Are cruises to Northern Europe (Fjords) more casual?

[Iamthesea]

Taking the Nieuw Statendam to Norway next May.   For this cruise (14 nights), it appears that we will be bundling up during the day for cold weather.  This also means bulkier clothing in the luggage.  So I have a couple of questions:

 

Although we always dress very nicely for dinners on cruises, we have stopped wearing "Gala" types of clothing on those nights.  Is this acceptable on HAL?

 

In many of the ports the ship leaves (along with a scenic fjord tour) around the early dinner hour.  I am wondering if passengers head to dinner in the MDR with the attire they have on from the day, or if they make time to change somehow. 🤷‍♀️  Several years ago we cruised to Alaska and we were surprised that passengers arrived in the dining room in their casual clothing from the day.   

[crystalspin]

Speaking for HAL and not for Scandinavian cruises in particular: The "dressy" (new name for Gala) nights require only the same standards as other dinner in MDR: a collared shirt and long pants for men and basically anything your partner would want to wear (long as no ragged jeans or short-shorts or swimwear!). My husband does take a guayabera which he changes to, but only with dark colored cargos that he wore all day. On non-dressy nights he will generally wear what he had on for the day: note: he does not wear t-shirts, always a long sleeved button/collared shirt. With a granpa-cardigan in lieu of a jacket.

[rodndonna]

24 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

In many of the ports the ship leaves (along with a scenic fjord tour) around the early dinner hour.  I am wondering if passengers head to dinner in the MDR with the attire they have on from the day, or if they make time to change somehow. 🤷‍♀️  Several years ago we cruised to Alaska and we were surprised that passengers arrived in the dining room in their casual clothing from the day.   

 

We did a HAL Alaskan cruise in June and then Norway in September. As in your case, we found the Alaskan cruise to be 'really' informal and was thinking Norway might be the same. We coincidentally had virtually identical weather for both cruises and had packed identically for both.

 

In our case, the Norway cruise was not nearly as informal as Alaska, and  thinking it might be a result of many more Europeans on that cruise.

 

[Mary229]

In general I find European cruises a bit more dressy for evening wear.   Northern Europe is fairly causal daytime wear also but not quite Alaska-casual.  

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

In many of the ports the ship leaves (along with a scenic fjord tour) around the early dinner hour.  I am wondering if passengers head to dinner in the MDR with the attire they have on from the day, or if they make time to change somehow.

Most Europeans find the early dinner hour to be 'strange'.   8pm would be 'early' for a European (generally), so plenty of time to divest of the days clothes before changing for dinner.

Generalising of course!

[aliaschief]

Our Norway cruise in July had mostly folks from Europe who appeared a little more dressy. I got by with just the minimum more country club casual as we had a 3 week land tour in Scotland prior. Did not feel out of place.

[Iamthesea]

6 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Our Norway cruise in July had mostly folks from Europe who appeared a little more dressy. I got by with just the minimum more country club casual as we had a 3 week land tour in Scotland prior. Did not feel out of place.

 

Thanks!  Very helpful.   Based on what I have seen people wearing at our Country Club recently (jeans, shirts untucked, men in sandals), I would say that we dress a little better than CC casual.😁  

 

1 hour ago, rodndonna said:

 

We did a HAL Alaskan cruise in June and then Norway in September. As in your case, we found the Alaskan cruise to be 'really' informal and was thinking Norway might be the same. We coincidentally had virtually identical weather for both cruises and had packed identically for both.

 

In our case, the Norway cruise was not nearly as informal as Alaska, and  thinking it might be a result of many more Europeans on that cruise.

 

 

Very keen observation.  

 

55 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

In general I find European cruises a bit more dressy for evening wear.   Northern Europe is fairly causal daytime wear also but not quite Alaska-casual.  

 

We have noticed that on some European cruises, especially those leaving out of Southport.  

 

7 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Most Europeans find the early dinner hour to be 'strange'.   8pm would be 'early' for a European (generally), so plenty of time to divest of the days clothes before changing for dinner.

Generalising of course!

 

We actually have Late seating because the Early was fully booked.  Normally, we eat later on cruises, but since we have aged a lot in the last 3 years, 😫 we think we might prefer to eat earlier. Planning on going to Specialty Restaurants several times, and not opposed to eating in the Lido.  Thinking 7:00ish.  Unless we eat in the Lido after coming onboard, we will be showering and changing for dinner.  

 

"note: he does not wear t-shirts, always a long sleeved button/collared shirt. With a granpa-cardigan in lieu of a jacket."

 

That's my husband to a T! 😁

[RuthC]

I've cruised to Norway more times than I can count. In my experience, people on that route tend to dress for dinner.