Formal Night Attire

[DAS_UK]

My wife and I are new to Princess. We are due to sail on a Sky Princess Caribbean cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. So far, all the information we have read about formal nights suggest guests have a mixture of clothing from Tuxedo (black-tie) or normal dark suit, with or without tie for gentlemen and long evening gown, cocktail dress or blouse/smart trousers for ladies.

Could someone with recent experience of Sky Princess formal nights, especially those sailing out of the US, please advise the attire worn by the majority of guests. We have no wish to drag a tuxedo or long evening gowns to the US if these are not normally worn on formal nights.

[mtnesterz]

Welcome to Princess and Cruise Critic. No doubt this will become another lengthy formal night thread, but to your unique question, I haven't seen a single tux on our three Princess sailings since restart, and I own one and used to wear it on cruises.

Since Covid, it just isn't there to really get dressed up for dinner on Princess as it was in the past. Also, this Dine My Way you've likely read about takes away the special quality of dining. Not sure why. Feels more like being seated at a local family type restaurant.

I always wear a sportcoat on the plane flight and roll up a tie in the pocket. It gives you the option and you really don't need to take up more luggage space. You will see about half dressed even more casual. A few suits. You will read posts here that advise to be comfortable, so do that.

[skynight]

The frequent formal dress question with hundreds of opinions.

I'll try to answer as accurately as possible as to what people are doing. First understand that however formal is defined, it is only for the MDRs during the time you are actually there. The remainder of the ship has no dress recommendation other than what is acceptable any other day or evening. Some people change after dinner.

Some will dress as you have described. A small percentage will be in actual formal dress. You will see men in suites, sport jackets with or without ties, slacks with an island or golf shirt and other wear. If you are wearing shorts you may be turned away. Women are normally always in suitable dress. Women may also be turned away if they are in shorts.  

[dreaminofcruisin]

On the Sky last summer out of Southampton, DH wore a button shirt with a tie. No jacket. I actually think Great Britain is MORE "formal" than sailings out of the U.S. There was a wide variety of apparel. DH was NOT alone in being without a jacket.

 

On the Enchanted in October - a B2B in the Med. DH ditched the tie also and just wore a nice button shirt and nice pants. I dressed "nice" in pants and a top. Neither of us felt uncomfortable. Interesting on each of those 2 cruises, there was only ONE formal night each week. Also, the normal "formal night" menu of lobster and steak was on a smart casual night, so watch the menus if that's important to you. Things keep changing.

 

Wear what you are comfortable with on a formal night and you will be fine as long as you look 'nice'.

🙂

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by dreaminofcruisin

[PrincessLuver]

Almost any men's long pant and short or long sleeve collared shirt will work on "Formal Nights or Dress to Impress Nights" on Princess.  Especially on Caribbean cruises which will be warm, tropical and very relaxed.  

 

Even though you are going to hear a wide variety of opinions about dress on formal nights, which seems to come up once a week on CC, the reality is nobody really cares what you wear and rarely if ever does Princess.  It is a suggested dress code not a required dress code.  

 

Wear what you think works for you and get ready to read!!

[Torfamm]

You will see a much smaller percentage of people in formal wear on cruises out of the US than in Europe. Very few American men own a tuxedo and rentals have not been available for quite a few years. Packing formal wear is definitely not necessary.
 

Choose whatever makes you feel comfortable. As long as you meet the basic requirements for smart casual nights you can still be sure of being able to eat in the main dining room. 

 

 

[chrysalis]

Just now, mtnesterz said:

Welcome to Princess and Cruise Critic. No doubt this will become another lengthy formal night thread, but to your unique question, I haven't seen a single tux on our three Princess sailings since restart, and I own one and used to wear it on cruises.

Since Covid, it just isn't there to really get dressed up for dinner on Princess as it was in the past. Also, this Dine My Way you've likely read about takes away the special quality of dining. Not sure why. Feels more like being seated at a local family type restaurant.

I always wear a sportcoat on the plane flight and roll up a tie in the pocket. It gives you the option and you really don't need to take up more luggage space. You will see about half dressed even more casual. A few suits. You will read posts here that advise to be comfortable, so do that.

We are on the sapphire at the moment....a few men in tux....and one guy decked out in tails!

[c-boy]

51 minutes ago, chrysalis said:

We are on the sapphire at the moment....a few men in tux....and one guy decked out in tails!

the Aussies have a great sense of humor and adventure. 

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, c-boy said:

the Aussies have a great sense of humor and adventure. 

Love it!  Such a great attitude towards life.  

[DCThunder]

When I've sailed out of Southampton, I observed that many British men did wear tuxes (or Scots in full kilt and the rest of the kit) mainly because they didn't have to fly to the port.  If you're crusing from Florida and will need to fly to the US, I'd heed the advice upthread and forego the tux/ball gowns unless you really want to show off.

[IndyKid]

As long as you don't look like Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show  you'll be just fine....

[rbtan]

11 hours ago, Das_UK said:

My wife and I are new to Princess. We are due to sail on a Sky Princess Caribbean cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. So far, all the information we have read about formal nights suggest guests have a mixture of clothing from Tuxedo (black-tie) or normal dark suit, with or without tie for gentlemen and long evening gown, cocktail dress or blouse/smart trousers for ladies.

Could someone with recent experience of Sky Princess formal nights, especially those sailing out of the US, please advise the attire worn by the majority of guests. We have no wish to drag a tuxedo or long evening gowns to the US if these are not normally worn on formal nights.

Go to Youtube & watch guests videos on Princess cruises. Basically a nice shirt & nice slacks(tie not really necessary) I would recommend a sport coat, again not really required. Just leave the shorts for breakfast & lunch. Same goes with crappy jeans. Just dress like you would for a nice, but not over the top restaurant. But really watch pax videos & use that as your guide.

[adamtoonarmy]

1 hour ago, IndyKid said:

As long as you don't look like Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show  you'll be just fine....

Damn it. Time to change my plans

[memoak]

Heck I don’t even own a tie since I retired. On a short cruise I don’t really dress much differently from non formal. Decent pants and a button down shirt. Longer cruise usually bring nice slacks and sports coat

[Potstech]

Not all jeans are crappy. I wear them to the MDR on most cruises when I feel like it.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Potstech

[Lady Arwen]

13 minutes ago, memoak said:

Heck I don’t even own a tie since I retired. On a short cruise I don’t really dress much differently from non formal. Decent pants and a button down shirt. Longer cruise usually bring nice slacks and sports coat

Perfect, sir!  Exactly what a lot of men should be wearing.

[memoak]

15 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Perfect, sir!  Exactly what a lot of men should be wearing.

Things have really changed since I started cruising in 1992. Back then they had semi formal as well as formal

[IndyKid]

8 minutes ago, memoak said:

.....anything but weddings and funerals 

Those are about the only times you'll see me in a suit and tie.

[memoak]

42 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Perfect, sir!  Exactly what a lot of men should be wearing.

Loving your attitude luv

[Over from NZ]

Have recently done 3 weeks onboard in the Mediterranean. 

 

I wore shorts and a Polo shirt to the MDR on formal night.. just to see what all the fuss was about. My food didn't taste any different. The first 5 nights I had worn my suit.. but seeing others in the MDR on formal night in shorts and t-shirts seemingly enjoying their meals.. I wanted to find out for myself. The food tasted fine. 

[Torfamm]

41 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Have recently done 3 weeks onboard in the Mediterranean. 

 

I wore shorts and a Polo shirt to the MDR on formal night.. just to see what all the fuss was about. My food didn't taste any different. The first 5 nights I had worn my suit.. but seeing others in the MDR on formal night in shorts and t-shirts seemingly enjoying their meals.. I wanted to find out for myself. The food tasted fine. 

What you wear definitely won’t affect the taste of the food, but there are dining room managers who enforce the “no shorts” policy. If it’s important to a passenger that they get to eat in the MDR, they should be sure to have pants with them.

[memoak]

22 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

What you wear definitely won’t affect the taste of the food, but there are dining room managers who enforce the “no shorts” policy. If it’s important to a passenger that they get to eat in the MDR, they should be sure to have pants with them.

Yeah ypu wants to see the multitude of stitches from surgeries on my legs or my underarm hair

[DAS_UK]

Many thanks for all the replies to my original post, they have been very helpful. 

[Lucky TGO]

12 hours ago, c-boy said:

the Aussies have a great sense of humor and adventure. 

I love it 👍

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

[Lady Arwen]

13 hours ago, memoak said:

Things have really changed since I started cruising in 1992. Back then they had semi formal as well as formal

Exactly!  We started to cruise in 1991 with Celebrity and we had to pack resort casual, semi formal and formal and the dress codes were strictly adhered to back then.  Times have changed and certainly no need for tuxedos or suits or cocktail dresses or ball gowns anymore.