formal nights

[untailored bostonian]

Just booked a NYC - NYC 21 day cruise to Norway on the QE2.  We have not cruised on Cunard.

 

Will I need a tux or will a black suit  be sufficient?

 

Any other Cunard culture advice?

[MCC retired]

15 Cunard cruises , never a tux , always a black suit for me .

[TheOldBear]

1 hour ago, untailored bostonian said:

Just booked a NYC - NYC 21 day cruise to Norway on the QE2.  We have not cruised on Cunard.

 

Will I need a tux or will a black suit  be sufficient?

 

Any other Cunard culture advice?

First, you need to edit QE2 to QM2 😉

 

A dark suit and tie is fine for formal (now called “gala” nights. A jacket, with optional tie is needed for other nights.

Each seven day crossing will have three formal nights. Likely fewer for the Norway leg.

There are places where casual is ok - the Kings Court buffet, the adjacent Carthinia lounge, the Golden Lion pub and the casino. The G32 nightclub is also one of the casual venues, with access through the Queens Room - where the dress code is in place, along with any evening theme.

[BklynBoy8]

We personally enjoy the "Gala Nights" that maybe also be labeled with a particular Theme with the suggested dress both myself and my DW enjoy.

 

I enjoy wearing a Tux on those given evenings that adds to the feeling that I look forward to on our sailings. Many other passengers add to the Elegance with the same dress. Yes it is personal choice. 

 

Yes I do use a regular suit on the Informal nights. We abide by the dress code for that special experience we look forward each time we return and sail on her. 

 

It's up to you to make the choice of how you wish to dress and experience your sailing. It will be exciting hearing that you have not sailed on Cunard in the past. Hope you catch the Cunard Bug to return.

[jaypo63]

This is why I love Cunard,seeing all the men dressed up and the women's lovely dresses but no need for a tux although my husband wears one on "posh" nights,you should see P&Os dress nights,apparently track suits and shorts are the thing 😆 Hence why we left cruising with them many years ago 

[PORT ROYAL]

13 hours ago, untailored bostonian said:

Just booked a NYC - NYC 21 day cruise to Norway on the QE2.  We have not cruised on Cunard.

 

Will I need a tux or will a black suit  be sufficient?

 

Any other Cunard culture advice?

 

One small part of the Cunard Culture is their Alchol Policy, where guests are treated as responsible adults, allowing potentially 'unlimited' amounts of Wine, Beer, Spirits and Sodas to be brought on at embarkation, or at ports visited, without seizures, for in Stateroom consumption.

 

While onboard, and enjoying the experience, you should consider the purchase of a tranche of FCDs for future use, as/when required.  A no brainer.

 

An aside.  There is no need to bring dressing gowns and slippers as they are isupplied by Cunard, you'll find them in the wardrobe of your Stateroom.

 

In no doubt CC members will post some additional extras of Cunard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[exlondoner]

A dark suit is completely and utterly OK, but, on all the voyages I've been on, you would have been in a considerable minority, and this includes two-nighters from Hamburg and port-intensive Med cruises. On a TA, it would be a very considerable minority. There are some who might not like this, for whatever reason.

 

Otherwise the main advice is to enjoy and experience all parts of and activities on the ship. You have 21 days, so it can be done at a leisurely pace.

[Roger88]

Formal nights are those nights where people are following a certain code.. both in the way they dress and the way they behave. I believe that no matter of  the situation if an event has been announced as formal, people should follow the norms of such a formal event. 

[jaypo63]

12 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Think the Iona was a reluctant booking, because nothing else being available for a Christmas Cruise.

Thanks port royal,thats exactly what it was 😢

 

 

[majortom10]

8 minutes ago, jaypo63 said:

Well as it was a new ship I was hoping it would attract a different kind of cruiser and not the boozed up lot,remember the news not that long ago? Fights breaking out etc?We booked a suite and thought we would just have our meals etc in there,ok?

Yes and that incident on Britannia was proved to be totally incorrect and hyped up by a journalist on holiday on Britannia and taken onboard by the British press. The journalist who "broke" the story has never been heard of since because a lot of his report was fabricated and at best inaccurate. On the QE2 in the early 2000s was a fight onboard in the Lido one lunchtime right in front of my eyes between a cruiser and a member of waiting staff and security and officers were called. That proves that fighting incidents can happen on any cruise ship even Cunard.

[majortom10]

Well we have done many cruises over last 23 yrs and actually seen a fight on a Cunard ship like I previously stated but have never seen one on a P&O cruise. Yes you are correct you can get rude cruisers on any ship but one incident we actually saw didnt put me off cruising with Cunard and I wouldnt believe what is read in papers and tv news these days. Only recently on City AM website was an article saying P&O Ferries, owned by Carnival, had cancelled all their cruises for the rest of 2020 which is awful and incorrect reporting because P&O Ferries are a totally different company to P&O Cruises. The Britannia incident was wildly inaccurate and hyped up but unfortunately people believe it and then make an opinion on such awful reports.

[Windsurfboy]

 

3 hours ago, jaypo63 said:

This is why I love Cunard,seeing all the men dressed up and the women's lovely dresses but no need for a tux although my husband wears one on "posh" nights,you should see P&Os dress nights,apparently track suits and shorts are the thing 😆 Hence why we left cruising with them many years ago 

 

 

Only done one P&O cruise, Capetown to UK  , last leg of a world cruise

 

All I can say was everyone followed the dress code on P&O in those parts of the ship where it was mandated. I found dress,  and passengers in general just as smart as Cunard. Perhaps it varies depending on the itinerary , but I  expect this is true of all lines.

 

 I don't go anywhere near the buffets at anytime or non formal dress areas on formal nights  

 

 

[Lanky Lad]

Oh how I long to dress for dinner.  I will need to remember who to tie my bow tie first, not done that since October.

 

The formal part of Cunard is part of the fun for me.  But a dark suit will be sufficient.

[BobBranst]

36 minutes ago, Lanky Lad said:

The formal part of Cunard is part of the fun for me.  But a dark suit will be sufficient.

 

We feel the same way.   However,  I'm not sure my tux willl fit me by the time we can take our next cruise.   

[BklynBoy8]

3 hours ago, Lanky Lad said:

Oh how I long to dress for dinner.

The formal part of Cunard is part of the fun for me.  But a dark suit will be sufficient.

Ditto..........

[Windsurfboy]

Like lanky lad can't wait to dress up for dinner

 

A dark suit is fine, but why should the women have all the fun , get a Tux ( or DJ  for us Brits) , experiment with different bow ties , have the fun of tieing your own , you never saw Churchill in a straight bow tie,  get a few different cummerbands. Bring out your inner Peacock,  remember in nature it's the males who have the best plumage. 

[sfred]

On 9/18/2020 at 8:22 AM, untailored bostonian said:

Will I need a tux or will a black suit  be sufficient?

 

 

If don't want to bring your formal gear along, you can also hire one aboard, either for specific nights or for the duration of the voyage. 

 

A caution that all clothing, both formal and informal, shrinks considerably by the end of the voyage, due exclusively to the presence of salt air.

[Denarius]

4 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Like lanky lad can't wait to dress up for dinner

 

A dark suit is fine, but why should the women have all the fun , get a Tux ( or DJ  for us Brits) , experiment with different bow ties , have the fun of tieing your own , you never saw Churchill in a straight bow tie,  get a few different cummerbands. Bring out your inner Peacock,  remember in nature it's the males who have the best plumage. 

Or do something different.

Never did like bow ties. In Arizona a few years ago I witnessed a black tie event at which several of the men wore bolo ties instead. Now I do the same.

Edited September 19, 2020 by Denarius
spelling

[BigMac1953]

8 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

you never saw Churchill in a straight bow tie, 

 

Yes you did when he was wearing a dinner jacket.

 

Black tie = BLACK, not multi coloured or any other nonsense.

Edited September 19, 2020 by BigMac1953

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Like lanky lad can't wait to dress up for dinner

 

A dark suit is fine, but why should the women have all the fun , get a Tux ( or DJ  for us Brits) , experiment with different bow ties , have the fun of tieing your own , you never saw Churchill in a straight bow tie,  get a few different cummerbands. Bring out your inner Peacock,  remember in nature it's the males who have the best plumage. 

Churchill was a regular wearer of a bow tie you only have to Google him and look at images there are loads of examples.

[Victoria2]

A non black bow tie is akin to a reluctant child reader, reading a comic. If it gets the child reading, great. Same with a bow tie. If a slightly colourful  bow tie encourages gala night tux compliance, great.

[PORT ROYAL]

On 9/19/2020 at 2:16 PM, Denarius said:

Or do something different.

Never did like bow ties. In Arizona a few years ago I witnessed a black tie event at which several of the men wore bolo ties instead. Now I do the same.

What are any other uses for a shoelace?

 

[Windsurfboy]

21 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

 

Yes you did when he was wearing a dinner jacket.

 

Black tie = BLACK, not multi coloured or any other nonsense.

 

It's called a black tie event, to distinguish it from a more formal evening dress , a white tie event, not because the ties have to be black. The orginal black ties were a blue/black mix, which looks even blacker than pure black at night under artificial lighting .

 

When I  referred to Curchills straight bow tie, I was referring to the fact it was a proper hand tied bow tie , which is almost impossible to get perfectly straight and even. Not a that he never wore a black bow tie. I was encouraging  the OP to have the fun and frustration of tying your own.

 

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 9/19/2020 at 6:16 AM, Denarius said:

Or do something different.

Never did like bow ties. In Arizona a few years ago I witnessed a black tie event at which several of the men wore bolo ties instead. Now I do the same.

 

I think a bolo tie on a formal night on a cruise ship would be highly inappropriate.

[Windsurfboy]

Cunard allows national dress, if a bolo tie was the official dress of a State then if you come from that  state it should be fine. However I don't know if states have the equivalent of national dress and if any have a bolo tie as part of official or unofficial national state dress