Alaska cruise -dinner dress code?

[MandyCSP]

It's been a while since we've been on a cruise and have never sailed with Princess before. Wondering how dressed up people get for dinner on an Alaskan Princess cruise (aside from "formal" night? ) We are booked on the Coral leaving Whittier on July 3. We will be spending 2 weeks in Alaska pre-cruise (NOT a cruise-tour) - Our pre-cruise activities will require only VERY casual clothes. Aside from formal night, not crazy about having to pack additional dressy attire just for the few hours spent at the cruise dinners. We like the traditional dining otherwise (as opposed to other dining options.)

[Toto2Kansas]

The same as any other cruise, resort casual on non formal nights in the dining room.

One thing we found in Alaska is that we saw a lot more passengers in jeans and such (just my observation) then other non-alaska itineraries. Have a great cruise and pre-cruise two weeks visiting Alaska.

[Putterdude]

Here is some information from Princess's website which may help you.

 

Smart Casual

Passenger attire should be in keeping with what they would wear to a nice restaurant at home.

• Skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies
  
• Pants and open-neck shirts for men
  

Inappropriate dinner wear such as pool or beach attire, shorts, ball caps and casual jeans (with fraying and/or holes) are not permitted in the dining rooms. Shoes must be worn.

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gown, cocktail dress, or elegant pant suit for women
  
• Tuxedo, dark suit or dinner jacket and slacks for men
  

This applies equally for Alaska cruises...hope you have a great time.

[Maverick6969]

Just saw that you are sailing on the Coral July 3rd and wanted to invite you to join our roll call.

 

Hope you have a great pre-cruise trip, also.

[CowgirlColleen]

Just off Island Princess in Alaska... two formal nights. Overall the dress code seemed to be more relaxed for this venue than other cruises we've been on. Saw more jeans worn in the dining room, formal nights were dressy but not too many tuxedos worn. Nice dresses & dark suits mostly.

[CALMOM]

Our Alaska cruise everything was fine as long as you didn't wear blue jeans, shorts or flip flops on non-formal night for the MDR. On Formal Night there were Tuxs and Dark Suits.

 

There was a few passenger that tried to enter with shorts on non-formal night and were turned away. On Formal Night, there were a few passengers that wore no suit jacket or no tie, and they were turned away. It was my first cruise with Alaska, so I quickly learned that they do enforce their dress code, which pleased me. If my DH has to dress up then I expect every man to dress up :D.

 

However, you will receive all types of observations and opinions, so it's really up to you.

[uppitycats]

On the Alaska cruises that we've taken - on 2 different lines - the dress code seemed more relaxed during the day, but folks did get dressed up for dinner.

 

You should realize, though, that unless you wear something particularly stand-out-ish, nobody really will notice that perhaps you wore that same outfit for the last "formal dinner"! A different scarf, shawl, a bit of jewelry, can completely change "the look" and you're good to go.

[Coracii]

Our Alaska cruise everything was fine as long as you didn't wear blue jeans, shorts or flip flops on non-formal night for the MDR. On Formal Night there were Tuxs and Dark Suits.

 

On Formal Night, there were a few passengers that wore no suit jacket or no tie, and they were turned away. It was my first cruise with Alaska, so I quickly learned that they do enforce their dress code

 

Wrong information, blue jeans (without the decorative holes and tattering that are "in-fashion") are 100% acceptable in any of the dining rooms on all Princess ships on non-formal nights. This includes the upcharge restaurants.

 

Funny, I've only seen one person turned away from the dining room for formal night on my two cruises to Alaska and it was due to wearing a t-shirt. No one wearing dress shirts and slacks was turned away, including me. But, unlike blue jeans which Princess specifically approves of on smart casual night, wearing less than a jacket is an individual decision that each person makes for themselves since it is less than the recommended attire.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I don't know why people keep insisting that Princess doesn't allow jeans at dinner on casual evenings unless they haven't cruised with them in the past few years and unless they're in terrible shape, jeans perfectly acceptable especially in Alaska. You'll see many people wearing jeans in most of the dining rooms as Alaska cruising is much more laid back considering the extra clothing you'll be taking + the air line charges for the extra luggage.

On formal evenings the guys can get by without a jacket as long as they have a long sleeve shirt or a sweater and dress pants while the women can get by with just about anything dressy. If you want to go crazy & lug all the extra clothing for a few hours trying to impress you fellow cruisers it's your decision.

[Purpleprincess4]

I have seen and read many, many posts on this subject. Considering the fact that most airlines are charging for baggage and it is pretty easy to go over 50 lbs, my hubby and boys are only bringing dress slacks, collared long sleeve shirts and ties. Me and my girls will be wearing dresses with wraps and sweaters. We will wear these "formal" items twice. I really don't care if anyone notices if I am wearing the same thing twice. :D We'll probably bring 2 other "smart casual" outfits for the other nights.

Enjoy your cruise!

[luvs2travl]

I have seen and read many, many posts on this subject. Considering the fact that most airlines are charging for baggage and it is pretty easy to go over 50 lbs, my hubby and boys are only bringing dress slacks, collared long sleeve shirts and ties. Me and my girls will be wearing dresses with wraps and sweaters. We will wear these "formal" items twice. I really don't care if anyone notices if I am wearing the same thing twice. :D We'll probably bring 2 other "smart casual" outfits for the other nights.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

You'll be just fine! Believe me, no one will notice that you are wearing the same outfit more than once. The "fashion police" that you see here on these boards are non-existent onboard ship. We have cruised for many, many years and have yet to see any passenger verbally attack another for what they were ( or were not) wearing.

 

We HAVE seen (on two occasions that I recall) passengers refused admittance to the MDR by the maire d' due to due improper attire: one was a man dressed in bib overalls with a white tee-shirt underneath and crocs on his feet ( I kid you not!) and the other was a lady dressed in short-shorts with a tube top on that was at least 2 sizes too small. Neither happened on "Formal Night". And, no - they weren't together - this didn't even happen on the same cruise. But - they were each a sight to behold and did make you wonder "What were they thinking?" Even then, we didn't hear any of the passengers say a word to their face. I'll admit that we did have a chuckle about both occurences tho - sometimes you just can't help it. :)

 

Have a wonderful cruise with your family.

[angyl]

Just got off the Golden (Alaska) and did see people wearing nice jeans but only during the daytime. At night people dressed nicely in khakis and polos, long skirts, sundresses with shawls and nice outfits for the ladies. On formal night there was glitz, bling, beads, and sparkly tops for women and well dressed gentlemen in tuxes, suits, nice jackets, military uniforms, kilts, etc. I was delighted to see people dressed appropriately for dinner all seven nights. In the daytime I did see people in jeans but it was chilly in the mornings on excursions and on the deck. These are attractive well appointed dining rooms and I dressed like I would if I'd visited a very good restaurant back home.

[bjkTX]

We just finished a two week Alaska cruise on the Royal Princess (small ship). We expected the passengers to be older because it was a more expensive, two week cruise, and also figured based on that it would be a bit more formal than we had encountered on our previous 8 cruises. We were right on the age, but totally off on the dress. This was the most casually dressed group we have sailed with, including our one Carnival cruise. On our first (of 3) formal nights one of our tablemates came in wearing a sweatsuit zipper top. The second formal night he was in a casual, totally wrinkled shirt - and he wasn't alone. We skipped the third formal night in favor of the steakhouse :-) Didn't bother me, just surprised.

[gregjm]

Just got off the Golden (Alaska) and did see people wearing nice jeans but only during the daytime. At night people dressed nicely in khakis and polos, long skirts, sundresses with shawls and nice outfits for the ladies. On formal night there was glitz, bling, beads, and sparkly tops for women and well dressed gentlemen in tuxes, suits, nice jackets, military uniforms, kilts, etc. I was delighted to see people dressed appropriately for dinner all seven nights. In the daytime I did see people in jeans but it was chilly in the mornings on excursions and on the deck. These are attractive well appointed dining rooms and I dressed like I would if I'd visited a very good restaurant back home.

 

We are on the Golden next week----what nights are the formal nights (wondering if they alternated the norm since the second night is a 10pm departure from Juneau)

[flamomo]

My standby for formal nights is one "little black dress" that is pretty much crush proof, and I take enough accessories to change to look a bit for each formal night ........ an embroidered voile jacket one night ..... a fancy shawl another night .......... neither of the previous 2 add-ons, but some sparkly jewelry added for the 3rd formal night.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

Ahh … you ask about the dress code, especially on formal nights.

 

This is a rather contentious issue on these boards and many a poster has felt that it would have just been better to walk the plank after the snarky comments they received.

 

Here is a “tongue in cheek” listing of some of the comments you can expect to hear.

 

You will have some that say men must wear a tuxedo and women a formal gown. End of story. Absolutely, positively MUST wear a tux or formal gown, depending on your gender.

 

You will have some that say to lighten up as cruising has changed and you can wear anything nice. For some this includes Birkenstocks and Tie-Dyed polo shirts.

 

You will have some that say men can wear a suit with tie and women can wear Capri pants with a sparkly top or a dress. They only travel with carry on luggage and wad these items into a ball and just shake them out a bit when they get to their cabin.

 

You will have some that say they wear whatever they darn well please because they paid for this vacation and nobody is going to tell them how to dress. They will insist that removing their bathrobe before sitting at the table is all that is necessary.

 

You will have some say that if you aren’t dressed perfectly (their idea of perfectly) you will be refused entry to the dining room and will be completely embarrassed because they believe the entire world will view you with disgust. Your expulsion from the dining room will be video taped by the ship’s videographer and will be included with the DVD of the cruise so your embarrassment will be able to be viewed by everyone at home.

 

You will have some that say they have never seen anyone turned away from the dining room because of the way they were dressed. Aren’t shorts and torn jeans dressy enough?

 

You will have some that say you must stay dressed formally to be in the public areas of the ship for the entire formal evening so that you won’t spoil their cruise. If you’re passive/aggressive this is a wonderful way to taunt the self-righteous.

 

You will have some that say they immediately change out of their formal clothes after dinner before going to shows or lounges.

 

You will have some say you have to eat in the buffet, away from the proper people and immediately return to your cabin and stay there. You should be in steerage.

 

You will have some that say they eat in the buffet because they don’t want to dress up and are appalled that some people dress formally and then have the nerve to eat at the buffet and spoil their casual dining experience.

 

Some will tell you to stay in your room, out of sight of the properly dressed people. You should be in an inside cabin, on a lower deck, with the lights out and a towel rolled up against the bottom of the door. You can only open your door briefly when the steward comes by with your chow and you should tip them for the delivery because you have probably removed the auto-tips. (That’s another thread altogether)

 

Some will tell you that you can’t eat in the Pay Per Chew Specialty Restaurants on formal night unless you are dressed formally.

 

Some will tell you that you can eat in the Pay Per Chew Specialty Restaurants dressed “smart casual” on formal nights.

 

I suggest you sit back, have a drink, maintain a sense of humor, watch the discussion (if you can call it that) on this thread and realize that a very, very small percentage of cruisers post to Cruise Critic and you won’t ever get a consensus of what is appropriate to wear on formal night. Everyone who posts here believes that they are absolutely right.

 

Personally, we dress smart casual on formal nights and eat in one of the specialty restaurants. Afterward we enjoy the use of the public areas of the ship and never feel out of place or underdressed. Is this right? Maybe, maybe not. For us it works.

 

We choose not to dress formally and choose not to eat in the main dining room on formal nights out of respect for those who want to dress up. We choose to eat in the specialty restaurants on formal night because we generally find the buffet food to be less than satisfying and the Princess website states the following:

“When a casual mood calls, you have plenty of choices – even on formal nights. Whether it be one of our specialty restaurants, the 24-hour buffet at the Horizon Court, the pizzeria, burger & hot dog grill, or 24-hour room service, you’re able to choose how you dine with us.”

Have a great cruise!

[MandyCSP]

Well thank you all for your input. I had no idea my simple question would generate so many responses. It appears that almost anything goes (within reason) and so I'm not going to be too concerned.

Maverick, we leave in a few days so I probably won't have a chance to communicate on Roll Call but thanks for the invite. Maybe we'll try to pop in at the meet & greet - is it still 10 am on the 4th? Duck Duck, we enjoyed your humor!

[PowerMalc]

Duck Duck Cruise

 

Brilliant observations :)

 

Me, I'm going down the babysuit and bathrobe attire route :rolleyes: