Recent cruisers: Chic night...what are they wearing?

[Redtravel]

Before chic nights, I knew what to pack. Am I okay to bring all smart casual attire as I have worn on non-formal evenings or on Azamara? I usually wear dark pants and a nice shirt (optional sweater or vest). Happy to leave the fancy clothes home. Have men embraced not wearing jackets and woman not wearing long dresses?

[Trep586]

We saw everything from jeans and a shirt to full tuxedos on our recent sailing. Definitely the "average" was much less dressy than formal used to be but still many guys had a jacket on (including me) but many did not. Women (as always) tended to dress up more than the men. I'm a fan of the new rules as I don't like wearing a suite and tie on vacation!

[cb at sea]

Bring your same clothes...only the name of the evening has changed!

[JohnBoy in NC]

We like to dress up so i wore a tux (drove to port). Saw very few tuxes (handful only). Really couldn't tell the difference between nights. Still had great time.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

How many women were wearing gowns? Not ball gowns, just full length dresses.

[JanineM]

We were on a cruise last week - so Christmas week. The second "Chic" night was Christmas night, so there were a lot of people really dressed up - some tuxedos, many full-length gowns. But plenty of people were wearing more cocktail type clothes, and others in more casual attire.

 

I wore a full length gown and felt completely comfortable. My DH wore shirt, tie jacket.

 

The vast majority of men were wearing button-down shirts. Lots of jackets, a few ties. Did not see many polo shirts.

[tangerinebunny]

We did Summit in early December. Dress did seem more relaxed and there was a fair amount of variety - a bit of everything.

 

Frankly, people seemed more focused on having fun than judging appearance.

So wear whatever 'smart casual' makes you feel good.

[chamima]

Thanks for starting this thread as we, too, are slightly confused about what to bring.

However, the last couple of weeks have been holiday cruises so probably not a good representation of what people will wear.

I hope people will continue to post impressions as we get into the normal winter cruising season.

It would also be helpful if everyone would include the length of their cruises as I think the shorter cruises have always been more casual than the longer ones.

Edited January 1, 2016 by chamima

[hcat]

Leaving tom on EQ and will report back

 

Our dress will be the same minus tux for dh, replaced by jacket and a chic tie....but on our next cruise I will have my long cocktail dress and he will be able to pack his tux..and will look as handsome as James Bond...pick your fav one!

[K.T.B.]

Considering this change just took place, I'll be curious to see/know how different things will be this time next year.

[Jeaannie55]

Will be on The Millenium in February leaving Hong Kong -Singapore for 17 nights.

Booked the PH on board in 2014 for a special birthday, spent many happy hours (and money) buying clothes for the occasion and I am certainly not leaving them behind because X changed from formal nights!

So, us 3 ladies will all be wearing exactly what we intended to wear all along, which does include full length gowns.

[NLH Arizona]

I'm excited, I'll be on my cruise in 4 days and it will be really nice to to have to bring the formal wear I would usually bring.

[AtleeH]

I'm sort of the opposite. I don't mind wearing a suit and tie on the formerly Formal Night, because I'm retired now.

 

I now go months without putting on a suit. About the only time I would wear a suit and tie now is to got to weddings and funerals.

 

I'm a fan of the new rules as I don't like wearing a suite and tie on vacation!

[chamima]

Before chic nights, I knew what to pack. Am I okay to bring all smart casual attire as I have worn on non-formal evenings or on Azamara? I usually wear dark pants and a nice shirt (optional sweater or vest). Happy to leave the fancy clothes home. Have men embraced not wearing jackets and woman not wearing long dresses?

 

The title of the thread is:

Recent cruisers: Chic night...what are they wearing?

 

Everyone is free to wear what they want but I think the OP (and I ) want to know what people are seeing on their cruises.

 

No judgements, no opinions just observations, please.

[llarsen]

We were on the Summit the week before the new dress policy changed and it was already pretty relaxed.

 

We had select dining and saw many men wearing a jacket with no tie, button up shirts or a collared shirt with slacks and no jacket or tie.

The majority of ladies wore dress slacks, cocktail dresses and long skirts. I did not notice many woman wearing the long gown type of dresses I've seen in the past, but I wore a more casual black sleeveless knit long dress on formal nights.

 

Just wear whatever you would wear if you were going to a nice restaurant at home and you will be fine. I understand not wanting to feel under or over dressed, but really we saw a little of everything and this was before the dress code even changed.

 

I love the new policy and am looking forward to our next Celebrity cruise to Spain.

[rjrpar]

We are going on a 14 day cruise next month and we are not bringing suits or fancy dresses, just nice casual wear

[elena7seas]

We were on the Equinox on the December 11-21 cruise and I have to agree there was a little bit of everything every night.

 

There were some tuxes and many suits with dress shirt and tie on evening chic nights. Many men also wore blazer-type jackets and slacks, with or without ties. Generally the ladies dressed nicely on all nights. There were lots of cute cocktail dresses on both types of evenings, especially on the younger women. There are always some women who are very elegant in their appearance, and that was still in evidence. I saw long dresses on both nights, of course more-so on the evening chic nights, and they were somewhat dressier on "chic" evenings. I never noticed any full-on formal gowns, or the prom-type gown, but I haven't really seen many of those for the past few years on Celebrity. Lots of sparkly jewelry was worn on chic evenings.

 

Except for the tuxes and suits on men, I felt that there wasn't a huge amount of difference between the evening chic and smart casual nights. I did notice two young couples, probably in their late twenties, who really had a sense of style, and had a lock on the evening chic look. They were fun to watch.

 

I have to admit though, that we were in AQ, so didn't see as much of what people were wearing in the MDR specifically. I always find that people in Blu tend to meet or exceed the dress codes, and that was still the same.

 

(As an aside, I have never seen so many plaids shirts on men as I did on this cruise, though, and this was everywhere. There must be a trend that I have overlooked. :).)

 

Overall, I would say the ship was somewhat less dressy than on past cruises, and that there was less differentiation between evening chic and smart casual. However, there were enough people on the more dressy end of the spectrum that a full range of choice is available to everyone. I feel you could wear pretty much what you want to wear on evening chic nights (within the wide latitude provided by the current dress code), and be very comfortable.

Edited January 1, 2016 by elena7seas

[NLH Arizona]

(As an aside, I have never seen so many plaids shirts on men as I did on this cruise, though, and this was everywhere. There must be a trend that I have overlooked. :).)

 

Plaid shirts seem to be very in this year for both men and women. When looking for some shirts for December NCL cruise, many of the women's shirts were plaid, so I'll be wearing some plaid shirts on my Celebrity cruise in 4 days. BTW, not for dinner, but during the day. Edited January 1, 2016 by NLH Arizona

[basil1]

We are sailing on Equinox tomorrow as well. I am packing two long formal dresses. Hubby is taking a suit and tie. I asked my hubby if he'd rather go more casual and he said no he likes to see me dressed up. How sweet :-)

Will report back as well.

 

Leaving tom on EQ and will report back

 

Our dress will be the same minus tux for dh, replaced by jacket and a chic tie....but on our next cruise I will have my long cocktail dress and he will be able to pack his tux..and will look as handsome as James Bond...pick your fav one!

[snowskier1083]

Thanks for starting this thread as we, too, are slightly confused about what to bring.

However, the last couple of weeks have been holiday cruises so probably not a good representation of what people will wear.

I hope people will continue to post impressions as we get into the normal winter cruising season.

It would also be helpful if everyone would include the length of their cruises as I think the shorter cruises have always been more casual than the longer ones.

 

I think you're right: the longer cruises tend to be dressier overall, with shorter cruises more casual. Maybe because the average age of people who can afford to cruise a longer number of days is higher, but I've noticed that most people in our age bracket do tend to embrace a dressier attitude, shall we say? I enjoy dressing for dinner, but do not have to pack gowns and the more formal wear we had to wear cruising many years ago. Today, a nice pantsuit for the women or nice skirt and top, with dress shirt and jacket for men, seems to be normal. Formal nights call for a cocktail dress still for me, and my husband wears a coat and tie, but many men do wear tuxes still. It's all a matter of your own personal comfort, I would imagine, but please, how can people think that jeans and a tee shirt are appropriate for dinner on any cruise ship? Dressing down, in my opinion, belongs in the buffet restaurants, not in the formal dining room. I still respect my surroundings, and I was brought up better!

[ORV]

I think you're right: the longer cruises tend to be dressier overall, with shorter cruises more casual. Maybe because the average age of people who can afford to cruise a longer number of days is higher, but I've noticed that most people in our age bracket do tend to embrace a dressier attitude, shall we say? I enjoy dressing for dinner, but do not have to pack gowns and the more formal wear we had to wear cruising many years ago. Today, a nice pantsuit for the women or nice skirt and top, with dress shirt and jacket for men, seems to be normal. Formal nights call for a cocktail dress still for me, and my husband wears a coat and tie, but many men do wear tuxes still. It's all a matter of your own personal comfort, I would imagine, but please, how can people think that jeans and a tee shirt are appropriate for dinner on any cruise ship? Dressing down, in my opinion, belongs in the buffet restaurants, not in the formal dining room. I still respect my surroundings, and I was brought up better!

 

You are aware that there are no more formal nights?

[snowskier1083]

Yes, I am aware now that there are no more formal nights; I was responding to the question of what people have observed.....haven't cruised yet since the new "chic" night was established, but I feel that those of us who enjoy dressing nicely will continue to do so. Thank you.

[godfreyb]

Just got back from a 5 day on the Constellation. From what I could see, 25% of the passengers were wearing jeans or shorts on chic night, and no one (except for one couple in tux and long dress) seem to try very much. I wore shirt, tie and blazer (not my suit or tux) and felt very overdressed. This was our first Celebrity cruise and I don't know why they bother with a dress code as not many people follow it and they don't enforce anything. We felt that we were the best dressed couple on the ship ands we didn't even try!

[bananawindnj]

Give it about a year, and I would be shocked if more than 20% of the men have just a jacket on, let alone a tie also.

[Oceangoer2]

JMHO...but...it may be that the 'formal' crowd who follows the new dress code will now be in 'evening chic'. Those who were 'evening chic' before may enjoy wearing more casual land restaurant clothing; and those who dressed in 'land restaurant clothing' perhaps will be wearing jeans/shorts and tees to dinner. All will be dressing down according to their previous practice. Maybe not having any dress code will result in a nudist style eventually...LOL?