A poll on the dress code changes

We have moved our cruise dollars from Celebrity to Cunard for the remainder of this year, in part because Celebrity does not care to enforce their dress code. The last straw was when on a recent Celebrity cruise, two men were allowed into the MDR on "evening chic" night in shorts and T-shirts. After their meal, they started arm wrestling at the table while the waiter and assistant maitre d looked on with smiles. As I left the MDR, I showed my cellphone pic of the arm wrestlers to the maitre d and received a shrug of indifference.

At that point, we became more than indifferent about cruising with Celebrity and after we finished our bookings with them we started looking elsewhere.

We are trying Cunard for its reputation for elegant cruising for people with a sense of decorum. If they also dumb down their dress code and stop enforcing it, we may continue to look elsewhere to spend our cruise dollars.

We are looking forward to a crossing on the QM2 this fall.

I voted. I've never sailed Cunard (or any other cruise company) before. I booked on Cunard for 3 reasons:
1. QM2 is the ONLY ocean liner
2. QM2 is the only regularly scheduled TA (NY > Southampton) crossing, and that appealed to me
3. Cunard's formal dress code - I like the idea of getting dressed up at night.

Since I haven't yet tried Cunard, I can't really make an informed decision, but I'm reserving judgment until after my crossing in August. Accordingly, I voted #3.

If the short cruise is only for 5 days, you need to be aware that OBC given through a Future Cruise Deposit can only be used on cruises of 6 days or more.

When I called they said OBC is given to Grills cabins on the 5 day voyage - just substantially less so. But I still would not spend the fortune on Alaska if the product is slipping. I guess we will see this summer.

I think axelskater will be ok with her contingency plans since it sounds like she is talking about 2019. The QM2 "Independence Day Celebration" cruise next year has been extended to seven days (June 30-July 7, 2019).

Yes - that is right it would be then. But this credit expires in Fall 2019. We bought it 3 years ago and the Cunard rep said it would be less credit for under 6 day voyages but we would still receive the credit. Of course it could be the same reps saying there is no dress code change !
I am going to wait and see. But there are a few other spots where we can go near our home for a weekend where there is old school dining with a dance trio and dance floor, flambe desserts and such. A little mini Cunard on land. Every one dressed up - it is lovely.

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Ah ok. Thanks.

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Thanks for the votes so far, very interesting.

We voted number 3, Wait & See. Our cruise choices tend to split into two; first category is definitely itinerary-driven, where the line/ship are secondary to the route and ports of call.

On the other hand, if we just fancy a cruise break, probably to areas we've been before so that the ports are less important, then the ship and its facilities, atmosphere, elegance and ambience become more important. Our default line for this has been Cunard for all the reasons well-aired in the long Dress Code thread. As others have said, if this disappears, then there is little incentive to stick to Cunard. Hope there is no significantly noticeable change, but we'll all see in due course.

Based on the info posted by Host Hattie it doesn’t sound like anything is changing except what they call it? It’s still dark suit and tie minimum on ‘gala’ nights and suit with optional tie on ‘smart dress’ nights - and similar guidelines for the ladies too. In fairness even if the rules themselves were relaxed somewhat I’d expect a majority of passengers to still make the effort. Are some people getting their knickers in a twist over nothing?

There have been some changes to the wording and an increase in the number of areas where the dress code is not required in the evenings.
There has been much discussion in the original thread.

We're sailing on QM2 in July for the first time, and are very excited to dress up, and I will love to see others do the same, though I don't really care if some people don't. I voted wait and see.

Question: does anyone know how Cunard defines "sandals"? I have dressy open toed shoes with heels. The website mentions pumps and flats. Don't want to incur the wrath of the fashion police .

They sound fine, have a great trip.

There have been some changes to the wording and an increase in the number of areas where the dress code is not required in the evenings.
There has been much discussion in the original thread.

Hmm, well at any rate I think it comes down to the fact most people will have dressed for dinner and be unlikely to re-dress into casual clothing afterwards. Overall I don’t expect to see much difference personally, I must say - I have seen more people going the extra mile on my voyages than I have people under-dressing.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote, the results were very interesting.
I'll close this poll now and probably post another one once the new codes are in place.