Formal Evenings

[Peters Wife]

My husband and I will be joining Sky Princess in a few weeks cruising from Southampton around the UK.

As we have not cruised for some time I would appreciate any info from our fellow cruisers who have been on any of these cruises on the number of formal evenings and how "dressed up " folks are.

I would also be interested to hear how busy the ships are just now.

Many thanks

[majortom10]

Cannot speak for Sky but we got off Regal on Thursday and there were 1512 passengers onboard compared to the normal capacity of 3500+. As far as the dress code was concerned there were some in dinner suits and ordinary suits but also many in jeans and even shorts on the 2 formal nights. It is one of the downsides of Princess is there formal code and not been adhered too.

[PORT ROYAL]

1 hour ago, Peters Wife said:

My husband and I will be joining Sky Princess in a few weeks cruising from Southampton around the UK.

As we have not cruised for some time I would appreciate any info from our fellow cruisers who have been on any of these cruises on the number of formal evenings and how "dressed up " folks are.

I would also be interested to hear how busy the ships are just now.

Many thanks

Our neighbours took a Princess Staycation, packing the for what the hoped would be something close to the complete “Cunard” experience.  They adhered to the suggested dress code (note the word suggested) but were taken aback by the proliferation of casual and Hawaii style shirts on Formal nights.

There will be no repeat cruises on Princess.  
Therefore, suggest to pack to whatever level you wish to dress to.  Others will do exactly the same to their “wish to” dress level, remembering the evening dress levels will be extremely diverse.

Neighbour mentioned they could have spent the morning lounging by the pool wearing shorts and a Polo shirt, taking breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, then clubbing, without changing clothing.

Princess is not Cunard.

 

 

[sammybonny]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Cannot speak for Sky but we got off Regal on Thursday and there were 1512 passengers onboard compared to the normal capacity of 3500+. As far as the dress code was concerned there were some in dinner suits and ordinary suits but also many in jeans and even shorts on the 2 formal nights. It is one of the downsides of Princess is there formal code and not been adhered too.

We are on Sky on 28th Sept for 7 nights so will have 2 formal nights too,  which nights were yours on Regal? How did you find the ship with such a lot fewer passengers than usual and how was the service? 

Many thanks for any tips.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Princess is not Cunard.

Which is why we cruise with Princess and not Cunard.  That said, I would expect the Staycation voyages would have tended to the more casual and more "regular" voyages will be somewhat less so.  Just a guess.

[Merly]

We were on Regal last week and our view was quite different.  We, and our friends were pleasantly surprised at the effort people made to dress up.  Lots of dinner suits, bow ties and ladies in long dresses.  Even on non formal nights people made an effort. We are regular Celebrity cruisers and this was our first Princess. We rebooked and are back on her in 3 weeks.  The DJ and long dresses will be going. 

[Iamcruzin]

 Is the buffet open for dinner?  I know on Royal Caribbean they are not serving dinner in the buffet. If you are forced to eat in the MDR you can't enforce a dress code if there isn't another alternative for dinner without an up charge?  

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

 Is the buffet open for dinner?  

Yes

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

Yes

I'm very surprised about the dress code not being enforced to some degree and  I was under the impression that in Europe the passengers dressed more formally. I guess anything can be expected while sailing during the pandemic.

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, Iamcruzin said:

I'm very surprised about the dress code not being enforced to some degree and  I was under the impression that in Europe the passengers dressed more formally. I guess anything can be expected while sailing during the pandemic.

I would cruise anticipating the minimum standards are enforced and then you cannot go wrong.  No t-shirts, shorts, flip-flops, torn clothing, etc, in dining rooms.  The clothing recommendations in FAQ's cover this.

[CCFC]

We ate at 8pm last week on the Regal, never saw any shorts or jeans in the MDR or around the ship. I suspect early diners may have seen a few. Loved the cruise.

[majortom10]

5 hours ago, sammybonny said:

We are on Sky on 28th Sept for 7 nights so will have 2 formal nights too,  which nights were yours on Regal? How did you find the ship with such a lot fewer passengers than usual and how was the service? 

Many thanks for any tips.

Formal nights were 2nd and sixth nights. The ship didnt seem that quiet as you would expect with so few onboard and there was still the age old problem of getting a seat in International Cafe at certain times  and in Crooners pre dinner, dont think there is A Crooners on Sky.  Service in International Cafe was very poor at most time sof the day seem to be very understaffed and if you ordered a drink on Medallion App took ages to be delivered.

[Lucky TGO]

23 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I'm very surprised about the dress code not being enforced to some degree and  I was under the impression that in Europe the passengers dressed more formally. I guess anything can be expected while sailing during the pandemic.

Some people like to dress up like they are going to McDonald’s on Formal Evenings. 
I will always be in my tuxedo that night. 
Tony

[majortom10]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Which is why we cruise with Princess and not Cunard.  That said, I would expect the Staycation voyages would have tended to the more casual and more "regular" voyages will be somewhat less so.  Just a guess.

Actually the exact opposite on UK Seacations there were more Formal dress i.e. dinner jackets than an ordinary Princess cruise where there are mainly Americans.

[majortom10]

27 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I would cruise anticipating the minimum standards are enforced and then you cannot go wrong.  No t-shirts, shorts, flip-flops, torn clothing, etc, in dining rooms.  The clothing recommendations in FAQ's cover this.

We have in the past shared a table in MDR  on formal nights where some men wore black t shirts with  no jacket and thought that was good enough for formal dress. One of the downsides IMO has always been the dress code on Princess cruises.

[trey420]

34 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

We have in the past shared a table in MDR  on formal nights where some men wore black t shirts with  no jacket and thought that was good enough for formal dress. One of the downsides IMO has always been the dress code on Princess cruises.

Yeah I don't care to much about dressing up.  I won't be in a tuxedo for sure.  I'll give you jeans and a button down.  Also I won't be sitting with anyone else to mess up whatever it is formal night does for them.  Just another night to me.  If you want to put a bunch into it you're welcome to.

[Merly]

We were very impressed with the whole cruise. Staff were great, it was a bit slow at times getting a coffee, but we were never in a rush.  Staff everywhere were helpful and friendly.  Food great.  We ate in Sabatinis and Crown Grill, both very good.  Pizza at Alfredo’s was excellent. A good choice for lunch and no up charge. Didn’t get the chance to use the pools on deck but tried the food up there, which again was great.  Overall, we had nothing to complain about.  I do expect that when ships sail at full capacity it will be a bit different, but again as we cruise a lot we are used to that.  Don’t forget your masks as you have to wear them when walking about, in the theatre, in the lifts, casino etc.  

[1965]

2 hours ago, Merly said:

We were very impressed with the whole cruise. Staff were great, it was a bit slow at times getting a coffee, but we were never in a rush.  Staff everywhere were helpful and friendly.  Food great.  We ate in Sabatinis and Crown Grill, both very good.  Pizza at Alfredo’s was excellent. A good choice for lunch and no up charge. Didn’t get the chance to use the pools on deck but tried the food up there, which again was great.  Overall, we had nothing to complain about.  I do expect that when ships sail at full capacity it will be a bit different, but again as we cruise a lot we are used to that.  Don’t forget your masks as you have to wear them when walking about, in the theatre, in the lifts, casino etc.  

Thank you for this great report. Fingers crossed we'll be on the Regal in 44 days. I'm feeling optimistic we'll really set sail this time. 😊

[waldorf]

11 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Princess is not Cunard.

Excellent news 😁

[majortom10]

14 hours ago, trey420 said:

Yeah I don't care to much about dressing up.  I won't be in a tuxedo for sure.  I'll give you jeans and a button down.  Also I won't be sitting with anyone else to mess up whatever it is formal night does for them.  Just another night to me.  If you want to put a bunch into it you're welcome to.

Sorry but if you want to wear jeans then you shouldnt attend MDR on Formal night but eat in the buffet. In anyone's mind jeans can never be classed as formal dress.

[majortom10]

13 hours ago, Merly said:

We were very impressed with the whole cruise. Staff were great, it was a bit slow at times getting a coffee, but we were never in a rush.  Staff everywhere were helpful and friendly.  Food great.  We ate in Sabatinis and Crown Grill, both very good.  Pizza at Alfredo’s was excellent. A good choice for lunch and no up charge. Didn’t get the chance to use the pools on deck but tried the food up there, which again was great.  Overall, we had nothing to complain about.  I do expect that when ships sail at full capacity it will be a bit different, but again as we cruise a lot we are used to that.  Don’t forget your masks as you have to wear them when walking about, in the theatre, in the lifts, casino etc.  

Sorry if you were on Regal 9th-16th but we saw the cruise in a whole different way. The food in MDR was excellent and service good at all times and also in Crown Grill and Alfredo's but service in International Cafewas very poor the worst I have witnessed on a Princess cruise and we have done many being Elite. Also on occasions we saw many not wearing masks in the theatre in the 10pm show and regularly saw people walking around the ship inside with no masks on at all.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Sorry if you were on Regal 9th-16th but we saw the cruise in a whole different way. The food in MDR was excellent and service good at all times and also in Crown Grill and Alfredo's but service in International Cafewas very poor the worst I have witnessed on a Princess cruise and we have done many being Elite. Also on occasions we saw many not wearing masks in the theatre in the 10pm show and regularly saw people walking around the ship inside with no masks on at all.

It seems that the onboard experience might be variable ship to ship. We were on Sky a few weeks ago and we saw no one inside not wearing masks. Yes, a few people did push their luck a bit in the theatre but not many considering IMO.

Our International Cafe service was bad on day 1. We reported it to Guest Services and it picked up to an excellent service for the rest of the cruise.

 

[trey420]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Sorry but if you want to wear jeans then you shouldnt attend MDR on Formal night but eat in the buffet. In anyone's mind jeans can never be classed as formal dress.

Sorry, I obviously don't give a D what you think I should and shouldn't do.  I think others should mind their own business and just eat, but they don't.  I think I clearly stated I don't like dressing up so duh I know it's not formal.  You always have Cunard, you can sail and you will never see my horrible Jean's on formal night.  Or dress up eat in your stateroom.  I'm not bringing something I don't want to wear, just to impress people I don't even know and will never see again. If it makes a difference for you have at it.

[defbref]

It’s amazing to me how people let what other people are wearing get to them. What does it matter what other people are wearing ? How does that affect you ? And I’m one who likes to dress up but I don’t give a flying fig what everybody else does as it doesn’t affect me in one iota. I feel good when I dress up. Others feel good when they dress down and good for them. 

[majortom10]

19 minutes ago, trey420 said:

Sorry, I obviously don't give a D what you think I should and shouldn't do.  I think others should mind their own business and just eat, but they don't.  I think I clearly stated I don't like dressing up so duh I know it's not formal.  You always have Cunard, you can sail and you will never see my horrible Jean's on formal night.  Or dress up eat in your stateroom.  I'm not bringing something I don't want to wear, just to impress people I don't even know and will never see again. If it makes a difference for you have at it.

I suggest it should you that should dress down in your jeans and eat in your stateroom.