It's just odd somehow...

[iancal]

There appears to be a thread running through some posts that if someone does not enjoy formal evenings then they should not cruise on Celebrity.

 

Are formal nights the only worthwhile attribute that attracts people to Celebrity? It is DW's favourite cruise line. She is not particularly enthralled with formal nights and sometimes skips them. Does this mean she likes Celebrity for all the wrong reasons???

 

The notion that someone who prefers not to attend formal dinners should be looking at an alternate cruise line makes absolutely ZERO sense.

[Cuizer2]

Every time I cruise we have dinner in an air-conditioned dining room. It's usually colder in the dining room in the summer than the winter.

 

It may be "cooler" but it is not cold enough for me. I am comfortable at 65 degrees with just a shirt.

[Ma Bell]

And the dog ate your homework.:D

[ehfl]

I see any number of posts etc from folks who like to be casual and relaxed, don't like to dress up, don't like to go to the main dining room, actually like a buffet for dinner, routinely have dinner in their room even, etc., so why are they choosing Celebrity?

 

Seems like a huge disconnect to me! There are far more casual/accommodating cruise lines out there for this market segment. I guess maybe the cruise ship is somewhat more transportation to travel on a desired sight-seeing itinerary or something? Like I can see a port-intensive euro cruise with little time to kick back and enjoy the usual cruise ship ambience and the ship is more a place to sleep, transport, and eat decent but not exciting meals. Anyhow, I can't imagine picking Celebrity for a low key dress down casual sort of cruise, it doesn't fit that model very well in my opinion. Anyhow, not slamming anyones's tastes, but these threads/posts strike me as being odd quite often.

 

Jeff

 

 

I can't imagine spending this much time thinking about what other people do on their vacations....just seems like a huge disconnect to me. I mean, people come here for information, not judgement. The world has really huge problems to deal with....this is not one of them.

[alli]

I've been reading these boards for years now. I don't post that often, just pop in when I have a cruise on the books, ask some questions, try to answer some questions when I've completed a vacation. I always knew these infamous 'dress code' threads existed;but never bothered with reading them.

 

For some reason I honed in on this one....LOL, I've been drawn to it like a moth to a lantern.

 

I'm horrified at what I'm reading. While my husband and I always adhere to the dress code as we always enjoy eating in the MCR or a speciality restaurant, I don't really care what others are doing around me.

 

The posts concerning the 'traditional ' cruise dress and 'people are ruining our ambience'....I'm absolutely blown away by those. Are you people serious? Let me suggest John Maxtone-Graham's book Liners to the Sun. Perhaps a bit of education and history as to how the cruise industry developed might help you in your perspective.

 

Please stop worrying about what others are doing and concentrate on how you can better yourselves to be more understanding people.

[JeffCoud]

I can't imagine spending this much time thinking about what other people do on their vacations....just seems like a huge disconnect to me. I mean, people come here for information, not judgement. The world has really huge problems to deal with....this is not one of them.

 

Who said any of this was a huge problem, lol.... It's chit chat relax!

[junglejane]

Who said any of this was a huge problem, lol.... It's chit chat relax!

 

Jeff, I have enjoyed reading this thread. For me, it's chit chat relax (or rather goof off while I should be doing something more productive). But as for your question about "who said any of this was a huge problem . . .." Well, I won't point fingers at specific posters, but it does seem like there are people on this thread for whom the dress code is "a huge problem."

[Bridge Maven]

Nope- although we do always dress up for the opera, symphony, or play. We're in our twenties- don't recall a time when people wore 3 piece suits to restaurants. :D

 

Cruising is special to us. We love the ambiance and the formality is part of it.

 

Susie, thank you for answering my question. Maybe the difference between us is that I am old enough to remember when people dressed more formally for a symphony, an opera, the theater, evening activities at upscale resorts, and upscale restaurants. For that reason, the formal dress code on a ship didn't seem that unique to me when we first started to cruise because we also dressed that way for the aforementioned. Even though I personally follow the dress code for formal nights, I do it to follow the rules not because it enhances my overall cruise experience. However, if it ever gets to the point that there are more people that don't follow the formal dress code than do, I will consider that implied code to preempt the cruise line's official code.

[beebee]

I think that the comment that was made about people not researching their cruise beforehand and having some idea of what to expect is probably the biggest reason you hear so many complaints from some people. One of the biggest complaints I have heard recently from people on Celebrity is that there isn't enough to do. One of the things that I like the most about Celebrity cruising is that they offer just enough to do so that you never have to worry about not being kept busy if that is what you want, but they also allow you to set your own pace for your cruising experience. I have nothing against rock climbing walls, wave pools, ice skating rinks etc. but I would never go on a ship that offers all those types of activities because I know that is not the type of cruise that I want. However, if that is what you are looking for, you should not go on Celebrity. I think that Celebrity gives you the framework (which includes lots of activities and programs) and let's you take responsibility for designing your own cruise experience which is what I like most about cruising with them. If I may philosophize for a moment, to me, part of the enjoyment of a cruise is not having an activity planned for every minute of every day but enjoying the "emerging design"!

[lor74]

OP, you have described my wife and I....here is our reasoning:

 

Having been on 8 cruises in the last 8 yrs (which seems like a lot for our age group..35), we have progressively become more casual on our cruises. In the beginning we wanted the full cruise experience...we dressed up every night, always ate in the MDR at a table for 10, had a balcony, always got off at every stop, did excursions, etc. With each passing cruise, our priorities changed. We are now at the point, where our only goal is to get on the ship and enjoy a relaxing cruise vacation. We get an inside cabin, choose anytime dinning and are only guaranteed to go to the MDR during lobster night. I no longer pack a suit, do not book any excursions in advance and am not stressed about getting off the ship anymore.

 

Why do we choose Celebrity or Princess? Because no matter how you choose to "do it", they are providing a better product than Carnival or Norwegian.

[lvcruiser]

Who said any of this was a huge problem, lol.... It's chit chat relax!

 

You, yourself, said this was a huge problem in a previous post when you took ownership of this thread and called someone an idiot because they tried to post an argument contrary to your belief on "your thread." You knew this thread would fan the flames on this topic, or at the very least, should have known. These boards are designed for relaxing chit chat, but there are some subjects, this being one of them, that cause strong emotional responses in some of the posters.

 

You deflected ehfl's point of the post along with their sarcasm of quoting your original post, so I will ask the unasked questions: why do you care so much about what others do on the cruises on which you sail? And why do you wish to fan the flames one more time, knowing full well that this forum is designed to provide information and not judgment, but topics such as this will only serve the latter?

[Momorider]

I think that the comment that was made about people not researching their cruise beforehand and having some idea of what to expect is probably the biggest reason you hear so many complaints from some people. One of the biggest complaints I have heard recently from people on Celebrity is that there isn't enough to do. One of the things that I like the most about Celebrity cruising is that they offer just enough to do so that you never have to worry about not being kept busy if that is what you want, but they also allow you to set your own pace for your cruising experience. I have nothing against rock climbing walls, wave pools, ice skating rinks etc. but I would never go on a ship that offers all those types of activities because I know that is not the type of cruise that I want. However, if that is what you are looking for, you should not go on Celebrity. I think that Celebrity gives you the framework (which includes lots of activities and programs) and let's you take responsibility for designing your own cruise experience which is what I like most about cruising with them. If I may philosophize for a moment, to me, part of the enjoyment of a cruise is not having an activity planned for every minute of every day but enjoying the "emerging design"!

 

.........

We got warehouses of butter

We got oceans of wine

We got famine when we need it

We got designer crime

We got Mercedes

We got Porsche, Ferrari

and Rolls Royce

Yeah, we got choice

.......

 

Maybe its just me but I think it would be boring if everyone and everything was the same.

 

:D

[Kini12]

Who said any of this was a huge problem, lol.... It's chit chat relax!

 

And always entertaining.:)

[fleckle]

There appears to be a thread running through some posts that if someone does not enjoy formal evenings then they should not cruise on Celebrity.

 

Are formal nights the only worthwhile attribute that attracts people to Celebrity? It is DW's favourite cruise line. She is not particularly enthralled with formal nights and sometimes skips them. Does this mean she likes Celebrity for all the wrong reasons???

 

The notion that someone who prefers not to attend formal dinners should be looking at an alternate cruise line makes absolutely ZERO sense.

So true. Since when are passengers expected to participate in every event offered on a cruise ship?

 

Formal dinners are held for a few hours, on only 2 or 3 evenings of a cruise.

It is as silly as telling the people who don't want to participate in bingo or art auctions or shopping presentations or spa treatments or dancing or sitting by the pool (or any other traditional cruise activity) that they should pick a different cruise line just because they do not enjoy something that you like.

[JeffCoud]

You, yourself, said this was a huge problem in a previous post when you took ownership of this thread and called someone an idiot because they tried to post an argument contrary to your belief on "your thread." You knew this thread would fan the flames on this topic, or at the very least, should have known. These boards are designed for relaxing chit chat, but there are some subjects, this being one of them, that cause strong emotional responses in some of the posters.

 

You deflected ehfl's point of the post along with their sarcasm of quoting your original post, so I will ask the unasked questions: why do you care so much about what others do on the cruises on which you sail? And why do you wish to fan the flames one more time, knowing full well that this forum is designed to provide information and not judgment, but topics such as this will only serve the latter?

 

You are totally humorless, how sad, lol. And in fact, I am the OP of this thread, so there's maybe a wee bit of ownership there. The dress code thing was far less interesting to me than the eating pattern thing.

[NancyIL]

So true. Since when are passengers expected to participate in every event offered on a cruise ship?

 

Formal dinners are held for a few hours, on only 2 or 3 evenings of a cruise.

It is as silly as telling the people who don't want to participate in bingo or art auctions or shopping presentations or spa treatments or dancing or sitting by the pool (or any other traditional cruise activity) that they should pick a different cruise line just because they do not enjoy something that you like.

 

Well said!

 

We are not loyal to any one cruise line. Our first Celebrity cruise was the westbound Transatlantic on the Constellation last September, and it was chosen for its great itinerary and reasonable price. We ate dinner in the dining room all 14 nights (except for the one night I had to excuse myself when the ship was really rocking!), and dressed appropriately on formal nights. The cruise was enhanced by the many wonderful people on our CC roll call! :)

 

Our second Celebrity cruise (Equinox Oct. 2011) was also booked for the great itinerary and price. I am looking forward to cruising on a Solstice-class ship.

[Can'tstopcruising]

Susie, thank you for answering my question. Maybe the difference between us is that I am old enough to remember when people dressed more formally for a symphony, an opera, the theater, evening activities at upscale resorts, and upscale restaurants. For that reason, the formal dress code on a ship didn't seem that unique to me when we first started to cruise because we also dressed that way for the aforementioned. Even though I personally follow the dress code for formal nights, I do it to follow the rules not because it enhances my overall cruise experience. However, if it ever gets to the point that there are more people that don't follow the formal dress code than do, I will consider that implied code to preempt the cruise line's official code.

 

 

In the olden days (when my kids were young, they used to ask me what it was like "in the olden days"), I can remember my father being given a jacket and/or tie when we went to restaurants while on vacation. Nowadays, I can't think of one restaurant that would insist on either. In my city, which has very good restaurants, I find that the more upscale, the younger the crowd. (I wonder how they can afford it)They are very casual. As for our generation, the women mostly wear pantsuits and the men at any given table can be wearing a suit, sport jacket or sweater. If they think they're hip, they may wear jeans. Everyone looks well dressed, though.

[FinelyCruising]

Iwould insist on either. In my city' date=' which has very good restaurants, I find that the more upscale, the younger the crowd. (I wonder how they can afford it)They are very casual.[/quote']

 

If you go to Atlantic City you would be amazed at majority status of the younger set in the casinos. It must be nice living at home.:D