Formal Dining Dress Code Enforcement - Lack Thereof

Ok, time for me to stir the pot a little and vent also. I see a lot of folks in this forum who've been cruising for years so I'd like to see what they have to say about it.

Last year I went on my very first cruise. Took the Radiance OTS to Alaska. This was my first cruise, so I didn't know what to expect. Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely. The only fly in the ointment (actually more like a hornet) was what is referred to as "Formal" night in the dining room. I was part of a extended family group, of which included my sister-in-law and her husband, who are experienced cruisers. When she informed me of the dress requirements for dinner on these nights I was extremely upset. I feel that I'm on a vacation, not a business trip. After raising several levels of hell (and my blood pressure) over it, I relented and packed my suit along with a couple dress shirts and tie. :(

When the time came, I dutifully put on my suit, dress shoes & shirt, and a tie along with the rest of my party and walked down to the dining room. There were a lot of other folks also in their "Sunday Best". But I also saw a lot of others dressed little better than beach bums who were also allowed to enter and be seated. Needless to say I was about to come unglued! I felt like I'd been played for a fool!:mad: I guess the staff didn't have the gonads to say anything to these folks.

If anyone from RCCL management (current or former)monitors this forum, I'd love to hear what they have to say!

Welcome to CC. If you spend some time on here you'll notice that "dress code" threads are only outnumbered by tipping threads (or more recently mattress threads:eek:). This issue has been discussed a lot.

Formal night dress is a suggestion and as you found out many folks don't adhere to the suggestion. Now you know, you don't need to pack formal wear for the next cruise if you don't want to.:cool:

Welcome to CC. If you spend some time on here you'll notice that "dress code" threads are only outnumbered by tipping threads (or more recently mattress threads:eek:). This issue has been discussed a lot.

 

Formal night dress is a suggestion and as you found out many folks don't adhere to the suggestion. Now you know, you don't need to pack formal wear for the next cruise if you don't want to.:cool:

OK, that's good to know! I was already contemplating leaving the dress clothes at home.

Since you mentioned it, I noticed on our invoice that we get automatically charged for gratuities. I'm curious how much of this goes to the room attendant and servers in the dining room and how much goes to the rest of the staff. We gave cash to both our room attendant and servers on our last trip, and will probably do the same again in April.

I also noticed the automatic 18% on drinks - I guess I won't be tipping the bartenders anymore!

What they said...

 

Since you mentioned it, I noticed on our invoice that we get automatically charged for gratuities. I'm curious how much of this goes to the room attendant and servers in the dining room and how much goes to the rest of the staff. We gave cash to both our room attendant and servers on our last trip, and will probably do the same again in April.

 

I also noticed the automatic 18% on drinks - I guess I won't be tipping the bartenders anymore!

Prepare yourself for the wrath of the tipping police.:cool:

Prepare yourself for the wrath of the tipping police.:cool:

Pro- or Anti-tipping police?:D

Pro- or Anti-tipping police?:D

Well, you can have both, but most likely, pro.

Having been on twenty-six cruises, I have never been able to understand why some folks concern themselves with what others choose to wear. What others wear has no impact on the enjoyment of my cruise whatsoever. I am too busy relaxing, and enjoying my meal and me darling wife's company. And for those who concern themselves with such things, I have never worn a hat or wife beater shirt to the MDR nor have I worn shorts or t-shirts to dinner. On the so called formal nights, I choose to wear a shirt with tie, dark slacks, a jacket and shined shoes, but it is my choice.

The only hard and fast rules for the MDR are no shorts, flip flops, hats and tank tops on men. Some slobs still manage to slip by, often because the staff is hesitant to confront them. If someone is disrespectful enough to flaunt these simple rules, it stands to reason they can get pretty ugly if asked to go change.

Dress on formal night is suggested but not mandated.

Having been on twenty-six cruises, I have never been able to understand why some folks concern themselves with what others choose to wear. What others wear has no impact on the enjoyment of my cruise whatsoever. I am too busy relaxing, and enjoying my meal and me darling wife's company. And for those who concern themselves with such things, I have never worn a hat or wife beater shirt to the MDR nor have I worn shorts or t-shirts to dinner. On the so called formal nights, I choose to wear a shirt with tie, dark slacks, a jacket and shined shoes, but it is my choice.

I suppose I was taking the term "Dress Code" too literally? The website defines dining dress codes for dinner as either "Smart Casual" or "Formal" depending on which night it is. When I see the word "code" I think of laws or regulations e.g. building code, codes of conduct, etc., not suggestions. I didn't read the language as "Dress Suggestions". This is not to say that I did not enjoy the meals or the company of my family. But if you're going to say the dress code is formal then why not enforce it? I realize I'm asking a question that the answer is already known - they don't want to "offend" any passengers, so nothing is ever said.

If your not going to enforce a rule, just get rid of it. Just have the attire "smart/casual" for the entire cruise and do away with the formal.

If your not going to enforce a rule, just get rid of it. Just have the attire "smart/casual" for the entire cruise and do away with the formal.

Likely coming and to confuse matters, it might be called "chic" (from sister Celebrity line).

Sounds like when I sail RCCL my tux will be staying at home.

Sounds like you should be more upset with your sister in law and her husband, the "experienced" cruisers. As experienced cruisers they would have known what actually occurs on the ships.

Ok, time for me to stir the pot a little and vent also. I see a lot of folks in this forum who've been cruising for years so I'd like to see what they have to say about it.

 

Last year I went on my very first cruise. Took the Radiance OTS to Alaska. This was my first cruise, so I didn't know what to expect. Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely. The only fly in the ointment (actually more like a hornet) was what is referred to as "Formal" night in the dining room. I was part of a extended family group, of which included my sister-in-law and her husband, who are experienced cruisers. When she informed me of the dress requirements for dinner on these nights I was extremely upset. I feel that I'm on a vacation, not a business trip. After raising several levels of hell (and my blood pressure) over it, I relented and packed my suit along with a couple dress shirts and tie. :(

 

When the time came, I dutifully put on my suit, dress shoes & shirt, and a tie along with the rest of my party and walked down to the dining room. There were a lot of other folks also in their "Sunday Best". But I also saw a lot of others dressed little better than beach bums who were also allowed to enter and be seated. Needless to say I was about to come unglued! I felt like I'd been played for a fool!:mad: I guess the staff didn't have the gonads to say anything to these folks.

 

If anyone from RCCL management (current or former)monitors this forum, I'd love to hear what they have to say!

You're mad because your sister made you look nice and others without sisters looked like you wanted to.

There are no "rules" for dress. They are guidelines. No one except ones sister makes you dress up rather than looking like a slob.

Sounds like when I sail RCCL my tux will be staying at home.

I see very few these days

I don't mind bringing a suit, but the CODE should be enforced as the OP says.

On the other hand, It's OK with me to leave the suit home. Either way is fine, but make a choice. Mixing it up is not comfortable for me.

I think RCCL should change formal to optional formal like some other lines do. Saves all this angst.

For the first time this year DH will be dressed in a buttoned down long sleeve shirt and dress slacks on formal night. C&A told me it was perfectly fine to do so.....so there!

I don't mind bringing a suit, but the CODE should be enforced as the OP says.

 

 

It is a suggested dress code, and many cruise lines like X has changed to accommodate changing dress styles.

 

No one says you cannot does to the NINES if you prefer. A few cruiser still do.

I will agree there should be a BASE standard for the MDR one that is easily to enforce and achieve by cruisers.

Example ME, I have not owned a suit for 20 years and have no intention to buy one just to cruise. I do take a sporty sports coat on cruises I take from where I live in Florida, but NEVER on a cruise I have to fly to. My lady and I look great, but NEVER Formal !!!!!!!!!

I don't mind bringing a suit, but the CODE should be enforced as the OP says.

 

On the other hand, It's OK with me to leave the suit home. Either way is fine, but make a choice. Mixing it up is not comfortable for me.

It's not a code. The only ones that say the word code are here.

The cruise compass will say suggested attire if it says it at all

We sailed Radiance in Alaska a couple years ago, and we found that for that sailing, guests were MUCH less likely to dress formally than on our previous warm-weather sailings.

I concluded that it had much to do with the itinerary. Alaska sailings seemed to us to be much more about the scenery and the ports than shipboard life. That was certainly the case for us. Also, people need to bring warmer clothes, leaving less room for formal wear.

Just my observation.

Ok, time for me to stir the pot a little and vent also. I see a lot of folks in this forum who've been cruising for years so I'd like to see what they have to say about it.

 

Last year I went on my very first cruise. Took the Radiance OTS to Alaska. This was my first cruise, so I didn't know what to expect. Needless to say I enjoyed it immensely. The only fly in the ointment (actually more like a hornet) was what is referred to as "Formal" night in the dining room. I was part of a extended family group, of which included my sister-in-law and her husband, who are experienced cruisers. When she informed me of the dress requirements for dinner on these nights I was extremely upset. I feel that I'm on a vacation, not a business trip. After raising several levels of hell (and my blood pressure) over it, I relented and packed my suit along with a couple dress shirts and tie. :(

 

When the time came, I dutifully put on my suit, dress shoes & shirt, and a tie along with the rest of my party and walked down to the dining room. There were a lot of other folks also in their "Sunday Best". But I also saw a lot of others dressed little better than beach bums who were also allowed to enter and be seated. Needless to say I was about to come unglued! I felt like I'd been played for a fool!:mad: I guess the staff didn't have the gonads to say anything to these folks.

 

If anyone from RCCL management (current or former)monitors this forum, I'd love to hear what they have to say!

Think of it like a theme night like 70s night, white night, country and western night and you wouldn't be so upset. Optional participation and the dress suggestions are just a point of reference. Not mandatory. Why would you expect others to do something you didn't want to do yourself?

Sounds like you should be more upset with your sister in law and her husband, the "experienced" cruisers. As experienced cruisers they would have known what actually occurs on the ships.

I am sitting here looking at my cruise compasses from my last three cruises and every night in the cruise compass says "Suggested Dress" including formal night. A lot of people are still living in the days of when it was actually a "Dress Code". There are people who bring dress clothes for formal night and don't wear them when they find out they don't have too. Our table mates on our last cruise who are good friends of ours now, dressed for the first formal night but chose not to on the 2nd formal night. We were dressed on both nights, but it did not bother us in the least bit that they chose not to dress up for the 2nd night! It did not take away from us dressing up. In fact the next cruise we may go that same way... dressing up on the 1st night but not the 2nd! :cool:

I can understand why you are upset, you packed the wrong items. Just so you know for your next cruise, leave the formal wear at home and pack a mattress topper, egg crate, and pillows.

Your first instinct was correct.

There are a couple of questions that come to mind.

1. Did you feel comfortable?

2. Did you enjoy yourself?

Nothing else really matters.