Questions on formal nights on Victory and a few more

[caribbean dreams]

On my cruises I have noticed no change in people dressing up. You still see men wearing a tux and women in long gowns.

 

I have also seen no change, still see men in tuxes & women is cocktail dresses & gowns.

Occasionally you will see a few men with just a shirt and tie BUT you would see that before the name change also.

 

My last Southern Caribbean cruise was very formal, many women in long gowns. Maybe it was the time of year, maybe we just had a ship full of people that just liked to dress up but i was very suprised that being such a port intensive cruise, that so many people took the time to really dress up.

 

I'll be doing the same route again in March and plan on dressing up again...hopefully with the rest of the ship again!

[steveaaaaa]

OK, fine...I know. I was on one last September and most (MOST) people dressed formally or at least wore nice suits (men). The women always dress nicely.

 

How about this steveaaaaaa; you wear what you want to (whatever your definition of that is) and feel great about it. You obviously have something against MOST people wanting to dress up a couple nights during the cruise. I think it'll be interesting to see who looks out of place. :p

 

I figured I will try and put this to bed and I just asked John Heald on his blog how people are dressing these days from his perspective since he is on a ship all the time.

When he replies I will post it here.

I asked about 3 things.

Formal (tux,ball gown)

Jacket,tie/Cocktail dress

Nice pants,shirt/Skirts,capris,ect

 

Steve:D

 

PS. I expect the majority to be Nice pants/Shirt for men and the Cocktail dresses for the ladies.But I have been wrong many times before.:D:p

[Cigar Dude]

I figured I will try and put this to bed and I just asked John Heald on his blog how people are dressing these days from his perspective since he is on a ship all the time.

When he replies I will post it here.

I asked about 3 things.

Formal (tux,ball gown)

Jacket,tie/Cocktail dress

Nice pants,shirt/Skirts,capris,ect

 

Steve:D

 

PS. I expect the majority to be Nice pants/Shirt for men and the Cocktail dresses for the ladies.But I have been wrong many times before.:D:p

 

Fair enough, but I can tell you this; there will be AT LEAST 3 men in tux's on the September 6th sailing of Victory! :D I don't mind standing out in a crowd! ;)

[2PinaColadas]

Is it really that big of deal steveaaaaa? Give it a rest. Let people call it what they want to and let people dress like they want. It really should not be a major issue.

 

OP-- I think you got answers to your questions. Tue & Thurs nights are formal/elegant/dress up/look your best/ nights. Personally, I'm taking one nice gown for the captain's party, one cocktail dress for other night. and a sundress for past guest party. All can be worn with the same shoes LOL. Every time I have packed DH a suit, he takes the jacket off as soon as he sits down, so he's wearing very nice slacks, shirts and ties.

[MrPete]

But I have been wrong many times before.:D:p

 

Finally some credence.

 

It's been asked and answered already. Just do a search and post. Why wait?

[sunseeker09]

When are the formal nights on the Victory? Becasue if one is on the Wednesday and we have to wait for our luggage I will handcarry our formal wear on.

 

This was the op's question. Something I was also curious about as well.... what nights?

 

Thank you to the 2 posters who actually answered the question that it is Tuesday and Thursday.

So to the op it looks like you won't have to drag your formal/elegant (whatever you want to call it... who cares!) on as carry on. We looked at leaving out of Barbados too, but it just didn't work out logistically. Enjoy your pre-cruise week in Barbados! :)

[Megnolia]

So... back to the dear OP!!!

 

You're boarding in Barbados, which is a port day for those who boarded in San Juan. You'll have a specified time to come to port, but you're right, you'll be boarding through the lower level gangway, and not the nice atrium entrance. The good thing, is that there won't be as many lines! But still maybe several hundred people who board in Barbados. You will probably bring your luggage right up to the ship, and it will be put onto carts at the door, although that would depend on how many people board with you, and how staggered the boarding time is.

 

You will have your own muster drill, it was in the lounge above the aft restaurant on our cruise. That will be on the first day you board.

 

You'll unfortunately have a wait a few days for the "welcome aboard" show. If you're into it!

 

And when you go to San Juan and everyone else is disembarking, you'll have special instructions about how you are to exit and return to the ship. You will not have to wait in line with the other 2000 people disembarking, and should not have to wait in the line of everyone else waiting to board.

 

I think the really cool part would be to explore and enjoy the ship for a couple hours when there's really hardly any one else on board!

 

Enjoy!

[steveaaaaa]

Finally some credence.

 

It's been asked and answered already. Just do a search and post. Why wait?

 

Can you provide a link to the answer. I searched John Healds blog and did not find it.

 

Steve

[steveaaaaa]

Is it really that big of deal steveaaaaa? Give it a rest. Let people call it what they want to and let people dress like they want. It really should not be a major issue.

 

.

 

 

Yes if the posters are under the impression they need to dress way up. Even a poster in this thread thought so until they read what I posted,now they are leaving the Formal home.

By them asking about a Formal night they do not know the dress code has been laxed.

 

Steve

[IslandToIsland]

For the men that wear suits....do you bring two? One for each elegant night or do you wear the same one and maybe change up the shirt and tie?

[MrPete]

For the men that wear suits....do you bring two? One for each elegant night or do you wear the same one and maybe change up the shirt and tie?

 

I only brought two, years ago. I got smart and now would only take one suit, or a jacket and dress pants. Even DW only takes one dress.

[EbonyBeauty]

Hi Everyone

Formal nights definitely still exist but it is just that the name has been changed to Elegant. I just came off of the Victory three weeks ago and there were two formal nights. Formal nights allow you to come out dress in your best attire whether it be suits for the gents and evening dresses for the ladies. Once there are no jeans, shorts, swimwear, flip flops or anything of the casual nature. So for all of those persons who are going on cruises soon, I would definitely suggest that you still pack some formal wear.

Cruises Taken:

RCI Adventure of the Seas - 21/10/2007

Carnival Destiny - 30/07/2008

Carnival Victory - 24/04/2009

Carnival Victory - 24/06/2009

[EbonyBeauty]

We are doing a stay and cruise in November, and since we are staying in Barbados for a week before our cruise, we join the cruiseship on the Wednesday and not the Sunday (which we have done in the past).

 

Now my questions are when we board the ship do we board as you normally do after a day excursion or not, if not how do we do it?

 

Does our luggage go straight to our stateroom, or do we have to wait for it as you normally do?

 

When are the formal nights on the Victory? Becasue if one is on the Wednesday and we have to wait for our luggage I will handcarry our formal wear on.

 

I know these may seem like silly questions but we have never joined a cruise half way through the trip, so I am just trying to understand what I am letting myself in for.

 

Thank you in advance for your help and advice :)

 

 

Hi Chloebags,

If you are staying in Barbados a week before your cruise, you would board on Wednesday, which means that you can come straight from the hotel and board the ship.

In regards to luggage, when you get to the cruise terminal which is situated in Bridgetown, you would be directed by staff where to go so that your luggage is placed in one area so that it can be loaded onto the ship. Once your luggage is loaded onto the ship you might have to wait about a hour or two for your luggage to arrive to your stateroom.

Formal nights on boarding in Barbados are Thursday (St. Lucia) and Tuesday (Dominica). What happens is that Carnival does two voyages at the same time so for those who embarked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, would start their itinerary with their first port of call being St. Thomas while for us who embark in Bridgetown, Barbados, our first port of call would therefore be St. Lucia. Which is the reverse to those who embarked in San Juan. I hope that I have been of some help to you in answering your questions.

Chloe, dont ever feel that you are asking silly questions because there are not so at all because knowing these tips do help you in enjoying your cruise vacation.

Cruises taken:

RCI Adventure of the Seas - 21/10/2007

Carnival Destiny - 30/07/2008

Carnival Victory - 24/04/2009

Carnival Victory - 24/06/2009

[cruisinthree]

No!

Don't change anything! Carnival relaxed the restrictions to allow people to bring less on flights, BUT you can still dress formal. I will be wearing my black tuxedo on my upcoming Victory cruise. There will be 3 guys in our group and we're all wearing tux's.

 

Some people are getting their panties in a bunch over the word "formal". To me it will always be formal nights. They call them "elegant" now. Go ahead with your initial plans.

 

Whew! I was beginning to think I would have to leave all my formal wear at home! Personally I love to see everyone dressed to the nines one night on a cruise. A cruise is the only time I ever put on something fancy and I rather enjoy it!! Thanks for clearing this up for me!

[steveaaaaa]

I figured I will try and put this to bed and I just asked John Heald on his blog how people are dressing these days from his perspective since he is on a ship all the time.

When he replies I will post it here.

I asked about 3 things.

Formal (tux,ball gown)

Jacket,tie/Cocktail dress

Nice pants,shirt/Skirts,capris,ect

 

Steve:D

 

PS. I expect the majority to be Nice pants/Shirt for men and the Cocktail dresses for the ladies.But I have been wrong many times before.:D:p

 

 

Well here it is from John Heald's blog............

 

John Says:

Hello Steve

Thanks for coming to the source. I am trying my best to let all my friends on Cruise Critic and Cruise Mates etc to come to me for the correct information rather than read speculative rumors on the boards.

We actually had a long discussion about our elegant nights during the recent Quality Control Committee meetings and whereas we all agreed that the second elegant night on a seven-day or longer voyage is one where fewer guests take the chance to dress up the first elegant night is still one that has the vast majority of the guests dressing accordingly.

We reiterated that the maitre d’s with the help of the cruise directors need to continue to enforce the dress code parameters on the first elegant night but we all agreed as well that very few people do not dress appropriately.

So, to break it down as you requested…………

Formal wear (tux,ball gowns)? – Easy to answer for the men as around 10% tend to dress in a formal tuxedo. However, I am not sure as to what a ball gown is these days but I will say a higher percentage of the ladies — maybe again 10% wear something I would consider a ball gown

Jacket and tie/Cocktail dresses? – This is the most popular combination with 80 % of the men and ladies wearing a business suit and tie and the ladies a cocktail dress.

Pants, nice shirt/Skirts,capris,ect – From what I have seen here on the Carnival Freedom I can tell you very few wear this type of clothing on the first elegant night. If they do, they don’t tend to come to the captain’s parties or eat in the dining room. They can of course as that’s still well within the dress code parameters but mostly business suits and cocktail dresses are what most wear. This is of course specific to the Carnival Freedom as it is most of our 5, 6, 7 and 8-day cruises. This may be different on our 3 and 4 day voyages though……………let me check.

Hope this helps and let me know if you need anything else

Best wishes

John

[Old Fan]

OK, fine...I know. I was on one last September and most (MOST) people dressed formally or at least wore nice suits (men). The women always dress nicely.

 

How about this steveaaaaaa; you wear what you want to (whatever your definition of that is) and feel great about it. You obviously have something against MOST people wanting to dress up a couple nights during the cruise. I think it'll be interesting to see who looks out of place. :p

 

 

Cigar Dude,

 

Let's give CHLOEBAGS a "heads-up"...we wear underware on our cruises.

[uc4tuna]

Hi Chloebags!

 

We are also going to stay for a few days in Barbados before embarking on the Victory on 9/30.

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the information here! I was a little apprehensive about joining a cruise half-way through, but I'm sure it will be fun regardless! :)

 

uc4tuna