Formal dress?

[Colo Cruiser]

On formal nights my husband still wears a tux, my kids dress in suits that I will have to keep buying annually at the rate they are growing, but we enjoy dressing up on our cruises. Some men wear jackets, others don't. I would agree that you should make yourself comfortable but be respectful of the attire recommendations from Princess knowing not everyone is. Some people get away with more than others, some people are turned away when others in similar outfits made it through and were seated in the MDR. Princess is inconsistent on how they react to dress attire, but really I worry about what my family is wearing and not about policing or criticizing what others are wearing.

 

You will find this topic gets a lot of commentary, and eye rolls and popcorn.... If you follow the Princess website you know you will be allowed to dine in the MDR on formal nights. If you bend the rules, but look nice, you more than likely will be allowed in, but should not be upset if you are not.

 

From the Princess Website regarding Clothing Recommendations:

You should dress for a cruise with Princess the same way you would for any stylish land-based resort.

Casual sportswear, including shorts, lightweight pants and jogging suits, is the order of the day both at sea and ashore in hotter climates.

We recommend you bring a sweater, a jacket or an all-weather coat for cool evenings, and for shore excursions, depending on your destination. Due to unpredictable weather, don't forget a hat or visor and a collapsible umbrella. Please be sure to bring proper clothing for visits to religious sites. You'll also want low-heeled, rubbersoled shoes for strolling on deck, as well as comfortable walking shoes or sandals to wear.

Princess makes it easy to know what to pack and what to wear when you’re dining onboard our spectacular ships. There are two designations for dress codes: Smart Casual and Formal.

Smart Casual

Guest attire should be in keeping with what they would wear to a nice restaurant at home.

• Skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies
  
• Pants and open-neck shirts for men
  

Inappropriate dinner wear such as pool or beach attire, shorts, ball caps and casual jeans (with fraying and/or holes) are not permitted in the dining rooms. Shoes must be worn.

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gowns and cocktail dresses for women
  
• Tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits with a tie for men
  

 

 

 

dup

[Thrak]

Princess tends to be fairly lax on the Alaskan cruises due to the nature of the cruise and the more informal dress standards in Alaska. Many male diners are seated with open collared dress shirts, without a jacket. Even saw a few polo shirts.

 

We have cruised Alaska twice (so far) and have never noticed any lessening of the way people dressed for Formal Nights. I asked my wife and neither of us can recall seeing anybody in MDR who wasn't "dressed" for the evening. I always wonder about the statement that Alaska is "less formal". We didn't notice any lessening of the dress standards when doing a 17 day Panama Canal transit either. Definitely hot and muggy weather but, after all, the ship is air conditioned.

 

 

Princess has the same dress notices no matter what the itinerary. I realize that these are "guidelines" but Princess does post this onboard:

 

[keithm]

Right, the formal wearers are definitely the minority in the Caribbean. Although there are enough to block the staircase.

We saw plenty on our 14 day B2B.Way more than to block a staircase. Probably about 25% during the second leg of the trip. Much less the first week as it was Super bowl week & the Carolina Panther fans were everywhere. At least the Pats fans on Celebrity dressed decently. I'm NOT talking tuxes etc. I'm talking just nicely dressed. Not skanky shorts & wife beater t's which ruled the first week of our cruise. We thought if this is how Princess pax tend to dress up, it would be our last trip. The second week the Panther fans were gone & the dress style was a nice mix of Formal/Semi formal/Smart casual. Semi formal(suit/sport coat & tie the norm) "Thrak" seems to have a pretty good insight as to how pax tend to dress on Princess more than I do. We're somewhat more fans of Celebrity. Next 2 years are split between Celebrity & Oceania, but giving more thought to doing more Princess cruises after that. They seem to offer an overall nice trip & pretty good food. The staff I've often said were by far the nicest we ever had..Another good reason to check them out again. This was on the Regal. I hope the staff are as nice across the fleet.

Edited August 15, 2017 by keithm
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[riclop]

we have some friends doing Alaska next month ,they want to know about formal dress requirements, we cruise a lot but have not done princess in a while

You can wear what you want, no shorts on gala nights unless you go to the buffet.

[Kimba2]

Cruise lines like to make money on photos taken and sold during the optional formal nights; that's why they have them.

This is so true.

 

We've never dressed formally and we've never had a problem on any cruise line.