Who Wants an End to HAL Formal Nights Entirely?

[cruznseas]

I'd say get rid of them or at least limit the formal night to no more than one a week. Dressing up gets old after a while and the times, they are a changing.

[Saphire]

we still dress up for formal night, and usually stay that way for the entire evening. There's something about wearing a slinky dress while throwing dice that's very sexy.

 

LOL, for us it is taking a walk on the Promenade Deck after dinner in our formal wear that makes me feel like we stepped back to another time...so elegant, so romantic. :)

[Willsot]

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?

 

Yes, we would want it to continue. DW and I love formal nights on HAL.

[fayruz]

 

The lugguge thing really doesn't factor into the equation for me.

 

my husband's elegant shoes are twice as heavy as my elegant silk dress...

[Hungry Detective]

Keep it, I bought a new tux and a dinner jacket just for the next cruise...I am 42 and bring 2 kids with me...it makes me feel good to get dressed up, I have to look like a dirtbag for work.

[TraelorMex]

YES. No formal nights...

[pspercy]

Slightly off topic but I've heard Alaska cruises tend to be less formal on the "formal" nights.

 

Is this true ?

 

For various reasons we're going to have a baggage problem if I have to pack such clothing and I've seen some rather negative remarks about the rental tux/dj offerings.

[Spinner2]

Keep the formal nights. We really enjoy them. And here's another vote for a romantic stroll out under the stars on a formal night. It is romantic!

[bob brown]

I will choose my cruise based on itinerary and then on ship. I will adhere with the prevailing dress code.

On a QE2 crossing, I wore a suit on the first and last 'informal nights', and a tux on the five formal sea nights.

On Celebrity I wore a dark suit on formal nights, blazer on 'informal', and 'elegant casual' on casual.

On HAL I wear a dark suit on formal nights, and 'elegant casual' the rest.

On NCL, I wear elegant casual on all nghts.

 

Which do I prefer? I will go with whatever is requested, but I am most comfortable in elgant casual. On NCL, they had a couple of 'dress up or not' nights, where it was your choice, and made to make all feel appropriate. I think this will be the trendsetter, as was their 'freestyle' dining.

[Tricia724]

I have always enjoyed the formal nights, but I have to admit that I am wavering.

 

Our 2008 holiday cruise to South America was 20 days, and our pre-cruise and post-cruise stays added another week. Our weather varied from hot, hot, hot in Rio to cold and frosty in Antartica, so we had to take a variety of clothing. With three checked bags between us, we had to do some fancy juggling to stay within the weight limits....and having 5 formal nights didn't help. Eliminating a tuxedo, several tuxedo shirts, two long dresses, palazzo pants, several dressy jackets, an evening bag, and shoes would have freed up a few extra pounds and saved some frustration.

 

Having said that, I'm glad we did the formal nights on that cruise because it was a holiday cruise and everyone looked so nice, but we wondered out loud whether it was worth lugging all that stuff with us in the future. On our upcoming Statendam cruise in Alaska, we have already decided to skip the formal nights....for the first time ever....and concentrate on taking the clothes we will need for our land touring.

 

So I guess I vote.....maybe.....or undecided.....or leaning towards Country Club casual. The traditional streak in me still hates to let go of the formal nights, but struggling with heavy suitcases is wearing me down.

[Down-Unders]

YES for formal.

[Storylady]

Definitely keep formal nights. There are so many ways that you can dress up formally without having a ton of luggage. Men only need one suit or tux. Besides you have to dress for dinner anyway---why not dress nice since we are eating in an elegant restaurant.

 

Those who don't want to dress formally can always eat in the Lido or cruise on another cruise line.

[doglady2]

Most deffinatly yes for us too:),we love the formal eves.

Our first cruise was in 2006 with friends and none of us had done this before.......the men were worried they would look like penguins:D.but hey....what corkers they were........my hubs is a Sean Connery lookalike.and my friends hubs is a Paul McCartney lookalike.....so we ladies were out with the stars:p

[Storylady]

Most deffinatly yes for us too:),we love the formal eves.

Our first cruise was in 2006 with friends and none of us had done this before.......the men were worried they would look like penguins:D.but hey....what corkers they were........my hubs is a Sean Connery lookalike.and my friends hubs is a Paul McCartney lookalike.....so we ladies were out with the stars:p

 

You all look smashing. Thanks for posting.

[English_in_Spain]

Some things require participation by all to work. Examples include silence and driving on the right. Dressing up for a special dinner only works if everyone in the dining area participates.

 

I agree. I love formal nights and would like to see them continue

BUT

If less than about 75% of passengers are not dressing formally I would rather they did away with it and changed to something like resort casual but make sure they enforce it in the MDR.

I love formal nights not just because of what DH and I wear but seeing all the other people in their lovely clothes.

I do not understand the idea of ‘Formal Optional’. Surely that is more or less what, in practice, Formal Nights are currently.

As others have said, one thing I would like HAL to change is the number of formal nights. If there are too many of them they no longer feel special. I think 1 on a 7 night cruise, 2 on a 10 or 12 night cruise is quite enough.

On our upcoming cruise (33 days) there will be 10 formal nights. That is almost one third of nights formal. Seems too many to me. I think by the 10th even I will have had enough.

[DAngel799]

We are tired of formal nights, and the luggage is a huge issue for us. We have 4 suitcases, and a hang up bag for our formal clothes. This is for a two week cruise. It will cost us $100 to check the hang up bag with our formal wear so my husband says he will carry it on the plane. He is 67 years old and has a bad back, and in the morning I think I'm going to tell him to leave it (hey, it is the morning). I've been up all night. I am so excited about the cruise. :D

I think it should be optional, or no more formal nights if I just have to say yes or no. I don't want the people that like it to have to give it up so I'd really rather say optional.

[WhansaMi]

I vote for no formal nights. Smart casual/country club attire would, IMO work best for me, and many other passengers.

[bradpole]

I've been reading this topic with interest since it started...I thought I would offer up this question...

 

For those of you who don't want to do away with formal nights:

 

Would you be opposed if formal night became optional and those who didn't want to dress up dressed "country club casual" (no jeans, no shorts, etc..) were still allowed to have an enjoyable meal in the dining room while you were dressed in your formal attire? I know for myself there have been occasions I have dressed for dinner than immediately changed after so I could have a wonderful meal in the dining room rather than being banished to the Lido for dinner.

[maxsmamma]

I vote for no formal nights. Smart casual/country club attire would, IMO work best for me, and many other passengers.

 

I don't own formal wear, so it puts pressure on me to buy something to wear, if what I wore last time doesn't fit or isn't appropriate 3 years later. I do like seeing DH in a suit, but he is a tall guy with big feet. Reality is, his shoes and coat take up several pounds and valuable space in our luggage. We are really debating eating on our balcony or Lido this year. And we will be Extra smart casual, as we go to the show or other public spaces on board.

 

I have not read the whole thread, but I wanted to vote. And 3 is WAYYYYYY to many on any cruise.

 

I'd be happy saying goodbye to formal night.

[cruiserking]

There has been so much discussion on these boards regarding formal wear. I was curious. I counted up all of the hard answers either yea or nea and so far Keep Formal Night is ahead.

 

Keep Formal Night - 72

 

End Formal Night - 41

 

Jonathan

[sail7seas]

Interesting. Seems like HAL has their finger on what majority of guests want as pertains to this subject.

 

This thread has been up less than 24 hours and look at how many responses (171). That does not happen very often so people seem to feel quite strongly about it. There are almost 3,400 views.

 

[GCurry]

Sorry I'm a little late to the ball, I've been having a cruise hangover.

 

But when I do arrive, it's in a tux, the more formal nights the merrier. Why carry a tux just to dress up for one evening? With the help of God and a portable scale we always find room for formal wear. Quite frankly, I find formal wear to be as comfortable as any other and spend the evening in it, usually dancing the night away.

 

We have had the NCL experience where the Clampetts are at the next table looking like their truck broke down and they came in to use the phone!:D

[mescat4]

have no problem with a couple of formal nites/week. Packing not an issue as packing a dinner jacket or sport coat takes up the same room/weight in the suitcase. Recent cruise on Carnival I packed a sport coat and dress shirts for the elegant nites but could have formal just as well. Scheduling formal nights for sea days makes those nights special rather then just a time filler to the next port.

 

Ev

[DawnAtSea]

My vote is to keep formal nights. I love to dress for dinner! It makes me feel special.. It is really a big reason why I cruise!! :)

[14 Days or Longer]

NO

 

formal dress is not to be "imposed" on passengers who are there on holiday and pay for it. That doesn't mean I can show up to dinner with ragged jeans and tank top.

If someone wants to "dress up", well go ahead and do it, I don't think I have to go to buffet because other people want to act like they're going to the Opera House.

Elegance should be the rule for every night :) but "Special nights" should not be imposed on.

 

We used to lug our formal wear on our cruises but when we started to do longer cruises(30 days or longer), luggage weight became a real concern.

I'm in a tux more often than I care to be because I raise funds for a non profit. My wife feels the same. On longer cruises there are too many formal nights. I now take a summer weight black suit which seems to work well and my wife takes a light weight dressy blouse.On shorter cruises we still tend to dress if the cruise is round trip from our home port.To each his own!