How fancy is dinner really?

I've read the info on Carnival's website and some comments here. The comments here suggest the reality of it is far less fancy then their website suggests. We are going on the 4 day cruise from Long Beach > Catalina Island > Ensenada > LB. Does anyone have any first hand experience on this cruise? I don't wanna stand out...

Thanks!

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Yes, we've been on 5 of the 4 day sailings from Long Beach with Carnival. The short cruises are even less " dressy " than longer sailings. Dress up if you like but most people on elegant nights will be wearing business causal in our experience.

These cruises are beyond extremely casual.

Women wear lots of capris and sundresses regular nights. On CE nights you'll see lots of 'afternoon wedding' dresses and blacks slacks/sparkly tops. A rare few ball gowns. Older teens might rewear their prom dresses.

DH wears khakis and a Hawaiian shirt each night, he's not in the minority. For CE night lots of men either dress like DH or wear dress shirt and tie or sport coat without tie. It's rare to see men in full suits or sport coat and tie, maybe one tux.

I've read the info on Carnival's website and some comments here. The comments here suggest the reality of it is far less fancy then their website suggests. We are going on the 4 day cruise from Long Beach > Catalina Island > Ensenada > LB. Does anyone have any first hand experience on this cruise? I don't wanna stand out...

That is right. Smart casual seems to be the common attire nowadays. Of course, there are still a number who wear the tux and gowns, and you will not be overdressed if you do.

That is right. Smart casual seems to be the common attire nowadays. Of course, there are still a number who wear the tux and gowns, and you will not be overdressed if you do.

I just got off the Imagination in Long Beach (4-day cruise) last month. I saw NO men in tuxedoes and maybe a handful of women in long prom dresses on "Elegant Night". If you wear either, you will definitely be in the minority.

I was pleased, however, to see that passengers dining in the MDR did dress according to the stated Carnival standard for that evening. There were no shorts, T-shirts, flipflops, etc.

How dressy can it possibly be with no tablecloths in the dining room? :mad:

Yeah, when they allow shorts and tank tops in the MDR on "elegant" nite, not very fancy.

How dressy can it possibly be with no tablecloths in the dining room? :mad:

sorry, i don't see the correlation

Whatever you'd wear to a casual restaurant with a $15-$25 per entree price is about the level of the MDR.

You get waiters doing mock strip teases to tacky music too on "elegant" night. Ooh la la

sorry, i don't see the correlation

That's because there isn't one. ;)

Very few places, even rather high-end ones still use tablecloths. But some people just cannot let that particular non-issue go.

I guess I don't understand the table cloth thing :cool:

How dressy can it possibly be with no tablecloths in the dining room? :mad:

They always have tablecloths on elegant nights. American Table or not.

I guess I don't understand the table cloth thing :cool:

I think this person mistakenly thinks that American Table has no tablecloths on elegant nights. Which is not true. It's only on non-elegant nights that there are no tablecloths.

sorry, i don't see the correlation

Probably because there is none.

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How dressy can it possibly be with no tablecloths in the dining room? :mad:

I would probably say you have not eaten at many fine dining restaurants. Not all fine dining have table clothes, BTW Carnival is not fine dining. The Steakhouse is close.

As fancy as you want to make it

I've read the info on Carnival's website and some comments here. The comments here suggest the reality of it is far less fancy then their website suggests. We are going on the 4 day cruise from Long Beach > Catalina Island > Ensenada > LB. Does anyone have any first hand experience on this cruise? I don't wanna stand out...

 

Thanks!

 

 

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Carnival is not fancy at all.

I'll admit after I had a few cruises under my belt, I stopped dressing up on Elegant Night. I was dressed "well" but it wasn't elegant or fancy. I actually changed after dinner into my "club clothes".

I've read the info on Carnival's website and some comments here. The comments here suggest the reality of it is far less fancy then their website suggests. We are going on the 4 day cruise from Long Beach > Catalina Island > Ensenada > LB. Does anyone have any first hand experience on this cruise? I don't wanna stand out...

 

Thanks!

 

 

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For what it's worth, here is a link to the actual dress code. It is pretty lax. They do not always strictly enforce it, but it is not hard to dress in line with the code and still be comfortable. "Cruise Elegant" is dress pants and dress shirt, jacket and tie are both optional.

Have a good cruise.

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1093/~/what-to-wear---evenings

It gets fancier on longer cruises where the demographic is older.

Carnival now allows "dress" shorts for elegant nights...*sigh*

Just off the Elation, did not see any Tuxedos, a few suits, all the rest was nice casual. There were table cloths which we liked, the food and service was very good to excellent on all nights we went to the MDR. The Elations MDR is the best we have experienced on any Carnival ship that we have sailed on. Very impressed by this older ship...

I see the garden gnomes have been busy scrubbing threads and keeping everything unicorns and puppies. Opinions only are accepted if they are that of the masses. What a shame.