Curious..are u really into Elegant night?

[jacksmom09]

We look forward to it!:D

[KPfromCT]

I do NOT enjoy it....We just got off the Pride a few weeks ago, and we did do the first Elegant night, but we were not in the mood to dress for the second one. Honestly, I go on vacation to relax and just CHILL OUT. Not a fan of having to dress up. Would prefer to do the buffets on those nights. :p

[ccruisequeen]

I do enjoy the Steakhouse, but they let folks go in there without dressing up too.....

 

How about MDR - level one Elegant, level two Casual. Same food, no extra charge, everyone dresses the way they want. Yay! How's that for an idea?

 

That would work with ATD but with assigned dining you would have to add your choice of dining to your booking so they could assign you to the proper MDR.

[CurlyCali8]

We haven't even gone on our first cruise yet, but I am very much looking forward to the 2 elegant nights on our 7-day. I'm a stay-at-home-mom, and DH works from home, so we very rarely have the chance to get dressed up. (Dh won't wear a tux...maybe a jacket, def. a tie.)

 

Kids are also looking foward to it -- DD is 10 and can't wait to wear her new dresses. DS is 7; wasn't planning on going so far to buy him a jacket, but while browsing some post-Easter sales, he spotted one, tried it on and insisted that I buy it! :)

 

HOWEVER...this is our first cruise, so everything seems exciting. I can understand if this was cruise #10 or #20+, I might be totally over dressing up. Or maybe not? Time will tell! ;)

[mitsguy2001]

I've posted about this before on other threads. I suspect that opinions on elegant nights may run along gender lines, for 2 reasons. First of all, men's elegant clothes for social functions are the same as elegant clothes for work, while women have different elegant clothes for social events and for work. A man being required to dress up on a cruise feels like he's going to work, if his job has a formal dress code. But a woman would not feel that way, since she would still not be wearing what she wears to work. Luckily my job has a casual dress code, but I still have to dress up for things like meetings and conferences.

 

The second reason why I think opinions would split on gender lines is because many cruises are in warm destinations. Men's formal clothes are very hot in hot destinations, while women's formal clothes seem more appropriate for warm destinations. Also, women have more freedom to choose what to wear, and can choose clothes based on the weather. Men do not have that option. A lot of women on this board complain that the temperature in the dining rooms is too cold, and complain that the cruise lines set the temperature to accommodate the men. But, I think the cruise lines do the right thing there, because women can always cover up if they are too cold, while men can't do much if it's too hot. Though that doesn't help much outside.

 

I remember on our last cruise, in the Caribbean during June, on a very hot, sunny day (and I was badly sunburned, despite using a lot of sunscreen), my wife wanted to go outside, while I had my suit on, to watch the Beyonce concert on the Seaside Theater. That worked out well for her in her nice, cool dress, though it was very hot for me. She loves the formal nights, since (as other women say), she "doesn't have many opportunities to dress up".

 

They should also try to avoid scheduling elegant nights on port days. To be honest, that can be somewhat of a nuissance. On land, it would be unusual for someone who spent the day at the beach to want to dress up later that same day. Especially if you are tired, sunburned, and short on time. Elegant nights work best on sea days, when there is more time.

 

On another note: I can never understand why women find a man wearing a suit to be so attractive, even in 100 degree weather. What is so attractive about something that shows none of me other than my face and my hands, and (on a hot day) makes me hot and barely able to breathe? Anytime I wear a suit, my wife is constantly telling me how good I look in it. I can't quite understand why, to be honest.

[Godiva5]

I do enjoy the Steakhouse, but they let folks go in there without dressing up too.....

 

How about MDR - level one Elegant, level two Casual. Same food, no extra charge, everyone dresses the way they want. Yay! How's that for an idea?

 

Joan Rivers and the fashion police will be maning the door! :rolleyes:

[vivavegas]

I kinda like getting all "gussied" up!:)

[cinnamonspider]

My family and I always dress nicely for regular nights and even nicer for Elegant Nights. As so many others have said, we don't get many chances to dress up in our regular lives, so it's fun to have something to get spiffy for. We see it as part of our vacation, not as a hinderance to it. My boyfriend is coming with us on his first cruise and we just bought him a beautiful grey suit - he loves "Mad Men" and the clothes they were, and he's even asked me if we planning on dressing up for the flight.

 

I can't actually recall seeing anyone who was woefully underdressed for dinner on our previous cruises. We probably "overdress" a little, but each to their own.

[birthdaycruise50]

I like to get dressed up for the elegant nights. I wear a uniform to work every day and I work 2 weekends a month. So i don't get much chance to dress up. We also use these nights to get family photos done. $22.00 may seem expensive to some but we budget into our vacation money. Trying booking a sitting with a proffesional photographer they are really expensive.

[WeBeCruisin']

I kinda like getting all "gussied" up!:)

 

And you look right purty when you do! :)

[Gunnerbabe_2003]

Sooooo looking forward to it, and think my wardrobe is finally complete! Was humming and hawing about a pair of heels to finish it all off; walked by the store today and my husband said "those would look amazing on you". It was the pair I'd been eyeing! I took it as a sign and bought them + matching handbag. Now have to find a way to fit all the new fancy clothes into my case! I love any excuse to dress up and don't get to do it near often enough. Twelve dressy nights in a row coming up! Enjoy whatever makes you happy folks!

[snoodel]

The wife likes too, and looks forward to it.

Me, I do it because of my mantra "Happy Wife, Happy Life".

No, I dont like it.

I like getting dressed up, nice pants and shirt.

I hate suits, I hate tie's even more.

But it's ok, I will deal with it for her.

 

I think clean and nice clothes are fine.

I dont even mind shorts as long as they are again, clean and nice.

Just my oppinion.

[snoodel]

Ok, Im going to get hammered here..

 

I love to see how the women are speaking for their husbands.

 

Would love to see a true, blind poll, seperated from men and women.

I think the women would be shocked to how many of thier DH's really dont enjoy dressing up. But we do it because we love our DW's and like to keep them happy.

Facts, Just the Facts.. :D

[BigDogCT]

No, not really. I'd gladly stay away if they didn't serve the primo meals on that night. Still I'll do my best to participate so not to ruin other diners enjoyment. I just wish I didn't have to travel with a suit and a pair of dress shoes.

[Andoria]

I've posted about this before on other threads. I suspect that opinions on elegant nights may run along gender lines, for 2 reasons. First of all, men's elegant clothes for social functions are the same as elegant clothes for work, while women have different elegant clothes for social events and for work. A man being required to dress up on a cruise feels like he's going to work, if his job has a formal dress code. But a woman would not feel that way, since she would still not be wearing what she wears to work. Luckily my job has a casual dress code, but I still have to dress up for things like meetings and conferences.

 

The second reason why I think opinions would split on gender lines is because many cruises are in warm destinations. Men's formal clothes are very hot in hot destinations, while women's formal clothes seem more appropriate for warm destinations. Also, women have more freedom to choose what to wear, and can choose clothes based on the weather. Men do not have that option. A lot of women on this board complain that the temperature in the dining rooms is too cold, and complain that the cruise lines set the temperature to accommodate the men. But, I think the cruise lines do the right thing there, because women can always cover up if they are too cold, while men can't do much if it's too hot. Though that doesn't help much outside.

 

I remember on our last cruise, in the Caribbean during June, on a very hot, sunny day (and I was badly sunburned, despite using a lot of sunscreen), my wife wanted to go outside, while I had my suit on, to watch the Beyonce concert on the Seaside Theater. That worked out well for her in her nice, cool dress, though it was very hot for me. She loves the formal nights, since (as other women say), she "doesn't have many opportunities to dress up".

 

They should also try to avoid scheduling elegant nights on port days. To be honest, that can be somewhat of a nuissance. On land, it would be unusual for someone who spent the day at the beach to want to dress up later that same day. Especially if you are tired, sunburned, and short on time. Elegant nights work best on sea days, when there is more time.

 

On another note: I can never understand why women find a man wearing a suit to be so attractive, even in 100 degree weather. What is so attractive about something that shows none of me other than my face and my hands, and (on a hot day) makes me hot and barely able to breathe? Anytime I wear a suit, my wife is constantly telling me how good I look in it. I can't quite understand why, to be honest.

 

I'm very much a female and can't be bothered to dress up.

[Andoria]

Ok, Im going to get hammered here..

 

I love to see how the women are speaking for their husbands.

 

Would love to see a true, blind poll, seperated from men and women.

I think the women would be shocked to how many of thier DH's really dont enjoy dressing up. But we do it because we love our DW's and like to keep them happy.

Facts, Just the Facts.. :D

 

 

My man likes dressing up and I avoid unless I have no choice. I'm just too darn lazy.

[vols_159]

I dont like dressing up just for dinner.. If they was serving something special on the menu that night Would a pair of dress kakis and polo shirt work?

[Flick]

On our recent 9 day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Spirit we had two dressy nights. The first night I just wore a navy blue blazer and grey slacks and was very comfortable. The last dressy night was actually on our 50th. wedding anniversary and both my wife and I dressed to the nines. I'm talking white dinner jacket with tux slacks....the whole magilla! At any rate, I was perfectly comfortable in my summer tux (yeah, I also have a winter black tux) but there were very few men in tuxes. I don't think I will bother if I have to fly to the ship....I carried an extra garment bag for my tux and her dress and the airline charged me $85.00 in luggage fees each way.

[mitsguy2001]

The wife likes too, and looks forward to it.

Me, I do it because of my mantra "Happy Wife, Happy Life".

No, I dont like it.

I like getting dressed up, nice pants and shirt.

I hate suits, I hate tie's even more.

But it's ok, I will deal with it for her.

 

I think clean and nice clothes are fine.

 

My feelings exactly! Again, I don't quite understand why women find a man in a suit to be so attractive, especially in very hot weather. I've also read that men who have to wear a tie to work every day are more likely to die young from a heart attack, due to the tie restricting their breathing. That could be, although another factor is that maybe jobs that have stricter dress codes are also more stressful for other reasons (correlation without causation).

 

Ok, Im going to get hammered here..

 

I love to see how the women are speaking for their husbands.

 

Would love to see a true, blind poll, seperated from men and women.

I think the women would be shocked to how many of thier DH's really dont enjoy dressing up. But we do it because we love our DW's and like to keep them happy.

Facts, Just the Facts.. :D

 

I was thinking the same thing. In fact, I might post such a poll. Although, it would be interesting to also see if there is a difference based on location, such as, if some men might enjoy getting dressed up for an Alaska cruise or for a Christmas party (in the northern hemisphere), but not for a Caribbean cruise or for an outdoor wedding during the summer.

Edited May 19, 2012 by mitsguy2001

[shellgoodman]

My husband bought a tux many years ago and used to bring that. Then he downgraded to a suit and now he just wants to wear a sport jacket.

I am completely fine with that as I don't like to pack elegant clothes anymore.

 

Because we are such a busy family and my husband travels internationally (with suits and sport coats), we need to just relax and let our hair down. We are just happy to spend to quality time together. We look nice every night even if it's jeans.

 

My girls (14 & 12) will probably wear dresses all the nights because they wear them to school anyway.

[Another ship trip]

After about 30 cruises, I get no enjoyment out of packing lots of extra shoes, dresses, etc. to dress up for other people for two nights of the week. I have more formal pics than I need and would rather relax and kick back now. With the new baggage fees, it is another bag for the two or three of us to pack suits, gowns, dress shoes, and all the other paraphenalia. Skip it! NCL rules with the choice of whether to dress up or not. On my next Carnival cruise, I will probably eat the buffet those nights or pay to eat and not wear formal wear, but regular clothes.

But those who love to dress, keep doing it!

[dontpanik]

OK, I just have to give my 2 cents here. While more women than men may prefer to dress up, you shouldn't assume that NO men like to. My husband actually DOES like to put his tux on and go to dinner. He does not have to dress for work since we're in FL and almost no one does. BTW, I take exception to the idea that women's elegant clothes are somehow more comfortable and that's why we enjoy dressing for dinner. PUH-LEASE. Strap the twins in with an underwire, shimmy into some pantyhose, and add high heels (not to mention the jewelry and accessories) and I defy you to tell me that we are somehow more comfortable than wearing a tie in the dining room :rolleyes:

 

The people who do like to dress up, do so for a multitude of reasons. We enjoy it because frankly, we clean up nice:D. Also, in our case, it adds a sense of occasion to dining out that putting on our good flip flops and heading over to Texas Roadhouse just doesn't.

[YoungGangMom]

My whole family dresses up. I also have a husband that likes to dress to impress. He will wear a tux every formal night as well as my son. Now I will admit my son could care less, my daughter loves it too and we take lots of photos. My husband adds to his tuxedo accessories all the time. I love picking out my formal wear as well, it fun to dress up and feel special.

Edited May 19, 2012 by YoungGangMom
spelling

[trptplayer22]

Not really. My husband and I wear uniforms all week long. A sundress for me and Khakis and button down shirt for him. That's dressing up for us.

[Andrew Bowden]

Love your 2 cents!!! We also love to dress for dinner! It's part of what makes the cruise special for us (This is Irma not Jerry aka Andrew). However, if someone wants to dress in their shorts, etc. go for it....to each his own. Life's too short to worry about the dress police. (Believe me, as a breast cancer survivor (3 years) and now being recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma-as Bill Murray says: it just doesn't matter!!!") Let's cruise and have a great time and not worry about what anyone wears or doesn't wear. Be yourself and have a great time on any and all of your cruises and we wish many cruises to all of you. They are the best vacations ever!!!