Spellbound Sun Princess Attire

[Mjkny]

Just wondering if anyone on the Sun has been to Spellbound and can explain what I hear is a strict dress attire 

TIA 

[CruisingWalter]

While we wait for someone from the Sun to answer, here's the original Cruise Critic article from March.  They do point out that the actual Magic Castle in LA enforces formal attire for the dinners. The one thing that's interesting is that originally Spellbound was supposed to have 3 seatings at 5, 7 and 9. But when we booked our reservations for October there are only 2 seatings offered.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/magic-castle-spellbound-sun-princess

[Mjkny]

Thank You Walter,

[Mark_K]

7 hours ago, Mjkny said:

Just wondering if anyone on the Sun has been to Spellbound and can explain what I hear is a strict dress attire 

TIA 

Doesn’t look like a strict dress code.  I noticed a guy in a polo shirt on this video.

 

Spellbound

[Hobby3333]

What is the recommended attire for Spellbound?  

[beg3yrs]

The invitation you receive says formal. I dressed in coat and tie and most other men did as well although a few had no tie. One man dressed in jeans and an old long sleeved shirt. All of the ladies passed a relaxed formal muster.

 

Spellbound was amazing!

[Hobby3333]

5 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

The invitation you receive says formal. I dressed in coat and tie and most other men did as well although a few had no tie. One man dressed in jeans and an old long sleeved shirt. All of the ladies passed a relaxed formal muster.

 

Spellbound was amazing!

Thank you.  We are looking forward to Spellbound.  Any other advise that you have?

[555]

7 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

One man dressed in jeans and an old long sleeved shirt. All of the ladies passed a relaxed formal muster.

That sounds typical of almost all the Princess ships for a formal night.

[sandyoftheseas]

Can any one who has done Spellbound recently tell me what people are wearing.  We only bring carry on luggage and my husband does not want to bring a jacket.  He will probably wear a dress shirt and dress pants and I will wear a skirt with a dressy top.

[arizonaperson]

Here’s what the invite says, I would hope that when you book this venue that it would tell you the dress code .I have not been on the Sun princess. Is it enforced? I have seen mixed posts on a few sites.

Because of carry on only -Could your husband wear his suit coat jacket on the plane if you’re flying? Or if you’re not flying just wear it on the day of embarkation and then go to the laundry room and iron it.

 

 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

No need at all to wear formal wear.   We both wore a dress shirt and dress pants and did not feel underdressed.  They won't say a thing.  Even the Retreat Host said that we would be fine.  No tie.  No jacket.

[mtnesterz]

1 hour ago, sandyoftheseas said:

We only bring carry on luggage and my husband does not want to bring a jacket.

When flying to the ship, I wear a sportcoat on the plane as it can be chilly onboard, with a rolled up tie in the pocket. It this is truly his reason, it needn't be.

Spellbound is certainly different in this regard, reading the above stated experience. No guy gets into Magic Castle without a jacket and tie. We've been fortunate to be invited there and they are very strict.

[waltd]

The invite does not say suggested dress.   It says mandatory.  They have every right to stop you from entering.   Your call. 

Id bring a jacket.

[arizonaperson]

I have No first hand experience with Spellbound. Here is mixed posts on dress code that I have seen. I understand you cannot reserve spellbound until you get on the ship ,so therefore you would not know what the dress code is when you are packing at home ,until you book it -so I have no idea if that is correct.
Here’s the post that I’ve seen on the Internet -obviously I have no idea what’s true and what’s not. 

 

Spellbound on Sun Princess 

 

From Reddit. Approximately August 2024.  Can you tell me if they were enforcing a dress code ? Mixed comments I’ve heard. because when I was on .. a suit jacket was required. Which caught some ppl by surprise. But have head they relaxed this.

Invite still says cocktail attire, and cocktail attire is expected. They do have suit jackets for men who haven't brought one, but the one person in our group of 40 who didn't have a suit jacket was not offered one (although they also arrived late). So 99% of our group was in cocktail attire (although not all men had ties/bow 

 

From a passenger: I sailed on the second revenue voyage last month and got a sneak peek of Spellbound bar, which is set to open April 8.(2024)

Guests, who are required to dress in cocktail attire, begin the evening with dinner in a secluded area in the Horizons Dining room; the meal is inspired by dinners at the Magic Castle and features a menu not available anywhere else on the ship. Following dinner, guests are escorted to a charcoal-black door, where they wait to be summoned into Spellbound.

 

Edited September 11 by arizonaperson

[dog]

My app for SUN Lets me book it now.  Read a few reports when it first opened and they did not enforce the dress code as strictly as we expected.

[kjg46]

Gone are the days when Folks followed the rules. Sad

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, kjg46 said:

Gone are the days when Folks followed the rules. Sad

Princess can solve that problem immediately.  They choose not to

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We couldn’t book it ahead of time as I was on the April 8th sailing. I didn’t have a suit coat and tie. Maybe that’s why they didn’t enforce it. Only about half had either. I would have skipped it if they were enforcing it. 
 

Maybe someone more recent can weigh in. 

Edited September 11 by Sox Fan Cruiser

[oteixeira]

4 hours ago, voljeep said:

Princess can solve that problem immediately.  They choose not to

I agree, drop the dress code that most adult males do not follow, even at work, anymore.

[555]

11 hours ago, oteixeira said:

I agree, drop the dress code that most adult males do not follow, even at work, anymore.

The only reason I can think of to why they state a ridged dress code, is so people will think of the affair as something really special & they can charge accordingly. 😉

[sandyoftheseas]

Thank you for all your responses.  We are going over New Years so I will try to talk him into bringing a jacket for Spellbound and for the  New Years Eve celebration.  I am also rethinking my attire and wear something more formal for Spellbound and NYE I have sparkly palazzo pants and sparkly top that I will wear for both occasions

[oteixeira]

11 hours ago, 555 said:

The only reason I can think of to why they state a ridged dress code, is so people will think of the affair as something really special & they can charge accordingly. 😉

The truth is it is actually so they can take photos and sell you photographs, there is a reason for everything on the cruise.  If you don't want formal pictures (I actually get one for each cruise, I am normally in a polo or Hawaiian shirt) then it is wasted on you.

[mtnesterz]

7 hours ago, sandyoftheseas said:

...We are going over New Years so I will try to talk him into bringing a jacket for Spellbound and for the New Years Eve celebration...

Well, that puts new light on it. We have cruised over the Holidays, meaning Thanksgiving through New Years. People do dress for the Holiday dinners to a greater percentage, and nicer, than the usual "formal" nights. If he was sitting on the fence about what to do, that might be considered.

[555]

12 hours ago, oteixeira said:

The truth is it is actually so they can take photos and sell you photographs, there is a reason for everything on the cruise.  If you don't want formal pictures (I actually get one for each cruise, I am normally in a polo or Hawaiian shirt) then it is wasted on you.

We had numerous pictures taken in our casual clothing on formal nights. 

[CrankyOldGuy]

I really wish Princess would decide if they want to attract younger customers or not.  They claim they do and they they say mandatory suits for men.  GenX/Millennials won't do this, GenX started Casual Fridays and Millennials ditched the suit at the office entirely.   This won't attract the younger customers they claim they want to attract.  Mixed messages as always