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Newbie needs answers re: Formal Nights

Frogemax

By Frogemax,
in Princess Cruises

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Frogemax

Frogemax

Posted
Posted

Hi, we are going on our first ever cruise, The Coral Princess, Panama Canal full transit on November 7th 2015 and I'm mega excited. We'll be celebrating our 30th Anniversary so want to push the boat out (no pun intended!)

 

Now, I can't wait to enjoy the three formal nights but how can I find out when they will be? Are they always on sea says? The reason I ask us because of booking salon sessions - would be great to be pampered before getting all glammed up but if we wait until we're on board won't the best slots be booked out?

 

Also, do people really get dressed to the nines or do the just 'make a bit more of an effort'?

 

Please advise this over excited newbie before my computer self combusts while I look for answers! Lol

 

Ruth in the UK x

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Nice Guy5623

Nice Guy5623

Posted
Posted
Hi, we are going on our first ever cruise, The Coral Princess, Panama Canal full transit on November 7th 2015 and I'm mega excited. We'll be celebrating our 30th Anniversary so want to push the boat out (no pun intended!)

 

Now, I can't wait to enjoy the three formal nights but how can I find out when they will be? Are they always on sea says? The reason I ask us because of booking salon sessions - would be great to be pampered before getting all glammed up but if we wait until we're on board won't the best slots be booked out?

 

Also, do people really get dressed to the nines or do the just 'make a bit more of an effort'?

 

Please advise this over excited newbie before my computer self combusts while I look for answers! Lol

 

Ruth in the UK x

Most times the formal evenings are scheduled for sea days unless it's a port intensive cruise.

Most people just dress up for the dining room but not to the extent of tux's & long gowns....but still there are those people who don't dress up & still get into the DR.

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wickedwitchofthewest

wickedwitchofthewest

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Enjoy it - it's a fantastic trip. And when doing the canal transit ensure you get to the front and back decks the views change so much. If you go to the very front of baha deck you will find a 'secret' door which will lead you out onto the front open decks just below the bridge. Great place to view the entry into the locks.

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A_Sea_Bugg

A_Sea_Bugg

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Formal dress in most cruise boards is a hot topic. The DW and I go the full monty. A floor length gown for her and a tux for me. Have been thinking of switching to Cunard as they not only require dressing for Formal dinners but the dress code is in effect for the whole ship for the whole night.

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Shyle

Shyle

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You are going to have a ball.

 

I definitely need to emphasize, formal nights are formal. Tuxes, long gowns which make women look like they're going to the oscars. It is beautiful. I love it.

 

If you aren't the type to get all Oscars studded out...just dress in your best. The ship's crew make you feel fancy, glamorous and famous.

 

If it helps, I always wear a cute little cocktail dress. Not revealing, just a cute flaired skirt dress. Some ladies wear really nice pant suits.

 

It's usually nights at sea and usually 1 per week at least. I've been on back to back cruises where there was only one day at sea at the beginning of the cruise and at the end of the cruise and those were our only two formal nights.

 

They also tell you in your morning patter! :)

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GradUT

GradUT

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Enjoy your anniversary cruise! We celebrated our 25th anniversary a few years ago by taking the Island Princess (sister ship of the Coral Princess) on a partial transit Panama Canal cruise. It was amazing!

 

Definitely go through the "secret door" that WickedWitch described. It's an excellent place to watch your entry through the Canal. On our cruise, the resident "Panama Canal expert" was doing a commentary as we went through the Canal and we could hear him very well from our position on the open deck under the bridge.

 

As far as formal nights go--on our Panama Canal cruise, most people did dress up, but not "to the nines". Men wore suits or coat & tie; women were in cocktail dresses or similar. There were few extremes--those is tuxes and evening gowns and those in everyday clothes. No matter what you wear (unless it's jeans and a T-shirt), you won't get an "evil eye" from anyone. I thought the passengers and staff on the ship were accommodating and non-judgmental.

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AKman2495

AKman2495

Posted
Posted (edited)

We did that cruise in 2012. There are 3 formal nights. We did LA to FLL. All formal nights will be sea days. The first will be the first sea day after sailing, which is usually the second night out. The last formal night will be the last sea day before th last night of the cruise. The third night will be a sea day in between.

 

On our cruise, the second formal night was the sea day between Costa Rica and Panama. The last formal night was the sea day after the stop in Aruba.

 

I just checked your itinerary. If they follow the same program we had, the first formal night should be on Sunday the 8th. The second should be Friday, the 13th, and the last should be Friday the 20th.

 

On our cruise we had many tuxedos, and many suits, no so much "casual".

 

Have a great cruise!

Edited by AKman2495
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Frogemax

Frogemax

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Thank you all so much! I can't believe I've found a group that is so helpful and friendly. I love getting dressed up so will make the most of it as we don't often get the opportunity in 'normal' life.

 

Thanks for your tips about viewing position etc and to AKman for taking the time to check our itinerary.

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AKman2495

AKman2495

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Thank you all so much! I can't believe I've found a group that is so helpful and friendly. I love getting dressed up so will make the most of it as we don't often get the opportunity in 'normal' life.

 

Thanks for your tips about viewing position etc and to AKman for taking the time to check our itinerary.

 

Our first ever cruise was the Panama Canal. It is a great 2 weeks! At the end of the cruise, my DW, who was concerned about it, was hooked.

 

Just remember the Canal is HOT!!! It is best to move around the ship and remember to drink plenty of water.

 

Heading from the atlantic to the pacific you start with an 86' climb up three locks. You want to ready for that. Once you get to Gatun Lake, it's a leisurely 3 hours across. So, you have plenty of time to check things out. For the end of the trip, you pass through the cut which takes an hour or so then through a lock, then across a small lake , then down two more locks to the Pacific.

 

Pace yourselves.....

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Frogemax

Frogemax

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Thanks for the insight, we've waited a long time to book this trip, it's a real dream come true for my engineer hubby to see the canal in the flesh so to speak. I'm sure we are going to have a ball

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BratDet

BratDet

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my first cruise was for my 25th anniversary...

 

We definitely bought photos....

 

We try to avoid the gimmicky backgrounds like the cruise ship background...

 

Try more than one photographer...on the night you want pics...

 

not all photographers produce good photos....

 

these days it take a bunch of photos to get a good one of us...

 

but that's OUR fault...hahahaha

 

Have a blast!!

 

Bernadette

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drgrinch

drgrinch

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Princess seems to have a very wide range of formal night "normal" and acceptable. You'll see a few people going all out (they really look sharp by the way - but I can't bring myself to bring all that on a vacation) and a few in dockers with a modest jacket and no tie. As long as you're wearing some kind of jacket (for the guys), and no blue jeans or shorts (for either gender), you'll fit in somewhere on the spectrum. I must say though that I have seen an occasional overly casual iconoclasts getting away with it in the MDR.

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Frogemax

Frogemax

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I think it's such a shame, I don't mean that everyone has to be done up to the nines, but surely a little effort to 'dress up' for formal night isn't too much to ask.

 

I think it's sad that people can't join in or dine somewhere else on those particular evenings.

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Nice Guy5623

Nice Guy5623

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I think it's such a shame, I don't mean that everyone has to be done up to the nines, but surely a little effort to 'dress up' for formal night isn't too much to ask.

 

I think it's sad that people can't join in or dine somewhere else on those particular evenings.

It is for some people since they feel they've paid for their vacation as well as everyone else and they definitely want the dining room food- which is better most of the time.

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Thrak

Thrak

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This isn't the usual "do I have to dress up" thread. :) It's nice that you want to dress for formal night. As others have said, not every body goes "all out". I wear a nice, dark suit - sometimes with the vest and sometimes without. One thing you can be certain of: You won't be dressed "too formally" no matter what you decided to wear. I always seem men in tuxedos. I don't own a tux and don't want to rent one so I go with the nice suit but those in a tux certainly do look good and draw admiring glances from the ladies - and many of the men. A formal kilt is not amiss either!

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted
Hi, we are going on our first ever cruise, The Coral Princess, Panama Canal full transit on November 7th 2015 and I'm mega excited. We'll be celebrating our 30th Anniversary so want to push the boat out (no pun intended!)

 

Now, I can't wait to enjoy the three formal nights but how can I find out when they will be? Are they always on sea says? The reason I ask us because of booking salon sessions - would be great to be pampered before getting all glammed up but if we wait until we're on board won't the best slots be booked out?

 

Also, do people really get dressed to the nines or do the just 'make a bit more of an effort'?

 

Please advise this over excited newbie before my computer self combusts while I look for answers! Lol

 

Ruth in the UK x

 

You will enjoy the Coral.

Have you joined the roll call for your cruise?

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AKman2495

AKman2495

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That's what I enjoy doing...... always well received, even had people ask to have their picture taken with me!!

 

I swear to god, the most amazing experience I've had on board the ship was when I got on an elevator, dressed in my tux, to go back to our room for something.

 

I was on the elevator with a woman and nobody else. After the doors closed and we started moving, she gave me a big smile and said "You are soon handsome!"

 

I was floored. I've never had a stranger say that before. Needless to say, I was pretty happy that evening.....

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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That's what I enjoy doing...... always well received, even had people ask to have their picture taken with me!!

 

My daughter's high school band wore kilted uniforms so when we saw this gentleman outside the MDR, we asked if we could take a photo of the two of them (it seemed from his reaction, this was nothing new to him). PC250117_zpsf9fcf9b2.jpg

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suzyed

suzyed

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Posted (edited)
my first cruise was for my 25th anniversary...

 

We definitely bought photos....

 

We try to avoid the gimmicky backgrounds like the cruise ship background...

 

Try more than one photographer...on the night you want pics...

 

not all photographers produce good photos....

 

these days it take a bunch of photos to get a good one of us...

 

but that's OUR fault...hahahaha

 

Have a blast!!

 

Bernadette

 

They also have individual photo sessions that you can book with the photographer. We didn't do it, but one of our friends did and the pix came out really nice!

Actually, I can't even remember the last time we bought pics on a cruise....we never really like them or one of us will look good and the other won't. :o

Edited by suzyed
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