Formal Dinners - ??

[CruisingLover]

Ok, I've cruised many times and always know the at sea days are the formal night dinners. My confusion is coming in this.....

 

We have 3 at sea days (one of them being our last day) so one would assume we have 3 formal nights, right? I've asked a few different Princess people (both on chat and via phone) that all say we only have 2 formal nights (but to check the Princess Patter onboard) 🤷‍♀️

 

Soooooooo, do we pack for 2 formal nights or 3? 

[MJC]

It goes by length of cruise, not number of sea days. Our 1 week cruise had 3 sea days with the standard 2 formal nights.

 

Onboard FAQ: Dining & Nightlife

Experience a variety of dining options and nightlife on board a Princess cruise.

 

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to know what to pack and what to wear when you’re dining onboard. See below for an example of formal night schedules based on the length of your cruise.

Length of Cruise	Number of Formal Evenings
1 - 4 Days	0
5 - 6 Days	1
7 - 13 Days	2
14 - 20 Days	3
21 - 28 Days	4
29+ Days	5 Minimum

[famski740]

They will not hold Formal Dinners on the last night before the end of a cruise because they know that you are suppose to have your luggage packed and in the hall before dinner.

[CruisingLover]

It's a little confusing because, like you said, I would assume no formal on last night

3 minutes ago, famski740 said:

They will not hold Formal Dinners on the last night before the end of a cruise because they know that you are suppose to have your luggage packed and in the hall before dinner.

 

BUT, then there's this on our itinerary:

"Your itinerary includes 2 formal nights and 6 smart casual nights. Formal nights tend to occur on sea days" and we have 3 sea days 

 

 

[CruisingLover]

36 minutes ago, MJC said:

It goes by length of cruise, not number of sea days. Our 1 week cruise had 3 sea days with the standard 2 formal nights.

 

Onboard FAQ: Dining & Nightlife

Experience a variety of dining options and nightlife on board a Princess cruise.

 

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to know what to pack and what to wear when you’re dining onboard. See below for an example of formal night schedules based on the length of your cruise.

Length of Cruise	Number of Formal Evenings
1 - 4 Days	0
5 - 6 Days	1
7 - 13 Days	2
14 - 20 Days	3
21 - 28 Days	4
29+ Days	5 Minimum

 THANK YOU for this!! I mean, WHY don't the Princess people just tell me this??

[jimbo1683]

7 minutes ago, CruisingLover said:

It's a little confusing because, like you said, I would assume no formal on last night

 

BUT, then there's this on our itinerary:

"Your itinerary includes 2 formal nights and 6 smart casual nights. Formal nights tend to occur on sea days" and we have 3 sea days 

 

 

They occur on sea days. That doesn't mean every sea day.

[CruisingLover]

Along the dinner line question....

 

For the "smart casual" dinners (looks like we'll have 6), what do men and women wear?

[TracieABD]

For Smart Casual- I wear a dress or slacks and a nice top. My husband wears a collar shirt and slacks or dark jeans. 

 

There is a ton of interpretation of Smart Casual- and I am seeing even a wider variety- after the “pause”. Truth be told- it might mean no swimsuits, pajamas, or shorts in the MDR at dinner.

[skynight]

1 hour ago, CruisingLover said:

It's a little confusing because, like you said, I would assume no formal on last night

 

BUT, then there's this on our itinerary:

"Your itinerary includes 2 formal nights and 6 smart casual nights. Formal nights tend to occur on sea days" and we have 3 sea days 

 

 

8 night cruise = 2 formal nights, not 3. Formal night will not be the 1st or last evening. They try to have formal on sea days but not always, not a hard & fast rule. Can be on port day. Formal is not very formal. Lots of suits & jacket and ties but also no ties. Formal is in the MDRs. Other dining is smart casual all the time. Hope this helps. 

[skynight]

Also, a week or two before sailing the daily activity schedule may be shown in the medallion app. It may indicate the formal nights.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, jimbo1683 said:

They occur on sea days. That doesn't mean every sea day.

If it did then a Hawaii cruise would have like 10 formal nights

[RSS from SF]

---

On Princess I have experienced at least two big holiday* exceptions to formal nights on sea days -- 3 cruises each holiday:

 

New Year's Eve and Thanksgiving Day falling on a port day exception:

The nearest formal night on a sea day usually will be moved to these nights.

 

*On my one Princess Christmas sailing, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were port days and I believe formal night was on Christmas Eve.

---

[caribill]

10 hours ago, RSS from SF said:

---

On Princess I have experienced at least two big holiday* exceptions to formal nights on sea days -- 3 cruises each holiday:

 

New Year's Eve and Thanksgiving Day falling on a port day exception:

The nearest formal night on a sea day usually will be moved to these nights.

 

*On my one Princess Christmas sailing, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were port days and I believe formal night was on Christmas Eve.

---

 

And I have been on holiday cruises which should have had just 2 formal nights (and that is what it said in the Personalizer), but the ship added a 3rd formal night for Xmas or NYE instead of keeping it at 2 formal nights by moving one of them to the holiday.

[K.T.B.]

For those who have taken 15 day cruises with Princess, do you know what days the formal nights fall on?

[deliver42]

If on a 7 night, it's 2 and 6.

[skynight]

17 hours ago, deliver42 said:

If on a 7 night, it's 2 and 6.

Not always. Depends on the itinerary.

[nini]

On 12/7/2021 at 6:40 AM, CruisingLover said:

It's a little confusing because, like you said, I would assume no formal on last night

 

BUT, then there's this on our itinerary:

"Your itinerary includes 2 formal nights and 6 smart casual nights. Formal nights tend to occur on sea days" and we have 3 sea days 

 

 

This means that Princess will select 2 of the 3 sea days; NOT that it is on EVERY sea day.

[K.T.B.]

On 12/8/2021 at 5:27 PM, deliver42 said:

If on a 7 night, it's 2 and 6.

 

On 12/9/2021 at 11:28 AM, skynight said:

Not always. Depends on the itinerary.

 

All my cruises, except for the first one, have been 7 day cruises.  Every single one of them had nights 2 and 6 as formal nights.  2 different cruise lines as well.

 

NO idea what nights they'll be on a 15 day cruise, so any help would be appreciated!