A Cunard Cruise - What I wore

[2BACRUISER]

Dress code is one of the topics that never goes away and particularly the dress code for Cunard comes up time and again as it is perhaps the most formal cruise line around today so i thought i would let you see what i wore for our 7nt cruise to the Fjords on Queen Victoria this August 2022 and hope it is some help to those of you looking to cruise with Cunard but who might be put off by the dress code. 

 

During the day its pretty much like any other cruise line i wore jeans or loose legged jogging trousers with tee shirts and sweatshirts and sketchers/trainers both on board and for our port excursions. Comfort being the order of the day. The weather in the Fjords was 16-18c overcast most days with a few showers except for one day in Alesund we had 20c and sunshine. 

 

After 6pm however the dress code changes and there are two types Smart Attire (SA) or Gala Nights (GN) which sometimes have a theme. After 6pm you cannot be around a lot of the the ship in leisurewear except for the buffet and the pub basically.

Day 1 SA

2BA - Black trousers, blue/silver top, black sandals, sm black bag  DH Black jeans and long sleeved collared shirt

Day 2 GN Black & White Theme

2BA - Long black velour gown with white shrug and brooch, sm black bag   DH  Dark suit with white shirt and bow tie

Day 3 SA

2BA - Plum tulle sleeved embellished cocktail dress, pantyhose, sparkle shoes and brooch sm silver bag DH   Blue Chinos, short sleeved shirt and blue blazer

Day 4 SA

2BA Black tiered sleeveless cocktail dress, diamante brooch, pantyhose, sparkle sandals sm black bag  DH  Black jeans with long sleeved shirt

Day 5 SA

2BA - Blue tulle sleeved cocktail dress, pantyhose, diamante brooch, sm silver bag, sparkle shoes  DH  Olive Chinos, short sleeved shirt and blue blazer

Day 6 GN Roaring 20's

2BA - long black velour gown with embellished black net shrug, diamante brooch and sparkle shoes, sm black bag  DH Dark suit, pale lilac/blue shirt with matching tie

Day 7 SA

2BA - Black trousers, pink cuts away shoulder top, pink & silver shawl, black sandals, sm black bag  DH Blue Chinos, short sleeved shirt and Blazer

 

I have to confess i panic packed and brought back a lot of clothes unused for both of us. 

I would say 99% of passengers on board embraced the dress code and it certainly made for a great ambience in the evening with everyone in their finery at dinner and in the entertainment venues like the theatre afterwards. 

Having now done a Cunard I can safely allay any fears about the dress code. 

There are detractors who want the line to change with the 'times' and go country casual whatever that maybe? but i think the niche selling point for Cunard is their dress code making that touch of elegance and class, something everyone CAN enjoy and partake in if they want to. What boils my pee is those that go on Cunard to flagrantly flout the rules despite knowing there IS a dress code and most people enjoy it. 

Anyway hope this has all been some help to you. 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2022 by 2BACRUISER
add photos

[2BACRUISER]

Just to add the first and last nights clothes I already had in my wardrobe. The long black gown some of you may recall I bought in the 2020 John Lewis sale very cheaply when cruising was closed down. Full price it was £230 and I got it for £63 and spent £30 on altering the length. The other 3 cocktail dresses plum, black and blue all came from the Vinted selling platform each cost under £10. 

I tried to make to make sure everything worked with either black or silver shoes and bags.  Hth 

[awhfy]

You looked elegant. Thank you for sharing 

[purduemom1]

Lovely choices. I have been curious about how one dresses on a Cunard cruise. Thanks for taking the time to share.  I doubt I could pack as many choices in a 21 inch roll aboard which is the only size bag I travel with. I would be the one with black as a base, different tops and accessories depending on the evening’s requirements. Would a Cunard cruise be for me? Don’t know.

[cruisemom42]

Thanks, I enjoyed reading (and seeing) your outfits. I haven't sailed Cunard yet but want to try them out one of these days.... My problem has been that I generally combine land travel that's pretty casual with cruises and I try to pack light. I haven't really brought any "gowns" on a cruise in years although I do dress by the requirements of whatever line I'm on.

[neeuqdrazil]

1 hour ago, purduemom1 said:

Lovely choices. I have been curious about how one dresses on a Cunard cruise. Thanks for taking the time to share.  I doubt I could pack as many choices in a 21 inch roll aboard which is the only size bag I travel with. I would be the one with black as a base, different tops and accessories depending on the evening’s requirements. Would a Cunard cruise be for me? Don’t know.

 

There are lots of folks who do exactly that! As 2BACruiser said, there are 5 Smart evenings, and 2 Gala evenings, on a 7 day crossing. (A similar split happens on other voyages as well, but the transatlantics are the ones I'm most familiar with.) 

 

A common suggestion for women in particular who are trying to travel light is to bring one or two formalish bottoms (palazzo pants or dressy skirt, for example), and then bring dressy tops to mix and match.   

 

I'm doing my next TA in October, and I'm debating whether to bring All The Pretty Dresses (tm), or to restrict myself to primarily one or two skirts and mix and match tops. 

[slidergirl]

Thank you for sharing.  I'm like @cruisemom42and @purduemom1 - I travel light and I don't think my "fashion style" would lend itself to a Cunard cruise.  I'm a very casual dresser.  The ladies here convinced me to buy and take a few dresses on my month-long European vacation.  While I did wear them and liked having them in the scorching heat, they would probably not qualify as Cunard-worthy.  I'd be out and about during the daytime and hanging out in my cabin at night, I'm afraid.  

Your choices were nice for a dressy line, though.  

[Anita Latte]

Thank you for sharing! I'm currently debating using a Cunard TA to help transport DS and all his accumulated belongings over the course of his undergraduate studies in London back to the US...a sort of fun graduation travel combined with the practicality of how to transport things like an 88-key electronic keyboard, computer monitor, guitar, and other sensitive electronic/musical equipment from the UK to the USA. I've always been curious about Cunard but haven't taken the time to really research the cruise line. 

[irvington]

Gorgeous dresses! I’ve always wondered about a Cunard TA. 

[shipgeeks]

Sigh......You have brought back my wish to do more Cunard cruises, especially a B2B crossing!  I just loved that element of Cunard, especially seeing all the men in tuxedos.  Dancing in the ballroom, then slipping through the door into the disco for more dancing.  So festive all over the ship.  Such a wonderful change from everyday life, no matter how good that is.

Thank you for posting!

[lissie]

On 8/25/2022 at 4:39 AM, cruisemom42 said:

Thanks, I enjoyed reading (and seeing) your outfits. I haven't sailed Cunard yet but want to try them out one of these days.... My problem has been that I generally combine land travel that's pretty casual with cruises and I try to pack light. I haven't really brought any "gowns" on a cruise in years although I do dress by the requirements of whatever line I'm on.

 

On 8/25/2022 at 5:39 AM, neeuqdrazil said:

 

A common suggestion for women in particular who are trying to travel light is to bring one or two formalish bottoms (palazzo pants or dressy skirt, for example), and then bring dressy tops to mix and match.   

 

I'm doing my next TA in October, and I'm debating whether to bring All The Pretty Dresses (tm), or to restrict myself to primarily one or two skirts and mix and match tops. 

 

@cruisemom42 we just did something like that 2 long cruises on Cunard with 6 weeks of land travel in between. Both cruises were in/out of Barcelona so we left a cruise gear in storage there. But I did find some multifunctional stuff. This was a  formal evening - the black pants - are merino wool  and were also my cold weather trousers in the Slovenian mountains and on the flight home.  The top was chiffon and literally weighted nothing (I couldn't get my scales to register it - it also rolled into a tiny ball )