TA/ Formal night ?

[Blazerboy]

When I started this thread I had know idea there would be such passion from both sides of this topic. Again being only my second cruise my opinion isnt as seasoned as some of you veterans. I am so looking foward to my trip on Eclipse in Novemeber, but am semi stressed about the formal night.

 

I have been to many fine dining establishments all over the country and many in New York City living only 5 miles from Manhattan. I have never worn a tuxedo to anything besides a wedding in my life. I am only 29 and not married, so it wasn't even my wedding.

 

My point is that I am in no way agansit formal night as I have yet to experience one on a cruise ship, I just feel that maybe the cruise lines should explain better exactly what is expected. A tuxedo, a nice suit, just a jacket? Maybe a video on their website showing what isn't acceptable on a formal night. I really don't want to rent a tux, and I am not flying first class down to Miami or driving as another poster suggested, I just want to be prepared for what awaits me. Also I will be in aqua class so I would like to dine in Blu for all my dinners, even the formal ones.

Sorry that it scared you. Some of us watch these thread trainwrecks for sport. If you have a dark suit, wear that to formal night. Of not, wear a dark solid sportcoat, dress shirt and tie and dress trousers. Might be a little casual for me, but you won't be kicked out, or even shunned for either outfit. In fact you'll likely be dressed like half the other passengers. If you decide to go more casually dressed than that, well, with a sport coat and no tie, its unlikely that they'll enforce, but not unheard of. No jacket and it's a crapshoot. Carribbean is pretty casual, so who knows. Whatever you decide, remember to have a great time and don't let the stress of fashion ruin your anticipation of a good time.

 

Me, I prefer to meet or exceed the minimum standard suggested, but there's no walking the plank anymore.

 

Andrew

[Chicago Boy]

Sorry that it scared you. Some of us watch these thread trainwrecks for sport. If you have a dark suit, wear that to formal night. Of not, wear a dark solid sportcoat, dress shirt and tie and dress trousers. Might be a little casual for me, but you won't be kicked out, or even shunned for either outfit. In fact you'll likely be dressed like half the other passengers. If you decide to go more casually dressed than that, well, with a sport coat and no tie, its unlikely that they'll enforce, but not unheard of. No jacket and it's a crapshoot. Carribbean is pretty casual, so who knows. Whatever you decide, remember to have a great time and don't let the stress of fashion ruin your anticipation of a good time.

 

Me, I prefer to meet or exceed the minimum standard suggested, but there's no walking the plank anymore.

 

Andrew

 

I don't care who wears what but I do think it is fun to stir the pot and get people thinking about things. :D

[Blazerboy]

I don't care who wears what but I do think it is fun to stir the pot and get people thinking about things. :D

 

Apparently ....I'm not sure you can convince people who know the "truth," as it were. Ah well, if Celebrity does lower their standards, I always have Cunard...

[pamstravel]

When I started this thread I had know idea there would be such passion from both sides of this topic. Again being only my second cruise my opinion isnt as seasoned as some of you veterans. I am so looking foward to my trip on Eclipse in Novemeber, but am semi stressed about the formal night.

 

I have been to many fine dining establishments all over the country and many in New York City living only 5 miles from Manhattan. I have never worn a tuxedo to anything besides a wedding in my life. I am only 29 and not married, so it wasn't even my wedding.

 

My point is that I am in no way agansit formal night as I have yet to experience one on a cruise ship, I just feel that maybe the cruise lines should explain better exactly what is expected. A tuxedo, a nice suit, just a jacket? Maybe a video on their website showing what isn't acceptable on a formal night. I really don't want to rent a tux, and I am not flying first class down to Miami or driving as another poster suggested, I just want to be prepared for what awaits me. Also I will be in aqua class so I would like to dine in Blu for all my dinners, even the formal ones.

 

Please don't let our comments and debates concern you at all. In fact, and this will cause another controversy, Blu is described as a speciality restaurant and these venues do not require formal wear on formal night.

 

The mass cruise lines that observe formal night would probably do well to choose another name as most people do not wear formal attire, which is at the least black tie for men. If you wear a coat, tie and dress slacks you will feel perfectly comfortable and be dressed like the majority.

 

I know that you will have a great time on your cruise. We have taken our young 30's sons and their spouses on Celebrity and they always have a great experience.

[Chicago Boy]

Please don't let our comments and debates concern you at all. In fact, and this will cause another controversy, Blu is described as a speciality restaurant and these venues do not require formal wear on formal night.

 

The mass cruise lines that observe formal night would probably do well to choose another name as most people do not wear formal attire, which is at the least black tie for men. If you wear a coat, tie and dress slacks you will feel perfectly comfortable and be dressed like the majority.

 

I know that you will have a great time on your cruise. We have taken our young 30's sons and their spouses on Celebrity and they always have a great experience.

 

We all need to move on. This is getting old

[ksmith3975]

Please don't let our comments and debates concern you at all. In fact, and this will cause another controversy, Blu is described as a speciality restaurant and these venues do not require formal wear on formal night.

 

The mass cruise lines that observe formal night would probably do well to choose another name as most people do not wear formal attire, which is at the least black tie for men. If you wear a coat, tie and dress slacks you will feel perfectly comfortable and be dressed like the majority.

 

I know that you will have a great time on your cruise. We have taken our young 30's sons and their spouses on Celebrity and they always have a great experience.

 

Thanks for the reccomendations on attire. I have read that Blu is the dining room for aqua class guests and not considered a speciality restaurant, therfore the formal dress code must be followed. I hope you're right and what I read was incorrect.

[pamstravel]

Thanks for the reccomendations on attire. I have read that Blu is the dining room for aqua class guests and not considered a speciality restaurant, therfore the formal dress code must be followed. I hope you're right and what I read was incorrect.

...

Celebrity is not very clear about dress requirements in Blu, however, if you wear a coat, tie and dress slacks I promise that you will be fine. Have a great time and stop worrying about it! You will see all manners of dress and with the above mentioned attire you will be right in the middle I promise. You are only 29 once....seize the moment and enjoy it!

[Ma Bell]

We all know that wearing a coat, tie and dress slacks is MUCH easier than wearing a suit. Seems to me that the only difference is it makes one feel that they are getting away with something.

 

There are plenty of choices available for formal nights. If every night were formal I could understand the "attitude". The idea that things need to be absolutely the same every night is uninspiring to say the least. We might as well all wear uniforms and eat exactly the same food too.

[Cretia]

You will find that more Celebrity passengers tend to use a TA as they do not have the confidence in booking with an online service or directly with X. This is due mostly to the fact that they are senior citizens and have not totally embraced the internet.

You are aware, of course, that saying that a number of posters who post on an internet forum choose a travel agent because they have not totally embraced the internet is a little silly, right? Just making sure....

 

To the OP: As someone who is on the young side of the cruising set (early 30s) and someone who had her own geocities page back in the day, - and therefore totally in my element on the internet - my husband and I choose to book through a travel agent because we don't particularly care to deal with the minutiae of travel. From what I've seen and experienced, by and large, you'll get the same type of deals and cruise from your own booking as you would through a travel agent, but if you don't like to deal with what I personally view as stupid details, I have to say the travel agent is the way to go. Ours arranged our flights, researched our hotels, made sure we had connections taking us place to place, answered nagging questions we had that we couldn't find the answers online, etc, etc.

 

I know people who take great pride and derive great enjoyment from planning those details. If you are one, I should think you could pass on a travel agent without worrying that you are missing anything. If you are more like me, however, and are annoyed by the details, travel agents can be a sanity-saver.

[tally10]

We all know that wearing a coat, tie and dress slacks is MUCH easier than wearing a suit. Seems to me that the only difference is it makes one feel that they are getting away with something.

 

There are plenty of choices available for formal nights. If every night were formal I could understand the "attitude". The idea that things need to be absolutely the same every night is uninspiring to say the least. We might as well all wear uniforms and eat exactly the same food too.

 

I don't think people feel that "they are getting away with something." I think it is more that they want to look nice and dress comfortably. Some people who dress casually for work, may not even own a suit or dressy dress and to buy one just for a cruise may not be in their budget and is just plain silly. Again, your opinion is your opinion, but other people's opinions are just as valid as yours.

[Blazerboy]

I don't think people feel that "they are getting away with something." I think it is more that they want to look nice and dress comfortably. Some people who dress casually for work, may not even own a suit or dressy dress and to buy one just for a cruise may not be in their budget and is just plain silly. Again, your opinion is your opinion, but other people's opinions are just as valid as yours.

Yup. Opinions are just that. Here's mine: there is NO ONE who can afford a cruise that can't afford to dress as requested. My last suit came from Marshall's for $99.00. If you can't afford that, you can't afford to cruise. No one is saying it has to be Prada or Armani ( although you CAN find those labels at Burlington Coat Factory- I did!)

 

Off topic- when I typed "Prada " in my phone for this post, it came out "peasant! " Guess that's me.

 

Andrew

[Ma Bell]

If someone can explain to me how a sportcoat with shirt, tie and slacks is any more comfortable than a suit, please do. They are exactly the same garments except they don't match.

 

For those people who don't care to dress up on their vacation at all, Celebrity provides alternatives for the few nights they need to dress for dinner to go to the main dining room. It seems that they have done a lot by expanding buffet selections, providing full dinner options in our cabin if we want exactly the same meal as those in the dining room and relaxed the dress code for specialty restaurants. No one has to buy a suit or dress to take a Celebrity cruise, they just have to understand that for a couple of nights on the cruise they will have to make an alternative choice for dinner. Is that "silly"?

 

These are the choices we have when we sail on Celebrity and have nothing to do with our opinions.

 

The Celebrity brand has done very well by providing an experience that is just a little more refined than some of the others and provides a nice choice for those of us who actually think it's great to have that choice.

[Ma Bell]

None of what you describe is offensive, it's just not what Celebrity considers formal wear. What is offensive is ignoring what is considered approprite rather than just making plans to go elsewhere for an evening.

 

We do it when we don't feel like dressing formally for the evening because we don't consider our preferences for the evening more important than the ambience Celebrity tries to create for the people who abide by the dress code. It's just common courtesy for others. We know what we have signed up for before we go and don't find it necessary to make excuses for our behavior.