Seriously... formal wear?

[sk8teacher]

No , they used to SPECIFY no jeans, along with no teak tops and shorts. It no longer says no jeans.

 

Not true. To quote from HAL:

 

"Please note: Your daily program will contain a notice of the dress for each evening. Jeans, t-shirts, hats, shorts, tank tops, swimwear and workout attire are not permitted in the dining room or Pinnacle Grill at any time, but are allowed in the Lido restaurant."

 

Cheers,

[alpogi8]

can you wear a formal dress from your country of origin? Barong Tagalog is one formal wear for men from the Phillippines. Any Filipinos on board will surely be proud to see me wear mine. Any comments?:)

[satxdiver]

can you wear a formal dress from your country of origin? Barong Tagalog is one formal wear for men from the Phillippines. Any Filipinos on board will surely be proud to see me wear mine. Any comments?:)

 

Yes. I have seen kilts worn by Scottish pax, US western wear, military uniforms and African formal wear (or at least it looked like it to a novice). I agree that it would be very fashionable for you to wear your native formal wear. Care to post a picture? I am curious now.

[luvtcrz]

Yes, he only owns jeans and wouldn't wear a tie for any reason. We have celebrated a lot events in jeans and that works for us. Believe it or not, there are a lot of men like him in the world. I don't own a black cocktail dress and would never use it outside the cruise. Unfortunately its too late to cancel, would have to pay for it anyway. Your post didn't make me feel any better. We are booked on the Holland to Alaska. We really want to sail and visit Alaska but I am even more worried now that we are not going to fit in with a cruise crowd. We are just not "uppity" formal wear people.

 

I love formal night. In fact it is one of the reasons that I cruise. I wear jeans and t-shirts every day of my life, but I do like to feel more "girlie" not "uppity" when on a vacation with my DH. My DH is an avid hunter, fisher, outdoors kind of guy (and I love it), but let me tell you that there is something about a good looking man in a pair of dark dress pants and a nice button up dress shirt. "It's hot!!"

[cheerygirl]

Going on our first cruise in 4 days (!) on HAL's Zuiderdam. OH has bought a tuxedo, and I have two long (very long) dresses for the formal nights (one fuschia pink chiffon, one purple chiffon), as well as a LBD in stain and 2 casual blue floral knee length dresses. I am 33 and the OH will be 40 on the cruise - will we be overdressed, or will we fit in? Doesn't really matter, tbh, because we both love getting dressed up, but don't want to appear TOO ridiculous (fortunately, OH is 6 foot 2 and slim - looks like James Bond in his tux!)

[marshhawk]

the cruise lines are enforcing a concept that is somewhat alien to a large group of today's travelers.

 

 

When did we as a society lose the respect of authority? We book a cruise and it says formal nights, and all I have been reading from most everyone is how to buck the system.

 

Why not enjoy the chance of doing something different, like dressing up? You certainly don't take a cruise so that everyday is the same as it is at home. If you wanted everything the same you would never go anywhere. When do you get compliments from other people? When you look the same day after day? Living should be about improving yourself. That said, because I do not dress up often enough, I enjoy the opportunity to, but I do not have to spend more on the outfits than I do on the trip.

[GlendaleCruiser]

There are plenty of dress pants, shirts and ties that are comfortable. I feel that most men who do dress up are glad that they did. They know they look hot!

 

For the women, there is nothing that feels better than wearing a "little black dress" or red, purple, green, silver, whatever is cute and comfortable -and-what's wrong with looking hot on formal night? Doesn't have to be the prom dress, either.

 

If you check out the thread for "Cruise Fashion" you will get a good idea of what people wear on formal night. I recommend this highly for First Time Cruisers. Runs the gamut, but 95% of the people make the effort to look great!

[satxdiver]

Hot is in the eye of the beholder. To me women with high heels or slim dress are not hot. Actually they are a turn-off. I will not go into what it reminds me of.

 

There are those that will dress fancy and there are others that choose a more informal type of dress. We all really do not have to look alike. The general population here in the US is moving to a more informal look.

[momiscool]

:confused: DH is FINALLY taking me on a cruise to the Caribbean in October. I've been reading all sorts of pre-cruise info.(glad to find this site!) Honestly though, my lifestyle has made formal clothing a thing of the past. So, if need be, I'll purchase a basic "that will do" dress. I've actually found several at not too bad a price at Travelsmith. BUT,they are certainly not "formal". More of the basic black knee length dress; reverses to a print.. Will this, with a pair of sandals do?

YUP! I wore as I wrote elsewhere, a plain Chicos travellers shift, with a shawlish thing and flat sandals and did fine in the Mediterranean. There is a range. DH wore a jacket and no tie. Some men wore ties and no jackets. Some women wore long gowns, some wore basics and dressed them up to cocktail level, like what you are talking about. Some people maybe just like dressing up. NOT ME. Travelsmith would be similar, and just fine. I took necklaces just in case I felt undressy, and they sat unused. should have used the space for more treasures to bring home! Plus, on Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas, anyway, there was always an alternate that was casual. The last "formal" night we were too relaxed to dress up, so we went to the casual place in nice shorts. not hot pants or bathing suits, just shorts and sandals. I kind of figured no one in this day and age can force us to all match in dressiness. We are the boomers, right? at least these two are---we do our own thing. sort of.

[shootr]

So on HAL, has anybody used the onboard rental service for the formal wear? I moved to a small town 6 years ago and miss the events of the larger cities that required a little effort in dressing up for the night, almost like a costume party but with pretty women everywhere!!!

 

So the option of just having the tux waiting for me when I arrive on the ship has many appealing pluses: No renting and packing it back and forth, same expense so no upcharge for the convenience, etc.

[sk8teacher]

I have used cruiselineformal.com on a couple of occasions and loved it. It's really nice to walk into your stateroom and see your tux hanging there. Save's room in your luggage.

 

I would caution however to only get the basic tux. Because it was a Grand cruise and we wanted to make it somewhat special, I upgraded to the deluxe tuxedo with extra vests etc. Unfortunately it never arrived so we wound up eating in the Lido for formal nights.

 

While that wasn't a big deal for us it was somewhat disappointing.

 

Cheers,

[GlendaleCruiser]

The general population here in the US is moving to a more informal look.

 

Sad to say, true. Since I live in the hottest part of the USA, where informal wear is king, let me be the first to say that I find it sad that people don't want to dress up for formal night. Formal clothes don't have to be expensive. On my first cruise, we spent a lot of time deciding what we could afford and what looked formal enough.

 

I wish people who are intent on bringing the rest of the world down to their standards would eat on the Lido deck in their cutoffs and rubber flip flops on formal night and let the rest of us enjoy dressing up instead of trying to bring everyone down to their standards. That's why formal night was created.

[Jeff'sBride]

Just don't eat in the dining room on Formal night - enjoy the buffet. We just completed an Alaskan Cruise (on Princess) the end of June and loved it -- We did chose to dress up (cocktail dress for me and suit for him) on Formal Night -- I was surprised to see some men in jeans in the dining room, if you husband is comfortable in jeans - go for it!

 

Enjoy your cruise -- I was very impressed with Alaska and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

Congrats on your Anniversary!

[satxdiver]

I have a solution. Block off a part of one of the MDR decks for those that want to dress formal and use the rest of the MDRs for those that choose to be less than formal. It would work since the need for a formal area is decreasing.

[Catladyesq]

Cocktail dress; dressy pant suit or long dress for formal nites. I have acquired a slew of formal dresses from our local Good Will. There are always a great selection of formal dresses. As you know many are only worn one or twice and then off to Good Will. I have gotten more compliments on my formal outfits and have only paid $15 for dress and $2 for a match wrap. Go for it. Have fun dressing up on the cheap.