QE- Have we wasted money on formal attire ??

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

In my experience on short cruises on Cunard people dress beyond the stated dress code and a lot of people dressed formally on at least one of the "Informal" nights, the second last night if I recall correctly. Of course a jacket is always required for men. So I'd say go for it! You will not feel out of place.

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

How lucky, no formals, just a blazer or sports jacket with no tie good enough for Cunard and me for dinner.

I was recently on QM2, Sydney to HK, believe it or not at breakfast in Britannia Restaurant one morning, there was a bloke in a suit, over the top that is. Shorts and polo shirt for me.:confused:

Enjoy your mini cruise, sorry voyage.:cool:

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

Hi Vera. Sorry for your disappointment. Am I correct in thinking that the trip you have booked as a 4 night, is also sold as 2 separate overnights, i.e, ->Southampton to Hamburg<>Hamburg to Southampton? If so, then I'm sure you can understand why no formal nights are scheduled.

Certainly you and your husband can wear your formal attire on this short trip, but I'm guessing that not many others will be dressed formally. Is it possible for you to return the garments you purchased? Or perhaps you will decide to take a longer Cunard voyage sometime in the future?

Bon voyage,

Salacia

The four night Soton-Hamburg itinerary is usually also sold as segments ending or beginning in Hamburg. The means that every night of the itinerary is either some passengers' first night onboard or their last night onboard. Cunard never asks a passenger to dress formally on their first or last night onboard, so the four night Hamburg itineraries don't have any formal nights.

The four night Soton-Hamburg itinerary is usually also sold as segments ending or beginning in Hamburg. The means that every night of the itinerary is either some passengers' first night onboard or their last night onboard. Cunard never asks a passenger to dress formally on their first or last night onboard, so the four night Hamburg itineraries don't have any formal nights.

We have done this short cruise itinerary and were very surprised and disappointed to find that the majority of people dressed very casually on the Informal nights, contrary to what we had expected and hoped for on our first Cunard experience. We were however undaunted and continued to make the effort, but were in the minority amongst largely casual travellers.

Hi

On my cruise on QV last year I wore each and every evening a long evening dress; no matter if it was a formal or informal night. I never felt out of place; I even got lots of compliments for my dressing up. Several officers and the Commodore thanked me for dressing up.

Go for it!

How lucky, no formals, just a blazer or sports jacket with no tie good enough for Cunard and me for dinner.

 

I was recently on QM2, Sydney to HK, believe it or not at breakfast in Britannia Restaurant one morning, there was a bloke in a suit, over the top that is. Shorts and polo shirt for me.:confused:

 

Enjoy your mini cruise, sorry voyage.:cool:

May I suggest as you don't like formal don't cruise with Cunard. I love formal nights and hate it when people try to downgrade the rules. By the way, how is Bateman's Bay. I have relatives there and visited quite a few times.

Sorry you are disappointed Vera but as others have said the Hamburg round trips are a little different. Was your Voyage Personaliser showing formal nights until today ?

I hope you enjoy your trip despite the informality.

Perhaps you could dress formally on the night of 9th May, as you will be at sea approaching Hamburg?

Alternatively, if you are still taking your Queen Victoria cruise in 2018, as mentioned in the balcony hump thread, you could look on your formal wear situation as a postponement rather than a waste of money.

Whatever you decide, Queen Elizabeth is a lovely ship and l am sure you will enjoy.

M-AR

I did a two night trip from Hamburg to Southampton last year and although there were no formal nights, we did meet a couple who had dressed up in formal clothes just because they wanted to. They were very excited at being on the QM2 and at being able to get dressed up. Take the formal stuff anyway and wear it if you want to. I was actually quite jealous and wish I'd brought some of my long dresses.

i know its too late now, but cunard has a schedule online of all cruises and applying dress codes.

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/life-on-board/dress_code_all

https://carnivaluk.metafaq.com/resources/carnivaluk/life-on-board/qe_dresscodes.pdf

Last time we did the Hamburg round trip there WAS a formal, actually, there were two, but since so may were due to leave the ship next day on both formal evenings, many did not comply. Informal each night makes much more sense on this short itinerary.

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

Vera, After you first experience on QM2 and cruising Cunard Line, we have no doubt whatsoever that you will be booking another Cunard cruise/voyage on your return.

No need to return the clothes.:)

Many did not comply with what I was expecting a Cunard Informal dress code to be. In fact the majority were casual like P&O's evening casual. I expected it to be like P&O's old Smart Dress code. We dressed up though and I wore long on one night and we were complimented by the staff

I once did a two nighter Southampton-Cherbourg-Southampton where our first night was the last night for those doing New York-Cherbourg and our last night was the first night for those doing Cherbourg-New York.

I had the opposite experience to that mentioned by others.

This was in the days of the three tier dress code (formal/informal/casual) and once we got onboard our second night was listed in the programme as optional formal or casual. I expected a bit of a disaster but it turned out to be one of the dressiest nights I've seen. I only noted one man (I'm sure there must have been others) not meeting the 'formal' standard.

So I say take them with you. It wont be the first time dress codes announced beforehand by 'shoreside' are different once you get onboard.

And have a gtreat time. Colin.

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

Why not?

I did exactly that in March while sailing on Europa 2...

I did a two night trip from Hamburg to Southampton last year and although there were no formal nights, we did meet a couple who had dressed up in formal clothes just because they wanted to. They were very excited at being on the QM2 and at being able to get dressed up. Take the formal stuff anyway and wear it if you want to. I was actually quite jealous and wish I'd brought some of my long dresses.

Well said Sir.

Thanks everyone for the encouraging messages. I didn't know there was a guide to the formal/informal nights on the voyage personaliser till I saw a comment on here then checked. I'm pretty sure it mentioned somewhere that the second night was formal when I first booked but no idea where I saw that- maybe that was also the personaliser but I didn't take in where I saw that. I'm blaming my memory lol.

As said, I have the Fjords booked next year if we go, so just have to hope we dont lose any weight by then.

I will take the clothes anyway and wing it !!!

On a positive note, the excitement is building

I am gutted- having planned our first cruise for months and persuaded the OH that he wouldn't look out of place with the tuxedo and bow tie bought, not to mention the cost plus my ball gown, I have just read the Voyage Personaliser to find our 4 night cruise to Hamburg next week has NO formal nights.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement !!!!!!!!!!!! There's no way I'm going to be able to persuade him to wear his suit if it's not a formal night.

Our last Hamburg 4 day said exactly the same but a good percentage were in formal attire on the return from Hamburg. I was actually disappointed that I'd left my DJ at home.

In my experience the dress code for informal nights is still more formal than I would EVER wear in my normal life!

I'm 23 and maybe not used to this formal dining thing just yet... I would say you have 100% not wasted money on formal clothes. The only really difference to me seemed that men could not wear a bow tie...

You'll have a fantastic time and won't look out of place at all! I've written about my Cunard formal/informal experience here and have photos of what I wore if anybody is interested: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2016/11/08/cunard-dress-code/

:)

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