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No formal nights!


marylizcat
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We have two five-night cruises booked for this spring and both are showing as ‘5 smart casual nights’. So no formal nights at all. Seems a shame. Our 7 night cruise in December had two formal nights, so on that basis I would expect there to be one. Does it mean no Captain’s welcome cocktail party perhaps and thus they are saving money on the free drinks? Have to assume it is the bean counters doing.

 

Is this a sign of things to come? Are Fred abolishing formal nights altogether?

 

 

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We have two five-night cruises booked for this spring and both are showing as ‘5 smart casual nights’. So no formal nights at all. Seems a shame. Our 7 night cruise in December had two formal nights, so on that basis I would expect there to be one. Does it mean no Captain’s welcome cocktail party perhaps and thus they are saving money on the free drinks? Have to assume it is the bean counters doing.

 

Is this a sign of things to come? Are Fred abolishing formal nights altogether?

 

 

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Hi. I noticed that on my parents cruise too. It's the first time that they're cruising with Fred Olsen, so don't really know what to expect. Which cruise are you going on? What does 'smart casual' mean on Fred ships.

Thanks.

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Hi. I noticed that on my parents cruise too. It's the first time that they're cruising with Fred Olsen, so don't really know what to expect. Which cruise are you going on? What does 'smart casual' mean on Fred ships.

Thanks.

 

On our recent Balmoral cruise, in many cases "smart casual" meant scruffy casual day wear. My usual Cunard smart casual wear was far too dressy and remained in the wardrobe. Expect t shirts and jeans, though some notched it up a bit.

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The extract below is from the Fred Olsen website so it looks like the formals only apply to cruises of 6 nights or more now. I would like to know when that changed as I'm not happy about it.

"Depending on the length of your cruise holiday there will be one or more formal evenings whilst you are on board for cruise durations longer than six nights. This is your chance to ‘dress to impress’ and add glitz and glamour to your dining experience."

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The extract below is from the Fred Olsen website so it looks like the formals only apply to cruises of 6 nights or more now. I would like to know when that changed as I'm not happy about it.

"Depending on the length of your cruise holiday there will be one or more formal evenings whilst you are on board for cruise durations longer than six nights. This is your chance to ‘dress to impress’ and add glitz and glamour to your dining experience."

Well, that is such a shame! P&O have a formal night even on two night cruises. Looks like we shall have to avoid Fred’s short cruises in future and stick to P&O!

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Well, that is such a shame! P&O have a formal night even on two night cruises. Looks like we shall have to avoid Fred’s short cruises in future and stick to P&O!

 

Yes it would put me off them as well. This seems to have sneaked in as I did not notice it before.

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....apply to cruises of 6 nights or more now.

"Depending on the length of your cruise holiday there will be one or more formal evenings whilst you are on board for cruise durations longer than six nights. This is your chance to ‘dress to impress’ and add glitz and glamour to your dining experience."

Slightly different.

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Excuse the ignorance but what is a "British" night please? Jock-strap and gaiters?

 

British night is where you are supposed to wear red white and Blue (a union flag waist coat or scarf for example). On previous cruises we have seen plastic union flag bowler hats and flags for sale in the ships shop. Personally we don't bother with British night and from my recollection we are not in the minority. I can also remember there being a western night on one cruise we were on.

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I enjoy a formal night and the chance to dress up, but if I was on a short cruise and there wasn't any formal night, it wouldn't be the reason to cancel cruising. You can dress in formal wear every night if you wish, nobody is stopping you. Or is the reason you are getting miffed is that you miss out on a free drink at the gala event?

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British night is where you are supposed to wear red white and Blue (a union flag waist coat or scarf for example). On previous cruises we have seen plastic union flag bowler hats and flags for sale in the ships shop. Personally we don't bother with British night and from my recollection we are not in the minority. I can also remember there being a western night on one cruise we were on.

 

Most people don't seem to bother with it these days as it's embarrassing for any passengers on board who are not British. You don't actually have to pack anything to take with you because the entertainment staff will provide Union Jacks for you to wave during the sing along of British songs from years ago. And, owing to health and safety, you no longer have to eat jellied eels between songs. :D:D:D

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I enjoy a formal night and the chance to dress up, but if I was on a short cruise and there wasn't any formal night, it wouldn't be the reason to cancel cruising. You can dress in formal wear every night if you wish, nobody is stopping you. Or is the reason you are getting miffed is that you miss out on a free drink at the gala event?

 

 

 

No need to be offensive! We do not all have to enjoy formal nights! I am not ‘miffed’, just disappointed. And as we have the AI, the free drinks are irrelevant. Merely trying to guess how Fred reckon this will save them money, since it has to be about the money! And I didn’t say I would cancel cruising, just cruise with another line. We have cruised with at least a dozen lines, so happy to go elsewhere. All lines have their pros and cons. Formal nights were one of Fred’s ‘pros’.

 

 

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Most people don't seem to bother with it these days as it's embarrassing for any passengers on board who are not British. You don't actually have to pack anything to take with you because the entertainment staff will provide Union Jacks for you to wave during the sing along of British songs from years ago. And, owing to health and safety, you no longer have to eat jellied eels between songs. :D:D:D

On our two recent cruises, I would say 95 per cent of people had made the effort to wear red, white and blue, so it definitely wasn’t a case of ‘most people don’t seem to bother with it’! Maybe you mean they weren’t wearing Union Jack clothing?

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I enjoy a formal night and the chance to dress up, but if I was on a short cruise and there wasn't any formal night, it wouldn't be the reason to cancel cruising. You can dress in formal wear every night if you wish, nobody is stopping you. Or is the reason you are getting miffed is that you miss out on a free drink at the gala event?

 

I take it your last comment was want in jest as in spite of the fact there is no formal wear night they will still have the Captains welcome etc (we also have AI so makes no odds either way to us).

 

My personal view is that removing the more formal element of the dress code from shorter cruises will change the dynamic and perhaps the mix of passengers over time. Formal nights give a signal that this is a proper cruise and not just a booze cruise on a slightly upgraded ferry.

 

I also like the chance to get dressed up but would feel out of place in a ball gown if everyone else was in chinos and t shirts.

 

The other lines we travel on still have a formal night on their shorter cruises so I do wonder why Fred has made this change?

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I wish they would abandon "British Nights". As said before it is embarrassing for non-British passengers. Some years ago I went on a Far East cruise with Fred. Olsen and they had a "Red, White and Blue" night as there was a wide range of nationalities of passengers aboard. This suited the French, American , Dutch and several others pretty well. Whilst on complaints I dislike the calling passengers guests. Surely if you are a guest you don't pay!!

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Most people don't seem to bother with it these days as it's embarrassing for any passengers on board who are not British. You don't actually have to pack anything to take with you because the entertainment staff will provide Union Jacks for you to wave during the sing along of British songs from years ago. And, owing to health and safety, you no longer have to eat jellied eels between songs. :D:D:D

I can't remember having a sing-along of old British songs on British nights or being offered jellied eels.. Perhaps you are having us on. My OH informs me that we didn't even have a British or any other themed nights on our last 14 night cruise. I do have a Union Jack waistcoat in my wardrobe (it was a gift from someone) but I have no intentions of ever wearing it.

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On every Fred cruise we have been on, where they have had a British night, there has been a singalong of old songs (and I mean old! e.g. A long way to tiperaree) in the theatre. We only went once and found it embarrassing and anachronistic. I think, even with Fred's older demographic, it is out of place.

It appears that the British/red white and blue is the only one they now seem to regularly do, with the occasional tropical.

They did used to have a variety of other themes.

We always enjoyed the rock and roll night, appropriate music was played and the menu was themed with the food given the names of songs.

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No need to be offensive! We do not all have to enjoy formal nights! I am not ‘miffed’, just disappointed. And as we have the AI, the free drinks are irrelevant. Merely trying to guess how Fred reckon this will save them money, since it has to be about the money! And I didn’t say I would cancel cruising, just cruise with another line. We have cruised with at least a dozen lines, so happy to go elsewhere. All lines have their pros and cons. Formal nights were one of Fred’s ‘pros’.

 

 

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How this saves Fred money is something I have been wondering about also. As far as I can see the only difference in the dinner is the chocolate at the end. Surely not a great expense.

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