Informal Night question - Jacket required?

[Huey]

Last year, we sailed on the RCCL Brilliance of the Seas. We packed sport coats for my husband and two sons. We noticed that on the "informal" nights, hardly anyone wore a shirt, tie and sport coat as specified in the brochure. Most people just wore what you would wear on a "casual" evening. What are your thoughts - or experience with this?

 

We are sailing on a 14-day Zenith cruise on 03/27/05 and not packing 3 sport coats would save a lot of room! As it is we're packing 3 suits for formal nights!

 

Thanks for ANY help!

[tbelian]

The dress code calls for a sportcoat.

 

Whether or not you follow it is up to you.

[Lsimon]

I beleive most men wore jackets on our 10 day Summit cruise last year. A much larger percentage than we'd seen on other lines' 7 day cruises.Nearly as many wore ties, many wore open shirts or shirts with no collars with their sport jackets.

[raudacruise]

Dress shirts and jackets are recommended for informal nights. Ties sometimes are and sometimes not leading to confusion. On one cruise I skipped the tie the first one and was somewhat embarrassed when all the male tablemates wore them. The second one, I was the only one wearing a tie. We had a good laugh about the whole thing.

[mari10]

On the Millennium last week about 90% of the men wore jackets. All the men at our table wore ties. It looked about 50% of men had ties. The first day of the dailes state the required dress codes. I was happy to see that for the most part everyone dressed accordingly.

Mari

[geoherb]

On the Century a few months ago, only half the men wore a jacket on the informal night. About half of them also had on ties. I wore my sports coat without a tie. A few men wore ties without a jacket.

[JORAY]

Where and when you are sailing may be the difference in the posting that have been made. Europe, Alaska, Mexico, Carbibbean, and so on. Temperature and season can make a difference. As a general rule I would take a sport coat, I would rather follow the rules then be under dressed. :cool:

 

What I do is travel with the sport coat on saving space & wt in the suite case. :)

[judyfssw]

On the Constellation, last month, several men at our table wore flowered shirts. Our Asst. Matre'd brought them all coats, if only to put on the back of their chair. They weren't doing it to be difficult, they just didn't read the bulletin about it being Informal night. The next one, they showed up with ties and a coat.

[JORAY]

Sorry dupl posting

[hajekfam]

On some Celebrity sailings, they do enforce the dress code. On others, they don't. It depends on the staff. I have seen people turned away from the theater because they changed after dinner.

We have noticed that on longer cruises, more people adhere to the dress code than on shorter cruises.

[lougee1043]

imo you are comparing apples to oranges when you compare rccl to celebrity regarding dress codes------------also imo where you cruise has nothing to do with the dress code as the ship has a/c and or heat and the code overrides alaska or hawaii

[bluehorizonlover123]

I would say definitely no sport coat jacket needed for resort casual wear unless you feel like you want to wear it.

[GaryThePhotog]

I usually limit my dress (from the male prespective) to what is required. In the cases where a suit or sport coat is required, I wear it into the dining room but I always remove it as soon as I get to the table since I do not like eating with a jacket on. On informal night no ties are required and I most often do not wear one. However, I might wear a dressier sport shirt or a nice polo shirt (usually later in the cruise). And I apologize in advance if this comment offends anyone, with the exception of formal nights, I wear sandals exclusively. Dress code are very specific. Formal nights: Tux or dark suit; Informal nights, sport coat; casual night, no coat required. All nights: NO JEANS OR SHORTS!! On formal nights very, very few people do not wear Tuxes or suits (and usually dark). On informal night, you won't see any tuxes, but you will see suits and many sport coats, but with some (very few) gentlemen walking in w/o a coat. On Casual night, you may see a few suits, a few sport coats, and depending on ship itinerary, their best tropical and/or polo-type shirts. I personally have never seen anyone not admitted to the dining room (though I have heard of it).

[birders]

I would say definitely no sport coat jacket needed for resort casual wear unless you feel like you want to wear it.

 

This is not an appropriate answer to the question posted originally. The dress code is NOT calling for "resort casual wear" -- it's "Informal" in the classic definition - not formal. It does not mean casual of any kind.

 

Here is from the Celebrity website:

"On informal nights, ladies may wear an informal dress or pants and blouse, while gentlemen may wear a jacket and tie with slacks. Casual nights call for casual, comfortable wear, so women may opt for a pantsuit or sporty outfit while gentlemen may choose a sport shirt and slacks."

 

(Please note that the word "may" is the polite way of writing "this is what you are expected to do." -- as in "The green light means you may proceed." It does not mean "you might want to do this but then again, you might not and, hey, what the heck, we don't care.")

 

I love Joray's LOGICAL, COURTEOUS and RESPECTFUL response:

 

Joray writes: As a general rule I would take a sport coat, I would rather follow the rules then be under dressed.

 

and Mari10 writes:

 

"The first day of the dailes state the REQUIRED dress codes."

 

This is true - onboard ship, the daily program uses "required."

 

Finally to Huey, the OP: Three suits for formal nights? Why not one with changes of shirts and ties? AND THEN three sportcoats? My husband brings one tux and then wears his navy blazer - like another poster - wears it (and looks nice for traveling - helps with an occasional free upgrade on the plane...) to save space and weight in suitcase. That's all you need to look spiffy - and imagine the joy of packing lighter!!! (more room for purchases and a lot less to haul around!) :) Have a great time.

[hajekfam]

I

Finally to Huey, the OP: Three suits for formal nights? Why not one with changes of shirts and ties? AND THEN three sportcoats? My husband brings one tux and then wears his navy blazer - like another poster - wears it (and looks nice for traveling - helps with an occasional free upgrade on the plane...) to save space and weight in suitcase. That's all you need to look spiffy - and imagine the joy of packing lighter!!! (more room for purchases and a lot less to haul around!) :) Have a great time.

 

Birders- I thought the same thing - and then I reread the OP's post - 3 suits probably refers to husband and 2 sons.

 

We packed sport coats for my husband and two sons.

[hcat]

I think most will wear sports jackets & a shirt for informal nights--not necessarily a tie. You could bring one or two suits & repeat them & same for the sports jacket or blazer--or use a suit jacket with slacks for a less formal look. Taking three suits is a bit much & we have done 2 longer cruises this yr--10 & 11 on Summit & Connie... Informal is a bad name it should be formal, dressy & casual--then there would be less of a question..

[raudacruise]

George always wears his informal jacket on the airplane and during checkin - no baggage space. Rent a tux and MaryBeth can fill the rest of the baggage ;).

[bon voyage!]

New to Celebrity Question:

 

Yes, I've read what Celebrity says on their website, but I still wanted to know what everyone thought. What about nice shirt, tie, and slacks, WITHOUT a jacket?

 

My husband is really tall, and we have order special custom clothes for him and he doesn't own a sportsjacket. He has a nice suit, but we are going on a 12 day cruise and there are 3 formal night he will wear it on plus there are 2 informals. We were just probably going to bite the bullet and buy a jacket, as I'm sure it will come in handy at other times, and we like to "follow the rules", but since this thread is already started, I thought I would ask. Thanks in advance!

[AUNTDEBBA]

bon voyage

 

My recommendation is do what is comfortable to you and your husband and if you don't want to invest in another jacket so be it For the most part the women can wear whatever they want (slacks/blouse)/dress) and it is acceptable formal and infomal night but men have to wear a suit with tie formal night and and suit and tie informal night wow what a differnce! The funiest part of the argument is 80% of the men that come in with a jacket on informal nights take their jackets off the minute the get to their seats So all the people having fits about people wear jackets really only care that those jackets are on the person for the first 2 min of walking throuhg the dining room!

 

So take the one suit wear slacks and shirt carry the jacket (doesn't matter if it matches) put jacket on to walk to table and then take it off and never wear again and enjoy!

[mari10]

Bon Voyage,

 

I would invest in a sports jacket. On my cruise I did not see most of the men take off their jacket in the first 2 minutes. In fact just the opposite was true.

Very few men were sans jacket on informal night. If you are on an M Class Ship and decide to eat at the Olympic or SS United States etc., your husband will need a jacket and tie for that night. Another thought is rent a tux and use the suits for the informal nights.

Just MHO

Mari

[Huey]

Yes, I did mean 3 suits - one for my husband and one for each of my boys! I can't imagine packing 3 suits for one man! Although, I pack way more than I need for myself!

 

I obviously know what the brochure says, I was just asking for opinions. We were disappointed with the attire on our 10-day Brilliance of the Seas cruise and wished we had packed more "resort casual" clothes. I would say less than 20% of men wore jackets on the informal evenings. I think we're going to go with a jacket and take it from there.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Blazerboy]

As I often say, with a screen name like mine, you can tell I always err on the side of formality- packing three suits AND three sportcoats, plus two tuxes would be the norm for me on a cruise longer than a week:eek: , but that's just me.:D(and my suitcases are all on wheels- phew!)

 

I've always said that a blue blazer can get you through most any fashion need, and if you add one suit, the three guys are good to go for the whole cruise with the assorted shirts and ties- you can cut down even more if you are willing to send some shirts out to be cleaned and pressed on board, and just vary the ties- the more colorful or interesting the tie, the less people will focus on the fact that you're wearing the same blue blazer, white shirt and dress khakis. Wouldn't be o.k for me, but most guys would be fine with a "simplified" wardrobe. The other option is to (and here, the fashion police cringe) is to have a dark blue suit, and use the jacket with nice khakis or grey flannels on informal nights. Most people would never notice. (I would, but who cares about that- probably not your husband and sons!) As long as they are appropriately dressed, and clean (one reason for more clothes is in case of the dreaded food/wine stain!), they'll feel like they fit in, and no one should give it a second thought.

 

Re: Formal or Informal and terminology- these are ancient traditional terms for dress code, and if you think they're ambiguous now, you might want to know that formal used to mean white tie and tails, and that informal was what we commonly refer to as a tuxedo. And that it was once said that a proper gentleman would NEVER dine in his shirt sleaves (without a jacket on). So if any of the men out there complain about current dress standards, tell them you'll threaten to bring the above back, and they should quiet down!;)

[bon voyage!]

Mari10 and Auntdebba:

Thank you so much for your replies, I will keep them both in mind.

 

If anyone has any other opinions about no jacket, but a nice shirt, slacks, and tie, feel free to reply as so far I've gotten 2 opposite opinions! Thanks again!

[Ma Bell]

Maybe it's just me but in 17 Celebrity cruises I've never seen a man take off his jacket at the table.

[dakrewser]

If anyone has any other opinions about no jacket, but a nice shirt, slacks, and tie, feel free to reply as so far I've gotten 2 opposite opinions! Thanks again!

 

The jacket is more important than the tie, IMHO.