Dress code

[LLOM]

Can anyone who has recently been on (or is on at the moment ) the explorer tell me what the dress code is like, the reason i am asking is because we did two staycation earlier on ,one most people got dressed up with  3/4 of   the men being in tuxedos, the second cruise it was only a handful, 

many thanks .

[marylizcat]

Were your two staycation cruises both on Marella or was one on P&O? I only ask because on the latter men do still wear dinner jackets on formal nights, whereas we have found that on Marella they don’t, probably because they no longer call them ‘formal nights’, but just ‘dress to impress’ or something similar.

[2BACRUISER]

I also think it depends on the length of the trip. Short 'booze' cruises 2-3nts will see less dress up than a 7nt. On the two cruises we did with Marella in 2019 the one on Ex2 (adult only)I would say 70% made an extra effort whilst on D2 (all ages) probably 30% or less in fact I felt severely overdressed on a normal night in slacks and a smart top lol 

[Brummijam]

I think that one of the reasons that Marella is so popular with UK cruisers is because of its relaxed attitude to dress code. If you want to dress full on dinner jacket/kilt /cocktail dresses etc then its up to you entirely. Dress to impress night is usually a mix of the above and smart casual. As an observation the tuxedo/dress up set does get less and less on every cruise that we go on and I think that this a generation thing ,also I have never seen anyone that I would describe as "scruffy" in the MDR as most people do make an effort.

 

 

[Cardiff girl]

Not sure I'll be impressing anyone - after living in leggings for so long I've forgotten how to dress up. 🤔 Need to dig through to find out what still fits!

[LLOM]

Thankyou for your reply marylizcat, both the staycation cruises were on explorer 2, we did do a P&O  to the canaries as well but then the majority of men wore a tux and having cruised with P&O numerous times I know what their formal ( now called celebration night by some) nights consist of, but having only done 3 Marella cruises and seeing quite a difference in their dress code I wondered  if anyone could tell what their norm was like. Thank you again 

[marylizcat]

56 minutes ago, LLOM said:

Thankyou for your reply marylizcat, both the staycation cruises were on explorer 2, we did do a P&O  to the canaries as well but then the majority of men wore a tux and having cruised with P&O numerous times I know what their formal ( now called celebration night by some) nights consist of, but having only done 3 Marella cruises and seeing quite a difference in their dress code I wondered  if anyone could tell what their norm was like. Thank you again 

My last cruise pre-pandemic was in Feb 2020 on Marella, Canaries, can’t remember the ship’s name. Think I saw exactly one DJ! Not even ties. 

[Brummijam]

10 minutes ago, marylizcat said:

My last cruise pre-pandemic was in Feb 2020 on Marella, Canaries, can’t remember the ship’s name. Think I saw exactly one DJ! Not even ties. 

It’s all about choice. Our last pre pandemic cruise in January 2020 to the canaries the MDR had quite a few dinner jackets/ Tuxedos on show.

Personally my suits were binned when I retired.🤷🏻‍♂️

[howmuch!]

On Marella, people who don't want to 'dress to impress' presumably use the buffet on that night, as I have never seen anyone that stands out from the rest of the guests in the MDR. My guess would be approx 20% have DJs on the cruises we have been on. 

 

[Jim The Scot]

Yes,cruisers who dont want to dress to impress use the buffet on that night

 

Having cruised with Marella for many years and being none dress to impress cruisers can only comment on what we have witnessed but over the years theres less and less Tux or kilts on Marella cruises and more shirt/tie and trousers or shirt no tie/polo shirt and trousers to be honest

Edited November 18, 2021 by Jim The Scot

[royallondon]

We were on Explorer 2 last month and would guesstimate that that less then 5% wore DJ’s for the “dress to impress” evening.  

Regards

[GOQ]

On previous Marella/Thomson cruises I have worn:

 

A shirt and tie.

A Blazer.

A lounge suit.

A dinner jacket.

 

I have never felt out of place. 

[Medeba]

Well I'm hoping that the 'dress to impress' night on our Explorer 2 cruise over Christmas will fall on Christmas Day.  We quite like dressing up on a cruise (haven't done it in years, though, because of changing dress code policies).  But, like Cardiff Girl, I'm keeping my🤞🏼 that I can still get into at least one of my evening outfits 🤣 .

Edited November 19, 2021 by Medeba

[2BACRUISER]

10 hours ago, Medeba said:

like Cardiff Girl, I'm keeping my🤞🏼 that I can still get into at least one of my evening outfits 🤣 .

I will mostly be wearing a pink sparkly number on DTI night next week to match my prosecco Rose 🥂🍾 so look out x

[Cardiff girl]

On 11/19/2021 at 9:43 PM, 2BACRUISER said:

I will mostly be wearing a pink sparkly number on DTI night next week to match my prosecco Rose 🥂🍾 so look out x

Sounds like a lovely combo! 🍾 I've tried my floaty frock on twice - once it fitted, once it didn't, so I'm packing safety pins! 🤣

[howmuch!]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:44 AM, Medeba said:

Well I'm hoping that the 'dress to impress' night on our Explorer 2 cruise over Christmas will fall on Christmas Day.  We quite like dressing up on a cruise (haven't done it in years, though, because of changing dress code policies).  But, like Cardiff Girl, I'm keeping my🤞🏼 that I can still get into at least one of my evening outfits 🤣 .

I think you may be in luck, as DTI usually falls on a sea day I seem to recall.

[Jellifer]

I’m onboard now and DTI was on the second evening (sea day). I’d estimate only about 5% of gents were in DJs. For the ladies there was a lot of sparkly dresses and tops and a couple of evening dresses but a lot of people were more casual. 

[Pensioncruiser]

Just love the dress code post which comes round every few months and has done for many years 😎

[LLOM]

Thank you Jellifer for your reply, I think I will pack his tux just in case, as I mentioned in my previous post on one cruise  there was a lot of men wearing a tux or white jacket then on the next hardly any, hope you  enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[Simonthesailor]

On a recent cruise out of Malaga while many ladies appeared to dress to impress, many men (strangely) did not! In a jacket and tie I felt overdressed. Certainly no one seen in a black tie outfit. 

[sagaris]

Just off Discovery (Caribbean) and on the dress to impress nights quite a few men had a tux/suit on but I did notice that they were younger ones (under 35ish) and most women had evening/cocktail dresses on, but there were a few men shorts in and t shirts.

[LLOM]

Thankyou all for your replies, we moved our cruise to January but looking at what is going on with the new variant I have a strong feeling that may be cancelled.!! but when we were on our cruise it was more the older generation who wore the tux/suit so if we do get away in January I will pack the tux just in case . 
Many thanks

[Cardiff girl]

4 hours ago, sagaris said:

Just off Discovery (Caribbean) and on the dress to impress nights quite a few men had a tux/suit on but I did notice that they were younger ones (under 35ish) and most women had evening/cocktail dresses on, but there were a few men shorts in and t shirts.

Last cruise I was on (Pullmantur) I dressed up for formal night, then sat at dinner with Americans wearing shorts, t-shirts & one in a khaki fishing vest. I guess these days it's just what you're comfortable with... 

[Brummijam]

I bet the conversation over dinner was the best ever. Fisherman always tell the best tales.🎣🎣😂😂

Edited November 30, 2021 by Brummijam
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[Pensioncruiser]

On 11/30/2021 at 6:52 PM, Brummijam said:

I bet the conversation over dinner was the best ever. Fisherman always tell the best tales.🎣🎣😂😂

 Hi BJ hope all well with you and yours, think if we had been on that table we would have decamped but that's just me. It's very difficult times at the moment for cruising, feel for people who have bookings. 

Stay safe. 😉