What is Cruise Elegant Night?

[Sailfish]

Could someone explain to me what Cruise Elegant nights on Carnival ships are? I believe they took the place of Formal Nights - a link to more information would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Suzi

[tef43]

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/FAQs/formal_dining.aspx

[Sailfish]

When did Carnival institute this? I am actually okay with it, but it's been a few years since we last cruised with Carnival. I am doing a short three night cruise and was wondering what to pack for formal night! I guess we no longer have to pack really dressy things. The tux and my new year's eve outfit can stay home.

[cathyz]

When did Carnival institute this? I am actually okay with it, but it's been a few years since we last cruised with Carnival. I am doing a short three night cruise and was wondering what to pack for formal night! I guess we no longer have to pack really dressy things. The tux and my new year's eve outfit can stay home.

It started early last year and they've phased it in over time on the various ships. Both cruises we were on last year had made the change already (DH loves to wear his dress shorts on the casual nights!).

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

No more formal nights. Most people dress nicely but certainly not many tuxes. This was DH & I on our 3 day

That was pretty much how most people dressed.

[Sailfish]

Thanks for all the helpful input!

[sing2sas]

Are there still 2 of the Cruise Elegant nights on a 7-night cruise? Would a dress shirt without a coat be OK for a man?

[Sailfish]

Are there still 2 of the Cruise Elegant nights on a 7-night cruise? Would a dress shirt without a coat be OK for a man?

 

I guess with the new dress code, anything pretty much goes! I am no expert, but I believe that the number of nights you "dress up" remains the same - 2 nights on a seven night cruise. On my three day cruise, there will be but one.

 

My husband said he will take a nice shirt and his raw silk jacket - and wear it without a tie. I just have to reconsider my choice, as I was planning to take my strapless black cocktail dress,which I think is too dressy.

 

I think the change is a welcome one, where we are concerned. This inexpensive three night cruise out of L.A. with one stop in Catalina is not worth the effort it takes to pack our suits and formal wear - we'll save that for our cruise in November on Princess.

 

Suzi

[poobears]

A strapless cocktail dress will not be too dressy if you want to wear it. I wear a gown and fit right in. Yes some don't dress up as much but many still dress very nice. Go with whatever you will feel comfortable in.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I agree and how much room can a strapless take in your suitcase? I'd wear it. I wore what I wore because it is wrinkle-free & packs small and I still looked okay in my pants suit. There were a few with gowns but on the 3 day you don't see many.

[thepauls93]

This new elegant night does it replace the Captian's Gala? Do they still have the Captian's Cocktail party before dinner? Do they still serve lobster?I hope so, cause the only time I get to eat lobster is on a cruise and I always have 2 tails. So does anyone know if they have a past passenger party or the special midnight buffets on a 3 night cruise? I would love to know soon as I am leaving this Thursday. Anna

[poobears]

On a 3 day you won't have a past guest party. I think you still have a captains party on 3 day and you should still have lobster on elegant night, we did last year on our 4 day.

[Sailfish]

I appreciate the input very much; Thanks! It was very helpful and I learned something! We have always enjoyed our cruises with Carnival, but going on a three day cruise is not what we normally do. We also have not cruised with Carnival since 2006.

 

I still am not sure what I will take with me on the cruise. You are right that my little black dress won't take up much room, but I also don't want to look out of place, and based on the input I have been getting from friends and from the web, it's a bit more dressy that what one normally would see on this ship. We had a friend recently tell me that people still dress up on 7 night Carnival cruises, but not so much on these shorter trips. We are okay with this; like I said earlier, it's just good to know so we don't deviate too much from the norm.

 

A few friends have told me that these short cruises out of L.A. are going to be really different from our last cruise aboard the Valor; a much younger, more party crowd. They themselves have said they would not recommend we do a three night cruise, but we are fine and know a little on what to expect now. Since this trip was such a bargain, we decided to combine it with a short visit to the L.A. area.

 

Thanks again for all the input.

[Nezmo]

Isn't it when folks wear their leather flip flops instead of the vinyl ones?

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. Don't want to start another dress code war.

[glrounds]

I appreciate the input very much; Thanks! It was very helpful and I learned something! We have always enjoyed our cruises with Carnival, but going on a three day cruise is not what we normally do. We also have not cruised with Carnival since 2006.

 

I still am not sure what I will take with me on the cruise. You are right that my little black dress won't take up much room, but I also don't want to look out of place, and based on the input I have been getting from friends and from the web, it's a bit more dressy that what one normally would see on this ship. We had a friend recently tell me that people still dress up on 7 night Carnival cruises, but not so much on these shorter trips. We are okay with this; like I said earlier, it's just good to know so we don't deviate too much from the norm.

 

A few friends have told me that these short cruises out of L.A. are going to be really different from our last cruise aboard the Valor; a much younger, more party crowd. They themselves have said they would not recommend we do a three night cruise, but we are fine and know a little on what to expect now. Since this trip was such a bargain, we decided to combine it with a short visit to the L.A. area.

 

Thanks again for all the input.

 

The 3-dayers lend themselves to the partier types. No offense intended. They allow that So Cal secretary, along with 3 of her girl friends, to leave their job early Friday, catch the ship, have a fantastic weekend filled with FREE drinks and interesting "introductions";), get to work a "little late" Monday morning. (and no one is the wiser :rolleyes:)

Its fun to watch the lounge lizards at work. :D

[mizLORInj]

Hey Sailfish. Met you on the Emerald Princess Nov 10-20 cruise; I think you hosted the meet n greet.

Carnival board seems nicely relaxed about "formal" which I like. What you wear to dinner does not impact my cruise enjoyment at all. :D I wore a sundress 2 weeks ago for one formal night on Carnival Miracle. Some were dressed up, some weren't as much. It was cute to see little kids in suits though! Sometimes I just don't feel like packing the fancywear. And I'm glad I don't have to and can still enjoy my cruise!

I wanted a change from the Princess megaships so I tried Carnival again 2 weeks ago and am going back to Carnival come the fall since only Ruby Princess or other ships I've already sailed are in the Caribbean for now.

ENJOY! Best wishes,

Lori

PS--leather flip flops--cute, Nezmo!!

[Dubsolute]

For some, elegant dinner means having to wear pants at the table. :eek:

[Sailfish]

Hey Sailfish. Met you on the Emerald Princess Nov 10-20 cruise; I think you hosted the meet n greet.

 

Carnival board seems nicely relaxed about "formal" which I like. What you wear to dinner does not impact my cruise enjoyment at all. :D I wore a sundress 2 weeks ago for one formal night on Carnival Miracle. Some were dressed up, some weren't as much. It was cute to see little kids in suits though! Sometimes I just don't feel like packing the fancywear. And I'm glad I don't have to and can still enjoy my cruise!

 

I wanted a change from the Princess megaships so I tried Carnival again 2 weeks ago and am going back to Carnival come the fall since only Ruby Princess or other ships I've already sailed are in the Caribbean for now.

 

ENJOY! Best wishes,

 

Lori

 

PS--leather flip flops--cute, Nezmo!!

 

Nice to see you around here! Yup, that was me and my scuba group!

 

I am fine with a more relaxed three day cruise - but I am okay with the way Princess does things too. I really didn't notice much difference on how people dressed at night with Princess as opposed to our cruises with Carnival. About the only thing I liked better with Princess (at the time) was Anytime Dining, which I understand Carnival has too now.

[eggypann]

I'm only going on my third cruise so am not an expert by any means but it seems from all the posts I've read that you can either dress up or down. I know I rarely get a chance to dress up so take the opportunity when I can. I've seen really, REALLY dressy and just kind of dressy casual. As long as you are happy, don't worry about what everyone else is wearing! My last cruise was on a ship with mostly Europeans and they totally did it up on formal nights. So dress how you feel and just have fun!!!;)

[ladycaveat]

Actually, I'm really happy about Carnival doing away with their formal nights . . . replacing them with "elegant evenings." As on my last cruise in January, I plan to take a pair of those long black fly-away pants (pants underneath and a soft flimsy flowing skirt over the pants. That and two dressy tops. Worked great on my January cruise. With the weight limitations on flights these days . . . really don't need those beaded gowns that look fantastic but weigh a ton. Tammy

[sing2sas]

I have been taking a pair of dressy black slacks on the last few cruises and pairing them with dressy tops. It all packs light and I feel like the tops give a little variety. The idea of the fly-away pants is a good one; I may have to look for a pair!

[TDD]

I am going on Inspiration for a 5 day. I never get the opportunity to dress up so I bought a beautiful formal:). Am I going to be out of place?

 

Dayna

[kelz66]

I am going on Inspiration for a 5 day. I never get the opportunity to dress up so I bought a beautiful formal:). Am I going to be out of place?

 

Dayna

 

Nope....I take my Tux with me on every cruise.

 

:cool:

 

If it makes you feel good, dress up as much as you want.

[Sailfish]

I am going on Inspiration for a 5 day. I never get the opportunity to dress up so I bought a beautiful formal:). Am I going to be out of place?

 

Dayna

 

If we cruise, we don't do short ones, so our three day cruise coming up next week will be a first for us. And since we have not been on Carnival lately, I am finding that things have changed a lot when it comes to the dress code. For better or worse, it seems at least from what I can tell (by researching the web mostly), that anything goes for formal night on these short cruises. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am getting the impression that people on our three night cruise do not dress up as much as they do on 7 night cruises. Like you, I was curious to see what others here at Cruise Critic would have to say - the responses have been on both ends of the spectrum - some people dress up and some don't - take your pick!

 

Unlike our cruise in November on Princess (a 10 night cruise) I have decided that my usual "little black dress" might be a tad too formal, so I am instead going to take a nice strapless sundress - a palm beach style party dress - and wear it with nice sandals. My husand will also simply take his raw silk beige jacket and pair it up with a nice shirt and no tie - he might skip the jacket. This typically would be our get-up for non-formal evenings on most cruises we go on.

 

We have to wear professional clothes to work, so having to dress up on a cruise to me anyway, is a pain; more so for my husband who lives in a suit 5 days a week. That said, I kind of like the festive feeling of formal nights, as I seldom get to dress up like that. We don't cruise all that often - once a year at most, so this short trip is such a treat!

 

Suzi

[poobears]

I am going on Inspiration for a 5 day. I never get the opportunity to dress up so I bought a beautiful formal:). Am I going to be out of place?

 

Dayna

 

Absolutely not our last cruise was a 4 day and I wore a formal, very glad I did because that was the norm. It varies from cruise but I would much rather be on the dressed too nice side then the too casual side.

 

A lot comes down to you. If you would be uncomfortable being underdressed, take your cocktail dress or formal. No one here can predict how people will dress on your cruise. If you wouldn't care to be more casual, take your pants or whatever you are comfortable in.

 

Or vice versa if you would feel out of place in a formal if only a handful wore them take something more in the middle. I love dressing up on a cruise for dinner so formals on elegant night and nice dresses on casual nights work for me.