Least Formal Seabourn Cruises?

Might anyone suggest Seabourn cruises that have the least formal nights or none? I respect people's preferance for formal nights but i have given up a career of wearing dark suits etc and would very much like to try Seabourn and not feel completely out of place.Any opinions would be appreciated! Thanks

I've only been on one Seabourn cruise so others may have more informed thoughts, but our Caribbean cruise, Caribbean Hideaways, only had one formal night for the seven day cruise.

My significant other hates dressing up so I gave him the option of eating in the suite for the formal night. Lucky for me he decided to dress in his suit and eat in the dining room, but many people did choose to eat in their suites.

The rest of the cruise was very casual and he felt very comfortable. Dockers and a polo shirt served for dinner attire. Some nights we ate at 2, the more casual restaurant, but only because the menu there appealed to us more that day.

We were both really impressed with the Seabourn experience and can't wait for an opportunity to sail again.

Jackie

Although Seabourn is considered to be one of the dressier lines (but not as dressy as Crystal) there are always opportunities to enjoy yourself and not do the formal thing. For example, on formal nights in the Restaurant an alternative is the veranda cafe (known as "2" at night), where a sport coat, no tie, is adequate for men. On longer cruises (two weeks or more) there are generally 2 formal nights each week but Seabourn will occasionally toss a formal night overboard and schedule something entirely different. So while they do enforce the dress codes Seabourn is also sensible enough not to take them too seriously. It's part of the fun, not a matter of regimentation.

just a quick question about the Carribean cruises then - are men are not required to wear a jacket in the dining room on most nights (except formal night?)?

thanks in advance

Roz

just a quick question about the Carribean cruises then - are men are not required to wear a jacket in the dining room on most nights (except formal night?)?

 

thanks in advance

 

Roz

We have sailed the Caribbean quite a few times on Seabourn--usually a normal week is 2 nights formal, tux or dark suite--2 nights semiformal, Jacket tie optional, but majority of men do wear tie--3 nights casual, no jacket required, but a few men do wear jacket with casual shirt. Usually the casual nights are first--last, and deck Bar B Q night. Our next cruise is 11 days Caribbean--we have just received our pre registration book--it says we will have 3 formal(black tie) nights on this cruise--I'm guessing 4 semi and 4 casual! Really dress is no big deal on Seabourn--there are always other dining options rather than the dining room! Don

We are booked Dec 1-15 on the Pride Caribbean:D and have one formal night each 7 day cruise. So only 2 formal nights for us, which is fewer than ever before, so I am inclined to think the Caribbean cruises are more casual. Robbie

I was on the Legend in April from Barcelona to Nice. There was only 1 formal night. Last year I was on the Spirit for 7 days Istanbul to Venice and that also had only 1 formal night.

I thought I'd just copy the info from Seabourn's website for you, with regard to the different levels of "formality":

One of the great pleasures of cruising aboard Seabourn Pride, Spirit and Legend is the glamour of evenings at sea. Guests appreciate the contrast between the special atmosphere of formal evenings, which occur two nights during a one-week cruise and three to four nights, depending on the itinerary, on a two-week cruise, and the more informal ambiance that prevails on other evenings. Each day in the ship''s program, a dress advisory designates appropriate attire for The Restaurant after 6:00 pm. It will be specified as one of the following:

Formal: Tuxedo (alternatively a dark suit) for men, evening gown or other formal attire for women.

Elegant Casual: Slacks with a jacket over a sweater or shirt for men. Sun-dresses, skirts or pants with a sweater or blouse for women.

Casual wear is welcomed in the Veranda Café on evenings when dinner is served there.

Casual: Slacks and a sweater or shirt for men, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse for women.

2 (evenings in the Veranda Café):

Either Casual: Slacks with sweater or shirt for men; sundress, slacks or skirt and top for women.

P.S. Although this says formal nights occur twice in a seven day cruise, I just received my cruise documents and only one formal night per week is listed. Keep in mind, unless specified, this dress refers to the Restaurant.

Jane:rolleyes:

With the luggage restrictions on flights these days, I doubt we will be attending too many more "formal" nights. For our next cruise we are lucky, as going from Oz to the USA, for some strange reason we are allowed extra luggage (not much extra when you are talking about heavy suits etc.) We had thought our next cruise would be somewhere in Europe....our luggage restrictions for a flight there is 30 kilos on most airlines :eek: and thats in Business Class. Looks like Room Service in our pj's for us in future!

Hi Foxberry,

Good to see your computer is up and running again. Looking forward to our cruise too! Just received our documents..not long now!!

Greetings from England :)

Rapunzal - Looking at your countdown clock gave me shivers, :eek: excitement on the one hand and fear on the other! I must get organized for not only the formal nights but the entire two weeks. Are you sure we can't talk you into joining us for the second week?;)

We are finally back online, give me a jingle at Foxberry at netzero dot com. Robbie

We are booked Dec 1-15 on the Pride Caribbean:D and have one formal night each 7 day cruise. So only 2 formal nights for us, which is fewer than ever before, so I am inclined to think the Caribbean cruises are more casual. Robbie

7 day cruises everywhere only have one formal night. Designated 2 week or longer cruise will have more. We had 4 in 2 weeks on the legend in july/aug.:cool:

seabourn is decreasing the number of formal nights

only once a week and on informal a tie is not compulsary;

seabourn is decreasing the number of formal nights

only once a week and on informal a tie is not compulsary;

Can't believe Seabourn in cutting back to one formal per week! We have sailed Seabourn 14 times, and never had less than 2 formal nights per week--our next cruise to the Caribbean Feb. 2008 3 formal nights. This according to the cruise book we received last week. Seabourn would lose a lot of regular passengers if they cut back the number of formal nights--they are the highlight of the cruise!

LaPaloma,

Seabourn is not cutting back on the formal evenings ~~as I disembarked the Pride on Oct. 31st, we enjoyed 4 formal nights in 12 days. I was happy when our Club Party was designated formal dress. Do you remember when the Club Party was held in the Constellation Lounge and was always formal ~~~now, too many Club members for the small room.

On our TA Crossing's, I think we may dress more evenings than not.

I love to dress for cocktails and dinner and enjoy seeing Officer's, Staff and Guests looking glamorous ~~

We're enjoying "Arizona" weather in West Texas this week, but I'm afraid it won't last ~~~cold fronts will be coming soon.

Martita B.

Martha--Weather has been great--perfect for golf --even shot my age last week. I knew you would agree on the formal nights--nothing like walking into the dining room and seeing all the beautiful people in there fancy duds!!! Don

Don

Seabourn has always been known as a "dressy" line ~~ and I predict will stay dressier than most cruise lines. For those Sailor's that do not enjoy dressing for dinner a less dressier line (perhaps Sea Dream Yacht Club) may be their "cup of tea."

Congratulations on shootin' your age ~~~was it a 39 ???? (I know you can not be over 40)

Cheers!:D

MB

An ACD on my last Seabourn cruise agreed that Seabourn will remain a "dressy" cruise line because it is an "integral" part of the "product." At the same time, if the demographics turn strongly against "dressing up" Seabourn will do whatever is neccesary to remain competitive. And "dressing up" does not always have to mean "formal."

The day we hear questions like, "Can I wear capri pants or dressy jeans for dinner in the Restaurant?" I'll know the "dressing-up" days on Seabourn are coming to an end.... :rolleyes:

Mr Matt,

You can rest easy ~~~capri's and dressy jeans in the dining room (in the evenings) will never happen!:confused:

And I agree as to "dressy" doesn't mean formal ~~~Country Club elegant comes to mind.:p

Martita

Please don't go "nondressy"! Our first Seabourn experience is coming up in March. I was so excited that we could "dress up" a couple of times. Just received documents stating only 1 formal night. Plan to do extra "informal". Oh well.

There is never a problem with dressing above the suggested dress code

We are good w/ jacket and very nice shirt for hubby and dressy dress but not formal or cocktail pant outfit is good for me, and we can do formal one night, but after that, we are not hot for additional formal nights.

Please don't go "nondressy"! Our first Seabourn experience is coming up in March. I was so excited that we could "dress up" a couple of times. Just received documents stating only 1 formal night. Plan to do extra "informal". Oh well.

I agree...there is not a problem with dressing up more if you prefer. Don and I are generally in that category. Like you, we enoy it. We live in Tucson, and get really tired of the extremely casual lifestyle. We received the info that we will have 3 formal nights on our 11 days...Febr/Mar...and we like that. Lola

Judging from what I have read here, it seems to be acceptable to wear non formal clothing on formal night everywhere but the dining room. Is that correct? We are considering our first Seabourn cruise as the itinerary works best for us, even though we don't care for formal dress at sea. We loved Silversea, except for the policy that formal dress applied everywhere on the ship. I understand there are people who love that, we just want to work around it as much as possible without offending.