dress code for dinner?

[far horizon]

We have recently been on the Equinox. Prior to the cruise we spent 18 days on a tour of Italy. There was no room in the suitcase for a sports jacket or suit that would only be worn maybe once or twice so on the formal night my husband wore dress trousers and a long sleeved shirt and was told he couldn't go into the MDR...but they could lend him a jacket. He wore it, but it was probably about 3 sizes too big so looked a little silly. The sleeves were a mile long. :rolleyes: We did see men later on with only shirts & no ties so they must have run out of spare jackets!

 

The next formal night we chose not to go to the MDR. :)

 

There are so many lovely places that we go to when in Italy or France, where a sports jacket or a light suit are highly appropriate. My DH always has something in his suitcase that will be appropriate for any venue that we would like to attend.

 

If you pack a lightweight suit in a drycleaning bag, it takes up hardly any room and weighs hardly anything. Then you don't have to miss any nights in the MDR.

 

However, if you really know that you won't want to go anywhere, on the rest of your trip, where your DH requires a jacket, then the specialty restaurants are always a lovely place to spend formal nights. We've done that on many occasions, not because DH doesn't have the appropriate clothes with him, but just because he doesn't feel like putting on a shirt and tie. (It's never the jacket that bothers him.)

[Captain Jake]

so far overall this has been a decent thread.At the RCCL boards people would have been fighting like a couple packs of wild dogs.On the RCCL boards you can't even say you were served a bad cup of coffee without being attacked by a swarm of starving vultures

:cj

[helpthejuggler]

so far overall this has been a decent thread.At the RCCL boards people would have been fighting like a couple packs of wild dogs.On the RCCL boards you can't even say you were served a bad cup of coffee without being attacked by a swarm of starving vultures

:cj

 

Beautiful. Did you read that their latest ships will have a Vulture-baiter™?

[1 HappyCruiser]

We have recently been on the Equinox. Prior to the cruise we spent 18 days on a tour of Italy. There was no room in the suitcase for a sports jacket or suit that would only be worn maybe once or twice so on the formal night my husband wore dress trousers and a long sleeved shirt and was told he couldn't go into the MDR...but they could lend him a jacket. He wore it, but it was probably about 3 sizes too big so looked a little silly. The sleeves were a mile long. :rolleyes: We did see men later on with only shirts & no ties so they must have run out of spare jackets!

 

The next formal night we chose not to go to the MDR. :)

 

They would have had one heck of a time getting the food stains out of the one they lent me. I'm a very sloppy eater. :rolleyes:

[Tudorcruisers]

I have spent the last 18 years dealing with people who like to pick and choose what rules they abide by , fortunately a lot of those criminals are now behind bars :D

 

And before anyone starts on, im not for a minute suggesting that its criminal not to follow a dress code .;):p:D

 

 

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.

Reba McEntire

 

 

Love your style and the Reba McEntire quote. Unfortunately from reading these posts it is pretty obvious there are people out there who just want to cause trouble and not abide by any rules and are lacking in manners. I'm off to check my Roll Call and hope to heavens they aren't on the same ship as me :( :(

[dkjretired]

They would have had one heck of a time getting the food stains out of the one they lent me. I'm a very sloppy eater. :rolleyes:

 

Bit of an inconsistency in your posts, seems you have previously said you would take it off so stains would not be a problem. My last post with this poster, I hope others take the hint.

[kitkat9438]

Bit of an inconsistency in your posts, seems you have previously said you would take it off so stains would not be a problem. My last post with this poster, I hope others take the hint.

Don, you are so right. This guy is all over every cruise line board trying to stir things up.

 

Have a good one!:D

[Wordzz]

Don, you are so right. This guy is all over every cruise line board trying to stir things up.

 

Agree totally. Same on the Princess boards last year. I got so sick of him I eventually just stopped using the board.

[2SeaWithMe]

Years ago, I worked at college that hosted a prestigious teen music camp.

 

One of their rules was that the kids had to dress every evening for dinner. I never heard a complaint and a lot of kids liked it.

[1 HappyCruiser]

Bit of an inconsistency in your posts, seems you have previously said you would take it off so stains would not be a problem. My last post with this poster, I hope others take the hint.

 

Nope never said that I would remove any stains. It wasn't me. If they insist on forcing me to wear one of their jackets then it just might receive some heave use.

 

I only get involved in topics that interest me on cruise lines that I frequent and Celebrity is one we cruise when in the NY area only because of the itinerary that's not offered by Princess.

[Tudorcruisers]

Bit of an inconsistency in your posts, seems you have previously said you would take it off so stains would not be a problem. My last post with this poster, I hope others take the hint.

 

 

Thanks Don - do believe this is what is called a "troll" - certainly not as happy as the name suggests :) and I won't be responding any more either and hope others catch on as well.

[jconeil]

I don't understand the reasons why a guest would not dress up for MDR dining. You are dining in an elegant, beautiful room. The tables are set with white tablecloths, silverware, china, & crystal glassware. You are served by tuxedo dressed professional waiters who treat you like royalty. Certainly this does not describe the restaurants we normally dine in at home. To consider dressing like you would to go to Denny's makes me wonder what other social graces you are lacking. Better be a good conversationalist & have impeccable manners to make up for underdressing. There are great cruises that do not ask you to change from the beach wear you had on all day just to eat. Take one. Be happy.

[Gonzo70]

They would have had one heck of a time getting the food stains out of the one they lent me. I'm a very sloppy eater. :rolleyes:

 

I am sure they would just bill the cost of the jacket to your on board account if you caused the jacket to be so dirty that it could not easily be cleaned. :D

[Cruise Junky]

I am sure they would just bill the cost of the jacket to your on board account if you caused the jacket to be so dirty that it could not easily be cleaned. :D

 

Did you see the picture that someone posted a little while ago of the jackets they give out? they were on wire hangers, half on the floor and stained. They were disgusting. I'm not sure they could get much worse.

[SevenSeas70]

This has been one of the more energetic and up-close-and-personal topics on this board. The fact that some people will read the dress codes and then ignore the letter and spirit of them leads me to wonder whether these are the same people who place books or towels on sun chairs early in the say and then go away for hours.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I am sure they would just bill the cost of the jacket to your on board account if you caused the jacket to be so dirty that it could not easily be cleaned. :D

 

I seriously doubt that - accidents happen. :p Either way, on my past Celebrity cruises I have taken my jacket to the DR & just carried it to the table & hung it on the back of the chair and that seemed to work fine along with a short sleeve dress shirt. It's just that I'd rather not pack the thing at all since all it does is take up room in my suit case, so why bother.

[PS90]

I don't understand the reasons why a guest would not dress up for MDR dining. You are dining in an elegant, beautiful room. The tables are set with white tablecloths, silverware, china, & crystal glassware. You are served by tuxedo dressed professional waiters who treat you like royalty. Certainly this does not describe the restaurants we normally dine in at home. To consider dressing like you would to go to Denny's makes me wonder what other social graces you are lacking. Better be a good conversationalist & have impeccable manners to make up for underdressing. There are great cruises that do not ask you to change from the beach wear you had on all day just to eat. Take one. Be happy.

 

This is a well-written post, and I understand your point. But, at the same time, every sentence in this post is an opinion, and everyone has a different opinion.

 

Just because someone is lacking in "Emily Post"-type etiquette does not make that person a slob, or vagrant, or mentally-ill, or anything else. It could just mean that such a person (okay, me :)) does not enjoy wearing constricting, bulky clothes and does not necessarily equate dressing-up with class or elegance.

[agabbymama]

Well put. It's ok for them to call people who do not live up to their standards of formal wear as "slobs" or "cry babys", but not ok to call them a bunch of whiny old farts who hate children. Don't worry, it is just a matter of time until Celebrity changes it's policy on formal nights and just allows smart casual every night. Don't worry, if you are not happy with the new dress attire, you can just choose another cruise line.

 

I already have. While I like Celebrity for the elegance and formal sailing vessel, I didn't care for their change of smoking policy, so I did find another cruise line that does allow me to smoke in the cabin or on the balcony, at least for right now. If and when that changes, I will no longer cruise, PERIOD!

[SusieV]

This is a well-written post, and I understand your point. But, at the same time, every sentence in this post is an opinion, and everyone has a different opinion.

 

Just because someone is lacking in "Emily Post"-type etiquette does not make that person a slob, or vagrant, or mentally-ill, or anything else. It could just mean that such a person (okay, me :)) does not enjoy wearing constricting, bulky clothes and does not necessarily equate dressing-up with class or elegance.

 

I still honestly don't see how properly fitted formalwear is any less comfortable than "regular" clothes. If your clothes are constricting, perhaps they are too small.

 

I also tend to disagree about lack of etiquette. We live in a society where it seems that even niceties like saying please and thank you have gone out of style. Etiquette is mostly about showing respect for other people and yes, I believe that not having manners does say something about your character.

[PS90]

I still honestly don't see how properly fitted formalwear is any less comfortable than "regular" clothes. If your clothes are constricting, perhaps they are too small.

 

I also tend to disagree about lack of etiquette. We live in a society where it seems that even niceties like saying please and thank you have gone out of style. Etiquette is mostly about showing respect for other people and yes, I believe that not having manners does say something about your character.

 

You are probably right about my formal clothes being too small/ill-fitting, but considering I am "forced" to buy them for cruising, and NEVER wear them anywhere else, that is somewhat to be expected.

 

I agree with your second paragraph in the sense that it is unfortunate that simple manners are declining. But I still don't see the connection between good manners and fancy clothes. Dressing-down does not create poor manners. Sure, the two of them may be trending away at the same rate/timeline, but we could also make a case, for example, that the demise of Drive-In movie theaters has resulted in poorer manners in generations of people who didn't grow-up with with drive-ins. But that's probably ridiculous. In other words, we can't say for sure that one is necessarily correlated with the other, same with clothes and manners.

[CathyCruises]

I believe the bad manners come in when one is intentionally disrespecting the request of the cruiseline (your host) to dress in a specific way. If you were invited to a black tie wedding and showed up in jeans, wouldn't that be considered bad manners?

[PS90]

I believe the bad manners come in when one is intentionally disrespecting the request of the cruiseline (your host) to dress in a specific way. If you were invited to a black tie wedding and showed up in jeans, wouldn't that be considered bad manners?

 

Okay, I see your point. But, IMO, there are two dintinct groups of people who would like to see formal nights go away - the ones who absolutely don't care, and will wear whatever they want into the MDR on formal nights, and then there is the group that abides by the formal rules (at least to letter of those rules), but would much rather that formal nights go away. I would like to think that I am in this second group.

 

Personally, I would guess that, as far as frequent-Celebrity cruisers go, I would bet that the latter group is much larger than the former one. If that is true, then we are guilty of voicing a potentially unpopular opinion, but not guilty of bad manners.

 

It's easy to just assume that everyone who doesn't like wearing a tux or suit will only be willing to wear flip-flops and a tank-top ANYWHERE they go, including dinner. And I'm not sure that's really the case.

[tip]

I believe the bad manners come in when one is intentionally disrespecting the request of the cruiseline (your host) to dress in a specific way. If you were invited to a black tie wedding and showed up in jeans, wouldn't that be considered bad manners?

 

 

The cruise line is not the host. I paid the tab and I am the host.

 

It can not and should not be compared to a wedding.

 

And before someone brings up a black tie event at the country club, I am not a member of a country club, never have been a member of a country club, have no desire to be a member of a country club, nor do I wish to pretend that I am a member of a country club.

 

By the way, I believe that it is bad manners to comment on how others choose to dress.

 

And for those who do care about such things, I choose to wear a shirt, tie, blue blazer, dark slacks, and polished black shoes on so-called formal nights. But it is my choice, not yours.

[kitkat9438]

Okay, I see your point. But, IMO, there are two dintinct groups of people who would like to see formal nights go away - the ones who absolutely don't care, and will wear whatever they want into the MDR on formal nights, and then there is the group that abides by the formal rules (at least to letter of those rules), but would much rather that formal nights go away. I would like to think that I am in this second group.

 

Personally, I would guess that, as far as frequent-Celebrity cruisers go, I would bet that the latter group is much larger than the former one. If that is true, then we are guilty of voicing a potentially unpopular opinion, but not guilty of bad manners.

 

It's easy to just assume that everyone who doesn't like wearing a tux or suit will only be willing to wear flip-flops and a tank-top ANYWHERE they go, including dinner. And I'm not sure that's really the case.

 

I agree with you. However, I think most people are up in arms about the comments of one particular poster who flaunts that he refuses to go by the dress code and "picks and chooses" which rules to follow, whether it's formal night dress attire, or taking a towel on an excursion.

 

There's certainly nothing wrong with wishing things were more relaxed, but still following the dress code. That's being respectful of Celebrity and other guests that are dining and wanting the whole ambiance of a formal night event.

 

Bad manners comes into play if you do whatever you want, wherever you want regardless of what society or anyone else dictates. That is a pretty selfish attitude to have.

 

Another analogy. I have a dress code at work, working in an office. I would never show up for work in shorts and a t-shirt just because I am more comfortable in them (or jeans unless it is casual Friday). If I did I would soon find myself either being sent home or finding another job. Same thing goes for any other kind of event, wedding, prom, company Christmas dinner, or whatever that requires a certain dress code. If you don't want to dress up for the occasion, find another alternative or don't go.

 

It's not going to bother me what people wear, to be clear. That's just my side of the argument. I love formal nights and will enjoy them as long as they exist.

[dkjretired]

The cruise line is not the host. I paid the tab and I am the host.

 

It can not and should not be compared to a wedding.

 

And before someone brings up a black tie event at the country club, I am not a member of a country club, never have been a member of a country club, have no desire to be a member of a country club, nor do I wish to pretend that I am a member of a country club.

 

By the way, I believe that it is bad manners to comment on how others choose to dress.

 

And for those who do care about such things, I choose to wear a shirt, tie, blue blazer, dark slacks, and polished black shoes on so-called formal nights. But it is my choice, not yours.

 

The cruise line is the host, they set up the rules and you sign a contract to abide by those rules. Simple as that.