SEABOURN Dress Codes

[my crow's nest]

I think that it is very interesting that so many people blame the dress code for the different sort of clientele. I think that it has more to do with Seabourn ( and many other upscale lines as well ) offering greatly discounted rates. I think it is the price that attracts a "different" sort of cruiser. But, why shouldn't everyone have a chance to have a wonderful Seabourn experience? Personally, I enjoy formal evenings for the same reasons as everyone has mentioned. But, times are changing and we must change with them. Even Le Cirque in New York welcomes men in jeans with a sports jacket sans tie. A man can be as elegant in casual attire as he can in a suit. The key word is "style". Not matter what the line suggests, I will always bring along a suit/and or sport jacket with lots of ties. And if there is a formal night option, I'll bring evening clothes as well. ( Remember when you also had to bring a long a costume?) And for those who want to really dress up, try the Europa, the most elegant ship afloat. On a two week cruise from Cairns to Manila, 99% of the men wore a jacket and tie EVERY night which complimented the women who were most elegant.

[Tillylovesseabourn]

Seabourn are trying to attract a newer,younger crowd on it's new ships and that's not a bad thing for a business,as the old guests fall off the perch eventually.

I do like to dress for dinner and always have done so, on land or at sea.

I think that Seabourn look hard at filling the yachts and it will get even harder once they have six vessels to fill.

It might not be a bad idea to keep the smaller yachts with a more strict dress code and the newer more trendy,younger feel yachts with a cooler, dress down image.

That's what I would do if it were my business.

Happy sailors all round ?

 

I am part of the younger population on board seabourn and have been since my early 20's. I LOVE to dress up, it is a travesty that this is happening and I am really gutted, so its not just older people who are being upset by this!

 

I agree with you that the smaller yachts should be more formal though!

[scm]

Sorry, but I don't buy the "not enough room" argument. We just did two weeks, trans-Canal on Legend. AA to Costa Rica -- each checked two bags, and carried a roll-aboard. I took a tux, white jacket, and a sport coat. DW took three suitable dresses. Plenty of space, including in the closet. Next time, I would take the tux, but replace the white jacket with another sport coat. Agree with the earlier comment about not being able to see how many "elegant casual" vice "casual" evenings there were -- could have used another blazer or sport coat when I found out that of the remaining eleven nights, only two were "casual".

 

And put us in the category of preferring formal nights. Probably one of the issues that pushed us over the side in choosing Seabourn over a repeat trip on Regent, after their move to golf shirts OK, all the time. Glad we did, in so many ways.

[MeetingMaid]

Sailing Seabourn this Fall...

 

Again. Fourteen days, two seven day back-to-backs. Am totally dismayed and disappointed that there are no formal nights. DH also enjoyed dressing up. The small ship and the formal nights is what sold us to begin with years ago.

 

Re-thinking sailing Seabourn in the future.....

[Roxburgh]

Sorry, but I don't buy the "not enough room" argument. We just did two weeks, trans-Canal on Legend. AA to Costa Rica -- each checked two bags, and carried a roll-aboard. I took a tux, white jacket, and a sport coat. DW took three suitable dresses. Plenty of space, including in the closet. Next time, I would take the tux, but replace the white jacket with another sport coat. Agree with the earlier comment about not being able to see how many "elegant casual" vice "casual" evenings there were -- could have used another blazer or sport coat when I found out that of the remaining eleven nights, only two were "casual".

 

And put us in the category of preferring formal nights. Probably one of the issues that pushed us over the side in choosing Seabourn over a repeat trip on Regent, after their move to golf shirts OK, all the time. Glad we did, in so many ways.

 

I agree. I did two weeks in November and had one carry-on plus one checked bag. Tux, two jackets, etc. etc. No problem and I only had 5 pairs of shoes :D

[lord of the seas]

Sailing Seabourn this Fall...

 

Again. Fourteen days, two seven day back-to-backs. Am totally dismayed and disappointed that there are no formal nights. DH also enjoyed dressing up. The small ship and the formal nights is what sold us to begin with years ago.

 

Re-thinking sailing Seabourn in the future.....

 

Check your documents before packing as you might have a formal night,unless you are in the caribbean

[TANGOFRL]

We have always enjoyed them on Seabourn and Silversea. In all our years cruising both lines, have not ever experienced "snobs", only warm, well traveled people. I do agree with all the informalities of today, dressing up is fun and most people look forward to it. We are embarking feb 27th Hong Kong 14 days. Just followed the blog live asia comments day by day. Guess what? Although Seabourn told me only 2 formal nights, they had 3! This happened on out last 14 day Seabourn cruise as well. There was a surprise 3rd night. We have just sailed Oceania 18 days in spring. They are known as country club casual. I dressed up every night, I do not care about others, only dressing for my husband. And yes, there were sloppy people who tested limits on the dress code. I do feel this will happen on sb if they go ahead with policy. They have a following far to loyal to upset guests who do look forward to formal nights. Therefore, regardless, i am packing 3 long dresses. (for my husband and myself!) when on Seabourn, they treat you like royalty, why not dress up and have fun? Diane ps...i am not old!!!

[Roxburgh]

Diane ps...i am not old!!!

 

None of us are old. Some of us are just a tad more experienced than others :cool:

 

I like wearing a tux and I like wearing a suit. In these days of "business casual" (business sloppy?) I sometimes still wear a suit just because I can. I don't expect everyone to be like me. The new Seabourn ships, Odyssey & Sojourn offer a good variety of dining venues so that those who do not want to dress up have a choice.

 

But, please don't take my choice away from me.

[lincslady]

We have definitely got off the point here. I should have explained better - packing husband's dinner jacket and quite heavy black shoes for just one night does seem excessive. They do take up quite a lot of room in the case - it is more worthwhile if there are at least two formals, and we do like to be in the dining room for formals.

[LN50]

We have definitely got off the point here. I should have explained better - packing husband's dinner jacket and quite heavy black shoes for just one night does seem excessive. They do take up quite a lot of room in the case - it is more worthwhile if there are at least two formals, and we do like to be in the dining room for formals.

 

I agree that if flying then the extras do weigh rather heavy for one night, lets go the other way and have 2 formals on a 7 day cruise :D.

 

Seriously though, it is lovely to dress up IMHO, and the elegant atmosphere in the main dining room makes you feel like dressing up for dinner, my OH wore his jacket and tie most evenings, (either sports or suit or DJ) to compliment the well dressed ladies. He is someone that has to dress in a suit for business and prefers to be more casual on hols, but he felt that the ambiance warrented being slightly more formal. He was complimented on his choice of shirts on more than one occasion by Nick Hale, they do have a slightly bizare twist to the prints.....:D

[LaPaloma]

I agree that if flying then the extras do weigh rather heavy for one night, lets go the other way and have 2 formals on a 7 day cruise :D.

 

Seriously though, it is lovely to dress up IMHO, and the elegant atmosphere in the main dining room makes you feel like dressing up for dinner, my OH wore his jacket and tie most evenings, (either sports or suit or DJ) to compliment the well dressed ladies. He is someone that has to dress in a suit for business and prefers to be more casual on hols, but he felt that the ambiance warrented being slightly more formal. He was complimented on his choice of shirts on more than one occasion by Nick Hale, they do have a slightly bizare twist to the prints.....:D

 

Bravo to your husband and to you. My husband also does the jacket on casual nights..tie sometimes..sometimes not. We agree..the setting that we enjoy deserves this respect. Lola

[seapenarth]

Thanks David,I forgot to ask this as I have not seen it anywhere.

I emailed Miami and the reply read "Sorry that you are confused regarding the number of formal nights for your cruise. (I had not mentioned which cruise I was on, but was asking about Med cruises in general as the bulk are 7 nights) At the present time there are no formal nights on this cruise. However that could change as we get closer to the sailing due to special events etc. that might take place on your sailing. It is advised that you consult your sailing documents that you will receive 30 days before your cruise. It will have the number of formal nights for the cruise. Evenings on the ship in general are upscale casual. Gentlemen are requested to wear a jacket in the dining room".

Make what you will of that.

[lord of the seas]

I emailed Miami and the reply read "Sorry that you are confused regarding the number of formal nights for your cruise. (I had not mentioned which cruise I was on, but was asking about Med cruises in general as the bulk are 7 nights) At the present time there are no formal nights on this cruise. However that could change as we get closer to the sailing due to special events etc. that might take place on your sailing. It is advised that you consult your sailing documents that you will receive 30 days before your cruise. It will have the number of formal nights for the cruise. Evenings on the ship in general are upscale casual. Gentlemen are requested to wear a jacket in the dining room".

Make what you will of that.

 

Thanks David,

clear as mud.

so for guests that are not familiar with Seabourn,they are to wait until thirty days before their trip to see if they have to buy and take ideal evening wear.

Why can't Seabourn be consistent,instead of trying to guess what most of the guests on each cruise want and just keep a clear, advertised, suggested dress code.Now, if they say no formal nights in the Caribbean or Med, then we all know not to bring our formal wear.if we are not careful then we will have two types of dress code. Casual or elegant casual,which is open to interpretation.

[LaPaloma]

Dress Codes seem to be a hot topic--there is a long thread on Silversea discussing the same subject--it was interesting to see that those sailers pretty much feel the same way as the Seabourn contributers to this thread-- It's always a hot number, and I'm sure it will continue to be! Don

[Martita B.]

Don

I think those of us that want/enjoy dressing in the evening aboard Seabourn will continue to do so ~~I was quite pleased to see so many very well dressed Sailor's aboard the Spirit (Caribbean) in Dec. ~~the Captain hosted only one reception and I couldn't help but notice almost everyone came in dressy clothing. (some even in formal wear)

I will continue to dress each evening when dining in the restaurant.

 

Our weather will improve this week, hopefully ~~we're tired of the bitter cold ~~glad to hear Tucson has warmed up.

MB

[Martita B.]

I would like to correct my above post before Lord jumps in and posts sumthin' cute ~~~

"I will continue to dress when dining in the restaurant"

I meant to say, "I will continue to dress appropriately each evening when dining in the restaurant ~~"

MB

[LaPaloma]

I would like to correct my above post before Lord jumps in and posts sumthin' cute ~~~

"I will continue to dress when dining in the restaurant"

I meant to say, "I will continue to dress appropriately each evening when dining in the restaurant ~~"

MB

 

TEE HEE...one does not want to be vulnerable ...Don keeps telling everyone that I have noting to wear for our trip...perhaps we can set a new code?????

[Roxburgh]

Dress Codes seem to be a hot topic--there is a long thread on Silversea discussing the same subject--it was interesting to see that those sailers pretty much feel the same way as the Seabourn contributers to this thread-- It's always a hot number, and I'm sure it will continue to be! Don

 

The new ships - Odyssey and Sojourn - have three restaurants. Four if you include The Grill. Why not offer a choice? The main restaurant is formal on certain nights while the others remain elegant casual. Surely that shouldn't be too hard.

[lord of the seas]

The new ships - Odyssey and Sojourn - have three restaurants. Four if you include The Grill. Why not offer a choice? The main restaurant is formal on certain nights while the others remain elegant casual. Surely that shouldn't be too hard.

 

This is already happening on the Odyssey,to some degree.

[Chairsin]

Having just returned from two glorious weeks on the Legend -- Fort Lauderdale to Caldera this subject is very near and dear to my heart. On formal nights( we had only two out of 14) most of the passengers chose to dine in the Restaurant. of those I would estimate that a good 70 -80 percent of the gentlemen were in tuxedos (or white dinner jackets -- much to the envy of my Sailor Boy -- I still have not bought him one). I will note that for the first time ever in all of our Seabourn cruising only 45 of the 198 passengers were repeat. I got to know a number of the new Seabourn passengers and I can say that I did notice a distinction between the new and seasoned Seabourners. So IF Seabourn is lowering the dress code to fill the ships with new cruisers my answer would be that it is not necessary.

 

I will also note much to my husbands and my chagrin that overall dress on Seabourn has significantly deteriorated with each subsequent cruise. On this cruise I found many of my fellow female cruisers in the tea lounge in bathing suit coverups(many quite sheer) and flip flops. The men were just as bad -- walking in in their swim trunks and sweaty T shirts ( a couple even came in with out any shirt).The same can be said for dress in the morning and at lunch in the Verandah -- swim and exercise clothing.And the final insult was the galley market lunch in the Restaurant -- many were in the same swimwear. I ask you -- how hard is it to go to your suite and take two minutes to put on shorts and a top?(After all the ship is not that large so no one can complain that ths invloves a long walk). perhaps my biggest pet peeve is that all of this violates Seabourn current dress code but I have never seen it enforeced.So frankly why bother to have a dress code at all.

 

To follow up with the main topic of this thread let me say that I love the idea of keeping the formal nights on the little sisters and doing whatever on the larger ships. Wouln't that be a perfect compromise?nonetheless my husband and I will continue to dress most evenings -- he wore a tie all but three evenings and a sport coat every evening. I wore a dress all but three evenings. The last night of our cruise was Valentine's Day -- we dined in the Restaurant with another couple and were the only ones dressed up that night. You would not beleive how many people came up to us all evening saying how nice we looked and how they wish they had also dressed up.

[Chairsin]

Let me correct a major typo in my previous post -- I meant to say that I did NOT notice a difference between repat and new passengers!(I really should start proofreading better given my poor typing abilities).

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Let me correct a major typo in my previous post -- I meant to say that I did NOT notice a difference between repat and new passengers!(I really should start proofreading better given my poor typing abilities).

 

:eek:Whew, I am so relieved that you added this correction to your prior posting. As a 1st timer on SB I was getting a little nervous that I might not pass the muster.

We are looking forward with great anticipation to our upcoming SB cruise.

The wardrobe is coming together and I plan to dress to impress! :cool:

[Roxburgh]

of those I would estimate that a good 70 -80 percent of the gentlemen were in tuxedos (or white dinner jackets -- much to the envy of my Sailor Boy -- I still have not bought him one).

 

Cannot believe Sailor Boy still does not have a white dinner jacket :eek:

[LN50]

:eek:Whew' date=' I am so relieved that you added this correction to your prior posting. As a 1st timer on SB I was getting a little nervous that I might not pass the muster. [/font']

We are looking forward with great anticipation to our upcoming SB cruise.

The wardrobe is coming together and I plan to dress to impress! :cool:

 

I did somewhat feel the same prior to ur first Seabourn cruise last October. However, how wrong could I be, everyone was so welcoming and friendly, just dress to impress and you will fit right in.

Your only problem will be deciding on which Seabourn journey that you want to do next.

One on board booking credit was not enough for us, we were just spoilt and cannot wait to do it again.... not long til May :)

[JaneBP]

>"...just dress to impress"

 

I think dressing to be comfortable, to have fun and not to give a whit about what everyone else might think is the way to go. Mix and match.