"Formal"

[marylizcat]

Since it seems that there are three free dinner restaurants, we shall clearly be eating in the formal one a good many times over the course of a cruise, say six or seven. This is a lot of times to wear formal, especially since the whole ship will not be doing likewise and you will stick out like a sore thumb around the ship later. Suppose this means having to eat and then go and change back into smart casual for the rest of the evening, which is a real nuisance!

 

I think somebody at RCI thought they had a clever idea 'let people who want to do formal do it, and let others not', but since it is tied to a restaurant, it severely limits your choice if you don't do formal!

[chazg]

Since it seems that there are three free dinner restaurants, we shall clearly be eating in the formal one a good many times over the course of a cruise, say six or seven. This is a lot of times to wear formal, especially since the whole ship will not be doing likewise and you will stick out like a sore thumb around the ship later. Suppose this means having to eat and then go and change back into smart casual for the rest of the evening, which is a real nuisance!

 

I think somebody at RCI thought they had a clever idea 'let people who want to do formal do it, and let others not', but since it is tied to a resturant, it severely limits your choice if you don't do formal!

 

I saw your other post and was confused about how you would get bored with eating off the same menu for 2 weeks. if you choose to plant yourself in the Grande, then I could see why. I don't think you would stick out like a sore thumb as many others would choose to also eat in the Formal Resturant. This also gives yo a chance to pick which days you do formal if you didn't like doing formal on the 2nd day in you don't have too!

 

I myself always went back to the cabin and changed after dinner most formal nights anyway so I could be comfortable during the evening, but that is my choice.

[marylizcat]

I saw your other post and was confused about how you would get bored with eating off the same menu for 2 weeks. if you choose to plant yourself in the Grande, then I could see why. I don't think you would stick out like a sore thumb as many others would choose to also eat in the Formal Resturant. This also gives yo a chance to pick which days you do formal if you didn't like doing formal on the 2nd day in you don't have too!

 

I myself always went back to the cabin and changed after dinner most formal nights anyway so I could be comfortable during the evening, but that is my choice.

 

As I said before, if there are only three restaurants to choose from, of course I shall be planting myself in the Grande many times over the course of two weeks! We shall have to rotate around the three, but I do not think we shall want to do the Asian one five times, so it will have to be the Grande.

 

The British are different from the Americans. We do not tend to change after dinner out of formal clothes. To us they are 'formal nights' not 'formal dinners'.

[M. St. Louis]

The best part of formal night was seeing everyone all over the ship all dressed up. "Look at that couple, wow her dress is amazing. Look at that cute little boy in his tux, he looks really dapper."

 

With it being confined to just one spot, now you will hardly see anyone. Formal night is dead, sad to say.

 

Hopefully this won't spread to other ships in the line.

[UCF_Knight]

Since it seems that there are three free dinner restaurants....

 

Four: The Grande, Chic, American Icon Grill, Silk

[LMaxwell]

The British are different from the Americans. We do not tend to change after dinner out of formal clothes. To us they are 'formal nights' not 'formal dinners'.

 

Okay.

 

There's nothing else formal going on that evening except for maybe the backdrop for your portrait photos. There's no themed formal events in the evening. On formal nights I see very few people dressed formal after, say, 10PM. Most people do their dinner dress up and then change to more appropriate resort wear.

 

Is RCI hosting a 6 hour wedding or something? Maybe they can bring you to The Grande through a crew passage so you won't have to see the steerage passengers?

 

You have a choice of 4 sit down table service restaurants, and at LEAST two more free areas for dinner as well. If you don't want to dress up each night or get tired of a menu, go elsewhere. If you want an MDR with fixed seating times they have 21 other ships for you.

 

What would make you happy in this situation? That the Quantum and Anthem had the same exact MDR layout used for the last 4 decades? These ships are not about that type of experience. Like I said in another thread, it will no longer be "Do we go to Disney World or take a cruise?" It will be "Do we go to Disney World or do we go to Quantum?" Big difference.

[marylizcat]

Okay.

 

There's nothing else formal going on that evening except for maybe the backdrop for your portrait photos. There's no themed formal events in the evening. On formal nights I see very few people dressed formal after, say, 10PM. Most people do their dinner dress up and then change to more appropriate resort .

 

 

As I said, that does not apply on ex-UK sailings. To wear formal clothes when the majority of people on board are not would simply make one feel out of place and awkward.

 

I imagine people will just wear whatever the minimum 'formal' they can get away with in the Grande restaurant, maybe just a tie which they can then remove after dinner. It won't be DJs/tuxedos as before. It is the end of formal nights on these ships.

[LMaxwell]

As I said, that does not apply on ex-UK sailings. To wear formal clothes when the majority of people on board are not would simply make one feel out of place and awkward.

 

I imagine people will just wear whatever the minimum 'formal' they can get away with in the Grande restaurant, maybe just a tie which they can then remove after dinner. It won't be DJs/tuxedos as before. It is the end of formal nights on these ships.

 

On a US based cruise you'd see formal night usually ended after parties left the dining room. If you are wearing what you are comfortable wearing why would you feel out of place and awkward? People dressed more casually than you are not going to look down at you for being dressed up.

 

You now have, at your discretion, the option to have an even MORE formal cruise. Is the difficulty accepting that it is now your option and you don't know "when's right" without the Compass saying so?

 

I am surprised at the backlash surrounding this formal setting. It is coming from all different directions.

[tls1012]

Since it seems that there are three free dinner restaurants, we shall clearly be eating in the formal one a good many times over the course of a cruise, say six or seven. This is a lot of times to wear formal, especially since the whole ship will not be doing likewise and you will stick out like a sore thumb around the ship later. Suppose this means having to eat and then go and change back into smart casual for the rest of the evening, which is a real nuisance!

 

I think somebody at RCI thought they had a clever idea 'let people who want to do formal do it, and let others not', but since it is tied to a restaurant, it severely limits your choice if you don't do formal!

 

Still don't understand where you are getting only 3 restaurants when there are 4 for non suite members and a 5th for a suite inhabitant. And on the topic of formal nights, frankly, I love walking around still in my strappy gown looking all that and it doesn't bother me at all to be sitting at a table in the casino playing blackjack all dressed up. You should see the casinos here on a Friday or Saturday night. :eek: Let the spiked heels rule!!

[marylizcat]

Still don't understand where you are getting only 3 restaurants when there are 4 for non suite members and a 5th for a suite inhabitant. And on the topic of formal nights, frankly, I love walking around still in my strappy gown looking all that and it doesn't bother me at all to be sitting at a table in the casino playing blackjack all dressed up. You should see the casinos here on a Friday or Saturday night. :eek: Let the spiked heels rule!!

 

 

Yes, it is four! I cannot count!

[marylizcat]

On a US based cruise you'd see formal night usually ended after parties left the dining room. If you are wearing what you are comfortable wearing why would you feel out of place and awkward? People dressed more casually than you are not going to look down at you for being dressed up.

 

You now have, at your discretion, the option to have an even MORE formal cruise. Is the difficulty accepting that it is now your option and you don't know "when's right" without the Compass saying so?

 

I am surprised at the backlash surrounding this formal setting. It is coming from all different directions.

 

 

Obviously you look at formal differently, so you would not understand others' views on the subject. The pleasure of a formal night is to see the whole ship dressed up with the ambiance thus created. I know this does not happen on US cruises from my experience of them! It is the effect of a group as opposed to an individual event.

 

I always pity the few people who are not dressed formally on formal nights on UK sailings and have dined in the buffet. When you go in the theatre and they are the only ones not dressed up, I think they must feel so embarrassed. I look at them and think 'well maybe they lost their luggage or they didn't know any better'!

[LMaxwell]

I always pity the few people who are not dressed formally on formal nights on UK sailings and have dined in the buffet. When you go in the theatre and they are the only ones not dressed up, I think they must feel so embarrassed. I look at them and think 'well maybe they lost their luggage or they didn't know any better'!

 

Wow. Those people are making a choice to dine where they wish and how they are comfortable. And they are welcomed in the current MDR's as well (not by you apparently). They are people able to make decisions for themselves without the cruiseline telling them how to enjoy themselves. They do not look down at you for having to be spoonfed your feelings, but you obviously look down on them. They are only shamed by small minded people like you.

 

And yet...there is still NO formal events going on anywhere on the ship requiring formal wear. Not one single thing. You are looking down at people for not dressing up for a photo opportunity. This is not a wedding. This is not a family celebration. It is an opportunity for people to dress up if they want to. What is the grand occasion here? That everyone onboard could pay for it? If you feel like a goofball walking around in formal wear when not 100% others do, that is your own problem. Sail Cunard. These new ships are NOT for you. You do not seem capable of making your own choices about these matters without emotional distress.

[marylizcat]

Wow. Those people are making a choice to dine where they wish and how they are comfortable. And they are welcomed in the current MDR's as well (not by you apparently). They are people able to make decisions for themselves without the cruiseline telling them how to enjoy themselves. They do not look down at you for having to be spoonfed your feelings, but you obviously look down on them. They are only shamed by small minded people like you.

 

And yet...there is still NO formal events going on anywhere on the ship requiring formal wear. Not one single thing. You are looking down at people for not dressing up for a photo opportunity. This is not a wedding. This is not a family celebration. It is an opportunity for people to dress up if they want to. What is the grand occasion here? That everyone onboard could pay for it? If you feel like a goofball walking around in formal wear when not 100% others do, that is your own problem. Sail Cunard. These new ships are NOT for you. You do not seem capable of making your own choices about these matters without emotional distress.

 

 

Blimey! Do calm down!

[LMaxwell]

Blimey! Do calm down!

 

I don't look down on people who dress how they want and eat where they want. YOU DO. How you "feel" dressed up is your own issue, no one elses.

[marylizcat]

Actually, we are both saying the same thing! I am saying there seems little point in getting dressed up just to eat in the Grande restaurant because there is nothing else going on around the ship to make it a formal night. You are saying that too.

[marylizcat]

And I don't look down on them. I feel sorry for their embarrassment. There is a difference! Sympathy is what it is called.

[LMaxwell]

No that isn't what I am saying. The reason to eat in The Grande is for the menu and atmosphere. This requires dressing formal. Therefore there is a need to actually dress formal.

 

However, the way you used to look DOWN on guests who didn't dress up, like buffoons on display for your judgment and amusement, is now how you are afraid people will view you because you are dressed up and they aren't, except that now you are in a distinct minority. The issue here is entirely your own.

 

If I want to eat in The Grande, I will dress appropriately. When I am finished I will go back to resort wear...since I am on a floating amusement park.

[LMaxwell]

And I don't look down on them. I feel sorry for their embarrassment. There is a difference! Sympathy is what it is called.

 

It's not sympathy. They aren't embarassed. They are free thinking adults making their own decisions. You are taking pity on someone for not playing dress up like you are told to do so. That's disgusting and the very definition of looking down ones nose at someone else.

[marylizcat]

I give in! I agree with you. I am an imbecilic moron who thinks contemptible thoughts about my fellow humans. (Or maybe you are just speaking without ever having actually experienced a sailing full of Brits who do dress up. In my opinion you would have to be made of very stern stuff to spend an evening dressed in jeans and tee shirt when every other male is in a tuxedo and not feel a tad embarrassed). However this is all irrelevant to the subject matter of this thread. Please can we just get back to it?

[DEIx15x8]

The one thing I would like to say. On the last cruise we had some rough seas right before dinner time on night 2. I didn't feel sick but felt that sitting in a MDR all dressed up would make me feel sick. Instead I stayed in my cabin and then instead of my tux just put on a dress shirt and dress pants to go to the Captain's Welcome Reception. I did not feel out of place at all but afterwards I went up the Windjammer to eat before the evening show (only second time I missed the MDR ever!) and was amazed at what everyone was wearing. Maybe 25% was dressed below the basic MDR level. Another 25% were dressed like me, more smart casual. Then the remaining 50% were in tuxedos. About a quarter of those people were eating alone, but not all. It seemed like the dress code did not keep them from the MDR but they simply did not want the food served there. Some had small kids and likely didn't want them in the MDR but they were still all dressed up. I was really surprised by what I saw up there. But I have to admit I picked a good night to miss, because night 2 is the only menu I have to resort to the alternate selection with and the Windjammer was an incredible menu for dinner that night.

[Single Cruiser]

It's not sympathy. They aren't embarassed. They are free thinking adults making their own decisions. You are taking pity on someone for not playing dress up like you are told to do so. That's disgusting and the very definition of looking down ones nose at someone else.

 

Exactly. The op must be what we call old school. Not a general UK consensus.

I've ate in formal, changed after to smart casual to go to the theatre and felt sorry for some of the men fidgeting in their jackets or trying to loosen bow tie.

I didn't feel embarrassed and if I got any looks I'd feel pity for those who can't see beyond a dress code.

[beardedladies]

I do understand where the OP is coming from - on a UK sailing, as we mostly do, half the fun of a formal night is seeing everyone dressed up not just for the meal, but pre-meal drinks in the concierge lounge, the captain's address, in a bar for after dinner drinks, a show, a quick gamble in the casino..... it becomes an event for the whole evening. We enjoyed that.

 

I think this will be lost on Anthem. If 'formal' is just dressing up for the meal itself, then wanting to change immediately after because the majority of the ship are not formal, then I will likely not bother. I suspect I will wear a suit to the grande, not a DJ. It's easier to dress down afterwards.

 

If I, as someone who loves formal nights, is thinking "what's the point" with the new system, then I think formal nights as we know them are going to gradually die. It's a bit of a shame, but I expect we will enjoy the new atmosphere the ship will have, just in a different way.

[tls1012]

I do understand where the OP is coming from - on a UK sailing, as we mostly do, half the fun of a formal night is seeing everyone dressed up not just for the meal, but pre-meal drinks in the concierge lounge, the captain's address, in a bar for after dinner drinks, a show, a quick gamble in the casino..... it becomes an event for the whole evening. We enjoyed that.

 

I think this will be lost on Anthem. If 'formal' is just dressing up for the meal itself, then wanting to change immediately after because the majority of the ship are not formal, then I will likely not bother. I suspect I will wear a suit to the grande, not a DJ. It's easier to dress down afterwards.

 

If I, as someone who loves formal nights, is thinking "what's the point" with the new system, then I think formal nights as we know them are going to gradually die. It's a bit of a shame, but I expect we will enjoy the new atmosphere the ship will have, just in a different way.

 

Part of me is really hoping that this will be just the opposite and because people can choose WHEN/IF they want to do formal, more people will actually want to do it. Not to bash another line but if they want more informal, go Carnival. I will sail Carnival again too.

[chazg]

And I don't look down on them. I feel sorry for their embarrassment. There is a difference! Sympathy is what it is called.

 

Your assumption that they "feel embrassed" sounds to me like you look down on them. How do you know how they feel? If thats how you thing then I have Symoathy for you!

[negc]

As I said, that does not apply on ex-UK sailings. To wear formal clothes when the majority of people on board are not would simply make one feel out of place and awkward.

 

I imagine people will just wear whatever the minimum 'formal' they can get away with in the Grande restaurant, maybe just a tie which they can then remove after dinner. It won't be DJs/tuxedos as before. It is the end of formal nights on these ships.

 

Under the present system, on formal nights those guests who do not change out of their formal clothes after dinner, would, by your reasoning, feel "out of place and awkward". Many current guests don't even dress formally on so-called "formal nights" but those of us who do have not, at least in my experience, felt uncomfortable or that we stuck out either during the meal or afterward. If those who meet only the minimum dress standards on today's cruise ships don't feel awkward or out of place, why should I if I choose to follow the nightly "suggestion".

 

While I will likely miss the special rapport we have usually developed with the team of waiters in traditional or my time dining, I am sure that we will enjoy the special service that these new dining venues will feature.