FORMAL NIGHTS WHy DO US AUSSIE FEEL THREATENED

Hi ,

I was flicking back through some old posts and suprisingly the most talked about subject was formal nights.Why do these nights tend to strike fear into the hearts of most of us Aussies .They are not essential to go to...you can eat at the buffet,it doesnt require you to behave or speak any differently.....must be that we have to dress accordingly.I have to wear a collar and tie to work daily and I have a suit in my wardrobe at home for occassions that require that dress.I prefer casual attire when im on Holidays but I think its a nice thing to do for your wife/partner just once on a cruise to dress for dinner.All ladies like to dress for a special occassion as most of us dont go out to dinner every night.To go into the city ,stay the night at a hotel and eat at a 5 star restaruant then go to a show costs an arm and a leg and most of us would do it maybe once a year perhaps....and we rave about.....yet we can do that every night on a cruise dressed casual....but we whinge about dressing up one nite.

just my thoughts

cheers

Col:)

Hi ,

 

I was flicking back through some old posts and suprisingly the most talked about subject was formal nights.Why do these nights tend to strike fear into the hearts of most of us Aussies .They are not essential to go to...you can eat at the buffet,it doesnt require you to behave or speak any differently.....must be that we have to dress accordingly.I have to wear a collar and tie to work daily and I have a suit in my wardrobe at home for occassions that require that dress.I prefer casual attire when im on Holidays but I think its a nice thing to do for your wife/partner just once on a cruise to dress for dinner.All ladies like to dress for a special occassion as most of us dont go out to dinner every night.To go into the city ,stay the night at a hotel and eat at a 5 star restaruant then go to a show costs an arm and a leg and most of us would do it maybe once a year perhaps....and we rave about.....yet we can do that every night on a cruise dressed casual....but we whinge about dressing up one nite.

 

just my thoughts

 

cheers

 

Col:)

Hi Col

I was on the Pacific Dawn last month and was actually surprised how many people did get dressed up for formal night. A lot had professional photos taken too (there was even a bit of queue jumping - waiting to get pics done :D).

I didn't get too dressed up. I wore a dress to dinner when normally it would be jeans or pants. I made a bit of an effort but i'm not into dressing up to the nines ;).

Hi Col

 

I was on the Pacific Dawn last month and was actually surprised how many people did get dressed up for formal night. A lot had professional photos taken too (there was even a bit of queue jumping - waiting to get pics done :D).

 

I didn't get too dressed up. I wore a dress to dinner when normally it would be jeans or pants. I made a bit of an effort but i'm not into dressing up to the nines ;).

fair comment...thats all thats required ...you made the effort out of respect

I agree competely, what a great opportunity to dress up, go for a beautiful dinner, go to a show and then maybe dancing or the casino - a real treat. Something you would only do on a really special occasion, and never really all in one night. We are going with teenagers and they think it would be so cool to do this. I don't know that you would need a jacket either, I think a nice shirt and tie would be fine, and black pants and a nice top for women would be fine too if you don't want to wear a formal dress. Especailly on a cruise with mostly Aussies.

If people feel threatened by this, no reason why they can't dress casual and eat at the buffet on formal nights.

I for one love the formal nights, since I hardly get the chance normally to get dressed up, and dine formally and all that. I dont wear the full formal type dress, but I have a couple nice cocktail dresses that I wear, and of course a gorgeous pair of high heels to match. And I dont have a boyfriend/partner, I cruise with friends, and wether they get into it or not doesnt bother me, I still have a great night

I love getting dressed up on the cruise. I just bought three new glitzy outfits for our upcoming one in February. If people don't want to that's OK too, they can eat in the HC.

I hope this tradition never dies out.

Having cruised from Brisbane & Sydney, you see many more people making an effort on the cruises out of Sydney. On Pacific Dawn last year there was women in ball gowns and men in tuxedo's. You very rarely see this in Brisbane.

But having said that, that's a reflection of Sydney vs Brisbane as well. Brisbane is much more casual in dress for "formal" situations landside as well.

Hi,

We'll be dressing up for formal night and looking forward to the experience. Wife and daughter bought new gowns for the occasion. Even 10 year old son will be wearing a suit, only cause he just went to a wedding!.

I can see where you are coming from though. We Australians aren't really dress up kind of people.

We couldn't believe the informality in Brisbane. Went to a wedding there in 2007 and were gobsmacked to see people in t-shirts and thongs at both the church and reception.

But if you think we are threatened by formality take a wander over to the Ocean Village board and read the post called, 'Godmum - Gawd help us'.

Cheers

Clive

Absolutely agree with you 'The Fox'.

Why do some people panic at the thought of having to 'get dressed up'. It's not as if they don't know the dress code prior to their cruise....or maybe they don't.:rolleyes:

I must say I am very happy to see the crew escorting someone out of the Dining Room, on a Formal night especially for not being appropriately dressed.

DH and I do love to dress in our formal wear, he in his Tux and me in an evening gown. Imagine if someone at the table came in wearing Tee shirt, shorts and sandels, sat down and expected to join in the Formal Dining event. They would spoil it for everyone, including the Formal table photo.:(

This hasn't happened to us personally but it did happen to our friends only three weeks ago. Needless to say, they were not impressed, as they, like us, enjoy dressing up for the Formal Nights.

Jillybean:)

Hi

On the Pacific Sun out of Brisbane it was very laid back and there was a huge variety of 'standards' on Formal nights. We certainly made an effort and it was lovely to have the formal portraits taken. Hubby doesn't own a tuxedo and would never normally have the need for one so we wouldn't buy one just for a cruise. He was fine in nice shirt, tie and smart pants but for our short sector on the Arcadia he knew a suit was a must. I guess climate also has to come into it - it certainly isn't too much fun to be overly dressed in hot humid conditions. It will be interesting to see the range of attire on the Rhapsody in December. Jillybean, last year were the men mainly in tuxedo's or will a dress suit be quite acceptable? I too don't own any really formal dresses but will certainly wear a nice cocktail type dress.

Even on smart casual we wouldn't go in shorts and t-shirts. I wouldn't dress that way going out to a restaurant on land so wouldn't do it at sea.

Oh so exciting, only just over 3 months to go and then we will see how look in your formal attire, Col & Jillybean !

Lesley :)

Hi,

 

But if you think we are threatened by formality take a wander over to the Ocean Village board and read the post called, 'Godmum - Gawd help us'.

 

Cheers

 

Clive

That is ok but please do not mention dress codes on the RCL or princess boards. and probably a few others!!!!!

Hi

 

On the Pacific Sun out of Brisbane it was very laid back and there was a huge variety of 'standards' on Formal nights. We certainly made an effort and it was lovely to have the formal portraits taken. Hubby doesn't own a tuxedo and would never normally have the need for one so we wouldn't buy one just for a cruise. He was fine in nice shirt, tie and smart pants but for our short sector on the Arcadia he knew a suit was a must. I guess climate also has to come into it - it certainly isn't too much fun to be overly dressed in hot humid conditions. It will be interesting to see the range of attire on the Rhapsody in December. Jillybean, last year were the men mainly in tuxedo's or will a dress suit be quite acceptable? I too don't own any really formal dresses but will certainly wear a nice cocktail type dress.

 

Even on smart casual we wouldn't go in shorts and t-shirts. I wouldn't dress that way going out to a restaurant on land so wouldn't do it at sea.

 

Oh so exciting, only just over 3 months to go and then we will see how look in your formal attire, Col & Jillybean !

 

Lesley :)

You're on the same cruise as us aren't you Lesley, 01 December?

It's not a must to have a Tux, many men don't. A lot of men wear a suit and bowtie or tie which is fine. I would say that more people dress up on Rhapsody than the other ships we've been on out of Australia, well that's what we noticed last year.

For the ladies, some like the long dress look and some the cocktail look, there was a mixture last year, but everyone looked elegant. Camera flashes were working overtime ;)

I'll tell you a story told so well by a friend of mine. They were on the QEll back in 2003. There are many Formal nights and everyone was wearing gowns and Tuxedo's. A couple who were at the table of our friends were talking about having many outfits to wear.

She stood up and said "look at this dress, only two weeks ago this was our lounge drapes"....and she meant it.:) :)

Jillybean:)

Hey Col.. I'll be looking forward to seeing you all dolled up in your tux next year :)

I couldn't agree more about it.. I actually loved formal night and although I didn't go full on formal but cocktail dresses (as they didn't have anything really formal in my small town) and I still absolutely loved it.. I had pictures taken with friends I'd made on the cruise and it was just great fun.. We didn't actually eat at palm court on the first formal night.. we ate at the steakhouse instead but the 2nd formal night we ate at Palm Court.. was just a really great time to really spruce up because in the town I live in.. there's no real occasions that you can go all out like that..

I'm so looking forward to my next cruise and this time I will be going really formal.. I'm going with my son who'll be nearly 13 and he's got a nice shirt, vest and black pants that he'll be wearing to it.. He only wants to go to one of them though.. he hates having to get dressed up but mum has the final say LOL Maybe if he enjoys the first one then he'll also dress for the second one too.. A mum can only hope LOL

We both also love getting dressed up for dinner. A cruise is such a special holiday. In normal life, we rush home from work, cook dinner, watch some TV, a few chores and off to bed, to start again the next day.

On a cruise, after a wonderful day exploring a new port or relaxing all day, we love having a shower and getting dressed for dinner. It feels so different to our usual life, so we really take advantage of it. Cocktails before dinner while we listen to music, attentive service at dinner and a delicious meal and fun conversation with fellow diners - getting dressed up just makes us feel even more relaxed and the holiday even more special!

one of the things i like about cruises is the dinning rooms each night where you get to have a 4-5 course dinner each night, something you would rarely do at home. on our 1st cruise 2007 i had to actually buy my 1st ever tie lol, then last year on the sapphire princess cruise i splurged out and and brought my 1st suit lol now i got to keep cruising as its the only place ill get to wear it. i do like the formal nights but if someone at our table turned up on formal night wearing jeans and nice t-shirt it wouldnt worry me at all cause on all my cruises so far, the last one especially, it is the people at the table that really make the dinning experience enjoyable, not the clothes they are wearing

ross

now just got to find another cruise so i can wear the suit again lol

One of the reasons we enjoy formal nights is the photo shoot.The photographers do such a wonderful job air-brushing my 'crinkles'.;)

Anna

Im with you Billy and Charlies mum i live in country area and dont get to wear nice clothes i went out and bought 2 beautiful outfits for our cruise (what a change from tracky pants) i loved it i felt like a queen and even my hubby looked good ha ha

But no one has to do it,i loved seeing all the ladies dresses and watch them have their photos taken

Ahh but now im back to mucking out the animals till next time

Min

WEhave a great laugh when we cruise from Australia / Brisbane. please dont get me wrong,

as we find that you have the pub type guys ( only drink beer and never get dress up) they great guys but get them on a cruise and gee no beer but cocktailies in there hands, no stubbies and singlets but well dressed gentelmen. great to see.

WEhave a great laugh when we cruise from Australia / Brisbane. please dont get me wrong,

as we find that you have the pub type guys ( only drink beer and never get dress up) they great guys but get them on a cruise and gee no beer but cocktailies in there hands, no stubbies and singlets but well dressed gentelmen. great to see.

So glad to see your postings are the same size as everyone else now. Makes it much easier to read :D

It doesn't sound like those posting in this thread feel threatened, which is good to see. :-) Experience counts though, so there are some who aren't bothered, or it's their first time and haven't had the right guidance and didn't bother reading all the details, which can make things difficult if you do want to fit in.

Of course, some don't care either!

So glad to see your postings are the same size as everyone else now. Makes it much easier to read :D

sorry i dont now what you mean,please do tell

Possibly the other issue with "dressing up" is the 20kg flying allowance...I have seen lots of people dressing up and I enjoy the dressing up experience but it is YOUR holiday do whatever you like..."up to nines" in the dining room or "come as you are" in the buffet...its called choice.

Possibly the other issue with "dressing up" is the 20kg flying allowance...I have seen lots of people dressing up and I enjoy the dressing up experience but it is YOUR holiday do whatever you like..."up to nines" in the dining room or "come as you are" in the buffet...its called choice.

yes the 20kg flying allowance.. would play som epart in im shore,and it dos as you are up for exess kgs on flights, great point.

can I suggest that Australians on P&0 ships are in general not the kind of people that get dressed up for a formal evening that offen. Maybe for a wedding or a year 12 do. lets be honest P&O is a buget crusie line, anyone can afford to cruise with P&O. I would have to say that the majority of people live very mundane lives in the suburbs. so dreesing up is something that they dont know how to do that well, or dare I say feel comfortable doing

can I suggest that Australians on P&0 ships are in general not the kind of people that get dressed up for a formal evening that offen. Maybe for a wedding or a year 12 do. lets be honest P&O is a buget crusie line, anyone can afford to cruise with P&O. I would have to say that the majority of people live very mundane lives in the suburbs. so dreesing up is something that they dont know how to do that well, or dare I say feel comfortable doing

i dont agree with mundane lives in the suburbs, but that your call and in australia we can do that all cool , as for me or us we love to dress up as we dont live in the burbs, we are country QLD