Yet another dress code question.

[POA1]

My husband and I are wondering about this as well. Packing a suit and dress shoes take up a lot of room so he is considering the rental. If anyone has rented before can you tell us a little about the experience and the tux?

 

Would the tux pass as a dark suit without the cummerbund and bow tie? He's just not a tux guy but usually brings his own dark suit, shirt, tie and pocket square. For us the issue isn't about dressing up but packing a suit and dress shoes when the space can be used for something else.

 

And personally I love this idea of the two separate areas of the MDR based on how you dress. I would gladly give up my table and scheduled time on formal nights to be a part of the festivities.

 

A friend of ours rented a tux on a couple of occasions. It worked out well. On one of the trips, the pants had to be altered or swapped out, but it was handled quickly.

 

I've seen a fair number of tuxedos worn without the vest & cummerbund.

 

As for would it pass as a suit? Let me share a story.... A few months ago, I reached into the closet and accidentally grabbed my tuxedo jacket instead of a dark blazer. Neither I nor my wife noticed until we got home from church. No one said anything to me. The people at church may have been being polite. DW & I were just being clueless - especially me.

[mikeange]

:confused::confused::confused: "Fixed" IS "as you wish".

 

Fixed is not As-You-Wish. I did not to confuse, my apologies.

 

Fixed means early or late sitting in usually the upper dining room. Fixed means dinner at 6 or 8:30 every night at the same table with the same tablemates and same waiters. It is the traditional on board dining experience.

 

As-You-Wish is not fixed, meaning unchanging, and is normally in the lower dining room. You show up whenever you want between 6 and 8:30 or 6 and 9; whatever the dining times are. You are given a table be it large or small depending on your wishes as well as availability. If everyone shows up at 7pm and you want a table, you may be asked to wait and be given a pager. It is not the traditional way dining was handled on cruise ships but passengers, especially younger passengers, loved it.

 

For the cruiselines, it involved adapting to customers changing tastes. One dining room would be run like a banquet hall; all the appetizers are available at one time, then 2nd courses, then mains. One dining room would be run like a restaurant; appetizers would be coming out for some folks while others may be on their mains or desserts.

[RuthC]

Fixed means early or late sitting in usually the upper dining room. Fixed means dinner at 6 or 8:30 every night at the same table with the same tablemates and same waiters. It is the traditional on board dining experience.

Correct.

As-You-Wish is not fixed, meaning unchanging, and is normally in the lower dining room. You show up whenever you want between 6 and 8:30 or 6 and 9; whatever the dining times are. You are given a table be it large or small depending on your wishes as well as availability. If everyone shows up at 7pm and you want a table, you may be asked to wait and be given a pager. It is not the traditional way dining was handled on cruise ships but passengers, especially younger passengers, loved it.

No, that's "open seating".

 

"As You Wish" is the umbrella term that includes ALL the various dining choices, from fixed or open seating, to the various specialty restaurants, to the Lido and room service. Fixed seating is as much "as you wish" as open seating is.

[POA1]

Fixed is not As-You-Wish. I did not to confuse, my apologies.

 

Mikeange - "As You Wish" means that you can choose fixed or open seating in the MDR, Pinnacle Grill, Lido, or other specialty restaurant. It's not the best name in the world, but that is what Holland America calls it.

 

If you look on page 9 of the attached PDF (Know Before You Go) you will see the description.

 

====

 

EDITED: Ruth was posting pretty much the same thing at the same time.

KBYG.pdf

Edited July 25, 2014 by POA1
Ruth posted at the same time

[mikeange]

My husband and I are wondering about this as well. Packing a suit and dress shoes take up a lot of room so he is considering the rental. If anyone has rented before can you tell us a little about the experience and the tux?

 

Would the tux pass as a dark suit without the cummerbund and bow tie? He's just not a tux guy but usually brings his own dark suit, shirt, tie and pocket square. For us the issue isn't about dressing up but packing a suit and dress shoes when the space can be used for something else.

 

And personally I love this idea of the two separate areas of the MDR based on how you dress. I would gladly give up my table and scheduled time on formal nights to be a part of the festivities.

 

We had a number of times the online tux rental worked like a charm, including shoes, shirts and accessories. We had a number of times it did not and the fix was not always quick, hence the duct tape or staples.

It is my understanding, although I am not certain that they now also rent dark suits through cruiseline formals.

[mikeange]

Correct.

 

No, that's "open seating".

 

"As You Wish" is the umbrella term that includes ALL the various dining choices, from fixed or open seating, to the various specialty restaurants, to the Lido and room service. Fixed seating is as much "as you wish" as open seating is.

 

In HAL's 2014-2015 cruise atlas pg 17 "Our tables are set for drama and delight, whether you choose a traditional pre-set seating and dining time or the freedom each evening to dine "As You WIsh"."

[RuthC]

In HAL's 2014-2015 cruise atlas pg 17 "Our tables are set for drama and delight, whether you choose a traditional pre-set seating and dining time or the freedom each evening to dine "As You WIsh"."

Check out POA's link. It should make it all clear to you.

[mikeange]

Check out POA's link. It should make it all clear to you.

 

Readers, please substitute Open Seating for As You Wish dining. I hope the message in the posts is still clear.

 

Open Seating with Dressy Casual attire, Traditional Assigned Dining Times With Formal attire. No forcing or coercion in order to get the Full MDR menu. No exiling folks to other parts of the ship or other lines. No shorts, no cutoffs, no baseball hats!

 

And for the benefit of all, no need for threads on formal night as all would be accommodated.

[POA1]

Readers, please substitute Open Seating for As You Wish dining. I hope the message in the posts is still clear.

 

Open Seating with Dressy Casual attire, Traditional Assigned Dining Times With Formal attire. No forcing or coercion in order to get the Full MDR menu. No exiling folks to other parts of the ship or other lines. No shorts, no cutoffs, no baseball hats!

 

And for the benefit of all, no need for threads on formal night as all would be accommodated.

No problem! I initially thought "As You Wish" meant open seating too.

[RMLincoln]

You should be just fine with the a shirt, tie along with your black cardigan and black walking shoes.

 

I should have mentions black slacks too :eek: ;) m--

[Tante Amalie]

I think this discussion may be making a big deal out of nothing. On our last cruise, we met a couple who taught us a neat trick to avoid any problems. If you don't want to be forced to dress in a particular way for the dining room, they said they just wait until the Mater Dee is busy with another couple and they walk in and sit down at their table. He claimed he never brings a coat and hasn't had any problems. As long as he had his coat with him he would wear it, but I may never get my husband to bring his sportcoat again. ;)

[RJ2002]

On another thread someone made an interesting (and valid, IMO) observation... that cruise ships are about the last place on earth where there is a formal dress code in restaurants. In the US, restaurants requiring formal attire (read: coat and tie for men) are few and far between.

 

Here in Las Vegas, TripAdvisor has over 3800 restaurants listed, and I can think of only ONE that requires men to wear a jacket: Picasso. I know, I've been there, and did wear a coat and tie. :D There may be a couple more with a formal dress code, but not many!

 

Our next cruise is a 10 night Asia cruise on Princess, with only 2 formal nights. On Princess, only the dining room has a formal requirement. The specialty fee-based venues do not, and that's where we will be on those 2 nights. There is no way I am going to take a jacket all the way to Asia (either packed or worn on the plane) just to wear it for 2 nights. I applaud Princess for offering non-formal wearers proper and varied table service dining options. In HAL's case, your options are as follows: a buffet that closes at 8pm! or room service or a make-shift restaurant in a cordoned off section of the buffet.

[iancal]

The issue is not just that the Lido closes at 8PM.

 

The issue is that the staff really start closing it down at 7. Steam tables get closed down, certain foods are not replenished, etc.

 

Our last cruise was Celebrity. Our next cruise is Princess.

Edited July 25, 2014 by iancal

[iancal]

delete

Edited July 25, 2014 by iancal

[cruz chic]

I think this discussion may be making a big deal out of nothing. On our last cruise, we met a couple who taught us a neat trick to avoid any problems. If you don't want to be forced to dress in a particular way for the dining room, they said they just wait until the Mater Dee is busy with another couple and they walk in and sit down at their table. He claimed he never brings a coat and hasn't had any problems. As long as he had his coat with him he would wear it, but I may never get my husband to bring his sportcoat again. ;)

 

What if you have open dining? That trick would only likely work in traditional. If you are in open, you have to check in to be seated.

[Lizzie68]

I think this discussion may be making a big deal out of nothing. On our last cruise, we met a couple who taught us a neat trick to avoid any problems. If you don't want to be forced to dress in a particular way for the dining room, they said they just wait until the Mater Dee is busy with another couple and they walk in and sit down at their table. He claimed he never brings a coat and hasn't had any problems. As long as he had his coat with him he would wear it, but I may never get my husband to bring his sportcoat again. ;)

 

They must have felt really proud of themselves to boast about it.

[jagger16]

Thanks to everyone with information on the tux rental. I ordered one today for our upcoming cruise and will report back on the experience when we get back.

 

POA1 . . . Somehow I think only you can get away with a tux jacket at church! :) I'm sure you wore it well. Thanks for always making me laugh.

[POA1]

Thanks to everyone with information on the tux rental. I ordered one today for our upcoming cruise and will report back on the experience when we get back.

 

POA1 . . . Somehow I think only you can get away with a tux jacket at church! :) I'm sure you wore it well. Thanks for always making me laugh.

It was pretty embarrassing. Neither of us realized it until we got home and I hung the tuxedo jacket across the back of a chair.

 

I wouldn't exactly say that I pulled it off. It's probably that other people were just polite. :)

 

You know what they say... If you can't laugh at yourself...

Edited July 26, 2014 by POA1

[Tante Amalie]

I wonder if it's any better on Grand Voyages????

[MaxThrusters]

I love wearing my dinner suit (tuxedo) on formal nights. It's one of the most comfortable things I own, as I had it and the shirts tailored for me.

 

To me, it's a uniform of sorts. A tradition. Not just for at sea, either. I wear it to charity galas at home, and for New Years eve. Whenever called for, really.

 

I don't particularly care what others choose to wear, that's their business. I do like it though when everyone makes an effort. A dark suit should be fine if one would never wear a tuxedo otherwise.