Ramblin' Ma'am

Sailing Allure of the Seas in a few weeks. When I sailed Royal Caribbean about 10 years ago, I would always wear a tux on formal nights. Then I slipped to a suit - even though I adhered to the suggested dress for men, many men just had a collared dress shirt, no coat, no tie. Yesterday I called Royal - and the rep said I MUST wear a tux or suit - or I would have to eat at the Windjammer. I have seen dress become more relaxed through the years, but is this now true? I know this is a beat to death topic, but those who have recently cruised, please advise. It is not as much a matter of what I want to wear or not, but making packing easier since we are flying to FLL. Please advise - thanks for your help!

Definitely NOT true. On my cruise last month, probably less than 50% of the men wore suits on formal night.

I know everyone has their own opinions of what SHOULD be worn, but as far as whether you will be banned from the MDR, absolutely not.

I think this is another case of phone reps just reading from a script.

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Thank you Rambling Ma'am. I booked this cabin on the Symphony for a TA. Was a little nervous. It will do nicely. & the price was great. :)

Oops! I thought I replied to this last week! Glad you booked the cabin and got a good price!

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I cruised on Harmony with a group of friends, but I had my own cabin, and so did the other single woman in our group. She had an oceanview studio so I came by one day to check it out. The window is huge!! It was described as a "porthole," but was actually a huge circular window. While the cabin was definitely small, the bathroom was about the same size as in a standard cabin.

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Yes, this happened to me after a solo trip to Scotland. I suspect I fit the profile of a drug smuggler as I was in my 20s, traveling alone, and casually dressed. I made it through security at Edinburgh Airport with no problem, then was pulled aside at the gate as I was about to board. Got a patdown in front of all the other passengers, and was then let go with no apology or explanation.

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Yes! Hand soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion and shower gel! It was really nice not needing to pack that stuff.

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I'm sorry. But if I can go to a four star steak house in my area and dine in the same room as men wearing jeans and shorts, and women dressed equally casually then I don't see any reason why some people have a cat at the idea of seeing shorts in the MDR. Especially when the quality of the food and service is on par with a typical family restaurant chain.

 

If you are so sensitive that having someone in shorts sitting across the room will ruin or materially take away from you "dining experience" then you, imho, need to either get help or book on a luxury line.

Amen to this whole post! I don't personally wear shorts to dinner, but I do wear jeans and I don't give a fig what anyone else wears! As you say, it's not a luxury line. You'd think the Dreamworks characters walking around would clue people in.

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I also ate in a dining room a few times for breakfast and lunch, and again, I was always seated by myself, even when I said I preferred to share. This is different from my experiences on other ships where they just fill in big tables at breakfast and lunch and you're always sitting with others unless you specify you want a table alone.

Wow, that's very weird. Sorry that happened to you. On other Royal Caribbean ships, I had no problems being seated with others at lunch.

I normally do late dining and then stay out fairly late afterwards. The afternoon nap is a must. If I still feel tired in the evening, then espresso or cappuccino after dinner!

Yes. I was on Breakaway in May and we definitely encountered this. Luckily, for popular destinations like Horseshoe Bay, there were also shuttles and vans that wait at the Dockyard. They were $7 a person. More money than the public bus but still way cheaper than a ship excursion!

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Same for me! Leaving on Breakaway tomorrow.

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You can't book IOS shows online. You should be able to book the ice show after you board. For other shows, you just show up.

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I liked the beef tenderloin the best.

Same thing happened to me on Indy last May.

We had late seating, and the table next to us (probably 12 people) would consistently show up 30-45 minutes late. It completely threw our wait staff off.

I saw a couple comments from people who were just on Indy. I was on at the end of May, and noticed that shorts were no longer on the banned list for dinner. Not in the Cruise Compass, not on the signs outside the dining room, nowhere. I wonder if they're trying this out on a few ships. The only banned items were swimwear and tank tops. I did see a lot of guys wearing shorts on the casual nights.

I don't personally feel comfortable wearing shorts to dinner in the MDR, but it doesn't bother me if other people do. That doesn't affect my meal. On the other hand, at the table next to us was a large family who were dressed to the nines every night, yet regularly showed up 30 minutes late. That DID affect my meal since it threw the waitstaff off. I'd rather have other diners be casual but punctual.

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I'm not sure if any other countries are doing this but in Canada we now have the option of selecting a 10yr term ($160)for our passport as well as the standard 5 yr term ($120).

In the U.S., 10 years is the standard term. But really it's 9 years and 6 months since many countries won't allow you entry after that!

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Great to know! Is the Sky deck adult only or can anyone use the loungers? Love to be able to read overlooking the ocean. Thanks for your help!

Anyone can use the loungers.

The Deck 4 space on the Freedom Class ships has chairs on both sides but no loungers. Not sure about other classes.

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The larger RC ships have a Sky Deck one deck up from the pool deck. It has lots of loungers and a bar.

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I booked a junior suite on Harmony for about $200 more than my balcony on Independence last week!

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Prices for junior suites on my Feb 2017 cruise dropped by $1100! So I switched from a balcony to a junior suite!

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It seems that the Harmony sailings are programmed to accept this promo. They didn't raise the prices on Harmony as they did on most all of the others since it isn't suppose to be part of the promo. Hence, the huge discounts on Harmony.

That explains why the balconies and jr suites on my sailing had dropped by $1000!

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I think some people called Royal directly. I decided to just cancel my previous cabin and rebook at the new price since I wanted a different cabin anyway.

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I am on Harmony in Feb 2017. I was booked in an ocean view balcony and was able to switch to a junior suite for only about $150 more for the week!

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I am just getting off Independence today and shorts were no longer banned in the MDR. The only prohibited articles were bare feet, swimwear and tank tops. I don't wear shorts to dinner but a fair number of people did. I wonder if they are testing this out on some ships.

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Shows were okay, not great. Elton John impersonator was pretty good

I'll be on Indy next month and will admit, I just got way too excited about the Elton John impersonator. :)

Yeah, I just love the Eastern runs that call in Labadee. We did the St. Maarten, San Juan, Labadee run on Liberty back in 2009 and that was my favorite itinerary ever. Granted Independence makes it even better by adding St. Kitts on the 8 night, that cruise never seems to fit our schedules.

Independence will do a 7 night starting in May: San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts (but no Labadee). I'm going in a couple months.

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