Possible first time on Silversea - how casual / formal should I expect?

[MarkWiltonM]

We are thinking about a cruise on Silver Ray but we like to let our hair down and be very casual when we cruise. (And we just can't take any pretentiousness.) We usually cruise on Oceania, which is quite casual throughout their ships including all the dining venues. We also loved Crystal in the past but haven't sailed on the rebooted line. Would we be comfortable on the Nova-class ships? Do we have to dress up at all? Is there a casual dining venue in the evening? 

[Port Power]

59 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

We are thinking about a cruise on Silver Ray but we like to let our hair down and be very casual when we cruise. (And we just can't take any pretentiousness.) We usually cruise on Oceania, which is quite casual throughout their ships including all the dining venues. We also loved Crystal in the past but haven't sailed on the rebooted line. Would we be comfortable on the Nova-class ships? Do we have to dress up at all? Is there a casual dining venue in the evening? 

You could read through the many, many, many threads about dress code on Silversea, and even on Nova in particular.

 

Your idea of casual could be different to mine or others.

 

Or eat at The Grill every night.

Edited August 5 by Port Power

[caviargal]

We were on Nova in March and most guests dressed for dinner.  There were exceptions, but that was mostly in the casual venues (grill). 

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, MarkWiltonM said:

We are thinking about a cruise on Silver Ray but we like to let our hair down and be very casual when we cruise. (And we just can't take any pretentiousness.) We usually cruise on Oceania, which is quite casual throughout their ships including all the dining venues. We also loved Crystal in the past but haven't sailed on the rebooted line. Would we be comfortable on the Nova-class ships? Do we have to dress up at all? Is there a casual dining venue in the evening? 

Hi, the venue that is casual all the time is The Grille.

 

[jollyjones]

Well, actually on the Silver Ray (and the Nova) the casual evening eatery is the Marquee which confusingly combines both The Grill ( Hot Rocks) for which you need a reservation, with Spaccanapoli, the pizza place, which is always casual and does not need a reservation. 
The seating may be intermingled although they do tend to keep starboard side for the Grill and port for Spaccanapoli. 
On the Nova, when I was challenged for turning up to eat without a reservation (only happened once, then the Maitre d’ got to know me), I just said I was coming to Spaccanapoli and they had to seat me. I was coming to Spaccanapoli for a pizza - not trying to sneak into the Grill by the ‘back door’ which, of course, no- one on these boards would dream of doing. 

[agape01]

10 hours ago, jollyjones said:

Well, actually on the Silver Ray (and the Nova) the casual evening eatery is the Marquee which confusingly combines both The Grill ( Hot Rocks) for which you need a reservation, with Spaccanapoli, the pizza place, which is always casual and does not need a reservation. 
The seating may be intermingled although they do tend to keep starboard side for the Grill and port for Spaccanapoli. 
On the Nova, when I was challenged for turning up to eat without a reservation (only happened once, then the Maitre d’ got to know me), I just said I was coming to Spaccanapoli and they had to seat me. I was coming to Spaccanapoli for a pizza - not trying to sneak into the Grill by the ‘back door’ which, of course, no- one on these boards would dream of doing. 

Curiously wondering

Could you sit on the Spaccanapoli side but order from the Grill menu of course no hot rocks but the kitchen cooks the steak?

I'm also wondering let's say if The Grill portion of The Marquee is not packed and you would like to dine at The Grill without a reservation, could the Maitre d' seat you?

Edited August 6 by agape01

[Sololux]

Many years ago we tried to do casual on SS.  We thought we had it organised by pre booking a table in La terrazzo for the formal night as it was made clear on the program that formal wear was only obligatory in the main dining room.  OH was wearing shirt with no jacket or tie.  However, everyone else was in full formal outfits. 

[gnome12]

6 hours ago, agape01 said:

Curiously wondering

Could you sit on the Spaccanapoli side but order from the Grill menu of course no hot rocks but the kitchen cooks the steak?

I'm also wondering let's say if The Grill portion of The Marquee is not packed and you would like to dine at The Grill without a reservation, could the Maitre d' seat you?

The layout is different on the Dawn, where Spaccanapoli is above the Grill, but on the Dawn yes, we could (and did) order from the Grill menu.

[jollyjones]

6 hours ago, agape01 said:

Curiously wondering

Could you sit on the Spaccanapoli side but order from the Grill menu of course no hot rocks but the kitchen cooks the steak?

I'm also wondering let's say if The Grill portion of The Marquee is not packed and you would like to dine at The Grill without a reservation, could the Maitre d' seat you?

 

Dunno, never tried it since Hot Rocks was pretty much fully booked every night and sneaking in by 'the back door' as it were, seemed unfair to me.

 

If it isn't fully booked, of course the Maitre d' will seat you - he may even try and squeeze you in even if they are heavily booked. You may need to while away a few moments waiting for a table to free but the Dusk Bar is just next door - IMO the best bar on the ship.

 

One thing I will suggest however, is that once on board, it is perfectly easy to cancel an existing reservation while it might be difficult to make one if a venue is full. Provided you cancel in plenty of time, say, by late afternoon so other pax can use the space, then I don't think it's unreasonable to make plenty of reservations on mysilversea before you board, even if you think you won't use them all.

 

Edited August 6 by jollyjones

[jollyjones]

17 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

The layout is different on the Dawn, where Spaccanapoli is above the Grill, but on the Dawn yes, we could (and did) order from the Grill menu.

 

On the Muse class, the Grill and Spaccanapoli are two completely separate restaurants but it has always been accepted that one can order from the Grill menu a salad to go with one's pizza, also the desserts if you haven't had enough carbs. 

But of course you can't have a hot rock carried up the stairs to Spaccanapoli, and I have never been aware of pax ordering main courses from the Grill in the evening to be eaten in Spaccanapoli although I suppose it has been done. 

 

[agape01]

16 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

 

Dunno, never tried it since Hot Rocks was pretty much fully booked every night and sneaking in by 'the back door' as it were, seemed unfair to me.

 

If it isn't fully booked, of course the Maitre d' will seat you - he may even try and squeeze you in even if they are heavily booked. You may need to while away a few moments waiting for a table to free but the Dusk Bar is just next door - IMO the best bar on the ship.

 

One thing I will suggest however, is that once on board, it is perfectly easy to cancel an existing reservation while it might be difficult to make one if a venue is full. Provided you cancel in plenty of time, say, by late afternoon so other pax can use the space, then I don't think it's unreasonable to make plenty of reservations on mysilversea before you board, even if you think you won't use them all.

 

 

Thanks.

Will definitely try combinations when I am onboard the Nova next month.

[bubbulz]

Reading these comments makes me feel fortunate that I only book Silversea expedition cruises. 😉 

[jollyjones]

7 minutes ago, bubbulz said:

Reading these comments makes me feel fortunate that I only book Silversea expedition cruises. 😉 

 

Why?

 

[bubbulz]

43 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

 

Why?

 

Much more casual (which is my personal preference) and definitely nothing formal. 

Edited August 6 by bubbulz

[gnome12]

9 hours ago, jollyjones said:

 

On the Muse class, the Grill and Spaccanapoli are two completely separate restaurants but it has always been accepted that one can order from the Grill menu a salad to go with one's pizza, also the desserts if you haven't had enough carbs. 

But of course you can't have a hot rock carried up the stairs to Spaccanapoli, and I have never been aware of pax ordering main courses from the Grill in the evening to be eaten in Spaccanapoli although I suppose it has been done. 

 

We didn't get hot rocks (but I opted to have my meat cooked for me even when I was at the Grill) but the entire Grill menu was available in Spaccanapoli on the Dawn.

Edited August 6 by gnome12

[pavementends]

Personally I am not into formal. The idea of actually wearing a tuxedo seems bonkers to me. And when working (at a university) cargo pants and running shoes were perfectly acceptable wear, with a sports coat (ideally well-worn tweed) for the odd meeting.

 

So having actually read about Silversea before the cruise, I decided to dust off a pair of black shoes, buy some new black travel-oriented no-iron slacks, and to pack the less disreputable of my sports coats. And, for yuks, one of my small selection of ties.

 

So I wore the sports coat for dinner, and even put on a tie for the formal night. Got a few nice pictures with the wife. That was...just fine.

 

After all, on land, one would typically wear a jacket to a better restaurant, and maybe even better shoes. And the jacket is useful anyway for the after-dinner walk on deck.

 

People make too much of this. Some decrying the decline of standards since the Golden Age, and some surprised that wearing anything better than torn jeans and a T shirt to a better restaurant is expected.

[jjs217]

On 8/5/2024 at 8:19 AM, MarkWiltonM said:

We are thinking about a cruise on Silver Ray but we like to let our hair down and be very casual when we cruise. (And we just can't take any pretentiousness.) We usually cruise on Oceania, which is quite casual throughout their ships including all the dining venues. We also loved Crystal in the past but haven't sailed on the rebooted line. Would we be comfortable on the Nova-class ships? Do we have to dress up at all? Is there a casual dining venue in the evening? 

Easy-peasy.  Read and follow the dress code guidelines and you will be fine.

[MBP&O2/O]

Therein lies a problem🙂

Many people will not read the guidelines, nor will they look at pages 2,3,et al where even more dresscode questions have been asked.🙄

My thoughts are why not have a Dress Code Sticky ... but even then 😏😵‍💫

[jmalux]

With formal nights now being optional, you only need to comply with the elegant casual dress code, which should be very easy.

 

[MBP&O2/O]

I am surprised no one has queried the number of formal nights on an 8 to 14 night jaunt😏

 

Between 1 and 2 ??  😁

 

Apart from the lack of proof reading it isn't rocket science🙄

[Mahogany]

On 8/6/2024 at 9:20 AM, bubbulz said:

Much more casual (which is my personal preference) and definitely nothing formal. 

On the non-expedition ships, “definitely nothing formal” is acceptable. Where did you get the idea of “formal “? As other posters state, people don’t read the guidelines.

[bubbulz]

21 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

On the non-expedition ships, “definitely nothing formal” is acceptable. Where did you get the idea of “formal “? As other posters state, people don’t read the guidelines.

What in my post gave you the idea that I was implying that I expected formal attire on an expedition cruise? I knew very clearly what to expect and that is one reason (of many) I book expedition trips. Implying I don’t read is actually kind of rude. 

[bubbulz]

Never mind. Not worth pursuing. Have a nice evening. 🙂

Edited August 10 by bubbulz

[Mahogany]

On 8/9/2024 at 11:30 AM, bubbulz said:

What in my post gave you the idea that I was implying that I expected formal attire on an expedition cruise? I knew very clearly what to expect and that is one reason (of many) I book expedition trips. Implying I don’t read is actually kind of rude. 

I said non-expedition (or classic). Of course you wouldn't expect formal attire on an expedition cruise. But there is no formal attire required on non-expedition ships.as well.

[bubbulz]

52 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

I said non-expedition (or classic). Of course you wouldn't expect formal attire on an expedition cruise. But there is no formal attire required on non-expedition ships.as well.

Perhaps you should read the whole thread for context. I was clearly answering jollyjones’ question since I even quoted the question in my response. And you clearly missed the humor in my original post in this thread. But whatevah …