Formal night on a 7 day cruise

[nyold]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it on the search page. On a 7 day cruise with Zaandam, do you know when the formal night would be? Even an approximation is ok. We would like to reserve one night on the Pinnacle Grill, but we want to make sure we're in the MDR on the formal night (to participate in the festivities, and also not to miss out on the good food ^_^), so if we know which night to NOT do Pinnacle that would we awesome.

[Shippy]

didn't know they still had a formal night !

[nyold]

Oh thank you. So is there one night where the MDR offers better food than others? This will be my first HAL cruise, but on RC usually there is a "lobster" night on the MDR, so that's why we don't want to miss that.

[victory2020]

It appears there is no more lobster. On the 7 day last week formal nights had filet oscar & steak & shrimp combo. If you book 1st or last night you'll be good - usually these nights are not the best in the dining room

[RuthC]

They are called 'Gala Night' now, and although the suggested dress is more formal, the requirement to dress formally is no longer there. There are two Gala Nights on a 7-day cruise. 

Usually, depending on itinerary and length of stay in ports, the Gala Nights are the second night aboard, and night before the last one on board. 
Without knowing your itinerary I can't be more specific about when your Gala Nights will be. 

[nyold]

It is this:

Sat, June 4, 2022	Montreal, QC, Canada	--	5:00 pm
Sun, June 5, 2022	Quebec City, QC, Canada	7:00 am	5:00 pm
Mon, June 6, 2022	Fun Day at Sea	--	--
Tue, June 7, 2022	Charlottetown, Canada	8:00 am	5:00 pm
Wed, June 8, 2022	Sydney	8:00 am	5:00 pm
Thu, June 9, 2022	Halifax, NS, Canada	8:00 am	4:00 pm
Fri, June 10, 2022	Bar Harbor, Maine	7:00 am	5:00 pm
Sat, June 11, 2022	Boston, Massachusetts	7:00 am	--

 

The "popup" night from Pinnacle to Rudi Sel de Mer is June 8th. So I'm thinking to do it on June 6th since we'd be bored after a whole day at sea and we can have an early dinner (and 2nd servings at the buffet 😆)

 

 

[RuthC]

Definitely Thursday for your second Gala Night; probably Monday for the first. 

[MarkWiltonM]

No formal nights but 2 "gala" dinners in MDR. If your cruise begins on Sunday, for example, the gala nights are usually Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday is the second full day of the cruise; Friday is the next-to-last full day. I guess it is probably the same calculation if you leave on another day. (Others: correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not great at counting.)

[visagrunt]

It's always up to the Hotel Director.  I have had different gala nights on identical itineraries.  Sea days tend to be preferred for Gala nights if they align with the itinerary.  They will not typically fall on nights when the ship will be leaving port late or overnights.

The only 'knowns' are that gala nights will never be the first night nor the last night. 

Also, dining reservations folks on board are extremely helpful about moving reservations if you happen to have booked on a night that turns out to be a gala night.  

[nyold]

Thank you! Ok that puts my mind at ease. I can make my best guess now and move it later if it turns out to be the wrong night. 

[StLouisCruisers]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

Definitely Thursday for your second Gala Night; probably Monday for the first. 

 

Exactly what I would guess.  👍

[Kay S]

The last lobster I had on a cruise ship was dinky and over cooked.  Now they want to upsell you the good lobster in addition to your regular dinner.  Gala (aka formal) nights are not what they used to be. I don't think you need to stress about missing out on a big juicy lobster. 😉

[Mary229]

Sea days are a good guess.  

[0106]

@nyold On your fun sea day , you will be sailing through the Gulf of St Lawrence.  We enjoyed being able to see the sights on both sides of the waterway. It really was one of the most interesting parts of our journey

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, Kay S said:

The last lobster I had on a cruise ship was dinky and over cooked.  Now they want to upsell you the good lobster in addition to your regular dinner.  Gala (aka formal) nights are not what they used to be. I don't think you need to stress about missing out on a big juicy lobster. 😉

The only lobster you will see on a hal cruise is if you pay for it.  It might be available for free on a longer cruise.

[KroozNut]

11 hours ago, RuthC said:

Definitely Thursday for your second Gala Night; probably Monday for the first. 

 

Agree with Ruth..