ggo85

The “main” dress code is published in Chronicles. I don’t see where they publish that Kaiseki is “one step down.” Or even that the Grille is casual, though that seems obvious since it’s outside. I find myself asking at Guest Relations each day. And it seems nuts to be able to eat casual in Kaiseki and then have to put on a jacket to go to the show or a lounge. We do it. We complain only here. But none of it makes sense. So why do we sail SS? Itinerary and timing plus luxury service. Overall, it’s a great product. I do wonder why, if the dress code is so beloved, they have relaxed it on Nova?

One person’s “regression” is another’s progression. Some might argue that men should still wear wigs and women corsets. Most would disagree. Personally, I find it confusing that different venues have different dress codes on different nights. And it’s not published anywhere I can find.

I’m definitely not a kid. 😀 Just back from the tour. All on my bus are headed for pizza. After 4 miles of walking in heat and humidity and 5 hours of bus ride (our choice), we all had the same view as we in our shorts and T-shirts walked past people in their coats and ties: We COULD get dressed for dinner but none of us wanted to. A couple of folks on the bus mentioned that it would be great to have more options tonight after a (needed) shower and quick change. So, I’m at pizza with wet hair, no makeup, and very casual attire. It’ll be fine even if not my preferred choice of food. It was a great tour BTW. No regrets on that point.

This forum is a place for folks to state their opinion. That’s what I did. I recognize that many won’t agree just as I don’t agree with every post that others make. Telling me to “get over it” isn’t all that helpful as it’s my opinion. I will mention it on my cruise review in the hope that SS will consider a different approach where appropriate.

I don’t know about enforcement - only what I observed people wearing. We took on a lot of new passengers (ourselves included) in Hong Kong. Maybe it’s a dressier group. It was also the first (of 3) formal nights. In my experience, formal dress tends to diminish somewhat as the cruise goes along.

There are multiple tours that get back around 6 pm and we’re in port until 11. Why can’t they just do casual when ship is in port and tours return after 5 and informal when ship is at sea or departs port late afternoon? The current policy does make SS less enjoyable to me. Maybe it’s not the right line for us, though we do love much about it. As I said at the outset, this is my opinion and others can certainly have different ones.

Last night was formal on Muse. Based on the venues I visited (Atlantide, evening show, public areas), this is what I observed: Men: Roughly 25% wore true formal (5% tux and rest dinner jackets). More than 60% wore dark pants, dark jacket and tie. Rest wore suits. Women: 5% wore long. 70% true cocktail dresses or slacks and top. The rest wore informal dress, dressed up with jewelry and/or heels.

First, I didn’t know that casual dress was allowed on informal nights in LaTerrazza, Silver Note and Kaiseki. And this is after 3 SS cruises. Where is this published? Even so, you need reservations for all. I didn’t know the dress code was informal until we boarded. Our TA tried to find out prior to the cruise but was told it was up to the individual ship which nights are informal and which are casual. Since I don’t know exactly when we’ll return to the ship (bus ride back is 2.5-3 hours) kind of hard to make reservations. I don’t want to pay $40 pp for Kaiseki - not worth it based on prior experience. I’m not complaining about the dress code in general but rather which nights are chosen for informal vs. casual. And I don’t understand why they can’t publish which night is which in advance.

Below is my opinion. YMMV. Tomorrow, we’re in port. I’m on an 11-hour ship’s tour, getting back to the ship at 7:30 pm. We don’t leave port until 11 pm. Dinner dress is informal. Seriously? If it were casual, I could do a 15-minute freshen up and get to dinner before 8. Informal means completely different clothes, doing hair, makeup. I don’t want to start dinner at 9 pm ever, let alone after a long, exhausting day of touring. Yes, I’m aware I can do Dine Around. Not interested in the menu or eating dinner in my cabin. And, no, I don’t want pizza. What I’d like is some common sense. It’s as if SS is bound and determined to have as many informal nights as possible even when doing so is counterintuitive. Fine on sea days. Fine if port day ends at 4 or 5 pm. Not fine when port day ends at 11pm and tours are out late. It’s standing on principle just for the heck of it. In the end, it’s driving us away from what is o/w a lovely SS experience. Which is ok with us.

The best site for cabin info is Cruise Deck Plans. You’ll figure out the website name. 😀 Agree that benefits for larger suites are minimal beyond cabin size. Free laundry is nice. But it’s largely a classless system.

I think so. We can’t do the car service because they don’t serve our (major) city.

We booked through a Virtuoso agent and depart next week. Will let folks know if we receive a similar communication.

It must have been a different line. Thanks.

I seem to recall on our previous SS cruises that we received an email from SS 7-10 days before sailing asking about our drink preferences, etc. We sail in 5 days and have heard nothing. Am I confusing this with other lines? If SS does this, is my timing right and / or are they even still doing it. Not worried as we can obviously make preferences known to the butler when we get on board -- just curious

Thanks for the help. I have a cheap plan for calling and texting that works in port. And the WiFi on the ship covers everything else. However, I may need to do work calls while at sea out of range of port. Does Cellular at Sea work for phone calls from sea. Is it better /cheaper than paying the per minute fee mentioned above. We will be in Asia on Muse. I have ATT.

IMO, the dress code is more strict for men than women. Women have more flexibility Even on formal night, women can wear almost anything that looks dressy, including slacks with a nifty top. Top could be silk or sparkly. Nice looking jewelry helps. If you stay away from shorts, jeans, gym wear, and casual tops, you’re fine for informal. One step up is fine for formal. Or you can go all out with cocktail or long. This trip I’m bringing nice slacks and lightweight dressy tops for informal. For formal, I’m bringing dresses that are near cocktail but that I’ll dress up with jewelry. It will be fine. I stressed on my first SS cruise. Now I’m respectful of the dress code but also know that I don’t have to bring cocktail or formal to be ok. DH has to bring coat and tie. And yes, I’m well aware that there are less formal venues. 😀

Would love to hear from anyone who has called the US while the ship is at sea outside U.S. waters - and especially outside North America. I may need to do calls for work during my cruise and would like to know: (1) how easy it is, and (2) how much it costs. Also, would love to hear about ability to videoconference while at sea.

Yes. The option to book will magically appear at 120 days.

If I were a server, it would suck. However the overwhelming majority of US workers who depend on tips to supplement their income will never see anyone from a country that doesn't tip. Those who do probably see very few over the course of their careers. I would hope that places that do see a lot of non-tipping customers provide better upfront compensation. If they didn't servers would go elsewhere. As you know, in many countries working as a server or a taxi driver is a career whereas in the US, for the most part, it's a transient and / or entry level job. Different business model in the US. I'm not arguing that the US model is superior. In fact, many Americans are starting to get fed up (no pun intended) b/c EVERYONE now wants tips. Carry out meal -- give us a 20% tip. Go through an automatic carwash -- there's a tip jar when you pay. Tipping 20% is now considered stingy in many places. It is getting out of hand and there may be a backlash. The problem is that Americans have put themselves in a box. Even in situations where tips are included, Americans feel the need to tip. So, including the tip for us only exacerbates the issue. But I agree it is getting out of control.

I don’t know what tour guides who work for companies get paid in the U.S., let alone other countries. Thus, I choose to tip. Not saying everyone needs to do it. As for my comment re private guides, I was referring to those who work alone / for themselves. In the end, we will never know the intricacies of every guide’s financial arrangement or situation. We make our choices based on our culture and personal preferences.

To follow up (and end for me) this discussion, the TA called SS. They said there would be 2 formal nights (not the 3 that are typical for a 14-night cruise). They also said casual vs. informal for the other 12 nights "is at the discretion of the ship." While guys just need to throw on a jacket to go from casual to informal, for most women, the difference is more pronounced: different tops, pants / skirts and shoes. I'm a pretty minimalist packer -- hate dragging around clothes I never end up wearing (other than to account for weather variation). I'll manage (a first-world problem, I know), but s it really so hard for SS to include dinner dress information in our cruise planner????

I tip guides on most excursions, but not all. For me, it depends on the level of service given by the guide -- both in quantity and quality. The nature of some tours means the guide doesn't do much, such as where the guide / bus takes you to a day on your own or to a boat tour, etc. I don't feel obligated to tip in those situations. There is also quality -- everything from an exceptional guide to the downright awful. I'll eagerly reward a great guide because s/he can absolutely make a port come to life. The above said, we usually tip the guide $5pp for a half-day tour and $10 for a full-day. If I have local currency, I'll use it. However, I'm not going to change money solely to tip a guide in local currency. If I don't have local currency, I'll use US dollars. I apologize for not having local currency -- never, ever had a response other than a smile. I figure that English speaking guides deal with a lot of Americans and thus can accumulate their dollars and then change them. It's not perfect, but better than giving them nothing. As an aside, we always tip the bus driver -- more if the driving was arduous or long. I also agree that private guides should include the tip in their price. We used a private guide for a 2-day tour in Israel about a decade ago. It was a fabulous tour with a price to match. I gave a negligible tip. My view is that private guides set their own prices and get 100% of the price of the tour; they should set their prices such that they aren't relying on tips to "earn a living."

I'm aware of the stated requirements based on # of nights. On our last SS cruise, I followed them in packing. However, we had more casual nights than was the "norm." Thus, I overpacked informal and underpacked casual. I'd like to get it right on this cruise so I don't bring stuff that I don't end up wearing (prefer not to dress up if we don't have to). I'll ask my TA to contact SS to see if we can get info for our specific cruise.

Thanks. Sounds as if there are full day tours offered, it’s casual and informal if ship leaves port early. Do you have any ports where you stay overnight? We have several. What is dress code for those?

We are doing an Asian cruise this fall on Muse. On our last SS cruise (transatlantic), dress was (for us, unexpectedly) casual on nights the ship was in port. For packing purposes on a port-intensive cruise, would like to know what to expect. Yes, I know we can alway dress up but don't want to if I don’t have to. Appreciate any insight from recent cruisers on in Asia.