Formal Night Dress on Cruises to Norway

[mlbcruiser]

We are doing a Princess cruise to Norway next year. We have done two cruises to Alaska (one on Princess and one on Royal Caribbean) and formal nights there were definitely more casual and not as dressy as on cruises to other destinations. Of course, dress codes tends to be getting more and more casual and many lines no longer really require formal dress on their fanciest dinner nights. Hoping on Norway cruises the formality is scaled down. I’m not asking for the “official” policy. I am asking for what other passengers have observed on cruises to Norway. 
 

Thanks for any information.

[TheOldBear]

We had three formal [Cunard calls them 'Gala'] nights scheduled for the 12 night Norway sailing November 2022 [Southampton round trip]. This was Cunard, so the vast majority followed a 'black tie' dress code.

[hallasm]

Immediately, I don't think there is a difference in whether there are formal nights depending on the destination including Norway, but it can be different for the different cruise lines - you have to ask in the Princess Forum

[gnome12]

10 hours ago, mlbcruiser said:

We are doing a Princess cruise to Norway next year. We have done two cruises to Alaska (one on Princess and one on Royal Caribbean) and formal nights there were definitely more casual and not as dressy as on cruises to other destinations. Of course, dress codes tends to be getting more and more casual and many lines no longer really require formal dress on their fanciest dinner nights. Hoping on Norway cruises the formality is scaled down. I’m not asking for the “official” policy. I am asking for what other passengers have observed on cruises to Norway. 
 

Thanks for any information.

I think that this question is much more cruise line dependent than location dependent.

I posted at exactly the same time as @hallasm.

Edited September 22, 2023 by gnome12

[mlbcruiser]

Well, asking on Princess is a good idea. To some extent, I’m sure it is cruise line dependent. However, in my experience of over 50 cruises, it is somewhat location of the cruise as well. On a lot of main stream, moderately priced lines (and I would never include Cunard in this group since it already has a reputation of being more formal), dress codes are becoming more and more casual no matter what area a ship is cruising in.  
 

I have seen articles and reviews done by expert travel writers that mention certain differences, depending on things like area and even the dominant  nationalities of cruisers on a particular line as well as sailing to various destinations. Maybe they are not at all extreme differences, but there are still sometimes a few differences.
 

We’ve only done two Alaskan cruises.  The first was with Princess about 8 years ago. The 2nd with RCI this past summer. Before the first one, there was chitchat on the roll call and questions on the AK forum as well regarding less formal dress on formal nights on AK cruises. We’ve definitely noticed a more casual bent on Alaskan cruises than on certain Caribbean and Mediterranean cruise formal nights.  I just wasn’t sure about northern Europe. It seems to me that when the weather is cold and people need outerwear and maybe waterproof clothing or boots, the dress does tend to lean a little more casual on formal nights in the dining room and even on other nights. 
 

I’m not answering my own question,  although it may seem that way. I’ve never cruised to Norway, so I have no knowledge of whether it is similar to the formal nights in Alaska or not. I still appreciate everyone’s reply, and thanks a lot for taking the time to answer.

[kaisatsu]

Where else have you cruised with Princess? I found that formalwear on our Alaska cruise wasn't much different from our California or Caribbean sailings. All of them were far more casual than the 16-night East Asia, where several women wore ball gowns on formal nights and most of the rest wore evening gowns or long dark dresses.

 

And honestly, with the de-emphasis on the dress code, on the Eastern Caribbean cruise we did with Princess at the beginning of this year, I could barely tell when it was formal night, since a majority of passengers wore the same kinds of attire as any other night. 🤷‍♀️

[mlbcruiser]

I’ve cruise to the Caribbean with Princess and did a Panama Canal cruise with Princess, besides the Alaskan cruise.  Most cruise lines have gotten more casual, but I think Alaskan cruises were more casual before that. Not trying to prove who’s right or wrong. Just wanted to check with regard to Norway. I have found on European cruises people do tend to dress a little more spiffy. Or did just a few years ago. Can’t say for sure now. Anyway I’ve got my answers. Thanks for replying.

[kaisatsu]

Sorry! didn’t mean to sound critical! 🙈 

Potentially worth noting for time ashore: Norway in general is pretty informal. “There’s no bad weather, only bad clothing.” Many people wear sneakers with suits and dresses on the way to work, and if you’re out sightseeing the biggest signs of status will be the brands on your GoteTex rain gear. Even the opera is only smart casual (some people even wear jeans).

 

I’d expect the cruise to be a bit more formal than the western hemisphere because there are statistically more British and continental European passengers. So embrace dressing to the nines if you want! But if you want to be more casual there will be plenty of less dressy passengers as well.

[Capt_BJ]

QM2 was recently in FLAM ... saw it on the webcam .... I doubt they altered their dress code because they were in Norway ......

 

[pink845]

My opinion.  We have in recent years scaled back on formal wear for cruises.  We will be cruising Norway and Iceland this coming June 2024. Prior to embarkation in Southampton, we will have spent one week in Paris and another in London.  So, keeping in mind the weather in Norway (cold) and Iceland (colder!!) and both wet (but I hope not), priority will be for us to pack more inclement weather clothing than formal wear.  Also, having to take into account warmer weather in Paris and London, well, the formal wear goes even further down the priority ladder. Got to have at least a few pairs of capris and shorts for Paris and London.   So I would prefer to be warm, dry and toasty as opposed to classy and formal on a Norway / Iceland cruise.  We also tend not to go to the dining room much anymore either.  If the menu is appealing in the dining room, I will wear one of the three dresses I bring along and that will be it in terms of classy clothes. 

[biggerbearmom]

This is one of the reasons we have exclusively switched to Viking. No formal nights, and another good reason, no children under 18.

[mlbcruiser]

Pink845, my opinion, that’s smart packing! We will be spending about a week in Scotland prior to our cruise, which could be a bit cool and rainy for sure the further north we go. On the other hand after the cruise, we will have a couple of days left in. May spend those in Southwestern England. We do go to the dining room for dinner about all of the time. Not sure

If I will even bring a dress. 09 formal lights I won’t have on jeans but I won’t be sloppily dressed either. I wouldn’t call it resort casual because to me that signifies warmer Cruises for sure. On formal nights I will probably have on perhaps black slack dress shoes and a bit dressier top but that’s going to be about it.
Harvey, any Cruise lines actually require formal dress anymore. It’s going to be interesting to me to see if the largest percentage of people show up and formals and tuxes or fancy cocktail dresses and suits on formal nights on this cruise. By what we’ve found twice on Alaskan cruises, I would be surprised, but who knows?

[kitkat343]

On 10/1/2023 at 7:18 PM, Capt_BJ said:

QM2 was recently in FLAM ... saw it on the webcam .... I doubt they altered their dress code because they were in Norway ......

 

We sailed Cunard to Norway and then to the Caribbean from NYC over the holidays.  They absolutely do not alter their dress code in Norway, although thankfully given the fact that I chase after small children they didn't say anything about my ordinary black day dress masquerading as formalwear in Norway.  Nearly everyone was in fancy dresses on formal night in Norway (sometimes you'd even spot evening gowns in the buffet).  On our Caribbean sailing over Christmas and New Years, there was a much higher percentage of women in evening gowns than in Norway and my 5 year old daughter loved seeing everyone else's sparkling dresses (I bought a sparkle belt to wear with my ordinary day black dress but given the fact that we had to transport Xmas presents on top of everything you normally need to bring to sail with 3 kids a formal gown wasn't happening).   

[mlbcruiser]

I like your sense of formal,Kitkat343! I imagine you did have a lot to pack. I would imagine that Cunard would be one of the last cruise lines two encourage passengers to dress down if they so desired.