Re: Sloppy Cruisers

[kitty9]

Another couple of things I need to make clear. You seem upset that someone compared Carnival to Walmart. You must realize that people compare cruise lines to different things all the time. You'll see Costa being compared to a Yugo, Royal Caribbean to a Dodge Caravan and Holland America to a Crown Victoria (because HAL is known as a line for the geriatric set). But you cannot take those things seriously.

 

I would be remiss if I didn't point another thing out to you. You made a comment that sounds very much like the kinds of comments that led you to start this thread in the first place. At the end of your post you paint all of us with a very broad brushstroke by calling all of us snobs. So see how easy it is to do something like that? Not all who cruise are snobs just like you are not a snob.

[TC1957]

One more thing to consider. There will be some (probably more than you care to see) that are still trying frantically to hold on to their youth. You will see the term "Geriatric Prom" used by some and while I think that rather offensive it is, in my opinion, very descriptive. There will be gentlemen wearing clothes that look like they are from Abercrombie & Fitch and women wearing dresses that...well as my dear departed mother would have said...are borderline "hoochy mama." There will also be younger passengers dressed "differently".

 

Since cruises have many passengers from many different countries with varied traditions the dinner seatings can be very interesting and entertaining. Some you will look at and think they look fantastic...others you will look at and wonder how they looked in the mirror before leaving the cabin and thought "Dang I look good". :eek:

 

Odds are good those groups are very different for almost everyone on the ship. Poeple watching can be one of the best parts of the cruise. Give others something to talk about over dinner. :D

[Tammycm]

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! You have restored my faith in humanity. I realize that it may have sounded like I meant to lump all of the cruising community into one snobbish group, I did not intend too. I felt there were many on the original thread that were. I usually don't have a problem of worrying about what others think of me on vacation or even a business trip. This whole unknown thing is freaking me out a little. I have been reading the forums since Christmas when we received our gift. I like to feel in control of the situation and wanted to learn all I can before we go. I have learned quite a bit here and I do appreciate everyone's help. And to the teacher that responded, thank you very much. I believe educators are heroes! Thank you all again. I'm sure we will love the cruise. I really do want to go to the MDR on formal night. As I said it is on our anniversary and my husband loves prime rib. I, personally, don't eat meat but I'm sure there will be plenty of other things for me to eat!

 

 

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[luddite]

Dressing nicely doesn't mean dressing formal.

Casual and sloppy aren't the same thing either.

[Bonnie J.]

There are always vegetarian entrees every night, and there is seafood & chicken every night too. If the ship has the new menu you can just order sides and not the meat dishes. My daughter-in -law eats no beef or pork, only chicken or seafood but my gourmet son has no problem cooking most nights.

[cruiserfromalabama]

Our first cruise was over ten years ago and it was with Carnival. We, like you, were worried about what to take to wear and if it would be good enough for MDR formal night! I had a very limited wardrobe as I was a health care professional who wore scrubs most of the time. I ended up taking my one dressy dress and my husband took his one suit. We fit in just fine and saw tons of people dressed a lot more elegant and tons of people dressed in casual wear. We had been married 29 years at the time and had never been anywhere, so I was just thrilled to be going on a cruise. We sat at a table of 8 and had a wonderful time with people from all walks of life. Nobody was any better than the other and we just enjoyed getting to know people from other countries and other states.

 

Fast forward 5 years and we bit the bullet and cruised again with some friends and family on Carnival. I took the same dressy dress(no heels) and this time my husband took just a sports coat and tie. Again, we saw dressier than us and less dressy than us. Still we had a wonderful time and I just loved being pampered and waited on.

 

Fast forward 2 years and this time we went Princess(more adult friendly) and we went by ourselves. We did not carry any dresses or sports coat or ties. We opted to eat in the specialty restaurants on the two formal nights and on the other nights we ate in the MDR with me in capris and dressy tops and my husband in long pants and casual collared shirt. Still had a wonderful time and met lots of new people!

 

We have taken two more cruises since then and enjoyed every one of them. I never worry about what to take to wear anymore. NO ONE CARES AND IF ANYONE HAS THE GALL TO SAY ANYTHING TO YOU ABOUT YOUR CLOTHES, THEN YOU CAN JUST CALL THEM TACKY AND CLASSLESS! I use Cruise Critic and Tripadvisor for all my travel questions and reviews(they have helped me plan numerous trips)! I just take each forum and review with a grain of salt-some people are negative about everything and always find fault about everything. Enjoy your trip, be who you are, and you will be amazed at the fun you will have.

[Laurie S.]

Here's what my fiance and I wore on the second elegant night of our cruise last month: my dress was a mermaid, sequin-covered formal, and he wore dress jeans (yes, there is such a thing), a nice clean white t-shirt, and his favorite leather jacket. I love to dress up when I can, which is rarely, and he loves to dress down. ;)

 

Yes, we ate in the MDR and no one said a thing.

 

Edited March 11, 2014 by Laurie S.

[Shih-tzu]

I too posted my frustration on the thread that is now locked. I had only been on these boards for maybe a week or so and hadn't had a chance to read much and I was really starting to think that I definitely would not fit in or be accepted by other people on a cruise - worried that I would be the equivalent of Typhoid Mary on water based on the comments.....

 

For some reason I kept reading, and after looking at posts and pictures from other people on here, I began to realize that it just happened that the threads that I was reading had the "snobby" remarks and comments. After reading more, I believe a majority of the people posting are probably more like you and I.

 

I'll admit I was ready to cross cruising right off my list of things I'd like to do - but I've decided to keep "studying". I can see though where other "newbies" like me could get scared off pretty quickly.

 

Enjoy your cruise :-)

[Cruisin' Chick]

It just seemed from that person's post that she had a certain ideal in her mind. But as you can see here, there are many who feel she was a bit judgemental.

 

My family had been on several cruises before I found CC during some googling (I think I was looking for info on what the sea conditions would be for the Pacific as we had just booked our first Hawaiian cruise. i found the forum and jumped in). I did have my hubby (then-bf) to lead me through my first cruise as he had been on his first one a couple of years before that.

 

One thing we would do before every cruise was to read the brochure Carnival would send with our cruise docs. Hubby would even take a highlighter to it.:rolleyes: Even if we were repeating a ship, we would read this pamphlet just in case there were new rules (about what to bring or not, etc) and what were any changes, ship's features, etc. When things switched to cruiselines not sending out a brochure, we would both go online and read the Cruise Answer Book (by this time, we switched to Princess). I think that many people on this site don't even think to do this by the questions they ask (how many formal nights, what's the dress code, what's the name of the dining rooms). It would seem to me to first read the line's website and then come here to ask questions that weren't answered by the line.

 

As for the judgemental stuff, there are some people who think if you're not dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns on formal night, you should just stay in your cabin until the next day. There are very few (Cunard for one) lines that are that dressy for formal nights, but I imagine the people who book those cruises know this and want that ambiance. Which is great.

 

There are some lines that are on the other side of the spectrum. A resort wear standard for night time every night -- no formal nights. Most cruiselines fall in the middle of this: you decide if you want to dress up formally on any formal nights. There are alternative options such as the buffet for those who don't want to put on a dress or suit. You don't have to slink to the buffet and then return back to your cabin after eating -- you can go to shows or people watch or whatever. And if you dress up, you can return to your cabin and put on comfy clothes and go see the show.

 

There are also a whole spectrum of passengers too. You don't have to pass some test or step on a scale to get on board. If someone is looking down on one because they are several dress sizes smaller, it's that person who is lacking in class -- not the person buying Lane Bryant or going to their local Big/Tall Men's store. Now there are some considerations that one should keep in mind. This is not the place to put on a wife-beater tee shirt to go eat in one of the main dining rooms for dinner. But I imagine even if that's your favorite wear, you have a polo shirt or tropical shirt (which comes in all sorts of sizes) you can put on. My hubby usually wears hats outside because of his bald head but he doesn't wear them to the dining room, but there could be people on your cruise who always wear a head covering due to recovering from chemo, so it's best not to make assumptions.

 

So don't let comments on this board worry you. Take what is said with a grain of salt among the various helpful comments ("fly in at least a day ahead of your cruise," "look at the clothes you want to pack and return half of those back to your closet," "don't try to do everything on your cruise -- relax").

[Kobayashi]

There are more than 1 million registered users on this forum. Everyone will have an opinion. As long as you enjoy your cruise, that's all that matters. Congrats on a wonderful gift from your kids. That's an amazing gift!!! Happy sailing!!!