Formal night - anyone go all out?

[katondeck]

I am all for eating when I want, but I still like the idea of dressing for formal night. About what percentage of people actually dress to the nines on formal night (tux and long gown)?

 

What I am really getting at is if a ask my DH to do the tux thing is he going to what to kill me? :)

 

We are going on the Sun Jan 15.

[TWA4Ever]

We went "all out" twice on our PoA cruise. We were in the minority, but we felt good!

[CastorFache]

Well...I have arranged for my tux to meet me on the ship and my wife has a couple of formal outfits for our cruise...including a lovely red full length gown for New Year's Eve...

 

 

So, I guess, that yeah, I think that people should go all out at least once...come on it ain't gonna hurt to put on the tux for a few hours is it? ;)

[F5Loar]

If your cruise has a formal night (most 7 nighters have at least one and many two) then rest asured many will do full formal thing for that night. For NCL it's one dining room only that does it so you would expect a highter percentage of formals since those that don't know to go elsewhere. We still do full dress to the nines on at least one night on NCL.

[carol louise]

We did two back-to-back cruises on the Norwegian Dawn last spring, and while my husband was in the minority wearing a tux (doesn't bother him a bit because he likes to dress up), most of the passengers made an effort to dress better than on casual nights. Many men wore suits, or at least a jacket.

 

And oddly, we found lots of people dressed a little better than usual (though not formal -- more like "informal" on HAL) on the very last night of the cruise both weeks, sort of as a farewell gesture, I guess.

 

CL

[Globaliser]

On the NCL week I do every year, I always do the formal thing although I have the comfort of knowing that the rest of my group would kill me if I didn't, as they all will too.

 

But we are always far from being alone - I personally love it.

[happytogoing]

Just back from a 5-night on Spirit. Tuxes were in the minority, however, I did not see anyone in the dining rooms dressing casually either. It was all either formal or semi-formal. And it all looked great, suits or tuxes.

 

My other observation is that people were more dressed up than I expected on the other nights (the "resort casual") nights - I actually would bring a few more dressed along on future cruises. Not as many were 'dressed down' as I expected.

[willysgrandma]

If I never had to have a formal night on a cruise again I wouldn't miss it. Wich is one thing I loved about NCL.

 

In fact, after my POA cruise, we've decided any future cruises we go on, we will eat at the buffet on formal nights - no more dressing up for me, I hate it.

[johnql]

About what percentage of people actually dress to the nines on formal night (tux and long gown)?

On my 3 NCL Freestyle cruises, the percentage has varied. Part of it probably depends on the itinerary (e.g., Alaska tends to be more casual than the Caribbean). I would estimate that the percentage of formally dressed cruisers ranges from 25-35%, but that includes suits for men and dresses (not gowns) for women. I would cut that percentage in half (maybe more) if you're restricting formal to tuxes and gowns.

[F5Loar]

If most NCL ships divide the two main dining rooms into one being formal and the other being casual on formal night then it seems if only 25% are doing the formal thing then the other dining room will be overcapacity at 75%.

I know these are not exact percentages as you have those that eat elsewhere on the ship including the Lido buffet and even dining in their rooms.

Is that how you are seeing it? Because I thought if you don't dress formal

(or at least formal by their rather lax formal guidelines) then you eat at the other dining room as you would be turned away at the formal one if you dressed less than required for formal. Is this the way it is on NCL?

[CastorFache]

Well...perhaps I should clarify one of the reasons I think I will be taking part in the formal nights...Our cruise will be including New Year's Eve, which I am assuming will be one of the formal events...sort of a gala ball. I expect participation on our cruise will be a little higher than on a "typical" cruise because of this event.

 

I am actually looking forward to it...which is odd, because I usually do not like wearing a suit of any sort.

[carol louise]

On formal night on the Dawn, many (though I don't think all) of the formally dressed passengers gravitated to Venetian, but nowhere did I read or hear that it was the designated THE formal dining room, and we did see some there who were not dressed formally.

[cpayne]

We love formal nights and is one of the many reasons we cruise. Kind of like a grown up prom. Regardless of what others may or may not be doing on the ship we go all out for both formal nights. Hubbie does a tux and I wear a full length gown for both nights.

 

The trend is for formal nights becoming less formal and I really miss this on all lines. We were on a cruise last year that happened to also be the Harley Davidson National Convention. Formal night the women all wore leather and one lady wore black leather chaps, a black lace thong and that was all!!! Talk about me feeling overdressed! Really diminishes the atmosphere for those of us that look forward to these evenings!

 

I say go for it!

[WaxonWaxov]

We went "all out" twice on our PoA cruise. We were in the minority, but we felt good!

I really enjoyed the South East Alaskan Coast and Juneau when I went there by sea in 1991.

 

Too bad the ship I was on hed the prefix U.S.S. in it's name. ;)

[johnql]

If most NCL ships divide the two main dining rooms into one being formal and the other being casual on formal night then it seems if only 25% are doing the formal thing then the other dining room will be overcapacity at 75%.

I know these are not exact percentages as you have those that eat elsewhere on the ship including the Lido buffet and even dining in their rooms.

Is that how you are seeing it? Because I thought if you don't dress formal

(or at least formal by their rather lax formal guidelines) then you eat at the other dining room as you would be turned away at the formal one if you dressed less than required for formal. Is this the way it is on NCL?

You pretty much answered your own question about the percentages. The other main dining room(s) are not the only places to eat. Depending on the ship, there are multiple alternative dining venues (the bare minimum would be the buffet, Le Bistro, an Italian specialty restaurant, and room service). The newer ships have many more, including more than just one other main dining room. Also, not every ship designates a formal room. Finally, as others have pointed out, NCL will not refuse entry to a non-formally dressed cruiser at the designated formal dining room. Usually the staff will point out or remind the cruiser that the room is intended to be formal, but I believe that if the cruiser still wants to dine there, then he would be permitted to enter.

 

Of course, my percentages are broad estimates and I'm sure the numbers vary from ship to ship and sailing to sailing. I'm pretty sure a New Year's Eve cruise would definitely attract a higher percentage of formal dress. But I'd be surprised to hear about any other NCL Freestyle cruise where over 50% of the cruisers dressed formally, especially as defined by the OP as tuxes and gowns.

[OceanDreams]

I really don't get out and do much at home so when I'm cruising I love to dress up. Right after dinner and after checking out the show we will go dancing. We have even been known to go change into casual clothes to do our all night dancing.

 

OceanDreams