When are 'gala nights'?

[LindaJ+]

And how 'gala' are they?  Is there a special menu in the dining room?  Do they still make the waiters juggle plastic peppers?

[RuthC]

Thankfully, juggling the plastic veggies went the way of the dodo, a long time ago. It was embarrassing to watch. 

There is a different menu, which some find not at all 'Gala'. Some ships don't have the 'always available'; selections, so you might want to check the menu in advance, and ask your server if there are options on your ship. 

As far as 'Gala' dress, some people still dress up nicely, while others stick to the 'elegantly casual' level (which is allowed). 
Then there are always the few who confuse 'elegantly casual' with daytime casual. 

[CruiserBruce]

I have never seen waiters juggle plastic peppers. 

 

There are many, many, many discussions here about the dress on Gala nights. Just got off 2 weeks on KDam. I would say half of the men were wearing suit and tie. Didn't see any tuxes the first week, 3 or 4 the second week. Yes, I saw a couple of people in non-nice jeans. I worn nice pants and a polo shirt. I used to wear a tuxe until 2019 (25 cruises, total). Women wore, for the most part, corresponding nice clothing. I actually think my wife outdressed me.

 

When are the Gala nights? That will depend on your cruise. Almost always on sea days, if on a port day, it will be a short port day, when the ship sails by 2 or 3pm. A 7 day cruise will have 2 Gala Nights, usually the second night, and the second to last night...given the port day/sea day consideration.

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, LindaJ+ said:

........Is there a special menu in the dining room?  Do they still make the waiters juggle plastic peppers?

There are actually 3 HAL Gala Night menus, blue, silver, and gold.  The silver menu is usually the first and the gold menu the last during a cruise with two Gala Nights.  On cruises from 8 to 12 days with three Gala Nights, the blue menu will be first.  In addition to Cruiser Bruce's excellent explanation above, Gala nights are not on the first night or last night of cruise.  This thread should allow you to make a really good guess on Gala Nights.

 

After complaints that juggling peppers or waving napkins might be dehumanizing behavior, MDR waiters are now limited to singing "Happy Birthday".

[zgscl]

7 hours ago, RuthC said:

Then there are always the few who confuse 'elegantly casual' with daytime casual. 

A very nice way to put it. While not on my cruise there were reports of sweat pants with Juicy in big glittery letters on the back on the cruise before me from a few folks doing back to back. I think the glitter must be the elegant part while the sweats are the casual. I will have to invest in a pair before my next cruise  so that I can elegantly casual too 🤣

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Some of the Gala Menus on our current cruise are posted on my live thread.    We have about a dozen people wearing tuxes on the 35 day Zuiderdam Cruise.    We started meeting together on gala nights.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2835210-the-inside-cabins-tuxedo-junction-pass-it-on/

[Kay S]

18 hours ago, Crew News said:

 

After complaints that juggling peppers or waving napkins might be dehumanizing behavior, MDR waiters are now limited to singing "Happy Birthday".

Many times every night.  😁

[katmu]

How many gala nights are there generally on a 14 night cruise?

[CruiserBruce]

If a true 14 days (not two B2B 7 days), probably 3.

[katmu]

3 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

If a true 14 days (not two B2B 7 days), probably 3.

 

Yes, it’s a true 14 day.  Thank you.