What is "Informal" night?

[Songhee]

Got my docs -- 4 formal, 2 informal, 12 casual. Ok -- formal I know. Casual I know. But what is Informal night?? Once again, I have to ask the experts!

[kakalina]

This is a controversial subject. If you do a search you will find many threds devoted to dress codes and there interpretation of same.

[RuthC]

It's the night men are expected to wear a jacket---tie is optional.
Women are expected to.... I don't know. Dress up a bit; more than casual, less than formal.
Gosh, darn. It's so hard to define. Maybe guest at daytime wedding when you like the bride. :confused:

[AlohaPride]

From what I've read Men have 2 options:

Sports Coat/Suit Jacket and Tie Optional (usually not worn)

or

Dress Shirt and a Tie, no Jacket...not sure on this last one

From what I've read Women have more options:

Great Dress Suit

Fancy Chuch clothes

Afternoon Wedding Attire

Coctail Dress

LBD

you get the point.... :D

[HoneyGV]

Got my docs -- 4 formal, 2 informal, 12 casual. Ok -- formal I know. Casual I know. But what is Informal night?? Once again, I have to ask the experts!

Well, I'd simply say, it's "dressy" but not "gowney or tuxey":D
OR as grandma used to say, "It's not a tie-a-sash-bow"

[RuthC]

Dress Shirt and a Tie, no Jacket...not sure on this last one
I am sure. Jacket is requested; tie optional.

From what I've read Women have more options:
LBD
OK, I'll bite. What's LBD?
edit to say: duh. I just got it. Sorry, Mary's "blonde" must be catchy.

[middle-aged mom]

And there's always the possibility that there won't be any informal nights. Our documents on our recent HAL cruise stated 2 formals, 1 informal, and 4 casuals. But the informal night never materialized, so on our last evening, we just put on our informal duds anyway. My husband looked pretty spiffy; in fact, we had just bought him a new sports jacket and nice slacks specifically for the cruise, and he was determined to wear his new finery. Golly, he looked nice. I fell in love all over again.:)

[hammybee]

[QUOTE=RuthC. Sorry, Mary's "blonde" must be catchy.[/QUOTE]

Precious.

[grannynurse]

I'm a blond... so what is LBD?
GN

[middle-aged mom]

I'm a blond... so what is LBD?
GN

Grannynurse:

LBD is little black dress. I'm going gray, does that count as blonde? I have my moments, too:eek:

Karin

[Aussie Gal]

I find that I dress nearly the same for both informal and casual as I do like to dress up a bit at night for dinner.

With regard to the men, my DH always wears a jacket, shirt and tie and good pair of trousers for informal nights but with casual he will wear an open necked shirt and good trousers leaving off the jacket and tie or even wearing the shirt and tie without the jacket depending on his mood for the night.

As we will be having 6 formal, 4 informal and 24 casual nights in a couple of weeks we will be resorting to a lot of mix and match.

Jennie

[Songhee]

Sounds like it is a bit open season! Thanks for the replies.

[Starbright]

Songhee

We're on the same cruise. As we're boarding in Vancouver our documents state 4 formal, 2 informal, 14 casual.

If you look on page 15 in your "Know before you go" booklet (which should have come with your documents) HAL states:

"During informal nights, dresses or pantsuits for women and jackets (tie optional) for men are standard."

My husband is taking a sport coat with him, but he's going to wear it for travelling so that he doesn't have to pack it in the luggage. I like to dress up so I won't be wearing really "casual" things any evening!

See you soon!

Starbright

[CCCM]

Sorry hijacking thread to ask Ruth for clarification of her comment.

So you dress differently for a wedding in which you like the bride than for one where you do not like the bride? :p

[boards]

Men wear a jacket and a tie optional. We were on the Veendam several years back and while waiting to go in for dinner a couple of husbands showed without their jackets and the wives sent them to their rooms to get them. Past threads I had read on this subject came to mind. The husbands came back with their jackets on, no tie. It was kinda funny at the time.

[RuthC]

Sorry hijacking thread to ask Ruth for clarification of her comment.

So you dress differently for a wedding in which you like the bride than for one where you do not like the bride? :p
Not I, m'dear. But had you seen how my step-children were dressed when I married their father you would know exactly what I mean. :eek:

[RevNeal]

I'll go ahead and post this, even though the answer has already been given:


For guys:

Formal night: Jacket and Tie (slacks and dress shirt, of course, are expected).
Informal night: Remove the tie from the Formal night garb; slightly more variety in color and cut of shirt and of jacket.
Casual night: Remove the jacket from the Informal night garb; greater variety in slacks, colors, and cuts.

The above gives a minimalist guideline. Going in reverse, and as rule of thumb, for casual nights wear slacks and dress shirt. For Informal Night, add Jacket. For Formal night, add Jacket and Tie. Done. Easy. Not a lot of packing.

In other words, one doesn't HAVE to have a Tuxedo on Formal nights ... but ... oh ... we guys look great in them! :D And, when one wears a Tuxedo on Formal night, then Informal night with jacket (and optional tie) IS a real difference. :D

[seniormiss]

A bit of clairification on daytime dress please, I'm wondering if jeans are ever OK during the day, I am a rather casual seniormiss and I do live in jeans. Going on Oosterdam to Mexico and curious about daytime dress on the ship. I do get it they are never OK at dinner in the diining room.
I have been on Celebrity and Royal a few times and I don't remember the dress code being so strict. I will be hanging out in the casino quite a bit of the time and will I be thrown out if I am wearing jeans?? If so maybe I won't lose as much money as I usually do.

[RuthC]

A bit of clairification on daytime dress please, I'm wondering if jeans are ever OK during the day,
Jeans are fine to wear during the day. Depending on when you are going, and your tolerance for heat, they may not be the best choice, but that's totally up to you.

[clueless2]

.
Casual night: Remove the jacket from the Informal night garb; greater variety in slacks, colors, and cuts.


Are "tastefull Hawaiian shirts" (if there are such things :) ) appropriate for casual nights?

[RuthC]

Are "tastefull Hawaiian shirts" (if there are such things :) ) appropriate for casual nights?
They certainly are appropriate in Hawaii! :D They're probably all right in the Caribbean, and any other hot-weather place, too.
Don't know that I want to wear one on casual night in Antarctica, though. :rolleyes:

[NoNoNanette]

A bit of clairification on daytime dress please, I'm wondering if jeans are ever OK during the day, I am a rather casual seniormiss and I do live in jeans. Going on Oosterdam to Mexico and curious about daytime dress on the ship. I do get it they are never OK at dinner in the diining room.

Much to the dismay of some HAL cruisers, blue jeans ARE permitted in the dining room on casual nights. (Just be aware that if you enter the dining room in jeans, you'll see a few heads explode ....which you might find to be the evening's entertainment....:p)

[RevNeal]

Are "tastefull Hawaiian shirts" (if there are such things :) ) appropriate for casual nights?

Absolutely!
Indeed, on Hawaii Cruises they state that all the nights in Hawaii are "Hawaiian Casual" and even the staff wears Hawaiian shirts. :D

I've got several, and they're GREAT for casual nights.

[2bout2c]

Grannynurse:

LBD is little black dress. I'm going gray, does that count as blonde? I have my moments, too:eek:

KarinMine is not a LBD mine is a 3-C dress. One you can wear to Church, Cemetary or Cocktail party. I've used that line so long. I guess I
need to make it a 4-C, since I wear it on Cruises

[mlmagic]

This is always so complicated, I ALWAYS overpack and over-process! On Hal's website, they get detailed about that and what to wear, hope that helps. once I cruised, I realized It's just common sense, I way overcomplicated it.
:)

[diboja]

I just wish that HAL would simplify things by having a couple of formal nights and then the rest as casual......do away with this informal business. Its a pain and in this day and age complicates the packing process......