"Evening Chick" now on X - will Princess follow?

[maggie.1008]

Love a man in a kilt. Very Chic !

[flamomo]

I most certainly hope Princess does not follow X's downgrading of formal nights.

 

I am one of the many who enjoys formal nights and the special ambiance of the ship on those nights. Getting dressed up for dinner is something I don't have opportunities to do in the non-cruising part of my life.

[greenie082756]

My DH and I like the change of pace of dressing up for formal night.

 

It brings an excitement to the air and I love looking at all the nicely dressed people. It elevates everyone's mood that participates, it feels like going to special event that you were invited to.

 

For those that choose not to participate, that's their choice and it doesn't matter what they do or don't do as long as we are having the cruise experience that we wanted. :D

 

What is even more fun is going back to the cabin after dinner and a show then changing clothes to go up on deck and watch MUTS. :cool:

[iceleven]

My DH and I like the change of pace of dressing up for formal night.

 

It brings an excitement to the air and I love looking at all the nicely dressed people. It elevates everyone's mood that participates, it feels like going to special event that you were invited to.

 

For those that choose not to participate, that's their choice and it doesn't matter what they do or don't do as long as we are having the cruise experience that we wanted. :D

 

What is even more fun is going back to the cabin after dinner and a show then changing clothes to go up on deck and watch MUTS. :cool:

 

How refreshing. I wish others who enjoy and want to continue with the formal dress nights would show less judgement of others choices as you have.

[CoffeHound]

What a JOKE!!!! How can this be dressier than Smart Casual? Another term of confusion! LOL

 

Originally Posted by Celebrity Cruises

While dressier than Smart Casual, Evening Chic is intended to be less dressy than Formal attire.

 

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

•A cocktail dress

•Skirt, pants or designer jeans with an elegant top

 

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

•Pants or designer jeans with a dress shirt, button-down shirt or sweater

•Optional sport coat or blazer

 

The only real differences I see are allowing designer jeans and doing away with the jacket requirement,

 

This still requires changing for dinner in most cases as what most passengers where during the day or on shore, even if country club chic, does not meet the criteria for what I think of as "clubbing attire" which is what I think X is going for.

 

While I'm happy for the guys that they do not have to bring a jacket, us girls will still need cute shoes and multiple choices of outfits!

 

I know that dressing up is going out of style because they do not even enforce dress codes in most of the restaurants in Las Vegas anymore. Last time we were there and spending $$$$ to eat in a high end place the woman at the table next to us was wearing a cotton tank top, daisy duke cut offs and rubber flip flops.

 

I'm all for cancelling full on black tie formal attire but I'm hoping the Princess PAX will maintain a little more decorum than what happens in Vegas!

[Oxo]

The only real differences I see are allowing designer jeans and doing away with the jacket requirement,

 

That is what the new code states. However, on the past 5 cruises we were on in the past year, RCI, Celebrity and Princess we saw people completely wearing what they wanted regardless of what the code stated. Yes, on Formal nights they were more casual than anything else. No one stopped them, Celebrity says they would issue jackets to men who did not have them (never saw that happen) and many people will state as they have done so in the past 'those are only suggested dress not something that must be followed. Saw Princess people in MDR on Formal night in short sleeve shirts. Didn't look to see if they wore paints. LOL

 

Does it matter to us, NO, we dress formal and YES we can get those clothes into 2 suitcases.

I personally believe that Princess will change, too. Going on Celebrity and Princess in Nov and Dec 2015. We will enjoy whatever night dress they call it.

[suzyed]

I am booked on two upcoming Celebrity cruises--one in the Caribbean in March and one in Europe in July. I have received NO notice about any such change. I have also searched the Celebrity website and, again, absolutely no word of such a change. They still show the chart with number of Formal Nights per number of cruise nights...and there are still all of the references to formal attire.

 

Now, OTOH, we have cruised a few times on Oceania...and their dress code EVERY night is "Country Club Casual"--whatever the heck that means...but no formal nights...and we have really enjoyed that. Azamara does the same thing. We have also been on 3 night Princess cruises--zero formal nights. IMHO, it is quite a pleasure to pack for a cruise and not have to worry about bringing along formal attire...especially in these days when there are airline luggage weight restrictions and Luggage Fees...

 

I know that SOME people like dressing up...but NOTHING in the rules on such lines with no formal nights prevents people from doing that. On Oceania, we always saw several folks (usually older) in dinner jackets and formal wear in the main dining room every night.

 

I do think that, nowadays, the lack of a required formal night is a big selling point...Required formal nights would NOT be a big seller for most people.

 

I'm surprised you didn't get the email today? My first Celebrity cruise is also booked for March and I got the email. Here is the story:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6642

[suzyed]

Agree and add Alaska and Hawaii to Caribbean

 

I was going to add Alaska too...but yes Hawaii and the S. Pacific.

[suzyed]

Hi All

 

Is a kilt {chic} or would it need to be a leather one.

 

yours Shogun

 

I've seen plenty of kilts on formal night! Love the look!

[UpcountryTravelers]

My DH and I like the change of pace of dressing up for formal night.

 

It brings an excitement to the air and I love looking at all the nicely dressed people. It elevates everyone's mood that participates, it feels like going to special event that you were invited to.

 

For those that choose not to participate, that's their choice and it doesn't matter what they do or don't do as long as we are having the cruise experience that we wanted. :D

 

....... :cool:

 

Agree! I really have a problem with those wanting to eliminate it. If you don't like it, don't do it, but leave the rest of us alone!

:eek:

[ano]

i hope so because i don't care for formals anymore.

+1 <---

[UpcountryTravelers]

I've seen plenty of kilts on formal night! Love the look!

 

You'll see mine on the Royal Princess in January!! :cool:

[ano]

Agree! I really have a problem with those wanting to eliminate it. If you don't like it, don't do it, but leave the rest of us alone!

:eek:

I've never seen one MDR on any ship that wouldn't allow people in a tuxedo or suit on ANY night. Did you get stopped from going in?

Edited November 11, 2015 by ano

[pris993]

I think this accurately sums it up...hopefully not misinterpreted to dress like slobs!

 

Unfortunately, when you look at how many dress to go to work these days.... I do not have much confidence, sorry to say.

 

The issue reg airline restrictions is actually an excuse in my book.

[floridalover5623]

That is what the new code states. However, on the past 5 cruises we were on in the past year, RCI, Celebrity and Princess we saw people completely wearing what they wanted regardless of what the code stated. Yes, on Formal nights they were more casual than anything else. No one stopped them, Celebrity says they would issue jackets to men who did not have them (never saw that happen) and many people will state as they have done so in the past 'those are only suggested dress not something that must be followed. Saw Princess people in MDR on Formal night in short sleeve shirts. Didn't look to see if they wore paints. LOL

 

Does it matter to us, NO, we dress formal and YES we can get those clothes into 2 suitcases.

I personally believe that Princess will change, too. Going on Celebrity and Princess in Nov and Dec 2015. We will enjoy whatever night dress they call it.

Quite true. I noticed the same thing the other night on the Royal. Normally I only wear a long sleeve shirt but saw a few with short sleeves without a jacket. I will add that most guys were dressed with at least a jacket but it wasn't a real requirement by any means.

If Princess doesn't change to accommodate the what a good number of the people want they'll be losing business to other cruise lines.

Maybe it's a sign of changes to come very shortly.

[skynight]

I'm surprised you didn't get the email today? My first Celebrity cruise is also booked for March and I got the email. Here is the story:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6642

 

Just some thoughts.

*I can't seem to see any difference between X's smart casual and evening chick. Who decides if your slacks and top are more or less casual than the supposed standard? How are designer jeans different than nice Levi jeans? Who decides what the current jean fashion is, it changes every season?

*On the new RCI ships jacket & tie are required for one restaurant every night. Wonder how this is going?

*Packing for formal nights is now more difficult with the airline baggage restrictions.

*Different markets and different itineraries really do speak to different clothes. Maybe a single fleet dress policy should be examined.

[karabear15]

Isn't "evening chic" just another way of saying semi-formal?? So would an entire week be this sort of dress, or are they then going a step lower and saying come in your pajamas.

 

I know that we have seen many onboard Princess completely disregard the formal attire note, and stroll in with jeans and tshirts on. I personally feel like cruising has lost its' luster because they are trying to accommodate to everyone. What happened to us choosing to cruise with a specific line accommodating to their requirements? Personally I love the formal nights. It's not every day that those of us who travel together get to dress up all fancy for the evening, so I hope Princess keeps them.

[Iamcruzin]

Honestly I think that Celebrity's new dress code is the direct result of their new tier system of cruising which offers Aqua class and suite class their own special dining room that is smart casual on all nights. Add to that the specialty restaurants and buffet that are also always smart casual. Why should those in the MDR have to comply to a formal dress code just to eat some rubber lobster or dried out Beef Wellington? Ironically passengers who book Aqua or suites seem to be complaining the most about demise of formal night. In reality nothing has changed for them.

[Cruise Junky]

Isn't "evening chic" just another way of saying semi-formal?? So would an entire week be this sort of dress, or are they then going a step lower and saying come in your pajamas.

 

With what people wear, they're probably close except jackets aren't required but just the sound of "Chic" vs. "Semi-Formal" portrays a very different era. I find "Evening Chic" a much less stuffy term personally.

[Retired in washington]

On the Princess ships give people a choice, they have 3 main dining rooms, let one of them be casual dress up, let's the people who enjoy paying $100 tux rental, and having a suit take up 1/3 of their suitcase make a selection for formal seating, and the rest select casual dress up, I have a Panama cruise next month and it has 3 formal nights, that's just too much.

[mr green]

I enjoy formal nights, since where I live it is just 'not done', and I do like to be smart once in a while.

Years ago, just after we had retired to a small city, a large restaurant was opened, just after we moved in. We attended the opening night, but other than the mayor, I was the only other person dressed with a shirt and tie, and this was in late fall!!!

 

john

[Oxo]

On the Princess ships give people a choice, they have 3 main dining rooms, let one of them be casual dress up, let's the people who enjoy paying $100 tux rental, and having a suit take up 1/3 of their suitcase make a selection for formal seating, and the rest select casual dress up, I have a Panama cruise next month and it has 3 formal nights, that's just too much.

 

I agree with you on making one MDR Formal and the others casual. However, apparently you have never priced a tux as you can buy one for $100 and a suit does not take up 1/3 of a suitcase unless you have a carry on suitcase.

[Oxo]

Honestly I think that Celebrity's new dress code is the direct result of their new tier system of cruising which offers Aqua class and suite class their own special dining room that is smart casual on all nights. Add to that the specialty restaurants and buffet that are also always smart casual. Why should those in the MDR have to comply to a formal dress code just to eat some rubber lobster or dried out Beef Wellington? Ironically passengers who book Aqua or suites seem to be complaining the most about demise of formal night. In reality nothing has changed for them.

 

Don't know when/where you cruise to eat or get 'rubber lobster or dried out Beef Wellington. Let us know so we won't cruise that line or ship. LOL

[Retired in washington]

I agree with you on making one MDR Formal and the others casual. However, apparently you have never priced a tux as you can buy one for $100 and a suit does not take up 1/3 of a suitcase unless you have a carry on suitcase.

Apparently you aren't over 6 foot, and 260 lbs, and priced rentals online. You have to keep a suitcase under 50 lbs or pay overweight charges. It is a hardship, for larger people, as our clothes weight more than those in the 5 foot range.

[PrincessLuver]

I think the handwriting is on the wall and this is now the way of the world -----everything is more casual these days, I'm amazed by what I see worn in church and nice restaurants here at home. Personally, I'd be glad to see Princess follow Celebrity. We have enjoyed the ambiance of formal nights in the past, but we're over it now. "Evening Chic" would be just fine on our upcoming British Isles cruise, but if Princess keeps formal nights we will comply. I'd be more likely to look at Celebrity, however.

 

I agree too and think that "Formal Nights" are not so formal any more on Princess....we often notice on formal nights how men are basically told to wear a suit and tie but it appears to us that women can wear almost anything on a formal night and get away with it....times are a changing an Princess needs to also IMHO...:)