Gala Night Question

[Marina222]

This will be my first Cunard Cruise.  Our cruise has three Gala nights.  My husband and I plan on dressing up.  My question is how much do I have to follow the theme suggestions?  Will I feel uncomfortable on Red/Gold night wearing a Navy evening gown for instance?  Roaring 20's wouldn't be my thing, If I wore a Green Gown  more from the 40's would it be frownded upon.  Thank you for the assistance.

[Covepointcruiser]

The themes for Gala night are only suggestions.   Some passengers will go all out to match the theme but normal formal wear is fine for most.

[david,Mississauga]

4 minutes ago, Marina222 said:

This will be my first Cunard Cruise.  Our cruise has three Gala nights.  My husband and I plan on dressing up.  My question is how much do I have to follow the theme suggestions?  Will I feel uncomfortable on Red/Gold night wearing a Navy evening gown for instance?  Roaring 20's wouldn't be my thing, If I wore a Green Gown  more from the 40's would it be frownded upon.  Thank you for the assistance.

 

My experience is that many people dress in a traditional formal manner on gala nights without regard to the theme.  Being traditionalists we love formal/gala nights at sea and we can't be bothered with themes. No-one will care if you do likewise.

[ballroom-cruisers]

Yes, some significant fraction of people do try to go with the theme, even though the majority simply dress in tux or suit and tie or bow-tie for men, and elegant evening dress for the ladies.  For Black and White night, quite a lot of ladies have a dress in line with those colours, and for Cunard Gala night the red and gold theme gives a lot of leeway to find something with at least some red and/or gold in it - and for the men, a gold or red tie or gold cufflinks works nicely.  For the Masquerade evenings perhaps 25 to 30 may come in with masks on, many quite elegant and stylish, but still the majority are in elegant evenings dresses without a mask, and for men either tux or evening suit, with a normal tie or bow-tie. Nobody reacts whichever route you choose - and pretty much everyone looks nice and dressed for the occasion. There are usually very few who aren't dressed up for a Gala evening in the dining room and the entertainment areas including the Queen's Room.

[BigMac1953]

Probably less than 10% of pax adhere to the themes which are mainly aimed at the ballroom dancers and audience.

 

The only one we join in on is the B & W. That's easy.

 

By all means dress to the theme. It's your holiday. Do as you please.

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

Yes, some significant fraction of people do try to go with the theme, even though the majority simply dress in tux or suit and tie or bow-tie for men, and elegant evening dress for the ladies.  For Black and White night, quite a lot of ladies have a dress in line with those colours, and for Cunard Gala night the red and gold theme gives a lot of leeway to find something with at least some red and/or gold in it - and for the men, a gold or red tie or gold cufflinks works nicely.  For the Masquerade evenings perhaps 25 to 30 may come in with masks on, many quite elegant and stylish, but still the majority are in elegant evenings dresses without a mask, and for men either tux or evening suit, with a normal tie or bow-tie. Nobody reacts whichever route you choose - and pretty much everyone looks nice and dressed for the occasion. There are usually very few who aren't dressed up for a Gala evening in the dining room and the entertainment areas including the Queen's Room.

 

I would say of all the themes, masquerade gets the least attention. Nobody wears a costume. People bring masks to wear for dancing in the Queen's Room--think Mardi Gras, not Halloween.

 

I do dress for the themes because I have dresses that fit the colors. I bought a flapper dress when this theme first started because I was excited to have a "Miss Fisher" (PBS-Australian mystery series) dress. I love wearing it. It just makes me smile and feel festive. I was surprised at how many women do dress for the 1920s. But not all, and as long as you dress up to the regular gala dress code, nobody will be bothered about it. The 1920's theme is easier for a man, wing collar shirt with the tux and they look very Gatsby. 

[Slugsta]

I was a bit concerned about the 1920's theme as I don't have the figure for a flapper dress. I'm glad to hear that I won't be out of place in an ordinary evening dress.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, Slugsta said:

I was a bit concerned about the 1920's theme as I don't have the figure for a flapper dress. I'm glad to hear that I won't be out of place in an ordinary evening dress.

You will most certainly, be in the majority. 🙂

 

[Jack E Dawson]

21 hours ago, Marina222 said:

This will be my first Cunard Cruise.  Our cruise has three Gala nights.  My husband and I plan on dressing up.  My question is how much do I have to follow the theme suggestions?  Will I feel uncomfortable on Red/Gold night wearing a Navy evening gown for instance?  Roaring 20's wouldn't be my thing, If I wore a Green Gown  more from the 40's would it be frownded upon.  Thank you for the assistance.

I checked with Dee on this one and she says that she was very glad she had brought the appropriate dresses for the color theme galas. Said she would have felt more disappointed rather than uncomfortable had she not. Dee also said that a "40's" era dress for the Roaring 20's would be fine as that seems to be the least followed gala theme. The Roaring 20's was also the theme that caused her the most pre-cruise stress but she did participate and said it turned out to be a lot of fun. We have also had gala themes change prior to sailing during COVID. The Masquerade Gala is the easiest. Dee used a hand held mask and I have always chosen not to mask. However, in the Queens Room there will be some very extravagant masks. Hope this helps.

Jack

 

 

[Victoria2]

23 hours ago, Marina222 said:

This will be my first Cunard Cruise.  Our cruise has three Gala nights.  My husband and I plan on dressing up.  My question is how much do I have to follow the theme suggestions?  Will I feel uncomfortable on Red/Gold night wearing a Navy evening gown for instance?  Roaring 20's wouldn't be my thing, If I wore a Green Gown  more from the 40's would it be frownded upon.  Thank you for the assistance.

You sound as if you want to 'dress up'  on a Gala night and so whatever colour of dress you wear, you'll be fine. There's no way you'll feel uncomfortable in a navy dress on any night and if you wish to wear a 40's style dress on the 20's night, up to you and go ahead.

The themes are more suggestions than 'de rigueur' and as Big Mac has said, only a small minority follow the suggested theme apart from, B&W and that's because it's easy rather than conforming to a theme as such.

Don't stress, just enjoy.