Am I the only one who'd love to cruise without formal night?

[Mike2131]

The food does not taste better and the wine is not more appealing just because I am dressed up. We always adhere to the requested dress code for the evening, but the lack of formal nights is one reason we selected Oceania for a cruise in February. The need to pack less is a side benefit we will definitely enjoy!

 

For those who enjoy dressing up for a special evening, that is great. For us, it is not an experience we need on vacation.

[jdm]

We like formal night. Husband looks so wonderful in a tuxedo.

[bburns]

Going to Alaska in a few weeks on the Diamond. I'm assuming the formal night is the crab legs and then lobster. Do they serve those in Horizon Court on those nights?

[bjkTX]

I'm all for a choice - and my choice is no formal attire. Fortunately I'm at that time of life and my career that business casual is daily wear - and if I had to go back to a suit and tie I'd opt to stay home.

 

Our first cruise I took the suit and we did formal night - lots of folks dressed very nice and they obviously enjoyed doing it - more power to them. I hated it, and elected not to take the suit on the next cruise and was very happy eating at the buffet those nights. We respected the rules and let those who feel that dressing up "makes their cruise" have their evening while we enjoyed ours in our own way.

 

I'm glad Princess has options - I don't think I'd enjoy cruising on other lines from what I've heard.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I would love for there to be no formal nights. My husband wears a suit and tie to work every day and we have to go to black tie events for his job so we get our fill of getting dressed up. When I'm on vacation I would love for every night to be informal. We're only doing one of the formal nights on our next cruise as skipping the other.

[debbiematt]

We love Princess, feel more at home there than Celebrity or RC, I feel Princess gives you a choice Formal for Dinning Room, more casual with the buffet or room service. We were on the Grand last August and had room service on the last formal night and had our lobster in our nice quite room. We do not dress formally but we stay out of the way of those who do and have no problems. I thinks it's great that everyone can do whichever they choose.

Debbie

[britsbest]

We should all be grateful that we are in a position where we can choose !

[spongerob]

Without the opportunity to participate in formal nights, cruising would be just that much more ordinary. I get all the ordinary I can stand at home.

[gunnywife]

I agree with Spongebob. We live in FL where it's always casual. Even when you go to an upscale restaurant you'll see people in shorts and tees. So for my husband and I to have a chance to dress up at night it's a real pleasure. Casual I can find here in FL.

[HighLordDave]

I could do without the formal nights at all, and I'm a little bothered by the people who say, "If you don't like it, go to the buffet." What if I want what's for dinner in the main dining room that night?

 

As cruise lines try to go more mainstream, I think the notion of formal nights is becoming less and less popular. More families are cruising now and do you know what a pain in the tail it is to get a 5 year old to put on a shirt and tie or a sundress, and then hope that they don't spill anything on it?

 

In my experience, more and more workplaces are going to business casual. Some places still require coats and ties (like banks and law firms), but in the last 8 years my workplace has gone to polo shirts and khakis every day.

 

With two or three dining rooms on the big ships, I don't see why one or two couldn't be designated as the formal dining room(s) on two nights and the other(s) as smart casual. As some other folks here have mentioned, I don't go on vacation to go formal; I go on vacation to relax and I don't find suits and ties to be very comfortable.

[WCAB]

Reading the posts, it does sound reasonable to provide an opportunity for both experiences. Appears those that are forced to dress for work every day or have small children see the total getting away from it and relaxing as ideal. Those that go casual in their routine life or live in a laid back community welcome the opportunity to dress up. I do not think either one is the "right one" but with the cruise lines always evolving to keep people interested as in MUTTS, this is an area that could be addressed, if the cruise lines gave a little thought to it.

[sultan_sfo]

And while we are at it why even "smart casual". Make THAT dining room for shorts, torn jeans, and T-shirts as well and you can eat in that dining room. /Sultan

 

Partial & Selected Quote

With two or three dining rooms on the big ships, I don't see why one or two couldn't be designated as the formal dining room(s) on two nights and the other(s) as smart casual. As some other folks here have mentioned, I don't go on vacation to go formal; I go on vacation to relax and I don't find suits and ties to be very comfortable.

[kruisey]

Living in Vancouver we are more casual than many other .So love the change of a formal night on ship.To each his own I say.....Princess tries to please us all....they do give us the choice that some other cruise lines don't :cool:

[johnql]

It's not a "make it or break it" situation for me, but I prefer not having to dress up. I do believe in following whatever the cruise line's guidelines are. As a result, despite four very nice cruises on Princess, my most recent cruises have been on NCL. I love not being expected to dress up in the main dining rooms. Realistically, I don't expect Princess to follow NCL's lead since there are many cruisers who still prefer the traditional cruising experience. That's why it's good to have choices.

[HighLordDave]

And while we are at it why even "smart casual". Make THAT dining room for shorts, torn jeans, and T-shirts as well and you can eat in that dining room. /Sultan

 

Look! A visitor from the Celebrity board!

 

Welcome!

[suzan2]

I LOVE formal nights. It is the only time all year that I get to really dress up. Every place you go these days, the emphasis is on casual. Nice restaurants, people wear shorts. New Year's Eve house parties....jeans. Even church now, people wear shorts. I swear you'll start to see people laid out in caskets in shorts. Why bother to dress up then? :)

Seriously, though, I'm glad people have a choice. If I had to wear a suit to work everyday, I might not want to get dressed up on vacation either. But for me, it's special.

[bjkTX]

Suzan - WOW I'm glad you brought that up. I need to change my will to say bury me in shorts and a t-shirt! :-)

[mr green]

I could do without the formal nights at all, and I'm a little bothered by the people who say, "If you don't like it, go to the buffet." What if I want what's for dinner in the main dining room that night?

 

As cruise lines try to go more mainstream, I think the notion of formal nights is becoming less and less popular. More families are cruising now and do you know what a pain in the tail it is to get a 5 year old to put on a shirt and tie or a sundress, and then hope that they don't spill anything on it?

 

In my experience, more and more workplaces are going to business casual. Some places still require coats and ties (like banks and law firms), but in the last 8 years my workplace has gone to polo shirts and khakis every day.

 

With two or three dining rooms on the big ships, I don't see why one or two couldn't be designated as the formal dining room(s) on two nights and the other(s) as smart casual. As some other folks here have mentioned, I don't go on vacation to go formal; I go on vacation to relax and I don't find suits and ties to be very comfortable.

 

If you don't like formal nights, go to a cruise line thatdoes not require them. Let those who like a little dignity have it. Mother Earth, and cruise ships too still deserve a little respect, we are all just getting too informal. john

[bjkTX]

If you don't like formal nights, go to a cruise line thatdoes not require them. Let those who like a little dignity have it. Mother Earth, and cruise ships too still deserve a little respect, we are all just getting too informal. john

 

 

It took longer than I expected to get that kind of reply :-)

[KatWag]

Yep. Another visitor from the Celebrity board? :)

 

Let's remember. Princess does not REQUIRE passengers to dress formally. He must be thinking of another line.

[nho9504]

I agree with Spongebob. We live in FL where it's always casual. Even when you go to an upscale restaurant you'll see people in shorts and tees. So for my husband and I to have a chance to dress up at night it's a real pleasure. Casual I can find here in FL.

 

We live in FL and dont care for formal nights. We did a 14 day Panama crossing on Summit in May and it had way too many formal / informal nights (total 7 days) - the informal nights on Celebrity also requires a coat ... Hubby said this would be his one and the only Celebrity cruise because of that.

 

We respect the dress code suggestions but would opt for no formal night at a heart beat.

[LARGIN]

Yep. Another visitor from the Celebrity board? :)

 

Let's remember. Princess does not REQUIRE passengers to dress formally. He must be thinking of another line.

 

Princess passengers have been denied entry to the dining rooms during formal nights because of inappropriate dress..

[cubsr#1]

We tend to do more adventurous excursions,, rafting, ziplining, & water related - I am exhausted after a day full of sun etc the last thing I want to do is spend time showering, reapplying make-up and then "killing" time waiting for dinner. I prefer to get back on the ship, take a quick shower, skip the make-up and have room service or go to the buffet. In the evening, I like to either spend some time in the gymn, hot tubs, pools etc. & Once in awhile- take in one of the shows. On the other hand, my husband like a previous poster said, loves getting dressed up. He's been know to first scout out the portarit backgrounds and plan his outfit accordingly so he matches - on casual nights) So we compromise- I dress for one formal and he skips the 2nd formal - that's what we like about cruising - we follow the rules and pick accordingly to what suits us at the time.

 

We have our own scuba gear and it does take a lot of space and quite a bit of our weight allowances - it would be nice to leave the formal clothes home!

[FredS]

We enjoy dressing up for formal night. It is not very often that I wear a tux and my wife gets her "formal" dress on. She uses it as an excuse to buy something new that is extra special. As someone said, we eat casual all year round, and a cruise is a great way to wear formal without feeling pressured that you are required to meet everyone. You feel great when you look great.

[kes]

Cruisers who complain about formal night, are akin to those who complain about noise at the airport, after they move in, and want changes to the airport. They know its noisy, just as cruisers understand there are formal nights. Get over it! john

??

 

no one's complaining about formal night, just giving opinions to their preferences. I don't see a problem with that

 

I do a lot of formal functions as part of my job. I wouldn't even consider what is on a cruise as a formal night. It is people getting dressed in formal wear for photos and dinner. We had two formal nights on our cruise, we enjoyed both dinners, I slightly dressed down (still formal) on the second night. we also bought the photos :). I would have been just as happy not to have the formals or to skip one.