3/37 Regal

[rilco33647]

This is a review of the attire for the week. This is what I saw. This is not meant to start another dress war. Please be nice in your responses. Some people truly want to know what to wear on upcoming cruises. Here you go:

 

Just off Regal last Sunday. Here's what I saw:

Dining room casual nights

men- jeans, casual pants, golf shirts, short/long sleeved button down shirts

women- jeans, casual pants, short/long sleeved shirts, casual dresses

Dining Room formal nights

men- jeans, casual pants, golf shirts, short/long sleeved button down shirts, jackets, suits, tuxedos

women- jeans, casual pants, short/long sleeved button down shirts, casual dresses, formal dresses

Basically I saw EVERYTHING and casual or formal everyone looked nicely dressed. Both young and old were in casual dress.

On a side note: This was our 9th cruise and we decided to skip the dining room and eat in the buffet (which was fabulous), Alfredos (amazing), and the specialty restaurants (excellent). It was clear from the amount of people in those venues that we were not alone in skipping the dining room. I think the formality of the dining room with mediocre food (even on casual nights) is quickly fading away. People change, new generations have new expectations which the industry must cater to. Those that still want to dress should and can. Clearly the industry recognizes that a huge amount of people simply don't want that experience. The industry is about making money. They will never enforce a dress code that people don't want. There were 4,000 people on our cruise. Princess isn't going to cater to the small percentage of people in formal wear. They want repeat cruisers to pay again!!! The great majority of those people were in casual attire. It is what it is!!!

[Knightro]

Thanks for your review! With all the airline restrictions on luggage weight....adding formal wear is not on my packing list! We still pack something nice to wear on formal nights.....but we leave the jackets and tuxedos at home.

[jasbo49]

This is not meant to start another dress war. Please be nice in your responses.

 

Thanks for the report. I'll try to be nice, but we need to be honest too.

 

You say you didn't eat in the dining room, yet you report on the range of dress there on both formal and casual nights. How did you observe that?

 

You say you don't want to start a dress war, but most of your "side note" seems to be an argument for ditching the dress code.

 

Jim

Edited April 9, 2016 by jasbo49

[Clarea]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Mom33]

Thanks for the report. I'll try to be nice, but we need to be honest too.

 

You say you didn't eat in the dining room, yet you report on the range of dress there on both formal and casual nights. How did you observe that?

You say you don't want to start a dress war, but most of your "side note" seems to be an argument for ditching the dress code.

 

Jim

 

Well said. :)

Edited April 9, 2016 by Mom33

[rilco33647]

Jasbo49-----That is a good question!!

 

My husband and I sat at the Crown Grill Bar on both formal nights to observe what people were wearing. They had to pass the bar to get to one of the dining rooms. Granted we did not see every single person going into every dining room for every seating, but we feel we got a good idea based upon what we saw. We observed the same when we roamed to the Piazza. My daughter and her friend opted to eat in the dining room both of the formal nights and both of them completely agree with our perception of what people were wearing. Also, I was in no way arguing in my original post. I was stating my opinion and wholeheartedly think people who wish to dress should and did (which I also said in my original post). I was simply saying that we tried something new and it seemed that A LOT of other people did the same. I was offering a possible explanation for why I think people are dressing more casually and how the industry is dealing with the change. It's not a right or wrong thing. It's what I did and what I saw.

Edited April 9, 2016 by rilco33647

[jasbo49]

Jasbo49-----That is a good question!!

 

My husband and I sat at the Crown Grill Bar on both formal nights to observe what people were wearing. They had to pass the bar to get to one of the dining rooms. Granted we did not see every single person going into every dining room for every seating, but we feel we got a good idea based upon what we saw. We observed the same when we roamed to the Piazza. My daughter and her friend opted to eat in the dining room both of the formal nights and both of them completely agree with our perception of what people were wearing. Also, I was in no way arguing in my original post. I was stating my opinion and wholeheartedly think people who wish to dress should and did (which I also said in my original post). I was simply saying that we tried something new and it seemed that A LOT of other people did the same. I was offering a possible explanation for why I think people are dressing more casually and how the industry is dealing with the change. It's not a right or wrong thing. It's what I did and what I saw.

 

Thanks for the response. I agree that the cruising population is changing, and I'm one who would rather pass on the spiffy duds, even if it means going to the buffet on formal nights. (We do prefer the MDR, but haven't been on Regal yet. Hope that will change our perception.)

 

And I agree that this shouldn't turn into yet another spitting match over attire.

 

Jim

[Thrak]

Bummer. I can't imagine dressing in that manner. I don't think I've ever seen jeans in MDR other than breakfast or lunch. After 6:00 PM the only place I've noticed jeans or shorts is on Lido deck.

[Mom33]

Watching from the Crown Grill bar will show people coming and going to elevators to the dining room or to horizon buffet. They could also be going to cabins or to the entertainment in the aft lounge. Actually being in the dining room is the best judgement of how people are dressed for dinner.

After dinner a lot of people change.

[floridalover5623]

Thanks for the report. I thing they might have been a little more lenient since it was at the end of spring break & typically the younger kids are there to party & not to impress their fellow cruisers.

 

It's very easy to see what people are wearing on any night for the dining room without entering. They line up 30 or 40 deep at the door each evening beginning 20 minutes before the doors open as well as standing there making reservations afterwords they are open.

[deise17311]

Plus cruises now cater from the lowest denominator to the highest - from tattooed drunks to tuxedoed executives - you cannot please everyone - the "shorts at dinner" crowd should go on Carnival - it's more their scene and style -

[floridalover5623]

Plus cruises now cater from the lowest denominator to the highest - from tattooed drunks to tuxedoed executives - you cannot please everyone - the "shorts at dinner" crowd should go on Carnival - it's more their scene and style -

 

Those people with tattoo's really degrade the whole experience, don't they? :rolleyes:

[fishywood]

 

Just off Regal last Sunday. Here's what I saw:

Dining room casual nights

men- jeans, casual pants, golf shirts, short/long sleeved button down shirts

women- jeans, casual pants, short/long sleeved shirts, casual dresses

Dining Room formal nights

men- jeans, casual pants, golf shirts, short/long sleeved button down shirts, jackets, suits, tuxedos

women- jeans, casual pants, short/long sleeved button down shirts, casual dresses, formal dresses

Basically I saw EVERYTHING and casual or formal everyone looked nicely dressed. Both young and old were in casual dress.

On a side note: This was our 9th cruise and we decided to skip the dining room and eat in the buffet (which was fabulous), Alfredos (amazing), and the specialty restaurants (excellent).

 

So let me make sure I understand correctly. You did not eat dinner in the MDR on any night, but took the time out of your evening to make a visual survey of what everyone was wearing on both casual and formal nights in order to come to the conclusions below:

 

It was clear from the amount of people in those venues that we were not alone in skipping the dining room. I think the formality of the dining room with mediocre food (even on casual nights) is quickly fading away. People change, new generations have new expectations which the industry must cater to. Those that still want to dress should and can. Clearly the industry recognizes that a huge amount of people simply don't want that experience. The industry is about making money. They will never enforce a dress code that people don't want. There were 4,000 people on our cruise. Princess isn't going to cater to the small percentage of people in formal wear. They want repeat cruisers to pay again!!! The great majority of those people were in casual attire. It is what it is!!!

 

Wow. Lots and lots and lots of "buzzwords" and strongly-worded opinions masking as data. Kinda gives away the bias inherent in the observations of a willfully anti-participant reporter on the subject. I'm sorry but the token concession of "people who still want to dress should and can" in the second paragraph only reinforces that the true meaning of your addressing the "people who truly want to know what to wear" is to encourage them to disregard formal night.

[Musky Ike]

Plus cruises now cater from the lowest denominator to the highest - from tattooed drunks to tuxedoed executives - you cannot please everyone - the "shorts at dinner" crowd should go on Carnival - it's more their scene and style -

 

Those two could be the same person these days.

[sunsetbeachgal]

While the Regal and Royal have some frequently cited shortcomings, good dining venues is not one of them. Until we sailed on these ships we had never eaten our dinner in the Horizon Court, but we are converts now for at least a few evenings each cruise. Love the food and casual atmosphere and never having to wait for a table or experience show or inattentive service. And Alfredo's for dinner is a wonderful place as well. On our cruise on the Regal last year we were chatting with a couple at Alfredos who said they had dinner there every night at the same lovely window table.

Edited April 9, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[floridalover5623]

We though the window seating at the Horizon to far surpass anything in the DR. You can't beat the full view windows for sunsets. :)

[rilco33647]

Fishywood-----I wish I could say you are correct and that I had some kind of ulterior motive as you say, but honestly I didn't. I am absolutely not opposed to anyone eating in the dining room or dressing up. I promise. I was making some observations. That's all, plain and simple. People who dressed formal looked lovely, but they seemed to me, to be in the minority. That's all I was saying.

[riclop]

This is a review of the attire for the week. This is what I saw. This is not meant to start another dress war. Please be nice in your responses. Some people truly want to know what to wear on upcoming cruises. Here you go:

 

Just off Regal last Sunday. Here's what I saw:

Dining room casual nights

men- jeans, casual pants, golf shirts, short/long sleeved button down shirts

women- jeans, casual pants, short/long sleeved shirts, casual dresses

Dining Room formal nights

men- jeans, casual pants, golf shirts, short/long sleeved button down shirts, jackets, suits, tuxedos

women- jeans, casual pants, short/long sleeved button down shirts, casual dresses, formal dresses

Basically I saw EVERYTHING and casual or formal everyone looked nicely dressed. Both young and old were in casual dress.

On a side note: This was our 9th cruise and we decided to skip the dining room and eat in the buffet (which was fabulous), Alfredos (amazing), and the specialty restaurants (excellent). It was clear from the amount of people in those venues that we were not alone in skipping the dining room. I think the formality of the dining room with mediocre food (even on casual nights) is quickly fading away. People change, new generations have new expectations which the industry must cater to. Those that still want to dress should and can. Clearly the industry recognizes that a huge amount of people simply don't want that experience. The industry is about making money. They will never enforce a dress code that people don't want. There were 4,000 people on our cruise. Princess isn't going to cater to the small percentage of people in formal wear. They want repeat cruisers to pay again!!! The great majority of those people were in casual attire. It is what it is!!!

 

The buffet is much better then the mdr.

[floridalover5623]

The buffet is much better then the mdr.

 

It is pretty good but there are some nights that the DR was even better. If we eat in the DR we always hit the buffet later in the evening to check it out.

[blueseas4me2]

I was on the same cruise. I ate in the dining room 5 out of 7 nights. I completely disagree with your assessment. Perhaps you were looking at a different dining room?

 

I can only speak for the Concerto. I noted lots of lovely dresses and some that were even a bit over the top. Beautiful! I was one of 7 in our party and we all dressed very nicely every night. The women wore dresses and the men wore either polo shirts and slacks or full suits.

 

I am a people watcher and I enjoyed seeing how people dressed for the cruise. Overall, I thought people looked great.

Edited April 10, 2016 by blueseas4me2

[floridalover5623]

I was on the same cruise. I ate in the dining room 5 out of 7 nights. I completely disagree with your assessment. Perhaps you were looking at a different dining room?

 

I can only speak for the Concerto. I noted lots of lovely dresses and some that were even a bit over the top. Beautiful! I was one of 7 in our party and we all dressed very nicely every night. The women wore dresses and the men wore either polo shirts and slacks or full suits.

 

I am a people watcher and I enjoyed seeing how people dressed for the cruise. Overall, I thought people looked great.

 

Isn't the Concerto a traditional dining room only?

[Mom33]

Isn't the Concerto a traditional dining room only?

 

 

No, it has an early traditional and then it is open AT dining.

[floridalover5623]

No, it has an early traditional and then it is open AT dining.

 

It could account for more people being dressed up. People who prefer traditional usually like the old style of cruising along with the formal attire.

[blueseas4me2]

It could account for more people being dressed up. People who prefer traditional usually like the old style of cruising along with the formal attire.

 

I sat for the later seating with the other Anytime Diners.

[shredie]

This is a review of the attire for the week. This is what I saw. This is not meant to start another dress war. Please be nice in your responses. Some people truly want to know what to wear on upcoming cruises.

 

Any thread mentioning formal wear is guaranteed to turn into "another dress war." Not announcing the agenda in the title will not fool anyone.