Surprise Semi-Formal dress code on Equinox

[helpthejuggler]

In a few days the dress code is designated semi-formal. Only 2 formals on our 12 night cruise with this new code being made up on the fly.

 

As it is new. .. what will we all wear.?

 

Helpfully there was a card in the room on the 1st day to help us plan Like the advance notice

[Project_gal]

This is the second time I have seen a report like this on Cruise Critic. I cannot remember if it was also Equinox as well.

 

Personally, I am happy with this. I just do not want the lowest level of dress code to be reduced below "smart casual and above". I really used to dislike the "casual" evenings because I never understood what to wear.

 

Sue

[LunaSeaRetreat]

In a few days the dress code is designated semi-formal. Only 2 formals on our 12 night cruise with this new code being made up on the fly.

 

As it is new. .. what will we all wear.?

 

Helpfully there was a card in the room on the 1st day to help us plan Like the advance notice

 

This has happened to us a few times when the only time to have the third promised formal night is a long port day. People dressed formally or just nicely. There was a real mix. Just Celebrity trying to make it easy on everyone, not a change in policy.

Cynthia

[cruisestitch]

Some think, and this is only a guess, that this is an artifact of the previous dress code, stuck in some sort of limbo.

 

Previously there were three types of clothing, formal, semi-formal, and (smart) casual.

 

A few years ago Celebrity changed to two, formal and smart casual.

 

HOWEVER, the UK website never got the message. It has apparently been listing three dress codes all this time.

 

On the same cruise where US passengers were seeing two dress levels, UK passengers saw three.

 

Or, it may be that on this cruise, which is long enough to have 3 formal nights, there will only be 2 and 1 "semi formal" night. Again, it would be interesting to see what the US passengers' paperwork says, by that I mean, the e-docs.

 

That MAY be happening here. Would be interesting to know if anyone from the US is seeing three dress codes for the same cruise that these UK passengers are seeing two.

[gek]

I don't care what dress codes they come up with I'm sticking with hemi-semi-demi smart casual elegant and I don't care who calls me a scruffy lookin' nerfherder.

[Courier95]

In a few days the dress code is designated semi-formal. Only 2 formals on our 12 night cruise with this new code being made up on the fly.

 

As it is new. .. what will we all wear.?

 

Helpfully there was a card in the room on the 1st day to help us plan Like the advance notice

 

We were on the May 29th Equinox 12 night sailing. The Celebrity Today paper that evening stated that the first formal night would be Cocktail - suggested code being cocktail dress for the ladies and suit and tie for the men. We had no advance notice and many of the men had taken a tux thinking that a jacket wouldn't be necessary for smart casual. The result was that many men were wearing their tuxes to dinner as their only other option was shirt sleeves. Ladies found it easier as most had a short dress with them. No big issue but it would have been nice to have been advised in advance that it wouldn't be the usual 3 formal nights.

[miched]

Is semi formal a sport coat and jeans? :confused:

 

It doesn't matter what they want to call it. If I take a suit or tux and they have 2 formal nights and one semi formal I will wear the suit or tux for all three as that is the what I planned for and it if ruins someones cruise I am sorry for them as they need to lighten up. Majority of the time I just dress for dinner and then change after into more casual. Never seen anyone refuse to sit next to me in the lounge or theater because of it.

 

.

[jackdiamond]

Unless there has been a recent change there is no semi-formal on Celebrity.

[Andy]

Unless there has been a recent change there is no semi-formal on Celebrity.

 

Correct. Years ago, there were "semi-formal" nights, but as you said, unless something has recently changed, they have ended semi-formal nights.

 

This information is according to the Celebrity website : http://www.celebritycruises.com/planAndBook/beforeYouGo/tabLanding.do?pagename=before_you_go_gateway#before_you_go_getting_ready/planAndBook/beforeYouGo/chickletpanel.do%3Fpagename=before_you_go_getting_ready

 

Evenings aboard Celebrity include two types of dress: "Smart Casual and Above" and "Formal."

 

"Smart Casual and Above"

 

Ladies: Skirt or pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a sweater or blouse.

 

Gentlemen: Pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a sports shirt or sweater. Shirts must have sleeves.

 

"Formal" attire:

 

Ladies: Cocktail dress, gown, or a dressy pantsuit.

 

Gentlemen: Tuxedo, suit or dinner jacket with slacks.

 

Note: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurant or specialty restaurant at any time. Shorts and flip-flops are not allowed in the evening hours. The dress code will be enforced at all restaurants. And guests are asked to follow the "Smart Casual and Above" dress code in the Celebrity Theater for all evening performances.

 

The daily program, delivered to your stateroom and available at the Guest Relations Desk, will be your guide to the appropriate attire each evening. A casual dress code applies at all times onboard Celebrity Xpedition®.

[Cruise Junky]

It's been at least a year now that there are random reports of Celebrity dropping a formal night and calling it Cocktail Attire instead, so it seems they're scaling back formal on some cruises. Would be kind of nice to know ahead of time.

[Mark99]

With the cost and inconvenience of extra baggage, who wants to pack both a tux and a jacket/ slacks? X should stop trying to make it "easier" for us.

[Macadian]

With the cost and inconvenience of extra baggage, who wants to pack both a tux and a jacket/ slacks? X should stop trying to make it "easier" for us.

 

Extra baggage for stuff you may never use we have found. I now limit to 2 x dress pants, 2 x dress shirts, 1 x blazer and that's it. Rest is casual clothes in keeping with the climate. Reduces both the stress of deciding what to take, and the room you need in your case. Puuuuurrrrrfect! :) Wife is equally minimalist as in one cocktail dress with a couple of different tops etc. Works for us and we meet the dress requirements in most if not all settings.

[Gracie115]

On Silhouette in 2011 we had 2 formal nights and 1 semi formal night....announced after the cruise started...I think it just made it easier for those who had brought limited formal wear to the Med to relax if they didn't want to do a tux/gown on another night...turned out most on the ship were either still formal or smart casual so the "semi-formal" kind of just disappeared into the night.....

[Peteymil]

Correct. Years ago, there were "semi-formal" nights, but as you said, unless something has recently changed, they have ended semi-formal nights.

 

This information is according to the Celebrity website : http://www.celebritycruises.com/planAndBook/beforeYouGo/tabLanding.do?pagename=before_you_go_gateway#before_you_go_getting_ready/planAndBook/beforeYouGo/chickletpanel.do%3Fpagename=before_you_go_getting_ready

 

Evenings aboard Celebrity include two types of dress: "Smart Casual and Above" and "Formal."

 

"Smart Casual and Above"

 

Ladies: Skirt or pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a sweater or blouse.

 

Gentlemen: Pants (no holes, rips or tears) with a sports shirt or sweater. Shirts must have sleeves.

 

"Formal" attire:

 

Ladies: Cocktail dress, gown, or a dressy pantsuit.

 

Gentlemen: Tuxedo, suit or dinner jacket with slacks.

 

Note: T-shirts, swimsuits, robes, bare feet, tank tops, baseball caps and pool wear are not allowed in the main restaurant or specialty restaurant at any time. Shorts and flip-flops are not allowed in the evening hours. The dress code will be enforced at all restaurants. And guests are asked to follow the "Smart Casual and Above" dress code in the Celebrity Theater for all evening performances.

 

The daily program, delivered to your stateroom and available at the Guest Relations Desk, will be your guide to the appropriate attire each evening. A casual dress code applies at all times onboard Celebrity Xpedition®.

 

On the June 22 nd Equinox, there were 2 formal nights, and one new designation, Cocktail attire ( instead of the 3rd formal night). It didn't matter to us as we ate in Blu and did not dress formally, but I don't think it is right for Celebrity to change the dress code without advance notice. There were several men that said they would rather have not worn there tuxes on this less formal night, but did not have an alternative since they didn't know about it.

[luvtravel88]

Semi formal for men would be a suit and tie. For women a short cocktail dress or dressy pant outfit.

[dkjretired]

Semi formal for men would be a suit and tie. For women a short cocktail dress or dressy pant outfit.

 

Actually, semi formal under the old dress code was just a jacket for men, did not have to be a suit, many wore sport jackets.

[dkjretired]

On the June 22 nd Equinox, there were 2 formal nights, and one new designation, Cocktail attire ( instead of the 3rd formal night). It didn't matter to us as we ate in Blu and did not dress formally, but I don't think it is right for Celebrity to change the dress code without advance notice. There were several men that said they would rather have not worn there tuxes on this less formal night, but did not have an alternative since they didn't know about it.

 

We have seen this on some cruises where a third night might be a problem due to late arrival back on ship or some other reason. Usually the Cocktail dress or semi formal on these cruises means formal is optional. It is not really a big problem since they are not expecting you to dress in something that you did not pack. The problem has arisen on some cruises where they changed the dress code upwards after you are already on the ship. We have seen this where some ships have in their printed materials gone "rogue." No one has reported back that they were refused entry into a dining room under these new rules.

[hcat]

we've had it listed several times on recent cruises & ignored it....

 

we were happy to see the "informal nights" or whatever they called the middle ground done away with, & are not going to bring a third option of dress... that would mean a tux & jacket (w/or without & tie) for men, once again....

 

we like the formal nights (2 or 3) and all others resort casual

[helpthejuggler]

I have attached a copy of the card for this cruise.

 

Semi-Formal was defined as jacket with or without a tie in the daily.

Equinox Dress Codes 16July13.pdf

[karpela]

It was me who posted the previous thread on this topic after our Equinox 29th May cruise.

Instead of the 3 formal nights, the 2nd formal night was changed to a Cocktail Night.

Not a problem for us ladies but more so for the men, including my DH who had only bought a Tux and smart casual clothes.

He started the evening wearing smart trousers and shirt but felt uncomfortable as most were in suits, so he changed into his Tux and certainly wasn't alone.

If we had known before we'd left home he would have thrown a sports jacket in the case.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

On our 12 night Solstice cruise LAST summer out of Barcelona also dropped the 3rd to "Cocktail"

 

Actually what was to be the first formal was "Cocktail"

 

Like others have previously mentioned, because everyone planned on 3 formal nights it was a mix! I still wore my long black dress and my fiance still wore his dark suit and tie.

 

I just wanted to add, that this was LAST May so I guess this has been happening randomly for a while now.

[CRUZBUDS]

I wonder if it was because it was an extremely port intensive cruise?

 

I got tired just reading the itinerary :o