Who Wants an End to HAL Formal Nights Entirely?

[cruiserking]

We vote 100% to Keep Formal Nights. They are such special nights aboard HAL Ships and one fo the highlights of the voyage.

 

Jonathan

[Rutland Gate]

If you don't like formal nights, go on a ship that doesn't have any.

[GmaPajama]

Wow, hot topic. 27 posts in the first hour. Suppose that's some kind of record?

[ajames]

Just bought my first tux. Can't wait to wear it on our Oosterdam Mexican Riviera cruise next January. Holland America is a more formal line, and that's what we like. We went with Norwegian Caribbean to Bermuda last summer and you saw tank tops, baseball caps and shorts in the dining room every night of the week (so-called "elegant wear" nights included). That's not the kind of vacation that we want. We genuinely enjoy dressing for dinner and making it a special occasion.

[Candy]

Why not? Why should a non-jean/tank-top rule be "imposed" one someone who is on vacation and paid for it? :rolleyes: Why should elegance be the rule; why not casual? :D

Score: Casual 5 - Formal 2

You win.

Happy?

[Acklander]

If you don't like formal nights, go on a ship that doesn't have any.

 

I think it's this attitude that's going to be the death of formal nights. People WILL go on ships that don't have them, and lines that do have them will lose out on business.

I enjoy 1 formal night (mainly for the photo op - never can get my family all dressed up at the same time otherwise) but would be just as happy on a ship that didn't have a formal night.

I'd vote with a formal night optional with one part of the room for formal, one elegant. Maybe when booking your cruise you could select your option - fixed seating/late seating/formal or whatever.

[chrispb]

I couldn't care less if formal is kept or not. I don't do formal but if others want to then go ahead. You won't bother me, I'm happy in the calm of the Lido. Just don't force your choice on me - HAL doesn't!

[CLE-B]

I don't post much but I have to add to this one and I have nothing against dressing up but I must admitt that I would prefer to see Country Club Elegant verse formal. My DH would still probably wear a sports coat and myself a dress and/or skirt outfit for these evenings. Just not the formal clothes we once carried with us. Every cruise we try and scale back on the clothes and we like it!!! I can still remember taking the dark suit and different sport coats for the semi formal nights, how crazy was this? I think we like cruising for it's ease and convenience and sometimes I feel that the whole "formal Night" takes away from that relaxed comfort of the cruise. I just watch folks that look like they just want to get back to their cabins to change out of the uniform they just sat though dinner in.

I think Carnival does a nice job at the "Elegant Night" idea, that your suit or tux is very welcomed but not necessary.

[Travalerie]

I am primarily an at home mom of 2 young kids and work part time. I am very busy and don't get to get dressed up very often. We enjoy one formal night on our cruise. We don't do both nights, primarily because I don't have enough formal dresses! But we go to the Lido or get room service on formal night. The only thing I don't like is having to be dressed up for shows/movies/entertainment the rest of the night. I admit, it does look nice to have everyone spiffy even after dinner, but that is where I think it invades vacation time a bit. I understand not going to the dining room on formal night, but not going anywhere all night because you don't want to dress up? It seems a bit much. It seems to me that if a couple is enjoying their night dressed up that it should not take away from it if I sit in the show next to you in pants.

[Old fella]

I couldn't care less if formal is kept or not. I don't do formal but if others want to then go ahead. You won't bother me, I'm happy in the calm of the Lido. Just don't force your choice on me - HAL doesn't!

 

Ditto for me.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

There are so many people who say they will eat in Lido rather than dress formal, that I wonder at what point, it's time to do away with formal nights - to go all 'elegant casual'.

 

Maybe it is mainly because of airline weight restrictions and people don't want to lug the formal clothing or maybe it is because formal is alien to their lives and they don't want to experience on vacation but it seems many folks say they don't wish to participate.

 

You want it to continue or not?

 

I vote for "elegant casual", or "country club casual". No more formal nights, please. However, that's just my personal opinion. HAL can do what they like, because I enjoy their product.

 

I like HAL, and as long as they have formal nights, I will abide by the dress code or go hide in the Lido. Fortunately, HAL's "formal" dress code standards are rather flexible.

 

Sadly, my husband has been completely turned off cruising because of the dress codes (among other aspects). He enjoyed our 3-day coastal Amsterdam last year because there were only "elegant casual" evenings. You can say "go to Oceania" but they do mostly exotic itineraries that involve long-distance flying, and that is something I can no longer do, for medical reasons.

[WillK]

I'd vote for keeping formal nights. Even with the current standard, I've noticed that many already interpret "formal dress" as "country club elegant". Human nature being what it is, it's easy to imagine how quickly "country club elegant" could be redefined to include "dress shorts" and "elegant Tivas".

 

I don't bother packing a tux. I rent one onboard. It doesn't cost much and saves the bother of dry cleaning and lugging an extra bag.

[pris993]

We will only book with cruise lines that have formal nights. If HAL changed we will move on to another line.

 

I think most seasoned travelers with HAL would like to maintain the formal night traditions, even though there is a minority who would like to see this change.

 

There are lines that don't do formal, folks should book with them.

[iflyrc5]

Formal nights are OK - just not so many - 9 on our 33 day cruise was a bit much - they even had one on our Port day in Bora Bora:confused:. I feel that 1 per week on the longer cruises is all that is needed. If you want to go formal more often than that go ahead - know one is stopping you from dressing up every night if that is what you want to do - have fun - just not for me.

[innlady1]

On our recent cruise, people pretty much abided by the dress code on Formal nights. I noticed a trend toward Casual, dropping the "Smart," on Smart Casual nights, however.

 

Question: What is Formal Optional? I was confused about that and we had one each cruise this time around. I went with my gut and did a dressed down version of Formal; DH wore his dark navy suit.

 

As for yes or no, neither would be a deal breaker for me. We love HAL...so will go along with whatever dress code changes are on the horizon...if, in fact, HAL does change them.

[nycruise]

We just got back from the Zuiderdam which had 3 formal nights, probably 2 too many. Nothing is really formal anymore since 5% of the passengers wear "real" formal wear. I wore a dark suit, same one all 3 nights and changed shirts and ties.

 

I real don't see much of a difference between HAL and other cruise lines, even the "dreaded" Carnival. During the daytime the dress is exactly the same and you see the same number of Tuxes in the dining room at dinner. The difference is that Carnival doesn't enforce a jacket rule in the dining room and you will see a few people inappropriately dressed.

 

The trend in society in general is more and more casual and the cruise lines will follow. Remember when people wore suits and dresses in restaurants on a Saturday night. When was the last time your saw that.;)

[Valentino]

On my last cruise I was delighted to see that there were a lot of formal nights and so I brought the appropriate ball gowns to wear - which I just loved. It was a 14 night cruise and I must admit that after the third formal night I was getting really fed up with dressing formally and was looking forward to a smart casual night as there were too many formal nights on the trot. So we both opted to eat in our stateroom rather than have to do another formal night on the trot.

 

I love the fact that there are formal nights but would much prefer to see less formal nights to be swapped with smart casual or cocktail.

[usha]

We enjoy formal nights, and always dress appropriately.

However, if formal nights come to an end, we'd be okay with that, too.

I don't get the luggage issue though:confused:

Our last cruise was 14 nights with 3 formal nights, plus 2 days pre and 1 day post cruise at hotels.

We still had 1 checked bag each.

It's not rocket science.:rolleyes:

[jhannah]

Good question, Judy. I do like formal nights. It's an elegant part of the cruise experience that makes it special. I would vote to continue formal nights.

[jtl513]

I wouldn't miss formal nights if they were eliminated ... and I wouldn't mind if they did just one per week ... but that would quickly lead to more people not packing formal clothes and opting for the Lido that night.

[Rudolph38]

This will be decided, like the smoking issue, by HAL's assessment of how a policy helps or hurts them vis a vis the competition. Our society is getting more casual, and cruising is much more of a mass market vacation now than it used to be (and one of the most economical for what you get). There has already been a trend away from formal and other dress codes in the cruising industry, and also on HAL (There are more and more people in the Lido and Canaletto on formal nights. Even among those who dress formally for dinner, many of them now shed their formals for the shows.).

 

I think what you will see happening is that formal night will be an option for a smaller group of people who still cherish it. Those who do not want to be formal will receive the same service and food. They will have to work out a plan whereby there are sittings, both formal and informal, fixed and open. I'm glad I don't have to do that, because there will be many unhappy people who don't like the changes. Another possibility might be, as I guess Carnival now does, to make dining in the Vista formal optional (There was one of those on our Feb. 23rd Noordam cruise.) To be perfectly frank (and perhaps blunt), if dress in our society continues increasingly to be casual, those who who dress formally will feel a bit out of place.

 

You might start to see a question about formal nights in a questionaire at the end of the cruise similar to the one on smoking. When responses reach some tipping point, changes will occur. (I think they are very close to the tipping point in prohibiting smoking in cabins and verandas.)

[Hal&Rob]

If you want to dress formally, please do; but don't expect so of everyone.

 

Of all the cruises I have taken (140+) I have never dressed formally and still ate in the dining room, wearing a jacket sans tie. Never had a problem. It's your cruse too - enjoy!

 

So my vote is: . . .What ever!

[taxmantoo]

The trend in society in general is more and more casual and the cruise lines will follow. Remember when people wore suits and dresses in restaurants on a Saturday night. When was the last time your saw that.;)

 

Last Saturday, as a matter of fact... when we did it!

[Wayfairers]

My vote is to eliminate all formal nights. I have eaten at some of the best restaurants on land and not been forced to dress formally and I think the practice of cruise ship formal nights is outdated. I think the attire should be country club casual meaning no shorts, t-shirts or jeans, but also no coat and tie for men.

 

Hopefully as the average cruise age gets younger, the formal nights will disappear. Already noticed that on Carnival, formal night is on the agenda but we saw people in jeans and t-shirts in the dining room on both formal nights. If the cruise line is going to have a formal night they should do as Holland America and not allow people in the dining room if they aren't dressed appropriately.

[bradpole]

Good question, Judy. I do like formal nights. It's an elegant part of the cruise experience that makes it special. I would vote to continue formal nights.

 

If I had been asked this same question a couple of years ago I would have agreed with Jhannah, but I just don't have the same enjoyment as I used to when it comes to dressing up. I do understand that some people do still enjoy it, which is why 'optional' seems like a very good compromise. Those who want to dress up and enjoy it still can, and those who would prefer a more 'country club casual' can also be comfortable and enjoy their evening.