Gala nights

[sandancer]

We have booked a 10 night cruise on the QE. We have only ever done short cruises on Cunard so not come across either red and gold or 20s theme nights and both are listed on our cruise. The other is black and white, no problem there and presumably the red and gold is similar. So my query really is for the 20s night. How many people dress up and would we feel out of place if we didn’t. No interest in eating In the buffet to avoid dressing up, we love dressing for dinner. 

[exlondoner]

In my experience not very many people evidently dress up. You won't look or feel out of place if you don't. My impression is that people sometimes add a few accessories between dining room and dance floor.

[elmsliebev]

I'm expecting at least 1 20s night on our cruise. I have a headband and a feather, and some long inexpensive pearls, so they will just dress up a black dress that I can wear other times without the 20s additions. I also have a pair of elbow length black satin gloves that come on cruises with me! 

Not sure about the husband, he does have a nice striped blazer but of course black tie is timeless anyway!

[LadyL1]

We have taken many cruises since the 20’s  theme night became a regular fixture. I love it, and it has become evermore popular.

Our cruise (departing 3rd Sept 21) had one such night, and the interaction was huge! For the ladies, the dresses are easy, for a gent white silk scarf, shoes, hats and other attire were on show. Perhaps because people really wanted to enjoy themselves after lockdown, this was a wonderful evening. 
Do not be afraid to participate: it need not be outrageous, just go and enjoy!

[Twolittleboys]

Slightly off-topic: Where/when do I see what theme nights are planned for my cruise?

[rakkor]

On our Sun Voyage in August, there were a lot of people dressed for the Roaring 20's theme, far more than I'be seen previously.

 

9 hours ago, Twolittleboys said:

Slightly off-topic: Where/when do I see what theme nights are planned for my cruise?

 

Have a look in MyCunard, under Itinary, they should be there

[ExArkie]

7 hours ago, rakkor said:

On our Sun Voyage in August, there were a lot of people dressed for the Roaring 20's theme, far more than I'be seen previously.

 

 

Have a look in MyCunard, under Itinary, they should be there

Does the itinerary show up on MyCunard as one gets closer to sail date? We're booked for December 2022 and the only information provided as regards itinerary is start and end date, embarkation and debarkation ports. Nothing else except a map that provides little information and a calendar showing booked activities (of which we have none).

 

Or is this another of those differences between the UK and US Web sites?

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, ExArkie said:

Does the itinerary show up on MyCunard as one gets closer to sail date? We're booked for December 2022 and the only information provided as regards itinerary is start and end date, embarkation and debarkation ports. Nothing else except a map that provides little information and a calendar showing booked activities (of which we have none).

 

Or is this another of those differences between the UK and US Web sites?

 

Yes, in the past anyway, the dress code/themed ball schedules were posted closer to the voyage departure date. What I have is from the days when it was still "Voyage Personaliser" rather than "My Cunard". There wasn't a consistent number of days prior to departure when the schedules were posted. One instance I'm able to find for one of our QM2 voyages was when the schedule was posted there within the voyage itinerary on the US Voyage Personaliser 111 days prior to departure.

[LadyL1]

I have a voyage in January and just looked up “My Cunard” (UK). Clicking on the calendar I found all the formal evenings and themes.

[TouchstoneFeste]

52 minutes ago, LadyL1 said:

I have a voyage in January and just looked up “My Cunard” (UK). Clicking on the calendar I found all the formal evenings and themes.

May 1 departure (221 days out): just checked My Cunard, and the formal/smart nights are listed. Not much else, but at least that.

 

[TouchstoneFeste]

7 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

May 1 departure (221 days out): just checked My Cunard, and the formal/smart nights are listed. Not much else, but at least that.

 

It appears we have only two Gala nights during the transatlantic. Is that new?

[bluemarble]

9 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

It appears we have only two Gala nights during the transatlantic. Is that new?

 

Yes, that would be new to have only two gala evenings on a transatlantic crossing. It's typical to have only two gala evenings per week on other type of voyages, but QM2 crossings with all sea days used to have three gala evenings. There used to be two gala evenings with themed balls and one gala evening without a theme on a QM2 crossing.

 

Would you mind posting the details for the dress code and themed balls on each evening of your May 1 eastbound crossing? I'd be interested in seeing the details to compare to previous years.

[TouchstoneFeste]

2 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes, that would be new to have only two gala evenings on a transatlantic crossing. It's typical to have only two gala evenings per week on other type of voyages, but QM2 crossings with all sea days used to have three gala evenings. There used to be two gala evenings with themed balls and one gala evening without a theme on a QM2 crossing.

 

Would you mind posting the details for the dress code and themed balls on each evening of your May 1 eastbound crossing? I'd be interested in seeing the details to compare to previous years.

May 1 - Smart Attire, embark NYC

May 2 - Gala Evening - Red and Gold

May 3 - Smart Attire

May 4 - Smart Attire

May 5 - Smart Attire

May 6 - Gala Evening - Roaring Twenties

May 7 - Smart Attire

May 8 - Smart Attire, disembark Southampton

 

Have to say this is a disappointment. This will be the first time on Cunard for my wife and I, and we were looking forward to the three Gala Evenings.

[bluemarble]

2 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

May 1 - Smart Attire, embark NYC

May 2 - Gala Evening - Red and Gold

May 3 - Smart Attire

May 4 - Smart Attire

May 5 - Smart Attire

May 6 - Gala Evening - Roaring Twenties

May 7 - Smart Attire

May 8 - Smart Attire, disembark Southampton

 

Have to say this is a disappointment. This will be the first time on Cunard for my wife and I, and we were looking forward to the three Gala Evenings.

 

Thanks for that follow-up, @TouchstoneFeste. That's identical to the old schedule for an eastbound crossing except for two details. The first is trivial, the second is of more significance.

 

1) They've changed the name of the "Royal Cunard" ball (which had a red and gold theme anyway) to "Red and Gold". That's probably a helpful name change.

 

2) They've switched the fourth evening of the crossing (May 4 in this case) from "Gala" to "Smart Attire". That used to be a "Gala" evening without a theme. That loss of one of the "Gala" evenings is likely to be a disappointment for others as well.

[TheOldBear]

I've noticed that they have added a 'remember me for 30 days' check box.

 

I'll need to see if that works...

 

At the top of the calendar page

Norway And Northern Lights, 26.041666666666668 nights.

Got to love the precision 😉

 

The dress code seems to only be on the 'day by day' list [not by week or month] - starting on the 26th

Dress code.

Gala Evening - Red and Gold

[bluemarble]

17 minutes ago, TheOldBear said:

At the top of the calendar page

Norway And Northern Lights, 26.041666666666668 nights.

Got to love the precision 😉

 

That's a hoot! If your voyage were 26 days and 1 hour long, that works out to 26.0416666... days. I wonder if they are adding an extra hour because your itinerary includes the night New York switches from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time (Nov 6, 2022).

[TheOldBear]

50 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

That's a hoot! If your voyage were 26 days and 1 hour long, that works out to 26.0416666... days. I wonder if they are adding an extra hour because your itinerary includes the night New York switches from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time (Nov 6, 2022).

That means we get 6 extra hours on the westbound crossing 🙂

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, TheOldBear said:

That means we get 6 extra hours on the westbound crossing 🙂

 

I think you may find you will gain that extra hour on the eastbound crossing by only having to lose four hours instead of the usual five on the way to Southampton. The UK goes off of British Summer Time on October 30, 2022 while you are at sea on that crossing. Then a week later when you are in Norway, New York will catch back up to being five hours behind Southampton. It's still nice to gain that hour by not having to lose all five of those hours on the front end instead of adding an hour on the back end.

Edited September 23, 2021 by bluemarble

[techteach]

I’m a huge planner. Lists have lists kind of person. Our cruise is over 400 days away and I’m already planning dresses, the old have been thrown out and I’ve started shopping for new since I’ve lost lots of weight since our last cruise. Dear Cunard, I will need to know well in advance if I need 2 or 3 “gala” dresses. If I buy something in red and gold and find out I actually need roaring 20’s I won’t be a a happy cruiser. As to smart attire - I’m going to do me which may involve silk pants, beautiful scarves and sparkly gems. Let’s all just be happy!

[bluemarble]

I hear you, @techteach. It's good to learn about reports of the dress code and theme schedules in "My Cunard" for voyages well into 2022. That's a significant improvement over past years.

 

I wish I could find master dress code and theme schedules online as in the past. My usual source on a FAQ for travel agents now says the following.

 

"Details of dress codes and ball schedules can be viewed on the links under the internal information box below."

 

But there is no "internal information box below" that I can find. I fear they may have started hiding that information from anyone who does not have a travel agent login.

Edited September 24, 2021 by bluemarble

[AMHuntFerry]

We are booked on the May 15, 2022 crossing, and our dress-schedule is identical to the May 1st crossing. I hope those with influence will convince Cunard to go back to 3 gala nights; we newbies are counting on you regulars! I am tempted to wear gala attire on the 4th night anyway...such a rebel 😉

Edited September 24, 2021 by AMHuntFerry

[exlondoner]

2 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

We are booked on the May 15, 2022 crossing, and our dress-schedule is identical to the May 1st crossing. I hope those with influence will convince Cunard to go back to 3 gala nights; we newbies are counting on you regulars! I am tempted to wear gala attire on the 4th night anyway...such a rebel 😉

 

If nothing happens, make your feelings known on board. They added an extra (very inconvenient) formal night to a cruise I was on after we sailed, because a lot of people expressed disappointment that there wasn't one on their segment of the voyage.

[kassiopi]

We are booked on the Caribbean cruise on 14th January which is 28 nights. I have just checked on My Cunard and it shows only 4 Gala nights (one per week). Surely this can't be right. I for one will be terribly disappointed if this is how Cunard are "progressing". Any thoughts anyone? 

[TouchstoneFeste]

6 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

We are booked on the May 15, 2022 crossing, and our dress-schedule is identical to the May 1st crossing. I hope those with influence will convince Cunard to go back to 3 gala nights; we newbies are counting on you regulars! I am tempted to wear gala attire on the 4th night anyway...such a rebel 😉

My thought exactly. Maybe we can organize protests on our trips. Picket the Queen's Room in tuxes and ballgowns. "Black tie's not the bad guy!"

[PORT ROYAL]

5 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

My thought exactly. Maybe we can organize protests on our trips. Picket the Queen's Room in tuxes and ballgowns. "Black tie's not the bad guy!"

There many so called “Rebels”, one and DW included, who still dress for Dinner to an “Old Code” while embracing the new.

This being for the man:

Semi-Formal (a suit and tie) on the night before Formal

Smart tailored jacket/blazer with tie for the night after Formal

Formal is a Tux etc

Remaining casual nights with a rotation of casual jackets.  
All shirts to have long sleeves with cuff links except for casual jacket evenings.  

Shoes to match the evening.

Yes it’s old school, but it still works so why change?