New Dress Code Designations?

Yeah, those phone agents are usually so reliable...

Just wanted to bring this up in case anyone else has any other ideas about what Cunard may be up to with these new "Gala Evening" and "Smart Attire" dress code designations shown in our voyage personaliser itineraries.

 

John

Sadly it is obvious that the management of Carnival does not care or understand the culture of Cunard and therefore the only option we have is to vote with our feet.

It pains me to say it but there you have it....

This is precisely what Carnival has wrought with Holland America Line over the last eight years. Just read the HAL Board and find out the results of that with their core customers. Indeed, I haven't sailed with HAL in eight years for this very reason.

I haven't taken my first cruise yet, but part of the appeal of Cunard is the formality of it; a throwback to another era. I like the idea of dressing for dinner, even for an informal night, and have been looking forward to it. It would be a shame if "smart attire" means that jeans will be allowed after 6pm.

Aside from the issue itself (I have the tux right here and I ain't afraid to use it!)

...why am I not afraid that we have cryptic and incomplete info on the website and total silence from Cunard?

Other lines would coordinate the reveal and then would have a flashy positive PR campaign promoting this great change. (Again, I personally don't think changing the code would be great, but the spin would push it that way)

- Mark

Stop Press !!! I had drinks in the Commodore Bar last night ( Q. Vic 26th March) with Angus Struthers , he informs me there is no change in the dress code descriptions. Hopefully, all this sounds like a glitch in the system.:confused:

Not really. If you want to find someone who knows nothing about his company, talk to one of its "Senior Executives". If you really want to know what's going on, talk to the receptionist. There is no way someone just changed these descriptions like that from 17 June onwards without a reason. And "Smart Attire" is a dead giveaway. Oceania calls it "Country Club Casual" which means the YMCA to some.

I was on a Princess Cruise and they called it:

• Skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies
  
• Pants and open-neck shirts for men"
  

Unfortunately to one person smart casual meant a clean T-shirt.

We will have to wait for the new definitions to show up to see what it really means.

I do think if they really change the definitions it will be bad for Cumard. There will end up being no real difference between that line and any of the other mainstream Carnival cruise lines. Really dumb marketing mistake.

We are also on M22, I've been checking voyage personaliser daily to see what the upcoming formal nights might be as they are something we really enjoy. Perhaps some were interpreting "informal" to mean its dictionary definition, i.e. casual clothing. I quite like the "smart attire" description.

If they remove the jacket requirement on the Smart Attire nights it means I have one less item to pack.

So we have Informal, Gala Evenings AND Smart Attire! Three dress codes????

Carnival UK (Cunard and P&O) have been overseen by Stein Kruse of Holland America Group since July so nothing should come as a shock. Dumbing down began made when management changed from Princess to P&O in autumn 2007. It's all about attracting the new demographic and profit.

No... I think you have two. "Gala Evenings" and "Smart Attire". "Informal" is gone. "Smart Attire" I absolutely guarantee you will be along the lines of Princess Cruises (see the above posting by LB-NJ) which pretty much you wear whatever you darned please. And people do, too. I swear at least a dozen men come to the dining room on Oceania on any given evening wearing baseball caps. And that's going the regs for "Country Club Casual" one better at that.

Anyway, it reminds of the infamous sign, affixed to the bulkhead outside of CANBERRA's Atlantic Restaurant (the old Tourist Class one): "NO HAIR ROLLERS ALLOWED".

So we have Informal, Gala Evenings AND Smart Attire! Three dress codes????

No, 2 dress codes, Gala Evening and Smart Attire as far as I can tell, but no definitions as yet.

If they feel the need to change the name of the code I’m fairly sure it means that there will be a ‘dumbing down’ of the dress requirements otherwise what would be the point?

JMO

So we have Informal, Gala Evenings AND Smart Attire! Three dress codes????

I agree with kohl57 and Glenndale that the "Informal" designation is going away. I had the same reaction about three different dress codes when I saw our voyage M822 lists "Informal (Jacket Required)" for the first evening (June 17) and then "Gala Evening" or "Smart Attire" for the remaining evenings. However, I now interpret that first evening as just being a holdover from the current dress code designations and everything from then on will be called either "Gala Evening" or "Smart Attire".

So we have Informal, Gala Evenings AND Smart Attire! Three dress codes????

Only 2 going forward,

If they remove the jacket requirement on the Smart Attire nights it means I have one less item to pack.

I would say "smart attire" still includes a jacket! Sorry!

We are on V820 departing Southampton 8th June 2018. First night is 'informal' other nights are split 4 'Gala Evenings' with a named ball and all other evenings are 'Smart Attire'. So three different dress codes with no description as to what they mean. Were out shopping today with the intention for DW to buy another evening dress, thank goodness she didn't find one!!

We are on V820 departing Southampton 8th June 2018. First night is 'informal' other nights are split 4 'Gala Evenings' with a named ball and all other evenings are 'Smart Attire'. So three different dress codes with no description as to what they mean. Were out shopping today with the intention for DW to buy another evening dress, thank goodness she didn't find one!!

Yeah, it would appear you are on the voyage (V820) where the cutover to the new dress code designations is occurring for QV. Presumably that's why the first evening is still listed as "Informal" for you, the same as the first evening of our voyage (M822) where the cutover is occurring for QM2. It looks like the cutover for QE is occurring on voyage Q818 (June 10 departure). If the pattern holds, I would not be surprised to learn that the first evening of that voyage is also listed as "Informal" in voyage personaliser.

Here is HAL's evening dress code and definition of "Gala Night." Let's hope Cunard isn't going to this.

• Most evenings smart casual attire is appropriate. Shorts, pool/beachwear, distressed jeans and men’s tank tops are best left to the daytime and are not permitted in fine dining restaurants.
  
• Gala Nights evoke the grand traditions of cruising as guests dress to impress for special events on board, including our five-course gourmet dinner in the Dining Room. For gentlemen, collared shirts and slacks are required in all fine dining restaurants.
  

Collared shirt and slacks--polo shirts and khakis, as someone said--is not my idea of dressing to impress!

Sure, we can all dress up if we want to. But if Cunard dumbs down the dress code to this extent, the ambiance of formal (oops "gala") nights will be diluted to the point of nonexistence before long.

...

 

Sad. Cunard is going down the same road as Holland America it seems.

...

My last cruise on Holland America was shortly before they changed "formal " to "gala." The definition of formal included "jacket or tie" and it wasn't enforced. The majority of gents, however, did wear jacket and tie and there were several in dinner jackets/tuxedos, including me. There were also two young men wearing T-shirts and baseball caps. HAL's definition of gala has been dumbed-down from what it was for formal.

Some on this forum have mentioned the number of dress codes. When we first started crossing on the Queen Mary 2 there were three dress codes: formal, semi-formal and elegant casual. Each had a definition.

If the dress standards are lowered, it is not mandatory for any of us to follow it. I think most regular Cunard travellers view the dress code as a minimum. I have never gone to dinner on a Cunard ship without a jacket and tie since our first crossing in 1973 and I don't intend to lower my standards.

I would say "smart attire" still includes a jacket! Sorry!

What will matter though is what Cunard says it is.

I was on HAL at the beginning of March. Not everyone complied with their "Gala Nights" dress code. A few in polo shirts without jackets, a few wearing blue denim jeans...

Hi,

Cunard should have provided the definitions of "Gala Evening" and "Smart Attire" at the same time that it added these new terms to the Voyage Personaliser. Because it changed the terminology, there must be a change in the dress code. However, this change is not clear until it provides the new definitions. I am guessing that the new dress code will be similar to the dress codes on Holland America and Princess.

Chuck

Hi,

 

Cunard should have provided the definitions of "Gala Evening" and "Smart Attire" at the same time that it added these new terms to the Voyage Personaliser. Because it changed the terminology, there must be a change in the dress code. However, this change is not clear until it provides the new definitions. I am guessing that the new dress code will be similar to the dress codes on Holland America and Princess.

 

Chuck

Actually Princess is more formal than Holland America. I was on Princess in January and for the most part men wore suits or tuxedos on "formal" night and it was still called formal night.

Although there was no restriction on what you could wear in other parts of the ship outside the main dinning room.

Although I saw it on the itinerary Princess does not really do ballroom dancing.

On other nights the suggested attire was smart casual which appears to be more formal than Holland America's other evenings.

It will be funny if Princess lines is more formal than Cunard for a period of time.

If the ambiance goes away and the food on Cunard is not really much better than the other cruise lines they will have to reduce their prices.

It's the time we live in---I still remember you dressed to go to the theater. Times change, you just have to go with it----enjoy the cruise and do whats right for you.