How formal are formal nights?

[Travelcat2]

On our recent Alaska cruise, we watched couples (on formal nights) walking into Compass Rose. Some of the men wore a tux from the 50's or when they were 25 lbs. lighter. Still, they were proud of how they looked -- it was wonderful to watch them.:D

 

In terms of "required" formal nights -- it's time for cruise lines to enter this century (JMO)

[Gail C]

At the risk of being a traitor to my gender, I bet that the women are promoting the formal evenings. I got my fill of that in high school and college. The dressiest I get is a silk pants outfit on cruises.

[planner8]

we hope they relax their dress code. - We will follow it as need be - So sorry for anyone being thrown out of a Regent venue. That is terrible but if you know the rules and break them I would hope they would be kind in explaining reason for you to leave. Must have been embarrassing

[Paint Horse]

I hope they make the dress code much stricter. In fact they should examine everyone's luggage before it is loaded on the ship. Anyone without the proper clothing should be left ashore.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Hey, great idea! And on the Paul Gauguin they could keel-haul you if you have a jacket in your suitcase, and no hawaiian shirts!

[orchestrapal]

GailC: Good for you! It is great that there is room service and a non-formal restaurant venue for those of us that don't feel we have to wear formal to impress anyone or to be uncomfortable. Can't wait to see the formal folk without having to participate.:D

[Dolebludger]

I feel that airline luggage restrictions and extra fees on number and weight of pieces will eventually "kill" formal nights, especially on tropical cruises. On European cruises (for example) I have no packing problems on cruises that include formal nights. On these, my CCC clothing do double duty as day wear, and there is no need for swim wear, cover-ups, sandals, tennis shoes, and the like. But on a tropical cruise, the addition of formal wear to all this is just too much for me.

[cruiseyguy]

Formal night rebels should start wearing their powder blue high school prom tuxes, with bursting seams and popping buttons, on ship formal nights. That will kill it off pretty quickly.

[orchestrapal]

You're funny but you're so right!

:D

[larry1365]

They discontinued selling formal wear for a reason--no one wears it anymore except on a cruise ship.

 

Begging your pardon...formal wear is certainly not dead in the larger U.S. cities. In fact, we attended the Grant Park Zoo Gala here in Chicago last evening with 800-1000 people. I'd say 85-90% of the men were in tuxes.

 

Larry

[Travelcat2]

Wearing formal clothing at formal events will probably always be around -- I don't think anyone is questioning that (and, you don't have to live in a big city -- or the U.S.).

 

Fortunately there are no requirements on cruise ships to wear a tux. "Cruiseyguy", many men (usually not women) do look like they are at a 1964 prom when they are on board ship. The suits and sports jackets I see on board are usually much more up to date than the tux's (did anyone read the article where George Clooney was criticized by his desiger and reminded that his tux was no longer in style? -- He was soon "given" a new one)

 

It's funny how styles vary in different parts of the world -- in Malaysia my husband had to borrow a "batik shirt" from the hotel in order to enter the casino. Some people here seem to feel that all men need to look alike . . . sounds boring to me:o

[Dolebludger]

Well, there is no requirement to wear a tux on formal nights on Regent. As said above, a suit, or even a jacket and tie will do. and that is a good thing about Regent IMO. But on a few lines (Silversea comes to mind) I would personally feel out of place with a suit or a jacket and tie. No, I would not be kicked out. It is just that the vast majority of men are wearing tuxes. On Regent, there is more of a mix toward suits and jackets and ties.

[larry1365]

Wearing formal clothing at formal events will probably always be around -- I don't think anyone is questioning that.

 

I think it was being questioned, with the flat statment that "no one ever wears them except on a cruise ship."

 

Larry

[Dolebludger]

larry:

 

In many parts of the country, it is true that one does not wear a tux to very many occasions other than a cruise. This is very true here in Oklahoma. I have attended parties at our Governor's mansion where the most formally dressed men wore sports jackets and ties. In other parts of the US, I know there are many more opportunities to wear a tux, and that is great. But here, one would be out of place with a tux at many occasions where, in other areas, tuxes would be the norm.

 

I don't feel that the matter of "tuxes for formal nights" is the real issue here. If, for example, there were a cruise that I wanted to take that had every night as formal night, packing for the airlines' rules would be easy -- especially if it were not a tropical cruise. For evening, I would just take my tux, along with different light weight shirts and accessories, and some slacks and sport shirts for day wear. Heck, I could probably get by with just one pair of shoes! It is on cruises where I need formal wear, AND a sports jacket, AND slacks and sports shirts, AND shorts and "T" shirts for day wear, AND swim wear and cover ups that I have trouble packing to meet the airlines requirements.So it is not what the dress requirement are, but the number of them, that is the problem.

 

I have a picture on my wall at home of some people boarding for a "crossing" with steamer trunks being carried by porters. Undoubtedly, there were a good number of dress requirements on that ship, dictated either by ship's rules, or by conditions. But those folks had their large trunks to carry clothing for all these needs, and porters to carry them. Now, both porters and steamer trunks are things of the past. Those trunks wouldn't meet airline size limits (not to mention weight limits). And there are no porters for hire anymore.

 

I personally advocate a single evening dress code for any sailing. I really don't care what it is, and if it is "formal" that's fine as I really like wearing my tux. But multiple dress codes for evening set by the ship, plus the clothing for day wear required by the nature of the cruise result in having to pack too many types of clothing for our convenience, and to comply with the airlines' rules (which seem to change daily).

[count florida]

My niece is being married in Syracuse next month, and has requested "Black Tie" on the invitations, though she did make it optional. I thought that was a good excuse to ditch this affair, but no, even though it is the second wedding in her family THIS YEAR[!], we’re still going, according to "She Who Decides". And we will accommodate the bride. She wants black tie, she'll get black tie. But not much else, as in "lightly dressed" (not in being cheap on the gift - "She Who Decides" controls that aspect, and I'm quite happy to let her). The affair is being held in a tent, a large, very fancy tent, but most assuredly not adequately air-conditioned, if at all, for goodness sake. This may well get me exiled from the family, but I've been the 'black sheep' all of my life, and therefore used to ostracism and other forms of derision.

 

No, unfortunately formal gear is still with us in many areas, and cruising with Regent and other luxury lines is one of them. I expect it will become a differentiating factor cruise lines will boast about and some people search out. It was one of, although not a key factor, that caused us not to take Regent’s very good triple back-to-back executive participation Med offer this Oct-Nov (Istanbul-Athens-Monaco-Rome). Even with the included business class air, it’s a big hassle, and a lowly F or G cabin is considerably over $1,000 bucks a day per couple. Too much! The straw that really broke the camel’s back is the air hassles, though. I just don’t want to deal with them, so we look for cruises that begin or end near here. Or cancel and stay home. You weigh things and decide. If we have to go by air, and the cruise includes formal nights, that’s a negative.

[fPetrarca]

While it is still possible to find occasional uses for formal wear in "real life" (weddings & charity balls) I'm aware of no restaurant anywhere that requires it except, perhaps, on New Year's Eve. In fact, few restaurants even require a jacket or tie any more. And many, even high-end ones, allow nice jeans. So cruise dress codes really are out of step with modern society. At the same time, I realize many people enjoy cruises because they offer a feeling of elegant leisure that doesn't exist in everyday life. However, if the cruise lines are to grow (or even survive) they are going to have to also appeal to upcoming generations that have grown up with casual "everything." Add to that the increasing hassle and cost of air travel with luggage and clearly the multiple dress codes cannot endure. The real questions is "what next?" Apparently Celebrity is trying to address that issue by eliminating the middle code-"Informal"--i.e., coat and tie--and keeping Formal and Dressy Casual. I expect other lines to experiment with different approaches, based on their passenger profile and feedback.

[Dolebludger]

count florida:

 

Your post is spot on! The aggravation of being required to pack for a large number of "codes" and requirements of nature in the area to be visited may not be that bad in itself, but combines with other negative factors. These include doubled cruise fares over the last four years or so. They also include poor, unreliable air service at greatly increased fares and hassles. Finally, negative factors include luggage weight and number limitations that seem to get worse daily. We live right in the center of the US, where even flying to one of the US's coastal areas involves at least one plane change. At some point, one just says "the heck with it all" and searches for domestic travel opportunities where fewer points of aggravation exist. Example: our next vacation will be next month to a nice new rented beach house in Destin for a week. With other family members going, per diem will be $43 for lodging. Rental car at about $200 for the week. Full kitchen and local retail stores should keep our food and spirits bill to a minimum, and no need to pack beyond shorts,shirts, and swim wear.

 

The need to take and wear a tux is not, by itself, a deal breaker on any contemplated cruise for most of us. But this requirement, combined with all the other hassles mentioned above may well be, and are deal breakers in my case.

 

In an obvious effort to reduce air travel hassles, Regent has launched a private jet service, but doesn't state the prices. I have a feeling "if you have to ask, you can't afford it".

[Lucca30]

Thank you for the responses. The first response that was posted said I would not be kicked out of the dining room for wearing a blazer and tie. Thank you. That was the answer that I needed.

 

I would guess that some of you who responded did not read my post carefully. As any good forth or fifth grade teacher would tell some of you go back and read it again. To those of you who said that I had to wear a suit to the embassy, please look at my post again where I said I asked what I should wear and what I was told. Same for the wedding at Claridges.

 

Another way of addressing the "dress code" is asking why, if men are required to wear black tie, why are not women required to wear a long dress or what are called "evening gowns" in America?

[Paint Horse]

Good idea for all of the anti-formal folks. A nice solution to this intractable problem.

[wripro]

Women are not REQUIRED to wear evening gowns because the equivalent for a man would be white tie and tails. The equivalent to black tie is cocktail dress or long dress. (I believe that tuxedos were once considered semi formal) It's all semantics anyway. Wear what you want and enjoy your cruise!

[PennyAgain]

As the baby boomers age the prime issue is not going to be the airlines new rules and fees, the cruise lines guide lines or even cost. The prime issue will be how much weight the WIFE can lift to put the suitcases in the car for the ride to the airport.

 

My own limit is 35 pounds per suitcase.

 

I have friends who can lift more.

 

We all got this 'new' job as our husbands have health issues, back problems and bad knees.

 

Few of us have husbands who can still do the toting. Thus things concerning dress codes will change because they will have to change.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Ugh, thank goodness women aren't required to wear evening gowns. The only two of these I ever wore in my life were to two high school proms. Literally.

[count florida]

I've just surveyed the Premier and Luxury cruise line sites re: dress codes. As fPatrarca points out, Celebrity is dropping the intermediate "Informal" evening dress standard effective August 1. Holland-American and Princess have already done so. In general, Cunard and the major luxury lines (Regent, Seabourn, Silverseas and Crystal) retain the three-level standard: Elegant Casual, Informal and Formal. 'Nitch' players Azamara and Oceania have gone for a Resort Casual approach from the get-go; the most you will want to wear is a blazer or sport coat, or a dressy dress, and that really isn't at all necessary.

[Travelcat2]

How interesting -- thanks count florida! Your post prompted me to check Regent cruises. I already knew that our upcoming Med. cruise did not have formal nights (only 7 nights). . . so, I started randomly checking January and February 2009 cruises that were over 7 nights. For some reason, dress codes (at least for the ones I checked) are not posted on the RSSC website. Maybe they are seeing the "light":confused:

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Sorry, but "nitch"? I thought you were an academic, Count Florida? You did put it in quotes, so maybe this is the way Americans are starting to spell niche?

 

Travelcat2, I think they leave the dress codes blank for some time before the cruise, that's normal. Doesn't mean that the codes will change. Although I wish! Considering the south-north repo from Rio to FLL 17 months or so from now--would love it if they dropped formal. Don't mind informal so much, although husband would love CCC all the time.