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How formal are "formal" nights on Caribbean cruises?


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I've sailed both. Men could go in dining room on 2 Celebrity ships I cruised on recently without suit jacket on formal night. On Sapphire Princess last week men were turned away from main dining room without a suit jacket on formal night.
Celebrity no longer have Formal nights, they were replaced some time ago by "Evening Chic" with neither jackets nor ties required.

 

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Yes, it happened to 2 men right in front of me last week on the Sapphire. Then , during the same meal, the man sitting next to us came in holding a jacket he said head waiter lent him to hang on the back of his chair during main dining room formal night dinner.

There were 2 notices and formal dress code was in Patters. The ship sailed from Southamton, England May 5-12/18.

It must have been all those English formalists that caused them to be so strict. :D

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Yes, it happened to 2 men right in front of me last week on the Sapphire. Then , during the same meal, the man sitting next to us came in holding a jacket he said head waiter lent him to hang on the back of his chair during main dining room formal night dinner.

There were 2 notices and formal dress code was in Patters. The ship sailed from Southamton, England May 5-12/18.

 

Wow. What a way to treat the paying customers? I have been to Southampton, England several times and can verify with accuracy that it is not in the Caribbean as where the original OP asked for information.

 

Cheers

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  • 3 weeks later...

Has anyone been on Caribbean Princess in the last month going to eastern Caribbean that can comment on attire for men on formal nights as to if a tommy Bahama style shirt (plane not flashy) and dress slacks or dress slacks and a colored(blue or another color other than white) button down long sleeve without tie is acceptable on formal nights? Leaving very soon and need to know if we have to have tie or coat Which he would prefer not to bring. Thanks in advance.

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In my opinion, bring the tie, which takes very little space to pack. For formal night, wear it with the button-down collar shirt, and hope that you can get by without a jacket. That would be the minimum.

 

Tommy Bahama short sleeve Hawaiian-style shirts, which are worn untucked, would be fine for smart casual night.

 

Princess tries to have something for everyone. It depends how badly you wish to eat in the MDR. If you don't wish to eat in the MDR, there are many options for formal night:

 

1. Eat at the Horizon Court, which is completely come-as-you-are.

 

2. Eat at specialty dining, such as Crab Shack, Sabatini's, Crown Grill, Share, etc.

3. Order free room service.

4. Order Ultimate Balcony Dinner.

5. Order pizza from Alfredo's

6. Order hamburger, etc. from Trident Grill/ Salty Dog

7. Order wine and tapas from Vines, followed by dessert at International Cafe.

8. On a port day, eat at a restaurant onshore.

9. Or, simply book another cruise line.

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On a 7 day cruise, with 3 meals served per day in the MDR, that's a total of 21 meals served. Out of those 21, only TWO are formal night. So, only about 10% of the meals are formal night. It's a very low percentage.

 

You will find that the MDR is air-conditioned, regardless of the outside temp. In fact, the MDR often has cooler temps than the rest of the indoor spaces aboard ship.

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Has anyone been on Caribbean Princess in the last month going to eastern Caribbean that can comment on attire for men on formal nights as to if a tommy Bahama style shirt (plane not flashy) and dress slacks or dress slacks and a colored(blue or another color other than white) button down long sleeve without tie is acceptable on formal nights? Leaving very soon and need to know if we have to have tie or coat Which he would prefer not to bring. Thanks in advance.

Where what I wore to the DR on the CB last year in the Caribbean & it was fine without any jacket. I can't imagine wearing a Tommy Bahama style shirt with a tie?

Z

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Where what I wore to the DR on the CB last year in the Caribbean & it was fine without any jacket. I can't imagine wearing a Tommy Bahama style shirt with a tie?

Z

71zBf-JlV1L._UY445_.jpg

 

I love my guayabera and have been wearing it to formal night the last several years including a cruise out of Southampton. It looks quite nice with my dockers. Because of foot problems, I always wear my athletic shoes. I have never worn a tie on a cruise ship.

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I wore a short-sleeved TB shirt one formal night and "almost" got turned away..

 

Island Princess - Panama Canal - many years ago

 

we got me a long-sleeved Guay. type shirt at the next port and no problems since then

 

but now I always wear a long-sleeved shirt to the mdr on either smart casual or formal

 

that's just how I roll - no tie, of course, and sandals- no problem

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I am deciding between very similar Southern Caribbean cruises on Princess and on Celebrity. One difference in the on board experience that I've read about is that men tend to wear black tie or suits on Princess formal nights whereas dress is at least one degree less formal on Celebrity. Is this the case?

 

And while I have your attention, what do you think are the relative advantages of one line over the other? I've cruised 14 times on Celebrity but only once with Princess, and that was back in 2001.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Call Princess direct and ask them.....you will just get a lot of inaccurate opinions on here and falsehoods....for what it is worth (and we mostly do 20 and 30 day cruises) you can get in the dining room on Formal Nights in slacks, a dress shirt and tie....and if not complain to the Hotel Manager or Passenger services desk....that will usually get you in if staff is changing Princess Dress Code SUGGESTIONS!!! ;)

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I love my guayabera and have been wearing it to formal night the last several years including a cruise out of Southampton. It looks quite nice with my dockers. Because of foot problems, I always wear my athletic shoes. I have never worn a tie on a cruise ship.

You're the one who made me dig back in my closet to get my only guayabera shirt which I bought in Mexico some 20 years ago and never wore. I use to call it a taxi drivers shirt. :D

It's one of the most comfortable shirts I have.

I've been wearing it to all formal nights on all the ships even since & have retired my dark blue long sleeve dress shirt.

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