"Formal" nights on Pride of America

[Zbayette]

So how does this work....are there specific dining rooms that are formal? Are there 'no surcharge' restaurants for both formal and non formal attire?

[Toyz711]

formal is usually polo shirts and kahkis, unless you want to dress up more. in hawaii, (for us) it would be hawiian shirts and kahkis. nothing more formal is require anywhere. the only diffference is if they allow jeans in one dining room or not. specialties are resort casual at all times.

[Zbayette]

formal is usually polo shirts and kahkis, unless you want to dress up more. in hawaii, (for us) it would be hawiian shirts and kahkis. nothing more formal is require anywhere. the only diffference is if they allow jeans in one dining room or not. specialties are resort casual at all times.

I thought they had so called formal nights as on other cruises???

[jame_g]

So how does this work....are there specific dining rooms that are formal? Are there 'no surcharge' restaurants for both formal and non formal attire?

 

No specific dining rooms. It's up to you if you want to dress formal. Yes, there will be peope who do dress up, but there will be more that don't. Remember, you are in Hawaii which is less formal to begin with.

[electricron]

NCL and NCLA don't have "formal" nights. You will not find any literature with that word at NCL's web site. Instead, you'll find the words "dress up".

 

Since NCL doesn't have "formal" nights, why have a "formal" restaurant?

 

Freesyle Cruising means more than having a choice of restaurants (where), the choice of time (when), and a choice of tablemates (who), it also gives you the choice of dress (how).

 

You can choose to dress up any night you wish. More of your fellow passengers will do so on Dress Up night, the same night that Lobster is served. But only about 30% will. 70% will still be dressed in Resort Casual.

 

I must write the following sentence 7 times a week, if not more.

Resort Casual dress attire is ALWAYS apppropriate on NCL ships.

[Zbayette]

NCL and NCLA don't have "formal" nights. You will not find any literature with that word at NCL's web site. Instead, you'll find the words "dress up".

 

Since NCL doesn't have "formal" nights, why have a "formal" restaurant?

 

Freesyle Cruising means more than having a choice of restaurants (where), the choice of time (when), and a choice of tablemates (who), it also gives you the choice of dress (how).

 

You can choose to dress up any night you wish. More of your fellow passengers will do so on Dress Up night, the same night that Lobster is served. But only about 30% will. 70% will still be dressed in Resort Casual.

 

I must write the following sentence 7 times a week, if not more.

Resort Casual dress attire is ALWAYS apppropriate on NCL ships.

Ok, thanks. My husband didn't want to bring a suit and I sort of wanted to dress up, so I was just curious what people do on "dress up" nights. Is there one dining hall where people dress up on lobster night? Or is it mixed attire in all dining rooms?

[Zbayette]

NCL and NCLA don't have "formal" nights. You will not find any literature with that word at NCL's web site. Instead, you'll find the words "dress up".

 

You can choose to dress up any night you wish. More of your fellow passengers will do so on Dress Up night, the same night that Lobster is served. But only about 30% will. 70% will still be dressed in Resort Casual.

 

Do they have a captains welcome cocktail party and/or farewell party on certain nights...usually when the lobster is served and so called "dress-up" night?

[Suzila]

Pride of America had 'formal night' on Tuesday...dress up if you want to take 'formal' pictures. We didn't, so we brought nothing formal to wear. The men in our group wore collared shirts and Dockers every night. The women in our group wore dresses, or slacks, or capris...nothing really dressy.

 

Wednesday night was lobster/prime rib night in the main dining rooms. One main dining room is closed two nights of the week (which I found very strange).

 

We did attend the captain's cocktail one night...can't remember which night it was. Hors 'doeuvres, drinks, short and sweet.

[Zbayette]

Pride of America had 'formal night' on Tuesday...dress up if you want to take 'formal' pictures. We didn't, so we brought nothing formal to wear. The men in our group wore collared shirts and Dockers every night. The women in our group wore dresses, or slacks, or capris...nothing really dressy.

 

Wednesday night was lobster/prime rib night in the main dining rooms. One main dining room is closed two nights of the week (which I found very strange).

 

We did attend the captain's cocktail one night...can't remember which night it was. Hors 'doeuvres, drinks, short and sweet.

Thanks! It looks like you just got back from yopur cruise. I presume you did the hawaiian island cruise. I'm going there in November on the same ship...anything you can tell me about it would be greatly appreicated.

[electricron]

Ok, thanks. My husband didn't want to bring a suit and I sort of wanted to dress up, so I was just curious what people do on "dress up" nights. Is there one dining hall where people dress up on lobster night? Or is it mixed attire in all dining rooms?

 

Just one restaurant will require Resort Casual, slacks and collared shirts, the rest of the restaurants will allows jeans with the collared shirt. Only 30% will dress up better than Resort Casual, some with just a dress shirt and tie, some in sports coats, some in business suits, and some in tuxedos.

 

Formally dressed passengers on NCL ships will almost always be in the minority.

[Suzila]

I posted a review about our trip at http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=31721

 

If you have any specific questions about it, let me know.

 

 

 

Thanks! It looks like you just got back from yopur cruise. I presume you did the hawaiian island cruise. I'm going there in November on the same ship...anything you can tell me about it would be greatly appreicated.

[RichNY]

Just one restaurant will require Resort Casual, slacks and collared shirts, the rest of the restaurants will allows jeans with the collared shirt. Only 30% will dress up better than Resort Casual, some with just a dress shirt and tie, some in sports coats, some in business suits, and some in tuxedos.

 

Formally dressed passengers on NCL ships will almost always be in the minority.

 

 

Just curious...where did you get the 30% figure??? and is it fleet wide or on a specific ship???

[electricron]

Just curious...where did you get the 30% figure??? and is it fleet wide or on a specific ship???

 

From my personal observations from sailing on many NCL ships, and from many others who have posted here.

Frankly, I would state those that dress up are lower than 30%, more like 20%.

[CC Help Michell]

The Hawaii cruises are even more casual than the rest of NCL's itineraries, based on our experience. For "formal optional" night (that's how I like to think of it) we attended the Latitudes party and ate at Alizar (a main dining room) on Pride of Hawaii. To my rough "eyeball" estimate, approximately 20% of the pax were wearing suits/tuxes and "sparkly" traditional formal night wear. Another 60% were wearing pressed khakis/Hawaii shirts/collarless silk shirts (for men) and sundresses or dressy-ish dresses/pants suits (for women). The last 20% were wearing jeans, polo shirts, capris, whatever.

 

No editorial comment on the propriety of any of this gear -- NCL only has a few rules about dinner dress; they are posted above. If you like them, sail NCL. If you don't, pick a cruiseline with a true "formal" night and higher expectations for passenger dress. The argument can be made (and has been) for other cruiselines with higher posted expectations for formal night that "underdressing" could ruin a fellow passenger's experience. For NCL that just shouldn't happen -- love 'em or hate 'em, they lay what they expect on the table and you should be responsible for educating yourself, as the OP is doing.

 

I can say that for a lengthy trip to Hawaii (even for a 7 day cruise it seems most pax stay 9-14 days with pre- or post- stays), and the necessity to fly, subject to airline baggage restrictions, to get there, packing true formal wear in with our snorkel gear, bathing suits, shorts, etc. would have been a huge pain. We did not feel "underdressed" for "dress up night" in a Hawaiian print sundress with a white sweater for the cool indoor temps for me, and ironed khakis with a nice Hawaiian shirt for SO.

[Don Haynes]

Different itineraries have diffferent numbers dressing up RichNY. I would think European cruises would have more, East Coast of US the next highest, and West Coast much less, and Hawaii the least. From around 50 percent down to maybe 25 percent.

 

Even though NCL/NCLA doesn't really have a formal night, you will not be the only one who hasn't dfropped your old habits of dressing up. You could dress up everynight if you wished.

[RSWBADGER]

NCL and NCLA don't have "formal" nights. You will not find any literature with that word at NCL's web site. Instead, you'll find the words "dress up".

 

Since NCL doesn't have "formal" nights, why have a "formal" restaurant?

 

Freesyle Cruising means more than having a choice of restaurants (where), the choice of time (when), and a choice of tablemates (who), it also gives you the choice of dress (how).

 

You can choose to dress up any night you wish. More of your fellow passengers will do so on Dress Up night, the same night that Lobster is served. But only about 30% will. 70% will still be dressed in Resort Casual.

 

I must write the following sentence 7 times a week, if not more.

Resort Casual dress attire is ALWAYS apppropriate on NCL ships.

 

Electricron: Have you ever sailed on NCLA, just curious, or does all your info come from the posts, reading brochures, how much actual experience? If you sailed the cruise you would have seen the "literature with that word".

 

This is from our POA cruise in March showing the "Optional Formal" nights. Click to Enlarge. Save your 6pt. Type please.

]

[tupperstamper]

We just returned from PoAm last month. The Liberty was the dining room for no jeans. On "dress up" night, the crew was required to dress formally. Even our room butler was wearing a tux. Most passangers were more casually. I wore a long Hawaiian print dress I bought at Hilo Hatties and my mom wore a Hawaiian print short dress that she already had. We didn't feel underdressed at all.

 

Lisa

[electricron]

Electricron: Have you ever sailed on NCLA, just curious, or does all your info come from the posts, reading brochures, how much actual experience? If you sailed the cruise you would have seen the "literature with that word".

 

This is from our POA cruise in March showing the "Optional Formal" nights. Click to Enlarge. Save your 6pt. Type please.

Optional Formal is "now" Dress Up As You Like Night, or Dress Up or Not Night.

[RSWBADGER]

It's August "now", not March. :D

Optional Formal is "now" Dress Up As You Like Night, or Dress Up or Not Night.

 

Did you read that or experience it. You haven't answered the question, have you ever sailed NCLA?

[electricron]

Did you read that or experience it. You haven't answered the question, have you ever sailed NCLA?

 

Read it. NCL recently updated their web site, and dropped "optional formal" for "dress up" night. Done within the last few months, definitely after March 2007.

[RSWBADGER]

dreaded double post

[RSWBADGER]

Read it. NCL recently updated their web site, and dropped "optional formal" for "dress up" night. Done within the last few months, definitely after March 2007.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=613181

 

Quote: momof5js

Thursday July 26th We decided not to plan any excursions for this day as we wanted a day to just enjoy the ship. So we just hung around the ship in the afternoon enjoying the pool and soaking up the sun. Part of our Romance Package included two massages. Mark didn’t want a massage, so they let me use the credit towards another service. I headed to the spa at 3:00 and had an hour long massage, a pedicure and my hair fixed for formal night.

We did formal night & got several pictures taken. I’ll try to post a link to them at the end of this post, if I can.

After formal night we had hors d’ oeuvres and a bottle of chilled champagne waiting on us. These we enjoyed on our private balcony.

 

 

7/26/2007:confused:

 

Quote: MICHELLP

This was formal optional night – we opted for aloha shirt and khaki slacks for SO and a Hawaiian dress for me, and we didn’t feel under dressed, although we did see some suits and cocktail dresses – no true formal wear or tuxes. We attended the Latitudes party, which was nice (good drinks – there was this blue thing that was really good!) – and as usual I didn’t win anything. Story of my life at those things!

 

7/17/2007