Formal nights on Sun Princess

[Princessfan20]

On the 23 day Princess Sun cruise we were just on formal nights seemed to be for the sole purpose of getting a photograph in formal attire.  There was nothing else that seemed to make it seem special and or more noticeable then many other nights.

 

I am still baffled how some passenger always say they see people turned away from the dining room in shorts.  We usually are seated so fast and have never been able to monitor what is really going on as people are seated at the entrance of dining rooms.  I am not sure I believe it from what we have seen in the dining rooms on the majority of our cruises on Princess now in regards to dress.

[voljeep]

my cruise attire - SUN P - 10/14 - 10/19

 

my dress shirts at night are long sleeve, button down, plaids, etc, from either ll bean, columbia, or cutter and buck.

 

boarding day - Catch - khaki shorts, shirt

mdr - formal - black linen pants, shirt, black on black tennis shoes (brooks)

Amber Cove day - UBD - shorts, shirt

Grand Turk - Umai - black shorts, shirt

Sea Day - mdr - black shorts, shirt - we met a couple at the next table who live in our former hometown in Tennessee - we knew a LOT of the same people, places, etc - amazing

[J2A]

can i wear Hawaii short shirt with black pant on formal night and sun princess' specialties restaurant? or is business casual working as well? 

[Iamcruzin]

6 hours ago, 555 said:

Princess continues to flaunt the formal night to those cruisers who enjoy dressing up in hopes of selling "a more traditional" cruise. It really doesn't keep them from dressing as formally as they wish to & let others dress down for a more relaxing vacation. 

Every one gets to choose what style they prefer.

They really aren't offering anything. I started cruising on Princess when a 7 night cruise consisted of 2 semi formal nights and 2 formal nights. That meant a tux and a suit and  gowns and cocktail dresses. Everyone participated because there wasn't a choice. The formal experience is nonexistent from the dress code to the long wait to be seated in the MDR. There isn't anything traditional about it.  If you cruise often you know the deal but if you are new to cruising or Princess and you read formal night you think you will see formal.  At this point you can dress up on any day of the cruise and not be out of place.  

[Retired-N-Happy]

13 hours ago, Torfamm said:

There’s no doubt that shorts are allowed often. That’s why it catches people by surprise when the policy is enforced. There was a very strict manager on the Sky in the Mexican Riviera and several people were really upset to find they couldn’t wear shorts and eat in the MDR. I felt badly for them.

I would be one of those upset.  On the website it is a recommendation and not a mandatory policy.  I have no respect for overzealous managers who consider the MDR their own little fiefdom.

[555]

2 hours ago, J2A said:

can i wear Hawaii short shirt with black pant on formal night and sun princess' specialties restaurant? or is business casual working as well? 

Of course it's acceptable. 

In past years many people use to book specialty restaurants on formal night just to escape getting dressed up.  

[Torfamm]

11 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

I would be one of those upset.  On the website it is a recommendation and not a mandatory policy.  I have no respect for overzealous managers who consider the MDR their own little fiefdom.

I don’t read “Pool or beach attire, shorts, ball caps or jeans with fraying and/or holes are not welcomed in the dining room. Shoes must be worn.”  as a recommendation but I personally don’t care if the shorts part of the policy isn’t enforced. 
 

Edited Monday at 06:31 AM by Torfamm

[Over from NZ]

19 hours ago, Princessfan20 said:

On the 23 day Princess Sun cruise we were just on formal nights seemed to be for the sole purpose of getting a photograph in formal attire.  There was nothing else that seemed to make it seem special and or more noticeable then many other nights.

 

I am still baffled how some passenger always say they see people turned away from the dining room in shorts.  We usually are seated so fast and have never been able to monitor what is really going on as people are seated at the entrance of dining rooms.  I am not sure I believe it from what we have seen in the dining rooms on the majority of our cruises on Princess now in regards to dress.

Most of them are telling you what they want to believe.. rather than how it is. 🤣 Shorts are fine now. And formal night is a dwindling exercise for a diminishing minority. It's meh. 

[Esprit]

2 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Most of them are telling you what they want to believe.. rather than how it is. 🤣 Shorts are fine now. And formal night is a dwindling exercise for a diminishing minority. It's meh. 

I m happy to be in the diminishing minority.

i dress smartly to complement my wife’s attire as she loves dressing up.

Having worked in Menswear as a kid it’s easy for me to dress smartly regardless of formality and the suggested dress code.
Cruising is a great way to see many wardrobe disasters 😂

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, Esprit said:

I m happy to be in the diminishing minority.

i dress smartly to complement my wife’s attire as she loves dressing up.

Having worked in Menswear as a kid it’s easy for me to dress smartly regardless of formality and the suggested dress code.
Cruising is a great way to see many wardrobe disasters 😂

I see you are from the UK. For years I have been reading on these formal night treads how the Brits like to dress up on European itineraries. Is it safe for us to leave the top hat and tiara at  home for our Mediterranean cruise next year?

[Esprit]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I see you are from the UK. For years I have been reading on these formal night treads how the Brits like to dress up on European itineraries. Is it safe for us to leave the top hat and tiara at  home for our Mediterranean cruise next year?

I’m sure you will look immaculate in some people’s eyes in whatever you choose to wear.

I don’t get concerned about what people choose to wear.

i just have a great laugh instead!

Edited Monday at 04:10 PM by Esprit

[Retired-N-Happy]

13 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I don’t read “Pool or beach attire, shorts, ball caps or jeans with fraying and/or holes are not welcomed in the dining room. Shoes must be worn.”  as a recommendation but I personally don’t care if the shorts part of the policy isn’t enforced. 
 

Ball caps were worn in Sabatini's by all four men in a party of eight on the Discovery that I witnessed.  I personally wore dress shorts, not basketball shorts in the MDR for all 28 nights that I have sailed on Princess over the past two years.  

Things have gotten more casual post pandemic shutdown.

[Retired-N-Happy]

8 hours ago, Esprit said:

Cruising is a great way to see many wardrobe disasters 😂

NCL, RCI and Carnival would be the lines where substantially more disasters can be witnessed on a nightly basis versus Princess.

[schmoopie17]

4 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

NCL, RCI and Carnival would be the lines where substantially more disasters can be witnessed on a nightly basis versus Princess.

Seasoned NCL cruiser here...just booked Sun Princess for 2026.

 

Anyway, we were on the NCL Escape last month and while sitting in the bar outside of Moderno (the Brazilian steakhouse, and one of two NCL restaurants that requires "long pants")...we saw them seat a group of six, where all three guys were wearing shorts.

 

I was going to go ask the hostess how that happened, but the bourbon(s) got the better of me and our reservation time came up at Cagney's (the steakhouse opposite from Moderno...they share the same bar) and I somehow forgot. And no, this was not the first night of the cruise, so they couldn't use the "our luggage hasn't arrived yet" excuse. 

 

I guess rules are made to be broken,,,or ignored...or...

[MacMadame]

11 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Most of them are telling you what they want to believe.. rather than how it is. 🤣 Shorts are fine now. And formal night is a dwindling exercise for a diminishing minority. It's meh. 

Tell that to the guy who posted here that he was turned away for wearing shorts. (I forget his username; maybe he'll see this and pipe up.) 

 

IMO it's not a bad idea to have one pair of long pants in your luggage just in case. They may come in handy with how cold some places run the A/C. 😉 

 

7 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I see you are from the UK. For years I have been reading on these formal night treads how the Brits like to dress up on European itineraries. Is it safe for us to leave the top hat and tiara at  home for our Mediterranean cruise next year?

NEVER LEAVE THE TIARA AT HOME!!

🤣

[Retired-N-Happy]

58 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

Seasoned NCL cruiser here...just booked Sun Princess for 2026.

 

Anyway, we were on the NCL Escape last month and while sitting in the bar outside of Moderno (the Brazilian steakhouse, and one of two NCL restaurants that requires "long pants")...we saw them seat a group of six, where all three guys were wearing shorts.

 

I was going to go ask the hostess how that happened, but the bourbon(s) got the better of me and our reservation time came up at Cagney's (the steakhouse opposite from Moderno...they share the same bar) and I somehow forgot. And no, this was not the first night of the cruise, so they couldn't use the "our luggage hasn't arrived yet" excuse. 

 

I guess rules are made to be broken,,,or ignored...or...

A few years ago we were on the the NCL Escape and while in Cagney's we saw a three generational family enjoying dinner.  The patriarch was decked out in blue jean shorts, white "wife beater" t shirt and a forward facing baseball cap.  His twenty something son was in an identical outfit, yet his cap was backwards.  The toddler was the best dressed of the three.

Edited Monday at 09:30 PM by Retired-N-Happy

[Torfamm]

1 hour ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Ball caps were worn in Sabatini's by all four men in a party of eight on the Discovery that I witnessed.  I personally wore dress shorts, not basketball shorts in the MDR for all 28 nights that I have sailed on Princess over the past two years.  

Things have gotten more casual post pandemic shutdown.

I don’t doubt for a minute that you are accurately reporting your experience. I am simply reporting mine. As I said, I don’t care if people wear shorts. I have seen though that there are dining room managers who do still care.

[Over from NZ]

3 hours ago, MacMadame said:

Tell that to the guy who posted here that he was turned away for wearing shorts. (I forget his username; maybe he'll see this and pipe up.) 

 

IMO it's not a bad idea to have one pair of long pants in your luggage just in case. They may come in handy with how cold some places run the A/C. 😉 

 

He was probably on a cruise a few years ago. Anyhow.. it's a 5-min exercise if you have to go back to your room and put on a pair of jeans if the imaginary dress-ogre was standing at the entrance to the MDR.. dictating at odds to what every other person is actually seeing happen in real-time. 🤣
 

 

[555]

12 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I don’t doubt for a minute that you are accurately reporting your experience. I am simply reporting mine. As I said, I don’t care if people wear shorts. I have seen though that there are dining room managers who do still care.

And their ratings will reflect that as time goes by. 

They'll learn to turn a blind eye. 

[Spogna]

On 10/12/2024 at 8:35 PM, offtopic said:

Similar, but a little different question, on the upcoming 7 night Caribbean cruises, does anyone know which nights will be the formal nights? We are doing Eastern Caribbean in November with Premiere+ and Sanctuary restaurant. We have 5 of 7 nights booked into specialty but want to go to the Sanctuary restaurant on the 2 formal nights if possible as they will likely have the nicest meals those nights (in my mind).

If you look at the "journey" in the app, you can see/predict which nights are formal. This is for a November sailing too so yours should be populated now.

Edited 21 hours ago by Spogna
autocorrect

[Spogna]

16 hours ago, MacMadame said:

NEVER LEAVE THE TIARA AT HOME!!

🤣

😍🥰😍👑💃