Men's formal night dress question

[Orcrone]

I'm going to be on a 10 day cruise. There are three formal nights and I'm not sure how many informal nights. Due to the weight elevator I ride I only have one suit and one sport coat that fits. What do most men take with them for formal nights on cruises of this length. Do you suppose one suit with several different shirts and ties will suffice for formal nights. Same question regarding the sport coat and informal nights.

 

Thanks,

Orcrone

[doone]

Aren't you the brave one!!!!!

 

Absolutely, you'll be fine.

[bombero]

I think one suit and several shirts and ties would be more than adequate.. That's what I would take, there's only so much room in a suitcase.. Perhaps you should take a poll??.. Bombero

[ekerr19]

He is very brave - starting this post up... :D

 

Marc, you will be fine. DH brings one tux and one sport jacket for 10-day cruises.

[Orcrone]

Didn't think I was brave, just wondering.:) Actually I have two suits that fit me when I weighed 30 pounds more and another that fit when I weighed 60 pounds more. The way I eat on a cruise I may have a different suit that fits for the last formal night.:eek:

[FlorenceItaly]

Rent a tux, and pack one suit...will save room :). Trust me, your wife will love seeing you in a tux ;).

 

Marie

[jhannah]

How do you dress?

What do you wear?

Some people insist.

While others don't care.

 

HAL speak it plainly.

The rest jabber (mainly.)

So give it a rest.

Just dress up your best.

[RevNeal]

Do you suppose one suit with several different shirts and ties will suffice for formal nights. Same question regarding the sport coat and informal nights.

 

Marc, you may have noticed that in several posts on another thread I outlined an easy way for a man to be dressed fully within the code and, yet, bring minimal dress clothing. Based upon what you've said, both in what I quoted above and everything else I've read from you, my guess would be that you'll be perfectly fine indeed!

 

When I'm "working" a 10-day cruise (as a chaplain) I don't normally take a tux ... I just take a black suit, two clerical shirts, a white dress shirt and a tie. In your case you should be perfectly fine with 1 suit, 2 dress shirts (white for the formal nights), and 3 different ties. If you're like me, you'll need to have one or both of the dress shirts washed, starched, and pressed ... do it, it's not that expensive and it really helps on that final formal night! Relative to informal night, unless you plan on wearing it to the embarkation port I would not bother packing a sports jacket but, rather, on informal night I would wear the suit and a colored (dark blue, perhaps) button down shirt (without a tie). :)

 

I know most of my traditionalist friends consider my advice heresy, but I look at it this way: unless you really want to go fancy (and there are valid reasons for doing that), renting a tux is really not necessary unless one can't or just doesn't want to bring any dress clothing with them at all. Yes, I like how I and other men look when dressed in Tuxedos, but that's why I own one. I cruise enough, and attend enough land-based social events which require black tie (or clerics), and so it makes sense for me to own one. And, since I own one, I usually take it with me ... even on the shorter 7-day cruises. However, if you're not going to buy one, and don't have a reason or a desire to really go all-out on formal nights, I can't see any reason for anything more than a single dark business suit. If you're worried about that suit getting a little too worn looking, don't forget that the ship has an excellent dry-cleaning service ... I use it on most cruises and am never disappointed.

 

Now ... IF you want to pull out the stops and go full-bore, you CAN rent or buy a tux. I would suggest buying ... they're not expensive and you can find some very nice traditional ones through several various sites on the internet (E-mail me for links or just google them ... there are a bunch of good suppliers out there).

[dakrewser]

Ditto to what RevNeal said (although I wouldn't run out and buy a clerical collar just to have one!)

 

:)

[RevNeal]

I wouldn't run out and buy a clerical collar just to have one!

 

The clerical shirts are not expensive ... but the vow of obedience to one's Bishop, along with the other things one must give up in order to validly wear one, can be. :D :eek:

[Tvisitor]

I have a tux, so I bring a tux (emphasis on "a," as in "one"). I do bring a couple different of shirts, ties and cummerbunds, and two studs/cuff-link sets to change my look, but only one tux. Before I had a tux, I brought one suit on a 7 night cuise (two formal nights) and just dressed it up differently for each formal night with different shirt/tie/cuff-link combos. One night I used a bowtie, the other night not. You will be fine for three nights with one suit IMHO. Moreover, with the style change that permits long ties instead of bows even for formalwear, it can be hard to distinguish between a suit and a tux these days IMHO; and even before that, a bow-tie with a dress shirt and a dark suit always looked good to me. As I say, I used that look myself before I bought a tux. Try it. You might like how you look.

 

P.S. I also only bring one sport coat.

 

P.P.S. If I were you, I would not rent a tux for a cruise. The rental price is too high. If you want a tux, buy one, but don't buy one just because you think people on your cruise will look down on you if you don't have one. That will NOT happen on HAL for sure.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

On a 10 day cruise there will 3 formal and 2 informal nights.

My husband wears a tuxedo on formal nights and has several different bow ties and cummerbunds. On the other nights he wears a sports jacket, shirt, and tie.

There are lots of places where you can buy a tuxedo very cheap - don't always have to buy one in a tuxedo shop.

:)

[ekerr19]

:)

 

On a 10 day cruise there will 3 formal and 2 informal nights.

 

My husband wears a tuxedo on formal nights and has several different bow ties and cummerbunds. On the other nights he wears a sports jacket, shirt, and tie.

 

There are lots of places where you can buy a tuxedo very cheap - don't always have to buy one in a tuxedo shop.

 

:)

KK:

 

My DH invested in his tux after our first cruise together on the Veendam... it has served him well! I agree, you don't have to go to a tux shop.

 

We got a very good deal on his (Sale:D ) at Men's Warehouse. Men's Warehouse also has a nice selection of ties, vests, cummerbunds and cravats... many different themes; including holidays, tropics, etc.

 

I bought DH a burgundy & black vest with matching bow-tie - he loves it - I liked it at the time; once he wore it, I thought it made him look too much like a Vegas card dealer... so both tie and vest have been mysteriously "misplaced"...

 

I think some of the themed accessories can be quite cute - DH isn't too fond of many of them, however he will wear the holiday accessories on a holiday cruise.

[lknick]

What you propose meets both the spirit and the letter of HAL's dress protocol...be they code or suggestions.

 

If you want to buy a suit or tux, try ebay.

 

If you want to buy a tux, try the tux rental places. This is a good time of the year as proms and weddings are over.

 

And, as my Brit friend says, "GOOD SHOW" on your weight loss.

[Lovebirds]

Ona 12 night cruise two years ago, I did exactly as OP was asking about. I had one dark suit, one light colored sport coat that I could wear with dark slacks or the suit pants and several shirts (some colored, some white) and ties.

 

There was a couple at our table where the gentleman was in tux several times. I don't think that any of us were over or under dressed. Everyone at our table was well within the dress code.

 

I'm starting to plan for the 112 night and I will have the above plus a black tux, a white dinner jacket and cummerbund/tie sets in a couple of different colors. I'm sure I could get by with less, but we are driving to the ship and the amount of luggage is not a problem, so why not have a little variety.

[ekerr19]

Wow - 112 nights!

 

Enjoy & make sure you let us know all about the cruise when you get back (or while you are on it - if you have a chance).

[Lovebirds]

Wow - 112 nights!

 

Enjoy & make sure you let us know all about the cruise when you get back (or while you are on it - if you have a chance).

We will have our laptops and wireless cards so, hopefully, we will be able to smuggle an ocassional message to the outside world:D

[kruzkeen]

I bought a tux at a tux rental store. It was very reasonable, much cheaper than than buying at a store.

The one I bought has adjustable buckles at the side of the waist band. My wife said it is the same principle as maternity slacks. I can adjust the waist from 34" to 38". As the waist expants the pleats on the front widen. This, to me, is a great advantage.

[BorderLady]

I bought a tux at a tux rental store. It was very reasonable, much cheaper than than buying at a store.

Another source is bridal shops. They have lots of rental tuxes for the May-June bridal rush, then sell them down to their winter inventory level.

[F5Loar]

HAL is the cruise for you! HAL has by far the simplest easiest no frills dress code that allows a man to pack one sport coat (can be any color or pattern), one dress shirt with collar to hold the 2 ties you pack. The pants can be houndstooth too but no jeans or shorts please! Your two ties can be used the first two formals and on the third one wear the one your wore on the first one. No one will notice you didn't pack more than 2 ties unless you don't pick out and throw away your formal photos.

These same 2 ties if you wear a tie at all on informal nights will do fine. I think the polls here say you don't need a tie on informals just the jacket.

Should your jacket start to produce foul odors by the 5th night, HAL does have on board dry cleaning.

[Orcrone]

Thanks everyone on your great suggestions.

 

Kruzkeen - 34 to 38. That would be perfect for me. I'm a 34 waist at the start of a cruise. At the end, well slightly higher.:D