Formal night- How formal?

[Rev22:17]

caviargal,

 

I was on Century in November. On formal nights, the ladies in my party wore gowns, the men tuxes. About 30% of the rest of the women were in gowns, the majority in cocktail and the rest (about 10%) in jeans, shorts , sweats.

 

There was absolutely no enforcement of the dress code in the dining room on any night and ball caps, cargo shorts and sweat pants were always around.

 

I found it atrocious on the part of the passengers dressed like slobs, and even worse on the part of X to allow it.

 

I will continue to adhere to the dress code on cruises, but there is an ever growining percentage of the population that dismisses it entirely.

 

Dressy trousers with a beaded top or similar will be fine. You will comply and also be well dressed.

 

I agree completely.

 

I hope that you also made a comment about the need to enforce dress codes on your evaluation form. There are staffers in Celebrity's headquarters whose duty is to read all of the comments to identify (1) issues that draw a lot of consistent comments and (2) comments that indicate major problems for further action. The ship's staff people also get pluses and minuses on their evaluation for positive and negative comments.

 

And you can put "see attached sheets" in the miniscule comment box and attach as many sheets as you need with your comments.

 

Norm.

[caviargal]

I hope that you also made a comment about the need to enforce dress codes on your evaluation form. There are staffers in Celebrity's headquarters whose duty is to read all of the comments to identify (1) issues that draw a lot of consistent comments and (2) comments that indicate major problems for further action. The ship's staff people also get pluses and minuses on their evaluation for positive and negative comments.

 

.

 

I ALWAYS do, as I did for years when this trend began on RCI. It apparently is meanlingless based on recent cruises with them. These lines are simply not going to alienate the casual cruisers :( and their wallets.

[lvellen]

To all you clothes ****s, and you know who you are. Enough Already!

 

X knows that times are changing, whether because of baggage restrictions or just comfort, people will not always conform to your desires. If you cannot except the inevitable, please find another source of vacation or cruises where you can dress to your hearts desire.

[meyer4two]

I have to pack for a 15 day cruise so I won't have room for 3 'really formal' evening gowns plus 4 informal outfits. I always wear dressy slacks with a glittery sequin top for formal night. I think its very dressy & I do fit in with most of the dressy outfits for the formal evening. I also wear dressy slacks and a dressy top for informal nites and look fine. I do agree Celebrity is more dressy than other lines but thats what I love about Celebrity. I get to dress up because at home I don't get the chance to.

But I do think dressy slacks & sequin top are fine for formal night.

[Rev22:17]

lvellen,

 

X knows that times are changing, whether because of baggage restrictions or just comfort, people will not always conform to your desires. If you cannot except the inevitable, please find another source of vacation or cruises where you can dress to your hearts desire.

 

One thing that's pretty obvious from these boards is that there's a huge niche of people who cruise with lines like Celebrity because they have retained the "formal" and "informal" evenings. If Celebrity changes its dress policies or fails to enforce its dress policies, it alienates that segment -- who now constitute over 90% of Celebrity's base of frequnt passengers. And if other cruise lines abandon traditional standards of dress, Celebrity can draw many of their passengers simply by reaffirming standards.

 

Overall, a change in policy would not be to Celebrity's advantage.

 

Norm.

[adamtennis]

Before anyone's blood pressure goes up as a result of this post, let me begin by saying that the cruise lines have every right to enforce the rules that they set. Each passenger has a responsibility to know the "rules" prior to sailing. While I personally may feel that the idea of "what is formal" needs to catch up with the times, it's my responsibility as a passenger to either abide by them, or go through the appropriate channels to help change them (ie, write a letter to the cruise line).

 

Okay, that being said, I personally think this discussion gets out of hand with all the discriminatory comments about how others are dressed. Many individuals on this board seem to believe that Celebrity's definition of "formal" is synonymous with "good taste" - I totally disagree! I have witnessed many passengers whose style of dress conforms to Celebrity's "formal" criteria, and yet, I believe they are not nearly as nicely dressed as those passengers who may be in "less formal" attire.

 

It just rubs me the wrong way to read how judgmental people are based on someone's attire. If you want to reiterate Celebrity's rules, that's perfectly acceptable, but there is absolutely no need to become critical and/or judgmental of others.

 

IMHO it would behoove us to become less judgmental of others ... these types of judgments are exactly what separates us as human beings ... the world is segregated enough, and look what shape its' in :)

 

Adam

[Andiamo39]

All you "formal" fanatics should also remember that when you see some people wearing jeans to dinner it could mean that their luggage was lost and they have no other choice. That happened to about 100 people on Voyager of the Seas last year. They NEVER recovered their luggage while on board and looked positively embarrassed in the dining room. But what were they supposed to do? Order room service every night? I know some of those people made brave attempts to buy some new clothes when they go to port but really, what kind of clothes can you buy in Costa Rica?

 

So please do not look up your nose at people who do not dress to your standards. As another poster mentioned, there could be some very legitimate reasons for their choice of clothing.

[caviargal]

All you "formal" fanatics should also remember that when you see some people wearing jeans to dinner it could mean that their luggage was lost and they have no other choice. That happened to about 100 people on Voyager of the Seas last year. They NEVER recovered their luggage while on board and looked positively embarrassed in the dining room. But what were they supposed to do? Order room service every night? I know some of those people made brave attempts to buy some new clothes when they go to port but really, what kind of clothes can you buy in Costa Rica?

 

So please do not look up your nose at people who do not dress to your standards. As another poster mentioned, there could be some very legitimate reasons for their choice of clothing.

 

Point made, however, IMO this is the exception, not the rule.

 

On a recent Century cruise, there was a large family next to us in the dining room who obviously did think about what they were wearing. The father coordinated his t shirt and even tennis shoes to his ball cap for the evening. On formal night, he went all out with jeans and red accessories, another was cargo shorts accented by blue cap and shoes. I missed him the night we were in Murano:cool:. His large family was dressed in a similar fashion.

 

There are many more cases of dressing down by design IMO, than in circumstances dictating excessively casual clothing. As you said, the folks that cared looked embarrassed. Many others have absolutly no qualms about their attire. After all, is it their vacation and they will dress as they choose to; they paid for their cruise:rolleyes:.

[Rev22:17]

Andiamo39,

 

All you "formal" fanatics should also remember that when you see some people wearing jeans to dinner it could mean that their luggage was lost and they have no other choice. That happened to about 100 people on Voyager of the Seas last year. They NEVER recovered their luggage while on board and looked positively embarrassed in the dining room. But what were they supposed to do? Order room service every night? I know some of those people made brave attempts to buy some new clothes when they go to port but really, what kind of clothes can you buy in Costa Rica?

 

So please do not look up your nose at people who do not dress to your standards. As another poster mentioned, there could be some very legitimate reasons for their choice of clothing.

 

Most of the major cruise lines bend over backward to assist passengers whose luggage is missing, and this typically includes complimentary use of rental formalweear so that they can dress appropriately for the "formal" evenings. In the absence of such provision, though, I would agree with your point.

 

Norm.

[minniemom]

On my first cruise ever to Alaska On X, we were at a table of 8. 2 of the men had on tuxes and their wives had on long formal dresses. My husband had on a black suit, and I wore dressy black slacks and a nice royal blue short suit jacket with black buttons. The other couple was dressed similar to my DH and myself. I didn't feel out of place at my table. My table mates didn't look down on me for not wearing a long dress. We laughed and had so much fun together. The 8 if us didn't know each other before hand. Of the men, 1 was a Doctor, 1 was a Mayor of a large Candian city, 1 was a physical therapist, and the other was a rancher. We all got along wonderfully. I didn't feel like I was under dressed at all. I worried so much about what to wear my first time out, I stressed too much over it.

I didn't see any one look down at my dressy slacks, and to be honest, I thought I looked as nice in my outfit with the slacks and dressy jacket, than someone wearing a formal. I say just enjoy the cruise, enjoy your loved ones you are traveling with. Life is too short to stress over the non essentials. Be respectful of others, and don't look down on anyone, just be grateful that you are lucky enough to be cruising.