Military Mess Dress

[CarolynB]

How does Norwegian feel about Military Mess Dress on the 'formal night"? We have 5 USAF officers and 1 USAF enlisted going with us on our cruise, would it be ok for them to wear their formal attire on this night?

[Kathylovescruises]

I don't know how they feel, butI would treat you all to free champagne and an evening at Cagneys!

 

Thank your patriots for their service- and let us know if anyone at NCL gives you grief-I will cancel my vacation on NCL if they do!

 

God Bless You!

Kathy

[KerCar]

would it be ok for them to wear their formal attire on this night?

 

They can definitly wear their mess dress:) I have seen this done before on several of my cruises. On the Spirit last year, a young man dressed in his dress blues and his date entered the theater and received a round of applause and a standing ovation from the crowd! Have a GREAT cruise:D

[daldog]

Hi Carolyn:

You are on my sailing so as you know, we haven't yet been on NCL. And before anyone else gets upset at me, I just want to say I am an Army officer's wife. And very proud of my husband. Just offering a different opinion.

 

From what I've read about NCL freestyle and "formal or not" night, I personally think it would be overkill. I know for sure my husband wouldn't be comfortable wearing his dress uniform in an environment where many other people might be in khakis. Different branches of service may have different regulation I guess but Army dress uniform is meant to be the equivalent of a civilian tux with black tie - to be worn to an "event or occassion of ceremony" where everyone civilian is assumed to be in a tux or gown. It's not considered approriate wear for a semi-formal or suit/cocktail dress attire; that would be Class As.

 

So that said, I'd say whether or not they "can" boils down to how they interpret AF regulation. If they themselves are not uncomfortable, I am sure no one would mind.

[terrymtex01]

OK.. I think this is a first for me as I have something to say about every posting on the thread.. LOL

 

I don't know how they feel, butI would treat you all to free champagne and an evening at Cagneys!

 

Thank your patriots for their service- and let us know if anyone at NCL gives you grief-I will cancel my vacation on NCL if they do!

 

God Bless You!

Kathy

 

They would be drunk before they left cause we would do the same. In fact, on our last cruise when we flew out to Seattle.. we were waiting on our luggage and we stepped out to the smoking area to have a smoke.. there was a kid.. well.. a man.. but so young that he was a kid to me... I have to tell you when I saw him it broke my heart that we send these beautiful young men and women over to the places we do to encounter the horrors that they do.. but.. my point is.. I SO wanted to walk over to him and ask him could we buy him a soda as a VERY small token of our thanks for what he does... A beer.. anything.. but I didn't. Me being a gay man, I was so afraid he would think it was a come on and I wouldn't want to offend him that way.. Honestly, it was just I so wanted to say thanks for giving me the freedom I have. Anyway.. to this day I regret not doing it. I often think of him and hope he is safe so that some day I might bump into him again and this time have the courage to say thanks.

 

They can definitly wear their mess dress:) I have seen this done before on several of my cruises. On the Spirit last year, a young man dressed in his dress blues and his date entered the theater and received a round of applause and a standing ovation from the crowd! Have a GREAT cruise:D

 

That would have brought me to tears.

 

Hi Carolyn:

You are on my sailing so as you know, we haven't yet been on NCL. And before anyone else gets upset at me, I just want to say I am an Army officer's wife. And very proud of my husband. Just offering a different opinion.

 

From what I've read about NCL freestyle and "formal or not" night, I personally think it would be overkill. I know for sure my husband wouldn't be comfortable wearing his dress uniform in an environment where many other people might be in khakis. Different branches of service may have different regulation I guess but Army dress uniform is meant to be the equivalent of a civilian tux with black tie - to be worn to an "event or occassion of ceremony" where everyone civilian is assumed to be in a tux or gown. It's not considered approriate wear for a semi-formal or suit/cocktail dress attire; that would be Class As.

 

So that said, I'd say whether or not they "can" boils down to how they interpret AF regulation. If they themselves are not uncomfortable, I am sure no one would mind.

 

Although I do not at all begrudge your husband for not wanting to wear them, just wanted you to know there will be people there in a tux, formal gowns, etc. Some will be in khakis, but some will be very formal. Just know, we are proud of your husband AND of you, no matter what he decides to wear.

[sealuber]

We are sailing on Carnival next summer and I plan on having dh wear his Navy uniform on formal night. I do not want to go through the expensive of renting a tux or buying a suit. I am very proud of his 16+ years in the service and his IA tour in Iraq. Dh might not feel confortable because he says,"This is what I was born to do." He does not see it as something exceptional but I do and I believe that our men and women in the armed services should be proud and not worried how others may see the uniform.

[JLC@SD]

How does Norwegian feel about Military Mess Dress on the 'formal night"? We have 5 USAF officers and 1 USAF enlisted going with us on our cruise, would it be ok for them to wear their formal attire on this night?

 

I think it would be great if they wore their Military Mess Dress.......and I wish more of "our finest" would do it also.....

[AFAMILY]

How does Norwegian feel about Military Mess Dress on the 'formal night"? We have 5 USAF officers and 1 USAF enlisted going with us on our cruise, would it be ok for them to wear their formal attire on this night?

 

If we were on your sailing, WE would feel honored if the military in your party wore there dress uniforms or any other uniform onboard at any time.

 

Like others have said, please thank them all for their sevice.

 

God bless them, and we hope you all have a wonderful cruise!

[ArtieG]

Lets be clear about NCL's "Formal Night(s)". On NCL, with all its freestyle stuff, the formal nights are posted on the dailies for one reason only: To allow those people on board who enjoy getting dressed up for a cruise, whether its a tux or suit, to do so without feeling uncomfortable. On both of my cruises with NCL, there have always been a few people wearing tuxedos with wives/girlfriends in long gowns, and I believe they do it mostly for purposes of having their pictures taken in formal dresswear on the cruise. I must admit, eventhough I dont like getting that dressed up, it does make for great pictures to take home as a memento.

 

With that being said, IMHO, not only would it be appropriate for you guys to wear your dress uniforms on formal nights, but it would give people like myself the opportunity to shake your hands and properly thank you for your service to our country. So please, stand tall, stand proud and blind us with those shiny buttons and medals that adorn your uniforms. It would be another highlight of my cruise experience!!!

[bakerintn]

"Black Tie" is very appropriate for formal night, if you want to wear it. So .. the same goes for military Mess Dress Uniforms. They would (should) be no more out of place than a black tie / tuxedo.

 

Now, the officer's sword may be out of place in a social gathering like this ... but I think that the swords are optional per the dress code, depending on the event.

[daldog]

Although I do not begrudge your husband for not wanting to wear them at all, just wanted you to know there will be people there in a tux, formal gowns, etc. Some will be in khakis, but some will be very formal. Just know, we are proud of your husband AND of you, no matter what he decides to wear.

 

Thanks - that's sweet of you to say!

 

And yeah, I understand some people will be formal, but I also read that some will not and NCL says "wear what you like". So that's why I decided to offer my perspective to Carolyn, because then it's not technically a formal event. Therefore like I said before, not really about what my husband wants to wear, its not authorized for Army (and they're big on that ya know. ;) ) So he would be basically in the wrong uniform.

 

Although he doesn't really like all that attention either and sometimes he even gets a little bit annoying with the whole "looking like a target" thing when we go out of the country.... he did actually wear his dress blues once on Princess but I had to talk him into because it was our wedding and only then because it is authorized!

[CarolynB]

To be honest with all of you, I haven't even brought the subject up to our daughter and her friends to wear their mess dress. I don't even know if the Air Force would allow it. I just wanted to get a take on things before I did mention it to her. They are all on the young side, Sarah (daughter) has been in the military for 6 years. They might want to leave the military out of the cruise and be young free spirited adults.

 

Thanks for all of your thoughts. Yes, I am very proud of her and the decision she made before college to do what she has done.

[smiles365]

Thanks for posting this! DH is active duty Coast Guard and we aren't sure yet if we are going to dress up for formal night or not, but I would love to have him wear his dress uniform! Not sure how much room we will have in our suitcases (flying with the kids to Seattle, then on to LA on our own) or if he will want to bring everything that far, but it's definitely something we will think about. Thanks to everyone else who has loved ones in the service, we appreciate you!

[islandgirlejfan]

Hubby and I dined in Cagney's this past weekend on the Sky and there was a table of four with a gentleman in military dress at the table next to us. He and the party they were in looked wonderful and certainly not out of place. The only thing I do wish is that NCL would enforce the dress code a little better in the upcharge dining areas. I can deal with nice jeans and a nice shirt, but some of these people that showed up for reservations were taking the casual a bit too far. Please pull up your pants.....I mean, what are ya thinking coming to a restaurant like that! :mad:

[terrymtex01]

Hubby and I dined in Cagney's this past weekend on the Sky and there was a table of four with a gentleman in military dress at the table next to us. He and the party they were in looked wonderful and certainly not out of place. The only thing I do wish is that NCL would enforce the dress code a little better in the upcharge dining areas. I can deal with nice jeans and a nice shirt, but some of these people that showed up for reservations were taking the casual a bit too far. Please pull up your pants.....I mean, what are ya thinking coming to a restaurant like that! :mad:

 

Actually.. what I find odd is NCL's dress code for Speciality Restaurants states jeans are always welcome..even on dress up or not night. You would think in the pay restaurants they would want resort casual more than anywhere else. And I can't stand when people wear their jeans where they hang halfway down and their underwear is showing. If I wanted to see your underwear, I would invite you back to the stateroom. Talk about low class.

[noreddye]

I recently got out of the Air Force and this thread has brought tears to my eyes. It is nice to hear such great remarks, it is humbling since all I was doing, was my job. Thank you for the sincere remarks.

[Salsera718]

Hi. I just did a one niter (9/27) on the Spirit out of NYC...there was a wedding party on board and the brother of the bride came in from Kodiak, Alaska for his sister's wedding...he is active duty Coast Guard and wore his uniform. I sent him over a beer (what he was drinking) with a thank you. He came over and thanked me for the beer and we chatted a little about the service. My son (22) is active duty Navy and recently came home from an IA in Afghanistan. Military dress uniforms are proper ANYWHERE. When our service personnel wear their BATTLE uniforms ANYWHERE everyone (well most, maybe some) we support them. You don't have to support the war, just support the TROOPS! If they want to wear them,, have them stand proud! I thank them and you for teaching them that there is a bigger world out there than just their backyards...GO NAVY!!!

[DocJohnB]

Hi Carolyn:

You are on my sailing so as you know, we haven't yet been on NCL. And before anyone else gets upset at me, I just want to say I am an Army officer's wife. And very proud of my husband. Just offering a different opinion.

 

From what I've read about NCL freestyle and "formal or not" night, I personally think it would be overkill. I know for sure my husband wouldn't be comfortable wearing his dress uniform in an environment where many other people might be in khakis. Different branches of service may have different regulation I guess but Army dress uniform is meant to be the equivalent of a civilian tux with black tie - to be worn to an "event or occassion of ceremony" where everyone civilian is assumed to be in a tux or gown. It's not considered approriate wear for a semi-formal or suit/cocktail dress attire; that would be Class As.

 

So that said, I'd say whether or not they "can" boils down to how they interpret AF regulation. If they themselves are not uncomfortable, I am sure no one would mind.

 

I would agree with you on this daldog. While I have been retired from the Navy for way too long to remember uniform regulations, I believe that the Navy's regulations are pretty much the same.

 

NCL's "formal or not" policy, IMO, does not fall under the umbrella of "occasion or event of ceremony". It is the lack of formality that pushes it that way. I, too, would feel uncomfortable wearing my "Mess Dress" on/at NCL's "Formal or not" evenings.

 

There are some other lines where the emphasis is on "formal(ity), that it would be more appropriate. On these lines, I would feel extremely comfortable wearing my Mess Dress.

[huskypup]

I know this thread is realting to NCL, we are both military (UK), and our first cruise in April was on the Oosterdam (HAL), my HB wore his mess dress and myself a long dress, we were amazed the amount of people that came over and shook our hands and some even sent us over a drink - you would never get that in the UK.

 

I am proud to serve as is my HB and we were both very touched by the thoughtfulness of the people on our ship.

 

We are on the Noordam in Jan, and HB will wear his mess dress for one of the three formal nights.

[GophersMN]

I'm retired Air Force. I know of no regulation that would prohibit this(that would be like saying you couldn't use a dress uniform for your wedding).

By all means, if you want to wear it, do so, and with the pride I know you'll be displaying. I'll be on this cruise too and if I see 5 or 6 people in AF dress, I'll buy a round. CHEERS.......:)

[KerCar]

Hi Carolyn:

You are on my sailing so as you know, we haven't yet been on NCL. And before anyone else gets upset at me, I just want to say I am an Army officer's wife. And very proud of my husband. Just offering a different opinion.

 

From what I've read about NCL freestyle and "formal or not" night, I personally think it would be overkill. I know for sure my husband wouldn't be comfortable wearing his dress uniform in an environment where many other people might be in khakis. Different branches of service may have different regulation I guess but Army dress uniform is meant to be the equivalent of a civilian tux with black tie - to be worn to an "event or occassion of ceremony" where everyone civilian is assumed to be in a tux or gown. It's not considered approriate wear for a semi-formal or suit/cocktail dress attire; that would be Class As.

 

So that said, I'd say whether or not they "can" boils down to how they interpret AF regulation. If they themselves are not uncomfortable, I am sure no one would mind.

 

I think the degree of formality has a lot to do with the specific itinerary. Mess dress would probably be more out of place on a CTN or 3 day on the Sky than on a longer cruise. The example I gave above was an 8 day cruise, so on the first formal night (the Captain's dinner) the majority of people on the sailing were dressed formally. All the women in his party wore gowns as did many others. There were many dressed in suits and tuxes as well. On NCL many more people get dressed up on the first of the two formal nights in order to get there picture taken with the captain or formal portraits done.

 

My DH was an Army officer for 8 years and we have been to many formal events. IMO, the soldier we saw on our 8 day was well within regs based on the formality of the evening. My last cruise was a shorter more casual itineray and for that one mess dress would not have been appropriate.

 

To the OP, I suggest if the soldiers choose to wear their mess dress they do so on the first of the two formal nights as the rest of the week tends to be more resort casual. In my experience, when not required to do so some female officers choose to forego their uniforms for civilian dress;)

 

Your DD sounds like a wonderful young woman:)

[cruise4kicks]

DH has worn his Army dress blues on several cruises, and will be wearing his brand-new dress mess blues when we sail the Gem in January. Different people have different interpretations of AR 670-1, but until shown otherwise he'll continue wearing his blues. I've tried to talk him into a tux -- he looks great in one of those, too ;) -- but he sees no point in renting a tux when he's got a perfectly good equivalent hanging in the closet.

[mbisson]

DH has worn his Army dress blues on several cruises, and will be wearing his brand-new dress mess blues when we sail the Gem in January. Different people have different interpretations of AR 670-1, but until shown otherwise he'll continue wearing his blues.

 

Good for you guys Becky! Give your husband our best wishes and thanks!!!

 

And besides, I betcha many haven't actually seen the Army Dress Blues (it's one sharp uniform)

[daldog]

NCL's "formal or not" policy, IMO, does not fall under the umbrella of "occasion or event of ceremony". It is the lack of formality that pushes it that way. I, too, would feel uncomfortable wearing my "Mess Dress" on/at NCL's "Formal or not" evenings.

 

There are some other lines where the emphasis is on "formal(ity), that it would be more appropriate. On these lines, I would feel extremely comfortable wearing my Mess Dress.

 

 

Thanks for posting - I knew I would be feeling outnumbered and wishing I stayed out of it. I should just read and not post. :)

 

Army dress blues is one sharp uniform, and when it becomes the new Class A, maybe it will feel more clear to me. I do agree it's open for interpretation, especially when off-duty in a civilian environment. Once you use the word "appropriate" things do get muddy.

I wasn't talking about any other cruise line - some formal nights fall a little more comfortably under the as "prescribed by the host". For us, NCLs "formal or not" night just doesn't meet the definition of a private formal event and doesn't come close to an occassion of ceremony (weddings do). It's just my opinion.

On another note, I think the support shown in this thread is wonderful.

And I vote for no underwear showing at dinner too ;)

[cruise4kicks]

Thought I'd quote AR 670-1 (page 133) for those who are interested in why there seems to be room for interpretation:

 

24-3 Occasions for wear

The blue mess uniform is worn for black tie functions and corresponds to a civilian tuxedo. The blue evening mess uniform is the most formal worn by Army personnel and corresponds to the civilian "white tie and tails." The following are appropriate occasions for personnel to wear the Army blue mess and blue evening mess uniforms:

a. Social functions of a general or official nature, held after retreat.

b. All private, formal social functions held after retreat.