Formal attire question

[lydiagb]

Hi. My husband and I will be taking a 12 night cruise through Alaska in September with Celebrity Cruise Line on the Mercury. There are 3 formal nights, 3 informal nights and 6 casual. My question is this, do most people adhere to the dress code of wearing at tux or dark suit on the formal nights? Our friends just got back from a 4 night cruise to Mexico on one of the Royal Carribean ships and they said that on the formal nights people wore t-shirts to dinner. While we wouldn't be that informal, I'm wondering if we should by my husband a suit for the three formal nights or if he can wear dressy pants with a shirt and tie. For me it would mean finding two more formal dresses. I prefer to look nice and blend in. I don't want to stand out for being over or under dressed.

Back in August 1999 I went on a 7 day cruise through Alaska on Celebrity. I remember looking around and thinking that there were a lot of people not dressed up as much as I thought we were supposed to be. What it comes down to is I don't want to drag my husband downtown to buy a suit that it turns out he really didn't need. All advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Lydia

[Lois R]

Hi Lydia:) I have sailed Celebrity 3 times in the last 14 months and will be going again in September.

All my cruises are 7 nights but I love getting dressed up on the formal evenings:). I would say yes "Most people" adhere to the dress codes but you are always going to find folks who don't.

I sail solo so no better 1/2 to be concerned with but I would say your husband can wear the same suit if he wants.......different shirt and tie and it would look like a new outfit:). Informal evenings sportcoat and tie are fine.

No reason (in my opinion) to bring extra. If he normally wears a tux one evening and dark suit another. ....I also know one dark suite for the formal nights would be fine too.

I sailed Royal once..it was only a 3 night cruise so that is not a fair comparison but I can say, I do think Celebrity has a bit more "formal dress codes". Please no flaming from anyone about my statement.

Just stating what I have experienced.

 

Hope my reply wasn't too confusing!

Have a wonderful cruise:D

[cpayne]

We've sailed a variety of different cruise lines and Celebrity was by far the most dressy. We sailed Celebrity Infinity through the Caribbean and I would say over 50% of the men wore tuxedos on formal night.

 

Having said that, though, I have heard the Alaska itinerary is a bit more relaxed for formal night. We are taking our first Alaskan cruise in Aug so cannot confirm this. I would recommend going to the Celebrity board and asking this question from someone that has sailed the same ship and itinerary as you'll be on. They'll be best able to answer your question.

 

Worst case scenario, one dark suit with different color shirts and ties would be fine for your husband. If you don't want to spend alot on dresses, try a nice pair of black slacks with fancy tops or check out the thread, "75% off at Dillards". I recently got two dresses at Dillards that were almost $200 each for $24 and $32! Another option I use frequently is consignment stores. I've found dresses there before with the tags still on them!

 

Good luck!

[Lois R]

:) Hi Cpayne....nice to meet you...another Celebrity cruiser:D I am thinking about Alasksa for next summer....what ship are you going on? Infinity? Mercury?

Lydia, I agree, come over to the Celebrity board and say hello!

[cpayne]

We are actually on Norwegian Spirit 8/21. However, Celebrity is by far our favorite!

[Happy ks]

I've taken several 4 night cruises and never notice them to be less formal than a 7 night. Even on Freestyle, formal optional, I thought the vast majority was dressed formally. While Alaska is more casual attire for day time, I don't think that is the case in the evening.

 

You will not feel out of place if your husband gets a dark suit instead of a tux. Pair it with 2 different shirts and ties (or one white shirt and have it laundered). If you object to 2 long dresses, get a long black skirt or dressy pants and formal tops.

 

I'm not one to let what others are wearing affect my cruise and I've met wonderful people who were not dressed appropriatly. Just remember, because a person you know saw a handful of underdressed cruisers, it's really not appropriate (I'm talking Ts or jeans). We have even been dressed to the nines for dinner and the show, then changed later, I did feel out of place dressed down walking around the ship underdressed!

[CEV426]

I've been on the Mercury and I've been to Alaska ( but not on Mercury).

The Alaska trip ( Princess) was a surprise to me. I coudn't beleive how some young people presented themselves in the dining room. It was a "summer" cruise so there were a lot of young people and children on board. All I can say is that on all my Celebrity cruises, there were very few fashion faux pas. A dark suit for a man, and a cocktail dress or dressy pantsuit is just as acceptable as a tux and a sequined gown. At the early seating I did see a lot of seniors in what I call "Lawrence Welk" dresses...lots of chiffon and sparkles. I guess like the grandmother of bride kind of thing.

[lydiagb]

Thank you for all of the replies! Dan and I definitely want to be dressed appropriately. I'm looking into the cost of the tux rental for a 12 day cruise. We will either do that or buy him a dark suit. Is Navy ok or does it have to be black? I have one ice pink gown so I will look for two more formal dresses. Luckily here in Los Angeles there are some places to go bargain hunting. If I can find two formals for under $100 each that would be great. If not Nordstrom.com and Davids Bridal have some formals in my size (unfortunately plus size), which aren't always easy to find, that are $130-180. Unfortunatley Dillards isn't close by but I will look to see what Macy's and Nordstrom might have on sale. There is also a store in Tarzana called Dressed Up! that has formals at 20-80% off. For Dan's suit we will go to Roger Stuart in downtown LA. They sell Italian wool suits at wholesale prices as they manufacture the suits. So suits that normally retail for $600-2000 sell at their store for $239-449. I found the information about Dressed Up! and Roger Stuart on the BargainsLA website which is here http://bargainsla.com/ .

Another question I have is about the weather. Will it be cool/cold in Vancouver in mid-September? I'm fairly certain that Alaska will be cold. Has anyone been on an Alaskan cruise in mid-September in the past few years? My first cruise was Alaska in mid-August and I remember that it was mostly cold and overcast the whole time, so I'm guessing it will be much colder in September and probably too cold for shorts.

I've signed up for the CC party on our cruise and have posted on the Roll Call for our cruise. I've been browsing through the posts for Celebrity too and have found some great info. in those posts.

 

Thanks!

 

Lydia

[cpayne]

If you don't have a Dillards do you have Foleys, Younkers, Bergners or Pennys and Sears? They too have their after prom season dresses all drastically reduced and in ALL sizes. Give them a try. There's no reason why you couldn't find 2 dresses for under $100!

 

A navy suit is fine particularly if it coordinates with what you are wearing.

 

If you are thinking about renting a tux you may want to consider purchasing one. After several cruises we finally invested in one. We went to Burlington Coat Factory and for under $200 we got a jacket, pants, 2 shirts, vest and bow tie/cumberbund (sp?!) After one or two cruises it paid for itself! We also recently purchased my husband a white tuxedo jacket online for $99!! If you plan on doing much cruising in the future you may want to consider investing in one instead of renting. Besides, nothing better than a man in a nice looking tuxedo! When I see my husband on formal night it always reminds me of our wedding day!!

[kitty9]

Another thing to know,Lydia, those 4 day cruises are not known to be at all dressy and you will find a lot of people who don't follow a dress code. There's just something about those short cruises that bring out the messy dressing. Celebrity is trying to become known as a premium cruise line and separate themselves from the other mass market lines. On our Summit cruise I was surprised by the number of men in tuxes and they all looked great.

[lydiagb]

Well my husband is not happy about buying a suit. He could use a suit in the future for interviews, weddings and funerals although there is nothing on the calendar for any of those types of events. There is no way he would agree to buying a tuxedo. I don't know when we will go on a cruise again as we are going to start saving for a house and to start a family in the next few years. Most likely by the time we go on a cruise again the styles will have changed. For us it's not just the price of the cruise. On this particular trip we will spend about $1200 for boarding our cats, rabbits and guinea pigs. Plus we had about $2000 in vet bills in the last 2 months. It was completely unexpected. Finances are super tight. So while I can probably convince him (or nag him) to buy a suit I wouldn't even bother with a tux.

We don't have most of the stores that were mentioned but there is a Burlington Coat Factory in the valley (about 45 minutes away), Macys and Nordstrom as well as some other department stores. I am going to go to Dressed Up! tomorrow afternoon to get an idea of what they carry and what the prices are. At least I'm not waiting till a few weeks before the cruise to start looking =). I'd like to have our clothes shopping done with by 8/14 (at least for me). Shopping for men is so much easier!

 

Lydia

[cpayne]

$1200 to board your "babies"?! I used to think we spent alot to board our "children" (2 dogs!), but I'm not feeling so bad. My husband and I are gone frequently for work and pleasure so when we got the 2nd dog it became outragoues to board them. We have gone to having our house keeper watch them and it's a much better arrangement. She's a hispanic lady and it's "free" cash to her if you know what I mean?! The boys stay in our home and she comes over several times a day. They stay in their kennels as they do each day when I go to work and she let's them out and plays with them while she's there. It's no different than if they were at the boarders in a kennel except they are in their own surroundings and are much happier.

 

Is there anyone you could find to make this kind of arrangement with? Perhaps this would save you some money? I know what are cleaning lady charges us is 1/2 of what we were paying at the boarders! Just something to think about and help you save some $$!

[lydiagb]

We used to have someone come to our apartment to take care of the animals but she can no longer do it. One of our two cats needs oral medication 3 times a day. One of our 3 bunnies needs an injection of antibiotic each night. Rabbits and guinea pigs (we have 2) are quite delicate and the average person doesn't know that they are ill when they are. They mask their illness since they are prey animals so you sometimes don't know they are sick till it is too late. Anyway, it would be more expensive to get someone to come to our place 2-3 times a day for 17 days. The cat boarding place, which has kitty castles that are nice size with multiple levels and scratching posts, is next to a vet hospital and they can handle Ida Mae's condition (Megacolon) if it flares up as well as give her her medicine 3 times a day. The bunny/guinea pig boarding place is actually a rabbit rescue that also does boarding. They are very knowledgeable and can treat most anything that comes up and know when to take them to a vet if necessary. Plus they can give Benjamin his injections. Unfortunately we need two pens as our bunny Benjamin does not get along with other rabbits. So while it's expensive (but actually cheaper than other boarding facilities) at least we have peace of mind and can travel without worrying. We've done this once before in December 2003 when we flew to East Coast to spend the holidays with my husband's family and while I checked in with each facility most days I wasn't worried about them. Plus the animals also become more destructive when we're not home since they are bored. I'm unable to work due to injuries so I'm home a lot. The boarding is something we planned for when we planned the cruise. Well actually when we first booked the cruise in 9/03 we weren't planning on having the cats (we were fostering them for my brother but they are now ours) and my Mom was going to watch Benjamin. But that doesn't seem to be an option anymore. Oh well, that's life =)

 

 

Lydia

[lydiagb]

Oh yeah, my husband has agreed that we will buy him a suit. We're going to go to Roger Stuart http://www.rogerstuart.com/ on Friday and see if they have something he likes at the lower end of their price range ($250). Plus we are going to check if they have a sale coming up. It's good that he will have a suit for anything that comes up in the future. He felt that if we were going to spend $85 for the tuxedo rental and $12 for the shoes (and it might be double for the 12 day cruise) we may as well buy a suit that he can use again. Woo hoo!

 

 

Lydia

[CEV426]

No need to rent the shoes when wearing a tux. Most men just wear a pair of their dressiest black.

[pamperedprincess]

Yikes! We don't match. My DH has a very nice suit, navy double-breasted blazer with grey pants, kinda nautical. However, my formal dress is a black and silver slinky column, very dressy, full-length, with spaghetti straps and a wisp of chiffon.

 

The dilemma: We won't match at all! Not in colors and not in level of dressiness.

 

His suit is great, he is adorable, but maybe I should dress him up more. He's too cute to be just in the background. Perhaps a shopping trip is in order, and I should outfit him in a gorgeous black suit, and save the navy and grey for informal nights. Wha'dy'all think? Plus this is his first cruise, I want him to feel like a pampered prince.

[ASM]

pamperedprincess:

The navy and gray sound awesome-but I think you're right. That's really a sportcoat and slacks and informal, although elegant. Formal would be a tux or a dark suit, not separates. Have fun. I know you'll both look sharp!

[lydiagb]

Hi pamperedprincess. I agree with what ASM said. If it is in your budget buy your husband a suit. One thing that I felt strongly about for my husband and I is that we don't look like we are trying to get by without having the proper attire. We bought him a beautiful suit and blazer and we will both look like we are dressed for the same event. Up until now my husband has gotten by with slacks, shirt and tie which isn't too hard since we live in Los Angeles and it is usually warm, but I am really glad he has a classic suit for future weddings, funerals, interviews, etc. Good luck!

 

Lydia

[kitticat]

My husband has a nice black suit..and bought a tuxudo shirt and a tux bow tie to go with it..so it looks just like he has a tux on. No need to spend money on a tux..just get him a black suit..tux shirt and bow tie! He can wear the suit on other occasions and will get more wear out of it than a tux...and he really will look like he has on a tux. Just another option I though you all might be interested in. I got DH tux shirt and bow tie on line..reasonable. or I have also seen them in Burlington Coat Factory.

[cpayne]

Burlington Coat Factory does sell tuxes and accessories. We got my husband a tux (jacket and pants), 2 shirts, cumberbumb (sp?!), bow tie, and vest for approx $175! Hard to get a full suit for that! That was a few years ago. This year I ordered him white tux jacket to go with the black tux pants. It was $100 and ordered from http://www.cheaptux.com. Was very pleased with the quality.

[carol5553]

lydiagbwas reading your post and saw you have to board your pets. i also have a rabbit, saw that you board yours at the rescue. i had no idea what to do with mine i also have 50 birds and 2 dogs but my rabbit i didnt know who would watch a rabbit will give the ones in my area a call great idea:)

[lydiagb]

Hi carol5553. I live in Los Angeles so if you are anywhere near there you can go to BunnyLuv http://bunnyluv.org/ or check at your local chapter of the House Rabbit Society http://rabbit.org/ . Good luck!

 

Lydia

[45014]

We send out fur baby girl to "Puppy Camp" and believe me she lives better than some people. She has her own little baby bed, a ceiling fan and a TV tuned to either CNN or the Animal channel. My husband tells me she could stay cheaper in a Holiday Inn. But I have empty nest syndrom and nothing is too good our baby girl.