Dinner attire question

Do men have to wear a dinner jacket to the MDR? or Are slacks and a button up, collared shirt good enough? I'm talking about evenings other then formal nite.

And Is a very pretty slack outfit for a Lady OK on formal nite?

To answer both questions:

Yes.

Oops. Missed the first question about having to wear a dinner jacket on other than formal nights. That answer would be No.

Never been on HAL but seen enough of these threads and have enough common sense to say yes. On non formal nights slacks and collared shirt was sure good enough on every ship I sailed, sometimes even seen on formal night :D

Do men have to wear a dinner jacket to the MDR? or Are slacks and a button up, collared shirt good enough? I'm talking about evenings other then formal nite.

 

And Is a very pretty slack outfit for a Lady OK on formal nite?

on smart casual nights my dh wears slacks and a gold shirt -- and i wear a skirt and blouse -- i rarely wear slacks

your fany pant suit will do fine on formal nights

Never been on HAL but seen enough of these threads and have enough common sense to say yes. On non formal nights slacks and collared shirt was sure good enough on every ship I sailed, sometimes even seen on formal night :D

Another expert who has never been on HAL.

your fany pant suit will do fine on formal nights

This I gotta see......

What a difference one missed letter can make. Thanks for the laugh:D

First a dinner jacket is only worn with black tie and is part of what is called a tuxedo. It can be worn with or without a vest

If you mean a "jacket for dinner" then that is another thing entirely

School of thought 1 ( Manners and consideration of others):o

Holland America ships are more formal and traditional ship. Many or most of the passengers enjoy dressing up not down.

As an example on my last cruise out out of Ft Lauderdale about 90% of the men dressed in coats for dinner, amd most with tie. Many tables at the formal nights were 100% tux and gown.

Suppose ,on your sailing you were seated with such a group that was into formality. Would it not be wise to consider having nice clothes available? Would it not be good manners and considerate to dress in a manner that complimented your fellow dinners rather than "doing your own thing"

I seldom unless in a rural cafe, omit wearing at least a sport coat over a golf shirt. I still prefer however, to wear a collared shirt and tie as well

It has alway been a proper for a gentelman. after 6 pm to wear a jacket when in public. It is etiquette and manners. After all dining is part theater and you are part of the show. Manners are also based on consideration of others feelings and not on you.

School of thought 2... Its your trip do what you want:rolleyes:

Heck you PAID YOU MONEY, and you darn well do as you please. This your cruise not anyone elses Do what ever you want whenever you want

Really cool people can and should dress however the choose.. too bad others are so judgemental as to not appreciate you free thinking. Traditions need to be broken.. if you think they should.

First a dinner jacket is only worn with black tie and is part of what is called a tuxedo. It can be worn with or without a vest

 

If you mean a "jacket for dinner" then that is another thing entirely

School of thought 1 ( Manners and consideration of others):o

Holland America ships are more formal and traditional ship. Many or most of the passengers enjoy dressing up not down.

As an example on my last cruise out out of Ft Lauderdale about 90% of the men dressed in coats for dinner, amd most with tie. Many tables at the formal nights were 100% tux and gown.

Suppose ,on your sailing you were seated with such a group that was into formality. Would it not be wise to consider having nice clothes available? Would it not be good manners and considerate to dress in a manner that complimented your fellow dinners rather than "doing your own thing"

 

I seldom unless in a rural cafe, omit wearing at least a sport coat over a golf shirt. I still prefer however, to wear a collared shirt and tie as well

 

It has alway been a proper for a gentelman. after 6 pm to wear a jacket when in public. It is etiquette and manners. After all dining is part theater and you are part of the show. Manners are also based on consideration of others feelings and not on you.

 

School of thought 2... Its your trip do what you want:rolleyes:

 

Heck you PAID YOU MONEY, and you darn well do as you please. This your cruise not anyone elses Do what ever you want whenever you want

Really cool people can and should dress however the choose.. too bad others are so judgemental as to not appreciate you free thinking. Traditions need to be broken.. if you think they should.

april fools day was over 2 days ago.

What you describe is fine for smart casual nights in the MDR and what you will find many people wearing.

As an example on my last cruise out out of Ft Lauderdale about 90% of the men dressed in coats for dinner, amd most with tie. Many tables at the formal nights were 100% tux and gown.

I would suggest that your cruise was an exception. My recently completed Noordam cruise certainly had a few sport coats, maybe more than other mainstream lines, but my guess would be the jacketed men were less than 10% of the male diners. There were far more tropical shirts, polo shirts, etc...but no t-shirts.

I like chosing what I value as being appropriate, and I like being wealthy. HAL accepts my money, and I don't have to embrace everybody who wants to cheapen my experiance.

I like chosing what I value as being appropriate, and I like being wealthy. HAL accepts my money, and I don't have to embrace everybody who wants to cheapen my experiance.

buffy? is that you? i haven't seen you since the polo match at the club. how have you and skippy been?

I would suggest that your cruise was an exception.

 

Or his cruise was many years ago..On all five of our HAL cruises in the past three years I too only observed approx 10% of the Gentlemen wearing jackets & ties on a Smart casual night in the MDR..However in the Pinnacle Grill, most men wore a jacket sans tie on smart casual night..

 

My recently completed Noordam cruise certainly had a few sport coats, maybe more than other mainstream lines, but my guess would be the jacketed men were less than 10% of the male diners. There were far more tropical shirts, polo shirts, etc...but no t-shirts.

It was the same on my recently completed Noordam Cruise..

cheers.....:)Betty

Are people less cultured if they don’t follow the obsolete rules for dress that have been handed down for years? Dinner as theater??? Really? People really need to lighten up here. Judging people (and stereotyping them) by what they wear is very pretentious and rude. Famous quote from a great movie, “Lighten up Francis”,, yes I am less cultured. :eek:

The OP didn't say where they were cruising. We've found that around North America (Caribbean, Mexico, etc.), the dress pushes the limit toward the casual. Things seem to be a lot more formal on the transatlantic and European cruises we've been on....

So I am happy to see that cruising on HAL should pretty much be the same as the rest of my previous cruises. We are always cool and dressed well, Just not the TUX type is DH. On smart casual he likes the silk tropical shirt and slacks. He wears a suit and tie on formal nites, so we should fit in just fine. Thanks for all your advice. Hoping for better food.;)

First a dinner jacket is only worn with black tie and is part of what is called a tuxedo. It can be worn with or without a vest

 

If you mean a "jacket for dinner" then that is another thing entirely

School of thought 1 ( Manners and consideration of others):o

Holland America ships are more formal and traditional ship. Many or most of the passengers enjoy dressing up not down.

As an example on my last cruise out out of Ft Lauderdale about 90% of the men dressed in coats for dinner, amd most with tie. Many tables at the formal nights were 100% tux and gown.

Suppose ,on your sailing you were seated with such a group that was into formality. Would it not be wise to consider having nice clothes available? Would it not be good manners and considerate to dress in a manner that complimented your fellow dinners rather than "doing your own thing"

 

I seldom unless in a rural cafe, omit wearing at least a sport coat over a golf shirt. I still prefer however, to wear a collared shirt and tie as well

 

It has alway been a proper for a gentelman. after 6 pm to wear a jacket when in public. It is etiquette and manners. After all dining is part theater and you are part of the show. Manners are also based on consideration of others feelings and not on you.

 

School of thought 2... Its your trip do what you want:rolleyes:

 

Heck you PAID YOU MONEY, and you darn well do as you please. This your cruise not anyone elses Do what ever you want whenever you want

Really cool people can and should dress however the choose.. too bad others are so judgemental as to not appreciate you free thinking. Traditions need to be broken.. if you think they should.

Or the middle ground school of thought. Where it is your vacation, and you want to relax from the clothes you wear every day at work. But you also realize that there is a dress code and follow it. By dressing nice, but not in a suit and tie if it's not formal night for example.

The OP didn't say where they were cruising. We've found that around North America (Caribbean, Mexico, etc.), the dress pushes the limit toward the casual. Things seem to be a lot more formal on the transatlantic and European cruises we've been on....

You know, this is such a hotly debated subject. There are many threads debating dress code. I think what you described is perfectly acceptable. We are cruising the Med in three weeks and DH will take a suit and I will have dressy pants outfit for formal nights. For non formal nights he will wear collared shirts with pants and I will wear pants and a nice top. I have never cruised with HAL before, but dont think we will be the only ones without a tux and gown.

You know, this is such a hotly debated subject. There are many threads debating dress code. I think what you described is perfectly acceptable. We are cruising the Med in three weeks and DH will take a suit and I will have dressy pants outfit for formal nights. For non formal nights he will wear collared shirts with pants and I will wear pants and a nice top. I have never cruised with HAL before, but dont think we will be the only ones without a tux and gown.

Your choices seem just fine. HAL softened its dress code a bit a few years back - there used to be formal, informal, and casual as I recall. Formal is still the same (tux, business suit, or jacket and tie at the least). Informal was at least a jacket. Casual was what Smart Casual is today.

When we first sailed with HAL back in 1998, I think there were six ships, with the largest being the S-Class with 1266 passengers. There are now 15 ships with over 2000 pax on several. When you have to fill that many staterooms, perhaps you can't find that many folks who still enjoy dressing up. But, as I have read here more times than I can count, if you don't like the profile of the ship with regard to formality, why do you choose to cruise on it and fight the system? Wouldn't it be more pleasant to sail on a line that matches your formality? There are countless ships out there that cater to very casual attire - it would seem that it would help if more travel agents did a better job of matching clients and cruise lines.... or for those who use the Internet as their travel agent, perhaps the cruise lines need to better job of defining their niche in the business....

on smart casual nights my dh wears slacks and a gold shirt

Oh my! :D

Another expert who has never been on HAL.

But was the advice wrong?

As an example on my last cruise out out of Ft Lauderdale about 90% of the men dressed in coats for dinner

Was the MDR that cold?

I used to take a Tux,Dinner Jacket,Vests and patten leather shoes. While I used to enjoy dressing up with my wife dressing in one of her long gowns; weight restrictions and limitations on luggage when flying to port, for cruise, prohibits my doing so now. I take one jacket for formal nights. When we can drive to the port we do take the more formal wear. Marvin

Was the MDR that cold?

Actually it was on the Maasdam in November.Apart from the four formal nights,my husband wore his blazer every night.

Judging people bu what by what they wear and how they look... oh so rude. ? really

Get real... you do it and we all do it every day of our life and you will continue to do it too ... You just dont want to admit that it is a fact of life and human nature. Every job or realtion you ever held began with the eveluation of how you looked to the other person.

And yes a formal dinner like on a ship is theater and an experience many cherish....even if you don't.

I just guess I think it is rude not to respect tradition on a ship that promotes tradition and the height of selfish, self absorbed behaviour.

O girss I think more of others than myself..... character flaw to some today