Formal nights

[Cruiser Snowy]

My wife and I are on MSC Divina on 8th Feb 2014 and we were wondering how the majority of guests dress on formal nights. Do men wear a tuxedo, a lounge suit or just a jacket and tie. Also do women wear long dresses or cocktail dresses. This will be our first cruise out of Miami, so we are unsure as to how Americans dress on these cruises.We have cruised with P&O mostly and formal nights are a very dressy affair. Hoping for some help.

[riclop]

My wife and I are on MSC Divina on 8th Feb 2014 and we were wondering how the majority of guests dress on formal nights. Do men wear a tuxedo, a lounge suit or just a jacket and tie. Also do women wear long dresses or cocktail dresses. This will be our first cruise out of Miami, so we are unsure as to how Americans dress on these cruises.We have cruised with P&O mostly and formal nights are a very dressy affair. Hoping for some help.

A little bit of everything , just no shorts in MDR.

[nowaysis]

you will be amazed at what people are wearing, and I'm not talking a minority, whatever ever you want to wear you will not be alone & that's including shorts, i listened to comments only to find the opposite

 

has things get hotter on here things will become more & more casual

[DavidMcG]

 

MSC are very clear with thieir dress codes. For dinner, all are advisory-only except for the rule of no swimmwear or shorts anywhere on the ship - not just the MDRs as is often incorrectly stated on CC.

 

Surely a wind up :eek:

 

So in the Caribbean when its boiling hot on the evening you are expected to wear trousers? Its not being disrespectful to anyone else, its called being practical.

 

I accept in the main dining rooms etc but surely just walking about outside (not indoors) you can't be expected to wear trousers?

[travelinggrands]

Dear Snowy,

I will be on this cruise with you. My first with MSC. I plan on wearing a black, sparkly cocktail dress & am trying to get DH to bring his Tux (or at least try it on to see if it still fits). Also would like to get a picture while in our formal garb. I still shiver when I remember one "dressy night" (NCL?) when a large hairy, tattooed man, wearing a sleeveless undershirt was pushing his way thru the very crowded dinning room, rubbing against people, leaning over tables where people were eating...He was very hairy. Please join our roll call & we all can get together about what to wear. It is not a real active roll call with only 6 or so posting. One family had to back out because of work. My TA will be on the ship for her first run out of Miami, so I may have some "insider information" soon. Looking forward to meeting you.

[teegeezfun]

is there only one gala night per week?

[AmoMondo]

is there only one gala night per week?

 

No, normally 2 of them. A welcome one and a farewell one

[juttawdw]

We did a 14 day repo cruise in septemer and had 3 gala nights, first one 90% was dressed up, second night around 60% and last the last around 40%.

You have to consider there are theme nights, we had a white clothes night, disco night, italian night (red, white, green clothes) and pirates night.

[footzz]

My wife and I are on MSC Divina on 8th Feb 2014 and we were wondering how the majority of guests dress on formal nights. Do men wear a tuxedo, a lounge suit or just a jacket and tie. Also do women wear long dresses or cocktail dresses. This will be our first cruise out of Miami, so we are unsure as to how Americans dress on these cruises.We have cruised with P&O mostly and formal nights are a very dressy affair. Hoping for some help.

 

Few issues create as much confusion or contention among cruisers as what to wear to dinner — and, more importantly, what others wear to dinner.

 

For every dress code, there are those who try to bend the rules. If a tuxedo is required you'll find those who want to get by with just a suit; if all the cruise line asks is that you don't wear shorts, you can count on someone trying to wear them anyway. Those who follow the dress code to the letter often complain of lax enforcement. Most lines don't even call them "Formal" nights anymore, they're referred to as "Elegant" nights.

 

It's impossible to predict just how people will dress on a particular night on a particular ship, or exactly what your fellow passengers will actually be wearing. Some men may be wearing a tuxedo, but they will be in the minority. Some women will be wearing extravagant gowns and they too will be in the minority. I've actually seen people show up for dinner wearing "Fairy" costumes with leotards and tutu's. Did it ruin my cruise? No, but it did make for some interesting dinner conversation!

 

One cannot go wrong by following the cruise lines suggested guidelines. On MSC's Caribbean cruises the guidelines are:

 

"Casual resort wear" is appropriate except for formal evenings where men should wear a suit or jacket and tie, and women a cocktail dress.

Edited November 10, 2013 by footzz

[mosskins]

Seems to be a big discussion about the UK law on what is included in the term "race" but not a great deal of discussion on the original question.

As a 1st time cruiser on MSC Has anyone any info or experience cruising MSC cruising in the med with regard to dress codes and the use of tuxedos?

Edited November 10, 2013 by mosskins

[AmoMondo]

Seems to be a big discussion about the UK law on what is included in the term "race" but not a great deal of discussion on the original question.

As a 1st time cruiser on MSC Has anyone any info or experience cruising MSC cruising in the med with regard to dress codes and the use of tuxedos?

 

Yes, cruised the Med many times. Tuxedos are not very common on formal evenings. If you wear one, you won't be the only one but more will be in lounge suits.

[Deckhandoug]

Seems to be a big discussion about the UK law on what is included in the term "race" but not a great deal of discussion on the original question.

As a 1st time cruiser on MSC Has anyone any info or experience cruising MSC cruising in the med with regard to dress codes and the use of tuxedos?

 

Exactly my point too, let's address ,the question at hand.

 

I was surprised on my Caribbean MSC cruise, I was expecting everyone to "dress " for dinner but what we saw was the whole variety of styles: tux,suits, slacks, jeans and yes shorts, I believe the sheer volume of differences ( no one major group of style, just lots of various combinations of styles), all nationalities appeared equality represented.,

 

I got the impression from all the Europeans aboard that they did not alter their wardrobe for the Caribbean very much, so I'm assuming the Med is the same.

 

Of course, the airline baggage fees being charged for the last few years have contributed, the formal clothes are being left behind for economic reasons, I believe MSC offers a tuxedo rental service onboard if that's of interest to you

 

For comparison, my last RCCL Med cruise was predominately cruise casual, we had an older, local, seasoned crowd onboard and they didn't seem interested in dressing up at all, relaxing was the activity of choice.

 

Last HAL cruise was tuxes and sport coats minimum, a jacket was loaned if you came up prepared.

 

CCL and NCL, apparently anything goes, including my pet peeve of hats in the dining room:eek:

 

So, what I'm trying to convey is I wouldn't hesitate to wear a tux, suit, shirt and tie , just plain dress slacks & shirt or anything else that follows the guidelines, you certainly won't be alone in your choice and I know many people enjoy the ships photographs on this part of the cruise.

 

I'm dress in suits and ties all week so I don't dress to the nines but I do think dressing appropriately adds to the experience.

 

As has been mentioned each line/ cruise is different and I don't think MSC is the kind of line that you'll feel out of place by not wearing a suit or tux, but I may be wrong.

 

Of course, as I pointed out, mine as a Caribbean sailing so things may be different for MSC in Europe, but I've found out that generally there is not much difference in the other major lines in other regions.

 

Whew! my 2 cents, for what it's worth