Curious..are u really into Elegant night?

[mermaidofmanhattan]

We have to attend a lot of Broadway openings in our real life--my husband wears a tux eight times a week--but that's work; it's fun, of course, but it's still a job.

 

However, formal night on a ship is different. I never feel like I HAVE to get dress up--I WANT to get dressed-up. Taking our time, getting dressed for a dinner and an evening just for us, just for the pleasure of it, is a delight. My husband will break out the white dinner jacket or a suit and I give one of my opening night dresses a second shot. I feel extra sexy and beautiful and my husband is so proud of me on his arm--it's a great feeling.

 

I also like dressing well (not fancy, just appropriately nice--well-put-together-like)on cruises in general. I mean, there's no reason not to--I don't have to scrub the floors, or cook a dinner --I don't have to do anything but relax and pamper myself and enjoy everyone's company. I also appreciate good grooming in others.

 

I'm a bit old-fashioned, I'm sure.

[Newbie41]

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the elegant night food, but I HAAAAAAAAAAAAATE having to get dressed up in monkey suits.

 

To me, the perfect "elegant" night would be a "cruise casual" dress code with the "elegant night" menu and servers walking around with dessert carts containing the "Chocolate Extravaganza" type desserts.

 

As I was reading through this tread I was thinking the exact same thing. I love elegant night because I love lobster, but getting dressed up not so much. I didn't think of a chocolate extravaganza dessert cart though, that is a great idea.

[tracyanns]

I love to dress up on cruises...and so does my husband. I wear heels and a cocktail dress to dinner each casual evening and he wears dress pants and a button up shirt. On formal nights he wears his tux and I wear floor length gowns. We only get to do it once in a while at home so I LOVE to do it at home...except I now have a bunch of gowns that never get worn again as I like to buy atleast one new one each cruise...

 

And no, it is not JUST an excuse to shop, but it does give me another reason...

 

I do have to mention that most people don't really dress on casual nights so I do get some looks walking through the MDR when I am all in my cocktail dresses...can't help it, I like to look nice.

[glrounds]

No, not really into it. I do it, however, since it is requested and I then successfully avoid the Cruise Critic Better-Than-Thows. :rolleyes:

 

[theavonb]

Neither of us likes to dress up. Will meet the minimum requirements necessary to get into the dining room however.[/quote

 

You took the words right out of my mouth...

[okgirl]

When I was younger, thinner and not so tired I enjoyed dressing up for elegant evening........26 cruises later.......not so much.....

 

There are many cruises we've been on over the past several years that we didn't take anything that I would think appropriate to wear on formal night and that is okay with me........

[rnvattes]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It all depends on what we NEED out of the vacation.

 

5 years ago what we needed more than anything, as first time parents getting away for the first time since our 3yo daughter was born, was time to SLEEP, relax, and look at each other in the face for a while :D We needed to reconnect. We did NOT want to do elegant night, so we didn't. What we DID do on elegant night was get a couples' treatment in the spa (which was dead during "formal dinner", such that they gave us extra time). And then we had cheeseburgers on our balcony while we played Yahtzee :D That was what we needed then.

 

This time we very much looked forward to, and planned with great attention to detail, our elegant night. This was our first trip since our second was born, and we were ready to go have FUN!. We never get to go out "fancy" on land, and this was a great opportunity to do it. I got my hair done and everything.

 

 

 

I think its YOUR vacation, and you should make plans that will give you what it is you're after for that time. No worries about what others are doing or what they think.

 

HAVE FUN!

[rferr]

Are we twins?

 

Yep how did you know?

[jessed]

When we first started cruising back in the 80's we always dressed up.. But as the years have gone by neither one of us really likes it anymore. So on "formal" nights we wear nice clothes; not jeans or anything; but not formal. Or we eat at the buffet. To us dressing up is not important..and it really saves on the packing we have to do!

 

Same here. When we first started cruising, it seemed everyone was in suits or tuxes on elegant night. I now wear a sports jacket with no tie and dockers, and don't feel out of place.

[rferr]

This year we are going on the Victory in July and United wants to charge us 25 dollars per checked bag each way. That would be 150 bucks for the three of us. As such we have decided to all take carry ons only and "elegant" wear just is not gonna make the cut.

[golfadj]

About 5 years ago on elegant night there was a very nice party and you had the opportunity to dress up and meet the capt.

 

Carnival did away with this a couple of years ago and IMHO ruined a very nice and elegant evening.

 

Now it is an excuse to take lots of pictures.

 

DW and I will dress up for the first night but pretty much ignore the second one.

[rnvattes]

This year we are going on the Victory in July and United wants to charge us 25 dollars per checked bag each way. That would be 150 bucks for the three of us. As such we have decided to all take carry ons only and "elegant" wear just is not gonna make the cut.

 

I think the airline fees have definitely impacted peoples' willingness to participate in elegant night!!

[leja9802]

YES

 

We dont get "dressed up" for anything at home so YES we look forward to elegant night and the pictures

 

I'm to :)

[tracyanns]

Why does Carnival call these nights elegant night? there is NOTHING elegant about carnival! Sounds queer!

 

They aren't called Elegant night anymore and haven't been for sometime. And regardless of your opinion of Carnival, if you want to wear a tux and gown to McDonalds you can be elegant...they weren't called Elegant Night to make the ship look anymore elegant than any other night, but to let the cruisers look elegant and feel elegant.

[bubbadog]

THE Part that i really like about it,is that it makes my wife very happy,and love to see my wife happy,and really enjoying the cruise,and it's fun to see how the other passengers dress-up,

[Room Service!]

They aren't called Elegant night anymore and haven't been for sometime. And regardless of your opinion of Carnival, if you want to wear a tux and gown to McDonalds you can be elegant...they weren't called Elegant Night to make the ship look anymore elegant than any other night, but to let the cruisers look elegant and feel elegant.

 

What's it called?

[Andoria]

Loathe it. I won't participate even for lobster.

[WeBeCruisin']

What's it called?

 

I think it's still called "Elegant Night". That's what it was called on my last cruise in February.

 

It hasn't been called "Formal Night" for a couple of years.

Edited May 15, 2012 by WeBeCruisin'

[Room Service!]

WeBeCruisin' - That's what I thought. Thanks.

[mermaidofmanhattan]

I think the airline fees have definitely impacted peoples' willingness to participate in elegant night!!

 

Very true. It's different if you're just driving or taking a cab to the ship.

 

I was thinking about how much travel has changed since I was 23 and first set foot on a ship in Dec. 1984 ....it was a lot easier then in many ways.

[buckirj1]

Not at all. My sole concession to Elegant night is wearing black twill trousers instead of blue jeans, if I want to eat in the MDR. Black turtleneck remains the same.

[Disneycruisers]

However, formal night on a ship is different. I never feel like I HAVE to get dress up--I WANT to get dressed-up. Taking our time, getting dressed for a dinner and an evening just for us, just for the pleasure of it, is a delight.

 

I also like dressing well (not fancy, just appropriately nice--well-put-together-like)on cruises in general. I mean, there's no reason not to--I don't have to scrub the floors, or cook a dinner --I don't have to do anything but relax and pamper myself and enjoy everyone's company. I also appreciate good grooming in others.

 

I'm a bit old-fashioned, I'm sure.

 

If that's old-fashioned, then I love it!:p

 

I LOVE elegant nights. However, I've always loved to dress-up. Even when our office (back in the late 80s) relaxed the dress code, I still dressed up each day (except on weekends, if I worked.) My husband does too (which was a SURPRISE to me when we first cruised 10 years ago.) I couldn't believe he actually BOUGHT a tux "for future cruises."

[traumalady81]

I`m just curious to see how many people actully enjoy having to dress up for dinner on elegant night while on a cruise.

I did dress up on my first cruise last summer for both nights. I

will do it again this time around also.

But...if i had the choice i would much rather not have to,i wear enough suits while i`m not on vacation.

While on vacation i would prefer to just be able to dress casual, so i could do without it.

What about u? Enjoy it, or could u do without elegant night?

I understand that u can just eat at the buffet if u wanted to, but let`s say that`s not an option.:)

 

Absolutely! I am usually in scrubs and a labcoat so the chance for me to get dressed up and try to look pretty is great. I also agree with another poster that this is our chance to have pictures taken with my daughter. Usually I am the one with the camera! Vacation starts in 2 days!!!

[Kato27]

Absolutely! I am usually in scrubs and a labcoat so the chance for me to get dressed up and try to look pretty is great. I also agree with another poster that this is our chance to have pictures taken with my daughter. Usually I am the one with the camera! Vacation starts in 2 days!!!

 

i'm sure u look pretty even in a labcoat!

Have a Great Cruise!!:)

[packedandready]

Opps...sorry wrong thread

Edited May 15, 2012 by packedandready