GASP .... We're Ready to Give Up Formal

[iancal]

Why is it that some people seem to feel that the only alternative to formal wear is jeans, and dirty jeans at that, with the implication that jeans are heavier than other formal attire. Leaving formal wear at home has made our packing so much easier. We don't need to add anything to our suitcase to compensate for not bringing the formal clothes. It is a net gain for us.

 

We wear business casual on formal night to the Lido.. We stopped because we no longer find formal evenings very special and for us the entire event is well past it's sell by date.

 

We see no reason why HAL should not continue formal evenings. We have no issue with dining at an alternative venue on formal evenings.

[Palmetto Lady]

I find it interesting that when we are "out and about" and also when I read newspapers about social events, the young women are always "dressed up". They are not in "gowns", but wear something like sundresses which would be appropriate for formal nights in the Caribbean. It is always their escorts that are dressed as if they are at a different events. In general most women like to dress up. Usually it is the men Not always) who fight the issue.

We recently were in the Caribbean on the Rotterdam. I personally did not see anyone on formal night in tee shirts and shorts much less dirty and sweaty. But then we had traditional dining and were on the upper level so maybe if there were any, they were all downstairs.

[igraf]

I observed the same on our 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise last year. I was expecting a lower standard being that this was a more casual cruise destination, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that almost everyone was dressed nicely for dinner, and especially for formal night.

 

Having said that, I think that a tuxedo might be overkill. A nice suit will suffice. Also, there might be a difference between open and fixed seating or between early and late dining in regard to attire.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

I made it a point to take notice of what people were wearing on formal night on my recent Maasdam cruise. While I saw very few tuxes, almost all of the men were in suits or sport jackets. There was one woman sitting near us in a sweater and skirt, but her kids were more dressed than she was. I didn't see any gowns, but most women were in dressy pants or short cocktail dresses. There were no shorts, t shirts or anything like that in the dining room.

 

It's interesting, Judy, that you had such a different dress scene two weeks later.I wonder why?

[arewethereyet]

Why is it that some people seem to feel that the only alternative to formal wear is jeans, and dirty jeans at that, with the implication that jeans are heavier than other formal attire.

Because defending against a straw man is much preferred to dealing with reality.

 

Leaving formal wear at home has made our packing so much easier. We don't need to add anything to our suitcase to compensate for not bringing the formal clothes. It is a net gain for us.

 

We wear business casual on formal night to the Lido.. We stopped because we no longer find formal evenings very special and for us the entire event is well past it's sell by date.

The Mrs. and I co-sign this feeling.

 

We see no reason why HAL should not continue formal evenings. We have no issue with dining at an alternative venue on formal evenings.

And this one as well.

 

Live, and let live.

[1cruiselvr]

Don't get "tired"....that's the problem...when people give in we all suffer. Look at the big corporations that have had to change "casual Friday" back to some other words because "casual" meant flip-flops, torn clothes etc. We have to admit that slobs will always be slobs, sailing or at home. I like and agree with your attitude of eating in the Lido and not MDR on formal nights.

I just don't understand why a policy has to change instead of enforcing the rules. I believe that if one person was sent home (without pay) due to breaking the work dress code, word would spread like wildfire and people would remember. BUT we have turned into a society that is afraid to enforce rules, less we get sued. Very sad.

I still hold to the belief that HAL should enforce their dress code in the DR, whatever it is. But I guess I'm dreaming......

[Miss Independence]

We have just returned from a cruise on The Eurodam to the Baltic and were very surprised by the style of "Formal Dress" for must passengers.

Our previous cruises with a much higher British contingent was far more dressy and a lounge suit and tie was the very least any of the men wore. Most wore black dinner suits and bow ties.

On this cruise, predominantly American guests, the men wore lounge suits and ties, some wore slacks with a jacket but very few wore dinner suits. It makes a mockery of the dress code advertised - Smart casual / Formal and may as well be dropped altogether.

There was a great variation too in the women's' dress too - anything from trousers, t shirts,( I didn't see any shorts) to cocktail dresses but no long "ball" gowns at all.

I actually hate dressing up but feel it is important to respect other diners and wear appropriate clothes. There are always the cafeteria restaurants if you cannot be bothered. Which reminds me - I did see a bare chested man eating in the Lido! Dreadful. Nationality ....................... sorry no idea!

[BarbGar]

I just don't understand why people can't comply with the evening. If they choose to be well-groomed and casual, they can dine at a (well-groomed) casual location. Those wishing to go formal should be able to dine at a formal location on the formal evening.

Perhaps the cruise lines should consider opening a "speciality" restaurant for those wishing to dress formally on formal night and not begrudge the well-groomed casual people the right to dine in their regular dining room. However, rules would have to be enforced to keep this venue "formal."

What do you think? Would that make everyone happy?

[mathteacher1980]

 

***snip***

 

Perhaps the cruise lines should consider opening a "speciality" restaurant for those wishing to dress formally on formal night and not begrudge the well-groomed casual people the right to dine in their regular dining room.

 

***snip***

 

 

This would be a fine solution I would think. I assume that people (like me) go to the dining room on formal night because the food is better than the lido. Therefor if the same food was served in another non formal location, those that "wont be bothered" or those of us(low class individuals that were referred to earlier in the thread) that cant purchase appropriate attire and still enjoy the quality of the food that is served in the main dining room.

 

EDIT : Whoops... Misread the initial post. Sorry Dany. I see now that Dany suggested a specialty restaurant for formal dining.... I thought perhaps a dining room that serves the same food as the MDR that stays smart casual.

[cruisemom42]

I'm very much on the fence on this issue......talk about being the "sandwich" generation:

 

On the one hand, I realize dressing up is traditional on cruises; I've been cruising with my family since the age of 8. My parents just got back from a 3-week cruise on Prinsendam. My parents dress nicely for dinner every night. My dad wears a jacket even on smart casual evenings and packs both a tux and a dinner jacket (one less-than-50-lb suitcase for each, I might add....:rolleyes:). Near the end of their cruise, as they walked to the dining room along the path they took each evening, a passenger sitting in the bar stopped them and complimented my mom on always looking so nice each evening. Apparently she had made an impression....

 

On the other hand, I have a son who is now 19, and -- except for two high school proms -- has never dressed up significantly. His idea of a great evening does not include a suit and tie, much less a tux. He's also been cruising with me since he was about the same age I was when I started cruising. He knows the rules; he will don a jacket and tie for one formal night to make mom happy, but anything more than that is too much -- he will eat in the buffet. I don't wish to force him to dress up, but I prefer dining in the dining room, so on those nights we do not eat together, which makes me sad.

 

I don't particularly "love" to dress up either, and more and more I find myself wishing cruise lines would adopt a sort of uniform "smart casual" or "business casual" or "elegant casual" dress code. Something that would exclude shorts and tee-shirts and ratty jeans (and be enforced) but would allow folks who don't wish to dress formal to still spiff up a bit and enjoy dining together.

 

I must in honesty add that all the carping on the "bygone days" does get old and also makes one SEEM rather fuddy-duddy. Every generation bemoans the lack of manners and dress of the succeeding generation, and this has been going on since the days of the Roman empire, if not longer. :rolleyes: Nostalgia is a slippery slope. People bemoan the elegance of days gone by, but who's to say what period was the best? Perhaps we should go back to donning whale-bone corsets and eight layers of petticoats like those intrepid English ladies who had to endure "proper dress" in places like Egypt and India in the days of the British Empire. Perhaps gentlemen should wear powdered wigs (ever stop to think how hot and uncomfortable those must've been?), or high stock collars and cravats, or stockings and knee britches.......

 

As to the great unwashed and greasy hordes that some seem to encounter: Perhaps some are not aware that wrinkled doesn't necessarily mean unclean (I'd rather wear wrinkly cotton or linen any day than unbreathable unnatural fabrics), and that greasy hair may be clean hair with a lot of styling product. ;)

[SmokinActuary]

Formal on HAL is done and so am I.

If HAL wants to be a mass amrket line that's fine.

They'll just do it without me and mine.

 

Gramps

 

I thought you were done with cruising?

 

I am not a huge fan of formal nights, but I dress accordingly. For the other nights I always dress fashionably. Tee-Shirts and bathing suits are not my idea of proper dinner attire, but in some locals (the Caribbean for instance) a traditional suit or tux seems anachronistic.

[Trader Ron]

Sail,

 

Back in May I said it sounds like you threw in the "tux", with regards to formal nights. looks like I was unfortunately correct.

 

The people who run CCL and RCL could do something about this, but it would take guts.

[Trader Ron]

Summer sailings seem to be more casual. It's one of a number of reasons why I don't cruise

 

in the summertime.

[sandthrush]

I just don't understand why people can't comply with the evening. If they choose to be well-groomed and casual, they can dine at a (well-groomed) casual location. Those wishing to go formal should be able to dine at a formal location on the formal evening.

Perhaps the cruise lines should consider opening a "speciality" restaurant for those wishing to dress formally on formal night and not begrudge the well-groomed casual people the right to dine in their regular dining room. However, rules would have to be enforced to keep this venue "formal."

What do you think? Would that make everyone happy?

 

We like to dress smart casual every night. We don't go to the MDR, on formal nights however I'm not going to stay out of all public areas on formal nights. Plain and simple, that is just asking too much.

[iancal]

I was not aware that 'well groomed' implied dressing in formal attire.

[sail7seas]

This would be a fine solution I would think. I assume that people (like me) go to the dining room on formal night because the food is better than the lido. Therefor if the same food was served in another non formal location, those that "wont be bothered" or those of us(low class individuals that were referred to earlier in the thread) that cant purchase appropriate attire and still enjoy the quality of the food that is served in the main dining room.

 

EDIT : Whoops... Misread the initial post. Sorry Dany. I see now that Dany suggested a specialty restaurant for formal dining.... I thought perhaps a dining room that serves the same food as the MDR that stays smart casual.

 

 

Most of what is served in the MDR is served in Lido including formal night menus. I've read reports they offer lobster in Lido when they offer it in the MDR but don't know from personal experience. We have only had dinner in Lido once and that was on a 'particular set of circumstances' night. :)

 

If someone opts for Lido, they can dine from the same menu as MDR.

 

 

 

 

Sail,

 

Back in May I said it sounds like you threw in the "tux", with regards to formal nights. looks like I was unfortunately correct.

 

The people who run CCL and RCL could do something about this, but it would take guts.

 

 

I would love to know how people would vote if given the chance on the ships.

Same as they had the smoking survey for so long, would be interesting if they did a 'formal night' survery. I make no guess as to what the results would be.

 

[innlady1]

I must admit, I'd be perfectly content with "Smart Casual" every night.

[RevNeal]

I usually wear only $49,900 worth of bling so I guess I'll be ordering room service. ;) Truthfully, I only wear panties and a robe when ordering room service....no one has ever accepted my tip in that outfit. :rolleyes:

 

Youch!

And I thought *I* was slumming it when my most expensive "jewelry" was my 4-Star Mariner Pin!

 

Think for a moment.

 

Average cost per-day for a HAL cruise for me in Single Supplement inside cabin arrangement: ~$185

 

$185 per-day x 200 days = $37,000 :eek:

 

Do I really mean to say that that cheap little plastic pin cost me $37,000! Yes, in a manner of speaking, it did!

 

This also means my 100-Day Mariner Medallion cost me $18,500 and my 300-Day Medallion will rate about $55,000. Though, on E-bay either would cost me only about $75 (unless Copper bids on it).

[DizzyDallasDi]

Youch!

And I thought *I* was slumming it when my most expensive "jewelry" was my 4-Star Mariner Pin!

 

Think for a moment.

 

Average cost per-day for a HAL cruise for me in Single Supplement inside cabin arrangement: ~$185

 

$185 per-day x 200 days = $37,000 :eek:

 

Do I really mean to say that that cheap little plastic pin cost me $37,000! Yes, in a manner of speaking, it did!

 

This also means my 100-Day Mariner Medallion cost me $18,500 and my 300-Day Medallion will rate about $55,000. Though, on E-bay either would cost me only about $75 (unless Copper bids on it).

 

You don't even want to imagine how much a medallion or 4-star pin would cost me. :o Then again, I tend to spoil myself rotten by staying in aft balconies on pretty expensive itineraries and the single supplement is always a brutal 200%. I like to live by a motto I read on these boards: Always travel first class because if you don't your kids will. :D;)

[DugboatLarry]

with a collared shirt will at least let you go to the Lido or just order room service and enjoy the same food. Formal Night these days sounds like a pat boone commercial on late night tv doing those open door bath tub ad's.

[babyher]

For Heaven's sake Diane ,put some clothes on and buy some jewelry will ya. !:D

 

 

 

Or she can just parade around in her panties and robe and there will be guys who will buy jewelry for her :)

[DizzyDallasDi]

Or she can just parade around in her panties and robe and there will be guys who will buy jewelry for her :)

 

Oh, such sweet memories..... :D

[Amuse Bouche]

Geez, I thought the 50K jewelry was a bit absurd, until I remembered something. I'm so done.

 

I don't wear any jewelry. I guess that means I will be eating leftovers begged from the kitchen?

[babyher]

I'm very much on the fence on this issue......talk about being the "sandwich" generation:

 

On the one hand, I realize dressing up is traditional on cruises; I've been cruising with my family since the age of 8. My parents just got back from a 3-week cruise on Prinsendam. My parents dress nicely for dinner every night. My dad wears a jacket even on smart casual evenings and packs both a tux and a dinner jacket (one less-than-50-lb suitcase for each, I might add....:rolleyes:). Near the end of their cruise, as they walked to the dining room along the path they took each evening, a passenger sitting in the bar stopped them and complimented my mom on always looking so nice each evening. Apparently she had made an impression....

 

On the other hand, I have a son who is now 19, and -- except for two high school proms -- has never dressed up significantly. His idea of a great evening does not include a suit and tie, much less a tux. He's also been cruising with me since he was about the same age I was when I started cruising. He knows the rules; he will don a jacket and tie for one formal night to make mom happy, but anything more than that is too much -- he will eat in the buffet. I don't wish to force him to dress up, but I prefer dining in the dining room, so on those nights we do not eat together, which makes me sad.

 

I don't particularly "love" to dress up either, and more and more I find myself wishing cruise lines would adopt a sort of uniform "smart casual" or "business casual" or "elegant casual" dress code. Something that would exclude shorts and tee-shirts and ratty jeans (and be enforced) but would allow folks who don't wish to dress formal to still spiff up a bit and enjoy dining together.

 

I must in honesty add that all the carping on the "bygone days" does get old and also makes one SEEM rather fuddy-duddy. Every generation bemoans the lack of manners and dress of the succeeding generation, and this has been going on since the days of the Roman empire, if not longer. :rolleyes: Nostalgia is a slippery slope. People bemoan the elegance of days gone by, but who's to say what period was the best? Perhaps we should go back to donning whale-bone corsets and eight layers of petticoats like those intrepid English ladies who had to endure "proper dress" in places like Egypt and India in the days of the British Empire. Perhaps gentlemen should wear powdered wigs (ever stop to think how hot and uncomfortable those must've been?), or high stock collars and cravats, or stockings and knee britches.......

 

As to the great unwashed and greasy hordes that some seem to encounter: Perhaps some are not aware that wrinkled doesn't necessarily mean unclean (I'd rather wear wrinkly cotton or linen any day than unbreathable unnatural fabrics), and that greasy hair may be clean hair with a lot of styling product. ;)

 

 

Very good post. :)

 

There are just not a lot of formal events for the young people of today. They are so used to going out casually (and I do not mean dirty, seaty ripped jeans and t shirts and sneakers.

 

My kids range from late teens to mid 20s. Like you said outside of their proms and being usher or bridesmaid in a couple weddings , thats about it.

 

My oldest son's great grandmother (My ex's grandmother) passed away last year. I was not buying him a suit for a couple hours . He wore a pair of Dockers , dress shirt and a tie and looked fine. Turns out that was the exact same thing all the other young men his age wore and they all looked fine. Even the girls that age wore nice blouses and slacks or a skirt. and hardly any of them in black .(That is becoming rarer too).

 

Parties and dates ....forget it!!!!! pretty much the same attire if its something special, otherwise just dinner and a movie its jeans .

 

Its not The Brady Bunch anymore where Peter wears his jacket and tie and Jan wears her best party dress (and curly black wig remember *LOL* )to a birthday party. Heck I am from that generation and we didn't dress like that for our friends birthday party.

 

And as appalled as the older generation is at the way this generation behaves . You should hear this generation when they hear about some of the things that were "Just the way it was back then" .

 

My mom now in her eighties talks about the way it was when she was my DDs age (19) and she thinks they were all insane back them. *LOL*

[DizzyDallasDi]

My mom now in her eighties talks about the way it was when she was my DDs age (19) and she thinks they were all insane back them. *LOL*

 

Love it! My mother, God rest her soul, was born in 1922 and dressed like all the "fine" women of the 1950s...wore high heels and a dress when she climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty, for goodness sake. :eek:

 

When people started dressing in athletic shoes and jogging suits for airline travel she was ecstatic. She completely embraced the comfort clothes....even though she always traveled in 1st class. She was a class act till the bitter end but I'll bet there are some on this board who would have disapproved of her choice of attire as inappropriate.

 

Moral - Don't judge the book by the cover. :)

[babyher]

Love it! My mother, God rest her soul, was born in 1922 and dressed like all the "fine" women of the 1950s...wore high heels and a dress when she climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty, for goodness sake. :eek:

 

When people started dressing in athletic shoes and jogging suits for airline travel she was ecstatic. She completely embraced the comfort clothes....even though she always traveled in 1st class. She was a class act till the bitter end but I'll bet there are some on this board who would have disapproved of her choice of attire as inappropriate.

 

Moral - Don't judge the book by the cover. :)

 

My mom the same way . She did what she had to do because that was the way it was , but when things changed she was quite happy with many of the changes.

 

A lot of things she still does "the old way" because thats just that. But she has definately mellowed on a lot of things.