I'll probably be called a snob for this ...

[Scrapnana]

I don't know how anyone could consider that "chain mail" outfit anything but tacky & slutty. I agree with you about the pants and a nice top. I like to dress up, but not everyone does. But if someone doesn't agree with the dress code, they should consider a different cruise line.

But then I laugh when I think about the European gentleman in the Queen's Grill on the Queen Mary 2. Gentlemen were supposed to wear jackets every night. He wore a jacket, but it was more like something my husband would wear to play golf or go to the grocery store. His wife was dressed very well. Only on the last formal night did he wear something appropriate. I turned out he had a great sense of humor, obviously he had enough money that he didn't have to impress anyone and did not care what people though. We exchanged addresses and I promised him that if they came to SC, I would be their "tour guide"!

 

I am sure he got some "looks", especially in Queens Grill!

[smitch588]

That does not sound snobby at all..in fact your point isn't snobby what so ever. The comments on what you were wearing is extremely rude and uncalled for. I see people all over wearing 'nicer' clothes in restaurants that are casual places. It's preference. I feel as if carnival is starting to generate guests that aren't used to cruising with dress codes or have little cruise knowledge.

 

I went on Princess for my first time last year and they definitely still follow dress code, and have formal night often and their less formal night is still a night wear everyone dresses very nicely. Celebrity may also be another good option.

[styxfire]

I've been on 10 Carnival cruises. The Manly contest you're referring to is the Hairy Chest Contest. .. typically, the old bald guy wins. Being the budget line, I agree the clientele are from a socio-economic group that could be considered lower to middle class. However, there are always many cruisers on board a Carnival ship that have cruised with the line for years and remember its more glorious past, regardless of their annual income... Yes, there are Cretins on board, but those people have equalled a very tiny portion of the total number of passengers we've met and/or dined with... My husband and I continue to cruise with Carnival. I continue to wear gowns and cocktail dresses for formal night and we enjoy the pictures we bring home from these vacations. On the longer cruises, this is the norm for a great many guests.

 

Thanks for your response, fyree I would love to agree with you. I believe you that on longer cruises, many guests stick with a more glorious form of dress. But, I suspect that tradition is on a VERY fast decline. Carnival markets itself to only 1 group... and people in gowns are NOT its target market. Within 7 years, NOBODY on a Carnival cruise will wear a gown. Seriously, by the end of 2020, not 1 single person will wear a gown. But, I guarantee you will see an orgasm on Carnival's poolside. Probably in less than 5 yrs, even.

[jawas]

LittleJeanne (original poster): you have to keep in mind the clientele that Carnival now markets solely to. Lower income, party-hard types that are generally closer to the beginning of their careers than the end, and don't have the life experience to understand all the nuances of self-presentation... i.e. maybe don't understand fully how "dress" or behavior contributes to success. Furthermore, there are no shortage of cruisers on Carnival that simply have NO COUTH.

 

On my Carnival cruise in early December, there was a contest up on deck in which some of the female cruisers were choosing the Manliest Man (or a similar title, I've forgotten the exact phrase). Several parts of the contest were simulated sex on stage. Full-on genital grinding lap-dances in swimwear, between ~12 strangers, up on the stage with 500-or-so passengers whooping & cheering for them. Another part of the contest was the males lying face-up on the stage one at a time, while a female laid on top of them and entertained the audience. During another part, the males demonstrated how they proposition females, and try to get in their pants, and how they perform in bed, etc.

 

It wasn't the kind of physical demonstration that made me want to eat with any of them in the Main Dining Room later.

 

It just seems that most of Carnival's customers don't seem to share the behaviors of people who love the elegant nuances, classiness and respect that "Formal Night" represents. If you are of the latter type, you should probably ditch Carnival.

 

For myself, the only thing I really liked about Carnival was the bathrobes.

 

Hmm. I've mostly cruised on Carnival, although it's been a couple years since the last one. I was getting excited to be on the Dream in a month, but this is scaring me a bit. Well, I guess I don't usually participate in this stuff anyway. Sounds like things will be interesting, at the very least. ;)

 

So back to the original post. Even when I was a kid, I was accused of being "dressed up" a lot. I've always loved clothes, and since I didn't have lots of nice things when I was young, I guess I love "dressing up" now. The last few cruises, we've been lucky not to have to fly, so packing extras for formal nights hasn't been a problem. This time, we're flying, so we've decided to forego dressing for elegant night, which means we will *not* be eating in the MDR on either elegant night. I am disappointed, not only because I really enjoy elegant night, but because I prefer to eat in the MDR. Although, the more I read, the more I think I could get away with dressing up a pair of black slacks and blouse :D Just kidding - my DH is not a fan of dressing up, so for him, it's either jeans or suit, no in-between :mad:

[Ehpride]

Hmm. I've mostly cruised on Carnival, although it's been a couple years since the last one. I was getting excited to be on the Dream in a month, but this is scaring me a bit. Well, I guess I don't usually participate in this stuff anyway. Sounds like things will be interesting, at the very least. ;)

 

So back to the original post. Even when I was a kid, I was accused of being "dressed up" a lot. I've always loved clothes, and since I didn't have lots of nice things when I was young, I guess I love "dressing up" now. The last few cruises, we've been lucky not to have to fly, so packing extras for formal nights hasn't been a problem. This time, we're flying, so we've decided to forego dressing for elegant night, which means we will *not* be eating in the MDR on either elegant night. I am disappointed, not only because I really enjoy elegant night, but because I prefer to eat in the MDR. Although, the more I read, the more I think I could get away with dressing up a pair of black slacks and blouse :D Just kidding - my DH is not a fan of dressing up, so for him, it's either jeans or suit, no in-between :mad:

 

For the record, I've never seen anything like that on Carnival. Obviously, there's the hairy chest contest but the most I've ever seen them do is dance. There's been nothing sexual about it.

[Happy ks]

Your "cruise clothes....total waste of money" comment has me slightly intrigued. What cruise clothes can you not wear at home? For us, a lot of our cruise clothes are standard summer clothes for our all too short Canadian summers. Nevertheless, they are all items that can be worn when seasonally appropriate.

 

To me, the term cruise clothes is more likely to mean items that are non-wrinkling, easily packed, Tilley pants that have secret, virtually theft proof pockets, pretty dresses or gowns that can be worn at home for special events. For a man, a dark suit that he can wear to weddings or funerals, if nowhere else. A tux is not essential on any cruise line, although I believe that almost every man looks exceptionally attractive in one.

 

My question is not meant to be rude or snotty. We, too, are middle of the road people who feel that we have blended in on any cruiseline we have ever been on. After participating in Cruise Critic for the last few years, I sometimes feel that we should take a Carnival cruise just to see some of the unusual clothing and characters that we have heard about here.

 

Sorry, never saw this question until today. Cruise clothes (for me) are clothes I wouldn't wear at home. Tropical prints, bright colors. Years ago my husband would wear tropical print shirts, mostly Tommy Bahama. It's been well over 10 years since he wore any print at all, now he will wear Tommy Bahama shirts, but only in solid colors. For our first cruise, I imagined everyone in tropical wear, looking like a Hollywood beach party set. Wow, was I ever wrong.

 

For me, it was rayon prints, stuff like Jam's World or Fresh Produce (the colorful, tropical printed stuff) http://www.jamsworldshop.com/index.htm?gclid=CJO-89ekq7wCFSFo7Aod9kgANg I'm just won't wear the stuff at home. If I won't wear it at home, I won't buy it for a vacation, I like to get some value from my clothing $$. I learned that lesson the hard and expensive way.

 

I do have a couple Fresh Produce dresses that are a solid color. I suppose it's just me and my preferences, I also don't care for anything with a hint of nautical. I have absolutely no judgment (hate that word) about anyone else wearing tropical or nautical, if they love it they should wear it.

[BeagleOne]

Ah, the chain mail dress. Did you know that the woman who was wearing it holds a doctorate-level degree? Just proof that advanced education or being in a white-collar profession doesn't necessarily mean knowledge of what is appropriate when out in public.

[KandCsailing]

LittleJeanne (original poster): you have to keep in mind the clientele that Carnival now markets solely to. Lower income, party-hard types that are generally closer to the beginning of their careers than the end, and don't have the life experience to understand all the nuances of self-presentation... i.e. maybe don't understand fully how "dress" or behavior contributes to success. Furthermore, there are no shortage of cruisers on Carnival that simply have NO COUTH.

 

On my Carnival cruise in early December, there was a contest up on deck in which some of the female cruisers were choosing the Manliest Man (or a similar title, I've forgotten the exact phrase). Several parts of the contest were simulated sex on stage. Full-on genital grinding lap-dances in swimwear, between ~12 strangers, up on the stage with 500-or-so passengers whooping & cheering for them. Another part of the contest was the males lying face-up on the stage one at a time, while a female laid on top of them and entertained the audience. During another part, the males demonstrated how they proposition females, and try to get in their pants, and how they perform in bed, etc.

 

It wasn't the kind of physical demonstration that made me want to eat with any of them in the Main Dining Room later.

 

It just seems that most of Carnival's customers don't seem to share the behaviors of people who love the elegant nuances, classiness and respect that "Formal Night" represents. If you are of the latter type, you should probably ditch Carnival.

 

For myself, the only thing I really liked about Carnival was the bathrobes.

I guess they market quite well to me since we've done 8 Carnival cruises; but I don't fit the clientele you mention. I never want to have "couth" because that sounds really snobbish.

 

I wear dresses, skirts or dress pants for casual nights and had people comment that I'm dressed up. I just say it's because I don't have the opportunity to do it at home. I'm not offended by it.

 

The only cruise wear I own are a strapless casual top and a floral maxi dress that I don't wear at home and my snorkel set.

Dh has a few Hawaiian style shirts, bowling style shirts and a couple pair of linen pants that he mostly only wears cruising for casual nights.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

I love to dress up and do so every night even on DCL which is our line of choice at the minute. We will never sail Carnival again but that is a whole other story.

 

So last trip on DCL in December where it can be more casual, I had a full length gown, updo, posh jewels, designer shoes etc. as we had dined at Remy, so the scene is set! We had to walk past the pool area to get to our cabin, everyone stared probably thinking tad overdressed isn't she but I had the Rose and chocs in my hand so some would have guessed we had been to Remy.

So did I care that people looked, no I did not and it was nothing to do with the 4 glasses of champagne, port and Martini I had drunk;) If I had had one more glass of champagne they might have got a twirl:p

 

I am used to formal functions, silver service etc, so dressing up doesn't phase me I actually enjoy it, sometimes it is a small battle (which I always win) to get the other half into his posh gear as we had to for so many years, he doesn't want to "penguin" up on vacation but he will for me, each trip he says he is not going to this time and then a couple of days later he will say what tie should I wear with this!

 

Someone said earlier clothes maketh the man, yes they do!

Edited February 4, 2014 by CELTICGIRLCRUISER

[smitty34877]

I really enjoyed the picture you created in your description of walking by the pool. My husband and I have the same verbal exchange regarding "dressing for dinner"each and every time we cruise...but he usually manages to at least wear a suit on formal nights. I try really hard not to say anything and all of a sudden he manages to surprise me.

[Jackytar]

A lot of interesting reading in this thread, I see. Herself and I have yet to make our first ocean trip together, though June is approaching fast. Both of us are taking the position that this is something special for us both, a second honeymoon, so we're both inclined to dress up some. In my case, I already have a perfectly good mess uniform, so why not bring it? It gets little enough action as it is, and Herself is having a grand time looking for elegant things to wear. And if some folks feel inclined to comment, well, that's them, I suppose.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Jackytar

[OzKiwiJJ]

I agree with you, Jackytar.

 

We also have yet to do our first ocean cruise, ours is in December. We are both looking forward to dressing up to the nines on formal nights. I will be wearing long gowns and DH will wear his tuxedo. For the other nights I will wear dressy pants, or a long skirt, and elegant tops (cocktail dresses just don't suit me), and DH will wear dark trousers and a jacket or possibly a suit (if I can talk him into taking the new dark French blue suit he bought recently which looks wonderful on him).

 

We've traveled on a couple of luxury train trips - the Royal Scotsman and the Eastern & Oriental Express - and enjoyed dressing for dinner on those trips. For the Royal Scotsman trip we schlepped our formal wear for seven weeks all over Ireland and the UK, but it was worth it for those nights.

 

In my opinion, having glamorous evenings are what makes these sorts of trips special. I get enough of dressing casually at home.

[Nigella]

My whole point is that people worry far too much about what others are wearing. People watching would be no fun at all if we all dressed and looked the same.

 

Snobs who think that bathrobes would never be worn in public should note that the following photo is an official Seabourn photo - a cut above Regent or Windstar:

 

 

Guests line up for mimosas and bloody marys on Deck 5, aft.

 

Look closely and you will notice several bathrobes. :)

 

Relax, people, and enjoy your cruise.

 

On the subject of bathrobes on Seabourn - I understand this is an old post but have only just seen it. :)

Seabourn does actually arrange a 'bathrobe party', usually on the World Cruise but sometimes for guests on other lengthy segments. It's a specific themed party, held in the early morning coming into port. I'm certain that's what's shown on this pic. It's not the norm to see Seabourn guests wearing bathrobes in dining venues, bars etc, although you do see them around the pool and people going to/from the spa area.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Nigella

[kellane]

We do enjoy Carnival and don't fall into what a previous poster described as the "typical" crowd. We are in our early 30's and could care less what anyone else is wearing. If the dress code of others bothers you enough that you do not enjoy your cruise, then you should definitely check into other cruise lines.

Edited February 6, 2014 by kellane

[barbjd106]

My husband and I were on Carnival last February. Although the program clearly said that cut-off shorts, baseball hats, sleeveless T shirts on men would not be permitted in the dining room, the maitre'd did nothing about it when we complained. Why say it then? We will never go back as we felt they did not keep their word.

 

And similar to what another poster here said, we were in the elevator going to the specialty restaurant (we wound up eating there nightly) and a woman got in and asked if it was formal night. My husband was in a sport jacket and I had on nice pants.

 

Since then we have taken one Celebrity, three Cunard and one Norwegian trip. Celebrity is good, Cunard is great at maintaining the dress code. Norwegian is free style and very laid back.

 

I would go back to Cunard, Celebrity and Norwegian, but never to Carnival.

[LrgPizza]

I can't imagine allowing the clothing on strangers' bodies to in any way affect my vacation.

[barbjd106]

The manner of dress of others does affect my enjoyment in the main dining room at dinner.

 

I do think if a cruise line wishes to have no dress code guidelines, that's fine. However, I feel that when they assert an unequivocal statement re what is permitted and what is not permitted in the main dining room at dinner, then they are obligated to enforce it.

[ducklite]

The manner of dress of others does affect my enjoyment in the main dining room at dinner.

 

 

 

I do think if a cruise line wishes to have no dress code guidelines, that's fine. However, I feel that when they assert an unequivocal statement re what is permitted and what is not permitted in the main dining room at dinner, then they are obligated to enforce it.

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree. Don't offer a dress code if it won't be even remotely enforced.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[Jinn]

I find that most, not all, people on the Crystal ships are nicely dressed. Have never seen bathrobes at the Lido buffet. I did see a young woman in short shorts turned away in the MDR. As anywhere, some people don't understand the term "country club casual." Jinn

[LrgPizza]

I find that most, not all, people on the Crystal ships are nicely dressed. Have never seen bathrobes at the Lido buffet. I did see a young woman in short shorts turned away in the MDR. As anywhere, some people don't understand the term "country club casual." Jinn

Unless a cruise line seriously assumes most of it's passengers are country club members, that's a stupid way to describe a dress code.

[slidergirl]

Unless a cruise line seriously assumes most of it's passengers are country club members, that's a stupid way to describe a dress code.

 

But, if they are on Crystal, chances are they do belong ;)

 

I'm guilty of using that term. I used it before I belonged to a CC. But, when I traveled with my now-ex and we'd golf, there was that "dress code", so I got used to the term.

 

What would be a better term that the masses would understand? I'd love to have another phrase for it.

[LrgPizza]

But, if they are on Crystal, chances are they do belong ;)

 

I'm guilty of using that term. I used it before I belonged to a CC. But, when I traveled with my now-ex and we'd golf, there was that "dress code", so I got used to the term.

 

What would be a better term that the masses would understand? I'd love to have another phrase for it.

 

I've never heard that term until this board, and my family even belonged to a country club for many years! 'Round these parts, I reckon if you're wearing a tie, someone'll stop you and ask if you have court or a job interview. :p

[slidergirl]

I've never heard that term until this board, and my family even belonged to a country club for many years! 'Round these parts, I reckon if you're wearing a tie, someone'll stop you and ask if you have court or a job interview. :p

 

I can relate!!! Sounds like the kids I interview lately ;)

 

The "country club" deal meant collared shirt, aka the good old polo shirt or "Tommy Bahama" type shirt for guy with non-jean, non-cargo bermuda shorts or pants for men. For women, we had it slightly better: still a collared shirt, but it could be sleeveless, golf skirt, non-jean bermuda shorts or pants. In the dining room, the same clothes for lunch, but in the evening no shorts.

 

Almost every resort golf course I have been to in Hawaii, Florida, California and Arizona have similar dress codes, so that's where I picked up on that type of dress…

I'd love to say for a man "look at the guys on the PGA Tour on TV - dress like them", but the young guys on Tour are really stretching the envelope on taste, especially if you are a middle-age man :)

Edited February 12, 2014 by slidergirl

[LrgPizza]

I can relate!!! Sounds like the kids I interview lately ;)

 

The "country club" deal meant collared shirt, aka the good old polo shirt or "Tommy Bahama" type shirt for guy with non-jean, non-cargo bermuda shorts or pants for men. For women, we had it slightly better: still a collared shirt, but it could be sleeveless, golf skirt, non-jean bermuda shorts or pants. In the dining room, the same clothes for lunch, but in the evening no shorts.

 

Almost every resort golf course I have been to in Hawaii, Florida, California and Arizona have similar dress codes, so that's where I picked up on that type of dress…

I'd love to say for a man "look at the guys on the PGA Tour on TV - dress like them", but the young guys on Tour are really stretching the envelope on taste, especially if you are a middle-age man :)

That sounds the same as our private clubs here in Indiana. Except they aren't strict about the collared shirts for women, since plenty of nice women's blouses don't have collars. Personally I can't stand collared shirts on myself, and despite dressing up for work every day, I don't even own any.

[twoputt.plusone]

Almost every resort golf course I have been to in Hawaii, Florida, California and Arizona have similar dress codes, so that's where I picked up on that type of dress…

I'd love to say for a man "look at the guys on the PGA Tour on TV - dress like them", but the young guys on Tour are really stretching the envelope on taste, especially if you are a middle-age man :)

 

As you can tell from my screenname, I play a lot of golf both north of the border and in the US. There was a time when all golf courses had dress codes. Now it's usually only private courses who have and enforce them. Most public, municipal and semi-private courses are almost anything goes - almost. Jeans and inappropriate wear are still not permitted. I personally don't have an issue with the pros changing things up a bit. They're still tastefull. Now women can wear sleeveless and non-collared golf shirts and the men can wear mock turtle-neck shirts.