Military Mess Dress

[retiredAF]

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?

 

Did the military members of yourgroup wear their uniforms? I hope you had a great cruise!

[BikerAl]

AR670-1

20–3. Occasions for wear

The following are appropriate occasions for personnel to wear the Army blue uniform.

a. On duty, as prescribed by the local commander.

b. For social functions of a general or official nature, before or after retreat.

c. On other appropriate occasions, as desired by the individual.

[BikerAl]

AR670-1

20–3. Occasions for wear

The following are appropriate occasions for personnel to wear the Army blue uniform.

a. On duty, as prescribed by the local commander.

b. For social functions of a general or official nature, before or after retreat.

c. On other appropriate occasions, as desired by the individual.

 

I am really confused, I thought this posted after about the fourth post in this thread, but it just showed up now. After reading other posts, I am going to have to do some further research, but above is what I found in the AR.

 

Al

[Coll101]

Another Coast Guard wife here...DH has 24 years in & still going:)

Anyway, I WISH my DH would wear his dress uniform for the cruises we take, but, like a few people have said, he doesn't want to stand out so to speak...+ he says, he is on vacation and does not want to bring his "work" with him....:)

[odblnt]

AR670-1

20–3. Occasions for wear

The following are appropriate occasions for personnel to wear the Army blue uniform.

a. On duty, as prescribed by the local commander.

b. For social functions of a general or official nature, before or after retreat.

c. On other appropriate occasions, as desired by the individual.

 

 

I think that "c" is what covers this situation.

 

(Can't fit into mine now days. Retired life is good.)

[BikerAl]

 

(Can't fit into mine now days. Retired life is good.)

 

Retired since 86. Until a couple of years ago and a second etirement I could, but alas, no longer.

 

Welcome home brother.

Al

[Suni99]

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.

 

 

 

O my Terry, you have me laughing my A$$ off here!!!!!!!!!!!!

[canuckgal]

It is the best and worst of NCL- you can wear whatever you want. Everyone needs to choose- tux, military uniform, wedding gown, cut offs, bathing suit, PJ's- and then be comfortable in it, no matter what the person at the next table is wearing. So many threads where people fume about what someone else was wearing. Maybe NCL is not right for these folks.

[CaptainR]

I am a somewhat recently retired Navy captain who enjoys cruising and while on active duty would get comments from fellow sailors like "you pay perfectly good money to go to sea!" Kind of like the army guy who goes camping for vacation. As much as I tried to tell them that the aft end of the cruise ship with its pool and bar nowhere resembled the aft of a carrier with its arresting gear and hard tack surface, I just never seemed to convince any to try it.

 

While active I thought it was appropriate to wear my mess dress on civilian cruises. Did it once after I retired and right or wrong, it just did not feel right to me as I think it is an honor that should be reserved for those currently serving either as active duty or in a reserve capacity. Thus I have not worn my mess dress since.

 

I mostly enjoyed wearing the uniform because other military types would seek me out to converse with me and we got to swap sea stories and such plus there was the occassional free drink from an appreciative civilian.

 

Of course wearing a Navy Captain's Mess dress on a cruise ship had other advantages as in crowded places people would make "a hole" for me believing I was the ships captain. Or the time ship's hostess came running over to my diner table thinking I was a visiting cruise-line captain she had not been informed of. She was so relieved to discovered I was not that she sent over a free bottle of wine and also checked on my table every night to make sure all was well. On the small down side, once while wearing my mess dress was approached by a lady asking where the nearest bathroom was located. Told her that I really did not know but before I could explain I was not the ship's captain she declared out loud for everyone to hear that "Some captain you are when you don't know where the bathrooms are located! I guess we are luckly you can even steer the ship to the next port!"

 

My favorite story of being the ship's captain occurred when after closing down the last bar on the ship (hey I am a sailor) and heading back to my stateroom I was stopped by a senior lady who was extremely excited to see me as she quickly explained that it was her 80th birthday and she had really wanted to have her picture taken with "the Captain". I explained that while I was a captain that I was not "the captain" she was looking for and then made my apologies for the evening. However, she reached out to me and said, "Hey my friends and family in Iowa will never know the differance between you and the real captain." So I posed with her ensuring that my medals where hidden from the camera's view while her husband took the picture. It always brings a smile to me whenever I think that somewhere in Iowa my picture may be on a fireplace mantel with me posing as the Captain of the Carnival Destiny.

 

So for those of you in our military service, do me a favor and wear you mess dress or similar dress while on cruise. It will give me the opportunity to seek you out, to buy you a drink and most importantly, swap those sea stories that just get better as the years go by.

 

CaptainR

[KerCar]

I am a somewhat recently retired Navy captain who enjoys cruising and while on active duty would get comments from fellow sailors like "you pay perfectly good money to go to sea!" Kind of like the army guy who goes camping for vacation. As much as I tried to tell them that the aft end of the cruise ship with its pool and bar nowhere resembled the aft of a carrier with its arresting gear and hard tack surface, I just never seemed to convince any to try it.

 

While active I thought it was appropriate to wear my mess dress on civilian cruises. Did it once after I retired and right or wrong, it just did not feel right to me as I think it is an honor that should be reserved for those currently serving either as active duty or in a reserve capacity. Thus I have not worn my mess dress since.

 

I mostly enjoyed wearing the uniform because other military types would seek me out to converse with me and we got to swap sea stories and such plus there was the occassional free drink from an appreciative civilian.

 

Of course wearing a Navy Captain's Mess dress on a cruise ship had other advantages as in crowded places people would make "a hole" for me believing I was the ships captain. Or the time ship's hostess came running over to my diner table thinking I was a visiting cruise-line captain she had not been informed of. She was so relieved to discovered I was not that she sent over a free bottle of wine and also checked on my table every night to make sure all was well. On the small down side, once while wearing my mess dress was approached by a lady asking where the nearest bathroom was located. Told her that I really did not know but before I could explain I was not the ship's captain she declared out loud for everyone to hear that "Some captain you are when you don't know where the bathrooms are located! I guess we are luckly you can even steer the ship to the next port!"

 

My favorite story of being the ship's captain occurred when after closing down the last bar on the ship (hey I am a sailor) and heading back to my stateroom I was stopped by a senior lady who was extremely excited to see me as she quickly explained that it was her 80th birthday and she had really wanted to have her picture taken with "the Captain". I explained that while I was a captain that I was not "the captain" she was looking for and then made my apologies for the evening. However, she reached out to me and said, "Hey my friends and family in Iowa will never know the differance between you and the real captain." So I posed with her ensuring that my medals where hidden from the camera's view while her husband took the picture. It always brings a smile to me whenever I think that somewhere in Iowa my picture may be on a fireplace mantel with me posing as the Captain of the Carnival Destiny.

 

So for those of you in our military service, do me a favor and wear you mess dress or similar dress while on cruise. It will give me the opportunity to seek you out, to buy you a drink and most importantly, swap those sea stories that just get better as the years go by.

 

CaptainR

 

Thanks for sharing your stories with us, CaptainR. I really enjoyed reading your post:)

[renalrn]

This is a little known ncl rule...

They are only allowed to wear their military dress if they sit at my table so that I can oogle them. I'd buy them champagne, too, but mostly i'd just like to admire them.

[cmdchiefthom]

Frankly, NCL really doesn't really care one way or another what people wear on "formal nights".:rolleyes: I've worn my mess dress on a couple of HAL cruises where there is more of a enforced dress code, and have seen other military members where their's as well. I'm proud of my service, and no one has been anything but complimentary towards me when wearing my mess dress aboard ship. I think its great that your group will be showing the colors.:)

[cruise4kicks]

Thanks for sharing your stories with us, CaptainR. I really enjoyed reading your post:)

Ditto! :)

[CarolynB]

Did the military members of yourgroup wear their uniforms? I hope you had a great cruise!

 

We had a great cruise but our young military members decided to wear their "prom" clothes. The young ladies wanted to primp and they did just that.

[ImpulsivePuppy]

I have net read the entire thread but this reminds me of a story my father told after returning from a cruise. My dad, the now retired Col., who I couldn't be more proud of and sometimes lurks here, was approached by a gentleman on formal night who said to him "Sir, if I had known you were going to wear yours, I would have worn mine!" So, wear them! You earned them, show them off and thank you for your service!!!

[Down-Unders]

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?

 

 

We have seen many over the years, looks great! My brother- in- law was career USAF, we had many happy days at Hickham, enjoy your cruise!

[luv2swim]

On the small down side, once while wearing my mess dress was approached by a lady asking where the nearest bathroom was located.

 

CaptainR

 

The same thing happened to my son--although he was only a Midshipman at the time. :)

 

Thanks for sharing and for your service to our country.