Dressing for dinner

[NorCalCruiseGuy]

Just got home from the Constellation's Canada/New England cruise. Men did wear jackets on informal nights but no tie. Only time they didn't wear jacket was on casual night. Women wore alot of black pants or black skirts with different tops. I feel that if you don't want to follow the dress code then on those nights, eat at the buffet. My tablemates always followed the dress code.

 

marlene

 

Just to clarify, there is NO buffet at dinner on Celebrity cruises.

[Lois R]

Hi Paul:) I guess it should be noted:

"Alternative Dining" located where the buffet is set up during the day.

But that is an awfully long explanation;)

[hajekfam]

did you know that your clothes shrink in the closet on the cruise ship. I bought alot of new outfits for my 14 day cruise and after 7 days alot of the clothes had shrunk

I find the same thing happens. I always thought it was the sea air. I can just imagine how much mine will shrink during the 28 days!:)

Actually I love people who ask which formal night is more formal - my stock answer is wear your clothes in order of tightest at the beginning of the cruise to loosest toward the end of the cruise - otherwise you will end up wearing the same thing on both formal nights.

[Nancyquilts]

Roxanne = you are so funny. I agree. If he doesn't want to adhere to dress code then he should find another cruiseline. Maybe Carnival people don't care how you dress because they attract a different crowd. Men can wear that same sport jacket many times and no one will notice but we can't wear that same dress to the table because we are watching each other.

Don't watch me! I wear the same long gown for 2-3 formal nights. DH wears his white dinner jacket at every formal night, why should I carry more stuff?:D Besides, I like it and look pretty good in it (all things being relative). Nancy

[travelinglion]

:confused: Ladies and Gentlemen

Maybe we should start an official clothes swap......we'll pretend we are all teenagers and go into each other's closet.....I'm a size 8-10. I think my dresses are a little too small for the guys....LOL

 

Sylvia H

[Fogfog]

I find the same thing happens. I always thought it was the sea air. I can just imagine how much mine will shrink during the 28 days!:)

Actually I love people who ask which formal night is more formal - my stock answer is wear your clothes in order of tightest at the beginning of the cruise to loosest toward the end of the cruise - otherwise you will end up wearing the same thing on both formal nights.

 

 

LOL :D That is good advice!

[gr8grannie]

Okay, we will dress according to the posted attire but is Celebrity for the upscale only? We are just everyday, normal, bluecollar folk. Nothing high flutin' about us but we're not rednecks either. We don't want to feel out-of-place or uncomfortable among our cruisemates. Will we fit in?

[Sky Sweet]

Okay, we will dress according to the posted attire but is Celebrity for the upscale only? We are just everyday, normal, bluecollar folk. Nothing high flutin' about us but we're not rednecks either. We don't want to feel out-of-place or uncomfortable among our cruisemates. Will we fit in?

 

Hi gr8grannie :)

 

The dress code of a cruise line has nothing to do with the socio economic class of its passengers. In fact, most of the luxury cruise lines don't have formal nights and some of the wealthiest, as well as most educated, people I know won't take a Celebrity Cruise because of its restrictive dress code.

 

 

Based on my experience, and we have been on many Celebrity Cruises, the demographics on Celebrity are very diverse and include passengers from almost every socio economic class.

 

I'd also like to add that while it is pervasive on the boards, I have never heard anyone criticize the way another passenger was dressed during our Celebrity Cruises.

 

Most of the passengers I have met on our Celebrity Cruises have been very friendly down to earth people, and I am sure you will have a wonderful time and feel very comfortable on a Celebrity Cruise.

[Branwen]

Is it okay to wear a dressy cocktail dress on formal nights? I don't own a floor length gown (other then old bridesmaid dresses that will never see the light of day again) and I really can't afford to go all out and splurge on a new wardrobe. I do have several killer black/red/blue cocktail dresses though.

[shepp]

Hi gr8grannie :)

 

The dress code of a cruise line has nothing to do with the socio economic class of its passengers. In fact, most of the luxury cruise lines don't have formal nights and some of the wealthiest, as well as most educated, people I know won't take a Celebrity Cruise because of its restrictive dress code.

 

 

Good point. While I adhere to and enjoy dress codes, the idea that putting on certain items of clothing is a way to "join the elite" (as another poster put it) is pretty darn silly. Steve Jobs always wears jeans and a black turtleneck. Headwaiters wear tuxedos. I'm betting that many of the true elite (you know, that 1% of Americans who own one third of the country's wealth) don't feel it necessary to play dress-up to remind themselves of their privilege.

[Sky Sweet]

Is it okay to wear a dressy cocktail dress on formal nights? I don't own a floor length gown (other then old bridesmaid dresses that will never see the light of day again) and I really can't afford to go all out and splurge on a new wardrobe. I do have several killer black/red/blue cocktail dresses though.

 

Hi Branwen :)

 

A lot of passengers wear a dressy cocktail dress on formal night and many of them look much more chic than the passengers who are wearing formal gowns.

 

Your cocktail dresses sound perfect :)

[hawt1]

hawt1 - wear the jacket to dinner and then put it in your room when you go to the casino. I feel that you should wear the jacket in the nightclub while watching the show but you don't have to. I just don't like being all dressed up and sit next to someone wearing jeans and a jersey which has happened.

If you wear the jacket into the dining room and then you get warm, take it off and hang it over the back of your chair.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I do need to note that jeans and a jersey are a far cry from what I had indicated to be what I might wear which was dress pants and a long sleeve shirt (and perhaps a tie).

 

As for getting hot and taking off my jacket, let me know which would be more offensive to you: the outfit I indicated to be my alternative as noted above or (if I wait too long to take off the jacket) the reality of a perspiration stained shirt being beside you for the remainder of the dinner. (YIKES)

[Fogfog]

Good point. While I adhere to and enjoy dress codes, the idea that putting on certain items of clothing is a way to "join the elite" (as another poster put it) is pretty darn silly. Steve Jobs always wears jeans and a black turtleneck. Headwaiters wear tuxedos. I'm betting that many of the true elite (you know, that 1% of Americans who own one third of the country's wealth) don't feel it necessary to play dress-up to remind themselves of their privilege.

 

I agree

 

Lets face it--putting on a wrapper does not make one different inside...

nor does it change your socio ecomic status nor your own accomplishments.

 

My late father in law--born the son of a share cropper worked all his life starting at age 4...When he died, he had been a statesman and a selfmade millionaire...and touched thousands of lives...making them far better. He was most comfortable in slacks, great boots and a comfortable shirt but he also could look so handsome in a tux if the occassion called for it.

 

The point is--its about how you feel about yourself first----and there is nothing wrong with dressing for an occasion and I really enjoy the opportunity when it arises...Its a nice change from my soccer-mom gear

....and many enjoy that opportunity.

 

It doesn't make you more or less of who you are; no more educated, nor more wealthy nor more thoughtful and kind.

[NorCalCruiseGuy]

Hi Paul:) I guess it should be noted:

"Alternative Dining" located where the buffet is set up during the day.

But that is an awfully long explanation;)

 

Lois,

You're right. This usually gets people very confused, especially first time Celebrity cruisers because they think it is a dinner buffet.

Leaving tomorrow for South America. I'll try to post a review in a few weeks when we return.

 

Paul

[scgirl816]

I agree...I think it's all about how you feel in what you wear. I, for one, like dressing up and like seeing my husband dressed up. But if I hated it, I would choose somewhere else to eat where I could wear something that would make me more comfortable.

[Lois R]

Lois,

You're right. This usually gets people very confused, especially first time Celebrity cruisers because they think it is a dinner buffet.

Leaving tomorrow for South America. I'll try to post a review in a few weeks when we return.

 

Paul

 

Paul, have a fantastic time:D :) :D

Wishing you smooth sailing, in all the ways that count the most!

[Karynanne]

Good point. While I adhere to and enjoy dress codes, the idea that putting on certain items of clothing is a way to "join the elite" (as another poster put it) is pretty darn silly. Steve Jobs always wears jeans and a black turtleneck. Headwaiters wear tuxedos. I'm betting that many of the true elite (you know, that 1% of Americans who own one third of the country's wealth) don't feel it necessary to play dress-up to remind themselves of their privilege.

 

 

I wonder if Steve Jobs were invited to a black or white tie affair...would he arrive in jeans and a turtleneck? I would hope that he wouldn't be that disrespectful of the occasion, just because he had a few more coins in his pockets.

 

I do not feel that the dresscodes have anything to do with socio-economics...it's about respecting the decorum of the hosts...and in this case, Celebrity is hosting the events.

[shepp]

I wonder if Steve Jobs were invited to a black or white tie affair...would he arrive in jeans and a turtleneck? I would hope that he wouldn't be that disrespectful of the occasion, just because he had a few more coins in his pockets.

 

I do not feel that the dresscodes have anything to do with socio-economics...it's about respecting the decorum of the hosts...and in this case, Celebrity is hosting the events.

 

 

Well, not to get into the old dress-code wrangle - like I said, I like dressing up. But it seems silly to me to believe that dress codes aren't all tied up in issues of social status. What, after all, is a tux except a signifier that the wearer is well-heeled enough to own and maintain (or at least rent) an outfit especially for foo-foo social occasions? Then there's "country club casual." It's fine to come to dinner looking like you just played a round of golf - originally an upper-class pursuit - but not to wear jeans, which were originally working-class garb.

 

And while a wedding or a funeral are "decorous" occasions, I'm not sure what adds decorum to shipboard formal nights except a consensus that we'll all dress up for it. Surely not lobster tails or the oh-so-decorous Baked Alaska cha-cha. Heck, does a corporation even have decorum?

 

Neither do I know what Mr. Jobs wears to bar mitzvahs. But I have the sneaky feeling that if he showed up for formal night on the Infinity in his black turtleneck, he wouldn't be turned away.

[gillianrose]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I already suspect that we and our friends will be in the minority based on age and each of our families taking our children out of school for two weeks to do this cruise!

 

Is there no regularly scheduled school break which permits you to cruise with your children without taking them away from their education?

 

Aside from the importance of raising well-educated children, schools lose money for each day a child does not attend school, and that hurts everyone.

[Drew B]

Aside from the importance of raising well-educated children, schools lose money for each day a child does not attend school, and that hurts everyone.

 

 

I can't speak to the monetary issue, but I personally feel that children get more educational value out of travelling and being exposed to all different types of people than they get from the average two-week stretch in school.

[NorCalCruiseGuy]

[quote name='Drew B']I can't speak to the monetary issue, but I personally feel that children get more educational value out of travelling and being exposed to all different types of people than they get from the average two-week stretch in school.[/quote]

Seems to me they could be getting that educational value during their three or four months of vacation during the year, rather than during the time they should be in class.
My sister-in-law is a 4th grade teacher, and it is unbelievable what the parents say when they take their Einstein's out of school for a week or two. "You aren't going to be teaching much that week, are you?" "It isn't fair that they'll have a test the week after they get back" , "Aren't you going to write out a summary of what they'll be missing? or "It isn't fair that you hold my child accountable for the work they'll be missing."
But then again, they'll just blame the teacher when their child fails to make the grade.

[Lois R]

Talk about a change of topics;) from how we dress for dinner
to taking kids out of school.....now that is a topic all on its own...
as I go running for cover------------>

[Drew B]

[quote name='NorCalCruiseGuy']Seems to me they could be getting that educational value during their three or four months of vacation during the year, rather than during the time they should be in class. [/quote]


I'm not a parent, so I can't speak from that side. However, when I was a kid, my parents took me out of school for vacation. School vacations didn't fall at a time of year that my father could get away due to his job. If not for taking us out, we never would have had family vacations. Instead, we missed a week of school every other year. Not a big loss... I don't believe we ever asked the teacher to do anything extraordinary for us. Maybe we asked for the pages of reading and the homework ahead of time (I seem to remember doing some schoolwork on vacation). It just wasn't a big deal and my grades (nor my education) never suffered.

I think that school has become SO regimented and crazy stiff. Even Kindergarten. It was much more loosey-goosey when I was a kid.

[dkjretired]

I have taken my kids out for a couple of days when they were in school to go on vacation but not for a week or ten days. Quite frankly, I don't have very much confidence in the educational system when they are graduating high school without being able to read and write so why not take them out of school. Been to a supermarket lately, the kids today can't make change without being told what to do by the register. This is the rule, not the exception.

[gillianrose]

[quote name='Drew B']I can't speak to the monetary issue, but I personally feel that children get more educational value out of travelling and being exposed to all different types of people than they get from the average two-week stretch in school.[/QUOTE]

There is no reason that it needs to be an either-or predicament. There are a lot of school breaks during the year that are available for vacations.

I have not looked at the itinerary of the OP, but while I think that travel to foreign destinations with extensive interaction with foreign languages, foods and cultures adds exceptional educational value on top of a solid school education, I think the average cruise does nothing of the kind.