Are we the last of the Formal Dress people?

[clo]

48 minutes ago, ldubs said:

while coat/tie is suggested as opposed to required. 

Of those who use that as their out, I wonder what they would do if it were to be required.  Would the step up or go to a different cruise line?

[lenquixote66]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

Of those who use that as their out, I wonder what they would do if it were to be required.  Would the step up or go to a different cruise line?

There is no such thing as mandatory formal attire or dress up any longer on the major cruise lines. I am sure there are likely cruise lines in places other than North America but I have never cruised out of those places and with the exception of one cruise to South America I have never been anywhere other than North America.

 

[clo]

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

There is no such thing as mandatory formal attire or dress up any longer on the major cruise lines. I am sure there are likely cruise lines in places other than North America but I have never cruised out of those places and with the exception of one cruise to South America I have never been anywhere other than North America.

 

I'm asking 'what if'?

[lenquixote66]

1 minute ago, clo said:

I'm asking 'what if'?

What If does not apply because in Dec.2015 most of the cruise lines did away with that.I would not cruise on a ship that dictated mode of dress.

I do not advocate men wearing shorts and tee shirts although many do.

I wear slacks and a button down or a knit shirt.

[clo]

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

What If does not apply because in Dec.2015 most of the cruise lines did away with that.I would not cruise on a ship that dictated mode of dress.

I do not advocate men wearing shorts and tee shirts although many do.

I wear slacks and a button down or a knit shirt.

I seem to remember that Cunard at least does enforce their code.  But it was a "what if" question and you answered.

[lenquixote66]

Just now, clo said:

I seem to remember that Cunard at least does enforce their code.  But it was a "what if" question and you answered.

Cunard is a cruise line that I am no longer cruising on .

[ilikeanswers]

13 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

What If does not apply because in Dec.2015 most of the cruise lines did away with that.

 

What exactly happened on December 2015? Did the cruise lines make a group announcement? 

[ldubs]

56 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

 My DH and most of my friends would agree with you!

 

Hey, us DH's have to stick together on this.   Lol.  

[lenquixote66]

17 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

What exactly happened on December 2015? Did the cruise lines make a group announcement? 

RCI and Celebrity Both said that they were no longer requiring people to dress for formal nites.

[ldubs]

43 minutes ago, clo said:

Of those who use that as their out, I wonder what they would do if it were to be required.  Would the step up or go to a different cruise line?

 

I don't know.  You need to ask them.   Hopefully you understand that on the mainstream lines there are alternative dining options that are casual.  That would be Princess & RCI for certain.  Celebrity doesn't apply because it is always casual.  Been too long since been on Carnival to speculate.  Don't know about others.   

[clo]

4 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I don't know.  You need to ask them.   Hopefully you understand that on the mainstream lines there are alternative dining options that are casual.  That would be Princess & RCI for certain.  Celebrity doesn't apply because it is always casual.  Been too long since been on Carnival to speculate.  Don't know about others.   

Oh, it was just a what-if, hypothetical question.  And I was thinking about the MDR not the more casual venues.  If people were denied admittance....

[pris993]

On 10/8/2019 at 10:22 AM, mike x ftc said:

We like to dress up and enjoy formal nights, we have recently returned from an 8 night cruise on the Brilliance.  We flew to Barcelona with Tux, waistcoats, shirts etc for the formal nights but we were very disappointed there was only one in 8 nights.  To be honest if we'd known there was only going to one we wouldn't have bothered lugging it all the way to Spain!!   It does seem like they are phasing them out - which is a shame.

 My dh is 87, I am 72... been dressing for formal nights since the early l970s, over 60 cruises, we have lugged formal sear from San Francisco to Istanbul, to St Petersburg, Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Venice, you name it... still going leaving for Ft Lauderdale on 11/31 ... 15  night Panama Canal cruise we would not leave home with out our formal wear... it is worth it, many great memories and pictures.  

[clo]

1 minute ago, pris993 said:

many great memories and pictures

Thanks for sharing.  It's lovely.

[ldubs]

20 minutes ago, pris993 said:

 My dh is 87, I am 72... been dressing for formal nights since the early l970s, over 60 cruises, we have lugged formal sear from San Francisco to Istanbul, to St Petersburg, Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Venice, you name it... still going leaving for Ft Lauderdale on 11/31 ... 15  night Panama Canal cruise we would not leave home with out our formal wear... it is worth it, many great memories and pictures.  

 

Sorry in advance of the slight detour here. 

 

Hope you guys missed any of the power outages.  I'm in the east Bat and haven't heard too much about how the peninsula was impacted.  Hope all was well.  

 

 

[pris993]

Hit and miss on the peninsula.. we were fine but had friends in Pescadero on the coast north of Santa Cruz impacted.  

[clo]

21 minutes ago, pris993 said:

Hit and miss on the peninsula.. we were fine but had friends in Pescadero on the coast north of Santa Cruz impacted.  

I have a friend in the Santa Cruz area and they're without power but no fires.  But it's getting bad. Again.  Stay safe.

[K32682]

8 hours ago, clo said:

Of those who use that as their out, I wonder what they would do if it were to be required.  Would the step up or go to a different cruise line?

 

I don't cruise just to float on a boat but to achieve a specific travel objective where cruising makes sense so would choose a different line if I could match the itinerary. 

 

If a different line were not possible I'd consider the the option of not eating in the MDR and acquire my sustenance in more tolerable circumstances.  Absent that option I'd first test the line to see if I were actually denied entrance to the MDR.  If they did I'd return from my cabin a few minutes later wearing my rattiest jacket and most gruesome necktie. 

 

[momofmab]

I remember sailing on NCL 6 or 7 years ago and my DH was turned away at the MDR for wearing khaki shorts and a button down shirt (it was the shorts that violated their policy at that time).

 

We've only cruised Caribbean itineraries on mass market lines.  To me, Caribbean itineraries call for more relaxed dress.  That is not to say that people should be wearing holey shirts and cut off jean shorts to the MDR, but I am not bothered to see sundresses on women and men in nice shorts and button down shirts.  Some of us don't lead lives where we have formal wear hanging around, waiting to be brought on a cruise - nor do we want to take up the suitcase space to bring it along.

 

If you want to rock the formal nights - go for it - but I don't understand the disdain toward those who choose not to.  I've often thought they should designate one of the MDR's as "formal" for formal nights, so that all who choose to participate can eat there and be with others who are similarly dressed.  Those who choose not to can dine at the other MDR and avoid the inevitable "side eye" glances.

[wowzz]

58 minutes ago, momofmab said:

but I don't understand the disdain toward those who choose not to.

To be fair, there has been a fair amount of disdain shown to those who do like to dress up as well  - terms such as "snobs" and "stuck up" and "pretentious" are thrown around with abandon.

 I agree with you  - within reason (and even trying to define that is difficult) , I believe people shoul dress as they wish.

However,  if you choose to cruise with a cruise line that does have a dress policy, then  I believe you should adhere to that policy, and not come on here moaning and groaning about it. 

[K32682]

24 minutes ago, wowzz said:

To be fair, there has been a fair amount of disdain shown to those who do like to dress up as well  - terms such as "snobs" and "stuck up" and "pretentious" are thrown around with abandon.

 I agree with you  - within reason (and even trying to define that is difficult) , I believe people shoul dress as they wish.

However,  if you choose to cruise with a cruise line that does have a dress policy, then  I believe you should adhere to that policy, and not come on here moaning and groaning about it. 

 

Conversely, those who don't immediately submit to the cruise line suggestions of how to dress have been accused of being "downright rude" (post 93,) accused of having a chip on their shoulder, ordered to improve their spelling (post 108,) and rebuked for using the word "boat" (post 108.) Or did you forget your own posts? 

 

I'm not moaning and groaning about the cruise line requests.  I am ignoring them.  So are the cruise lines for the most part. 

 

[lifes-a-beach]

5 minutes ago, K32682 said:

 

Conversely, those who don't immediately submit to the cruise line suggestions of how to dress have been accused of being "downright rude" (post 93,) accused of having a chip on their shoulder, ordered to improve their spelling (post 108,) and rebuked for using the word "boat" (post 108.) Or did you forget your own posts? 

 

I'm not moaning and groaning about the cruise line requests.  I am ignoring them.  So are the cruise lines for the most part. 

 

But didn’t you just say that, in a hypothetical scenario where it is not requested but required, you would wear your rattiest jacket and most gruesome necktie?  And didn’t you insinuate that believing that to be childish and inappropriate is to be intolerant?  Ignore what you want but don’t act like a victim when I pre-judge you based on your actions.  

[K32682]

21 minutes ago, lifes-a-beach said:

But didn’t you just say that, in a hypothetical scenario where it is not requested but required, you would wear your rattiest jacket and most gruesome necktie?  And didn’t you insinuate that believing that to be childish and inappropriate is to be intolerant?  Ignore what you want but don’t act like a victim when I pre-judge you based on your actions.  

 

No insinuations were made while addressing the hypothetical question.  Nor have I criticized anyone's spelling, reproached their word choices, accused them of having a chip on their shoulders or called them "downright rude" for bemoaning the inexorable and much appreciated easing of dress standards on cruise ships. 

 

If I'm dismissive of anything it is the charade of fancy pants and sparky dress night on mass market cruises but certainly have nothing bad to say about the people who embrace the practice providing they don't insist I dress up too or insult me if I don't. 

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by K32682

[ducklite]

14 hours ago, wowzz said:

Seems to be a certain amount of hypocrisy going around here. You either have rules, or you don't. If you don't like having to wear a jacket, tie etc - fine. Totally understand your point of view. But you can't then state that shorts are unacceptable- why ? 

So, it seems to me that there is a choice.  A dress code,  or no dress code.  If you accept that a code is required (ie no shorts) you cannot then arbitrarily decide a code requiring you to wear a jacket and tie is unacceptable. 

As they say - get off the fence! Code,  or no code. 

I agree.  I was raised that you always conformed to the requested manner of dress, or you stayed home.  It's simply good manners.  That would mean not wearing a tux and gown to a semi-formal event just as you wouldn't wear a pair of chinos and a polo to the same.  If you aren't happy with the stated dress code, then stay home.  If the event is the wedding of a close family member or a business event, suck it up buttercup and put on whatever is required without complaint.

 

*Dress codes should of course be relaxed for people with disabilities for which compliance would be challenging--although getting as close as reasonably possible should be attempted.  Christopher Reeve wore a tux (without a tie to accommodate his vent) many times after his accident.

[ducklite]

13 hours ago, clo said:

Of those who use that as their out, I wonder what they would do if it were to be required.  Would the step up or go to a different cruise line?

We would simply choose a different line.  It would also not be one that allowed things like gym clothes, hats (other than for religious or medical reasons), or other casual wear in the dining room in the evening.  

[lenquixote66]

4 hours ago, momofmab said:

I remember sailing on NCL 6 or 7 years ago and my DH was turned away at the MDR for wearing khaki shorts and a button down shirt (it was the shorts that violated their policy at that time).

 

We've only cruised Caribbean itineraries on mass market lines.  To me, Caribbean itineraries call for more relaxed dress.  That is not to say that people should be wearing holey shirts and cut off jean shorts to the MDR, but I am not bothered to see sundresses on women and men in nice shorts and button down shirts.  Some of us don't lead lives where we have formal wear hanging around, waiting to be brought on a cruise - nor do we want to take up the suitcase space to bring it along.

 

If you want to rock the formal nights - go for it - but I don't understand the disdain toward those who choose not to.  I've often thought they should designate one of the MDR's as "formal" for formal nights, so that all who choose to participate can eat there and be with others who are similarly dressed.  Those who choose not to can dine at the other MDR and avoid the inevitable "side eye" glances.

I was on the Norwegian Gem  in 2013 and people wore shorts to dinner.