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Jeans Turned Away on Gala Night

ithaca gal

By ithaca gal,
in Holland America Line

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iancal

iancal

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Posted (edited)

We are in our mid sixties. HAL has already lost us on their smaller ships.

 

Let's face it. HAL is a very stuffy cruise line often filled with many aspirants to cafe society or cruising of old. We keep reading about Cunard. If Cunard suits better, then go to Cunard. We are moving forward and see no reason to live in the past.

 

I wore suits for all of my working life. Lots of events where suits/dress clothes were required. That part of our life is gone. We want casual. We want music from at least the 70's and forward, we want multiple dining options, we want a cabin that we know will work, a ship in reasonable condition, and we want some live music around the pool on a Caribbean run. We don' want to pay for piped in music. We can listen to music anywhere for free-no reason to pay for it. Two or three Adagio strings for an hour or two doesn't do it for us either.

 

We are not loyal to any cruise line. Heck, the rewards for loyalty are quite minimal compared to the freedom of choosing from the entire market place. The entire market has shifted over the past ten years or so. We welcome the change. Who wants to be stuck in neutral? From our perspective there is a huge chasm between what the HAL marketing folks are selling and what the line is delivering. That does not bode well for them. They need to get their act together....whatever they decide that act should be.

Edited by iancal
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moorerf

moorerf

Posted
Posted

We cruise only about once a year and we choose the line by where the ship is going for the most part. We had a bad experience on NCL as NO rules were enforced so eliminated them. We find Carnival to be a bit too casual etc for our tastes. We have done a few RCL but don't like the mega ships so that limits them. We did do a fantastic RCL in Norway on a small ship with mostly Europeans. We find Princess to be to our liking but don't mind HAL when the ports are to our liking. Our main concern is well treated, some activity, decent food and a good price. That said we are doing HAL in a Neptune suite (our first in this type of cabin) in the Med in May. We expect mostly Europeans again on the cruise and are looking forward to a great trip and do hope HAL enforces the rules esp in the dining room.

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Aquahound

Aquahound

Posted
Posted
we just returned from a 7 day cruise on the Eurodam

 

On the first Gala Night, a couple came to the MDR with the man wearing jeans with multiple holes in them, a T-shirt and a ball cap.

 

The maitre’d politely asked asked that they dine elsewhere.

 

(Almost all men dining in the MDR that night had a tie on or were wearing a jacket and tie.)

 

Had he been wearing a pair of Dockers with holes, a t-shirt and a ball cap, he also would have been turned away. To the contrary, had he been wearing nice jeans with a nice shirt and sport coat, he probably would not have been turned away. So this isn't really about the jeans is it? It was the whole picture. But congratulations on starting another jeans thread. I guess the running thread from just a few days ago wasn't recent enough. :rolleyes:

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chill6x6

chill6x6

Posted
Posted
We are in our mid sixties. HAL has already lost us on their smaller ships.

 

Let's face it. HAL is a very stuffy cruise line often filled with many aspirants to cafe society or cruising of old. We keep reading about Cunard. If Cunard suits better, then go to Cunard. We are moving forward and see no reason to live in the past.

 

I wore suits for all of my working life. Lots of events where suits/dress clothes were required. That part of our life is gone. We want casual. We want music from at least the 70's and forward, we want multiple dining options, we want a cabin that we know will work, a ship in reasonable condition, and we want some live music around the pool on a Caribbean run. We don' want to pay for piped in music. We can listen to music anywhere for free-no reason to pay for it. Two or three Adagio strings for an hour or two doesn't do it for us either.

 

We are not loyal to any cruise line. Heck, the rewards for loyalty are quite minimal compared to the freedom of choosing from the entire market place. The entire market has shifted over the past ten years or so. We welcome the change. Who wants to be stuck in neutral? From our perspective there is a huge chasm between what the HAL marketing folks are selling and what the line is delivering. That does not bode well for them. They need to get their act together....whatever they decide that act should be.

 

What a great post! I SO agree!

 

I'm 56 and enjoy the freedom to pick various cruise lines when there's a better choice. As long as men have on slacks(jeans, khakis, whatever) without holes and a collared shirt at night while dining, I'm good with that. I'll reluctantly wear a tie if pushed. If folks want to dress to the max, more power to them.

 

On my only HAL cruise aboard the Eurodam we skipped eating one "Gala" night in the MDR because we didn't want to dress up....our dining room attendants scolded us telling us we should have come on and that we would have been fine with what we had been wearing which was the above.

 

I'm going to pack a tie or two for my next Eurodam cruise and that's it...probably won't wear them.

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

Posted
Posted

I honestly do not understand things like "dealbreaker." To us its very simple. Dressing appropriately is just basic good manners/etiquette. But today, we live in a "me me me" society where many folks have little sense of class, decorum or etiquette. And that is absolutely fine. Do we want to share a table with folks who have no sense of what is proper decorum. No. Why? It is just an indication of lack of respect....which will likely infuse table conversation. It would be the same as somebody sitting down at a table and saying, f&^& this and f567 that and using locker room language around a lady. That person could argue that they are entitled to free speech and if they want to use the "F" word every 5 seconds....its cool. My point is that "class" is about being respectful. If one cannot be respectful in their dress...then why would anyone assume they are respectful about anything.

 

Hank

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

Posted
Posted
I honestly do not understand things like "dealbreaker." To us its very simple. Dressing appropriately is just basic good manners/etiquette. But today, we live in a "me me me" society where many folks have little sense of class, decorum or etiquette. And that is absolutely fine. Do we want to share a table with folks who have no sense of what is proper decorum. No. Why? It is just an indication of lack of respect....which will likely infuse table conversation. It would be the same as somebody sitting down at a table and saying, f&^& this and f567 that and using locker room language around a lady. That person could argue that they are entitled to free speech and if they want to use the "F" word every 5 seconds....its cool. My point is that "class" is about being respectful. If one cannot be respectful in their dress...then why would anyone assume they are respectful about anything.

 

Hank

 

Well put. Of course what the person next to you is wearing does not impact your food (to refer to an oft-used “wear what you want” cliche); and I suppose sprinkling obscenities in conversation won’t either; but intangibles do create ambience - and self-absorbed people rarely contribute constructively to any conversation.

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avian777

avian777

Posted
Posted
I honestly do not understand things like "dealbreaker." To us its very simple. Dressing appropriately is just basic good manners/etiquette. But today, we live in a "me me me" society where many folks have little sense of class, decorum or etiquette. And that is absolutely fine. Do we want to share a table with folks who have no sense of what is proper decorum. No. Why? It is just an indication of lack of respect....which will likely infuse table conversation. It would be the same as somebody sitting down at a table and saying, f&^& this and f567 that and using locker room language around a lady. That person could argue that they are entitled to free speech and if they want to use the "F" word every 5 seconds....its cool. My point is that "class" is about being respectful. If one cannot be respectful in their dress...then why would anyone assume they are respectful about anything.

 

Hank

 

Spot on, Hank! (y)(y)(y)

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ithaca gal

ithaca gal

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Posted
Had he been wearing a pair of Dockers with holes, a t-shirt and a ball cap, he also would have been turned away. To the contrary, had he been wearing nice jeans with a nice shirt and sport coat, he probably would not have been turned away. So this isn't really about the jeans is it? It was the whole picture. But congratulations on starting another jeans thread. I guess the running thread from just a few days ago wasn't recent enough. :rolleyes:

 

You are very welcome.

 

I didn’t necessarily intend to start another conversation about attire in the MDR ... I merely felt it might be ofnontretet to post a very recent experience on the Eurodam.

 

We sail tomorrow on the Zuiderdam for the Panama Canal. Maybe the situation will be different. I promise I’ll let you know! ;)

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SetAnOpenCourse

SetAnOpenCourse

Posted
Posted
Really? If you are stewing because someone else was not dressed to “standards “ AND you are still mad enough about it later to give a low score...well, I’d say the issue is the ticked off diner not the dress code breaker.

 

A mental issue.

 

 

A mental issue? Seems to me just a way to hopefully have the issue addressed. No need to stew over it. Along with the score, add a comment on the post-cruise survey, with the name of the Maitre d' if you remember it, saying what you wish they had done differently.

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
I honestly do not understand things like "dealbreaker." To us its very simple. Dressing appropriately is just basic good manners/etiquette. But today, we live in a "me me me" society where many folks have little sense of class, decorum or etiquette. And that is absolutely fine. Do we want to share a table with folks who have no sense of what is proper decorum. No. Why? It is just an indication of lack of respect....which will likely infuse table conversation. It would be the same as somebody sitting down at a table and saying, f&^& this and f567 that and using locker room language around a lady. That person could argue that they are entitled to free speech and if they want to use the "F" word every 5 seconds....its cool. My point is that "class" is about being respectful. If one cannot be respectful in their dress...then why would anyone assume they are respectful about anything.

 

Hank

 

Those who Insist on telling others how to dress are also "me, me, me" people demonstrating a lack of respect for others. Now, since they do not respect the preferences of others why should we "assume they are respectful about anything?

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JRG

JRG

Posted
Posted
A mental issue? Seems to me just a way to hopefully have the issue addressed. No need to stew over it. Along with the score, add a comment on the post-cruise survey, with the name of the Maitre d' if you remember it, saying what you wish they had done differently.

 

If I read Indy D correctly, they are saying 'why get so upset about it that you have to do anything? ' Why not just let it go, the times have changed and what good does it do to get upset and let it ruin your hamburger and French fries. Also, Do you really need to make a comment on the survey? Its not going to change anything.

 

Mental case is probably too harsh, so is chemical imbalance or nutcase. It is really about just being open-minded and stop getting upset about what other people do.

 

If you can't deal with it, switch to Cunard cruiselines and switch to the Cunard forum.

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Mosaic

Mosaic

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Posted
Those who Insist on telling others how to dress are also "me, me, me" people demonstrating a lack of respect for others. Now, since they do not respect the preferences of others why should we "assume they are respectful about anything?

 

Not when there is a dress code...

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RDC1

RDC1

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Posted
If HAL are not careful they could end up as a case study in Harvard Business Review. And not through success.

Keep in mind that most of the cruise lines have failed in the past, that is why there are the big three cruise line holding companies CCL, RCL and NCLH and the lines they hold have, in general failed on their own at some time. So any thoughts about a cruise line needs to be in context of the holding company and its strategy and placement for each of its lines. All of the lines held by CCL will have its own character and will be aimed at a specific market/demographic. HAL is not the same as Princess or Carnival, or Cunard, etc.

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Georgie562

Georgie562

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Posted

I wore shorts on the first day (embarkation) to the dining room and got turned away. I found it unusual as

other cruise lines don't make a big deal about dress code on the first day but HAL does.

 

On one gala night I wore dark jeans a dress shirt tucked in and a bow tie but didn't get turned away.

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

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Posted
Those who Insist on telling others how to dress are also "me, me, me" people demonstrating a lack of respect for others. Now, since they do not respect the preferences of others why should we "assume they are respectful about anything?

 

Being respectful is a two way street - people who feel no need to respect a dress code - which may be part of the reason their shipmates chose that sailing - have little justification for wanting anyone to give a damn about their preferences, or “deal breakers”.

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