Which line is most formal?

A number of Cruise Critic discussion threads deal with the decline of dress standards on mass-market cruise lines. I am curious about the other end of the scale. In the halcyon days of first-class travel aboard opulent liners, formal dress meant white tie, white waistcoat and cutaway with tails. (I don't imagine gentlemen were generally expected to wear top hats and opera cloaks elsewhere than on open decks.) Do some men still strive for such standards aboard luxury cruise ships, or is the tuxedo the top shelf even on the high-price ships? (I feel underdressed on dress-up-or- not nights aboard NCL ships when I opt for the dark blue paisly tie and waistcoat rather than the more proper black tie and cummerbund.)

I can only write about what I've personally seen on cruise ships. To date, Cunard has been the dressiest ship for formal nights that we've cruised on. Lots of tuxes, lots of evening gowns.

Mass market ships tend to be pretty much the same, as people are pretty much the same when you put a bunch onto cruise ships. You have some in tux (rarely tails) some in dark suits, some in sportscoats, some in shirt sleeves with tie, some in shirt sleeves without tie, some even take off their ball cap and comb their hair down with water for the evening.

Ladies, pretty much the same. A few evening gowns, many long dressy dresses, quite a few in cocktail length dresses (me), dress pants with sparkly tops, plain pants with sorta sparkly tops. I've even seen a few in T shirts with rhinestones.

It's just people and I'm happy to see them all having a good time.

A number of Cruise Critic discussion threads deal with the decline of dress standards on mass-market cruise lines. I am curious about the other end of the scale. In the halcyon days of first-class travel aboard opulent liners, formal dress meant white tie, white waistcoat and cutaway with tails. (I don't imagine gentlemen were generally expected to wear top hats and opera cloaks elsewhere than on open decks.) Do some men still strive for such standards aboard luxury cruise ships, or is the tuxedo the top shelf even on the high-price ships? (I feel underdressed on dress-up-or- not nights aboard NCL ships when I opt for the dark blue paisly tie and waistcoat rather than the more proper black tie and cummerbund.)

CUNARD is great if you love formal!!!

And have been told that it is much more formal than the average American cruise line.

Not Cunard level, though.

I think a reason many of the ships are no longer very formal is because of how much there is to do on board. Back in the "good ole days", no one had much else to do but get dressed up for dinner and stroll aroung looking good. Maybe play canasta or shuffle board ;) They also were very often longer cruises with fewer stops.

With the ships so busy, water-sport oriented, etc., people are busier and want to spend less time primping and more time being active - which you can't do in a tux or a gown.

I don't think it has anything to do with what entertainment is onboard. I think it has more to do with the popularity of cruising and availability for the average person to afford cruising.

I don't think it's a bad thing at all. But I can certainly tell a vast difference now from when we started cruising 13 years ago. Many people don't want to get dressed formally, especially the men ;) The arguments here on CC just a few short years ago were tux vs. suit, then denigrated to tie vs. no tie. If you've been here ay time at all, the bickering over jeans went on and on for pages....jeans won :)

I rather enjoy being able to pack cocktail dresses instead of long dresses, my husband is happy in his sportscoat and slacks. I do fear that someday soon the "formal" nights will be eliminated completely and then what are we to do? No more getting excited about selecting new dresses, shoes, earrings or necklace vs. no necklace? I will miss dressing up a bit.

For the people who can afford to cruise on the upper scale lines, the clothing you see will still be a lot dressier than you see on mass market lines. While Cunard was dressier than any other line we've been on (8 different lines to date), I still put it in the same category as mass market lines as far as service/food go. Lovely ship, wonderful entertainment.

I can only write about what I've personally seen on cruise ships. To date, Cunard has been the dressiest ship for formal nights that we've cruised on. Lots of tuxes, lots of evening gowns.

 

Mass market ships tend to be pretty much the same, as people are pretty much the same when you put a bunch onto cruise ships. You have some in tux (rarely tails) some in dark suits, some in sportscoats, some in shirt sleeves with tie, some in shirt sleeves without tie, some even take off their ball cap and comb their hair down with water for the evening.

 

Ladies, pretty much the same. A few evening gowns, many long dressy dresses, quite a few in cocktail length dresses (me), dress pants with sparkly tops, plain pants with sorta sparkly tops. I've even seen a few in T shirts with rhinestones.

 

It's just people and I'm happy to see them all having a good time.

We just booked our first Cunard cruise on the QM2 a back to back transatlantic in August. Between now and then I don't think I will be able to take one day off from work, I think they are trying to work me to death, so I'll be ready to collapse on this trip. I terribly wanted to book a suite on this sailing and could have done it but that would have priced us right out of doing a holiday sailing so we are doing an A-1 balcony. I'm wondering if you could share your dining experience and which dining venue you had on your sailing. My husband is a little annoyed about the cast system thing but he is doing this trip for me (he's retired) :)

Thanks in advance.

To be honest, I was very surprised by how informal our Cunard cruise was. We dined in the Queen's Grill, and even on formal night we saw passengers admitted in jeans, jackets with no ties and the rest. Even in the regular dining room, we saw a lot of passengers coming out from dinner dressed casually. But, trans-Atlantics do seem to bring out more formal clothing.

I will say that Crystal is the most formal of all lines. On formal nights at least 90% of the men will be in tuxes. As for MSC, it was not at all formal. Very few tuxes and a lot of just sport jackets for the men, and plain pant suits on the women.

I've been cruising since the mid-70's and I don't think the casualness has anything to do with entertainment. Frankly, I think it has to do with laziness. You hear all the excuses like formal clothes aren't comfortable and all the rest, but I really think people just don't want to bother. My formal clothes are more comfortable than casual clothes, take up less space than the beloved jeans, and are lighter in weight for the luggage.

. My formal clothes are more comfortable than casual clothes, take up less space than the beloved jeans, and are lighter in weight for the luggage.

The gal downstairs is making me a flapper style dress for my cruise -- loose and comfy and as light as a feather!

Holland American tends to be very formal as well. I love dressing up so HAL is perfect for me!

The gal downstairs is making me a flapper style dress for my cruise -- loose and comfy and as light as a feather!

That sounds so cool, literally and figuratively.

Any ship that designates a "formal" night...dress up! It's almost impossible to be "too" formal on a formal night.

You won't be "overdressed"...the others will be "underdressed"!

P&O is also very formal and very British. I would estimate that over 90% of the men were in tuxes and the women in posh frocks for the 4 formal nights we had on our Med cruise in Sept 2009.

(For those who aren't aware, P&O is owned by Carnival and has 6 ships - the largest of which are the same size as the Pricess Grand class - and sail out of Southampton in the UK (plus other world ports))

Everyone has an excuse for the slob factor aboard cruise ships today.

l find it amazing that people are willing to spend money for the opportunity

to go on a cruise, and then dress as if they had just finished their. shift at

a sewer cleaning facility.

if you want to dress like that take your vacation at a KOA.

you can buy a decent used tux for under a $100.00, which is less expensive than some designer jeans.

Everyone has an excuse for the slob factor aboard cruise ships today.

l find it amazing that people are willing to spend money for the opportunity

to go on a cruise, and then dress as if they had just finished their. shift at

a sewer cleaning facility.

if you want to dress like that take your vacation at a KOA.

you can buy a decent used tux for under a $100.00, which is less expensive than some designer jeans.

In 2008 I cruised with Celebrity in New Zealand and Australia. There was a man who wore a kilt on the formal nights. He was probably in his 60s, but he was the sexiest man on the ship. I wouldn't have reognized him in "regular" clothes, but he shone in his formal wear. So, guys, I recommend dressing up on formal nights. Who knows, you may be making a memory for your cruise mates that will last forever!

I don't think it has anything to do with what entertainment is onboard. I think it has more to do with the popularity of cruising and availability for the average person to afford cruising.

 

I don't think it's a bad thing at all. But I can certainly tell a vast difference now from when we started cruising 13 years ago. Many people don't want to get dressed formally, especially the men ;) The arguments here on CC just a few short years ago were tux vs. suit, then denigrated to tie vs. no tie. If you've been here ay time at all, the bickering over jeans went on and on for pages....jeans won :)

 

I rather enjoy being able to pack cocktail dresses instead of long dresses, my husband is happy in his sportscoat and slacks. I do fear that someday soon the "formal" nights will be eliminated completely and then what are we to do? No more getting excited about selecting new dresses, shoes, earrings or necklace vs. no necklace? I will miss dressing up a bit.

 

For the people who can afford to cruise on the upper scale lines, the clothing you see will still be a lot dressier than you see on mass market lines. While Cunard was dressier than any other line we've been on (8 different lines to date), I still put it in the same category as mass market lines as far as service/food go. Lovely ship, wonderful entertainment.

For me the issue is packing. While DH and I like to dress up, when you are going on a 12 night cruise on a ship that does not have a self service laundromat, tack on to that a few days in Venice ahead of time, which means needing to limit your luggage, there is little to no room for the tux and shoes (DH wears size 15 so you can just imagine).

We have found Cunard and HAL to be the most formal in that order.

On our January Transatlantic on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth, we found it to be much dressier than other Celebrity TA's we have been on. As this was our first Cunard trip, I took along my tails just in case there would be an opportunity to wear them.

As it turned out I counted at least 3 other men who donned tails so I happily - and unapologetically - wore mine too. My wife wore elbow-length gloves once she saw others wearing them.

On a side note, our QE trip was the first leg of her maiden world cruise, so the ship was bound for more tropical weather after she dropped us off in NYC. As this was a January crossing I left my white dinner jacket at home but was surprised at the number of men who wore them during our time aboard - perhaps they were staying on board and packed for warmer climes.

Wrong thread! SORRY!

To be honest, I was very surprised by how informal our Cunard cruise was. We dined in the Queen's Grill, and even on formal night we saw passengers admitted in jeans, jackets with no ties and the rest. Even in the regular dining room, we saw a lot of passengers coming out from dinner dressed casually. But, trans-Atlantics do seem to bring out more formal clothing.

 

I will say that Crystal is the most formal of all lines. On formal nights at least 90% of the men will be in tuxes. As for MSC, it was not at all formal. Very few tuxes and a lot of just sport jackets for the men, and plain pant suits on the women.

 

I've been cruising since the mid-70's and I don't think the casualness has anything to do with entertainment. Frankly, I think it has to do with laziness. You hear all the excuses like formal clothes aren't comfortable and all the rest, but I really think people just don't want to bother. My formal clothes are more comfortable than casual clothes, take up less space than the beloved jeans, and are lighter in weight for the luggage.

Good on Ya Kitty you hit the nail right on the head.

We are very ordinary hard working people who abide by the rules as should others. We enjoy Formal nights and are often dissapointed when seated with people who could not be bothered, and thats fine just do so somewhere else. It's very obvious to all when sighning the Cruise contract what the minimum standards are, if the cabin steward failed to give these Lazy people sufficient towels or neglected to use sheets or pillow cases on their beds because they couldn't be bothered would they accept it. NO, because the Cruise line contracted to do so and must therefore fulfil it's obligations in all such respect's. Same - Same. Lazy people will always try to get away with the easiest option even if there are Moral or Legal considerations, for example we are Ozzy citizens who migrated from the UK many years ago. We don't smoke & dislike cigarettes immensly, Australia has laws to protect us from the effects of same as do most western countries. Yet when many holiday makers from Australia, Uk, Europe, USA etc, visit places without such legislation they often choose to subject those around them to the effects of their habit even though they are very much aware of the potentialy serious cosequences to others. Same - Same.

I think that things are changing in the cruise world as far as dress is concerned. With more and more ships creating more specialty (pay) restaurants, so should the dress standard be lowered for open dining and main dining venues. If people want to dress up, then I think that these specialty restaurants could keep the dress standard for that purpose. Let those who can afford to pay extra money to dress up in high fashion for these higher end restaurants - "fill your boots".

I recently took a New Year cruise aboard Celebrity Equinox in which every day seemed like formal night - I felt under dressed in my evening wear. It was embarrassing to me. I felt like hiding away each night so much that I couldn't face eating at the main dining room and ate, instead up in the buffet. I've been cruising with Celebrity for over 15 years now - but this just a weird event. I spent New Year aboard Holland America last year and did not feel that way.

More and more younger families are choosing to cruise now than ever before. This is their vacation time so not having to spend so much time getting ready for these formal nights, fighting over the washroom and having to fuss with the kids to dress them up would be great. I realize that there are cruise ships out there that are ready to accommodate young families with loads of family friendly activities and eating venues - that is great. However, just because there is a family involved, doesn't mean they don't like fine dining either.

I am a grandparent and plan on bringing my grandchildren on a cruise with my husband and I some day. It would be nice to know that I don't have to pack so much clothing for them - especially with the airline restrictions. Having to deal with luggage and children must be a nightmare.

Bottom line - give these families a vacation too. Also, for those of us who just want to get away and have a relaxing vacation without all the formality - stop imposing these dress codes on us!

On our January Transatlantic on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth, we found it to be much dressier than other Celebrity TA's we have been on. As this was our first Cunard trip, I took along my tails just in case there would be an opportunity to wear them.

 

As it turned out I counted at least 3 other men who donned tails so I happily - and unapologetically - wore mine too. My wife wore elbow-length gloves once she saw others wearing them.

 

On a side note, our QE trip was the first leg of her maiden world cruise, so the ship was bound for more tropical weather after she dropped us off in NYC. As this was a January crossing I left my white dinner jacket at home but was surprised at the number of men who wore them during our time aboard - perhaps they were staying on board and packed for warmer climes.

Hi,

We are shortly to leave for our first cruise on a cunard line - QV - translantic FL to S'Hampton. 16 days with 5 formal nights and 6 'semi-formal'. We will be doing a 14 night Celebrity cruise before that and expect 3 formal nights. I was not expecting the level of 'formal' to be so high so I am glad I convinced DH to get some new 'formal' wear (but a white dinner jacket was not on the shopping list). I will, however, pack my elbow length gloves -that a friend gave me and which I have never had any use for where we live - (except for 'fancy dress'). Thanks for the tip.

The 2 'Queens' were in Sydney Harbour yesterday so maybe some of your fellow cruisers stayed on for the 'warmer climes', and believe me it is still warm here. :)

On the month of Sep 2010, my girlfriend and I boarded Oasis of the Seas for a wondelful cruise. I don,t b.....ch about to many things about people because I believe in personal freedom, but on that perticular trip, at dinner we encounter what I consider to be the most underdress, unfitted group of cruiser I ever saw. Torn tee shirt and jeans should not be allowed in the main dinning area. I would have anderstand if it was one night because they were in a tour and did not have enough time to get properly dress but every night, no way. everyone around them keep looking at them and they ask why to the table waiters which then they told us. No comments were given to them but I think they knew why. Like someone said before, if you can afford a cruise for shure one can afford to buy desent clothing.....just saying.

I was truly surprised that a previous poster said they saw jeans on Cunard. We have sailed this line a few times, especially for the formal atmosphere because, LOL, that is our thing....

Absolutely, you will see the majority of men in a tux and women in formal gowns. We did not see many tails. My husband owns tails and would of loved to bring them but I never saw a gent in tails although it would not be frowned upon.

Cunard attracts passangers who enjoy formal and there is never a question of "what I can get away with on formal night".... That is not what most who sail Cunard have on thier mind.

I will however give my humble opinion.... You will certainly pay quite a bit more to sail on this line and frankly the level of service, shows, or anything else is no different than the mass lines. If you go on this line expecting white glove service you will be disappointed... If you pick this line for the formal atmosphere, you will absolutely not be disappointed you picked this line.

There is this one lounge I love to frequent while on this line... If you sit close to the entrance at dinner time it is like watching a fashion show. I so love to watch all the ladies walk by on the way to dinner and admire the amazing gowns and attention to every last detail from shoes to earrings.... OMG, so much fun!!!

Just returned from our trip aboard Oasis of the Seas, and I have to wonder if my standards are too high.

On formal nights we saw all forms of dress, from tshirts to tuxedos, I find this disappointing. I am a blue collar working guy who works hard for my vacation time, and cannot understand why people cannot make the effort to dress up for a couple dinners during a cruise. As stated previously a nice suit /tux /formal dress/pant suit can be purchased for under $200.00. You do not require designer labels to look nice for the evening.

If you choose not to want to dress for dinner then please feel free to use the buffets or room service. This is our sixth cruise, and my better half and I are asking ourselves why this dress code is allowed, when it is clearly explained in all pre cruise information.

As for attending the specialty restaurants, we did a couple of times, but found the lack of dress code to be the same.

If the cruise lines want to do away with this dress policy, then please put it in writing.

Phew, I now feel alot better getting this off my chest.:rolleyes: