearing cutoff jean shorts. 

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I think I would be a bit chilled with shorts in the DR and theater.  I don't mind wearing long pants at all and even dressing it up some on a formal night.  We will be on the Crown in Nov, so it will be interesting to observe as have not been on a Caribbean cruise for some time now (Nov 2015).  Four years can make quite a difference.  Did not have a jacket for NZ nor Baltic earlier this year and no issue (we were doing extensive land travel as well and was not taking "dress-up" for two nights out of each trip).

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31 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

We're happily seeing the Crown Princess now allowing no jackets or even dress shirts on formal nights in the DR. Just a pair of Dockers & a Polo shirt are fine.

On casual nights even shorts are now being tolerated with some people even wearing cutoff jean shorts. 

There's the rub! When trash dress is allowed it just goes down hill. There really needs be at least a minimum standard in the MDR. I'm not talking tuxes, but cut off jean shorts, really?

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This IS what I liked about Oceania the past 2 trips. It's smart casual. They call it Country Club Casual... NO shorts/jeans etc. allowed in the dining rooms(at least on our Riviera trips)What you had was nice collared shirts/slacks closed toe shoes. We wore Ralph Lauren type shirts long & short sleeve & khaki type pants(neatly pressed) In their specialty rest. we wore a sport coat, without tie. This was generally  quite common in the specialties. In the GDR(Grand dining room as it's called) usually less sport coats, but otherwise similar Saw one tux on our first cruise. the guy wore it one night & that was it. My spouse decide on a Hawaii trip this Jan. on the Star Princess. I booked a Club Class mini(really just a larger balcony cabin)to get the "food" perks/ambience that hopefully come with it. I tend to doubt the food will in anyway come close to Oceania. This will be our second Princess trip. For dress, we'll wear similar to Oceania, but will bring a tie/vest or 2 for formal nights. Tuxes we reserve for Cunard. Since it's been since 2012, since we sailed Cunard, we'd have to get new tuxes.

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We were told by a maitre'd that the head office will not allow them to strictly enforce the dress code on formal nights.   We were on the Sapphire b2b in June with over half being British.  I must say I have never seen so many tux and long gowns on a cruise but by no means anywhere near a majority.  We ate in the Sante Fe MDR which was half CC and half ATD although we had a dedicated table thanks to the maitre'd.  Evidently the tux/gown wearers did not have CC.  I wore my normal dress, dockers and a long sleeved shirt without any problem.   Looking around the room including the CC area I was not alone.  Suits and sport coats were nowhere near the majority.  

 

For the comment about being in the theater on formal night (or anywhere else on the ship) in shorts and shower shoes (aka flip flops), it is "formal" only in the MDR.   I frequently depending on where the cruise is going change after dinner into something more comfortable like shorts etc.  If you want stricter dress enforcement there always is Cunard and Seabourn.  

 

We did CC once last year.  We had stumbled on a great deal to upgrade from mini to CC for a few hundred dollars.  It appeared one weekend and by monday the price had changed back to the $$$.  I think it was an error and when they found out corrected it.  The food served in the CC MDR is the same menu as the other MDRs but there is one special entree every night.  We are elite so most of the perks for CC are already part of our package as elite.  

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On 10/19/2019 at 12:27 AM, NSWP said:

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.

I have never seen anyone without a jacket and tie be told that they can't enter the main dining room.  Can't see Princess doing this as they don't want to upset the casual crowd.

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On 10/20/2019 at 9:05 AM, MissP22 said:

We're happily seeing the Crown Princess now allowing no jackets or even dress shirts on formal nights in the DR. Just a pair of Dockers & a Polo shirt are fine.

On casual nights even shorts are now being tolerated with some people even wearing cutoff jean shorts. 

This is why we sail Princess - so we don't have to dress up.  I get a kick out of those who are so concerned with the way others dress.  

Sailed on the Crown several times - never had any problem with not dressing formal.  Majority of passengers just don't dress up for formal nights.

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17 hours ago, Kimba2 said:

This is why we sail Princess - so we don't have to dress up.  I get a kick out of those who are so concerned with the way others dress.  

Sailed on the Crown several times - never had any problem with not dressing formal.  Majority of passengers just don't dress up for formal nights.

The trend is is slowly spreading to the other ships as well. It's not a casual on the Royal class ships for the shorts but the lack of jackets seems to be universal on all the ships. 

They like to keep the people happy.  😉

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This is just me.. and how you do your formal nights is completely up to you!!  No judgement here...  DON"T judge this!!! 

I have always worn a tuxedo on formal nights.  I bought one just for cruises.  We are going on a South Pacific cruise soon and I'm getting a white dinner jacket to fit in the warmer temperature.

Formal wear makes great pictures and memories.  We love and treasure the pictures of us in formal wear on cruises.  It reminds of of the wonderful time we had spending the money we saved to have a good time on vacation.

I have plenty of pictures of all of us in daily dress.  We like a special vacation to have special memories and pictures.

It's a lot of fun to "dress up" and feel like you own the boat once in a while.  I'll smile at you in the MDR ...  give me a smile back!! 

 

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Oh I'm not judging you, lol.  The last paragraph explains all, if anything it is a personal experience with satisfying results. Cocktails and caviar, visiting the casino and dancing afterwards and a stroll hand in hand along the promenade. 

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2 hours ago, c-boy said:

Oh I'm not judging you, lol.  The last paragraph explains all, if anything it is a personal experience with satisfying results. Cocktails and caviar, visiting the casino and dancing afterwards and a stroll hand in hand along the promenade. 

boy, c-boy with a martini in hand at the baccarat table...with his beautiful wife by his side ... or is it you by her side :classic_love:

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On 10/20/2019 at 9:41 AM, keithm said:

There's the rub! When trash dress is allowed it just goes down hill. There really needs be at least a minimum standard in the MDR. I'm not talking tuxes, but cut off jean shorts, really?

There was only one woman wearing the cut off jean shorts. The other 10 or 20 people had various types of shorts....dress, cargo, work out etc. 

 

 

On 10/20/2019 at 11:17 AM, satxdiver said:

We were told by a maitre'd that the head office will not allow them to strictly enforce the dress code on formal nights.   We were on the Sapphire b2b in June with over half being British.  I must say I have never seen so many tux and long gowns on a cruise but by no means anywhere near a majority.  We ate in the Sante Fe MDR which was half CC and half ATD although we had a dedicated table thanks to the maitre'd.  Evidently the tux/gown wearers did not have CC.  I wore my normal dress, dockers and a long sleeved shirt without any problem.   Looking around the room including the CC area I was not alone.  Suits and sport coats were nowhere near the majority.  

 

For the comment about being in the theater on formal night (or anywhere else on the ship) in shorts and shower shoes (aka flip flops), it is "formal" only in the MDR.   I frequently depending on where the cruise is going change after dinner into something more comfortable like shorts etc.  If you want stricter dress enforcement there always is Cunard and Seabourn.  

 

We did CC once last year.  We had stumbled on a great deal to upgrade from mini to CC for a few hundred dollars.  It appeared one weekend and by monday the price had changed back to the $$$.  I think it was an error and when they found out corrected it.  The food served in the CC MDR is the same menu as the other MDRs but there is one special entree every night.  We are elite so most of the perks for CC are already part of our package as elite.  

I tend to believe that statement.  

On formal nights they did dress up a bit more but there were still numerous guys with our jackets & wearing just short sleeve shorts & polo's.

No one seemed to be offended.

All in all it was a very relaxed atmosphere where people dressed as they saw fit. Of course the women could always wear what they wanted without question from formal gowns to slacks & any top. 

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On 10/20/2019 at 9:41 AM, keithm said:

There's the rub! When trash dress is allowed it just goes down hill. There really needs be at least a minimum standard in the MDR. I'm not talking tuxes, but cut off jean shorts, really?

 I haven't seen anyone wearing cut off shorts anyplace work or play since the 80's so I'm not buying it. There are many sites to see in NY but cut offs are not one of them. There was a time when you could buy factory made cut off shorts.

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I will say this. Princess seems to be the last line that is holding tight to formal night attire. Though it is more relaxed than when I first started sailing with them in 1991 they still call it formal night. Celebrity which is probably the closest to Princess by comparison has given up completely and no longer calls it formal night. My last cruise was on Royal Caribbean out of N.J. While they refer to it as formal night it is anything but. It is a bit better in traditional dining as we were placed there on the second formal night since the anytime dining room was packed. However the anytime dining room had more in shorts and sundresses than in jackets, ties or cocktail dresses. I don't know why they even call it formal night. I brought a suit and tie but never wore either of them.

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1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

I will say this. Princess seems to be the last line that is holding tight to formal night attire. Though it is more relaxed than when I first started sailing with them in 1991 they still call it formal night...

 

Princess is swimming upstream on this one.  The other mass market cruise lines have already gone to something other than formal night such as elegant night etc.  One is free to wear formal clothes if desired but it is not a requirement.  As the cruise market expands to fill the ever increasing larger ships and number the pressure on Princess is going to increase.  The most likely response today is to simply ignore the formal night requirement.  

 

We will be on a RCL cruise early next year.  Our last cruise was in 2013 and even then  I saw jeans, shorts, tshirts and the much maligned baseball caps worn on regular nights and not much better on dress up nights.  It will be interesting to see what is worn on the next RCL cruise. 

 

For the "traditionalists" they need to move to a more traditional cruiseline like Cunard or Seabourn in the Carnival family of cruiselines.   There pax wear formal clothes all night not just at dinner.  

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4 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I will say this. Princess seems to be the last line that is holding tight to formal night attire.

In name only. Depending on what ship you sail they do vary on the enforcement but in general they're fairly lax. 

I guess they don't want to scare off potential customers. 

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1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

In name only. Depending on what ship you sail they do vary on the enforcement but in general they're fairly lax. 

I guess they don't want to scare off potential customers. 

Maybe it’s just the passengers themselves. I always feel like I need to wear a suit on Princess to fit in. On the other lines It’s the opposite. Honestly I don’t care one way or the other. It’s the same menu that they have been serving on those nights for years and the food isn’t any better or worse no matter what I’m wearing.

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13 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Maybe it’s just the passengers themselves. I always feel like I need to wear a suit on Princess to fit in. On the other lines It’s the opposite. Honestly I don’t care one way or the other. It’s the same menu that they have been serving on those nights for years and the food isn’t any better or worse no matter what I’m wearing.

I suppose it's a matter of being self conscious. Maybe 50 years ago it might have bothered me somewhat but I'm just to old to care any more. LOL :classic_laugh:

image.jpeg.cfda683f8262b0f68a15c2a68cadf900.jpeg

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