Formal Attire

[JimmyVWine]

8 minutes ago, Paula_MacFan said:

I think you misunderstood my comment. I was referring to the champagne waterfall photo op for which people like to get their picture taken with cruise staff. Nobody said the passengers standing around watching were staged 😆

Yes, I did misunderstand you comment, which was "this is a photo op for which people dress up."  I thought that you were referring to everyone in the photo.  Frankly, when I found the photo and copied it here, I never even bothered to look at the people who were on the Plaza Deck getting their photo taken pouring the Champagne, or standing with the officers.  I certainly discount them as not being representative of the crowd in general.  But the people up on 7 who have no shot at pouring Champagne?  That, to me, is the story that is being told.   So I guess we are on the same page.

[Guardsy]

Only numerous pictures from the MDR will show what is being asked.  For other spots around the ship, people can be coming or going to anywhere, anytime.  Some to dinner in the MDR, some to the shops, some to a bar, some to a show and, gasp, some to dinner in the buffet as they don't care for formal nights.  To each their own, but only pictures from the MDR on formal night can depict what people in the MDR wear for formal night.

 

At home, we attend a number of events throughout the year that "suggest" formal wear, usually fundraisers and the like.  I happen to own two tuxedos and my wife has many more nice dresses of all types.  We are also some of those who pack them for cruises and ask to dine in the MDR with complete strangers as we enjoy the traditions of cruises.  Nope, we are not 80 years old, young 60's here.

[Steelers36]

Nothing like a formal wear thread to get 52 posts in about 9 hrs.  😁

[Steelers36]

6 hours ago, lion1956 said:

Well,  really the advice above is conflicting and I am no clearer on what to do, any more comments pls.

If you read X's dress code information and apply it to Princess, you will be fine and less confused.

(X = Celebrity).

 

[voljeep]

This isn't business , it's personal ... and EVERYONE who has posted has an agenda of what they want to see and what they want to have been seen....including me, sorry

 

well, it IS business to Princess - formal pictures business - why not?

Edited April 10, 2023 by voljeep

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Princessfan20 said:

 

Thanks for the photo but I want to see ones of the actual dinning rooms of formal nights.   Maybe a hundred at the Champagne Waterfall which is often a photo opportunity which some people dress up for.  

I think your request is not going to help much.  One guest could capture a couple of tables of dressed up passengers and another could take a photo two tables away of guests dressed smart casual.  It would be hard to take in the whole DR and discern who wearing what.  I think it best to just go with what majority consensus indicates and presume some folks are going to exaggerate percentages perhaps one direction or the other.

[Lady Arwen]

57 minutes ago, mom says said:

All this blather about European cruises. OP will be on Emerald in May. It's a West Coast cruise. The percentage of guests in true formal wear would be relatively low. He can get by easily in dress slacks and collared shirt. Other than Cunard, DH has ditched his tux for cruises and instead wears a blazer. But even then, he opted not to wear it on our last formal night on our RT Tahiti sailing. And he certainly didn't feel out of place in the MDR.

You are absolutely correct.  Any Princess cruises in or around or embarking in the US, please don’t worry about what you wear at anytime or any venue.  Your fellow passengers won’t even care because they will be dressed just like you.  Win win!

Edited April 10, 2023 by Lady Arwen

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, mom says said:

Other than Cunard, DH has ditched his tux for cruises and instead wears a blazer. But even then, he opted not to wear it on our last formal night on our RT Tahiti sailing. And he certainly didn't feel out of place in the MDR.

A blazer/jacket is sufficiently formal these days.

[Rick&Jeannie]

41 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Yes, I did misunderstand you comment, which was "this is a photo op for which people dress up."  I thought that you were referring to everyone in the photo.  Frankly, when I found the photo and copied it here, I never even bothered to look at the people who were on the Plaza Deck getting their photo taken pouring the Champagne, or standing with the officers.  I certainly discount them as not being representative of the crowd in general.  But the people up on 7 who have no shot at pouring Champagne?  That, to me, is the story that is being told.   So I guess we are on the same page.

LOL! You've been a LOT more patient than I ever would be in this thread... 😄

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Guardsy said:

I wish Princess and HAL would adopt the Cunard policy.  If you show up without a coat and tie on formal night, you are politely directed to the buffet.  Easy.

That ship has sailed.  I don't read the X forum, but I would think far, far less threads on dress there since the policy is quite clear.  PCL should just copy X's lingo and be done with it.

 

[Lady Arwen]

25 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

That ship has sailed.  I don't read the X forum, but I would think far, far less threads on dress there since the policy is quite clear.  PCL should just copy X's lingo and be done with it.

 

From your lips to Princess’s ears lol.  

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

OK.  So I found a blog where the poster was trying to capture "just how formal is formal night".  So the author appears to have staked out a spot outside of Explorer's Lounge as best as I can tell, taking candid photos of unsuspecting people as they walked by, probably to the theater.  It is reported that this was on an Princess cruise to Alaska.  These are not my photos, and the hiding of the faces is from the originals posted.  This blog is from 2019, just before the pause, but I cannot date the photos. They could be earlier.  So yes, all of that can be taken into account.  I cannot vouch for these photos as they aren't mine.  But since the author was trying to capture the "true atmosphere" of the evening, I suspect that the photos are not heavily weighted to prove one side or the other.    

 

Seem fair enough. 

 

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

If you read X's dress code information and apply it to Princess, you will be fine and less confused.

(X = Celebrity).

 

Except that shorts are unofficially OK on Princess for casual evenings. 

[Roberto256]

I don't care if people fight it out over wearing formal attire.

 

But, I was just thinking 'formal attire' would be a terriffic username here!

[Lady Arwen]

Just now, MissP22 said:

Seem fair enough. 

 

Except that shorts are unofficially OK on Princess for casual evenings. 

I just have to ask, respectfully.  What is this American obsession with shorts!  Do American men not own long pants?  Why are long pants not as comfortable as the shorter version?  You still have a waistband and pockets and a zipper!  Do American men not care if they look nice just occasionally?  Do American women not want to see their man looking nice and dressed well?  Is it because American women have become so used to the “backyard attire” that they forget how wonderful a well dressed man looks?  I am not trying to be judgemental, just trying to understand this phenomenon.  Thank you.

[Eleanor Rigby 14]

I am someone who really enjoys getting dressed up. But at the same time I totally understand and respect the fact that not everyone who paid hard-earned money for the cruise as I did will feel the same way about wearing more formal attire as I do.

 

If there are three MDR’s on a cruise ship, would it make everyone happy if one of those MDR’s had a strict formal dress code for everyone in a party to enter that dining area (tux, suit, sport coat/slacks, gowns, dresses, etc)…and the other two MDR’s were for anyone wearing less formal attire? Cruising should be an oasis of happiness for each of us to enjoy in our own way.

 

[Steelers36]

35 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

That ship has sailed.  I don't read the X forum, but I would think far, far less threads on dress there since the policy is quite clear.  PCL should just copy X's lingo and be done with it.

 

Alright, so I actually did drop by the X forum for a few minutes and skimmed through the first 10 pages.  On Princess forum, I would expect to encounter multiple dress code debates in that space since we seem to have one about once per week. 

 

I noticed about three threads on their formal/gala/chic nights (folks were asking questions using different terms).  Two questions were the typical that we see here: How many nights for my cruise and on which nights?  None of the responses got into debates about what to wear.  The third was inquiring about wear and coincidentally had been posted 9 hrs ago - the same amount of time this thread had been posted when I first noticed it.  However, on X forum, there were only 5 replies and not 5 pages of replies in 9 hours and there were no debates about the dress.  How much of this is due to what I read as a much clearly worded dress code for X versus Princess (or at least what is on paper appears to align more precisely with what happens on board), IDK.  But some remarks recently about X situation got me taking a closer look.

 

As an aside, I smiled when noticing some familiar themes we see here such as can I make a 9:30am flight upon return to port, can I use OBC in the casino.  I also noted that X also doesn't include table size in their dining res app. 

 

That's it, FWIW.

[JGmf]

5 hours ago, david63 said:

I really do feel sorry for first time cruisers who come on here looking for advice and start reading the dress code topics

 

Thanks for the sympathy @david63.  I'm a Princess newbie with about 15 NCL cruises of experience.  I've read every single dress code thread since we committed to our June Emerald Princess West coast/Mexico cruise.  I'm still seeking a revelatory posting from somebody, but am learning quickly that there's no definitive answer.

 

After a lot of reading, my conclusion is that I am NOT bringing a suit/tie for formal night, nor dress shoes.  Instead, I'm going with an unlined blazer, neutral, fitted slacks, collared dress shirt, no tie, and yes, plain, understated sneakers.  I'd wear the same to an upscale dinner party or fancy restaurant.  That's my benchmark.

 

(Now I can sleep at night 🙂)

 

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, Lady Arwen said:

I just have to ask, respectfully.  What is this American obsession with shorts!  Do American men not own long pants?  Why are long pants not as comfortable as the shorter version?  You still have a waistband and pockets and a zipper!  Do American men not care if they look nice just occasionally?  Do American women not want to see their man looking nice and dressed well?  Is it because American women have become so used to the “backyard attire” that they forget how wonderful a well dressed man looks?  I am not trying to be judgemental, just trying to understand this phenomenon.  Thank you.

You honestly have me with that question. My husband wears shorts about 11+ months out or the year here in Florida and I can only remember 2 times he wore them in the DR.

One time it was so cold he even regretted it. His attire now consists of 2 pairs of jeans (1 black for formal night 1 blue for casual) and various shorts. 

I personally couldn't care less what people wear since the quality of the food is thee most important thing that concerns me. If people like shorts for dinner, so be it. It works for breakfast and lunch, so why not dinner?

[Bobbiegentry]

RIP fashion police. 

[d9704011]

2 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

Thanks for the sympathy @david63.  I'm a Princess newbie with about 15 NCL cruises of experience.  I've read every single dress code thread since we committed to our June Emerald Princess West coast/Mexico cruise.  I'm still seeking a revelatory posting from somebody, but am learning quickly that there's no definitive answer.

 

After a lot of reading, my conclusion is that I am NOT bringing a suit/tie for formal night, nor dress shoes.  Instead, I'm going with an unlined blazer, neutral, fitted slacks, collared dress shirt, no tie, and yes, plain, understated sneakers.  I'd wear the same to an upscale dinner party or fancy restaurant.  That's my benchmark.

 

(Now I can sleep at night 🙂)

 

That'll work fine.  Don't forget to wash your hands after using the restroom.

Edited April 10, 2023 by d9704011

[MissP22]

7 minutes ago, Eleanor Rigby 14 said:

I am someone who really enjoys getting dressed up. But at the same time I totally understand and respect the fact that not everyone who paid hard-earned money for the cruise as I did will feel the same way about wearing more formal attire as I do.

 

If there are three MDR’s on a cruise ship, would it make everyone happy if one of those MDR’s had a strict formal dress code for everyone in a party to enter that dining area (tux, suit, sport coat/slacks, gowns, dresses, etc)…and the other two MDR’s were for anyone wearing less formal attire? Cruising should be an oasis of happiness for each of us to enjoy in our own way.

 

I agree with that thinking but I doubt if the Maître D' would think so. They have enough trouble seating people as it is without that segregation. 

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

This topic has been discussed ad nauseam on this board. My wife and I have sailed with Princess more than any other cruise line. To our dismay, Princess still has formal nights. My wife and I don’t do formal, but it doesn’t stop us from enjoying Princess. We chose to eat at a specialty restaurant on formal nights or we go to the MDR dressed as we do on the other evenings. I don’t believe you will feel out of place by not dressing formally. If you do, just stay out of the MDR on formal nights  

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Nothing like a formal wear thread to get 52 posts in about 9 hrs.  😁

These dress code threads take on a life of their own!  😄

[d9704011]

27 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

These dress code threads take on a life of their own!  😄

They're great for driving up the post count without having to think very hard.

[Potstech]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

OK.  So I found a blog where the poster was trying to capture "just how formal is formal night".  So the author appears to have staked out a spot outside of Explorer's Lounge as best as I can tell, taking candid photos of unsuspecting people as they walked by, probably to the theater.  It is reported that this was on an Princess cruise to Alaska.  These are not my photos, and the hiding of the faces is from the originals posted.  This blog is from 2019, just before the pause, but I cannot date the photos. They could be earlier.  So yes, all of that can be taken into account.  I cannot vouch for these photos as they aren't mine.  But since the author was trying to capture the "true atmosphere" of the evening, I suspect that the photos are not heavily weighted to prove one side or the other.    

 

Shows a few pictures of one cruise for a few moments in time of some people. Does not prove anything except they are poctures.