MDR Attire in Alaska

[CruizinSusan70]

On 5/17/2023 at 4:59 PM, phroggie said:

Could someone please tell my wife that the strictly enforced dress code for women is a low-cut, sleeveless, bodycon LBD at least 12" above the knee and/or slit to the waist.

 

She doesn't believe me.

 

TIA in advance.

You forgot to look in the fine print....it says no bra.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 5/19/2023 at 7:46 PM, FairSkySmoothSeas said:

And why on earth would you think I would wear a backwards baseball cap?  As I said, a lot has changed in ten years. Including the rise of snarky comments on Cruise Critic.

Saw four "gentlemen" wearing them in Sabatini's last April on The Discovery.  Yes, a lot has changed in 10 years.  That poster was not being snarky, but being truthful.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 5/19/2023 at 10:24 PM, Bemidji Ty said:

Some of us recognize and enjoy sarcasm and humor.  Cheers

Wrong forum.  Cheers is on Carnival. 😉

[ldubs]

On 5/17/2023 at 10:00 AM, Garycruz said:

Hello everyone,

 

I will be going on my first Princess cruise in July. It is an Alaskan cruise. I'm trying to figure out what clothes I will need to pack for dinner in the MDR. I am familiar with Royal Caribbean and to a lesser extent Carnival, but have no experience with either Princess or the Alaskan itinerary. I have heard that people tend to dress more casually on Alaskan cruises, but I also believe that people tend to dress up a little more on Princess than the other two lines. 

 

I will be wearing a nice dress shirt and pants on formal night but am wondering if I need to pack a sports jacket as well. I'd rather not as space in the suitcase will be limited. Also, am I right to assume that a polo shirt and a nice pair of jeans are what most people wear for dinner on casual nights?

 

Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions.

Just returned from an Alaska cruise out of SF on Ruby.   Thought I would circle back to this thread/question. 

 

We were in Michelangelo MDR at 6:20.  Based on my not extensive review of surrounding tables, focusing on men, most in the MDR were not wearing suits or tux's on formal night.   Most had collared long-sleeve shirts and were neatly dressed.  Saw a couple of guys in T shirts at a table not far away (definitely the exception).  

 

So, my advice to your original question would be dress nice and you will not feel in any way out of place.   I had a blue blazer I wore over an open collar dress shirt (polo shirt the 2nd formal night).   Truthfully, I wouldn't bring it if I were doing the cruise again.  

[Garycruz]

45 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Just returned from an Alaska cruise out of SF on Ruby.   Thought I would circle back to this thread/question. 

 

We were in Michelangelo MDR at 6:20.  Based on my not extensive review of surrounding tables, focusing on men, most in the MDR were not wearing suits or tux's on formal night.   Most had collared long-sleeve shirts and were neatly dressed.  Saw a couple of guys in T shirts at a table not far away (definitely the exception).  

 

So, my advice to your original question would be dress nice and you will not feel in any way out of place.   I had a blue blazer I wore over an open collar dress shirt (polo shirt the 2nd formal night).   Truthfully, I wouldn't bring it if I were doing the cruise again.  

This is very helpful. I very much appreciate that you took the time to come back here after your cruise to share your observations. We have 6:40 PM dinner reservations in the Michelangelo dining room so very similar to yours. I have decided that I will wear the dress shirt and pants (without the jacket) on formal night as I had originally considered. 

 

Thank you and everyone else who weighed in for your very helpful suggestions. 

[dave_k58]

On 5/19/2023 at 5:37 PM, FairSkySmoothSeas said:

For those who have gone Up North to Alaska…I plan to wear a dark suit and tie for Formal Nights, but I was wondering if a flannel shirt is OK to wear in lieu of a polo shirt during casual nights. It being Alaska and all. Something like a Black Watch Plaid I’m thinking. Thoughts? 

I hope flannel shirts are acceptible.  I was planning on bringing some

[dave_k58]

My wife especially loves the formal nights, and I don't mind them.  I would just as soon not bring a tux - but I was curious about how many men wear tuxes on Alaska cruises. There were quite a few on the TA's we have been on. 

[CruizinSusan70]

16 minutes ago, dave_k58 said:

My wife especially loves the formal nights, and I don't mind them.  I would just as soon not bring a tux - but I was curious about how many men wear tuxes on Alaska cruises. There were quite a few on the TA's we have been on. 

Currently on day 14 of the 14 day Majestic out of Vancouver.  The only tuxes I saw on the ship were worn by employees.  About 90+% of men worn long pants, only occasionally saw shorts

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, dave_k58 said:

My wife especially loves the formal nights, and I don't mind them.  I would just as soon not bring a tux - but I was curious about how many men wear tuxes on Alaska cruises. There were quite a few on the TA's we have been on. 

 

I actually can't recall seeing a single tux on our very recent AK cruise, but there must have been some.  

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

I hope flannel shirts are acceptible.  I was planning on bringing some

 

A definite yes on casual nights.   

[MissP22]

On 5/17/2023 at 1:54 PM, JimmyVWine said:

The way I would phrase it is: "Princess isn't as formal as it used to be, but it is still more formal than RCCL and Carnival."  You will not find as many tuxes and suits on Princess as you used to on Formal Night, but you certainly will see more than a few.  I don't know that you will see any on RCCL or Carnival. If one assumes that Princess started our more formal than its similarly priced competitors and all cruise lines saw an equal downward shift, then it stands to reason that Princess is still more formal, just not as much.  It's like starting with the numbers 7 and 5.  7 is greater than 5.  Now subtract 3 from each and you get 4 and 2.  4 is still greater than 2.  Princess did not drop 5 levels while the other cruise lines dropped only 3.

 

Garycruz:  A nice dress shirt and pants on Formal Night will be just fine.  There will be many people dressed just like you.  And there will be many people dressed more formally than you. But not to the point where you would stand out as an outlier.   

The most important thing is that Princess (while not advertised) is now allowing people to make their own decisions on how formal they want to be. 😀

Gone are the dress inspections at the DR door with the fear that you won't be admitted because you aren't dressed properly.

[Nightowl11]

8 hours ago, dave_k58 said:

My wife especially loves the formal nights, and I don't mind them.  I would just as soon not bring a tux - but I was curious about how many men wear tuxes on Alaska cruises. There were quite a few on the TA's we have been on. 

My son, age 22, is going to wear a tux with a vest and a tie that he already owns from a cruise in 2019. This will be on a 10 day Alaska next week.  He is excited to wear it.  At least one young adult is still into formal nights.  His cousin would be too if he didn't loose his pants to the suit and they just found out today.  So I guess my son will be overdressed but he is okay with that.  He looks really sharp and we will get some nice family pictures.

[JimmyVWine]

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

The most important thing is that Princess (while not advertised) is now allowing people to make their own decisions on how formal they want to be. 😀

Gone are the dress inspections at the DR door with the fear that you won't be admitted because you aren't dressed properly.

All true. The problem with all of these dress code threads is that they conflate 4 different questions, each with their own answer. 
* What should I wear?  (Totally up to you.)

* What can I wear? (There don’t seem to be any rules being enforced.)

*What do other people wear? (Runs the full spectrum of casual to formal on every cruise.)

* What is the overall atmosphere on the ship like on Formal Nights?  (And to this I would say “A bit more formal than many here would let on, and certainly more formal than Princess’ price point competitors.”  But that doesn’t negate the answers to questions 1 or 2.)

[dave_k58]

5 hours ago, Nightowl11 said:

My son, age 22, is going to wear a tux with a vest and a tie that he already owns from a cruise in 2019. This will be on a 10 day Alaska next week.  He is excited to wear it.  At least one young adult is still into formal nights.  His cousin would be too if he didn't loose his pants to the suit and they just found out today.  So I guess my son will be overdressed but he is okay with that.  He looks really sharp and we will get some nice family pictures.

Glad to hear that about your son.  I have a 24-year-old grandson who is joining us on our 11 day Alaska cruise in August. I bought him a nice suit - but now that I think of it - I may have an extra tux that I have outgrown in my old age.  I will see if it fits him.  Then there will be at least 2 men in tuxes on our cruise.  I kind of think formal night is part of a nice cruise. 

[ldubs]

6 hours ago, Nightowl11 said:

My son, age 22, is going to wear a tux with a vest and a tie that he already owns from a cruise in 2019. This will be on a 10 day Alaska next week.  He is excited to wear it.  At least one young adult is still into formal nights.  His cousin would be too if he didn't loose his pants to the suit and they just found out today.  So I guess my son will be overdressed but he is okay with that.  He looks really sharp and we will get some nice family pictures.

 

I think your son and anyone else who wants to dress formally will feel very comfortable -- enjoy!

 

Lost his pants.  Gotta love it!  Haha.