How many formal nights on a 6 night cruise?

[Ideb]

The question is in the title. How many formal nights on a 6 night cruise. Bonus question: Does Princess serve lobster in the MDR on cruises that are less than 7 nights?

[arizonaperson]

See below for an example of formal night schedules based on the length of your cruise.

Length of Cruise	Number of Formal Evenings
1 - 4 Days	0
5 - 6 Days	1
7 - 13 Days	2
14 - 20 Days	3
21 - 28 Days	4
29+ Days	5 Minimum

[Arizona Wildcat]

Lobster is usually served on 6 night cruises, but is warm water lobster these days and not worth eating.   Nothing like lobster from the north in cold cold water.

[Kay S]

There might be lobster, but sometimes it's just large prawns.  Hard to predict.  The lobsters are small and dry and not worth ordering, IMO.

[Ideb]

7 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

See below for an example of formal night schedules based on the length of your cruise.

Length of Cruise	Number of Formal Evenings
1 - 4 Days	0
5 - 6 Days	1
7 - 13 Days	2
14 - 20 Days	3
21 - 28 Days	4
29+ Days	5 Minimum

Thank you. Do you know if the one formal night will be on the second night or next to the last night?

[Ideb]

5 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Lobster is usually served on 6 night cruises, but is warm water lobster these days and not worth eating.   Nothing like lobster from the north in cold cold water.

I've been looking at menus online and one of the gala menus has surf and turf. I'm hoping we will have that one because the guys in my family would enjoy it, so that's why I'm wondering if it is only on 7 day or longer cruises.

[555]

I wouldn't get overly excited about the formal night unless it's something that means a lot to you. Lots of people just wear their casual clothing these days instead of lugging along the extra clothing. About the only difference being the better menu in the DR & the offering a production show in the theater.

 

Note: The steak or large prawns served with the lobster tail are often better than the lobster itself and you have the option of substituting 2 pieces of meat for the tail.

[DCThunder]

29 minutes ago, Ideb said:

Thank you. Do you know if the one formal night will be on the second night or next to the last night?

When is your sea day?  The "formal" night is almost always on a sea day.

[Kay S]

10 hours ago, Ideb said:

I've been looking at menus online and one of the gala menus has surf and turf. I'm hoping we will have that one because the guys in my family would enjoy it, so that's why I'm wondering if it is only on 7 day or longer cruises.

Princess "surf and turf" is usually a piece of beef (tenderloin, if lucky) and two or three very large shrimp (prawns) but not lobster.  The last lobster I had on Princess (why I ordered it, I do not know) was one lobster tail about 5 inches long on top of a bed of tasteless risotto.  You might like all of it, but don't get your hopes up for a full on Maine lobster feast.  Also, hasn't Princess started charging for a second helping of the lobster?

[peety3]

10 hours ago, Ideb said:

Thank you. Do you know if the one formal night will be on the second night or next to the last night?

I always use a process of elimination to figure out the formal night(s):

It's never the embarkation day - they don't want delayed bags to impact formal night.

It's never the night before disembarkation - they don't want formal night to delay bags going into the hallway.

It won't be a port day unless you're blessed with an itinerary with nonstop port days. 🙂

Across what's left, think about which days they could get the most spa/photography business that are non-consecutive, and you probably have figured out the formal nights.

[Cruise Raider]

We were on a five night cruise with one formal night and lobster night was not on formal night. They can move things around.  

[Ideb]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We were on a five night cruise with one formal night and lobster night was not on formal night. They can move things around.  

Do you remember which menu was on formal night?

[Ideb]

3 hours ago, peety3 said:

I always use a process of elimination to figure out the formal night(s):

It's never the embarkation day - they don't want delayed bags to impact formal night.

It's never the night before disembarkation - they don't want formal night to delay bags going into the hallway.

It won't be a port day unless you're blessed with an itinerary with nonstop port days. 🙂

Across what's left, think about which days they could get the most spa/photography business that are non-consecutive, and you probably have figured out the formal nights.

It must be night 2, because there are 3 port days after that, then the sea day the day before we disembark.

[Cruise Raider]

12 hours ago, Ideb said:

Do you remember which menu was on formal night?

I do, it was scallops for the main and Stilton cheese for the appetizer.  The lobster was served on the last night on that sailing.  

[OccasionalSanta]

On 9/16/2024 at 4:40 AM, Ideb said:

Thank you. Do you know if the one formal night will be on the second night or next to the last night?

The last couple 7-day cruises we were on, there was one "Formal" night and one "Dress to Impress" night.

 

The lobster night tended to be the second of those two and was typically a sea day, but not the last night of the cruise. So if you're leaving your last port and only have one sea day before you disembark, it may well be the night you leave the last port.

[Ideb]

48 minutes ago, OccasionalSanta said:

The last couple 7-day cruises we were on, there was one "Formal" night and one "Dress to Impress" night.

 

The lobster night tended to be the second of those two and was typically a sea day, but not the last night of the cruise. So if you're leaving your last port and only have one sea day before you disembark, it may well be the night you leave the last port.

Yes, this seems to be pretty standard for a 7 night cruise. I'm not so sure how it will be on a 6 night cruise.

[Torfamm]

On 9/16/2024 at 9:48 PM, Ideb said:

It must be night 2, because there are 3 port days after that, then the sea day the day before we disembark.

You can usually see which night is formal night in the app. Look for the champagne waterfall or formal portraits in the activities. I've had it populate as much as a couple of months before a cruise 

 

[Anguillafan]

On 9/18/2024 at 12:14 PM, Torfamm said:

You can usually see which night is formal night in the app. Look for the champagne waterfall or formal portraits in the activities. I've had it populate as much as a couple of months before a cruise 

 

That was very helpful!  I'm on a 7-day with 2 formal nights.  The only day at sea is last day.  I was wondering how this would work, or if they would end up skipping it, and, in fact, I can see from the app the two different days with formal portraits, the first including the champagne waterfall.  Much appreciated!