dressing up for formal nights

[nattiesma914]

If we're planning on NOT eating in the dining room, is it still mandatory to participate in the formal nights? We've never been on a cruise and I'm looking into the Carnival Valor southern caribbean in april of 2014. Thanks!

[CWcruisers]

No it's not and on Carnival, it's Cruise Elegant, not formal.

 

I've taken cruises before where I spent the week in shorts and flip flops and never gone to the MDR. There are others that do the same. And there is a growing trend where folks will dress for dinner, then change back to casual afterwards.

[Layla and Beaux]

No....you only need to dress up if you are eating in the dining room.:)

[nattiesma914]

thank you very much!!!

[CWcruisers]

No....you only need to dress up if you are eating in the dining room.:)

 

And even then, it's not required. Elegant vs formal. Dockers and a Polo Shirt are acceptable for men, even on Cruise Elegant night.

[GradUT]

If you are willing to wear anything but shorts and flip flops, you can participate in "elegant night" in the MDR. You don't have to wear anything formal. (I wear slacks and a blouse and my husband wears slacks and a polo shirt.)

 

I think you'll be missing out on a good meal and a neat experience if you skip "elegant night" for eating in the buffet.

[k2excursion]

Most people enjoy the dining room for elegant night, even if they hate dressing up (ME). But if you definitely don't want to do the dining room, you can stay in swimsuit & flip flops, and just eat at the buffet. Put on a t-shirt and shorts, and go to the evening show. I always change out of dress-up clothes, and into t-shirt & shorts, after dinner. You can go to the shows or any other nighttime entertainment venue very casual.

[kboggs75]

My wife and I always have enjoyed getting dressed up for a formal night.

 

It makes one/two nights of the cruise stand out from the others...and is another part of a cruise we look forward to.

 

I know its not for everyone, but you should try it....fun to get dressed up the the 9s and go out for dinner /show /dancing!

[MPH711]

Since you said this is your first cruise and it sounds like you may not eat in the dining room at all...you should reconsider that. Eating in the dining room and having someone serve you is a lot better that having the buffet. They have a wide range of choices. You can sit with just yourselves or at a larger table if you wish. I have talked with others that didn't even try the dining room and I just think you are missing part of the cruise experience.

[ncshp955]

My wife and I always have enjoyed getting dressed up for a formal night.

 

It makes one/two nights of the cruise stand out from the others...and is another part of a cruise we look forward to.

 

I know its not for everyone, but you should try it....fun to get dressed up the the 9s and go out for dinner /show /dancing!

My wife and I feel the same way. We don't get much of a chance to go out on the town and feel that this is a way for us to have a special meal. We really enjoy the 2 evenings.

[Sneezykevina]

I don't like dressing up but I do for those nights. I'll take my suit, my wife a little dress and then after we will get our pictures done. Then we change back to casual!

[Earthworm Jim]

And even then, it's not required. Elegant vs formal. Dockers and a Polo Shirt are acceptable for men, even on Cruise Elegant night.

 

Well, that's not exactly true according to the stated policy, unless you are counting Dockers as "dress slacks" and a polo shirt as a "dress shirt". Which isn't to say that they'd necessarily enforce as written, so you could be right in that regard.

[adaptabl]

Well, that's not exactly true according to the stated policy, unless you are counting Dockers as "dress slacks" and a polo shirt as a "dress shirt". Which isn't to say that they'd necessarily enforce as written, so you could be right in that regard.

 

Close enough. Not everyone wants to play dressup for elegant nights.

[T. Advisor King]

Well, that's not exactly true according to the stated policy, unless you are counting Dockers as "dress slacks" and a polo shirt as a "dress shirt". Which isn't to say that they'd necessarily enforce as written, so you could be right in that regard.

 

Based on what is listed as acceptable in the elegant policy and what is listed as unacceptable, I would veiw Dockers and a polo shirt as meeting the standard, not as "failing to meet the policy but knowing that it fails to meet the policy by a slim enough margin that it would never be enforced."

 

Depending on the length of the cruise, the time of year and whether you're attending early seating, you can expect about 10% of men to be wearing a suit, another 10% to be wearing either a jacket & tie or blazer and tie. There will be another 30% who will wear either some sort of jacket/blazer (but no tie) or a shirt and tie but no jacket/blazer. That leaves about 50% that will wear neither a jacket nor a tie. Of those 50%, 95% will still meet the "cruise elegant" dress policy. Your odds of seeing anyone in a tuxedo are around 50-50.

 

For longer cruises, there will be more people dressed up. For cruises around family vacation times (summer, Christmas, spring break) there will be fewer people dressed up. If you have early seating, there will be fewer people dressed up than late seating.

[Ksea1961]

If we're planning on NOT eating in the dining room, is it still mandatory to participate in the formal nights? We've never been on a cruise and I'm looking into the Carnival Valor southern caribbean in april of 2014. Thanks!

 

Don't skip the dining room every night! Try it at least once. You can go on a non-elegant night in casual clothing (details on carnival.com). I think you will really enjoy yourselves. We enjoy getting dressed up on elegant night(s) since we rarely do that at home. Sometimes you will get a really nice picture out of it too. Have fun!

[momof4boys]

Based on what is listed as acceptable in the elegant policy and what is listed as unacceptable, I would veiw Dockers and a polo shirt as meeting the standard, not as "failing to meet the policy but knowing that it fails to meet the policy by a slim enough margin that it would never be enforced."

 

Depending on the length of the cruise, the time of year and whether you're attending early seating, you can expect about 10% of men to be wearing a suit, another 10% to be wearing either a jacket & tie or blazer and tie. There will be another 30% who will wear either some sort of jacket/blazer (but no tie) or a shirt and tie but no jacket/blazer. That leaves about 50% that will wear neither a jacket nor a tie. Of those 50%, 95% will still meet the "cruise elegant" dress policy. Your odds of seeing anyone in a tuxedo are around 50-50.

 

For longer cruises, there will be more people dressed up. For cruises around family vacation times (summer, Christmas, spring break) there will be fewer people dressed up. If you have early seating, there will be fewer people dressed up than late seating.

 

I am wondering where you got those statistics? On our Freedom cruise this summer I saw few people in that 50% bracket.

 

At the 6pm seating most of the people were very dressed up on elegant night. Our table was all the way back and we really were surprised with how many tuxes (3 tables....may have been together), suites and jackets, and formal dresses for the ladies. Even the little kids were dressed up.

[k2excursion]

I am wondering where you got those statistics? On our Freedom cruise this summer I saw few people in that 50% bracket.

 

At the 6pm seating most of the people were very dressed up on elegant night. Our table was all the way back and we really were surprised with how many tuxes (3 tables....may have been together), suites and jackets, and formal dresses for the ladies. Even the little kids were dressed up.

 

I think your experience was unique. The stats from the other poster was obviously more of a guess on their part. I see some men in suits/tuxes, but on Carnival, it's more typical to see plenty of guys not in suits/tuxes. I think that's nice, because if all guys are in suits/tuxes, we all just look like clones of each other. The variety is nice, and it makes it a nicer atmosphere, imo.

 

I must point out that there is very little difference between suits & tuxes these days, as many tuxes are moving away from the cheezy bow-tie and towards a tie that you would see with a suit. I've worn my groomsman tux around (that has a regular tie), and everyone calls it a suit. Nobody knows that it's a tux. So there may be plenty of guys in tuxes, but most people view it as a suit. I honestly don't know the difference either.

[leadout_kv]

My wife and I (and DD10) enjoy dressing up BUT we have one limitation especially for our upcoming cruise. We're doing ALL carry on to avoid the airport baggage delays, lost luggage, etc...

 

All carry on will limit what we pack. I will pack one pair of khakis and a few polos for the MDR. This will be more than acceptable in the MDR. Not to mention the minute we leave the MDR its back into shorts and t-shirts. :)

[Sneezykevina]

Based on what is listed as acceptable in the elegant policy and what is listed as unacceptable, I would veiw Dockers and a polo shirt as meeting the standard, not as "failing to meet the policy but knowing that it fails to meet the policy by a slim enough margin that it would never be enforced."

 

Depending on the length of the cruise, the time of year and whether you're attending early seating, you can expect about 10% of men to be wearing a suit, another 10% to be wearing either a jacket & tie or blazer and tie. There will be another 30% who will wear either some sort of jacket/blazer (but no tie) or a shirt and tie but no jacket/blazer. That leaves about 50% that will wear neither a jacket nor a tie. Of those 50%, 95% will still meet the "cruise elegant" dress policy. Your odds of seeing anyone in a tuxedo are around 50-50.

 

For longer cruises, there will be more people dressed up. For cruises around family vacation times (summer, Christmas, spring break) there will be fewer people dressed up. If you have early seating, there will be fewer people dressed up than late seating.

 

If we fly to catch a cruise, I take a jacket and tie because space is limited and I can't see any reason to pay for extra luggage. Our next cruise we are driving to the pier so we can spare the extra bag for my full suit.

 

This is how I look at it. I bet I'm not the only one.

[crusinpsychRN]

There is no extra fee to eat in the dining room. Elegant night is lobster night, no lobster on the buffet. You can ask for as many as you can eat. No need to get all dressed up, just look nice.

[rjackieb]

If we fly to catch a cruise, I take a jacket and tie because space is limited and I can't see any reason to pay for extra luggage. Our next cruise we are driving to the pier so we can spare the extra bag for my full suit.

 

This is how I look at it. I bet I'm not the only one.

You aren't the only one. Personally I have always enjoyed formal/elegant nights. My husband has worn his suit and tie to elegant night on every cruise but the two summer ones. On those he wore a jacket and tie, but not his regular suit. We had early dining on all but one summer cruise.

On our last cruise, the majority of male passengers wore a jacket and tie, or a suit and tie, for elegant night. We saw very few in Dockers and a polo. If they didn't wear a tie, they were at least wearing a button down dress shirt and slacks. I even saw a few young boys with dress shirts and ties; now THAT is adorable!

[T. Advisor King]

I am wondering where you got those statistics? On our Freedom cruise this summer I saw few people in that 50% bracket.

 

At the 6pm seating most of the people were very dressed up on elegant night. Our table was all the way back and we really were surprised with how many tuxes (3 tables....may have been together), suites and jackets, and formal dresses for the ladies. Even the little kids were dressed up.

 

I suppose it wasn't entirely clear that when I said "you can expect to see ..." that I was relaying information based on my own, recent experience on Carnival.

 

I stand by the figures. Next time you're on a cruise, make a systematic count. On our last Carnival cruise, we didn't see any passengers in our dining room wearing a tux. We did see one or two around the ship. Maybe they ate at the other MDR. Maybe they were in our dining room, but just around a corner or behind a divider.

 

When counting men's attire, be careful to distinguish between a suit and a jacket and tie. I hear a lot of people saying how many men were "wearing a suit" and their numbers are so high that they likely were counting anyone wearing a jacket and tie, or possibly anyone wearing just a tie or maybe just a jacket.

[momof4boys]

I suppose it wasn't entirely clear that when I said "you can expect to see ..." that I was relaying information based on my own, recent experience on Carnival.

 

I stand by the figures. Next time you're on a cruise, make a systematic count. On our last Carnival cruise, we didn't see any passengers in our dining room wearing a tux. We did see one or two around the ship. Maybe they ate at the other MDR. Maybe they were in our dining room, but just around a corner or behind a divider.

 

When counting men's attire, be careful to distinguish between a suit and a jacket and tie. I hear a lot of people saying how many men were "wearing a suit" and their numbers are so high that they likely were counting anyone wearing a jacket and tie, or possibly anyone wearing just a tie or maybe just a jacket.

 

 

I don't really care what people wear. My group is comfortable knowing we may be in the minority of people really dressed up.

 

However, on the Freedom this summer, we saw lots of formally dressed people. (yes, tuxes and suits for men and gowns for women. (I have purchased quite a few suits as the mom of 4 boys so I do know the difference between a suit and a jacket/tie.....:cool:)

 

There were several Quincearneras celebrated on this cruise and their formal attire (and parents in very formal attire) with tiaras added to the elegance. It was so fun to see the families all dressed up and so excited!

 

Again, I was surprised at how fancy people dressed this time. (MDR 6pm seating.)

 

If you are comfortable with pants and a shirt...go for it. Just like we go for more formal!!

 

Happy sailing!!

[larkz]

We've never been on a cruise and I'm looking into the Carnival Valor southern caribbean in april of 2014. Thanks!

 

Carnival Valor is an excellent choice for a first cruise. It's still my favorite ship, and I'd like to go again. That itinerary is lots of fun, whether you like beaches, tours, or more adventurous excursions.

[Wennfred]

If we're planning on NOT eating in the dining room, is it still mandatory to participate in the formal nights? We've never been on a cruise and I'm looking into the Carnival Valor southern caribbean in april of 2014. Thanks!

 

Be sure to let the Maitre'D know that you will not be eating in the Main Dining Room at all, this will allow them to give a well needed seat to someone else.

 

This will also save you countless phone calls wondering why you are not there.

 

But at least use the Main Dining Room for Breakfast and Lunch, all that is require is shorts and T-shirts, the food is way better then the buffet in the MDR and with no lines.

 

Tip: Dont use those cheap rubber sandals up on Lido Deck, you will slip and bust your head open.

 

 

 

Fred