How many people Actually DO formal Night?

[Fredr]

If you know any professional musicians, they might own tuxes. That is the only reason my DH has one. Some of the 'serial cruisers' on this board own them to participate in formal night.

 

I, however, do not own anything that would be called a gown unless it refers to slumbering. I would have no place to wear it but on a ship at formal night and I choose not to store such an item only to wear it once or twice every couple years. We just don't travel 'in those circles' where this is common attire :o

 

Hello,

 

Now there "serial cruisers" and people who wear tuxs as "common attire"!

 

As for wearing a tux, I wear a tux when we go on cruises because it is treat for my wife to see me dressed up. And I like wearing my tux. I also like wearing cut off old pants to work around the house, my hiking clothes, clothes that I wear to my teaching assignments, or that I wear to church. I do not wear a tux to impress anyone except my DW. What you want to wear in the dining room is your business and none of mine. If you do not like formal nights then go carry your tray in the buffet, but you should not ridicule people who like these special nights as some kind of snobs or freaks.

 

There are thousands of men in the USA and throughout the world who own tuxes for a variety of reasons, and few own them to wear as common attire. And cruises in my experience (24), is a /vacation option that attracts men and women who have successfully managed their finances, so that they can go on two or more cruises a year.

 

Getting dressed up on formal night is not about snobbery or showing off or any other nonsense associated with class or how much money you have. It is simply enjoying one of the traditions of travel by cruise ship with that special person in your life.

 

For those of you traveling long distances and do not have room for a jacket, I have seen some very nice formal ensembles that did not include a jacket (really nice looking formal shirts, dark pants, and so on).

 

Hope that this helps.

 

Fred

[cacruz]

My husband and I have dressed for the crusises in the past and I just bought my dress for our upcoming cruise. I do budget shopping at Macy's when they have the formal dresses marked down of course. My husband wore a suit in the past but this time he has opted to not include the coat (no biggie). We enjoy doing it because these opportunities to look our very best do not come that often for us and we enjoy posing for the camera. However, I don't enjoy passing on some of the pictures, we limit ourselves to the very best 2.

[Texas_Diver]

We love to dress up on formal night.

 

Is it a pain in the neck to pack all of that extra stuff? Yes.

 

Is it worth it? Yes! Some of our best memories are from the formal nights!

 

D.

[krystalkruzer]

Not sure what posts you are reading to reach that conclusion but the VAST majority here state that MOST do participate in formal nights and enjoy them. Frankly, I have never been on a cruise where the overwhelming majority did not participate. Some folks think the food is better (not me) and some like having pics taken all dressed up (also not me). We just enjoy the overall ambiance.

 

However,the VAST majority of cruisers do not read these cruise forums.

[misty57]

I personally don't care about dressing up formally for dinner, but do like to dress nicely. On our recent cruise, we initially decided not to do formal night and to try the alternative restaurants. The ambience in the restaurants was just as " formal" but some wore just nice clothes, which is what we do anyway.. cocktail dress or glitzy top and pants for me and dark suit for DH. We did pack our usual attire and ended up going to the second formal night, but the degree of "dressy" varied from jeans and flipflops to long gowns and tuxes. If your son and DH feel comfortable in a dress shirt and tie, skip the jacket and they will be fine. No one is going to say anything.

[blkspy]

We love to dress up on formal night.

 

Is it a pain in the neck to pack all of that extra stuff? Yes.

 

Is it worth it? Yes! Some of our best memories are from the formal nights!

 

D.

I SAY, LETS GO BACK IN TIME TO WHERE 'EVERYONE' WORE A GOWN AND TUX...AND DANCED TO THE SOUNDS OF THE OCEAN, SIPPED FINE WINE AND MARVELED AT THE STARS.........ANYONE WITH ME???

[tomko2]

I SAY, LETS GO BACK IN TIME TO WHERE 'EVERYONE' WORE A GOWN AND TUX...AND DANCED TO THE SOUNDS OF THE OCEAN, SIPPED FINE WINE AND MARVELED AT THE STARS.........ANYONE WITH ME???

 

YES!

Kathy:)

[GORDONCHICK]

However,the VAST majority of cruisers do not read these cruise forums.

 

But the question was posed on a cruise forum......

[msu11y28]

I liked the idea of getting dressed up for the formal night, but I noticed lots of people that didn't. Whatever floats your boat (bad pun). Wear what makes you comfortable and ignore the people who think formal night somehow "takes away" from their cruise experience (if your level of enjoyment on a vacation hinges entirely on complete strangers are wearing then you have serious issues...but I digress). Have fun!

[Tinkrbell]

We personally love formal night. We like to dress up and people watch. It can be quite entertaining at times.

[wtcruzr]

We tend to overdress on casual night so we never miss a chance so really get dress it up a notch. DW loves it!

[ande54]

Personally, I enjoy it. A favorite memory is the cruise with our young adult children and the wonderful pics. of the evening. It was our last trip as the nuclear family, now several are married and a grandchild has arrived. All good but having the six of us together in our fancy clothes with the girls paying special attention to hair and make-up,everyone using their manners,etc. was a special moment in time that we all look back on fondly. Knowing this was that "moment in time thing" we splurged on pictures and are glad we did!

[Putterdude]

Personally, I enjoy it. A favorite memory is the cruise with our young adult children and the wonderful pics. of the evening. It was our last trip as the nuclear family, now several are married and a grandchild has arrived. All good but having the six of us together in our fancy clothes with the girls paying special attention to hair and make-up,everyone using their manners,etc. was a special moment in time that we all look back on fondly. Knowing this was that "moment in time thing" we splurged on pictures and are glad we did!

 

Further to this, last August when we were on the Mercury for an Inside Passage cruise there was a an extended family consisting of a mother/grandmother, 3 adult sons, at least 1 daughter, their respective spouses and about 7 or 8 children all under 12. On one of the formal nights the whole family got into formal dress, the males in tuxedos and the females in gowns, even the children. Everyone looked so nice and was on their very best behavior, if we didn’t see anything else that cruise we will remember that. Can you imagine the memories the grandmother will have as I suspect they were celebrating a significant birthday of hers? Good on that family!

[TheDMan]

I would like to add my .02. On my first cruise I didn't want to do formal night. I thought that I would just go to the buffet or order room service. Well, I felt like I was missing out as it seemed everyone on the ship but me were dressed up. I swore that I would from then on always do formal night. I have been on one cruise since and I absolutly love formal night. In fact when I go on my hooneymoon cruise in May I'm bringing along my own tux.

[Abear2]

Again I think it's great that "some people " want to dress up on formal night. Yes, they are beautiful ! I on the other hand don't wear all these long cocktail dresses. I am not comfortable in them and prefer to just wear a nice dressy blouse and nice slacks. I don't appreciate it when people say I should just go to the buffet if I can't dress up like them. I have paid for this cruise just like everyone else and if I want to eat in the dining room, then I don't think they should be allowed to make me feel guilty and make me stay out of the dining room. Ok, I feel better now that I could air that out. This is simply my feelings on this matter. It's like they say, I have a right to my opinion.:rolleyes:

[blkspy]

Again I think it's great that "some people " want to dress up on formal night. Yes, they are beautiful ! I on the other hand don't wear all these long cocktail dresses. I am not comfortable in them and prefer to just wear a nice dressy blouse and nice slacks. I don't appreciate it when people say I should just go to the buffet if I can't dress up like them. I have paid for this cruise just like everyone else and if I want to eat in the dining room, then I don't think they should be allowed to make me feel guilty and make me stay out of the dining room. Ok, I feel better now that I could air that out. This is simply my feelings on this matter. It's like they say, I have a right to my opinion.:rolleyes:

you are right, you have your right and you've paid your money......you have a legal right to drink but would you do so in church???? the point is that TRADITIONAL cruising required men to be in black tie and women to be in gowns.....formal night has been lessened in my opinion by allowing men to wear just suits....maybe 2 formal nights per 7 day cruise might be much....BUT FOR ONE NIGHT THE TRADITION SHOULD LIVE.....having said this---if it were my choice i'd have only one formal night and you would state your desire to be involved or not when you purchased your ticket. there would that night be just one formal seating where men wore black tie and women wore gowns or the like. this way everyone would know in advance....as far as a person being banished to the buffet.....if i walked into a room where every one was in formal attire or gowns/cocktail dresses....and i was wearing some thing that would fit in at IHOP......i don't think i would feel comfortable with everyone starring at me......and besides, it's not like FORMAL NIGHT IS SOME SORT OF SURPRISE.....P.S why such large letters????????????????????????????????

[greatam]

This is simply my feelings on this matter. It's like they say, I have a right to my opinion.:rolleyes:

 

You have a right to your opinion. But your opinion is at odds with some of the cruise line REQUIREMENTS/REQUESTS. Others have a right to feel VERY disappointed that you choose to disregard the dress code.

 

The ambiance created by an entire ship formally dressed is what quite a few pay for. When pax choose to disregard the dress code, the ambiance has an out of kilter feel.

 

So please pick a line that doesn't care about the dress code (or eat in the buffet).

[blkspy]

You have a right to your opinion. But your opinion is at odds with some of the cruise line REQUIREMENTS/REQUESTS. Others have a right to feel VERY disappointed that you choose to disregard the dress code.

 

The ambiance created by an entire ship formally dressed is what quite a few pay for. When pax choose to disregard the dress code, the ambiance has an out of kilter feel.

 

So please pick a line that doesn't care about the dress code (or eat in the buffet).

WALK THE WALK...TALK THE TALK.

[momxthree]

we went on our first cruise with our kids and loved picking our dress clothes for formal night (hubby wore dark suit and tie) getting dressed up and doing photos was so much fun, here was our downside I felt overdressed!! In the cruises defense it was only a 3nt, but I was looking forward to getting all dolled up and it felt like very few people actually partaked. We are leaving in 6 sleeps for our 2nd, this time it is short again 4nt but on celebrity (first was carnival) so once again out comes the formal dress this time it is more of a cocktail short black so hopefully this time more people will participate as it is alot of fun!!!

[Putterdude]

MomXthree;

You should find Celebrity much more formal than Carnival and very enjoyable.

[blkspy]

we went on our first cruise with our kids and loved picking our dress clothes for formal night (hubby wore dark suit and tie) getting dressed up and doing photos was so much fun, here was our downside I felt overdressed!! In the cruises defense it was only a 3nt, but I was looking forward to getting all dolled up and it felt like very few people actually partaked. We are leaving in 6 sleeps for our 2nd, this time it is short again 4nt but on celebrity (first was carnival) so once again out comes the formal dress this time it is more of a cocktail short black so hopefully this time more people will participate as it is alot of fun!!!

hello---this is the way i viewed formal night....ANY ONE ELSE AGREE WITH THIS BALANCE?

 

CARNIVAL--25-30% IN TUX

CELEBRITY--35-45%

ROYAL CARIBBEAN--50-60%

PRINCESS--70+%

CUNARD-90+%

[margeecruiser]

My DH and I always dress up for formal night. I wear a long gown and he wears his tux. He bought one years ago and has worn it on many cruises. The last cruise we took I had his tux, white dinner jacket and my long ball-gown satin formal pressed on board. This was cheaper than having them pressed at home and I had no worries about wrinkled clothes. I wish I had done this years ago. I agree the weight of the tux and shoes is a problem for air travel. We are thinking about renting his tux next year when we go to the Med.:)

[cruiserbryce]

I think that majority of people on the cruises we have been on have done the formal night...on shorter cruises you may run into smaller numbers though...we love formal night but on our upcoming cruise on Monarch are looking at likely not doing it...not sure we want to pack the cloths for it, plus there's a port every night and dont want to rush around to make formal night times

[momxthree]

thank you, we are looking forward to it but now looking back thru this topic I'm wondering if my dress may be too informal???

[srlafleur]

I always look forward to formal night! It's like playing dress-up when I was a kid. DH doesn't wear a tux, but does wear a dark suit/white shirt & a tie that is usually planned to coordinate somewhat with my dress. IMHO, it's part of what makes a cruise a cruise. I expect to be treated like a queen, so I should dress the part, no?

If I wanted a more casual experience, I'd go camping or rent a beach house.