NAVIGATOR Dress. Tux or not?

[Bruce4fun]

Going on RSSC Navigator next week. Tux for formal night or not?
Just returned from Silver Whisper where 99% had tuxes for 2 formal nights. Navigator has only 1 formal night.
Any Radisson experienced board cruisers who would like to advise me?
Thanks
Bruce
PS Looking forward to the Navigator!

[CeeJay11]

Bruce

We were on the Navigator for a 7 day cruise out of Bermuda last May and before the cruise we were told that there was one formal night. When we got on the ship, they told us NO formal nights so we took formal wear for nothing. I'd love to know if there is a formal night before we bother taking formal clothes so if you find out please let us know. We're on the May 18th cruise from Norfolk on the Navigator.

[hrprof]

We signed up for the Navigator NYC-Montreal cruise on 9/8. I can't find the Brochure, but my recollection is that all Navigator cruises out of the northeast prescribe informal or CC casual - no formal nights.

[travelingator]

Bruce, Just returned from a 10 night Navigator cruise. I brought my tux, (2 Formal Nights)however, many men did not have tux's.

[lapeter]

I don't know about the Navigator, but on the Mariner and Voyager on formal night it was about 50/50 on tuxes. I wore a dark suit and felt just fine.

[hrprof]

Ah, just found the brochure that describes Navigator April departures - dress code indicates just informal and CC casual. However, my experience on Mariner and Voyager indicate 50-50 tux on one week cruises, maybe 60-40 tux on longer trips. On the Silver Whisper we, as you did, saw many more.

[Ngaire]

I have always found more tuxes on the Silversea trips than the Radisson trips. On the RSSC world cruise segment I saw more tuxes than I have on any other RSSC cruise. Perhaps because so many are aboard for so long that it makes more sense to take the formal clothes as you get to wear them more often.

[giustot]

Hi Bruce. I just returned from the same 10-day cruise with travelingator. This was one of the more informal cruises I have been on in terms of dress.

Only 20-25% of the men wore tuxes so I wouldn't worry too much about feeling out of place without a tux. By the way, travelingator looked great in his tux.

I think there's less of a desire to dress formaly in the Caribbean. The Voyager Baltics cruise I took in August was much more dressy.

You'll have a great time. Tom.

[hrprof]

Tom
Delighted to see that you have returned to RSSC after the Baltic trip last fall. We did the Fort Lauderdale to LA Canal trip a few weeka ago and are going on Navigator for the first time in the Fall - what is your feeling Mariner vs Navigator?
Ted

[SeaScott]

Hey Bruce,

I assume you are on the 4/12 based on your text. I was also unsure on what to do. I usually bring the Tux and wanted to make sure for this cruise. I was told one formal night (this is also per our documents) and Raddison told me for the Carribean (day @ sea) they prefer and usually see most in Tux.

Hope this helps,

[giustot]

Hi Ted. So nice to hear from you. Yes, in spite of my wanting to try Crystal after the Voyager Baltics cruise, we took another RSSC in the Caribbean on the Navigator and were quite pleased.

It was a wonderful cruise made even better by the Cruise Critic friends we met on board. As soon as I have time I'm going to post a longer comparison. But here's the short version.

The standard cabins on the two ships are exactly the same. The Navigator is a third smaller than the Voyager. The advantage is that you can get to and from almost anywhere on the ship by walking no more than 200 feet. Mona is having knee problems so she really loved it.

I thought the food, overall, on the Navigator was better than the Voyager and more consistent. If I had to rate the meals, some of the meals on the Voyager were 10's but other's were 5's. All the meals on the Navigator were 8-9's. I did feel the menus on the last formal night and the final night of the cruise could have been of a bit higher quality. No chateaubriande like on the Voyager.

My cruise was nearly full and everyone tended to eat at the same time -- 7:30pm give or take 15 minutes. The result was the waiters had to deal with a full dining room and they were stressed. I felt the service in both the Compass Rose and Portofino's was inattentive and impersonal -- mostly because the dining rooms were so full.

I also felt the Navigator was a much more subdued ship than the Voyager. This may be due to the personalities of the cruise directors. Barry Hopkins on the Voyager was much more of a lively people person than Alan Brown on the Navigator. Barry had late night parties on the Voyager. But the atmosphere on the Navigator was such that 95% of the passengers went to bed after the show. Alan is a great guy. He just has a much lower-key personality and it translates to the atmosphere on the ship.

These are not complaints, just observations. We had a great time and it was a wonderful, relaxing cruise. Hope we can run into you and your lovely wife again soon. Have a great cruise. Tom.

[hrprof]

Tom
Thanks for the report. We toured the Navigator once while it was docked in Charleston - we really like the size of the ship and the suites are quite nice - we're going from NYC to Montreal - looking forward to sailing out of NY harbor.
Ted

[Bruce4fun]

Just returned from Navigator 4-12-07 Western Caribbean. Did NOT need a tux, there was 1 formal night, maybe 30% of men had on tuxes, the rest suits. A friend just returned from 5 day Diamond and was very angry the "did" have a formal night after being told there was not one.
Say hi to Brendan at the pool bar for me everone going on Navigator. Hes the tall English bartender by the pool all day.

[CruiseReviews]

I was also on the 4/12 sailing of the Navigator and did wear a tux on formal night. It was a rough night and very few people made it to the Captain's welcome aboard party (much less dinner) and I was glad I had my tux with me. One fellow in our group that did not pack a tux (much less a suit after being on the Mariner in Alaska) stayed in his cabin for the evening.

If you have a tux, take it. If not, don't worry about it and enjoy the evening. I don't think anyone really cares.

Tom

Tom Ogg
http://www.CruiseReviews.com

[JanMD]

Hi there,

We were on the Navigator last summer and went over to Bermuda and it was totally country club except for one night, and that was supposed to have been formal, our cruise had mostly families on it, and only about 10 percent of the guys had tuxes on. Polo shirts is what they had on at night. Hope this helps. Great cruise. enjoy!! Jan