Jeans Are Allowed...

[mbisson]

When does this policy take effect?

 

We're leaving on 2/18 and would love to NOT need to purchase as many dockers for the kids.

 

Some have said it already has. I'm waiting to see more reports back from the various ships.

 

-Monte

[johnql]

Being presentable is the key.

I don't think anybody would disagree with this statement. The problem is that there are many definitions of the word "presentable", ranging from "no jeans" to "no torn jeans" to "I'm on vacation and I'll wear whatever I feel like wearing".

[on board]

Jeans okay, Formal not really, so why bother with a dress code at all? Why not just "come as you are"? That's what most have been doing for years anyway forcing the cruise lines to lower their standards of proper dress code to accomadate the "new wave" cruisers. Me, I like the old time "traditional" way of cruising. After all do we dress up on formal night for ourselves or for our spouses/companions? To me making Formal night "optional" and in only one dining room that also allows jeans too on the formal night is like not having a formal night at all. It's the old "what part of the word 'formal' do you not understand" sydrome. There is no nor should there be anything in-between. . It makes the ones who dress up look bad to the ones who don't and the ones who don't look bad to ones that do dress up. Either do it right or do away with it.

 

Ah, I don't think it makes the ones that do dress up look bad, nor do I think the ones that don't dress up look bad. Why? Because I don't care what the others have on. Also, it is only the busy bodies who complain about people who don't dress to their standards. Why waste your time complaining about what someone wears and does not wear? Doesn't that take away from the ambiance, the good times, the time spent with your loved ones? :rolleyes:

[on board]

Yes, but why should those people who don't like to dress up have to make a choice of not taking a cruise or being forced to dress up just to satisfy those that do? Why should I not be allowed to enjoy a certain dining venue because of the way I'm dressed?

 

Freestyle is about choice, not lowering the standards of cruising. You can choose to dress up and I can choose not to. With Freestyle, neither of us should worry about being out of place.

 

Besides, who cares what someone else across the room is wearing?? My concern is enjoying the company of the people I am with.

 

I believe that you will see the other cruise lines begin to adopt something very similar to Freestyle over the next few years. Princess already has and the rest are bound to follow.

 

Exactly and well said! :p

[on board]

I care about the difference, especially if the company is the same in either case.

 

People in formal dress look better, tidier, more glamorous - particularly if it's a special occasion like the one formal night on a cruise (optional or not). So what other people wear is an important part of a restaurant's ambience. Ambience is an important background to the pleasure one derives from an experience. Why do you think that so many restaurants have dress codes? Why do so many formal dinners specify formal dress?

 

You may not want to participate, which is what freestyle is all about. But you should also see why some people like to wear and see others wearing formal dress.

 

I disagree in what you said. I don't think that a person who is dressed in a nice pair of jeans and shirt, (Not torn or faded) looks less glamorous, tidier, or better. I think that is a matter of opinion. I think the way someone acts, if they are neat and clean and how they present themselves looks more tidier, better, and more glamorous. Do you think your food will taste different if you were dressed in a formal compared to a pair of jeans? :rolleyes:

[Planer's Edge]

Great who is going to add their $.02 next??

 

rfrenchbaxter

 

PE

[rio123]

It appears as though NCL has made the decision on jeans being allowed. Now it will be interesting to look for the "jean police" that will determine if the jeans are tattered or torn etc! What a joke.

 

Regarding "optional formal night" I just do not understand why NCL would eliminate that night it is OPTIONAL! Some one else suggested that on that night they could make one dinning room "formal" and allow jeans or g strings in the other as far as I care. There are enough places to eat on board and there are seven nights to choose where to eat so whats wrong with ONE NIGHT being formal (coats required) in say Cagny's and the Bistro plus one dinning room for one night!

 

Why not utilize all of the various options and give every one what they want? I would think that if for six nights others can wear whatever they want in the dinning rooms ONE night for those that would like to dress one night for dinner should be workable. Freestyle means "choices" if you dont like the formal requirement in a dinning room on the ONE night then go to that place on one of the SIX other nights.

 

Why should those of us that would like ONE night that we can have dinner without people in t shirts old jeans etc seated next to us have to give that up to accommadate those that want to wear jeans every night?

 

I don't care about the jeans allowed but I would like some restaraunts to be formal for ONE crummy night. I would think that the "other viewpoint could at least tolerate that solution.

 

OK how about baseball caps in the dinning room?

[johnql]

Some one else suggested that on that night they could make one dinning room "formal" and allow jeans or g strings in the other as far as I care. There are enough places to eat on board and there are seven nights to choose where to eat so whats wrong with ONE NIGHT being formal (coats required) in say Cagny's and the Bistro plus one dinning room for one night!

Up until fairly recently (18-24 months ago), they did exactly that - they used to designate one of the main dining rooms as the formal one on the optional formal night. For whatever reason, they did away with that policy. I suppose it's possible that they might reinstitute it, but I wouldn't hold my breath because I think far more people like it the way it is now (i.e., no designated formal dining room).

[frygirls]

drat! none of my jeans fit!

[MrPete]

And maps to their house no less. :eek:

 

That little doll from Family Affair would be turning in her toy box.

[johnql]

And maps to their house no less. :eek:

 

That little doll from Family Affair would be turning in her toy box.

Good one, even tho the doll's name was spelled slightly differently. ;)

[Planer's Edge]

Back to the topic at hand. I really don't care if jeans are worn in the diningroom or not. I just don't ever want to experience what I did on our Carnival Pride cruise. Honest to God there was a guy who came to the diningroom (for dinner) in a Big Johnson tank top and obviously did not use deodorant. Ewwwww!!!!

 

PE

[Retired not Expired]

And maps to their house no less. :eek:

 

That little doll from Family Affair would be turning in her toy box.

 

Yep, although only a few will have any idea what this is all about.

 

Thanks, Cecilia, for cleaning this up. Some of us give you good training for dealing with your little tyke, dont' we? :eek: :D

[Planer's Edge]

Retired...you are just an old skamp.:cool:

 

PE

[Host CMLA]

Thanks, Cecilia, for cleaning this up. Some of us give you good training for dealing with your little tyke, dont' we? :eek: :D

You're welcome. I wrote to the board admin about the dual identities. Big no no on CC. As for the little tyke...why do we teach kids to walk? It's so much more work! :eek: I was happy when he just layed there being cute. LOL

[Surfgirl]

This bit about "comfort" and "not having enough money to dress for dinner" is just an excuse to look sloppy. Next, we'll see backwards baseball caps, t-shirts that say, "I'm with Stupid" and rubber shower flip flops at dinner. NCL has begun its descent down a slippery slope.

 

For those who can't "afford" to dress up.. you can buy a nice pair of Khakis for the same price (or less) as Jeans. They are also just as comfortable.

Nobody says you have to buy a Prada gown or a tuxedo.

 

To Sneakerstud... I'm still waiting to hear from last month about these $500 dollar jeans you claim to have bought. Who is the designer and what is the style?

 

Maybe the solution would be to designate one dining room each night as "no jeans." That way everyone would be happy.

 

NCL has taken the magic and ambiance away from cruising with it's new "you're free to be a slob at dinner" policy and it's trend away from real cruise ships and towards tacky giant floating neon boxes where they can herd the masses in.

 

I'll be sailing the Crown this June, as it's my favorite ship and want to make one last voyage on her before she's sold.. and that will probably be my last with NCL.

 

(edited for typo)

[F5Loar]

That was my point. If NCL has done away with having one DR as formal only then why bother with the "optional" at all? These big megaliners are big enough to have it everybody's way if they just do it that way. While in the past when NCL did do it that way they tended to bend the rules when lines were long on the formal DR(Hint: Most passengers do like to dress up)letting the casuals into dine with the formals. I guess that's one reason they just let it go altogether with a board based every resturant as "optional" on the formal night since they couldn't control it anyway. With 7 to 12 resturants going at once everyone can't enjoy formal anyway. The original idea for freestyle dining was to allow the formal night to remain formal and allow those that choose otherwise(translation: jeans,etc)to dine in the Lido area thereby keeping the formal ambience in the main DRs. Oh well, no problem. There are many cruise lines still left that do it the old way to pick from. I just like to bowl while at sea!

[Planer's Edge]

NCL has taken the magic and ambiance away from cruising with it's new "you're free to be a slob at dinner" policy and it's trend away from real cruise ships and towards tacky floating giant floating neon boxes where they can herd the masses in.

 

I'll be sailing the Crown this June, as it's my favorite ship and want to make one last voyage on her before she's sold.. and that will probably be my last with NCL.

 

Where, pray tell is the "tacky floating giant neon boxes"? Carnival used to have the neon, and Royal has much larger ships.

 

What exactly do you not like about NCL's newest ships? OR is it freestyle that you don't like? As for the dress codes, most all of the mainstream cruiselines are relaxing their dress standards.

 

PE

[have fun now]

I can see it now:

 

reversed baseball cap

T-shirt or muscle shirt

oversized, baggy, low-slung overalls

black, untied, hi-top sneakers

 

Just extrapolating where it could go. So funny!

[Surfgirl]

Where' date=' pray tell is the "tacky floating giant neon boxes"? Carnival used to have the neon, and Royal has much larger ships.

 

What exactly do you not like about NCL's newest ships? OR is it freestyle that you don't like? As for the dress codes, most all of the mainstream cruiselines are relaxing their dress standards.

 

PE[/quote']

 

Yes, some of the other cruise-lines are going towards this awful behemouth cruise ships. What don't I like about them? Just about everything! They're crowded, there are lines to get on the ship, lines to get off, lines for dinner, lines for the tender.

 

It doesn't even "feel" like you're at sea. It "feels" like you're in a tacky neon Las Vegas hotel.

 

I was on Dawn and didn't like it at all. I kept getting lost.. and it took forever to get anywhere. You had to walk up the stairs across and back down to get to the other end of the ship on the same deck.

 

The Crown, on the other hand, is GREAT! It's smaller and more intimate. It's SHAPED like a cruise ship, and not a square box. It FEELS like a cruise ship... and NCL is selling it. Ugh!

 

Do I like freestyle dining? Yes... as it "used to mean." Freestyle dining did not mean being able to be free to be a slob... it meant being free to eat when you want and where you want. It's a great concept.. but now it's been ruined.

 

Just a note to F5loar.... interesting how you say most pax like the more formal dress. I wonder why then, that they're giving in to the minority... unless they're the most vocal? In that case.. maybe there should be one "jeans allowed" or "come as you are" dining room (in addition to the buffet) every night... and the rest the way they have been previously? Maybe THAT would solve it?

[Host CMLA]

It doesn't even "feel" like you're at sea. It "feels" like you're in a tacky neon Las Vegas hotel.

I'll be in a tacky neon Las Vegas hotel this coming Friday. I can't wait!!!!! :D

[halos]

I wrote to NCL and to final make sure what is going on with all the new policies. Sinec I saw more designer Jeans then ever on my last cruise on the Norwegian Pearl. JEANS ARE ALLOWED in the dining roms as long as they are not ripped or with holes.

There will be also no "Optional Formal" nights anymore and basically everybody can wear a Tuxedo or a pair of Jeans as they like.

 

You will also find the new freestyle dailies very interesting!

 

The no shorts, Tank Top policy in main dining rooms (except buffet) is still on.

 

Enjoy your excellent cruises on this brilliant cruise line!!!

 

King Marcus

 

Please forgive me, as I really don't want to read through 3 pages of posts.

I have my first NCL cruise booked for this coming Nov. Are you saying that there are no formal nights?? Or are you saying that there are formal nights, but one does not have to comply and they can wear jeans if they wish??

All this has me SO confused. I just want to know what to pack...should my DH bother with even a suit jacket?? I'm certainly not going to have him pack the tux, which I'm sure will be over-kill.

I'm not complaining. It may actually be nice to pack a little lighter, I jsut want to be sure I know WHAT I'm bringing. :confused:

I know he won't be packing jeans...probably Dockers or something, but should he even bother with a suit?

What about the specialty restaurants??? We plan on eating there a lot during our cruise.

 

I do want to add that it irks me when someone says they'd rather see someone in jeans than an old ratty tux...that's bull.

I've never seen someone in an old ratty tux. People who take the time and have the pride don't have old ratty tuxes. Saying that is a cop out. If you like wearing jeans, you like wearing jeans. Don't put the people who like to dress up , down just to make yourselves feel better.

[Surfgirl]

I can see it now:

 

reversed baseball cap

T-shirt or muscle shirt

oversized, baggy, low-slung overalls

black, untied, hi-top sneakers

 

Just extrapolating where it could go. So funny!

 

Oh, that's just the start.... how about the teenage girls with the "how low can you go" jeans that show their thong underwear?

 

And the "rapper gangsta" two sizes too big pants some of the teen boys wear with their wadded up checkered boxer shorts showing over the top?

 

Ah.. and let's not forget "do-rags!"

 

Yo! We be stylin' on NCL!

 

(not going to post the pix here.. but if you want to know what I mean... go here:)

 

http://www.gazette.uwo.ca/.%2F2005%2F02%20february%2F10%2Fscans%2F01b%20thong.png

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38040000/jpg/_38040325_baggytrousers.jpg

 

http://www.firstlinemfg.com/images/SportsDoRag.jpg

[Surfgirl]

I'll be in a tacky neon Las Vegas hotel this coming Friday. I can't wait!!!!! :D

 

Well, that's fine. Different strokes for different folks. Some people like the big ships... I don't. You do.. and I'm sure you'll have a lovely time!

 

I'm just objecting that NCL is taking the "choice" away from us. It's behemouths or behemouths.

[Retired not Expired]

Well, that's fine. Different strokes for different folks. Some people like the big ships... I don't. You do.. and I'm sure you'll have a lovely time!

 

I'm just objecting that NCL is taking the "choice" away from us. It's behemouths or behemouths.

 

Although I don't believe dress is going as bad as you predit, I do agree about the size of the ships. The Sun is about as big as I want to go. I really enjoy one about the size of the RCCL Empress of the Seas. Cabins so small you must go outside to change your mind, but it is a ship to "cruise', not be on a floating resort.