Formal Night Attire

[Dreamscaper]

We had some tuxes and gowns on our sailing from Ft Lauderdale to Galveston, BUT, I suspect many of those people were from the UK where they tend to dress up more, as we were the last leg of a repositioning cruise that started off up that way.

 

I also saw plenty of people in jeans and shorts walking through the Piazza.

 

Definitely no need to get formal (though I admit it was super fun to see some of those people dressed to the 10s (nines doesn't describe the gentleman in a white tux with red accents!)).

 

Hubby wore dress pants, a shirt, and a tie, I wore a dress that was a step or two above casual but not super dressy and definitely not formal.  Based on what we saw he could have ditched the tie and felt perfectly comfortable.

 

 

[Steelers36]

On 11/9/2023 at 12:48 PM, chrysalis said:

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

Must be the same guy was in our dining section back in Fall 2019.  LOL.  Did he have a top hat and a straight cane or walking stick?

[DCThunder]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

Must be the same guy was in our dining section back in Fall 2019.  LOL.  Did he have a top hat and a straight cane or walking stick?

Maybe he was "putting on the Ritz"  

 

[chrysalis]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

Must be the same guy was in our dining section back in Fall 2019.  LOL.  Did he have a top hat and a straight cane or walking stick?

Not sure....saw him strutting his stuff on the Piazza dance floor 

[IndyKid]

When we went on our very first cruise on RCL Radiance Of The Seas to Alaska I was part of an extended family group (wife, son, sister-in-law and her husband and their 2 sons, and my Mother-in-Law). My sister-in-law, who was an experienced cruiser, informed us about the 2 formal nights in the MDR and that we'd have to dress up. I protested profusely, as I feel that it is a vacation, not a business trip. But I didn't want to be the proverbial t**d in the punchbowl so I went ahead and packed my suit & tie. On the first formal night while we were in the MDR there was a guy dressed like a beach bum. It was only then that I realized that "formal attire" was merely a suggestion and not a hard rule. Needless to say that was the LAST time I wore my dress clothing, and I've never taken anything above "smart casual" on a cruise.

 

Bottom line - if the people running the show on these cruises don't have the backbone or other anatomical items to tell someone to go put on decent clothing then don't even call it "formal" night.

[memoak]

1 minute ago, IndyKid said:

When we went on our very first cruise on RCL Radiance Of The Seas to Alaska I was part of an extended family group (wife, son, sister-in-law and her husband and their 2 sons, and my Mother-in-Law). My sister-in-law, who was an experienced cruiser, informed us about the 2 formal nights in the MDR and that we'd have to dress up. I protested profusely, as I feel that it is a vacation, not a business trip. But I didn't want to be the proverbial t**d in the punchbowl so I went ahead and packed my suit & tie. On the first formal night while we were in the MDR there was a guy dressed like a beach bum. It was only then that I realized that "formal attire" was merely a suggestion and not a hard rule. Needless to say that was the LAST time I wore my dress clothing, and I've never taken anything above "smart casual" on a cruise.

 

Bottom line - if the people running the show on these cruises don't have the backbone or other anatomical items to tell someone to go put on decent clothing then don't even call it "formal" night.

I have often seen people on formal nights turned away for wife beaters, shorts and flip flops 🩴 

 

[Steelers36]

20 minutes ago, memoak said:

I have often seen people on formal nights turned away for wife beaters, shorts and flip flops 🩴 

 

That makes perfect sense.  Should no question there in 99% of minds.

[mkcurran]

So, what I'm hearing is collared shirts and dark jeans would be good on a man for formal night. Correct? 

[memoak]

13 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

So, what I'm hearing is collared shirts and dark jeans would be good on a man for formal night. Correct? 

It should get you into the MDR unless the jeans are shredded with holes

[mkcurran]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

It should get you into the MDR unless the jeans are shredded with holes

Awesome. No holey jeans allowed on vacation here. Thank you. We rarely wear long pants, so this is good to know.

[memoak]

1 minute ago, mkcurran said:

Awesome. No holey jeans allowed on vacation here. Thank you. We rarely wear long pants, so this is good to know.

You obviously do not live in the PNW

[PrincessLuver]

58 minutes ago, memoak said:

I have often seen people on formal nights turned away for wife beaters, shorts and flip flops 🩴 

 

 

This has to be CC myth because I have never witnessed anything that even comes close to this.  Any pictures of these events ?

[Torfamm]

8 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

This has to be CC myth because I have never witnessed anything that even comes close to this.  Any pictures of these events ?

People being turned away or wearing shorts and flip flops to the MDR? I’ve seen both many times.

There is an older man on our current sailing who I’ve seen at dinner a few times who looks like he’s dressed to either clean his garage or go to the beach. It’s always up to the dining room manager to enforce or not enforce the policy of no shorts in the evening.

[rbtan]

3 hours ago, memoak said:

I have often seen people on formal nights turned away for wife beaters, shorts and flip flops 🩴 

 

You'd be surprised to see who feels it's totally appropriate to dress like that.You'll see their posts on every "formal" posting blog.

[rbtan]

3 hours ago, mkcurran said:

So, what I'm hearing is collared shirts and dark jeans would be good on a man for formal night. Correct? 

Jeans really need to be nice ones(not with holes etc.)

[rbtan]

2 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

 

This has to be CC myth because I have never witnessed anything that even comes close to this.  Any pictures of these events ?

I've seen it rarely at night (in the MDR) they have been sent back to dress at least in cruise casual. Mornings & lunch I've seen it pretty often.

[ldubs]

4 hours ago, mkcurran said:

So, what I'm hearing is collared shirts and dark jeans would be good on a man for formal night. Correct? 

 

That would be 100% correct.  

 

5 hours ago, memoak said:

I have often seen people on formal nights turned away for wife beaters, shorts and flip flops 🩴 

 

 

There comes a time when old dudes should realize wife beaters, and most other sleeveless shirts, are best left at home --  regardless of the dress code.  😀

[Over from NZ]

On 11/10/2023 at 3:21 PM, 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.

No, you missed the point. They're not enforcing it.. it's not necessary. It didn't affect my dining one iota whether I wore shorts or a suit. 

[mkcurran]

5 hours ago, memoak said:

You obviously do not live in the PNW

Nope, I got out of there. Now I see all the PNW people all winter long.

[Torfamm]

51 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

No, you missed the point. They're not enforcing it.. it's not necessary. It didn't affect my dining one iota whether I wore shorts or a suit. 

They weren’t enforcing it on your cruise, but I’ve seen people turned away several times in the last year. There are dining room managers who stick to the no shorts policy. If people want to eat in the MDR, they need to be aware that shorts may not be allowed.

[mkcurran]

11 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

They weren’t enforcing it on your cruise, but I’ve seen people turned away several times in the last year. There are dining room managers who stick to the no shorts policy. If people want to eat in the MDR, they need to be aware that shorts may not be allowed.

Every night or just formal nights?

[Torfamm]

15 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

Every night or just formal nights?

Both. I remember last November there was a man who came back to a roll call after our cruise on the Sky who was really upset that he’d been turned away for wearing shorts. He’d gotten the impression that the policy is never followed and was really frustrated. I felt badly for him.

 

It’s not fair for any of us to promise that shorts will be allowed in the MDR unless we are going to be the one at the door making the decision.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Torfamm

[Over from NZ]

5 hours ago, Torfamm said:

They weren’t enforcing it on your cruise, but I’ve seen people turned away several times in the last year. There are dining room managers who stick to the no shorts policy. If people want to eat in the MDR, they need to be aware that shorts may not be allowed.

You can bang on about what you wish were still the case; the short answer is.. cruise after cruise.. people are reporting that it's no longer an issue. The worse case that could happen.. if this mythical dining room manager decides to do the opposite to what everybody is reporting.. then you would have to go back to your room and chuck a paid of jeans on. 

[Torfamm]

8 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

You can bang on about what you wish were still the case; the short answer is.. cruise after cruise.. people are reporting that it's no longer an issue. The worse case that could happen.. if this mythical dining room manager decides to do the opposite to what everybody is reporting.. then you would have to go back to your room and chuck a paid of jeans on. 

That’s exactly what I said. If eating in the MDR is important to someone they should make sure to pack long pants. Just because you haven’t experienced it doesn’t make it mythical. Many people have reported seeing the policy enforced even though it’s often ignored. It can happen and people should simply be aware of that.

[Princessfan20]

4 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

You can bang on about what you wish were still the case; the short answer is.. cruise after cruise.. people are reporting that it's no longer an issue. The worse case that could happen.. if this mythical dining room manager decides to do the opposite to what everybody is reporting.. then you would have to go back to your room and chuck a paid of jeans on. 

 

Agree.  Some people are just trying to scare others into dressing a certain way and we really do not care what people wear on the cruise or MDR because the reality is most people dress within the norms and, as noted by many,  Princess RARELY intervenes.

 

We always cruise in Reserve Class now and we have never seen anyone confronted for the clothes they are wearing and we have seen the shorts, flip flops, t-shirts, baseball caps etc. (even on formal nights) and those passengers are always greeted graciously by staff.  Not sure if Reserve Class follows same dress code suggestion as the rest of the MDR's.