I am really becoming concerned!!!!

[greatam]

Everytime I check out the CC boards, I see more and more posts where everyone is whining about the dress code. "My DH is wearing his sportcoat to formal night" "I am not taking any formal clothes" "I can't afford formal clothes" (that one really gets to me-a lot of the decentformal stuff on Ebay is cheaper than a pair of Reeboks.)

 

I really want to know why some posters tell people it is OK to dress as they please. IT IS NOT, at least IMHO. I'm not trying to incite a riot, but even this morning, on this board, there were two posts informing someone to "wear what they feel comfortable in". Heck, I feel "comfortable" the way I am right now-shorts and t-shirt. Does that mean I am properly dressed to go anyplace except the gym or the beach? NO!!!

 

I went on my only Princess cruise in Sept. 2002. Hoped I would never have to sail Princess again. PAX showing up for formal night in everthing from pj's and robe (yes-one gentleman spent the whole night in the atrium dressed that way) to T-shirts that had "Alaska" in sequins to proper formal night dress (more "church dresses" than formal). Someone recently posted that jeans were OK on casual night in the DR on Princess.

 

My dilemma: I am booked on another Princess cruise-16 day-Asia-March, 2005. Only cruise which does a big swing through Asia. I really look forward to the formal nights. In fact, if it were NOT for the formal nights and not having to schlepp luggage, I probably would fly.

 

However, I am spending 17 days pre-cruise in China and really don't want to pack all that stuff around. I was planning to send all the "good stuff" to Bangkok via UPS. This is not cheap. After reading so many posts which actually encourage people to dress down, what are my chances of having a cruise I really look forward to? And why are some posters encouraging others to "dress down" the dress code, especially on the upscale lines-X, HAL, Princess?

[kbt2]

I personally on all my Princess cruises never saw anyone dressed the way you have described. But, to each it's own, right?

I personally prefer to "follow the suggested dress attire". As I am just one who enjoys to dress up on a daily basis, so when I get to go all out for a formal night, I do it. DH and I never complain about having to get dressed up. But, I KNOW it's not for everyone.

However, in my experiences on cruises...I say the majority follow the suggested dress code. I do think you should pack the way you normally would pack and not feel too impacted by those who choose to dress down, as this in my opinion, is not the majority of the cruisers on the ship.

Have fun, sounds like a great cruise you've got coming up.

 

Kim

Dawn Princess

Regal Princess

Grand Princess

Mercury - Celebrity

Windward - NCL

Monarch of the Seas

Voyager of the Seas

Sovereign of the Seas

 

 

 

[Happy ks]

I think a frozen thingy might help you right now. Cruise fashion advice is not what I would consider to be a subject to be terribly concerned with. I read these boards for a little diversion from real life.

 

Now, I don't want to argue every point with you, my DH does wear a sportcoat to formal night, but it is a black one. He also looks way more dressed up than many other men in the dining room.

 

My personal feeling is that sometimes posters get too out of hand with an opinion one way or another. No, it's not OK to dress in jeans in the dining room for any evening. It's not OK to dress casual on formal night. But I'm not going to let any one elses dress, or opinion, get in the way of my great cruise.

 

I loved the answers to wearing jewelry earlier today, one poster stated that no one should wear costume jewelry, only the real stuff. I got a good coffee spit out of that one. Gee, I wish I could afford the real stuff, but I'd rather wear my great fakes and get to go on a cruise. Many first timers come here to get a little help from seasoned cruisers and the responses can get out of hand. I guess what I'm trying to say is, weed through the opinions and don't take it too seriously.

 

Kathy

[nosnobunny]

I agree with you greatam. It is especially confusing to new cruisers to hear conflicting information on dress code. IMO you will never go wrong adhering to the suggested guidelines.

 

I've not sailed Princess - yet. But I have sailed most of the other mass market lines and found X passengers to be dressed much more formally than the other lines. It's something that I would take into consideration when booking a cruise.

 

Beth

 

Mariner of the Seas Reali-Tini Cruise Oct. 16/05

[martym112]

DH & I usually eat our supper sitting on the couch like a couple of slobs, watching TV in sweats,but for the cruise we packed dressy clothes for the DR, including 2 formal nite outfits(long dresses & tux)We thought we wouldn't like getting dressed up for evening meals but turned out we really, really liked it alot! Made the night much more festive!

[MoonBaby]

Here is my opinion on formal nights:

I LOVE THEM!!!!!!

I love to dress up and even DH enjoys it.

However, I don't let the people who don't do it ruin my cruise. Granted, I would not be happy to see jeans on someone on Formal Night, but I would just shrug and say to myself "Boy do they look foolish!"

 

And I agree, on Celebrity people do tend to dress up more. But last year on the Carnival Legend, almost everyone dressed up for Formal Nights!

So maybe there is hope!

 

*******Proud member of O.A.T.C.******

 

6/12/04 2nd Anniversary on The Carnival Miracle

 

6/2003 Carnival Legend

1st Anniversary

6/2002 Celebrity Mercury

Honeymoon

[jplotts865]

I could not agree more! The way passengers dress on cruise ships - some of them at any rate - absolutely drives me nuts! Just got off Sovereign of the Seas...one jerk arrived every night at dinner in jeans and the same old t-shirt...thank God he wasn't at our table or I WOULD have said something. I really think the shipping company should enforce the dress codes and have discussed this issue with the dining room managers on three ships...they all agree it is awful yet admit the only real "limit" is shorts at dinner. Why can't these slobs "chow down" up by the pool at the buffet always available for people who insist on "casual" dining? Formal to me is a tuxedo or, at the very least, a dark suit; informal is a jacket and tie; casual is still a jacket but no tie. I've noticed it's the MEN who are usually the slobs...and baseball caps? Do they REALLY have to wear them to lunch? Well, "style" and good manners are a thing of the past...but one reason people dress the way they do is because they get away with it. Heaven help the next slovenly jerk who sits at MY table...and, by the way, I am NOT a snob and I'm actually a pretty nice guy! Just galls me...

 

Jay Plotts

Cunard Franconia

 

Chandris Britanis

Sheraton Nile Cruises Aton

Triton 9-96

Nordic Empress 2-97

Nordic Empress 2-98

Majesty of the Seas 12-98

Nordic Empress 2-00

Olympic Voyager 2-01

Galaxy 2-02

Majesty of the Seas 6-03

Sovereign of the Seas 4-04

Queen Mary 2 9-04

[cdkempton]

My DH also has a black "sport coat" that he wears with black slacks and either a white "tuxedo" style shirt with bow tie or perhaps a colored shirt with matching tie. He always looks well dressed (and properly dressed) for the evening. I have black slacks and a couple of dressy tops. Also a print full length skirt with black top that dresses up with "fake" jewelry. No need to drag around the "real thing" (if you have it) and worry about getting ripped off (in hotel rooms, etc.).

Keep it simple and enjoy the wonderful places you'll be seeing. We were in China on a cruise back in 1982. We went on a 3 day tour into Bejing only carring a small bag. I had one skirt and three light tops. DH wore the same pants with 3 shirts. Had all laundered when we returned to the ship. Really isn't a problem. I've also found that a lot of the ship's have a nice selection of dressy things you can buy on board (usually there are sales at one time or another). In any case, if you can add the few dressy items you need to your land tour luggage you won't have to do the horribly expensive shipping. On such a wonderful sounding trip, plan on having laundry done (or hopefully you have self laundry on the ship) and take half the clothes you think you need. China did not warrent a lot of fancy day or evening wear back in the 80's...in fact, some folks were over dressed and stood out like sore thumbs.

Have a wonderful, wonderful time...pack less, have more fun. Happy Ssils!! Colette

[pcur]

Hey, the "dress the way you want and be comfortable" philosophy works both ways. Dress UP, ladies (and gents) if you want to!!! Wear those formals, and tux's, and glittery clothes, and feel like a million bucks!!

 

I've posted on several of the RCI threads recently about dress code. The one that got me was the lady that wanted to know if her DH could wear "dress shorts" in the dining room. We were all very polite to her until about the 10th poster, and she went NUTZ on the subject...ha!

 

Peggy - RCI since 1973

[JanetMarie]

I have seen a decline in the dining room, myself, over the years. Just a few years back, 80% of the gents wore a tux. Today that number is inverted.

 

DH and I enjoy dressing and continue to do so for dinner. Even on the casual nights, I still wear a sundress or something sassy!

 

I'm clueless as to why people wear tee shirts and think that it is okay...I guess there's 29 flavors of ice cream, and we don't necessarily like all flavors.

 

OUR NEXT ONWARD JOURNEY!

 

[Fireplug]

I think part of the reason for the decline in # of tuxes would be the overall increase in cruise travel. With it being more available to everyone, you will see different opinions of what is dressed up and what is not. I will dress up for our Alaskan cruise and so will my wife. What someone else wears does not concern me.

 

Squid

 

coral Princess 8-04

Disney Cruises 3 + Sept 14th 4 day

RCCL in Jan '93

[hstrybuf]

For what it's worth, my DH and I follow the dress suggestions. I hate that word. Why don't they just say what they mean and enforce it?

 

I've seen all kinds of dress in the dining room and can think of many reasons why people show up in inappropriate atire:

 

1. "It's my cruise, I paid for it and I'm going to do what I want!" Obviously these people are not only selfish but rude.

 

2. Lost luggage.

 

3. Not reading their cruise documents or any other info before planning their wardrobe for the cruise.

 

4. First and last nights aboard the ship, the pax either haven't received their luggage and didn't carry on appropriate attire OR they've packed everything and didn't leave out clothes for the last night.

 

I really don't care what people wear to dinner as long as they aren't in jeans or worse. It won't ruin my dinner or my cruise and, unless they are totally outrageous, I probably won't even remember them.

 

 

Navigator OTS 10/04

Legend 04/04

Grand Princess 09/03

Dawn Princess 01/03

Enchantment OTS 10/02

Destiny 01/02

Sensation 08/99

[windermere]

I too love to dress up and we DO follow the dress code. However we do not let what other people wear bother us on a cruise. You really never know what they are going thru. We meet a WONDERFUL couple on our last cruise their family had paid for their cruise the husband just finished his last cancer treatment that had lasted almost a year. He had not worked for almost a year money was really tight. They wore jeans & t shirts every time we saw them. They did not ever eat in the main dining room. They had so much love toward each other it was amazing! I will always think of them with a SMILE I really learned alot about myself from them. I am very lucky as most of us on this board are. It really does not matter if we can not afford to dress like everyone else in the big pitcure of life.

 

Until I am back on the Infinity

 

[rapsodyme]

I so agree with you. Our last cruise was on Princess and we had freestyle dining. I know Priincess doesn't call it that but having a senior moment. Anyway on formal night we had one great experience. All were dressed formal but oon the second formal night we had a very elderly couple who said they were going to bed right after dinner(this was 7 p.m.) so no reason to dress up. Also a couple of middle age ladies who said they thought formal night was stupid and had on pants and plain sweater.

Myself and the other 2 ladies I travel with are in our 60's but we were all in formals as this is always part of the fun of crusing. Didn't appreciate being told by our tablemates we were overdresses.

Going back to RCCL this time, less than 2 months to go and received my new long gown and it fits yea!

 

Rapsodyme

 

Legend 8/22/04 YEA!

 

 

[ElaineB2]

This is only our 2nd cruise. First cruise, we didn't want to dress up. I posted a question to this board and got lambasted. Then DH decided on his own that since it was for my 40th birthday and our 10th anniversary that he would rent a tux. I bought a long gown. We felt absolutely wonderful on formal night (it was a 4 nigh cruise). Now we are cruising to Alaska on 6/20. We are so looking forward to formal night - DH rented a tux again and I purchased more gowns! I have people telling me that if we are going to continue cruising, why don't we buy DH a tux -- for one simple reason, he LOVES that he doesn't have to carry it along and it is waiting in the stateroom for him. Wish I could send my formals ahead of time!

[bythehex]

Unfortunately, it isn't just on cruises that people dress inappropriately. I've had people come in for job interviews looking like they had just been camping in the woods. It makes me wonder if anybody has any common sense anymore!

 

Sorry about you people who don't care what other people wear, but think about it. Maybe that's why it's become "okay" for people to dress like slobs. I agree with those who believe that formal night means formal wear - even when my husband doesn't wear a tuxedo on both formal nights, he does at least wear a dark designer suit that he has (Perry Ellis) with a nice, new shirt and silk tie. Which is something he would wear to a nice wedding or fancy party; not to the office. I will wear at least a cocktail dress, if not a gown. Yet, we've seen plenty of people on cruises whose idea of formal wear is the silk jogging suit with sequins. On one cruise I saw numerous men wearning dockers, loafers and short sleeved plaid shirts. In no way can that look ever be considered formal.

 

Most 7 night cruises have two formal nights. Passengers should be aware of that, and plan accordingly. If you want to dress inappropriately the other 5 nights, fine, I'll compromise and give you that. But on two nights out of your life, is it really that big a deal to try to conform?? Otherwise, I envision formal nights fading away to nothing. And that will be a shame.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Sharon H

 

[bythehex]

Oh, and by the way, one more thing - for those ladies who say you can't afford an evening gown, look on Ebay. I purchased a gown that I wore to a Saturday evening wedding off of Ebay for $34.50 (that includes shipping, handling & insurance). Just look for something marked new with tags or closeouts so you know it hasn't been worn before. You can find good name brands out there for not a lot of money.

 

Sharon H.

 

[greatam]

I certainly don't want this to become a political discussion, but this article was in the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33272-2004Jun10.html

 

Think about what the rest of the world thinks of us when they read this article. How did we get to a place where formal night is Dockers and short sleeved shirts and someone wears a T-shirt to a President's ceremony that says "Slackers Unite"? What is happening to our proud country?

[S&D]

Hey there greatam,

 

It sounds like we are on the cruise before you to Asia, March 2005. We are doing the Sydney to Bangkok cruise.

 

We also did the same cruise this year, loved it so much..we are going again. THIS girl will be on there beads n all.... ..I have a couple of fully beaded numbers I love to wear on our cruises, hubby loves his tux also.

 

We never get to dress like that at home, so we love to get all "gussied up" when we cruise. It's fun, and everyone looks so GOOD. On the last Asia cruise, mostly everyone dressed up for formal nights, from little black dresses and suits thru to the tux's etc.

 

I understand that a lot of people don't like to dress up too much, that's fine, everyone to their own ways, but we personally like it, as it is such a change to our normal everyday life, where we are shift workers in overalls!!!!!

 

 

 

Regards

 

S&D

 

 

 

 

Star Princess Sept 2002 Mexican Riviera

 

Star Princess February 2004 Asia

 

Sapphire Princess March 2005 Asia

 

BBC's...Bangkok or Bust Cruisers...Sydney/Bkk

 

 

[LLindaC]

Ya know, personally I agree with you.I never dress like a slob on ships.However, on one cruise we had a tablemate who dressed very well.She was covered in jewelry. her port stops were all for more jewelry, which she displayed and talked about constantly. What a bore she was. Another cruise, our tablemates dressed well, but were chain smokers and reeked when they sat down.It gave me a headache. Then there's the guy who complained constantly about the butter being wrapped, the temp of his food, the people beside us, blah blah blah.Screamed at the waiter. He was a friend of ours, but an embarrassment. He also dressed well. Bottom line, I'd rather have nice people cruising with me no matter how they dress.besides, how many really fat women do you see stuffed into beaded gowns, or with adipose hanging out of strapless gowns? About half of the women are showing way too much on formal night.

 

 

 

Grandeur 6/98

Sovereign 3/00

Jubilee 1/02

Voyager6/02

Navigator 1/03

Sensation 4/03

Enchantment 9/03

Mariner 1/04

[cruise-forever]

Just have to put my two cents worth into this discussion. My husband and I both look forward to the formal nights, however he doesn't wear a tux. He wears a very nice pair of slacks , a dress shirt, and a tie. My husband IS NOT A SLOB. It is crazy to say that just because someone does not wear a tux and ballgown they are slobs. I agree shorts should not be allowed in the dining hall. We have been to many fancy restaurants and even they don't require ballgowns and tuxes but rather dressy attire. If you follow fashion trends at all ( and I do) then one would notice that even at the award shows these days tuxes are OUT. However, the stars still look glam and HOT in what they are wearing. They are comfortable and having fun. That is what is important. Some of you on this board need to take it easy and enjoy life. I dress up because I like it, it is more of a hobby for me. However, I have to much living to do to really care what others are wearing. I am not that shallow. There is fare more to a person than their clothes. Regardless of where they are.

[windermere]

Well said. We really should row our own boat!

[Annieeee]

Just wondering, what is the real definition of a formal wear/attire? Does anyone know. I honestly do not know, but have always thought it meant tuxedo. But I will say that a sport coat is not considered formal attire, why do you think they call it a sport coat?:confused: And a t shirt that has sequins and glitters is not formal attire, nor is a silky jogging suit. Guess I will go surfing on the net to try and find out. First one with comes up with the answer goes to the top of Blackwell's Best Dressed List and you can bet it won't be me. :p I am going to look at one of my RCCL brochures to see what it suggests one should wear. I never really gave it much thought, just figured it meant the tux and dressy gladrags. This is just my opinion, no flames please. I agree with most of you on the dressing up department. We do not always feel like getting all dolled up, so out of respect for those that do, we simply go to the Windjammer on that particular formal night. But don't even think about picking on me cause I am not dressed up on formal night and happen to be in the casino or in one of the lounges. I will not go to the dining room if not dressed up, but I will not stay in my cabin all night:mad: . I may not be dressed up but I will be dressed nicely.

The ship is large enough for all to enjoy. So don't let the way others dress spoil a nice vacation.

Annieeee

[MrsPete]

We don't have many occasions at home to dress up, so we enjoy it during cruises; however, people seem so split on this issue. I think the cruise ships could eliminate the problem by adding another choice on the reservation pages: Do you want to be at the early casual seating or the late formal seating? People could choose their comfort level, and this argument could stop.

[caroliemarie]

Wow - I wished that lashing out at other people's choice of attire was all I had to get riled up about in life.