How dressed up are you on formal night

[Tree_skier]

I have always dressed reasonably well for formal night. I know I don't go to town with a tuxedo like they did in a bygone time but I certainly try to put my best on for a couple of nights on a seven day cruise.  For me it is a black suit and for DW it would an outfit that she would wear to a wedding (somebody else's, not ours 😀 ). I've read on CC that formal night is dead and almost nobody bothers anymore but that has not been my experience.  I have definitely seen folks that ignored the dress suggestion listed in the cruise compass but it seemed to me everyone upped their game some.  What do you do on formal night?

Edited June 11, 2020 by Tree_skier

[cruiseguy1016]

Up until two years ago I wore a tuxedo and my wife wore a gown on formal nights. The attire in the MDR has become more and more relaxed the last couple of years. We do not, and will not, dress like some of the slobs we have seen in there on Formal night, but we no longer bring formal attire. Luggage fees on the airlines played a role in this also. Bringing formal attire requires us to bring another piece of luggage and we don't want to have to the pay the fee for that extra piece.

[cruisegirl1]

In the past year or  so, husband wore slacks, shirt,  jackets, No tie.  A few cruises he left the jacket  home, especially any cruise shorter than 7 nights.  I wore a cocktail type dress  or outfit of   evening slacks/camisole  with a flowy  type kimono or jacket.  

 

M

[MLBFan24]

Express button down shirt, skinny tie (with a tie bar), business casual pants, ratchet style belt, and oxford shoes.

 

I use to bring a suit, but over time, didn't feel like packing it for vacations.

[JT1962]

I gave up packing a suit several years ago and wear Dockers type pants and a long-sleeve dress shirt with or without a tie.

[ECCruise]

Went from renting a tux to a dark suit to a blazer with tie to blazer with no tie to dress shirt with tie to dress shirt no tie.

That is as far as I need to go.

For us, Formal Nights are about 60 or so cruises ago.  Sail more now on Azamara, Oceania, Viking, Celebrity where they are a long gone memory.

[pcur]

If it sparkles, it's my formal wear.  Fancy jackets, fancy tops.  All with nice slacks.

 

Mr. Pcur wears dark slacks, dark sport jacket, shirt, and tie.  

 

One of my exceptions is a tunic length bright red top with a mandarin collar.  Swirly sheer fabric with a matching cami underneath.  I wore it on Chinese New Year on our cruise this past January, and the Asian folks on board loved it!

Edited June 11, 2020 by pcur

[loman]

I always brought a jacket to wear with dress pants , but on my last two cruises on the Allure id say half of the gents

were not wearing a jacket . 

If  ever cruise again I wont bring the jacket . It looks like you can  wear whatever you want .

They did not turn anyone away at the entrance .

[Ashland]

DH..slacks and a button up or polo shirt. Me...nice pants and a top. I would call how we dress as casual chic.

Edited June 11, 2020 by Ashland

[karena1]

Husband wears silk shirts/silk slacks.  I wear a flowy type halter dress.  We don't "dress to the max" anymore

 

[fredflint]

We just go somewhere else on vacation no interest in dressing up at all.

[Iamcruzin]

5 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I have always dressed reasonably well for formal night. I know I don't go to town with a tuxedo like they did in a bygone time but I certainly try to put my best on for a couple of nights on a seven day cruise.  For me it is a black suit and for DW it would an outfit that she would wear to a wedding (somebody else's, not ours 😀 ). I've read on CC that formal night is dead and almost nobody bothers anymore but that has not been my experience.  I have definitely seen folks that ignored the dress suggestion listed in the cruise compass but it seemed to me everyone upped their game some.  What do you do on formal night?

Do you eat in Traditional dining or Select.  On the second night they sat us in traditional because select was overwhelmed. They were at the very least wearing suits and dresses in traditional. Select dining they either phoned it in with a sports jacket polo shirt and khaki pants or dressed smart casual like we were dressed. The first night  in select more made an effort including us with shirt and tie and dress. I left the suit jacket on the hanger in the closet.   I also noticed the many dressed up on non formal nights to celebrate an occasion. 

[GUT2407]

Suit and tie, don’t take a Tux very often anymore.

[Tree_skier]

40 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Do you eat in Traditional dining or Select.  On the second night they sat us in traditional because select was overwhelmed. They were at the very least wearing suits and dresses in traditional. Select dining they either phoned it in with a sports jacket polo shirt and khaki pants or dressed smart casual like we were dressed. The first night  in select more made an effort including us with shirt and tie and dress. I left the suit jacket on the hanger in the closet.   I also noticed the many dressed up on non formal nights to celebrate an occasion. 

I have done both.  I am leaning to sticking to traditional unless we do the UDP which we will probably do on Oasis and maybe Quantum class ships which have a larger selection of specialty restaurants.

 

The LOS Halloween cruise we did in 2018 we did MTD.  Formal night was definitely formal night with one difference.  There was an extremely large group on board from Aquafest Cruises so our formal night had a very distinct difference.  I had never seen so much Glam in all my life. The sparkles, sequins, feathers, fake diamonds and bright colors made for a wild formal night.

[Tree_skier]

53 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Suit and tie, don’t take a Tux very often anymore.

I'm thinking about doing a tux... I've only ever worn them when participating in a wedding and at my HS graduation.  It might be nice to really up the formal night game... Does anybody know if you can rent them onboard?

[Tree_skier]

Me on formal night. 😀

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, fredflint said:

We just go somewhere else on vacation no interest in dressing up at all.

Well this is a cruising forum so... It seemed an appropriate question.  If you don't cruise thats cool too.  However, it is a bit strange to respond to this thread or even post on this forum.  

Edited June 12, 2020 by Tree_skier

[Tree_skier]

An option for @fredflint to get him back to cruising.

 

https://castawaystravel.com

 

Clothing optional since he doesn't want to dress 🙂 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Tree_skier

[erinsmom03]

We have toned it down over the years.  But we still try to wear something nicer than usual, dress it up a little, slacks and a nice shirt for my husband, dress capris and dressy shirt for me.  Next year, our daughter will be 18, and she has informed us that she wants to dress up nicely for formal night... I see a nice family pic in our future!

[Tapi]

Jacket and tie with khaki slacks (as my wife calls it, the fraternity formal dance look), 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Tapi

[cured]

This was my husband's suit on our last cruise. I usually wear a cocktail or some sort of dressier dress.

Edit to add: This is not my husband 🙂

Edited June 12, 2020 by cured

[Tree_skier]

On Adventure in Dec we had the whole Hehaw gang with us.  DD, SIL and 3 GK's. We got a beautiful family portrait done on formal night.  It's always so hard to get that kind of thing done under normal circumstances.  But on the cruise we got tonights to get the perfect pic 🙂 

[CK57]

Can you still rent a tux on Symphony?  If so do you wait until on ship to order?

[lenquixote66]

6 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I have always dressed reasonably well for formal night. I know I don't go to town with a tuxedo like they did in a bygone time but I certainly try to put my best on for a couple of nights on a seven day cruise.  For me it is a black suit and for DW it would an outfit that she would wear to a wedding (somebody else's, not ours 😀 ). I've read on CC that formal night is dead and almost nobody bothers anymore but that has not been my experience.  I have definitely seen folks that ignored the dress suggestion listed in the cruise compass but it seemed to me everyone upped their game some.  What do you do on formal night?

Formal night for me is a button down shirt,slacks usually black and a sweater.

 

I was on a cruise two years ago.Every dress night a guy was in the MDR wearing a white tee shirt,shorts and a hat.i was told he was an actor .Two guys,father and son came wearing sweat suits.Both were former NBA players.

[fredflint]

58 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Well this is a cruising forum so... It seemed an appropriate question.  If you don't cruise thats cool too.  However, it is a bit strange to respond to this thread or even post on this forum.  

As in somewhere else to eat either Specialty dining, buffet or in our room!