NeilT66

I may be wrong but I was basing it on what I would normally give at a decent restaurant i.e £50+

One can get lunch at the Chewton Glen, Britain's best 5* hotel, for just £25! So you tip twice that, each day?

That is just showing off :(

Just summarising Pepper's excellent post in verse :D

Applause :D:D:D

Would they:

Book Disney and complain about children?

Sail Carnival and complain about burger outlets?

Book Costa and complain about noise on board?

Sail Saga and complain about the number of old people?

Book AIDA and complain about the number of Germans?

Sail on a small yacht-like ship and complain there was only one/no pool?

 

So why is it OK to sail with Cunard, and then complain about the dress-code?

I wouldn't book Disney (don't want children), Carnival (big ships and down market), Costa (ditto), Saga (too many oldies), Aida (I have no idea who they are), but would book a small boutique cruise.

We chose Cunard for our first cruise because the ships are smaller, elegant, and still notionally British despite being registered elsewhere now. But, I fail to see why there is so much fuss about wearing a bit of coloured material around my neck. Most of those in Britannia on our recent cruise went tie-less on informal evenings, yet we all dressed smartly in my opinion. And on formal evenings, the great majority (myself included) wore DJs, but there were a few lounge suits on show. I don't complain about the dress code but about those who would impose it too rigorously.

In these times, people are a little more casual when appropriate and I applaud that. I am a local councillor and when I started 18 years ago a suit was almost required for meetings. These days we often dress casually, especially at committee meetings which are not as formal as full council. I also have the privilege to be Mayor of my town last year and this, and have been to rock concerts wearing my chain of office, open neck shirt and jeans - because that's what the other people there expect. The Fashion Police here would have me wearing suit and tie to such events resulting in complete embarrassment to all.

The majority of comments on this thread suggest that your enthusiasm for the social and sartorial mores of the 21st Century are not widely shared. Quite the opposite in fact.

It takes only one minute to add a tie, hardly an onerous task. Do you by any chance work for the B.B.C.? - they share your enthusiasm for a tie-less nirvana.

I no longer work for anyone, I retired last year. But I did work for the UK's largest manufacturing company and nobody cared too much about what we wore so long as it was clean and tidy. You can be smart without wearing a suit you know.

Dressing up in the evenings on Cunard should be de rigueur. When they say that a tie is optional you should always wear one. Why lower your standards just to join the masses? In the daytime it's not so important, within reason of course.

I spent almost my entire 38 year working life wearing a suit to the office, so dressing up for informal dinner now I'm retired is not something I particularly enjoy. I am very happy to wear my DJ on formal evenings, but you will rarely find me wearing a tie on informal evenings. I would suggest that "smart casual" is perfectly acceptable, and that those who criticise are just trying to impose their own somewhat old-fashioned views on others who have embraced the 21st Century more willingly.

I'll get me coat ... ;)