Is Cunard tweaking the Gala Evening dress code?

[ballroom-cruisers]

Yes let's hope so.

[exlondoner]

29 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

I won't quote your long comment but I do think saying the dress code has been ridiculed  [which is what deriding means] is rather extreme.

We love dressing for dinner each evening on our Cunard cruises and most of the passengers we see make an effort, some more than others I will agree.

However, for some reason the powers that be have obviously decided some sort of evolving has to take place and if that means some stalwarts decide enough is enough, so be it. They can, and seemingly have according to you, found other ways of enjoying their holidays at sea. Their loss in my opinion.

 

We will continue to dress for dinner as we always have done and as has been pointed out, others' attire will not affect our enjoyment one bit.

 

 

I always adhere to the dress code, and especially enjoy the sight of some of the splendid outfits people wear, but must say the dress code is not the prime reason I choose Cunard: the sense of calm (inside the ship, not on the sea) is.

[exlondoner]

33 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Counting nights?  
Is the total of 300 nights taken achieved over a period of every two or three years?
One stopped counting cruises in 2008 having reached three figures, so no idea of current total and it’s of no importance.  Have never actually counted the number of nights.  

 

In my naive way, I might have thought the comments of somebody who has done a few cruises on Cunard might have more insight than those of someone who has done a single two-nighter, though of course one can have done hundreds of nights and have little insight.

[exlondoner]

28 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 As one didn't discover Cunard until 2011, one is rather proud of one's nights on Cunard so one is more than happy to mention them just as one is more than happy to say what wonderful people one has met over those nights. 🙂

More than once, I’m sure. 😀😀

[Victoria2]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

More than once, I’m sure. 😀😀

Just the odd 'one'! 😄

[escrick]

Thank you for your lovely, reassuring comments.  We are now retired, but we both had careers that required us to attend black tie dinners.   Consequently, my husband’s formal wear is still classy and not moth eaten🙂.  He simply prefers to wave those black-tie days goodbye, and says he will feel comfortable in his dark suit even if outnumbered.  He intends wearing jackets to dinner on other nights.  So, I am hoping we do not let the “classy” side down.

[lissie]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:09 PM, PORT ROYAL said:

Agree, but the Mongrel on a WC will probably be a “bus”, being a vehicle to move the new breed of pax on short “holiday” cruises, from one port to another, with not a true Cunard Voyage, or Voyagers, in sight.

It already is - Queen Ann  is advertising 5 day segment on the inaugural world cruise from Auckland to Australia 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, lissie said:

It already is - Queen Ann  is advertising 5 day segment on the inaugural world cruise from Auckland to Australia 

 

QM2 was like that on her first circumnavigation of Australia in 2012. All I could book from the US was the full circle, but people from Australia could book shorter segments. I thought this was a smart move on Cunard's part. Give people a taste of life onboard Cunard and get them hooked.

 

When I learned about the small segments, I joked with DH that it would be like a bus, with people getting on and off at every port. But I had no problem with it, and I didn't feel it lowered standards. That may be because our table companions (all Australians) were also doing the full circle.

 

I did meet one American woman who was on the full world cruise and complained that not everyone on the ship was doing the full three months. Then she said, in a most disapproving voice that Australia was "like being on a bus with all these people coming and going." (She also complained that a tour in Bali went to a market instead of the Gucci store we passed)

[LittleFish1976]

2 hours ago, lissie said:

It already is - Queen Ann  is advertising 5 day segment on the inaugural world cruise from Auckland to Australia 

 

That segment has been showing as sold out on the Australian website since launch day. I had planned to book it but have ended up going for SanFran to AKL instead 🤣.

 

I'm not sure how these legs are any different in the minds of certain people than the glorious 'TA' is when it is part of a WC (which it can be).

 

[LittleFish1976]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

QM2 was like that on her first circumnavigation of Australia in 2012. All I could book from the US was the full circle, but people from Australia could book shorter segments. I thought this was a smart move on Cunard's part. Give people a taste of life onboard Cunard and get them hooked.

 

When I learned about the small segments, I joked with DH that it would be like a bus, with people getting on and off at every port. But I had no problem with it, and I didn't feel it lowered standards. That may be because our table companions (all Australians) were also doing the full circle.

 

I did meet one American woman who was on the full world cruise and complained that not everyone on the ship was doing the full three months. Then she said, in a most disapproving voice that Australia was "like being on a bus with all these people coming and going." (She also complained that a tour in Bali went to a market instead of the Gucci store we passed)

 

It's not even about giving people a taste of life on-board Cunard; many people do not wish to be on a ship for almost a month.

 

[lissie]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

QM2 was like that on her first circumnavigation of Australia in 2012. All I could book from the US was the full circle, but people from Australia could book shorter segments. I thought this was a smart move on Cunard's part. Give people a taste of life onboard Cunard and get them hooked.

 

When I learned about the small segments, I joked with DH that it would be like a bus, with people getting on and off at every port. But I had no problem with it, and I didn't feel it lowered standards. That may be because our table companions (all Australians) were also doing the full circle.

 

I did meet one American woman who was on the full world cruise and complained that not everyone on the ship was doing the full three months. Then she said, in a most disapproving voice that Australia was "like being on a bus with all these people coming and going." (She also complained that a tour in Bali went to a market instead of the Gucci store we passed)

They are already hooked - Australians cruise more than Americans - per a head of population!  I know someone who booked the 5 day segment from Auckland. Its not for me - I don't do rough water and the Tasman is rough. 

 

Its also if you are going to fly 1/2 way around the world to pick up a cruise then trying the cruise line out first locally makes quite a lot of sense 

 

LOL re the Gucci shop in Bali - like that's totally legit honestly! 

Edited March 17, 2023 by lissie

[lissie]

22 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

That segment has been showing as sold out on the Australian website since launch day. I had planned to book it but have ended up going for SanFran to AKL instead 🤣.

 

I'm not sure how these legs are any different in the minds of certain people than the glorious 'TA' is when it is part of a WC (which it can be).

 

My TA had a few spots which are probably gone by now - but they existed because I know someone who got one. 

[Lakesregion]

12 minutes ago, lissie said:

They are already hooked - Australians cruise more than Americans - per a head of population!  I know someone who booked the 5 day segment from Auckland. Its not for me - I don't do rough water and the Tasman is rough. 

 

Its also if you are going to fly 1/2 way around the world to pick up a cruise then trying the cruise line out first locally makes quite a lot of sense 

 

LOL re the Gucci shop in Bali - like that's totally legit honestly! 

Crossing the Tasman on the QE2 was exciting enough. I can imagine going that way on a 16 story apartment building will be loads of fun if they run into even the slightest dust up of weather.

[lissie]

4 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

Crossing the Tasman on the QE2 was exciting enough. I can imagine going that way on a 16 story apartment building will be loads of fun if they run into even the slightest dust up of weather.

Yeah we crossed the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean on the QE and didn't feel a thing  -but I don't do NZ local waters! 

[LittleFish1976]

2 hours ago, lissie said:

My TA had a few spots which are probably gone by now - but they existed because I know someone who got one. 

 

Yes, I was just too slow getting around to booking but the US to AKL should be fun - I've been wanting to go to Tonga and Samoa so this will be a taster of that. And happily I got the cabin grade I wanted on the Japan circumnavigation in 2025 so very happy about that.

[exlondoner]

7 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

QM2 was like that on her first circumnavigation of Australia in 2012. All I could book from the US was the full circle, but people from Australia could book shorter segments. I thought this was a smart move on Cunard's part. Give people a taste of life onboard Cunard and get them hooked.

 

When I learned about the small segments, I joked with DH that it would be like a bus, with people getting on and off at every port. But I had no problem with it, and I didn't feel it lowered standards. That may be because our table companions (all Australians) were also doing the full circle.

 

I did meet one American woman who was on the full world cruise and complained that not everyone on the ship was doing the full three months. Then she said, in a most disapproving voice that Australia was "like being on a bus with all these people coming and going." (She also complained that a tour in Bali went to a market instead of the Gucci store we passed)

A few years ago there was a blog on here, called, I think, Martin and Jan’s world cruise. It was most interesting, and they had a lovely time. One of the few things they did not enjoy was the attitudes of some of the other world cruisers, who despised and criticised those not doing the whole world cruise, for reasons which were unaccountable. When they weren’t doing that, they were magnifying complaints about minor things, and, again unaccountably, when they weren’t doing that, they were rushing off to book the next world cruise or the one after. The bloggers found this all so depressing that they avoided the room set aside specially for world cruisers.

[PORT ROYAL]

4 hours ago, exlondoner said:

A few years ago there was a blog on here, called, I think, Martin and Jan’s world cruise. It was most interesting, and they had a lovely time. One of the few things they did not enjoy was the attitudes of some of the other world cruisers, who despised and criticised those not doing the whole world cruise, for reasons which were unaccountable. When they weren’t doing that, they were magnifying complaints about minor things, and, again unaccountably, when they weren’t doing that, they were rushing off to book the next world cruise or the one after. The bloggers found this all so depressing that they avoided the room set aside specially for world cruisers.

So we have people complaining about people complaining, then complaining themselves about people booking cruises.  So what complainers were subsequently complaining about people complaining who were also themselves complaining?

[Victoria2]

5 hours ago, exlondoner said:

A few years ago there was a blog on here, called, I think, Martin and Jan’s world cruise. It was most interesting, and they had a lovely time. One of the few things they did not enjoy was the attitudes of some of the other world cruisers, who despised and criticised those not doing the whole world cruise, for reasons which were unaccountable. When they weren’t doing that, they were magnifying complaints about minor things, and, again unaccountably, when they weren’t doing that, they were rushing off to book the next world cruise or the one after. The bloggers found this all so depressing that they avoided the room set aside specially for world cruisers.

I have heard of folk who didn't enjoy their segments due to the 'attitude' of some worldies, but as  frequent segmenteers, we have never had a problem. It's inevitable a group of people who are together for months on end will develop a close affinity but not, in our experience, to the detriment of others.

[exlondoner]

19 minutes ago, PORT ROYAL said:

So we have people complaining about people complaining, then complaining themselves about people booking cruises.  So what complainers were subsequently complaining about people complaining who were also themselves complaining?

I think you have misunderstood. These were comments on their blog, not made out loud. They simply changed their behaviour so they were no longer irked. No public complaints. I think the difference is fairly clear, as is the contradiction between complaining about a holiday and booking another similar one.

[PORT ROYAL]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I think you have misunderstood. These were comments on their blog, not made out loud. They simply changed their behaviour so they were no longer irked. No public complaints. I think the difference is fairly clear, as is the contradiction between complaining about a holiday and booking another similar one.

Thank you for the clarification.  
It’s almost identical to those who complain about Cunard’s dress code formality, but still book.  Then having sailed, constantly complain, but again book, only to complain again.

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Thank you for the clarification.  
It’s almost identical to those who complain about Cunard’s dress code formality, but still book.  Then having sailed, constantly complain, but again book, only to complain again.

Or, conversely, those who complain about the 'loosening' of the Cunard dress code and yet still continue to book!  🙂

 

Let's not complain.

 

Let's enjoy our times on some wonderful ships, with lovely fellow passengers.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Or, conversely, those who complain about the 'loosening' of the Cunard dress code and yet still continue to book!  🙂

 

Let's not complain.

 

Let's enjoy our times on some wonderful ships, with lovely fellow passengers.

Sorry, I adore Cunard, but there are occasional things worthy of a (mild) complaint, like the awfulness of their IT, rudeness from the Purser’s office, which seems to be widely experienced, though not, so far, by me. Last summer, we complained about appallingly and disappointingly tough roast goose, which meant our waitress saved anyone else from ordering it. It is important to complain about things that aren’t right and can be changed, but not to let it ruin a wonderful holiday on a wonderful ship.

[david,Mississauga]

On 3/15/2023 at 2:16 PM, ExArkie said:

It seems that, at some future date and to be more comparable to other lines, Cunard will probably relax the dress code to be above the “cargo shorts and tee shirt” level, but below expecting gentlemen to ever wear a tie. I hope that, if they do, they also acknowledge that the transatlantic crossings are a different breed entirely, one without direct competition. They should preserve the “glory days of crossings” vibe by retaining formal nights on them, even if formality disappears from other Cunard ships. 
 

Personally, I think a seven-day crossing, in order to be considered remotely comparable to the grandeur of said glory days, should have a minimum of four formal nights. Probably will never get above three, though, regardless of circumstances.

 

I feel the same about four formal nights on a crossing.  On our last crossing on the QE2 and our first on the QM2 there were four formal nights. Those were six-night crossings and that was the tradition: formal every night except the first and last.  Shortly after, the formal nights dropped to three and I understand it is now only two - even on crossings. 

 

The non-formal nights used to be jacket and tie; then it was jacket required with tie optional. Now it is no jacket required.  

 

As for dark suit vs dinner jacket/tuxedo, from my experience (going back to the 1970s) it was never required for a gent to wear black tie. A suit was always acceptable. I never saw anyone refused entry to the restaurant or looked down upon by other passengers for wearing a suit on a formal night.

 

When the QE2 was operated as a two-class (plus Grills) liner, it was not traditional for formal wear in the Tourist Class, later called Transatlantic Class.  I think it was in the late 1980s when the ship became one-class, still with a former First Class restaurant (Caronia) and the Grills, and the dress code actually increased. For the first time most people wore formal wear in Britannia, the former Tourist Class restaurant.  

 

[Victoria2]

8 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Sorry, I adore Cunard, but there are occasional things worthy of a (mild) complaint, like the awfulness of their IT, rudeness from the Purser’s office, which seems to be widely experienced, though not, so far, by me. Last summer, we complained about appallingly and disappointingly tough roast goose, which meant our waitress saved anyone else from ordering it. It is important to complain about things that aren’t right and can be changed, but not to let it ruin a wonderful holiday on a wonderful ship.

There is a world  of difference, between pointing out the goose was tough and complaining about the meal and I don’t think for one moment, you complained as you were just pointing out the problem.

 

I have heard folk complaining, to wait staff, to the concierge and to front desk staff and quite frankly, I am astonished at how they all kept their cool in the face of such  rudeness from passengers. The rudeness was, in my eyes, unforgivable.

 

[exlondoner]

16 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

There is a world  of difference, between pointing out the goose was tough and complaining about the meal and I don’t think for one moment, you complained as you were just pointing out the problem.

 

I have heard folk complaining, to wait staff, to the concierge and to front desk staff and quite frankly, I am astonished at how they all kept their cool in the face of such  rudeness from passengers. The rudeness was, in my eyes, unforgivable.

 

You’re quite right. I haven’t often witnessed rudeness to staff, but when it happens it is deeply embarrassing to see. Mind you,when people are stupid enough to be rude to waiting staff, I am sure they are able to find subtle means of revenge.

 

As to the goose, I think our waitress was actually more vexed than we were. 😀 And, of course, she offered us something else.