Evolution of Dining Attire

[BirdTravels]

We're just off the Symphony of the Seas. I'll be the first to fully acknowledge the fact that there are only "suggestions" for dinner attire. From our table in the Main Dining Room, we could see 1/4 to 1/3 of the tables and did a quick survey. It is a lot easier to pick out men's clothes, so here's what we observed on Formal Night:

 

0% Tuxes (surprising)

25% Coats (could be coat and tie, or just coats in general)

65%-70% Casual shirts (polo shirts (many), dress shirts (many),  Hawaiian shirts (some))

5%-10% Shorts and Polo shirts/T-Shirts

 

We have contributed to the downturn in formal attire. We have not packed gowns/tuxes in several years. One less bulky item and shoes to pack.  We do still pack dinner dresses / suits. But, after three cruises on RCI in the past year where the "formal night" attire is getting more casual, maybe we can leave those behind too. 

[SargassoPirate]

The lack of decorum permeates our entire society, not just cruise ships.  

[mattb31]

Formal night is cool and all but for me it's just too exhausting and an inconvenience to pack a full suit when you have to fly to the port. On top of the packing, my stuff will always end up wrinkled from travel. 

[Alter Ego]

I wish I had taken a photo from my last cruise as it really showed how different European cruises are.

 

On my Rhapsody cruise of the Greek islands, I was shocked that it seemed like the majority of men were in tuxedos on the first formal night!  Admittedly, I didn’t eat in the MDR and going by what I saw around the ship, specifically in the Schooner Bar. 

[Armac]

I think the airline baggage fees really helped the demise of dressing for formal night. I have noticed on cruises were more people drive to the port more people dress for diner. Just my totally unscientific observation.    

[Joseph2017China]

I am getting a little old, but I can still remember my mother explaining to me the word "suggestion".    She always suggested that I need to behave myself, eat the food on my plate, or dress appropriately, or suffer the consequence. 

 

It always was suggested to respect something.  The word formal night, and the word suggested attire, really means in a polite way that you need to dress up tonight.  According to my mom, that would be the right thing to do.  All the excuses in the world, can not change the meaning of "formal night".  No one should misunderstand that it mean, dress up.

 

Personally, I wish they would remove formal night on all Caribbean cruises.  But until they do, I will do what is suggested.

[Williamsburgcruiser]

My hubby and I like the formal nights..... we "dress to the nines" and go get a nice formal picture done too. 

 

Of course, on the other nights, I now wear a dress - not too fancy, and he generally will wear khaki's and a collared shirt, without a tie, but sometimes with a jacket.

 

To us, it lends to the "old way" of taking a sea voyage.  Separates the "sun" of the day, from the "evening" of dining and entertainment.

 

Everyone should do as they are comfortable, and enjoy their holiday as much as possible, as they seem to be so far and in between nowadays. 

 

[dada2199cc]

We contribute happily to the relaxation in formal wear.  I didn't even pack a collared shirt on my last 2 cruises, and won't be taking one on the Symphony this weekend.

 

I do have closed toe shoes, mostly for the fitness center which double for dinnerwear.  No jacket.  A decent pair of fashionable denim (which cost me more than a cheap tux!) and a decent long sleeve fashionable shirt and I'm happy.

 

I cruise to relax, not to conform.  If I wanted to conform I'd still be working a 9-5 and daydreaming about beaches.

 

It's just a vacation, people, not a funeral.

[Yorkvillain]

My formal night evolution:

 

1- I used to bring a tux and a suit on every standard 7-night cruise. 

 

2- In an effort to pack less, I decided to leave the tux at home but bring the suit with two different shirts and two different ties. 

 

3- In an effort to be a little more comfortable, I eventually decided to leave the ties at home but still bring the suit with two different shirts. 

 

4- In an effort to pack even less and be even more comfortable while on vacation I decided to leave the suit at home and just wear button down shirts and khakis. (Always long sleeve button downs by the way. I would never wear a short sleeve button down anywhere). 

 

I’ll never go back to bringing a suit on a cruise. 

[asalligo]

6 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

The lack of decorum permeates our entire society, not just cruise ships.  

This!

 

I still pack a tux every cruise and I still wear a jacket and tie every other night in the MDR and I always will. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by asalligo

[OCruisers]

Now, people dress much more casually almost everyplace than they once did  ... not just on ships.  

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, asalligo said:

This!

 

I still pack a tux every cruise and I still wear a jacket and tie every other night in the MDR and I always will. 

As you should. Choices are great and should never be influenced by others. 

Edited November 15, 2018 by davekathy

[George C]

58 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

Now, people dress much more casually almost everyplace than they once did  ... not just on ships.  

Totally true, people used to dress nice on planes, suits and ties were needed when I started cruising in 70’s, had tux on all my 20 or so rccl cruise, I will skip tux for next weeks oasis cruise but will have jacket. Definitely think shorts and T-shirt is too casual for dinner. Loved a sandals vacation a couple of years ago and this one restaurant requires no shorts and jeans and it was enforced and loved hearing people say how expensive jeans were. 

[Baron Barracuda]

As a banker in the '80's wore a 3 piece suit to work every day.  Then along came casual Fridays, then casual every day.  Suits began gathering dust in the closet, needed only for weddings, funerals and cruise formal nights.  Now don't even pack a sport jacket for cruises.    

[screenname2004]

When did RC stop renting tux & shoes?

 

[cruisinrealtor]

Hubby and son will be wearing nice pants, dress shirt with tie no jacket and still debating about them wear sneakers or pack dress shoes. We fly into port so the less and lighter we can pack the better.  I’m pack 2 nice long dresses.  

[cb at sea]

Whether "denim" costs more than a tux or not, they are still JEANS.  Doesn't bother me, but the "cost" of an item doesn't matter at all, when describing formality!

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, cb at sea said:

Whether "denim" costs more than a tux or not, they are still JEANS.  Doesn't bother me, but the "cost" of an item doesn't matter at all, when describing formality!

Yeah funny thing is 38yrs ago a pair of Designer Jeans, Mens, that wore to High school was $38-42 a pair. This when I made $3hr... But when I started Cruising in the 1980's would bring 2 suits, plus additional couple pair pants. one sport coat, 2pair Dress shoes, 5 ties, 7 white T-shirts, 7 Dress shirts..This along with 7 days of regular clothes.  My Wife would have one medium suitcase not full, I had to bring Garment Bag and a large Suitcase for myself that sometimes weighed 70# 

Edited November 16, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[Anton]

5 hours ago, Yorkvillain said:

My formal night evolution:

 

1- I used to bring a tux and a suit on every standard 7-night cruise. 

 

2- In an effort to pack less, I decided to leave the tux at home but bring the suit with two different shirts and two different ties. 

 

3- In an effort to be a little more comfortable, I eventually decided to leave the ties at home but still bring the suit with two different shirts. 

 

4- In an effort to pack even less and be even more comfortable while on vacation I decided to leave the suit at home and just wear button down shirts and khakis. (Always long sleeve button downs by the way. I would never wear a short sleeve button down anywhere). 

 

I’ll never go back to bringing a suit on a cruise. 

That describes my evolution except I still sometimes bring a sport coat but rarely use it.  I'll also never pack a suit again. 

[torbs]

I'm 46 but remember when people got dressed up when going to a nice steakhouse, Ruth Chris, Capital Grille, etc... Now, jeans and less rule the day!!

[mcatmcat]

first formal night 

second formal night

and the rest of the week

 

and you will have no problem at all

[BirdTravels]

But, unlike other cruise lines, RCI still "suggests" formal attire. And "formal" does have a definition (which is not jeans and a t-shirt). They should just bite the bullet and ditch the "formal night" designation if they want to attract the next generation cruiser. The old timers (like us) can still carry on with tradition (although I have already admitted to not packing true formal attire any more). 

[shorti503]

I absolutely LOVE formal night.  Such a great excuse to get my whole family dressed up and have some nice pictures taken.  We wear jeans and casual wear every day, very seldom do we ever get the chance to really dress up.  We don't usually do tuxes, with 3 growing boys I would have to buy a new one for each of them every time we cruise. My husband does wear a suit and my boys always wear ties/bowties, and either a vest or a suit coat. For regular dinners we will wear a nice pair of jeans but my kids always wear a collared shirt to dinner.   While this may not be necessary, I do think its important to teach them the correct way to dress for dinner.  If you wear a tshirt and shorts to dinner at chili's that's just fine, but if we were to take our family to a really nice restaurant at home we would also dress in collared shirts or possibly ties.  The dining room on a cruise ship is the equivalent to a really, really nice restaurant and therefore I feel your attire should reflect that, but whatever anyone does is up to them. The ONLY thing that really bothers me is when I see people wearing ball caps into the dining room.  Its like seeing someone wear one into a church. 

[CarlosandJoel]

Here is another point of view. Wear whatever you want. The era of having to wear tuxes for dinner on cruises died a while ago but some people still think it’s necessary. Personally I’m on vacation and don’t really care to wear formal wear when I have to do that daily at work. Stop judging people for not adhering to what are now ancient ways. Modern cruising is about fun and relaxation. 

[chloe kitty]

We have cruised for years.   During the early cruises, my husband wore a Tux with all the extras and I wore a long formal dress.  Then a few years ago, my husband went to a nice suit.  I have changed to formal type pants and a sequin top.  It is not hard to pack these items.  Living in a very casual climate, we thoroughly enjoy dressing up a few times on board.  We also feel that on non formal nights, men should wear a nice pair of slacks and a collared shirt...a Golf type shirt is fine.  For women, I always bring black slacks and nice semi dressy tops.  Since these restaurants are similar to fine dining, I feel that shorts, t-shirts, and torn jeans are unacceptable.  It doesn't matter how much you wasted on torn jeans, they are still torn jeans.