Take A Vote...do You Enjoy Dressing Up???

[thomasale]

I hate it but do it in deference to the other passengers...It is the only part of the cruise i am not in favor of

[Shari2]

We really enjoy the formal nights! We don't usually have a chance to dress formal in everyday life! It makes the atmosphere and the evening really special!

It is going to be a challange with the luggage this time, though, as we will be gone for 17 days, and DH has given me a limit on the luggage! :)

[tmt9367]

My first cruise was about 15 years ago and I was in my mid twenties. I was told by my FIL that there would be two formal nights, so I went out and bought my first tuxedo! I"ve been on over 25 cruises to date with four booked as of now and have never missed a formal night.

[SIZE=5]S[/SIZE]

[RSteele]

Our first cruise my DH would not even consider a tux...the next year he bought one and has worn it ever since. We (well, especially me) like dressing up and like having our picture made. I do agree that when we're shlepping (is that a word anyplace but Texas :confused: ) luggage to and from airports (especially European) I'm of a mind to leave it at home :p (the formal wear, that is). But, all in all, it makes good pictures that I'm sure each of my 4 children love to receive at Xmas :D

[Cindy G]

We love formal night and would like to see the dress code enforced, even more that it is now. We have witnessed men dressed in shorts in the main dining room. I am not sure how they got in, but they did. (It was not the first night...so lost luggage was not the reason.)
If men knew how great they look in a tux or dinner jacket, they would "dress" for dinner every night. Men in tuxes.....yummy!

[tmt9367]

[quote name='Cindy G'] We have witnessed men dressed in shorts in the main dining room. I am not sure how they got in, but they did.[/QUOTE]

They get in because the crew doesn't have the authority to tell them to leave!! Rules are not enforced because of the all mighty dollar!

[SIZE=6]S[/SIZE]

[pilewski]

NO, i just do what the wife tells me to do

[wv4891]

And I thought I had a firm grip on the presidency of that club. It is kind of nice letting our wives think they are in charge, isn't it?? And much easier on the stress level.;)



[quote name='pilewski']NO, i just do what the wife tells me to do[/QUOTE]

[wbrumel]

I wear a suit and tie every day for my day job and tuxedos for my night job. I really wish I didn't have to get dressed up on vacation but I abide.

[flagger]

I just have a question for all of you who enjoy getting dressed up. Why aren't/don't you dressed up formally every night of the cruise? If you like it so much, the day of the week or the dress code of the evening shouldn't really matter to you.

[Kevbear]

Good question Flagger, we were planning on a third formal night when going to the Normandy on a schedualed informal Cosmopoliton night just so we could get one extra night in our fancy dress duds:D

[texasgirl]

I don't mind dressing up, I just despise lugging the extra suitcase along to hold all the "trimmin's". I dress everyday for work and would just as soon be comfy and casual on my vacation. If it's a port night forget it; if we've had a sea day, I'm more likely to go along with the crowd but I'm back to those comfy clothes ASAP. (I stress comfy - not sloppy and tacky)

[woodofpine]

Take a vote... then no poll?

To answer the question, I HATE dressing up! It's a real pain... esp. w/young kids.

But once dressed, the entire family really enjoys being in formal wear for the evening!

[hotspur]

[quote name='flagger']I just have a question for all of you who enjoy getting dressed up. Why aren't/don't you dressed up formally every night of the cruise? If you like it so much, the day of the week or the dress code of the evening shouldn't really matter to you.[/QUOTE]

Good question. Furthermore, why not wear a tux to your local restaurant if you enjoy it so much? Why not throw formal dinner parties for your neighbors on weekends?

If a cruise line "requests" or "suggests" you dress formally, they should feel obligated to offer something commensurate in the way of entertainment or food or a prominent guest to justify it: a Metropolitan Opera-level singer, a prominent public person as a speaker, an internationally-known string quartet or soloist, or a prominent public person to be honored at a reception. Instead you get the Chinese acrobats or a clumsy magician or a juggler flipping hatchets. "Golly, Gladys, ain't this cruising stuff exciting. That guy's swallowing a flaming sword! And look what we're wearing!"

The food, as we have all voted, is hotel chain banquet grade at best--no Four Seasons at sea. Sorry, formal nights are nothing more than a vehicle to sell photographs, and any hope for ambiance is utterly ruined by all the staff trying to shanghai you into a spot for a photo op. No class whatsoever. "Magical," my tail.

On formal nights passengers should be given the opportunity to phone for an appointment for a sitting should they desire a photograph. There should be NO solicitations as passengers stand in line waiting like cattle to get into the lounge for the captain's reception and the obligatory free drink. The captain should not be standing in front of a photographer for an obligatory picture with EVERYONE as they enter. He should mingle around the room as you would in an elegant reception.

It's all a charade, folks, and it just makes me feel cheap. We've been to enough "real" formal affairs that we don't need this silly, contrived nonsense to get a thrill. The attitude that our having our picture taken with the captain is a big deal to us, is, quite frankly, insulting. Yes, I wear my tuxedo--custom-tailored and not rented or purchased sight-unseen on eBay--while just feeling like the whole thing is ridiculous.

As for the "tradition" malarkey spouted above...baloney. Any claim to "tradition" was forfeited when cruise ships added bingo, art auctions, the cheap and tawdry casinos, infantile games by the pool, trivia contests, rock-climbing walls, and the fact that casual attire is specified for the same restaurant, with the same food and the same service, three or four of the other nights in the week.

If a cruise line doesn't have the good sense of an Oceania, which has consigned all the formal nonsense to the dust-bin of eternity, it should at least offer the choice Princess does: if you get your jollies from wearing a ball gown, there's a restaurant where you can join others who feel the same and make-believe you're an Astor on the Titanic; if not, you can join others like-minded and dine comfortable and casually without the pretensions.

[cindy'njohn]

[quote name='marjmy']We on the other hand we tolerate the dressing up, it is not an important part of our vacation, my husband very much dislikes it, in fact he has only owned two suits in our 34 yrs of marriage, and one he bought last year for our Zenith cruise. We have been on 12 cruises. He was not impressed when we were invited to join the Captain for dinner one evening, once there (even tho only one in a suit) he realized the attire did not make the evening. Please do not suggest we cruise on another line as we have and this is just us, we choose to cruise on the X line because we like the ships and the itinaries.
Marjorie[/QUOTE]
itineraries

[chessbriar]

Yes, I enjoy dressing up. But it's not just a matter of us dressing up, but the atmosphere that is created by being among all the people that have dressed up. It's a wonderful classy feel that is created. You don't get that by being the only one dressed up.

So the best way to put it is I enjoy being a part of the atmosphere created by the formal nights.

[CruisingChick]

Yes, my husband and I love formal nights. The dress rules should be followed. Everyone looks so wonderful dressed up.

Anne Maria

[dublin]

Most definetly. That is the elegance of cruising.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

I don't recall asking anyone to vent their spleen...just answer the questions that were posed.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: Bingo, cards, horse racing, etc., were offered on the transatlantic run after WW I...

THE HISTORY OF CRUISING IS NOT A LOT OF "MALARKY" as you put it.

DO US A BIG FAVOR AND GO START YOUR OWN THREAD WHERE YOU CAN VENT YOUR OWN AGENDA...We have heard about the opera etc. from your previous post. YOUR ARGUEMENT REALLY HAS NO RELATION TO THE TOPIC ON THIS THREAD.

MORE THAN 90% OF THE RESPONSES HERE ARE POSITIVE...I would call that a vast majority.

I would ask the folks who are posting to please stay on topic and I would like to thank all of you who have responded in a "cheerful way".

ROSS

[Rustynail]

[b][size=3][color=red]I like to dress up, down, sideways, backwards.......and on formal nights I burst out of my cabin dressed like ?????????[/color][/size][/b]

[Ma Bell]

Hotspur,

I think you've been on another cruiseline. I don't recall any pictures with the captain on Celebrity. There have been lots of prominent speakers lately and one of the most entertaining concert pianists you'd ever want to see on our last Constellation cruise. I think you need to read the results of the food poll again. You sound like such a bitter and angry person. Whether this is the absolutely top of the world experience possible has nothing to do with people dressing up and enjoying themselves. Of course everything is not always perfect, but most of the people really appreciate the effort.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Nice to hear from you. As usual...your logic and facts are compelling.

ROSS

[RSteele]

Thank you [B]Ma Bell[/B] for the way you chose to respond to [B]Hotspur[/B]...I was "composing" in my mind a response when I read yours...it was much more considerate than what was going through my mind. I just can't imagine why a person would choose to subject themselves to a situation that seems to 'cause those feelings... :confused:

[ISABELLA]

Absolutely!

[Sky Sweet]

[b]Even though I enjoy formal nights I would like to see one change. We will be taking a ten night cruise on the Mercury in January and I wish there were only two formal nights, instead of three. That is because it is going to be difficult to pack three different formal gowns, in addition to all my other clothes.[/b]