New to HAL - formal night questions vs. Princess

[clickchick]

We have sailed on Princess, but this December will be our first cruise with HAL (Oosterdam - Mexican Riviera). Since I am a total girl :), I am curious about formal nights, particularly in comparison to Princess. Would you consider the typical attire more formal, less formal, or about the same as Princess? Does HAL have the formal portraits with the varied backgrounds? Lastly, any fun rituals or themes to the formal nights (like Princess' champagne waterfall or Baked Alaska parade)?

 

Thanks in advance!

Anne

[Solo Cruiser]

The attire is just about the same on HAL as on Princess for formal nights, ranging from black satiny or slinky pants and glittery tops to evening gowns. There is a baked alaska parade on the last formal night. On my one cruise with HAL I noticed a larger percentage of tuxedos than on Princess but that may vary by cruise.

[irislady]

We didn't see much difference between HAL and Princess as far as the "formality" of the clothing. I think sometimes the itinerary impacts the dressiness of formal nights more than the cruise line. We saw more gowns and tuxedos on our HAL Baltic cruise than we did on our Princess Alaska cruise just 3 mos. earlier, and fancier "duds" on our HAL Med. cruise last year than on our HAL Alaska cruise this year. It is getting harder and harder for me to convince DH that he should pack his suit, dress shirts and ties. If it were up to him every cruise would be only "Smart Casual"/"Country Club Casual".

[OCruisers]

Really .... Princess and HAL are the same on Formal Nights. :)

[Pam in CA]

Really .... Princess and HAL are the same on Formal Nights. :)

I agree. You'll find the same super fancy to nice. The only difference is that on longer cruises, there are more formal nights on HAL than Princess.

[hrhdhd]

Does HAL have the formal portraits with the varied backgrounds?

 

HAL does have formal portrait opportunities available, but we did find that the backgrounds/poses/photos were better on Princess. At least, we have bought more formal portraits on those two cruises than on a greater number of HAL cruises.

[bosardav]

How many formal nights are there on HAL on a 10 day caribbean cruise?

[RuthC]

How many formal nights are there on HAL on a 10 day caribbean cruise?

Expect three formal nights on a 10-day cruise.

[hillside]

Hi, We're new to Hal and I would like info on men's formal night attire. Do many men wear tuxes, or are suits in the majority? We're on the Ryndam, Nov. 1. Our last formal night was on Celebrity and we rented a tux. Last year we cruised on Azamara with country club casual for all meals. For me, it's about the packing, and we'll go with what the norm is on the cruise line. Thanks in advance for any info.

[fann1sh]

Hi, We're new to Hal and I would like info on men's formal night attire. Do many men wear tuxes, or are suits in the majority? We're on the Ryndam, Nov. 1. Our last formal night was on Celebrity and we rented a tux. Last year we cruised on Azamara with country club casual for all meals. For me, it's about the packing, and we'll go with what the norm is on the cruise line. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

I'd generalize suits are in the majority. But on my last cruise, there were 2 tuxes, 1 suit at my table.

 

I rent a tux for the gentleman in my life because he hates dressing up, his wife and daughter love to dress up, and with a rental, packing is a breeze. YMMV!

 

http://www.cruiselineformal.com/cf_pages/packages.php?c=hal

[hillside]

Thanks, that's what I thought. I'll weigh my options, ie; pack or rent.:)