Class A uniform or suit for DH?

[amybeth601]

Thank you so much everybody for your input....this CC board has been an invaluable source of information to me! It is so nice to be able to get information and opinions from those of you who have a lot more cruising experience. DH is reading these posts too, so I'll have him check the regulations for his department. He can make his decision based on that and everything he reads here.

 

 

The biggest problem, as I see it, is the number of people who will want to stop and chat with him - and tell them every thing they know about firefighters (well, except for the ones who confuse him with a policeman. Or the yum-yum man :rolleyes:)

dakrewser--You made me LOL! DH has a Filipino background--I don't know if the yum-yum man is Indonesian or Filipino, but to have someone think he's the yum-yum man....that would be funny!

 

 

As a "working" police officer, I say "go for it". I know of IPA meetings that have been held on cruise ships where all the officers (including many foreign ones) have worn their class A's on at least one formal night. If he does decide to wear it, make sure he takes the creases out of the pants from too much sitting in those comfortable "lazy boy" chairs those hosedraggers all over the country have in their stations! Have a great cruise!!!

Copper10-8, thanks for your response. I was really wondering what you (as a police officer) would think. Also, what is IPA? I think that would be such a neat thing to have a gathering of your fellow officers from all over wearing their Class A uniforms! And you know the firefighters well! DH admits that it's nice to have down time when they're not working or training! BTW, DH's station has a dark room that they call the "cave." That room has a big screen tv and maybe ten or 12 lazy boy chairs....no other furniture in it, except for a side table with a lamp (turned off, of course!) You're right...there are an awful lot of firehouses out there with numerous lazy boy chairs! *LOL*

 

 

If your class A uniform is like mine, (banquet wear) as in what the wait staff wears, don't wear it. Get a Tux. The Fire Dept is not the military. The F.D. gets time off. The military is always on duty.

fireofficer5--Thank you for your perspective. I don't think DH wants to look like the wait-staff, nor is he wanting to gloat about what he does by considering his uniform. He is proud of what he does, but he is quiet about it at the same time. To any recognition he has received from the department, he responds, "I was just doing my job...." Also, I'm certainly not trying to equate his job with the military, as I stated in a pp. The fire service and the military are two very different things.

 

 

Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts!

Amy

[pjsm50]

As a member of the Canadian Air Force, I have been considering wearing my Mess Kit on our upcoming Maasdam cruise in Jan. Although I have seen men wear thiers on many formal nights, I have yet to see a woman wear one. I guess it is because we sometimes like to get dressed up in formal gowns but I always feel very formal and proud to wear my uniform.

 

If I were you, I would feel proud to be seen with my husband in his Class A's.

 

Have a great cruise!

[SDHALFAN]

Only half.

 

Would that be like "being only 1-1/2 sheets into the wind", as opposed to "three sheets into the wind"?

[SDHALFAN]

As a member of the Canadian Air Force, I have been considering wearing my Mess Kit on our upcoming Maasdam cruise in Jan. Although I have seen men wear thiers on many formal nights, I have yet to see a woman wear one. I guess it is because we sometimes like to get dressed up in formal gowns but I always feel very formal and proud to wear my uniform.

 

If I were you, I would feel proud to be seen with my husband in his Class A's.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Actually pjsm50,

 

I have had the pleasure of dining with a couple of "military women" who were wearing their dress uniforms on Formal Night. One was USAF and the other USN. They looked truly elegant and were wonderful representatives of their respective services: great conversationalists with lots of stories to tell, lots of fun and a true credit to their different branches of the Armed Forces.

 

Also, in case nobody had noticed: on Formal Nghts, such as the Black & White Ball, the ladies from the Front Office and the female officers aboard ship are dressed in their "dress uniforms", which are somewhat similar to the U.S. Navy formal dress for women. They look mighty fine as far as I am concerned, so go ahead and wear your Mess Kit with pride. I'm sure that the only remarks you will get will be from people wanting to know all about you and your uniform. Go ahead and share your pride. I'm sure that everybody will be tremendously interested - I know that I would be.

 

Have a wonderful cruise (and go ahead and wear that "formal" if you wish but I think that you will be a standout in your Mess Kit).

 

Valerie:)

[SDHALFAN]

If your class A uniform is like mine, (banquet wear) as in what the wait staff wears, don't wear it. Get a Tux. The Fire Dept is not the military. The F.D. gets time off. The military is always on duty.

 

I just have to ask this question, and I expect that I will be totally "flamed" or "slammed" for doing so, so then I will have to pout and insist that I will never post on these boards again (until the next time:D ): but, am I the only female who thinks that the black Tux is booooooooooring? Somewhat like TLBD (the little black dress) - hey, it was probably elegant in its time but its time has come and gone - there are more choices nowadays.

 

However, that being said, I really, really like a man in a white dinner jacket. It seems so James Bondish - so elegant and yet somewhat rakish. Just a thought!

 

Off now to don my Kevlar vest before the arrows start flying.

 

Valerie:)

[jenjens1023]

am I the only female who thinks that the black Tux is booooooooooring?

 

That's why my DH has fun ties and vests. The favorite set for cruises is a flamingo print!

 

The best looking uniform I ever saw was Royal Canadian Infantry. Royal blue trousers, and a red, waist-length jacket. Of course the young man wearing it was equally good looking. I told him it was gorgeous and then appologized for using that term. He said if I was flirting I could call it anything I wanted (did I mention I'm old enough to be his mother and he had his beautiful gf with him?). I smiled all night (I'm smiling again!!):)

[amybeth601]

SDHALFAN--Valerie, you talked about the little black dress...it's definitely a classic, but you're right about other options for formal night. Out of curiousity, what might you wear on formal night? I ask because I have three dresses that I could wear for formal night, and two of them are black. I bought black b/c it's slimming and easy to find shoes to go with, but I also like to get different ideas for clothes...

 

 

That's why my DH has fun ties and vests. The favorite set for cruises is a flamingo print!

That sounds like something DH would do. That's great!

 

 

Amy

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Off now to don my Kevlar vest before the arrows start flying.

 

Valerie:)

 

Valerie, how could we be that mean to anyone as nice as you?:) You don't need that Kevlar vest (what is a Kevlar vest, anyway? Please pardon my ignorance.)

 

On our Caribbean/Panama Canal cruise this Christmas, my husband will be renting a white dinner jacket from Cruiseline Formalwear. I think he will look smashing:),especially with all that sunburn.

 

Karin

 

ps Amybeth, I'm another proponent of your husband wearing his Class A uniform! Go for it!

[tomc]

In reply to SDHALFAN post #10

Swords are also part of the Naval Officer Dress Uniform, but that's only for the ceremonial stuff - they certainly have enough couth to divest themselves of the swords before they sit down for dinner.

Well, you have to admit they're good for stabbing an extra roll or two across the table, if nobody responds to your request.

[jenjens1023]

Kevlar is what bullet-proof vests are made of.:D

[SDHALFAN]

SDHALFAN--Valerie, you talked about the little black dress...it's definitely a classic, but you're right about other options for formal night. Out of curiousity, what might you wear on formal night? I ask because I have three dresses that I could wear for formal night, and two of them are black. I bought black b/c it's slimming and easy to find shoes to go with, but I also like to get different ideas for clothes...

 

 

That sounds like something DH would do. That's great!

 

 

Amy

 

Sorry Amy that I didn't get back to you sooner. "Life" got in the way - nothing exciting, just chores that had to be taken care of.

 

As far as the Little Black Dress goes, I am as guilty as the next woman and I will be taking one on my 49-day cruise. However, my latest purchases for formal wear have been navy blue and maroon. I have a couple of navy blue outfits - actually a floor-length skirt and a pair of palazzo pants that go with a beaded jacket and a vee-neck top (I also sometimes wear a white beaded top under the jacket just for a change). The maroon outfit I can't do anything to change since it is a floor-length sleeveless dress with a beaded bodice and a long-sleeved jacket, but it is very elegant and I love it. I also have a pair of off-white palazzo pants that go with any number of tops, even a black (evening) twinset. I guess my fashion style (if one could call it that:D ) is separates, separates, separates. Come to think of it my LBD is a two piece and I might be able to wear the black tunic top with the white palazzo pants and the skirt with the black twinset - oh shoot, that's like a Little Black Dress isn't it? Back to the drawing board.:confused:

 

jenjens: A black Tux with a flamingo print tie and vest sounds sensational. I would certainly never find that boooooooring that's for sure. I love a man with a sense of whimsy and I bet that your husband looks great in his formal wear. Thanks for explaining the Kevlar vest. Oh, and I know what you mean about gushing over, or flirting with, those gorgeous young men in uniform. You may flirt but I gush - then I get embarassed but think to myself "I'm old enough to be his mother (almost his grandmother) and he probably thinks what a nice old lady":eek: .

 

MOM - Karin: Thank you so much for you nice comment. I bet that your husband is really going to look smashing in his white dinner jacket (I really love that look, as I said before it looks so James Bondish) and I hope that you enjoy your Panama Canal cruise as much as I always do - it really is one of my favorite cruises and I have another one booked (only a partial transit from the west coast) for November of 2007.

 

tomc: what a great use for that Navy sword. Why didn't I think of that before I gave the sword to my younger grandson? Of course, I probably would have a hard time trying to explain to the security personnel at the airport that I really was only trying to take the sword aboard the airplane so that I could spear a roll or two at dinner aboard the cruiseship I was supoposed to be boarding before they (the security people) got so snippy - those security people can be so tiresome at times, I mean don't they have lives like the rest of us?:D

 

Fair winds and following seas, and happy cruising everyone.

 

Valerie:)

[SDHALFAN]

Sory - double post - arrgh!

[papadave]

Just be prepared to have other passengers ask for the honor of posing for photos with your husband. Dressing up in this way seems to be a very good match to the intentions of a formal night.