How are formal nights these days cruising in the UK?

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 minute ago, david63 said:

Can I just point out that if you must use abbreviations the correct abbreviation for Southampton is Soton and not SH

... or SOU in aviation (or EGHI). 🙂 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Just a point... I am so pleased that my posts are providing a lot of you so much entertainment judging from the number of smilies I am getting. I must be saying something right that so many people agree with me 😉

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

See what I mean. The more I post the more people like it 🙂

 

Thank you @Bgwest for your support.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Snaxmuppet

[Abercrombie2019]

There has been a noticeable decline in the quality of MDR food over the years.  We even noticed it between October 2022 and July 2023.  The worst meal that I’ve had on a Princess ship was on a formal night on the Regal Princess on a UK cruise.  It was “Land & Sea” (they didn’t bother referring to it as “surf & turf” - I’m guessing because they knew it wasn’t going to meet that level of expectation).  

 

A classic case of lowered expectations.  I’ve come to accept that the food isn’t going to be what it once was.  Princess will have to accept that I will not be wearing a tux.
 

For what it’s worth, I do dress up (jacket, tie, dress shirt), but I’m increasingly beginning to understand the people that want to do away with formal nights altogether.

[Abercrombie2019]

Our last cruise was British Isles (July 2023), and our second to last cruise was a Mexican Riviera cruise.  I wouldn’t say that the passengers embraced formal night any more on the UK cruise than they did on the LA cruise.  The average age on the UK cruise (Regal) was higher than the age on the LA cruise (Discovery) - which perhaps was expressed in different styles of clothing.  The crowd on Discovery might have been a bit more contemporary, while the Regal was perhaps a bit more classic. 

[Paula_MacFan]

23 minutes ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

There has been a noticeable decline in the quality of MDR food over the years.  

 

On our last several cruises we haven't stepped foot in the MDR.  Well other than for the cheap t-shirt sale on sea days 🙂  Don't miss it, don't care about formal nights, have no interest in 2+ hour meals.  

 

We board the Island Princess from Southampton in less than 2 weeks.  It will be interesting to observe the dress as compared to US embarkation ports.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[Crown Vic]

Just off the Regal around the U.K. The dress ‘code’ on some evenings, including the Captain’s Cocktail Party for Suites, Elites etc., was ‘Dress to Impress”. In the Dining Room, the maître d’ told us that trying to stop people entering the dining room improperly attired was ‘fraught with danger’ and Princess would not precipitate a confrontation. Welcome to 2023. 
Cheers…

[lahlah57]

If formal nights of surf and turf is meatloaf and sardines......I will see you in Alfredos 😆

[Paula_MacFan]

1 minute ago, lahlah57 said:

If formal nights of surf and turf is meatloaf and sardines......I will see you in Alfredos 😆

LOL!  I'd take Alfredos over the MDR any day anyway.  We usually eat there several times if we're on a ship that has one.  

[Eglesbrech]

51 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Just a point... I am so pleased that my posts are providing a lot of you so much entertainment judging from the number of smilies I am getting. I must be saying something right that so many people agree with me 😉

Some are frankly just rude.

 

Reasoned debate is fine. Disagreement is fine. Mockery and being patronising is not.

 

I may not fully agree with anyone’s point of view but I stand by their right to have it and express it without sarcastic mockery.

[Abercrombie2019]

5 minutes ago, lahlah57 said:

If formal nights of surf and turf is meatloaf and sardines......I will see you in Alfredos 😆

The best meal on the British Isles cruise was not served on formal night.  There was a Chef’s night menu, and the Beef Wellington was amazing.

[SCX22]

9 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

You are, of course, entitled to have your vacation any way you choose but there is something of a rebel in what you say there. If you want to be casual all the time regardless then why not cruise on a line where that is the norm instead of cruising on a line that has formal nights and then saying that you don't want formal nights.

 

All of the major mass market cruises lines still have "formal" nights, so not much for me to choose from, as those are the only cruise lines I care to cruise on.  IMO, Princess, especially sailings ex Southampton have some of the highest participation rates.  There's a saying that goes, "Be the change that you want to see."  My being a "rebel", in your words, has worked in my favor because Princess has become more accepting to those who choose not to dress up on nights when formal dress is prescribed.

[SargassoPirate]

3 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

BTW... it isn't just the dressing up... we can do that on any night. It is the fact that everyone is dressing up and making it a special night. 

 

Some people have no sense of style and that is fine... carry on wearing your T-shirts, baseball caps and shorts all you like. But why spoil it for others that want to enjoy something a bit more special.

 

Princess has a minimum standard for the MDR - we should all follow it. On formal nights if you don't want to take part then eat in the buffet and don't spoil it for everyone else.

But Princess doesn't enforce it.  They have demonstrated by non-enforcement that they don't really care about it.  Or you could say they enforce the suggested dress for any night about as rigorous as they enforce no reserving of loungers on the Melanoma Deck, saving seats in the theater, or hogging a table in the WC for card playing.  

[Oxo]

What cruise line inforces the code?

Not Celebrity, MSC, NCL, PRINCESS or RCI!

 

[MissP22]

18 minutes ago, Oxo said:

What cruise line inforces the code?

Not Celebrity, MSC, NCL, PRINCESS or RCI!

 

That leaves Cunard, which seems to be a good fit for those in the UK & Scotland. 😉

Edited September 10, 2023 by MissP22

[Crown Vic]

52 minutes ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

The best meal on the British Isles cruise was not served on formal night.  There was a Chef’s night menu, and the Beef Wellington was amazing.

👍 👍 Extra yummy…

[Eglesbrech]

19 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

That leaves Cunard, which seems to be a good fit for those in the UK & Scotland. 😉

I suggest you look at a map 😀

[Oxo]

24 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

That leaves Cunard, which seems to be a good fit for those in the UK & Scotland. 😉

Thanks for letting them know! They have a choice.

Happy Cruising! 

[Steelers36]

55 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

...........or hogging a table in the WC for card playing.

You play cards in the 'loo??!!  Or wait - you are not a Brit, so WC must mean....?  😁

[Steelers36]

46 minutes ago, Oxo said:

What cruise line enforces the code?

Not Celebrity, MSC, NCL, PRINCESS or RCI!

 

?  Those lines do not all have formal nights. 

[Oxo]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

?  Those lines do not all have formal nights. 

Been on all of them this year and they all call it something other than Formal. Princess does not enforce it neither  does MSC. 

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, Oxo said:

Been on all of them this year and they all call it something other than Formal. Princess does not enforce it neither  does MSC. 

I do know X got rid of formal nights well before Princess started relaxing their take on dress.  Might have been a factor for all I know.  But let's not go fuzzy here and try and fool anyone (not saying you were doing that).  X has "Evening Chic" which has much broader interpretation than PCL and they explicitly state that Smart Casual is acceptable for those nights.  Not at all what PCL states, but does match what PCL is doing.  

 

My beef with PCL - and examples abound across the website - is they don't document what happens in practice.  If they changed the wording to match what they are doing, much of this back-and-forth would be unnecessary.  IOW, formal wear is welcome, but not required.

 

PS - Neither does NCL.

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Steelers36

[Princessfan20]

2 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I will live with it but it is just typical of Princess... saying one thing and doing something else. 

 

I realise I will never win this argument. People like dumbing down nowadays and the days of class and elegance is fast disappearing. Shame.

 

Nuff said then 🙂

 

Yes the sky is falling.....

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

All of the major mass market cruises lines still have "formal" nights, so not much for me to choose from, as those are the only cruise lines I care to cruise on.  IMO, Princess, especially sailings ex Southampton have some of the highest participation rates.  There's a saying that goes, "Be the change that you want to see."  My being a "rebel", in your words, has worked in my favor because Princess has become more accepting to those who choose not to dress up on nights when formal dress is prescribed.

To the expense of those that cruise with the line because they have those rules you don't want to follow.

 

Look, I am not unsympathetic to those that don't want to dress up at all. In a way, it isn't about dressing up. It is about Princess not enforcing the rules they say they have in place and everyone then taking advantage of that. The fault lies mostly with Princess... not so much with you. Humans being humans will do whatever they can get away with... I get that. If Princess allow it then it has to be considered allowed. But Princess shouldn't then advertise formal nights and should just drop it altogether. Similarly, if they allow shorts in the MDR in the evening then just drop the whole "smart casual" thing altogether too.

 

I am not having a go at you or anyone else and I realise that I appear to have been doing just that. Sorry. But this whole discussion is brought about by Princess not enforcing the rules... they should either enforce the rules so it is fair to everyone or drop the rule completely and stop pretending that the rule exists.

 

 

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Fine... but I still bet you wore smart casual as a minimum?

 

That is fine in my book. No one has to wear the full works. But a nod to the fact that it is a formal night and so smart casual as a minimum... if not then yes, turn people away if they cannot dress appropriately. I do not think that t-shirts and shorts are appropriate on a formal night. It should be what you might wear to a smart restaurant as a minimum IMO to be in keeping with the Princess code.

I had a post all prepared and putzed it by hitting the wrong key.  It involved copying in some quotes from your many posts in this thread.  SO, I will keep it brief now ( probably much to the delight of fellow posters here).

 

In your early Post #31 and in the above #64, you do state the Smart Casual is okay by you for formal nights.  However, in posts in between, you write rather insistently that folks ought to comply with the "rules".  But the clothing recommendations/requests are not "rules".  The only "hard and fast" (supposedly) is the list of excluded items such as shorts, ball caps, beach attire, flip-flops (non-shoes).  In one post, you stated you don't want to "force" anyone, but it was clear from most of your posts that you expect others to dress formally.  I am not sure how this spoils a night.  PCL only has the formal dress recommendation for the DR's and nowhere else on the ship. 

 

In another post, you suggested the poster (perhaps others too) are looking to go to the lowest common denominator of dress.  I don't think that is fair as most folks are good with Smart Casual and I glean this from reading many posts over the years here on Cruise Critic and also from on-board observations.  I see very little LCD dress if you mean casual t-shirts, shorts, sweat pants, or whatever at dinner.  Sure, there may be the odd bloke dressed for the greasy spoon that you referred to in Post #72.  But this is far, far from the norm on Princess.

 

In conclusion, PCL is never going back to the way it was on formal nights.  It is high time they updated their clothing recommendations to reflect actual practice on the ships while still supporting a formal or dress-to-impress night.  Thank you for clarifying in a couple of your posts that Smart Casual is okay by you if guests do not wish to dress formally.  I hope it doesn't spoil your cruise - I know that folks dressed formally on any night do not spoil my cruise (and I have seen formal wear on non-formal nights as well).