cathyelsal Posted December 13, 2019 #1 Share Posted December 13, 2019 If you have sailed wwith Cunard, can you tell me how formal the cruises are. A friend and I would love to take the queen Mary 2 transatlantic across and then south to Cape Town but neither of us is a formal dress kind of person. Can we travel with them and not feel totally ostracized without formal wear and a lot of dressy clothes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mom says Posted December 13, 2019 #2 Share Posted December 13, 2019 I suggest you ask this on the Cunard forum. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/32-cunard-line/ In my experience, Cunard is the most formal if the mass market lines and their dress codes are enforced.. Their dress codes are laid out on their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuker Posted December 13, 2019 #3 Share Posted December 13, 2019 'Mom says' is dead right. When I'm asked to describe Cunard, particularly their crossings (which are a throw-back to the pre-airliner days), I say: "One word: elegant". On a crossing there will be 2 (3) formal (tux / gowns) nights, the rest are jackets for the boys. Daytime is casual. But there is no obligation to do this; however it will restrict your access to some parts of the ship and you may notice a couple of, unwarranted, frowns as you move about. Bottom line: 1. If you choose Cunard, go with the flow - you deserve it. 2. If not, it's still a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybankerteacher Posted December 13, 2019 #4 Share Posted December 13, 2019 2 hours ago, cathyelsal said: If you have sailed wwith Cunard, can you tell me how formal the cruises are. A friend and I would love to take the queen Mary 2 transatlantic across and then south to Cape Town but neither of us is a formal dress kind of person. Can we travel with them and not feel totally ostracized without formal wear and a lot of dressy clothes? Complying with Cunard’s dress code is not that tough - for a man a dark suit will work on the two dressy nights on a T/A, and a woman can simply wear the sort of dress she might wear to someone’s wedding (or funeral). No one would “ostracize” you if you could not manage that, but you would have to eat your evening meals in the buffet and be expected to avoid certain areas on the ship after 6:00 PM. But, the question is: why would you want to sail Cunard if you do not particularly like the way Cunard does things? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyelsal Posted December 13, 2019 Author #5 Share Posted December 13, 2019 Because they are the only line doing a route from US mainland to South Africa in the time frame we need to spend time in SA and connect to our east coast of Africa cruise. And Ann is somewhat disabled and a cruise is much better for her than flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Kat Posted December 13, 2019 #6 Share Posted December 13, 2019 Howdy cathyelsal! Welcome to Cruise Critic and thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! 👍 However, your thread is off-topic here. Since your new thread concerns a particular cruise line, I have moved your thread to the Cunard Line forum where it will be on-topic. The majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have or are going to sail Cunard frequent that forum. Cruise Critic is a great resource and we are so glad you found us! Please feel free to browse the Cruise Critic Community Categories list. Read a few threads in the forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads on the top of the first page of threads in a forum. You will find very important instructions or information there. Please remember the following stated in the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our free memberships: Browse Before You Post Browse a topic first to see if your question has already been asked or answered by someone else. Also, many of the major cruise lines forums have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) topic that has been created by our members. Give that a try first. Browsing is your #1 best resource! Please post your messages in an appropriate topic so that you'll receive the best possible response. It is very time consuming to move misplaced messages that are in the wrong topics. Anytime you do start a new thread on any forum, first make sure you are on the correct forum for your topic. Word your new thread title in a way to help the members know exactly the information you seek. This greatly helps the members browsing through the thread titles and if they know the information they will reply to you. It is best to limit each inquiry to only one topic or concerning one cruise line, ship, port of call, etc. and of course, on the correct forum. You will get more replies that way. Be sure to mention your cruise line, ship, port or sail date in your inquiry. That helps the members have the information they need in order to help you. And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to go to our Member Cruise Reviews section and submit your review for publication! I sincerely hope this information will be helpful and so glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! Happy sails, Host Kat 🌟 'Tis the season... 🎄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMac1953 Posted December 13, 2019 #7 Share Posted December 13, 2019 The basic rule is THREE Gala (formal) nights per week on a transatlantic, and TWO per week on a cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauer-kraut Posted December 13, 2019 #8 Share Posted December 13, 2019 When you say you aren't formal dress kind of people.... a nice pants suit with a pretty top will suffice. You can also wear long skirt or dress. Its not couture every night. During the day its just regular what you'd wear on any cruise. Shorts, t-shirts, jeans etc. ALSO its not necessary to have 7 dressy outfits, you can make do with just a pair of nice black trousers and switch out tops. Nobody cares if you wear something more than once,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakesregion Posted December 13, 2019 #9 Share Posted December 13, 2019 (edited) 20 hours ago, cathyelsal said: If you have sailed wwith Cunard, can you tell me how formal the cruises are. A friend and I would love to take the queen Mary 2 transatlantic across and then south to Cape Town but neither of us is a formal dress kind of person. Can we travel with them and not feel totally ostracized without formal wear and a lot of dressy clothes? You will not be ostracized. The line provides a fine buffet for all meals should you find the dress code to be a problem and recently they have expanded the number of places you can wander in the evening in casual clothes without being shooed away. The queens room dance floor and the show theater will be off limits if you can not meet the minimum required as will be the main dining rooms. Go to the Cunard website and pull down the dress code. It should answer all of your questions. What it will not do is tell you that violating these codes will still allow you to wander without being ostracized. Edited December 13, 2019 by Lakesregion spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue from Canada Posted December 14, 2019 #10 Share Posted December 14, 2019 On 12/12/2019 at 8:38 PM, cathyelsal said: If you have sailed wwith Cunard, can you tell me how formal the cruises are. A friend and I would love to take the queen Mary 2 transatlantic across and then south to Cape Town but neither of us is a formal dress kind of person. Can we travel with them and not feel totally ostracized without formal wear and a lot of dressy clothes? Thank you for asking this as I'm in the same boat I've booked a 21 B2B at the end of July and have never sailed with Cunard. Post #8 below makes me feel better now. I'll wear black slacks, a long black skirt and nice tops, some sparkly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underwatr Posted December 14, 2019 #11 Share Posted December 14, 2019 9 hours ago, Sue from Canada said: I'll wear black slacks, a long black skirt and nice tops, some sparkly. That sounds perfect based on my observations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BlueRiband Posted December 14, 2019 #12 Share Posted December 14, 2019 Would you book Disney if you were not the kind of person who minds being around a lot of young children? There's nothing wrong with not liking formal dress. But if it bothers you than Cunard may not be a good fit. One person may consider it a vacation paradise while another would see it as a cruise from hell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catchum Posted December 14, 2019 #13 Share Posted December 14, 2019 This board is heavily populated by pro formal dining cruisers which is fine but I was in a similar position considering a crossing and found the review below very useful https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2667029-fyi-qm2-casual-dress-cruisers/ Basically the writer had a good cruise without either violating the dress code or ever dressing formally. I did not book the trip but part of me wants to sail on a Cunard ship and dress up properly - in corset, full hooped skirt and tiara (my usual weekend attire). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exlondoner Posted December 14, 2019 #14 Share Posted December 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Catchum said: This board is heavily populated by pro formal dining cruisers which is fine but I was in a similar position considering a crossing and found the review below very useful https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2667029-fyi-qm2-casual-dress-cruisers/ Basically the writer had a good cruise without either violating the dress code or ever dressing formally. I did not book the trip but part of me wants to sail on a Cunard ship and dress up properly - in corset, full hooped skirt and tiara (my usual weekend attire). It is quite true that you can manage to have a good time without bothering with the dress code. But the dress code is not difficult to comply with, and there is so much more of the ship available to you that it seems a great shame not to adopt it for the short time one is on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmike911 Posted December 14, 2019 #15 Share Posted December 14, 2019 On 12/12/2019 at 9:54 PM, cathyelsal said: Because they are the only line doing a route from US mainland to South Africa in the time frame we need to spend time in SA and connect to our east coast of Africa cruise. And Ann is somewhat disabled and a cruise is much better for her than flying. I love sailing on Queen Mary 2, and would not want to discourage any one from sailing on her, but I have to question your choice of sailing versus flying. Queen Mary 2 is a huge vessel and getting around on her takes time and effort. If your companion is 'somewhat disabled' she is going to have a much more difficult time getting around on the ship than getting to and from and airplane seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyelsal Posted December 14, 2019 Author #16 Share Posted December 14, 2019 She uses a scooter, loves cruising and has done it many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyelsal Posted December 14, 2019 Author #17 Share Posted December 14, 2019 And that seems like a strange comment since in my experience there have been many people with limited mobility on all the cruises I have joined. I think it is a preferred vacation for many of them because ships are very disability friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Bedruthen Posted December 14, 2019 #18 Share Posted December 14, 2019 Please don’t be put off by the dress code. Yes some people will dress to impress, but it is by no means everyone. I have felt perfectly comfortable and blended in without a problem in nice black trousers and a dressy top. Ball gowns are definitely not compulsory 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakesregion Posted December 14, 2019 #19 Share Posted December 14, 2019 1 hour ago, cathyelsal said: And that seems like a strange comment since in my experience there have been many people with limited mobility on all the cruises I have joined. I think it is a preferred vacation for many of them because ships are very disability friendly. I believe that the poster suggesting a plane was only because in your initial post you inferred that your friend who had a disability would find it difficult to dress up to the standards desired by most on board. I have seen numerous very elegantly attired people in wheel chairs. They had no problems making the effort and they were able to enjoy the full run of the ship every day and every evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmike911 Posted December 15, 2019 #20 Share Posted December 15, 2019 It would appear that in 2020 the world cruise will have the QM2 traveling from Capetown to Southampton to New York. The same for the world cruise route for 2021. Those are the latest world cruise itineraries that are published so far. In the past they have traveled the other direction, but not in the next two years. So far QM2 has only called at Cape Town as part of the world cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemarble Posted December 15, 2019 #21 Share Posted December 15, 2019 14 minutes ago, Bigmike911 said: It would appear that in 2020 the world cruise will have the QM2 traveling from Capetown to Southampton to New York. The same for the world cruise route for 2021. Those are the latest world cruise itineraries that are published so far. In the past they have traveled the other direction, but not in the next two years. So far QM2 has only called at Cape Town as part of the world cruise. I think you may be looking at the QM2 2021 world cruise route incorrectly. That route will be traveling New York-Southampton-Cape Town. I'm not seeing that voyage being offered as a single segment of the 2021 world voyage, but it is currently being offered as these two separate consecutive voyages. Voyage M102: New York-Southampton, Jan 3-Jan 10, 2021 Voyage M103: Southampton-Cape Town, Jan 10-Jan 24, 2021 And just for the record, the QM2 2022 world voyage was just announced this past Thursday, but it's not calling at Cape Town. For 2022 on QM2, it's a "Caribbean and South America" voyage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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