Please define sandals!

[tropicalkerry2002]

Are strappy, heeled, open toe shoes okay in the dining room, or are they considered sandals?

I am thinking that they frown on flip flops, velcro closures, utilitarian sandals...in other words, COMFORTABLE sandals!

Am I right?

[orchestrapal]

You are perfectly right! Don't worry and just enjoy.;)

[cwn]

Here is that sandels comment again. It will be interesting to watch the Maitre'd check out everyone's shoes at dinner.

 

Our first cruise with Oceanis is a 35 day one. I definitely do not want to have an encounter with the Maitre'D at dinner over my "COMFOTABLE" and "utilitarian" but Rx flat sandels with inserts that are needed to keep my knees and back pain free. So I will wear my leather "Old Lady" walking shoes(also so with special inserts), the foot brace and use my cane to go to dinner so as not to have a problem with the Maitre'D!

 

I admit it is a bit of over kill as going to dinner is not like going off the ship for a day of touring.... But, I hope the Maitre'D will take the hint!

 

Guess the bright side is I won't have to rush so to redress if we are late getting back on the ship....

 

 

[tgg]

Were you a member of a country club and you could not comply with the dress code for a particular dining room FOR MEDICAL REASONS, you would explain the situation privately beforehand to the club manager. He would then communicate with the head of each dining room, explaining the situation so that you would not have a problem when you arrived for dinner.

 

Each Oceania ship has a hotel manager who can be approached the same way. A simple chat should take care of everything.

[Rosslyn]

Are strappy, heeled, open toe shoes okay in the dining room, or are they considered sandals?

I am thinking that they frown on flip flops, velcro closures, utilitarian sandals...in other words, COMFORTABLE sandals!

Am I right?

 

Yes, ordinary open toe sandals with heels are perfectly acceptable. This is just common sense - flip flops etc would not/should not be accepted anywhere as dinner attire (unless you're dining at MacDonalds!)

[cwn]

Were you a member of a country club and you could not comply with the dress code for a particular dining room FOR MEDICAL REASONS, you would explain the situation privately beforehand to the club manager. He would then communicate with the head of each dining room, explaining the situation so that you wouldnot have a problem when you arrived for dinner.

 

Each Oceania ship has a hotel manager who can be approached the same way. A simple chat should take care of everything.

 

I fine the above comment interesting. But I am not really surprised by the suggestion, given the concern that some seem to have over what type of shoe is acceptable in the dinning rooms. I personally think the Maitre'D should worry about what is above the knees, not below.

 

I do believe shorts, jeans, active sports outfits and beach wear have no place in formal dinning settings. But in the case of the man, on another thread, who was in shirt and slacks per dress code, but had on tennis shoes because of a foot injury and was sent back to his cabin to change shoes even though he explained the problem to the Maitre'D was really over the top! After all, the passenger is an adult. For the Maitre'D not to beleive the man, and make a scene is too much.

 

From what I had read on the board, until this shoe issue, I assumed that Oceania's staff was very atuned to passenger confort and need. That they were/are at least as aware of and considerate of the passengers as the mass market cruise lines staff is. Hopefully the above type of staff behavior is not the norm.

 

For what it is worth, we are members of a very fine club in a big city. We also regularly travel, cruise and visit eating establishments that have dress codes. Never once in the 25 years that I have been wearing less than apporpriate shoes (even when I was in my thirties) has anyone in any situation including a Maitre'D questioned my foot wear. Nor do I think that I should have to clear my footwear needs ahead of time with anyone.

 

I DO like to think that the people we have incountered over the years in business, social and curiseline settings(HAL, NCL, Cunard, Princess and Silver Seas to name a few) have had the good grace to assume that since my husband and I are dressed as required per code, that there is a some good reason for the shoes, if they even noticed!

[Golfette]

Oh dear, and I thought we would have no dress worries on "Smart Casual" Oceania. I must have missed something about the sandals. I wear "wedge" sandals with capris and skirts. Are these not acceptable. My husband wears nice leather flat sandals in warm weather with slacks and a sport shirt. Are these not acceptable.

[LHT28]

Oh dear, and I thought we would have no dress worries on "Smart Casual" Oceania. I must have missed something about the sandals. I wear "wedge" sandals with capris and skirts. Are these not acceptable. My husband wears nice leather flat sandals in warm weather with slacks and a sport shirt. Are these not acceptable.

 

Sandals on men for dinner I would not think acceptable

[cwn]

That sounds like "smart casual" to me! Actually, I wish my husband would dress down as nicely. He doesn't seem to have a middle ground-suits or shorts. Makes for packing problems!

 

But from some of the comments on some of the Maitre"D's actions, sounds like they are NOT with the program. Or at least their definition of smart casual is not what most think it is!

 

Guess we will see. I don't have a recent Oceania book, and I don't think I have seen anything on the web site(but could have missed that) about sandals with open backs or open toes or no heels or thick soles as a "No No". And I am not talking about beach shoes, that's a no brainer.

[LHT28]

Maybe they need to put pictures of the type of sandals acceptable & not acceptable in the brochure so everyone will have a clearer idea. ;)

[hondorner]

Two thoughts --

 

One, the fact that sandals are such a recurring subject, and the discussion is taken so seriously, is actually one of the most positive endorsements for Oceania I have seen. Imagine a cruise line that is so good that one of the primary concerns is footwear!

 

Two, on the other hand, the discussion has gotten so much attention that it might be time to have someone from "O" further enlighten us, like happened with the berry discussion a few months ago. C'mon FDR, now that you have "O" running so smoothly and well that sandals are the hot discussion, you should have time to check on it. :D

[phlewt]

OK, which of the following mens shoes (if any) would you think would be acceptable in the GDR?

 

[Rosslyn]

OK, which of the following mens shoes (if any) would you think would be acceptable in the GDR?

 

 

None of them!

[LHT28]

OK, which of the following mens shoes (if any) would you think would be acceptable in the GDR?

 

 

NONE of the above

[lahore]

Way too much fuss over this topic IMHO. I really can't believe that people care that much.

[cwn]

Ok, If the GDR is "country club casual" and a man is in a nice sports shirt, nice casual slacks and shoe #2 is a nice leather sandal why on eath would anyone care a flip.

 

I can see a problem with #1 and probably #4, more for color than style though. I think a dress code really should just be a guide for an over all look. Nit picking over the kind of shoe you can wear to achive the look is worrying way to much.

 

The days of the more formal old style sailing were almost gone when we cruised for the fist time on the Vistafjord in 1982!. It was great way to travel, loved that pre cruise shopping too! Of course, we had 7 full sized bags for that trip to the Med! But we had porters too!

 

Now, with all the airline restrictions, we are down to 2 carry ons and maybe one medium checked bag. Our next trip in Jan will have to be two carry-ons as we will fly local flights that have a very small weight/size limit!

 

I must say I had to laugh at the shoe pictures. In another life I was a school tracher-brought back memories of girls kneeling on the floor so I could measure the distance from the floor to the edge of their skirt! Of course, the same distance on a slim girl and a heavy girl had an entiirely different look! Not to mention the waste of class time to check all the skirts!

[cwn]

Way too much fuss over this topic IMHO. I really can't believe that people care that much.

 

Totally agree...and since I can't seem to hit the right key, I will stop trying. Good thing computers didn't enter the classroom till I was leaving it!

[cruiseyguy]

What about Crocs (black ones)?

[lahore]

"What about crocs, black ones?"

 

Totally acceptable, and you could accessorise them with some of those little plug-in decorations, like some cute animals and a flower or two. A classic look for all occasions, and flexible too. ;)

[LHT28]

The way I look at it ...think of the days of semi formal nights on a cruise a wear something that is in between that and country club casual. Not too fancy but not overly casual.

 

Different people have different ideas on resort casual or country club casual ...

Next it will be sweats to the dining room:eek:

[serendipity1499]

OK, which of the following mens shoes (if any) would you think would be acceptable in the GDR?

 

 

What about Crocs (black ones)?

 

Looks to me that the answer would be None.. According to many of your interpretations, neither the above styles or the Crocs would be acceptable for either Men or Women...

 

In Florida, usually Country Club Casual calls for either closed leather or closed boat shoes for men..

 

However, many Ladies wear very fancy dress sandals (some have no heels &/or no backs & some are thongs)when they have dinner in a fine Restaurant in Florida..

 

They will even wear this style with their long formal dresses: Don't know how to post the style, but here are the WEB sites

 

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/26248569/c/1766.html

 

or

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/26155951/c/19916.html

 

Both are $125.00 or more ...It would be very interesting to know if either of these styles are acceptable..

 

And then you have the $425.00 Cesare Paciotti! WOW:

 

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/26686024/c/120031.html

 

It would take all day to tie these up, but is this style acceptable ?:eek:

 

It would be nice if some Lady would dare to wear all or one of these styles in the near future & report back to us..;)

 

I know, I'm a troublemaker..Time to say Goodnight..LOL...:) Betty

[Golfette]

In country clubs near the coast in Southern CA (OC), #'s 2 & 3 are acceptable (for men) in Summer, but the ones I've seen are much more stylish and interesting. Women wear a variety of attractive sandals. The older the woman, the flatter the sandal.

[Twiga]

I sent an email to Oceania asking them if women may wear dressy sandals in the Grand Dining Room. Here is the reply I received today: "Dressy sandals that match attire would be acceptable in dining room." This is from Hotel Operations at Oceania Cruises, Inc. That is good enough for me! I'm taking my dressy sandals to wear to dinner.

[Wineart]

I'm finding all this discussion about sandals and the GDR quite amusing, so I may as well throw in my opinions. I am also assuming that most people are asking about dinner attire, not lunch.

 

I do not believe sandals in any form for men are appropriate for the GDR and specialty restaurants. I also do not believe Crocs are appropriate, no matter what the color or gender! Since Birkenstocks also created quite a bit of discussion on previous threads, I'll reiterate that I don't think these are appropriate either.

 

I'm a Floridian, and wear sandals most of the year. However, there are casual sandals and there are dress sandals. On my recent Oceania cruise, I wore dress sandals almost every evening to the GDR and specialty restaurants. The black Stuart Weitzman sandals I wore most frequently have 4 inch heels, open toe, open back, and are definitely dressy

(as well as quite sexy, in my husband's opinion.......!).

 

I love that Oceania doesn't have formal nights, and that the dress code isn't quite as rigid as on other cruiselines I've been on. However, I don't want to see the dress code become too informal in the GDR. My feeling is that if you really want to dress informally, then eat in your cabin or upstairs. I have a simple rule of thumb - if you have doubts about whether you're dressed appropriately for the GDR/specialtyrestaurants, then you probably aren't!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

This is so strange. Of course, women can wear sandals to dinner (nice sandals--I've even seen glittery flip-flops at the height of fashion.) In general I would imagine that men should not, but that those nice dressy leather sandals I would not imagine anybody would care. In case of health requirements, tell somebody, and I'm sure you will be accommodated (it beats waiting until some waiter tries to throw you out because you're wearing Birkenstocks!)

 

(Disclaimer: I have not been on Oceania--this type of rule does not make me very happy or welcome. I love country club casual, and know its limits.)