Jeans in the dinning room

[RedmondCruiser]

Since I don't read all posts on this board this subject my have been broached earlier.

 

Just off a 21 day Panama Canal Cruise on the Westerdam. It seems that in the last 4 or 5 years something has changed on each and every cruise. On this cruise it was the elimination of flambe in the dinning room and the lack of tote bags. I did notice that there were several people in the dinning room in jeans on casual and informal nights. Then I noticed that the definition of Casual had changed and "NO Jeans" was no longer there.

 

Now there are some very stylish people in jeans but this new policy also brings out the people who will stretch the limits of propriety. On a longer cruise you see more tuxes - not on this cruise. Possibly the tuxes and elegant dresses will be a thing of the past. I hope not.

 

Having some dress codes made a cruise special. I hope that dinner will not become someone in jeans and a tank top in the main dinning room. I thought that was what the casual dinner in the Lido was for.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Hello, Redmond Cruiser. I see you are a sailor from our neck of the woods! Please forgive me if I make a special request; I hope you don't mind. I would dearly love to hear about your cruise. Please indulge me:)

 

How great that you just got off a 21-day trip on Westerdam! You visited a very interesting part of the world. Did you have a good time? What ports did you enjoy visiting the most? What recommendations could you give a brand new cruiser like me, who will be travelling on HAL for the first time this summer? I am very curious to know about your recent experiences going through the Panama Canal. That is where we are going for our Christmas/New Year's.

 

I would love to hear about all the good things on HAL that keep you coming back. We are very much looking forward to our first experience with cruising. Thanks very much for any advice you can pass on!:)

 

Isn't the spring weather here great? All the rhodies are in full bloom! Enjoy! Welcome home!:)

 

Karin (from Mercer Island)

aka "middle-aged mom"

[jhannah]

I was also surprised to read that the "no jeans" is gone. The "Know Before You Go" booklet we got a few weeks ago just prohibits T-shirts, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts ... in the dining room, Lido Restaurant, or public areas in the evening.

 

We had flambee on our Oosterdam cruise last week. It's just not prepared tableside like it used to be, but over in a more open area and away from people.

[sail7seas]

What do you mean no tote bags?

We have gotten the usual fun HAL totes on every cruise we have taken....including all cruises this year as recently as April 2 on Ryndam.

 

[Scrumpy]

Because we had already planned to dress up, exceeding the dress code, I had not looked at my "Know Before You GO" until I saw this post. I do not see the word "jeans" mentioned anywhere at all... It's just not there.

[kryos]

Because we had already planned to dress up, exceeding the dress code, I had not looked at my "Know Before You GO" until I saw this post. I do not see the word "jeans" mentioned anywhere at all... It's just not there.

Yep, the times ... they are a changin' ...

 

I would imagine that the new "code" is just that the passenger looks presentable ... and, of course, is having a good time. Whether or not they choose to "gussy up" is entirely up to them.

 

And ... maybe to some extent, that is a good thing?

 

For the record, I will say that I never wear jeans to the dining room on HAL. On Princess, I wore them once (a nice pair) and that was because it was the last night of the cruise and our luggage had to be outside the cabin before second seating dinner. So, I had no choice. I wore exactly what I was planning to wear for the flight home the next morning. A goodly amount of other people were similarly attired.

 

But, normally, I don't think jeans are appropriate for the formal dining room, though I would consider them fine for the Lido ... even at night.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

What do you mean no tote bags?

We have gotten the usual fun HAL totes on every cruise we have taken....including all cruises this year as recently as April 2 on Ryndam.

 

We got them on the Amsterdam in January as well. They were delivered to our cabins a day or so before our first port stop in Hawaii.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Scrumpy]

I'm really not anti-jeans, but I could see where it could become a problem. I don't want to look at someone in holey jeans or low-riders where you can see their butt crack. Sorry to be so blunt, but I read a Dear Abby the other day where a diner wrote about a dinner out where he was facing a person who did literally have their half their rear end showing and I think that would be kind of gross and distracting... Hopefully, I will be oblivious. I don't tend to notice the clothes that much. Get a general impression and don't really pay that much attention... (It's great that I'm usually in my own little world; keeps me from getting upset sometimes).

[NoNoNanette]

I'm guessing that HAL is trying to change their image.

 

I had always been under the impression that HAL was:

 

#1- An "old folks' cruiseline"

#2- Expensive

 

I've learned differently, and am excited to be booked on the Volendam in December.

 

*I'll be 46, my husband 61.

 

*We're paying NO MORE for this cruise than past cruises, all things considered....nights, balcony, mini-suite, etc.

 

Although we never wear jeans on a cruise, we couldn't care any less how others dress. (We'll continue to dress-up if we visit the dining room.)

 

Although the "old liners" here may hate the direction HAL is going in, from a marketing standpoint, HAL is probably on the right track. I'd love to sit in on a marketing meeting and hear some demographics! :)

[Himself]

Jeans are what I wear to wash the car. Why do we have to be so grubby on Informal nights. Jeans are informal grub wear.

[peaches from georgia]

With jeans now allowed in the dining room I would love to know exactly what the new image is that HAL is trying to promote.

[lougee1043]

just taken off the hal board -- dress code site

 

Evening dress falls into three distinct categories. Each night a daily program will be delivered to your stateroom announcing the suggested dress for the following evening. Comfortable, relaxed clothing is fine for evenings designated as casual; however, T-shirts, jeans, swimsuits, tank tops and shorts are not allowed in the dining room, Lido restaurant, or public areas during the evening hours. During informal nights, dresses or pantsuits for women and jackets (tie optional) for men are standard.

 

please note the highlighted word

[Himself]

I just hope it is enforced!

[jhannah]

Websites are not always updated as needed. The "Know Before You Go" booklet produced by HAL does NOT have the word 'jeans' in there.

[jhannah]

 

This is from the booklet we received a few weeks ago.

[RedmondCruiser]

Just went to HAL web site and it still lists Jeans as not acceptable in the dinning room. I web site may be incorrect - look at the problems they are still having with the immigration form. On the Westerdam the word JEANS was omitted - each and every night. It may be a trial baloon but I doubt it. Everything in this world is getting more and more casual. I prefer the old standard but time marches on.

 

What I did not like is the people who stretch the envelope. There were a few in the dinning room who had on what looked like work pants with and old shirt and clip on suspenders. The guy looked like he just got off his tractor. On the Oosterdam, last May, one fellow was in the dinning room with a t - shirt and a baseball cap. There should be some limits that are enforced.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There was never anything mentioned about not wearing jeans in the dining room on our 15 day Amsterdam cruise. And we did see a couple of people wear jeans into the dining room on casual days. But I can't answer for the formal or informal nights.

 

Even though the area captains turned away as many man as possible on informal nights because they weren't wearing jackets, a couple still managed to get into the dining room. There was a big card on the table outside the dining room on those nights that read "Jackets Required".

[Krazy Kruizers]

We got our tote bag on our recent Amsterdam cruise.

 

Has anyone heard if HAL got a new company to make them yet??

[MikeT718]

What do you mean no tote bags?

We have gotten the usual fun HAL totes on every cruise we have taken....including all cruises this year as recently as April 2 on Ryndam.

 

 

I have posted this on other threads but the tote bags are a problem.As per Mr. James Deering, on our April O'Dam cruise, told us that the company in China that used to make them told HAL that they were shipped when in fact they were not..This left HAL short and looking for a new company to make them

[noblepa]

Are the tote bags supposed to be given to all cabins, or just suites? We have been on two HAL cruises now and have not gotten tote bags on either cruise. We were in an OV cabin on the Veendam and last month in a balcony cabin on the Oosterdam.

 

Paul Noble

[jhannah]

A tote bag is supposed to be provided to each cabin, regardless of category.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Even on our first cruise on HAL we got the canvas tote bag.

[sail7seas]

That's too bad you missed out on getting your tote bag both cruises, nobelpa.

 

Next cruise, if you don't find it in your cabin by the evening before your first port, speak with your cabin steward. They leave them in the cabins when they do the evening clean up/turn down.

 

[kryos]

Although the "old liners" here may hate the direction HAL is going in, from a marketing standpoint, HAL is probably on the right track. I'd love to sit in on a marketing meeting and hear some demographics! :)

Same here, Nanette, I'd love to be a fly on the wall at some of those marketing meetings.

 

It sounds to me like HAL is trying to attract the younger cruiser who often doesn't want to get all dressed up. Especially on the Vista-class ships ... these are the cruisers of the future. All of the older folks who sail the longer itineraries on the more elegant R and S class ships will one day grow too old to travel or will die off, so HAL probably sees this new brand of cruiser as their future. Also, with all new ship builds being on the large "mega-ship" size, one day we're not gonna have these smaller ships to sail any longer. HAL will surely one day have to retire them. That fact will force some of HAL's more traditional cruisers to abandon the line in favor of other smaller lines where these kinds of ships are still in the fleet. So, it's the younger non-traditionalist cruisers that will become HAL's primary market ... and many of those have no attachment to the "golden years of cruising."

 

I just hope HAL enforces some sort of "level" of appropriateness with the jeans ... like they must be neat, and not full of holes, tattered, etc.

 

Personally, I've seen people wearing some very nice jeans that would be totally appropriate for the dining room. I've seen people in jeans with appliques on them, reinstones, sparkles, etc. They look very attractive.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

I'm really not anti-jeans, but I could see where it could become a problem. I don't want to look at someone in holey jeans or low-riders where you can see their butt crack. Sorry to be so blunt, but I read a Dear Abby the other day where a diner wrote about a dinner out where he was facing a person who did literally have their half their rear end showing and I think that would be kind of gross and distracting...

I read that piece too ... and had to chuckle. The person who wrote the letter, as I recall, didn't say what kind of a restaurant he was in. If it was a nice restaurant, then I wholeheartedly agree with him. That would be disgusting to look at while enjoying a nice dinner by candle light. But it sounds to me like he was in a roadside diner or a Denny's type establishment. In that case, I don't understand what his gripe was. Those places only require you to be decently covered ... no bare feet, bare chests, etc. That other diner was perfectly within her rights to wear a pair of "low riders" and if it bothered the person who wrote that letter to Abby, my response to him would have been "why were you looking then?" He should have just asked the waitress to move him to another table if he didn't like the view. Saying something to the other diner, and provoking an argument would have probably just gotten him and his wife tossed out of the restaurant ... as well it should.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita