Celebrity in the Caribbean - To Tux or not to Tux - that is the question?

[bellaj]

Can any one advise how dressy a cruise in the Caribbean on Celebrity is likely to be on a formal night?

 

We enjoy dressing up in a tux etc, but will we be the only two? :eek:

 

It won't make much difference to the luggage as we will still need to bring a shirt/tie/jacket etc, but then again we dont want to look like a couple of muppets if everyone else has turned up in shirt sleeves :cool:

 

Thanks ...

[Phxazzcruisers]

There will be others in tuxedos. You will not look like a couple of Muppets. Not as formal as other cruises, but there will be suits, sport coats and tuxedos, as well as more casual wear. It is your vacation, enjoy

[miataman19]

I always bring my tux and dinner jacket. Love dressing up and our last sailing on Reflection there were many other people also looking awesome in gowns and formal wear. People not dressed up were in the minority.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Forums mobile app

[CHEZMARYLOU]

My DH wears his tux and I wear gowns. You will not be alone.

 

Mary Lou

[Gracie115]

It seems to be about 50-50 on the last 5 or 6 Caribbean cruises we've taken, 4 of which were Celebrity. You'll be fine either way.

[wvufan]

I have worn my tux on every formal night for over 20 cruises, and have never felt out of place;)

 

I have two Caribbean themed tie/cummerbund sets. One is flamingos and the other features a parrots and palm trees. Got them through uniformalwearhouse.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[TorontoSailor]

Agreed. On the Caribbean cruises we've been on, it's about 50/50. I've worn a tux and not felt out of place. Also have done the dark suit and felt just fine. Have seen others in sports jackets and slacks with ties and they looked perfectly good, too.

 

Wear whatever you are most comfortable in, but do dress with a sense of occasion.

[Redtravel]

Most men on the Eclipse last winter did not wear tuxedos. Most men wore dark suits or sport jackets on the 1st formal night. On the 2nd formal night, many men did not wear ties. By the 3rd formal night, some men came without a jacket. It is not very formal. The men in tuxedos or dinner jackets were rarely seen. If wearing a tuxedo makes you happy, then wear it. Want to fit it, leave the tuxedo home.

[cruiser now]

We just finished a quick 4 day cruise on Royal Caribbean,and they allowed men in shorts and t shirts in the main dinning room for dinner on Formal Night.

[Sloop-JohnB]

We have sailed with Celebrity twice... Both in the Caribbean

 

Eastern itinerary on The Solstice in 2012 - and Southern itinerary on The Summit in 2013. Both times we packed our most formal of formal wear... Mr Sloop in a Tux, and I in a long gown. We were certainly not alone in our choices. But as per Celebrity's Dress Code, the Men in the MDR were wearing the whole range from Sports Jacket, thru Suits to Tuxes & White Dinner Jackets.

 

Agree with WVUFAN, some guys have a bit of fun with it too... Mr Sloop wears his classic black & white look on the first Formal Night for the Captain's Welcome... Additional Formal Nights and he brings out the Colour & Playful accessories... Always an ice breaker with other Pax.

 

Remember, that although only the MDR has this requirement on Formal Nights (all other Dining Venues are Smart Casual) ... Statistically it is where the majority of Pax dine be it Select or Traditional - Early or Late Seating.

 

To us it seemed that everyone was appropriately dressed for the evening... Although it seemed that Celebrity did take issue with a few Pax, as we did see the Maitre D at the MDR did approach a few gentlemen who were jacket less with a "loaner" at the door. :eek: ick !!

 

Mr Sloop said never in a million years would he want to wear a jacket not knowing who had done so before him. He told me that he got that brining a tux or suit on vacation is not for everyone, but bringing a Blazer / Sports Jacket just is not that big a deal... And did not see what the fuss is about. Besides the MDR can be such fun on Formal Nights, that he would hate to miss out by being in another venue.

 

Personally, I think that most Pax really enjoy these dress up evenings ... Well at least the first one which is typically very festive... With the Captain's Welcome... It truly feels like the official kick off to the whole cruise.

 

As two who had Late Seating, we literally could fell the momentum / excitement grow that night. With the first Tuxedoed & Gowned Guests showing up in the Bars around 5 PM (Martini Bar seemed to be the most popular with the "James Bond" lookalikes, lol)

 

We LOVE that first formal night, seeing all the Officers and the Captain in their uniforms, and if fortunate (and they choose to do so) having our photo taken with the Captain, usually against a backdrop of the ship... Makes for a pretty souvenir... Something we will no doubt treasure for a long time ("remeber this... here is a nice pic of us when we sailed on The Solstice taken with Captain Gerry Larson at the Captain's Welcome... He was truly one of a kind fun guy, later that night he played guitar in the Theatre and was really good... We nicknamed him Captain Rock Star )

 

Check out this video and see why... =

 

The party that first night went well on into the early morning hours after the late show in the Theatre ended. From what I saw everyone had a great time

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

Edited September 6, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[monicajay]

DH bought a tux a few years back. He loves it and looks wonderful in it. We do not worry about what others wear. Sometimes I bring a gown, sometimes a cocktail dress (I figure I should show off my good legs while I can;)).

 

Best part is that his tux is wool and the wrinkles fall right out of it. He brings two shirts and has a selection of bow ties.

[pcur]

My husband has a tux from our son's wedding several years ago. He says it's actually more comfortable than his jacket and slacks.

 

He takes it for formal nights depending on what the travel plans are:

 

- we go on just a cruise: takes the tux

- we go with the family, and sons don't wear tuxes: he doesn't take the tux

- we go on an extended vacation before or after the cruise: he doesn't take the tux because of luggage schlepping and extra weight.

 

None of this has anything to do with what other men are wearing on formal night (except his sons).

[wallie5446]

The last 3 years, all in Nov, I have left the tux at home. Took a black suit and a white dinner jacket. You will find a mix of all 3 on Celebrity. Last yr on Reflection there were very few not in some form of suit/tux.

Oh, this Nov the tux has been required to be packed:D

Edited September 6, 2014 by wallie5446

[New Hampshire]

Agreed. On the Caribbean cruises we've been on, it's about 50/50. I've worn a tux and not felt out of place. Also have done the dark suit and felt just fine. Have seen others in sports jackets and slacks with ties and they looked perfectly good, too.

 

Wear whatever you are most comfortable in, but do dress with a sense of occasion.

 

My husband wears a tux, but it' sb een a very long time since any cruise we've been on has been anywhere near 50/50. Our last Caribbean cruise in March was closer to 10-15 % of men in tuxes and increasing numbers of men without jackets or even ties.

[koolforkatz]

Most of our Caribbean cruises are 14 day ones. As a result there are a lot more British and European passengers and whether this has any bearing on it, we see more tuxes than on, say, shorter cruises or Alaska/West Coast cruises. My huband brings his tux because he has fun wearing it and looks great in it too :)

 

You definitely wouldn't be out of place wearing one. On the other one, you wouldn't be out of place not wearing one.

[jconeil]

DH likes to wear his tux, he knows he looks good! We don't dress down for dinner at any time anyway. We look forward to dinner and dancing on our cruises, and enjoy dressing for the occasion. It's nice to see men dressed classy and struttin their stuff. Golf shirts and khakis are so ho hum.

[cruising maniac]

We cruise to relax and do not dress to the max at anytime anymore. One cruise about 20 years ago, we left home without our garment bag and realized how much fun we had without dressing up. So I say, do what makes you happy. It's your vacation!! Caribbean cruises are generally more relaxed.:)

[Oxo]

Can any one advise how dressy a cruise in the Caribbean on Celebrity is likely to be on a formal night?

 

We enjoy dressing up in a tux etc, but will we be the only two? :eek:

 

It won't make much difference to the luggage as we will still need to bring a shirt/tie/jacket etc, but then again we dont want to look like a couple of muppets if everyone else has turned up in shirt sleeves :cool:

 

Thanks ...

If you have a tux, can bring it without any cost, like wearing it - WHY NOT!!!! No, you will not be the only two. Enjoy dressing up and enjoy your cruise!! It is YOUR SHOUT!

[Lsimon]

Can any one advise how dressy a cruise in the Caribbean on Celebrity is likely to be on a formal night?

 

We enjoy dressing up in a tux etc, but will we be the only two? :eek:

 

It won't make much difference to the luggage as we will still need to bring a shirt/tie/jacket etc, but then again we dont want to look like a couple of muppets if everyone else has turned up in shirt sleeves :cool:

 

Thanks ...

 

Based on what you've said - definitely bring the tux and wear it.

 

All of our Caribbean cruises have had a good number of the men on board wearing tuxes or dark suits on formal night. I can't specifically say the mix between the two but there are plenty of tuxes. You'll even see tuxes and dark suits in venues where they are not required such as the specialty restaurants and Blu - although they'll be enough men dressed smart casual in these venues that one would feel comfortable dressed either way.

 

My own perception is that the majority are wearing tuxes. But I also think that one sees what they want to see and also tends to hang out with others that are dressed similarly so I believe this accounts for the disparity between posts giving largely different views on the percentage in tuxes/dinner jackets, vs. suits, vs sport jackets/blazers vs casual attire.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Lsimon

[hcat]

Not doing the tux on our next 7 day on Reflection..too bad b/c dh just got a new one and looks so great in it. This time for him it will be a dark sports jacket with nice ties.,,,I'll do cocktail /dressy,,,no gown

 

issue is our early flight home..not sure we will be able to get luggage valet and plan to do walk off , so we are packing light and taking advantage of Smart Casual in Blu...

 

On our 5 day Connie. In Jan..no tux

 

On Equinox, longer cruise...tux

[greydog]

I used to do tux regularly but lately am leaving it out to minimize luggage. Just taking sports coat to mix with every day slacks. No one seems to bat an eye.

Happy Cruising

[Deeliteful]

On a similar theme how formal are formal nights on an Alaskan cruise?

 

Thanks

Pat

[charleysmom04]

My husband likes to take his tux for our Fall cruises ( this fall is 14 days) and will take a suit for the Spring cruises.

He has a regular bow tie collection now and always looks great.

We like to dress for Formal nights as we don't get to do it at home. We find that the longer Fall cruises always have a good mix of suits and tuxes. The spring tend to be a bit less formal.

Diane

[bellaj]

Thanks for all your replies - in light of them, the tux will be packed :D

It actually travels quite well!

 

I only asked as our first cruise on RCI Rhapsody of the Seas was in the Caribbean, and we were two of only three people who actually wore them on the whole ship.

 

The last 3 years, all in Nov, I have left the tux at home. Took a black suit and a white dinner jacket. You will find a mix of all 3 on Celebrity. Last yr on Reflection there were very few not in some form of suit/tux.

Oh, this Nov the tux has been required to be packed:D

 

Wallie5446 - at least we know we wont be the only ones - see you on board ...

[Jenna109]

My husband always takes a tux and a suit - looks fantastic. Never had problem with weight on planes as suits weigh so little. Careful packing means no creases. A few times had them dry cleaned whilst on board - one of the Elite perks we do use.