Recent changes in number of formal nights

I'm curious as to what people have been experiencing on recent cruises in regards to the number of formal nights on a sailing. On our last two cruises, 12 night Caribbean in March on Silhouette and 14 night Med on Reflection, we were expecting three formal nights on each. My husband was prepared with tux, etc. for those three formal nights.

In actuality, the March cruise had two formal nights and one cocktail night. The Med cruise had one formal night and two cocktail nights. Very few people were dressed formally on the cocktail nights in the MDR. There were many men without jackets on those nights.

If you've cruised in the last month or two, what have you experienced?

On our last 12 day there was 2 formal nights and 1 cocktail night. We found most people were dressed for all 3 nights. It was March and most people on the cruise were older adults and we tend to dress for dinner every night as well as formal when appropriate. I like seeing a sea of James Bond's :)

Happy Sailing

12 night cruise on Solstice earlier this month had 3, corresponding with three of the four sea days

It may depend on the itinerary as to whether they consider 3 too many

12 night cruise on Solstice in November, Middle to Far East had 3 formals. I haven't seen cocktail nights. Is that semi formal, with jackets for men? :confused:

"cocktail night" is relatively new--seems like a back door way to re-introduce what was previously informal night..the middle format from resort casual & formal.. We had it listed for the first time on Silho in April 2012..no one paid any attention to it & dressed formal anyhow!

taking DH's tux is enough to contend with for packing so we will treat cocktail night as formal or more dressy casual as the mood & cruise environment dictates!

"cocktail night" is relatively new--seems like a back door way to re-introduce what was previously informal night..the middle format from resort casual & formal.. We had it listed for the first time on Silho in April 2012..no one paid any attention to it & dressed formal anyhow!

 

taking DH's tux is enough to contend with for packing so we will treat cocktail night as formal or more dressy casual as the mood & cruise environment dictates!

We had semi formals on a P&O 14 night cruise; 4 formals and 3 semi formals was a pain! Had to take dinner suit and a jacket for DH. You're not allowed in most bars without appropriate wear on those evenings. We won't do that again. We don't mind a couple of formals, but 7 days out of 14 was a bit too much for him.

We had 3 formal nights on our 14 day New Years cruise on Eclipse. This was the dressiest cruise we have been on, even on smart casual nights most dressed "above" with cocktail dresses and sports coats.

Mary Lou

On the Reflection TA in November, there were two formal nights and one cocktail night. First time we had seen this. What we observed is that people dressed the same no matter what Celebrity called it. We saw some beautifully dressed folks and really enjoyed participating.

Very interesting. There was no sea of James Bond's on either of the cruises I referred to, although my husband was one of them. Many of the men treated the cocktail nights as another smart casual evening instead of a semi-formal. As I stated in my OP, we were expecting three formal nights on both of these cruises, and were very surprised to see one of them eliminated on the March 12 night Caribbean and two eliminated on the 14 night Med. I thought this might be signaling an eventual complete elimination of all formal nights.

We have loved the formal nights over the years, especially when it was the dress code for the entire ship on those evenings and the majority of people complied with that dress code. In both of my cruises in 2012, I saw a very marked decrease in formal dress. Neither did I see any enforcement of a jacket rule in the MDR on the one formal night that took place on both of these cruises.

There is such a hodge podge of dress on formal nights now, that I think I'm ready for it to be completely Smart Casual.

I think it is ridiculous to have a different number, or different dress code, than what they indicate they will have in the pre-cruise documentation and web site. It is important to be able to know what to pack and to plan things a little.

Personally, I like the current formal and smart casual numbers of nights as they have been documented the past couple years and don't think they should change it. But to the extent they do make changes they have to clearly communicate what they are before you cruise not after you are already on board.

This has been going on for a while on occasions; it is at the discretion of the Captain to relax the dress code somewhat; on a cruise a couple years ago we had two formal and one cocktail nights in lieu of three formal nights.

I think it is ridiculous to have a different number, or different dress code, than what they indicate they will have in the pre-cruise documentation and web site. It is important to be able to know what to pack and to plan things a little.

 

Personally, I like the current formal and smart casual numbers of nights as they have been documented the past couple years and don't think they should change it. But to the extent they do make changes they have to clearly communicate what they are before you cruise not after are already on board.

Could not agree more, on the basis of the paperwork I have 3 posh frocks plus husband tux is going on our 17 night cruise in two weeks time. I had never heard of this "cocktail code" until on here an hour ago.

I think there is too much experimentation by hotel directors/cruise directors making up new rules on board on a number of things. Not against innovation, but you have to do it within the published arrangements - such as dress code.

I personally would feel ackward going around the ship on formal night not in formal gear and as we both love dressing up, we will be in Blu in formal gear on these three nights cocktail or not. A lot of others on our last cruise were dressed as you might class formal in Blu and I am glad we had the gear as we had an invite to the Captains Table and smart casual would not have worked there!

As an aside I read on another board relating to another line's world cruise that some table guests recently asked for a guest to be removed from their table because she dressed up each night (in accordance with the published code) and she made them feel inferior as they dressed to the minimum compliance with the code (think really smart dress vs ordinary dress). Different from people being upset at the under dressers!

I think it is ridiculous to have a different number, or different dress code, than what they indicate they will have in the pre-cruise documentation and web site. It is important to be able to know what to pack and to plan things a little.

 

Personally, I like the current formal and smart casual numbers of nights as they have been documented the past couple years and don't think they should change it. But to the extent they do make changes they have to clearly communicate what they are before you cruise not after you are already on board.

I agree with you 100%, Larry. If the number of formal nights is going to vary by specific cruise, then the information for one,s particular cruise should be available pre-cruise under My Reservation on Celebrity's website.

Now I would not mind one bit if they got rid of all of the formal nights...

With the luggage weight restrictions and surcharges, it is simply an unwanted burden to have to pack all of that formal wear...

I've been on a few Oceania Cruises--NO formal nights--and haven't missed them a bit...and the cruises didn't seem any less elegant...

My next cruise is a 13-nighter on Silhouette in the Adriatic...Very port intensive...only one "at sea" day...and no ports where we depart any earlier than 5:00 pm...Wherever they would schedule the 3 formal nights will create a burden--especially on those with early seating dinner...And we're extending the trip for several nights on either end, so we're really packing for a 24 night trip!

And even worse is the notion of three different dress codes with two of them requiring extra dressier clothing...that's even more packing...and probably part of why many men dress the same for "cocktail" as for "formal"...

And, for heaven's sake, why on earth would they surprise us with the number of dress codes and number of days? How on earth do you pack for that? Or do they just expect everyone to overpack with items they may or may not need? Danged inconsiderate, if you ask me...

Often, I avoid the packing by merely renting a tux on the ship...but my wife can't get away with that...AND, do I really want to rent a tux only to find out there's only one formal night--and that I could easily avoid that one by using a specialty restaurant that night?

Inconsistent direction is worse than the rigid structured rules and schedule...

What is a cocktail night?

Cocktail night is the same as formal night. It is just worded a little differently to make those not in tuxes or dark suits feel better.

Cocktail night is the same as formal night. It is just worded a little differently to make those not in tuxes or dark suits feel better.

Interestingly enough on out two cruises in December on the Reflection, under formal attire for men was listed jacket and slacks.

Cocktail night is the same as formal night. It is just worded a little differently to make those not in tuxes or dark suits feel better.

Cocktail night is not the same as formal night. Based upon previous info from those on this board, it is formal dress optional, in other words if you wish to dress formally you may, if not go smart casual. Also, just for info dark was removed from the dress code a couple of years ago so no one should feel ashamed to wear something other than a dark suit since they are following the current dress code. .

Personally, I think this is all overblown, it simply means that on a formal night you don't need to wear a jacket. There is nothing formal on this from Celebrity cruises lines and as a previous poster stated it is up to the ship itself. It appears this may be used more often on cruises that are very port intensive. This would be a real problem if they increased the dress code requirements but as far as we know that has only been done on one ship but quickly eliminated.

I would really wish that Celebrity would have a policy re formal nights. It is stated on the X site as to what to expect. But as said before, it ends up being at the captains discretion.

With all the extra prices that airlines add on for luggage, it is quite challenging to limit yourself to one piece of luggage on some cruises.

I am booked for a 14 day Carribbean and a 15 night TA. If they are going to have less formal nights, I could leave out some items from my luggage. But, I would like to know before I leave on my cruise.

Cocktail night is not the same as formal night. Based upon previous info from those on this board, it is formal dress optional, in other words if you wish to dress formally you may, if not go smart casual.

OK so I got the part about the dark suit wrong, but for the most part isn't your second sentence above saying the same thing I said in a slightly different way?

All I'm saying is it isn't a reason for the little ladies to bring more outfits, or for us to either. It's not really a new dress code. So no worries about needing more pounds of luggage. It's just new words to signify that they won't be enforcing the tux/suit thing in the MDR on the renamed formal nights.

I'm curious as to what people have been experiencing on recent cruises in regards to the number of formal nights on a sailing. On our last two cruises, 12 night Caribbean in March on Silhouette and 14 night Med on Reflection, we were expecting three formal nights on each. My husband was prepared with tux, etc. for those three formal nights.

 

In actuality, the March cruise had two formal nights and one cocktail night. The Med cruise had one formal night and two cocktail nights. Very few people were dressed formally on the cocktail nights in the MDR. There were many men without jackets on those nights.

 

If you've cruised in the last month or two, what have you experienced?

Oh my goodness! Not yet another dress code to worry about! Too complicated!

We have 2 dress codes when cruising, no matter which line we cruise with - formal, and smart casual. We always shower and change into clean clothes for dinner, because it's nice to look clean and tidy when eating in a restaurant with table service.

I'm not going to worry about subtle nuances and differences in the descriptions of the dress codes.

OK so I got the part about the dark suit wrong, but for the most part isn't your second sentence above saying the same thing I said in a slightly different way?

 

All I'm saying is it isn't a reason for the little ladies to bring more outfits, or for us to either. It's not really a new dress code. So no worries about needing more pounds of luggage. It's just new words to signify that they won't be enforcing the tux/suit thing in the MDR on the renamed formal nights.

You are right that we don't need more outfits, just that for us you don't need a jacket. I was only commenting to your remark that it is really formal night.

I think people are making too big a deal about such a minor issue. On a small number of cruises the Captain chooses to make one formal night optional. Non issue so far as I am concerned. When this occurred on a cruise I was on (if I am remembering correctly) it was a port intensive cruise and one of the formal nights would have been on a port day, so that night was designated Cocktail Attire instead of formal so that people who did not want to do don formal clothes after being out at port all day had the option to dress more casually. Those who still wished to sport formal attire were also welcomed to the dining room. IMHO this was a positive, not a negative and made things easier, not more complicated. It requires zero additional planning and zero additional packing.