Should Carnival Enforce Formal Night Attire?

[jessemon]

The damn cruises already cost enough as it is! If you want to wear jeans then go for it WHO CARES!

74.57% of the posters who voted on this thread do....:eek:

[cruisecrasy]

74.57% of the posters who voted on this thread do....:eek:

 

Good to be reminded what this thread is all about..

 

Seems the vast majority of folks DO want those attending formal nites in the dining room to wear appropriate clothing..and in a democracy the majority still rules I believe!!

[nimbex1970]

And how will they enforce it? No food for you! Walk the plank! LOL!!!!

 

The only thing I can say is when I sailed with the NCL Crown our one friend could not enter the dining room because he didn't have a suit coat on. The maitra de said they had a coat to offer but he went to his cabin and got his own.

 

But on the Carnival cruise that I sailed this month ... I didn't see it enforced. However, I wasn't really paying that much attention either as I dressed up on formal night. Our family enjoys it. If you don't like dressing up and Carnival decides to enforce it, I guess its the buffet line for you. LOL!!! Have a great cruise!!! :)

 

they enforce it by saying, "miss, jeans are not an accepted dress for the dinning room tonight, would you prefer to change clothes or can I direct you to the buffet". It's that simple.

[nimbex1970]

The damn cruises already cost enough as it is! If you want to wear jeans then go for it WHO CARES!

 

I DO, and I paid the same amount, play by the rules or eat at the buffet If I don't care to dress up, that simple

[cathy_kearns]

Be that as it may, Carnivals on description permits Tux, Business suit or jacket and tie.

 

I think this is an industry-wide problem, they say they have a formal night, but they don't really. So the first cruise I went on I really, really didn't like the idea of formal night. Drug along the formal gown, the shoes, the bag, the wrap, hubby's suit and sport jacket and formal shoes, etc. Lo and behold, formal night doesn't require the formal gown. Heck formal night is closer to a cocktail party wear. Many women are looking lovely in their stretchy travel wear with a few sparkles. Men are fine in their roll up travel blazers and walking shoes. I think they are holding on to the "formal night" name for those who don't have other formal events in their lives, and want an excuse to dress to the nines, but don't want to exclude everyone else. As the world gets more and more casual it's becoming a harder tight rope to walk.

[MJ25]

I think everyone should get dressed up, put on their best manors and act sophisticated. Then act like compleat baffons and sing and dance on the tables before dessert! :mad:

Dumbest thing I have ever witnessed.

Either get dressed up and have a nice meal or wear shorts and make it like a cookout at the Frat house. One or the other, you can't have both - and shouldn't want both!

[Moondawgie]

75%

 

What part of "formal" sounds like jeans?

 

It shouldn't be like school where the principal will monitor what you wear ... you are adults. What does formal mean?

 

I hope the dining room is always a time to dress up ... and for the record I don't like the "teams" and could do with only one night of singing (not on the tables). So, don't want it both ways.

 

I hope the people from Carnival are on here listening to the majority.

[hstrybuf]

The damn cruises already cost enough as it is! If you want to wear jeans then go for it WHO CARES!

 

When you purchase a cruise, you purchase a specific type of vacation which includes . . . . formal nights! Don't want to dress up? There are options other than the dining room. Quite simple to any intelligent person.

 

Formal always means white dinner jacket in the tropics .. and a Caribbean cruise wld qualify..

My father-in-law was a diplomat in a tropical country and when going formal always wore a white dinner jacket..but that was in the good old days when folks 'knew' what to wear and didn't have or even feel the need to question either what to wear or why.. !!

 

Why is it that today's society doesn't know how to dress properly? Have we become so lax that so many have lost sight of what is right? My children were brought up to dress for the occasion so maybe all is not lost for future generations.

 

What u are saying is that if u are not 'forced' to do something u won't..!!

 

Carnnival does not treat the formal nites as a joke. They do not 'enforce' it because it is not their job (they simply want your $) and so do not want to offend those who violate the code ..

 

Only recently has it even been necessary to remind & suggest to people how to dress - yrs ago we learned at home..Of course, there are still books in libraries & websites on computers aren't there??

 

Ambience is created by those dressing appropriately and ignoring the 'boors' who choose to ignore the codes. Besides gives us something to chuckle over at dinner..!!

 

And, of course, they cld go to another less formal eating area but GEE - why shld they miss eating in the dining room just 'cause they choose not to dress properly..?? :0/

 

I guess our society has sunk so low we even need to be 'policed' when it comes to following dress codes.

 

Most unfortunate..!!

 

I look at this site and topics like this as an opportunity to educate those who never learned about dressing properly at home, who never learned that sometimes you have to do what is expected and right, not what you want. I suppose it could be called policing, especially by those who disagree with us, but then what does that say about them?

 

While I respect opposite opinions and understand the desire to have the same food as those in the dining room in a more casual atmosphere, I do not understand why people think they're entitled to it in the dining room if not dressed properly. Most of us here are not self-centered, ill mannered children. Must some continue to act as if they were? Should the rest of us accept their bad manners without protest? I think not.

[big_duck]

The damn cruises already cost enough as it is! If you want to wear jeans then go for it WHO CARES!

 

If you think you aren't getting value for your money, perhaps a different vacation option would be more in your line. :rolleyes:

[Sargent_Schultz]

Change happens - embrace it or not, but you can't stop it. Live in the past if you wish, but soon you will be living alone.If the cruise industry does not attract and hold new customers, it will decline back out of the mainstream vacation industry. They cannot afford to be narrow-minded and focus only on a dwindling group of dinosaurs.Carnival, for the most part, DOES enforce the dress code - The only dress code is "NOTE: Shorts, t-shirts and bathing attire are not permitted in the Dining Room during dinner." I would think that would end it, but apparently not.What else? This is the Carnival Cruise Line board - not some other cruise line board, even if owned by Carnival Corporation - nor is it a land based anything - inappropriate attempts to compare are disallowed.Uncle Bob in his new book states:"Take a look at modern homes being built versus those our parents or grandparents bought. The formal living room (which those who still have it seldom use) has been replaced by the informal family room. Believe us, developers are no dummies. If their research showed that people wanted formal rooms, they'd be building them. The point is that most people want a more relaxed, unpretentious lifestyle."Perhaps Carnival could start having dinosaur themed cruises for those trying to live in the past.Uncle Mickey (Uncle Bob's boss) in his interview with Michael Eisner stated that the Carnival market was the mass market and not elitist such as the Trans-Atlantic cruises from decades ago.Perhaps Carnival could start having elitist themed cruises for those trying to live in the past but those cruises would no doubt go bust as many of old "transport" cruises have done.Uncle John (current CD of Freedom and boss of neither above), while he doesn't speak for Carnival, offered his opinion on his blog - an opinion nevertheless that seems to answer what we already knew:"My strongest feeling is this. If I am dressed in a suit, and the person at the table opposite is dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, I am not going to enjoy my food and service any less. Providing they are in the realms of the requirements (no shorts etc) I think we have to offer a right to choose."

[Sargent_Schultz]

The poll is hardly scientific, and if the margin of error could be calculated, it would prove how useless and invalid the poll was.

[dan40]

The poll is hardly scientific, and if the margin of error could be calculated, it would prove how useless and invalid the poll was.

You don't agree with the poll results. I take that to mean you do not like to dress up for formal nites. Fine, but trying to disparage a poll that proves you in the minority [and every one of them does] won't change anything. The 75/25 results of this poll actually understate the % that do meet Carnival's easy dress code. Normally 80 to 85% dress in Sport jacket and tie, OR BETTER. and most other lines do even better. Plus, don't confuse dress codes with dress restrictions. Restrictions like no bathing suits in the dining room are rules. Where dress codes are to inform one's guest as to the expected dress for the event. Dress codes strictly rely on the social etiquette and good manners of the guests, not on any type enforcement [other than one's own self restraint]. So you may wear ANYTHING to the dining room that does not violate the dress RULES/RESTRICTIONS. Dress codes on the other hand allow you to look as socially inept and rude as you wish.

 

Dan

[MJ25]

I have an idea, Let's all NOT dress for dinner!

GO NAKED!

I am sure that the people at the table next to mine would thank me, not at the time, but at the end of the cruise, when they had actually lost weight while cruising! LOL :D

[halos]

Change happens - embrace it or not, but you can't stop it. Live in the past if you wish, but soon you will be living alone.

 

That attitude is what makes society slide into the abyss.

I'll be danged if I'm going to dress like a slob, when requested to dress nicely just 'because everybody else is doing it.'

Sounds like something a bratty child would whine.

Why don't we all GROW UP?????? If you are politely asked to dress and act with a little decorum, I think it isn't asking too much.

Some people act as if dressing nicely is a mountain they're being asked to climb. :rolleyes:

And again, if the change is headed the way YOU say, then our poll is way off. I think you just want to think that todays people are 'above' dressing up, I think you are very wrong.

[Kurbanfan]

Change happens - embrace it or not, but you can't stop it. Live in the past if you wish, but soon you will be living alone.If the cruise industry does not attract and hold new customers, it will decline back out of the mainstream vacation industry. They cannot afford to be narrow-minded and focus only on a dwindling group of dinosaurs.Carnival, for the most part, DOES enforce the dress code - The only dress code is "NOTE: Shorts, t-shirts and bathing attire are not permitted in the Dining Room during dinner." I would think that would end it, but apparently not.What else? This is the Carnival Cruise Line board - not some other cruise line board, even if owned by Carnival Corporation - nor is it a land based anything - inappropriate attempts to compare are disallowed.Uncle Bob in his new book states:"Take a look at modern homes being built versus those our parents or grandparents bought. The formal living room (which those who still have it seldom use) has been replaced by the informal family room. Believe us, developers are no dummies. If their research showed that people wanted formal rooms, they'd be building them. The point is that most people want a more relaxed, unpretentious lifestyle."Perhaps Carnival could start having dinosaur themed cruises for those trying to live in the past.Uncle Mickey (Uncle Bob's boss) in his interview with Michael Eisner stated that the Carnival market was the mass market and not elitist such as the Trans-Atlantic cruises from decades ago.Perhaps Carnival could start having elitist themed cruises for those trying to live in the past but those cruises would no doubt go bust as many of old "transport" cruises have done.Uncle John (current CD of Freedom and boss of neither above), while he doesn't speak for Carnival, offered his opinion on his blog - an opinion nevertheless that seems to answer what we already knew:"My strongest feeling is this. If I am dressed in a suit, and the person at the table opposite is dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, I am not going to enjoy my food and service any less. Providing they are in the realms of the requirements (no shorts etc) I think we have to offer a right to choose."

 

Nice post Sargent. And I agree that for the most part cruisers do abide by the dress code. Not sure what all the hoopla is all about either. Carnival calls the shots and they know they have to stay up with the times in order to keep their customers. They never sail less then full. So evidently it's working for them at this time.

I think alot does have to do with some are trying to compare Carnival with some of the other elitist cruise lines which it is not.

[GoinCruisin]

You don't agree with the poll results. I take that to mean you do not like to dress up for formal nites. Fine, but trying to disparage a poll that proves you in the minority [and every one of them does] won't change anything. The 75/25 results of this poll actually understate the % that do meet Carnival's easy dress code. Normally 80 to 85% dress in Sport jacket and tie, OR BETTER. and most other lines do even better. Plus, don't confuse dress codes with dress restrictions. Restrictions like no bathing suits in the dining room are rules. Where dress codes are to inform one's guest as to the expected dress for the event. Dress codes strictly rely on the social etiquette and good manners of the guests, not on any type enforcement [other than one's own self restraint]. So you may wear ANYTHING to the dining room that does not violate the dress RULES/RESTRICTIONS. Dress codes on the other hand allow you to look as socially inept and rude as you wish.

 

Dan

 

Good ole Zydeco would NEVER agree with any type of dress code... you are wasting your breath on him!!! LOL!

[billsrobb]

The damn cruises already cost enough as it is! If you want to wear jeans then go for it WHO CARES!

I would say 75% DO CARE enough said.

Robb

[MJ25]

Why don't we all GROW UP?????? If you are politely asked to dress and act with a little decorum, I think it isn't asking too much.

 

I for one agree with you, BUT, do not ask me to "dress and act with a little decorm" and then interupt my dinning experience with some annoying singing and dancing as if I was eating at Chuck E Cheese!!!

I do not know how this ritual got started but in my opinion it is part of the reason that proper dress is declining on cruise ships. Sing away if I am wearing jeans and a polo shirt. however if I am dressed to make the experience special, keep it just that, special and stop the so called entertainment!

On my last cruise on the Triumph there were people giving the dancing waitresses dollar bills as if they were at a Gentlemen's/Strip Club. I do not need a suit on to experience that if I wish to!

[dan40]

Good ole Zydeco would NEVER agree with any type of dress code... you are wasting your breath on him!!! LOL!

 

 

You're not saying SS and Zy are same same, RU?

 

Dan

[big_duck]

You don't agree with the poll results. I take that to mean you do not like to dress up for formal nites. Fine, but trying to disparage a poll that proves you in the minority [and every one of them does] won't change anything. The 75/25 results of this poll actually understate the % that do meet Carnival's easy dress code. Normally 80 to 85% dress in Sport jacket and tie, OR BETTER. and most other lines do even better. Plus, don't confuse dress codes with dress restrictions. Restrictions like no bathing suits in the dining room are rules. Where dress codes are to inform one's guest as to the expected dress for the event. Dress codes strictly rely on the social etiquette and good manners of the guests, not on any type enforcement [other than one's own self restraint]. So you may wear ANYTHING to the dining room that does not violate the dress RULES/RESTRICTIONS. Dress codes on the other hand allow you to look as socially inept and rude as you wish.

 

Dan

 

I would agree Dan.

 

In addition, if you read some of the responses associated with the poll, there are a lot of people who say they dress up but it should not be enforced, so that makes the percentage much higher then 75% that dress up. I doubt there is anyone who would say they don't dress up but it should be enforced. ;)

[vjmatty]

I for one agree with you, BUT, do not ask me to "dress and act with a little decorm" and then interupt my dinning experience with some annoying singing and dancing as if I was eating at Chuck E Cheese!!!

 

I do not know how this ritual got started but in my opinion it is part of the reason that proper dress is declining on cruise ships. Sing away if I am wearing jeans and a polo shirt. however if I am dressed to make the experience special, keep it just that, special and stop the so called entertainment!

 

On my last cruise on the Triumph there were people giving the dancing waitresses dollar bills as if they were at a Gentlemen's/Strip Club. I do not need a suit on to experience that if I wish to!

 

I am wondering if they havan't toned down the entertainment for this very reason, because we just got back from the Victory on Monday and it was mostly just the Maitre D' singng some Sinatra songs. One night the waiters all sang "O Solo Mio" but didn't dance.

[extreme]

I think everyone should get dressed up, put on their best manors and act sophisticated. Then act like compleat baffons and sing and dance on the tables before dessert! :mad:

 

Dumbest thing I have ever witnessed.

 

Either get dressed up and have a nice meal or wear shorts and make it like a cookout at the Frat house. One or the other, you can't have both - and shouldn't want both!

''and shouldnt want both'' why not? keep tring to tell people what they want:mad:

[MJ25]

I am wondering if they havan't toned down the entertainment for this very reason, because we just got back from the Victory on Monday and it was mostly just the Maitre D' singng some Sinatra songs. One night the waiters all sang "O Solo Mio" but didn't dance.

 

I hope you are correct and that this is happening industry wide.

[JeffHatfield]

Notice that while there was a "mix of everything" it did not include non-business attire (ie. jeans). To me this is an indication that at least one Maitre d' is trying to enforce the rules.

 

So do you think that Carnival should enforce the formal night dress code by barring entrance to anyone not in Formal or Business attire? Or do you think they should do away with the formal dress code altogether?

 

I vote absolutely, (Unless someone is traveling and their luggage was lost, then I would make that exception, and the cruise line would know who that was)

[Kittybork]

You don't agree with the poll results. I take that to mean you do not like to dress up for formal nites. Fine, but trying to disparage a poll that proves you in the minority [and every one of them does] won't change anything.

Dan

 

The poster is correct. The poll means absolutely nothing. In order to be accurate, a poll must fit a list of requisites, which would be impossible to accomplish here.

 

Having said that, I'll give you my opinion before you give it (my opinion) to me as you did the previous poster.

 

I agree that formal night should be enforced. By that, I mean all dress for men and women should meet the definition of formal (not semi-formal, not church clothes, and not whatever you feel like you look good in). Formal means a tux - It used to mean white tie. For the ladies it would mean a full-length gown. That used to mean a ball gown.

 

IMO, what causes the confusion is calling it one thing "formal night" but not going by what the name truly entails. I don't blame people for being upset if they go through the hassle of packing for a true "formal night" and see everything that is allowed into the dining room.

 

I didn't attend formal night because I didn't want the hassle of packing for it, but I can understand those who want to do so. If that's your thing, and you enjoy it, go for it. Everyone should honor the wishes of those who do enjoy it and dress formally , and everyone else should eat should elsewhere.