TUX or no?

[FondofKoi]

I am leaving on the Freedom 1/14( still waiting to do the doc dance!). We have never sailed on RCI. DW is worried that I need a Tux for the formal nights. So I thought I would ask the experts. Do I need a Tux, or can I get away with suits? Thanks.

[puckstopper27]

I know I will be wearing a coat and tie at the most. Possibly just a sportcoat and slacks. Wear what you feel comfortable in. After all, it's YOUR vacation.

[Sue L]

A suit will be fine or you could rent a tux on board if you choose

[FitzLA]

Here is what I did to save packing room. I rented the tux pants and jacket only on the ship, and brought my own tux shirt tie and shoes. Worked out great. And with my own tie, I didn't look like everyone else on the ship who renter a tux. You can see pics in my album.

[FondofKoi]

Works for me! Thanks!

[Newfy Friend]

I think that you will find that there are a substantial number of gentlemen who are wearing tuxes, but there will also be a large number who are in business suits. Either will be common enough that you won't feel out of place.

 

You will find that most of the ladies, however, turn out very nicely with many in long gowns--lots of sparkle. My word of advice is that your wife would probably like it if you would go the tux route; women enjoy dressing up, and they appreciate it if we make the effort also.

 

If you are going to be a regular cruiser, you can pick up a tux very reasonably and keep it as a part of the cruise experience. You can buy a nice tux for the price of a couple of rentals.

[QM2 Cruiser]

As you can get away with a suit, I highly recommend a tuxedo. It is part of cruising to dress to the nines and remember ocean going tradition. There will be people without tuxedos, and it is your vacation, but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class? (Put it this way, it is more considerate to wear a tuxedo for the sake of those who find this type of dress necessary?) Do as you wish.

[FitzLA]

As you can get away with a suit, I highly recommend a tuxedo. It is part of cruising to dress to the nines and remember the ocean going traditions. There will be people without tuxedos, and it is your vacation, but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class?

 

ROFL! Seriously?

[isujim]

Just off the Radiance last month...........a 15 day cruise with only 19 kids and older crowd.........even on this cruise only about 25% of the men wore tuxes..

 

Need a tux...........No

 

Tuxes never out of place

 

Suits are fine.

[Cnd_Cruiser]

I bought a tux this summer on sale 1/2 price and I cant wait till my cruise to break it in.

[puckstopper27]

.... but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class?

 

 

(Put it this way, isn't it more considerate to wear a tuxedo for the sake of those who find this type of dress mandatory?

 

Ummm........NO!

 

Ummm......NO! I find that the mandatory type of dress for me is a sportcoat. So, using your argumeht, shouldn't everyone wear a sportcoat to be considerate to me?:D

[kingsgirl]

On longer cruises, ppl tend to get a little more dressed up on formal nights. However - still, even THEN, only a small proportion of men and women dress to the tee.

 

If you like to dress up and won't feel uncomfortable being the only one around you, then do it. If you're concerned about being a sore thumb in the crowd then don't. (this applies more to women than men since if men dress up, everyone will just drool, but women tend to feel more out of place easily)

[ckrobyn]

I saw many men in tuxes on the Radiance a few weeks ago - they did not look out of place! In addition, there were many military wearing their full dress uniforms and looked wonderful....

 

I say wear whatever is comfortable - but remember.....no jeans in the dining room! LOL :p

[jphc318]

I wear a tux on 7 day or longer and on short cruises i wear a nice suit.

[cb at sea]

A sportcoat is NOT formal--a dark suit can be! Hubby bought his tux years ago--best investment he's made!!!! Wears the tux on the 1st formal night and a dark suit on the 2nd.

[FinelyCruising]

If you are inclined to have some of the formal night photos taken a tux is always nice.

 

If you want to pack your dark suit then you will be perfectly fine. If you want to avoid the packing and having it take up space then maybe think about a tux rental if you want to do the trade on packing your suit and spending the extra dollars just to be really formal.

 

The number of men who we find wear tuxes on RCCL ships is not overwhelming, so don't feel obligated to do so to fit in or feel right unless you decide you really want to dress up.

 

Have fun!

[puckstopper27]

A sportcoat is NOT formal--a dark suit can be! Hubby bought his tux years ago--best investment he's made!!!! Wears the tux on the 1st formal night and a dark suit on the 2nd.

 

So if I were to wear a suit light in color, you would consider that was not formal attire?

 

I'm happy your husband enjoys his tux. I on the other hand can think of many other things to spend my hard earned money on than a piece of clothing that will spend 3 or more years hanging in a closet between uses, or renting one for that matter.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

...but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class? (Put it this way, it is more considerate to wear a tuxedo for the sake of those who find this type of dress necessary?) Do as you wish.

 

Wearing a tuxedo does not fool anyone into thinking you are a member of the "privileged upper class" if you are not. It takes a lot more than a tuxedo to transform someone into an authentic Palm Beacher.

[beachchick]

As you can get away with a suit, I highly recommend a tuxedo. It is part of cruising to dress to the nines and remember ocean going tradition. There will be people without tuxedos, and it is your vacation, but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class? (Put it this way, it is more considerate to wear a tuxedo for the sake of those who find this type of dress necessary?) Do as you wish.

 

Tuxes are great and it's certainly easy to rent one so my DH doesn't have schlep his own (he has more than one) in the luggage anymore. If we do formal night, he brings his shoes, socks, ties, pocket squares, studs/links, etc. We normally skip the formal night dinner and do alternative dining those nights. Men dressed in dark suits fit in perfectly well with those dressed in tuxes. The real question for "fitting in" depends on what your female companion(s) will be wearing. If I chose to wear a full length fancy gown with all the "stuff" that goes with it, then I would expect my DH to wear a tux. If I chose to wear a cocktail gown with less "stuff," then my DH would wear a suit. This is, as always, JMHO, but I think that couples should consult each other and agree on a "level" of dress that will compliment each other.

 

But I digress from my actual comment. I understand what you are saying about dressing to the nines and ocean-going tradition. There's only one issue I have with it, which is that formal dress for dinner was not limited to ships. For the then so-called upper class (read: rich), formal attire at dinner would be pretty much a nightly thing no matter where they were. So by that logic, we should all dress formally every night to remember those traditions as well.

 

Certainly I know that many consider the whole ultra-formal thing to be a cruise tradition. However, as a cruise-specific issue, it is much more a modern concept. On the old ocean going voyage, first class (again, read: rich) pax would have dressed formally every night because that's what they did then.

 

Now that cruise lines have given pax options (other than being banished to their cabins for the evening), there will be a mix of all kinds of dress throughout the ship on formal night. I do believe that those who wish to attend the formal dinner in the dining rooms should dress accordingly.

 

Anyway, just wanted to point out that formal night as a cruise tradition cannot be compared apples to apples with the formal attire worn every night on ocean passages 100 years ago. (At that time, cruising was not primarily a vacation; it was the form of transport across the oceans and along certain rivers.)

 

beachchick

[ciderapple]

It never ceases to amaze me how being rich and wealthy is confused with being upper class :rolleyes:

 

The two are totally different. Being upper class has nothing to do with how rich or successful you are.

 

Well, it gave me a giggle...

 

sorry this is way off thread

 

Anyhow,

 

The choices are suits and ties or tuxedos, if you choose to follow the dress code. Wear whichever you feel most comfortable in and whatever best compliments your wife's dress.

 

Have a fab cruise :D

[Rich&Natalia]

As you can get away with a suit, I highly recommend a tuxedo. It is part of cruising to dress to the nines and remember ocean going tradition. There will be people without tuxedos, and it is your vacation, but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class? (Put it this way, it is more considerate to wear a tuxedo for the sake of those who find this type of dress necessary?) Do as you wish.

 

Haha.....good one. Needed a laugh this morning.:)

 

-Rich

[Sassy Chassis]

My rule of thumb is me in cocktail dress = him in suit, me in formal gown = him in tuxedo.

[MGoBlue2]

As you can get away with a suit, I highly recommend a tuxedo. It is part of cruising to dress to the nines and remember ocean going tradition. There will be people without tuxedos, and it is your vacation, but wouldn't you rather appear a member of the privileged upper class? (Put it this way, it is more considerate to wear a tuxedo for the sake of those who find this type of dress necessary?) Do as you wish.

Not really. It is the host's place to determine what dress is necessary not the guest's. The RCI suggested dress code does not find a tux necessary but an accepted option. That being the case neither should any of the guests, and it would be inconsiderate of them to do so.

[isujim]

FondofKoi.............

 

Did you get your question answered??:)

[MGoBlue2]

He did - 12 times. :)