Princess ships ?

[beshears]

I know things have changed over these past few years. If you have cruised within the past year on one of Princess ships, do they still have formal nights? If not, would you tell me what ships on Princess that no longer do this?

[Jeter02]

Yes they still have formal nights.

[JimmyVWine]

I’m not aware that Princess has ever varied things like this on a ship by ship basis. Princess is a “product”, not a disassociated collection of ships, each with its own set of norms. Decisions made in HQ are rolled out fleet wide. And truth be told, things haven’t changed as much over the past few years as your post seems to suggest. The cruise experience in 2023 is more like 2019 than it is different. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[travelin.sisters]

unless it is a very short cruise there will be formal nights...our four-day cruise in December does not have a formal night, but all our longer ones have had at least one (3 on 15-day Hawai'i cruises)

Edited May 15, 2023 by travelin.sisters

[cr8tiv1]

On cruises less than 7 days, there are no formal nights. 

7 days = 2 "formal nights". 

14 days = 3 "formal nights".

 

The young ones seem to be all decked out with formal "gowns".  As for me...basic black is all I take.  

[caribill]

Although called formal nights, people can wear decent "smart casual" clothes.

 

Many men go with a tie, but no jacket. Some go without tie or jacket.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

We have a 2 week cruise from Southampton and have three formal nights

 

one of them is a white & gold. Wether I am able to pull that off remains to be seen but I will dress up. Perhaps with a gold/ gold & white shawl

 

The P&O cruise we went on had people dressed up in suits of all colours and materials (I did see a gentleman wearing a pink velvet suit). There were people in military, in full Scottish regalia, in tuxedos. Women in ball gowns, smart but more ‘out on the town’ dresses, trouser suits. I suspect any mainly British crowd going from Southampton will have most dressed up for formal nights

 

Some didn’t dress up but they were in the buffet, pool areas, or we saw many in the lifts not dressed up taking food from buffet & spending the night in their cabin

 

I don’t agree with a ‘black tie only’ formal night. I liked seeing people’s personalities put into the smart clothes being worn. And I’m fine if people don’t dress up too. It’s a holiday. I don’t stress about that stuff and respect their choice. I didn’t see any in MDR or speciality resturants or piazza not wearing smart clothing though 

[Jeter02]

6 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

unless it is a very short cruise there will be formal nights...our four-day cruise in December does not have a formal night, but all our longer ones have had at least one (3 on 15-day Hawai'i cruises)

On my most recent four day cruise just a short few weeks ago instead of calling it formal night they did have their dress to impress night. So depending on how you want to interpret that or how formal you feel like dressing. 

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

We have a 2 week cruise from Southampton and have three formal nights

 

one of them is a white & gold. Wether I am able to pull that off remains to be seen but I will dress up. Perhaps with a gold/ gold & white shawl

 

The P&O cruise we went on had people dressed up in suits of all colours and materials (I did see a gentleman wearing a pink velvet suit). There were people in military, in full Scottish regalia, in tuxedos. Women in ball gowns, smart but more ‘out on the town’ dresses, trouser suits. I suspect any mainly British crowd going from Southampton will have most dressed up for formal nights

 

Some didn’t dress up but they were in the buffet, pool areas, or we saw many in the lifts not dressed up taking food from buffet & spending the night in their cabin

 

I don’t agree with a ‘black tie only’ formal night. I liked seeing people’s personalities put into the smart clothes being worn. And I’m fine if people don’t dress up too. It’s a holiday. I don’t stress about that stuff and respect their choice. I didn’t see any in MDR or speciality resturants or piazza not wearing smart clothing though 

Out of interest how do you know there is a white and gold formal night? We are on the Sky in June and are not aware if one of the formal nights is white and gold?

[ScratchTheRat]

7 minutes ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Out of interest how do you know there is a white and gold formal night? We are on the Sky in June and are not aware if one of the formal nights is white and gold?

You will get sent an email 1-2 weeks before the cruise telling you of any special nights, what entertainment to expect etc

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, ScratchTheRat said:

You will get sent an email 1-2 weeks before the cruise telling you of any special nights, what entertainment to expect etc

Ah I see. Do you think it’s likely there would be a white and gold night on a 2 week cruise in June as well?

 

Quite a difficult colour to find, maybe a white shawl will do!

[ScratchTheRat]

1 minute ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Ah I see. Do you think it’s likely there would be a white and gold night on a 2 week cruise in June as well?

 

Quite a difficult colour to find, maybe a white shawl will do!

Yes, most likely!

 

It's purely optional though. 

[PacnGoNow]

9 hours ago, beshears said:

I know things have changed over these past few years. If you have cruised within the past year on one of Princess ships, do they still have formal nights? If not, would you tell me what ships on Princess that no longer do this?

Yes, there have been formal nights on all of ours since the restart, Caribbean, TA, Europe, South Pacific, Hawaii.

 

Seems you have been asking this question all across different cruise lines.  
 

Some dress up very formal and others dress up nicely.  Others may just

go to the buffet or SD if they don’t feel like dressing up.  I wouldn’t worry about it, just do what you want to do and enjoy YOUR vacation.  
 

This has been covered many, many times on CC.

[MissP22]

9 hours ago, beshears said:

I know things have changed over these past few years. If you have cruised within the past year on one of Princess ships, do they still have formal nights? If not, would you tell me what ships on Princess that no longer do this?

Yes, they do have formal nights but they're not like they used to be years ago. Many people have decided not to dress as formally as they once did years ago and it's totally acceptable with Princess.

Many of the guys don't even wear jackets any longer and tux's are far & few between.

The women can get by with just a pair of slacks & any decent top.

Don't let that stop you from dressing as formally as you please.

It's basically just another casual evening but with a better dinner menu.

[MTNest93]

1 hour ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Out of interest how do you know there is a white and gold formal night? We are on the Sky in June and are not aware if one of the formal nights is white and gold?

This was found in our app……

Edited May 15, 2023 by MTNest93
Clarified where info was found

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Ah I see. Do you think it’s likely there would be a white and gold night on a 2 week cruise in June as well?

 

Quite a difficult colour to find, maybe a white shawl will do!

We received the "White and Gold Party" email before our cruise earlier this month and honestly, despite the fact that the crowd on our cruise dressed up quite a bit with lots of tuxes, suits and gowns, I didn't really see any evidence of people making an effort to wear White and Gold.  Especially the men.

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

I didn't really see any evidence of people making an effort to wear White and Gold.  Especially the men.

You noticed. 😁

If I told my husband that he had to wear something White and Gold, he'd tell me to go by myself. 

[JimmyVWine]

18 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

You noticed. 😁

If I told my husband that he had to wear something White and Gold, he'd tell me to go by myself. 

 

While certainly sharp looking, it's not in my closet.

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, MTNest93 said:

This was found in our app……

Thanks, was this on journey view in the app?

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, JimmyVWine said:

We received the "White and Gold Party" email before our cruise earlier this month and honestly, despite the fact that the crowd on our cruise dressed up quite a bit with lots of tuxes, suits and gowns, I didn't really see any evidence of people making an effort to wear White and Gold.  Especially the men.

I think it’s an odd colour choice that people may not have in their wardrobe!

 

[MTNest93]

8 minutes ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Thanks, was this on journey view in the app?

that is correct

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, MTNest93 said:

that is correct

Our cruise isn’t showing events yet, which is weird because your cruise is a month later.

 

I will see if I have anything white and gold (I doubt it though)

[MTNest93]

22 minutes ago, Nicole&Pete said:

Our cruise isn’t showing events yet, which is weird because your cruise is a month later.

 

I will see if I have anything white and gold (I doubt it though)

We lucked out in that I plan to wear my former MOB (mother of the bride) gowns for formal nights and one happens to be ivory and champagne - close enough to gold for me!  Hubby will have a matching champagne tie with his tux.

[memoak]

I haven’t worn a tie on formal nights since before Covid days. I do wear a coat and button down shirt

[beshears]

Oh my, thank you ALL for your wonderful compliments, as this is what I wanted to read, but I will have gone with the flow, if there wasn't formal nights/dress up nights as well. Actually one of my 3 sons was visiting with me last night (I had seen the other two earlier in the day as it was Mother's Day) and we were talking about all 8 of us cruising, and I mentioned I had ASK about formal nights and that my 3 sons didn't have to do it. He said, "mom we love doing it, as it makes YOU happy!"

Someone mentioned that I had ask this same question all over the board, and yes I did, especially with the cruise lines I have done for my 15 or more cruises, as we are trying to decide which cruise line/ship we are doing next year.