exbiologist

Good for you.  I kept mine on all night both nights and gambled my butt off at the craps table.  Rock it and don’t look back.  You won’t be alone but you will stand out in a good way

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I'm sure this is your personal preference, but not the experience on the ship.

That may be how you feel, but clearly Princess is trying to encourage a certain ambience and I don’t understand why people choose Princess that don’t want to be a part of what is being encouraged.  The same itineraries, similar ships and features can be found on other lines with less formal dress “suggestions” or no formal nights at all

While enforcement isn’t there, I was surprised by the number of tuxes on my Mexican riviera cruise earlier this month.  The four men in Our group ranged from One tux, one full suit, one vest with tie, and one shirt with tie.  Probably a fair representation of what’s out there. Formal nights were well attended and the piazza and dining rooms were the busiest those nights with tons of people doing photos and looking their best.  And yes, there were a handful of men in t shirts in the dining room. I keep hearing about guyabreras but didn’t notice one on a Mexican cruise.  They don’t interest me either, but I didn’t mind paying $30(each way!  Oh the horror!!) to fly with a suitcase.
 

Wifey did gowns both nights, the three other women wore dresses of varying sorts not pants.  For whatever that’s worth. Oh and one kid in a dress and one in with a clip on tie in our group. 

We like formal nights and clearly weren’t in the minority.  So take that for what it’s worth.

For a more Alaskan meal, do a princess run fishing excursion.  And if you catch a salmon,  they will cook it for you and serve it in the main dining room for about $40.  Or at least they used to offer this.

Regarding wild ungulates (moose, caribou, deer, etc),  I’m fairly certain the whole US has made it unlawful to sell wild game meat due to the history of unregulated market hunting prior to 1900.  Here in Colorado it’s a felony.
 

 I doubt moose do well in farmed situations.  I was served some in Estonia once, and in that case I’m assuming it was from a wild source, but who knows.  I believe caribou (Reindeer)are Still farmed in places, Scandinavia being the first region to come to mind, and you can try that meat some time.  
it’s possible Alaskan native corporations have some other arrangement allowing them to sell other wild game meats, but I’m not sure about that one.  So it’s highly unlikely that Princess would serve those things but you may be able to eat some while off the ship.

Usually there are a bunch of private fishing and boating options on the docks that you could just walk up to

Stupid paper straws on Royal last week.  I just pulled them and drank like a grown up

The CBP stuff probably had more to do with drugs than immigration.  I got offered weed and coke (all with the same script “you want some weed, you want some blow, i take you to the mooooonnn”) 4 times in Cabo by guys selling cigars and once in Mazatlán by a cab driver.

Haha yep, same boat.  I was the guy getting drunk at the back

31 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

@exbiologist I thought folks were much fancier than on any of my previous cruises. I don't recall seeing anyone on either formal night (in the MDR or lounges) that I thought was extremely under dressed. I enjoyed it and told many couples/people how lovely they looked. I enjoyed seeing the gowns and tuxedos. I told someone at work today that I'm not sure if it's due to the difference in marketing or simply the passengers themselves that caused those nights to feel "fancier". You have to keep in mind that while dining in the MDR, I always dress for dinner. The two formal nights I wore dresses and heels. The other evenings I wore linen pants, blouses and heels. 
 

thanks I thought this was at least as on par with my 12 day med cruise on Princess.  If reading too much here, I would have believed that a short Mexican cruise would be less formal,  but the atrium was hopping with well dressed folks on formal nights.  I kept my tux on all night even in the casino, cuz why not?

Also I’m pretty sure you were on the same Cabo sunset boat cruise with my wife and I.  Cuz that looks like our boat and capitan Erick

I was also on this sailing and I’m curious how you think participation was regarding the formal nights, especially coming from non Princess Cruises.  I’ve got my thoughts but I’ll hold off.

Speaking of last weeks Mexican Riviera Cruise, the night life is what you bring to the table.  My group brought some energy to the casino and shut down the craps table at 3 am one night and 1 am the other.  Also it’s always a good feeling when they have to get more money from behind the cage to deal with a busy table.  Casino was busy, but club 6 was deserted.  Crooners has a piano man until 12:30ish.  We would eat til about 9:30 then go party.  If you want to party they will permit it, but not do much to bring the party to you after 11.  You bring the party to a venue.

and yes they shut you down after 15 drinks on the beverage package.  Good thing wives still had room.

I bought my own, and yeah I’m traveling with it and plan to wear in Mexico cruise this week.  They are cheap when you buy used, usually less than a rental costs.  And I don’t mind checking a bag or three when going on vacation.  I get it and have long trips just on a carry on, but spending $50 on a suitcase is meaningless for a $2200 cruise plus other expenses 

If I want a travel experience, I don’t cruise.  I find there’s not enough time in port to actually see and experience what I’m after.  That being said,  I do want to have some stops in interesting places.

So for me, cruising is not immersive enough,  and port days are sometimes done at breakneck speed.  What I like about cruising is the all inclusive floating resort with different views and minor flavor differences each day.  So I love sea days as a chance to relax and plan when I’ve got busy port days.

Not sure how I’m gonna like this next cruise that has 3 sea days and three port days in a round trip.  However I’m traveling with old friends I’ve hardly seen in 20 years so, so it’ll give us a ton of time to hang out and catch up.  Plus Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta aren’t places I’m normally looking for when I travel.  In fact, this time I could care less about the ports and wanted a cool vacation on a cool ship.

This format should work well for what I’m doing, so Yeah I like sea days.

Well I bought a used Jos A Bank for about $50 and it was a little baggy. Having some tailoring done now.  Ordered a polyester cummerbund and pre tied bow tie, those arrived today and while going through my stuff I found my grandpas silk cummerbund and 6 self tied silk bow ties and I’m not even sure what this huge white silky thing is.  Anyway, for way under $100 I’m in business.  Didn’t get patent leather shoes though 

Thank you all.  I actually do want to wear the tux but wasn’t prepared to take something else like a different style or color jacket or whole other suit

7 days, two formal nights in this one 

On our honeymoon cruise they gave us a free sabatinis dinner the first night

Do you wear the same tux more than once on a short cruise or do something different each formal night?

On Royal Jan 4-11 round trip Long Beach to Mexico.  Should I expect the pools to be open?

I’m sailing the same trip and ordered today, but was worried about timing so I sent them to my family’s house where I’ll be staying just prior.

the order I did today for the wristbands said delivery of December 24

Just an update but third download and attempts were the trick it appears to be working now

So I’ve got an iPhone, downloaded the app, entered my information, but not any luck after that.  First go around I didn’t link my booking and every time I clicked on get ocean ready it gave me an error.  I deleted the app, Reloaded it and am trying to now Enter with my booking number and it says there is a problem with the servers.  Called Princess, they gave me the troubleshooting number of 844-525-0942.  17 minutes with them and no luck.  Says someone will call me.  Implied they have problems. 
 

Any advice from here or just let it play out?

cruise is in 19 days

I’ll add that on my Princess Cruise in the Med, there was very good participation in formal nights and on smart casual nights people were still very well dressed, which contributed to a very nice atmosphere

I’d say so. You’ll be in the heart of high fashion country and many of the passengers will be European.

I’d rather take a walk through old town then see the views from the castle. Nothing to really look at on the other side of the river and you can see the funky bridge from other places. But I like old towns. I don’t know what all is included in the two tours, But Bratislava has a a great pedestrian only Old Town.