Formal nights on short cruises

[hrprof]

On 4 and 5 night cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, are there really formal nights in the dining room? Tux and gown? Have done most of our cruising on Regent and Oceania and formal nights have faded. What happens here?

[Dietemann]

On 4 and 5 night cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, are there really formal nights in the dining room? Tux and gown? Have done most of our cruising on Regent and Oceania and formal nights have faded. What happens here?

We are booked on a 4 night cruise (Caribbean Princess), the Cruise Personalizer states: no formal night.

[capriccio]

On 4 and 5 night cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, are there really formal nights in the dining room? Tux and gown? Have done most of our cruising on Regent and Oceania and formal nights have faded. What happens here?

 

This past February we were on a 4 night and 5 night B2B out of Fort Lauderdale. The 4 night didn't have a formal night; the 5 night had one. We don't do formal night anymore - we go to a specialty restaurant instead where the dress is always smart casual. There are lots of threads about the various types of dress folks wear on formal night.

[BrandiGreg]

On 4 and 5 night cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, are there really formal nights in the dining room? Tux and gown? Have done most of our cruising on Regent and Oceania and formal nights have faded. What happens here?

Have never been on a cruise less than 7 days, but after 22 Princess Cruises over the past 19 years, I have not noticed that they have faded in terms of popularity, though I have no reliable way to measure that . Seems like at the Captain's Welcome Party and Captain's Circle Party (usually held on formal nights), 99% of the people are dressed in suit and tie or in tux (or kilts) and the ladies look pretty good too. Since we dress like slobs in our normal day to day life, we like formal nights because it is special for us. To others, not so much, but people have choices to fit their preferences. I don't see formal nights disappearing on Princess in my lifetime. :D

[gator582]

Just did a 5 night out of Ft. Lauderdale. The second night was formal. We decided to skip it this time and ate at Horizon Court. We saw quite a mixture of people. Long formal dresses and tuxes to shirts and ties and women's pantsuits or fancy blouses and pants going into the main dining rooms. Stopped by out of curiosity. Same thing with our Alaska cruise last Aug/Sept. Both of the cruises did seem more casual than any other cruise we have been on in the past on formal night.

[xltiny]

Just back from a 5 day coastal out of Los Angeles that had 2 sea days (day 2 and 4) The formal night was on Day 2, surf and turf (no lobster) were available on both @sea days.

[Disconnections]

On our 4 night Ruby cruise in January, the cruise personalizer showed that we weren't going to have a formal night. While there wasn't one, we had a "dress to impress" night and the majority of other guests were dressed in appropriate attire for formal night. Those who dressed smart casual (and even shorts/t-shirt) were allowed in the dining room. For our upcoming 4 night and 3 night cruises, it shows there are no formal nights.

 

We did have a formal night on our 5 night Ruby sailing in April. With the exception of formal night, they did allow shorts in the dining room.

[hrprof]

Thank you all for your input. The indication that shorts/T shirts show up as "casual" is a little bit surprising. The only cruising in our experience where that was common was on expedition cruising - Lindblad/National Geographic.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thank you all for your input. The indication that shorts/T shirts show up as "casual" is a little bit surprising. The only cruising in our experience where that was common was on expedition cruising - Lindblad/National Geographic.

 

I agree, this is not the norm. :cool:

[caribill]

Thank you all for your input. The indication that shorts/T shirts show up as "casual" is a little bit surprising. The only cruising in our experience where that was common was on expedition cruising - Lindblad/National Geographic.

 

It has been reported as happening on the 3 and 4 day cruises out of Florida.

 

It may be Princess' attempt to lure more new Princess cruisers to these short cruises.

[Times Prince]

Have never been on a cruise less than 7 days, but after 22 Princess Cruises over the past 19 years, I have not noticed that they have faded in terms of popularity, though I have no reliable way to measure that . Seems like at the Captain's Welcome Party and Captain's Circle Party (usually held on formal nights), 99% of the people are dressed in suit and tie or in tux (or kilts) and the ladies look pretty good too. Since we dress like slobs in our normal day to day life, we like formal nights because it is special for us. To others, not so much, but people have choices to fit their preferences. I don't see formal nights disappearing on Princess in my lifetime. :D

While not an exhaustive survey of Princess passengers, the current poll of what men wear on formal night http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2029973 gives a pretty good measurement.

 

Currently it shows that, for Cruise Critic men going to the Main Dining Room on Princess formal nights, 86.0% meet the spirit of the guidelines. This compares with a similar poll in 2011 where the number was 85.6%, and one in 2009 where the number was 85.4%. That's pretty consistent.

[dorisis]

Formal used to mean dinner jacket for men and long gown for women. Times have changed and so has the definition of formal. I wish cruise lines were a bit more consistant in what is really formal and what is not. At one time there were semi-formal nights. I think that is now the new definition of formal.

[FritzG]

On our 4 night Ruby cruise in January, the cruise personalizer showed that we weren't going to have a formal night. While there wasn't one, we had a "dress to impress" night and the majority of other guests were dressed in appropriate attire for formal night. Those who dressed smart casual (and even shorts/t-shirt) were allowed in the dining room. For our upcoming 4 night and 3 night cruises, it shows there are no formal nights.

 

We did have a formal night on our 5 night Ruby sailing in April. With the exception of formal night, they did allow shorts in the dining room.

 

We were on three of the 4 and 5 day Ruby cruises this past winter. There was no formal night on the 4 day cruise, and one formal night on the 5 day. There were far fewer people dressed formally on these cruises than we normally see on European or TA cruises, but many people did dress up.

 

I was disappointed to see shorts allowed in the dining room on all nights. I don't expect a suit and tie at dinner, but I just don't think that it's too much trouble to put on a pair of trousers for dinner. I know people say they have nice dress shorts, but it's a slippery slope to worn cut-offs and coaching shorts--all of which we saw among the three cruises we were on including formal night.

[OCruisers]

Lots of people now do not dress as formally as they once did on Princess cruises.

LuLu

[NewPennCruiser]

We did our first "short" cruise this past year on Ruby and it was a little more casual than most cruises that we have been on. There was not a formal night and we actually only ate in the main dining room one night where it seemed pretty normal for what people were expected to wear. I don't remember seeing anyone in shorts.

 

On the other side, we ate in Sabatini's one night and folks were actually dressed very nicely... not formal but much better than what we saw for dinner the other nights when we ate in Horizon Court or at the Grill. Actually I really don't notice what people are wearing unless someone stands out and I don't remember any of those moments this cruise. Dave