Freestyle Dinning - Attire

[CanadianConnection33]

Make that Freestyle "Dining" . . .

 

Hi all,

I'm about to go on my first NCL cruise. The lines I've been on before have all had at least one formal night for dinner and, generally, a good chunk of the ship participates. I realize there is no requirement on NCL to get dressed up but does NCL have a general 'formal' night (where photographers are setup, etc. etc.)? Should I bring a suit? Compared to other cruises, in your experience, what percentage of the ship usually participate?

 

Thanks for your help.

[johnql]

There are no designated formal nights on NCL. They do have one or two "Dress Up or Not" nights when a significant but small minority dresses up. It's completely up to you - that's the beauty of Freestyle. Depending on the ship and sailing, it probably ranges from 10% to 30% (perhaps even higher on a festive sailing like New Year's Eve).

 

You should bring a suit if you wish to dress up. Simple.

[STARFISH*4]

NCL calls them DRESS-UP or NOT nites and there are photographers several nites taking pictures...you dont need your suit unless YOU want to bring it...Resort Casual is the attire each and every nite for the dining venues...YOUR CHOICE.

depends on the sailing, ship etc whether passengers DRESS UP or NOT and you will find some do on different nights and some dont...again YOUR CHOICE.

i would say 25% maybe on our last cruise in December....we find they DRESS UP more during the holidays...i think everyone wants a GOOD picture!!!

[mking8288]

It's not easy to give you a definite answer as it varied and depend a # of factors. Having said that, the trend among NCL ships over the past 7 or 8 years with its famous "Free Style" theme is toward more casual and less formal at dinner time.

 

It used to be that there's one or two semi-formal night for a typical 7 night cruise, lately - it seemed to be down to one or none, and with semi-formal being "suggested" but not mandatory as long as men show up at the MDR with long pants/casual slacks and collared shirt (although I've seen men in "faded, not worn" blue denim jeans alike standing in line to be seated in the MDR on other nights) Certainly, a dark blazer with shirt & tie will stand out - especially on the designated evening - with photos in the altrium/dining room stairs taken next to the Captain.

 

If you are sailing in the warmer months to the Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean ports or similar destinations - most NCL pax probably won't even bother with bringing a suit/blazer with dress shirt/tie & slacks, oxford shoes, etc. - maybe, a handful of pax on a given cruise at most while we're dining. So, I would say the participation rate is below 20% recently and maybe as low as 5% to 10% - the girls/ladies tend to dress up more for most evenings, regardless (yes, it's true)

 

For pax flying and paying extra nowadays on most domestic carrier, there's additional reasons to travel light since the airlines are charging $25 per checked luggage, not to exceed 44 lbs. plus one carryon. Those driving to the piers and/or sailing to the homeports might be taking more abroad the ship. With Expressed Debarkation/Walkoff, I've seen more & more pax walking down the gangway with just a 21" or 22" case and a backpack or shoulder tote - a set of formal attires simply take up too much space to be worn maybe twice or three times max. for the duration of the cruise (of course, one can mix & match and try to stretch) I rather leave extra space for a pair of shorts, running shoes for the fitness center, or a windbreaker that I can layered in different weather.

 

And, when we walk thru the ship's photo gallery where all the portraits and specialty/MDR dining photos are taken & posted for review and ordering, it pretty much reaffirm what I've noticed as a trend of becoming less & less formal. So much so that we often don't see the ship's official photographer at the MDR - too busy roaming the specialty restaurants where some pax prefer to celebrate their specials or out in the altrium/lobby reception area - taking portraits for those interested (and lines had been rather short).

 

You might want to go over to the Roll Call section for your NCL ship and post the question for feedback on recent experiences - assuming that it's for the same ports/itinerary.

[CanadianConnection33]

Thanks a lot for the prompt answers!

Very helpful.

[newmexicoNita]

Make that Freestyle "Dining" . . .

 

Hi all,

I'm about to go on my first NCL cruise. The lines I've been on before have all had at least one formal night for dinner and, generally, a good chunk of the ship participates. I realize there is no requirement on NCL to get dressed up but does NCL have a general 'formal' night (where photographers are setup, etc. etc.)? Should I bring a suit? Compared to other cruises, in your experience, what percentage of the ship usually participate?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

There will be one or two night where professional pics will be taken and about 30% of the people dress up. If you like to wear suits, cocktail dresses etc you will not feel out of place, but if jeans are your thing that will work as well. Of course there is one MDR that does not allow jeans, will that be enforced who the heck knows?

 

Nita

[travelnap]

Make that Freestyle "Dining" . . .

 

Hi all,

I'm about to go on my first NCL cruise. The lines I've been on before have all had at least one formal night for dinner and, generally, a good chunk of the ship participates. I realize there is no requirement on NCL to get dressed up but does NCL have a general 'formal' night (where photographers are setup, etc. etc.)? Should I bring a suit? Compared to other cruises, in your experience, what percentage of the ship usually participate?

 

Thanks for your help.

Canadian Connection,

I probably can't tell you much different than the others who responded, but I think a lot will depend on what you want to do. If you would like a nice picture, then bring the suit. If the picture is not that important to you, then I would leave it at home. I travel solo so the picture is not a big item for me, but I know some couples and families really like them, so maybe let that help you make the choice. I used to bring a jacket and tie along but on my last 4 or 5 trips on NCL, I didn't bother, as I am comfortable not dressing up. I would guess that as far as the other passengers it is probably close to 50/50 as far as those who dress up and those who don't. I have used the specialty restaurants on the dress up or not nights, and usually just wear nice slacks and a dress shirt, and I have always felt comfortable. Enjoy your trip.

[omarchs]

Just was on the New Year's cruise out of NYC on the Jewel. I do agree with other posters that holiday cruises people tend to dress up more. There were the standard two dress up or not nights. The second night was New Year's Eve and probably 1/2 were dressed up while others were in jeans. There was maybe 20-30% whe were dressed up on the 1st night.

 

Never saw shorts in the dining rooms probably since of the time of year we went out of NY and it wasn't that warm in Florida/Bahamas either for people to bother trying it in the dining room.

 

It was just nice to wear whatever you wanted any given night rather than be provided with a strict dress code that other lines never enforce. We did see some people even dressed up on regular nights so whatever suits you!!!

 

Have a great trip!

[npsh]

Make that Freestyle "Dining" . . .

 

Hi all,

I'm about to go on my first NCL cruise. The lines I've been on before have all had at least one formal night for dinner and, generally, a good chunk of the ship participates. I realize there is no requirement on NCL to get dressed up but does NCL have a general 'formal' night (where photographers are setup, etc. etc.)? Should I bring a suit? Compared to other cruises, in your experience, what percentage of the ship usually participate?

 

Thanks for your help.

.

 

Hello there....

 

As you mentioned it is freestyle and freestyle means that you can bring your suit and wear it every night in all dining venues if you wish to do so. It(freestyle) also means that I can wear my jeans/t-shirt and do the same - which I did on our 12 NCL Dawn repo cruise this past October. Photographers were set up(think it was 2 or 3 nights) on our cruise, you saw it all there as well some( small minority) dressed to the hilt and looked quite elegant. I saw some younger couples getting their photos in casual jeans/shirts and they looked cool..... gotta admit.

 

Me, I hate shirt and tie/suit while on vacation and refuse to put one on and don't attend any functions that "suggest/recommend" that I do, hence, you will see people dressed like I do in all dining MDRs and speciality spots. You may be sitting next to a person like me or even at the same table. Such is cruise life on the good ships NCL.

:D