Were you sorry.................?

[charliem]

Were you sorry you did not pack for formal night? We are considering not packing formal clothes for our land tour/cruise in July. Did anyone do this and was sorry afterwards?

 

We have taken other cruises and have always gone to the formal nights (I enjoy them more than my husband). But......we took our first cruise to Alaska last year and one of the formal nights was after Hubbard glacier and the other was while cruising through Misty Fjords. We like early seating so this caused us to miss some of the viewing time.

 

My thoughts are - we have done formal nights and at this age and stage of my life I think I would rather spend the time just sitting on our aft balcony and enjoying the view but........am starting to second guess myself.

 

Were you sorry you did not pack for formal night????

 

Thanks,

 

Linda

[Hikini]

Not in the least! We have never packed for formal night. TO EACH THEIR OWN, but personally I think it's kinda silly! If you enjoy that kind of thing, that's different. But we've never been much for fancy dress in my family. I prefer not to carry the extra luggage along!

 

Hikini:D

[CruiseIsGood]

If you've cruised before, you know what you'll be missing. But a nice romantic in-cabin dinner is a good alternative. :)

[travelfun]

We decided not to pack formal clothes for our trip next week. We've done the formal for the warmer climates and had a great time, but have decided this trip to skip it and eat in the Lido those nights. I guess we'll find out if we're sorry too..

[Nanner]

Linda, DH and I made the same decision. We have a cruisetour coming up in two weeks, and the formal night is the second night on the boat. Since we tour after the cruise, I have no desire to lug formal wear along.

 

And since we will be spending a small fortune dining on the land portion, we aren't about to spend money for the alternative dining. Room service for dinner will be a first for us, and we are looking forwards to it!

[charliem]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Nanner and Travelfun - when you return from your trips, please post and let us know how it turned out without the formal wear.................and have a great time!!

[Texasbob]

It is my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. We will dress up and celebrate!

[midwife56]

What an interesting question. That option never even occurred to me. I like dressing up, my husband doesnT. We will be doing an independend land tour the week before the cruise and the thought of having to carry around less baggage is enticing. I will give it some thought and look forward to other responses.

[tee_wrecks]

It is my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. We will dress up and celebrate!

 

As well you should. Kind of interesting though, I posted on another forum that we won't be dressing up on formal nights and was promptly bludgeoned and declared a cretin. I'm surprised the cruise traditionalists haven't weighed in yet.

 

Didn't change my mind though. The wife and I both have to dress up at work so we'll be all casual all the time on this, our first cruise.

[Honeygram]

This will be our first cruise and we are not planning to attend formal nights. Neither my DH or myself feel the need to dress that nicely. We are much more comrfortable in casual dress up.

[CruiseIsGood]

tee, there's a difference between not dressing up, and staying on your balcony. Maybe those bludgeoning were thinking you were going to walk around the ship on formal night in jeans or shorts?

 

Anyways, see you in a week! Off to Alaska. :)

[TSSTHH]

How "formal" is the formal ? For guys, is shirt and tie considered "proper" for the formal night? For ladies, is a plain long flare dress ok OR tight short dress applicable ?

[JohnR49er]

This will be the first time we don't do formal nights. I don't know how we'd be able to make the 50 pound limit with the extra clothes needed for Alaska land tour. We've been driving to the port our last several cruises so being weight conscious is gonna be a challenge. It will be different but I don't think it will have any impact on our enjoyment. I'm kind of hoping DW enjoys it. It has been a battle over whether we should or shouldn't. We have decided its time.

 

[naplesam]

The cruise to Alaska this August will be the first one in a long time that the tux and the long dresses will stay at home! The main reasons are:

 

1) traveling companions do not have formal wear and do not wish to rent

2) extra space/weight required in suitcases

3) longer cruisetour means more regular/washable clothes needed

 

We will have "semi-formal" wear, i.e., sport coat & tie and wife in cocktail dress. We will eat in the main dining room and hope we do not offend anyone. A lot of people are in semi-formal wear anyway (and some casual!?).

 

Then when we go to the Caribbean in November, we will do the formal nights again as we do not have to fly to get to the port.

[mommabean]

 

We will have "semi-formal" wear, i.e., sport coat & tie and wife in cocktail dress. We will eat in the main dining room and hope we do not offend anyone. A lot of people are in semi-formal wear anyway (and some casual!?).

 

 

What you described IS very acceptable as formal wear. Don't the cruise lines recommend that as being formal wear? Formal doesn't have to be a long dress or tux - at least not to me. Many women just wear their "Sunday" dress and I doubt anyone minds at all. OK, well someone might mind. :)

 

The only thing I would find to be wrong in the dining room on formal night would be shorts. Nice pants on a woman wouldn't bother me. And the way I see it, anything (just about) goes around the rest of the ship on formal night.

 

We like to dress up on formal night since we never have a reason to dress nice at home. It's fun for a change.

[bearrabbit]

We're taking a cruise/land tour this July too and we've decided not to take any formal wear. With the added clothes needed for Alaska, plus the added week there just isn't anyway we're interested in packing formal clothes too. Plus we decided we just do not want to 'dress up' for this cruise. We'll be in the Windjammer or on our balcony those nights.

 

Let us know if you were happy or sorry with your decision when you return.

[CruisinDoug]

With most airlines the 50# limit is per bag and each pasenger is allowed 2 bags. Check the web site of your airline for guidelines. Have a great trip!!!

[Budget Queen]

For me, the food on an Alaska cruise is way down on my list of priorities and I would never have opted for dining at the expense of Misty Fjords. So the "formal" nights have been "out" for me for the last several sailings including the 2 coming up this year. I go to Alaska for what is outside the ship. Determine what are YOUR priorities and go with that. :)

 

Enjoy Alaska everyone!!!!!!!!

[tetleytea]

I just bought a $70 tux. dangit, I'm packing formal clothes.

[Gardyloo]

I am obliged once more to remind male visitors that the "Alaska Tuxedo" consists of a pressed pair of (newish) jeans, polished cowboy boots (summer) or clean sno-paks (winter), a new Pendleton shirt, and a bolo tie, preferably with a gaudy gold-nugget-jade-encrusted bolo thingamabob depicting a bear, moose or salmon, or the Alaska Flag.

 

All other "formal" attire will confuse the locals and they will ask you for more coffee or for the check.

 

Sadly, few on-board dining room maitre 'ds are aware of local customs and native dress (after all, what's the difference to them - Skagway one day, St. Thomas the next) so it's up to enlightened passengers to put them straight.

 

;)

[sk8teacher]

This is our first big ship cruise;) (done a couple of Mississippi River Boat cruises), and we will be on a 7 day bus tour just prior. Given that, I will have a sport coat and and couple of pairs of dockers for semi-formal nights, but will rent a tux for formal night and have it delivered to the ship (http://www.cruiselineformal.com/). You may want to consider that option, especially if you are sailing HAL.

 

The wife has a couple of nice outfits that fold down to practically nothing that are very appropriate for formal nights so that isn't a problem.

 

We simply don't have the room to carry that much with us given weight limitations and the length of time we will be traveling.

 

Cheers,

[elmtree]

We do Tux and formal gown....Just like Cindrella and Prince Charming....Then we take them off and turn back into the frog and toad...Lol

[Len3]

We're on the Sun Princess, August lst. Prior to sailing, we're in Vancouver for 2 nights and post cruise we're on a Princess tour to Mt. McKinley/Denali and Fairbanks. The "formal attire" will stay at home - it's just more stuff to hall around. Last fall we were on the Voyager of the Seas to Canada - most people changed into casual attire post "formal dinner". It seemed that you didn't have to lock yourself in your cabin if you decided that jeans felt best after dining.

[CecilCtyCruiser]

We are also on a 9 day land tour prior to our cruise, and the thought of not carrying formal wear is very appealing. However, it is my father's first cruise and he does not want to miss anything. We are on HAL. Does anyone know if they serve the same menu in the LIDO or Room Service as they do in the formal dining room, or is it different?

[charliem]

Wow - great responses to the question. Thanks! It is good to see others share the same feelings about what we are really going to Alaska for.

 

Last year was our first cruise to Alaska and I could have absolutely just sat on our balcony or gone to the Viking Crown to sit and view the scenery the whole time we were cruising - it will mesmerize you. We can hardly wait to get back in July.

 

I have made up my mind........no dressing up for us this cruise and now I feel like we won't be the only ones not in the formal dining room those nights.

 

Thanks and everyone - have a wonderful trip this summer.

 

Linda