Silversea Whisper Med Cruise - Tux or not to Tux?

Hi, we are on the 10-day Venice to Athens cruise in September. So far one formal night is listed.

Yes - another dress code question - but kind of the opposite of what most people want to know.

We like dressing up and I am wondering how many couples still do a long gown/tux combination?

Or would a long gown for me (already have one picked out :D) and dark suit for DH be best?

I know the trend is towards more casual, but has it gotten to the point yet where we will be out of place if we go actual formal on formal night?

Haven't been on a mainstream SS ship since 2014 (one of them was a Med cruise), but we always dress this way for formal nights. Back on the Wind in two months and we'll bring a tux and evening gown for formal night. We have never felt out of place dressing that way. You should not either.

I think we are on the same cruise! We only have the one formal night, the day we are at sea. As much as I also enjoy dressing up, we are re-thinking it for this cruise based on previous experience. DH will be wearing a black suit, no tux. I am not sure what I will be wearing as of yet. Our last SS cruise, we were the ONLY ones on the ship in formal wear (it was an 11 night Caribbean sailing) on both formal nights. That has made me reluctant to get as dressed up, and to pack the extras for this upcoming cruise. Especially since it is only one night. Also, we are staying in Venice for 3 days and in Athens for 4 pre and post cruise, so dragging around extra luggage is a serious consideration for us.

We are on Silver Wind. Different cruise. I have heard that Caribbean cruises are less formal but have never done one with SS.

We will fit our stuff into two carry on size bags because we also don't like dragging extra luggage.

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We recently did a 7 night Rome to Barcelona in May and there was one formal night. I wore a stunning electric/midnight blue velvet tux and my partner wore a normal DJ and despite having to get dressed in the dark, we didn’t feel overdressed at all. There were certainly more people in evening dress and ladies in beautiful dresses and gowns than not.

I understand about the dragging the luggage thing....been there, done that! However the last couple of cruises we've done, we've treated ourselves and gone business class. You're actually allowed to take TWO big suitcases! Although we didn't do quite that, it was really nice to not have to make packing such an issue. SOOOO.....John takes his tux, extra shirts, I take long skirts, and a couple of long dresses. We don't mind dressing up, if the luggage isn't an issue. Even if you're in the minority, I think you'll find more people who will say or think "oh don't they look nice!!" rather than those who think you're out of place. IMO...

Linda

We were on the Muse in March in the Caribbean. There were two formal nights and there were some tux's, in fact I saw a few on non formal nights. I didn't see anyone not following the prescribed dress however most were suits and some jacket and tie. I would say do what makes you happy!

I know the trend is towards more casual, but has it gotten to the point yet where we will be out of place if we go actual formal on formal night?

We’re like you and love dressing to the nines. On our 9-day Athens to Rome voyage a few weeks ago, one-third wore tuxes, one-third dark suits, and one-third dark sport jackets with dark slacks.

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I think we are on the same cruise! We only have the one formal night, the day we are at sea. As much as I also enjoy dressing up, we are re-thinking it for this cruise based on previous experience. DH will be wearing a black suit, no tux. I am not sure what I will be wearing as of yet. Our last SS cruise, we were the ONLY ones on the ship in formal wear (it was an 11 night Caribbean sailing) on both formal nights. That has made me reluctant to get as dressed up, and to pack the extras for this upcoming cruise. Especially since it is only one night. Also, we are staying in Venice for 3 days and in Athens for 4 pre and post cruise, so dragging around extra luggage is a serious consideration for us.

CruiseCat - ours is the September 6th cruise - is that the one you are on? If so, great! I wonder if the destination - Caribbean vs Mediterranean has anything to do with number of guests dressing up?

I did already tell my DH that he is limited to two Hawaiian shirts since this isn't a Caribbean cruise - he has a whole wardrobe of them :D

Absolutely not! You will fit right in.

 

We’re like you and love dressing to the nines. On our 9-day Athens to Rome voyage a few weeks ago, one-third wore tuxes, one-third dark suits, and one-third dark sport jackets with dark slacks.

 

 

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Stumblefoot - thanks for the info. I think DH will either bring a tux or his nicest black suit. We really do love dressing up once or twice during the cruise - especially since cruises seem to be the only time we get around to taking nice photos!

Yes, we are on the same sailing. We are very excited about it. DH is still not bringing his tux. After our last SS cruise, I just can’t convinced him. I’ll decide how formal I’m going about a week before we fly out. 😃

DON'T TUX! You'll be absolutely fine.

Last month in the eastern Med I wore a white dinner Jacket and darling wife had a beautiful cocktail dress not a long gown. 2 other couples we traveled with 1 had a black tux, one dark suit. plenty of people had tuxes.

Thanks, good to know we won't be out of place if we dress up.

We went on a RCL cruise at Xmas with family (yep - never again!) and there were more jeans than dresses in the dining room.

Looking nice is NEVER out of place! Go for the tux and the pretty dresses!

I was toying with digging out my old bum freezer / monkey jacket mess jacket, complete with decorations and epaulettes .... but decided against it, although it would be interesting to see the reaction should I choose to do so [emoji3]

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I was toying with digging out my old bum freezer / monkey jacket mess jacket, complete with decorations and epaulettes .... but decided against it, although it would be interesting to see the reaction should I choose to do so [emoji3]

My RAF mess kit ended up in a skip in Moenchengladbach but if I'd worn it on SS I'd likely be confused with the wine waiter! Especially the tropical kit with the ice-cream-seller white jacket.

My other half always wears a dinner jacket on formal nights. I've been trying to get him into a kilt for years but so far no luck (his family is Scottish).

Wear whatever is most comfortable (within the recommended guidelines). Everyone scrubs up well, in our experience.

To cut down on your luggage, for the gentlemen, a dark coloured suit with a few different coloured shirts and ties (with the white shirt and black tie on formal nights) will be quite sufficient. Through the years, "formal" is getting more and more relaxed.

I love my tux. I probably have had a tux for the better part of 40 years and back in the day wore it a lot. I worked for the US Army as a civil servant for 42 years and there were two to three formal events every year plus formal nights at the Officers Club. My wife still works for the Army so we’re still “in the service” so to speak but as Col Wes can attest to the Army has almost done away with the formal events with maybe only one a year now to celebrate the Army’s Birthday. And all the Officers Clubs have closed or have been turned into basic service clubs or community centers. So it came time to replace my tux and after some internal debate I bought a beautiful black suit three years ago. That’s what I take on our cruises now and while I kind of miss my tux I don’t feel the least bit out of place. A nice white French cuffed shirt and a couple of nice silk ties and I’m fine. I’ve reached the age now that at home I’m much more likely to be going to a funeral that a formal event so the black suit does get used.