Formal Dress Nights

[crusader]

I have cruised on the QM2 from Southampton to NYC twice. Each time most women wore gowns on formal nights and cocktail dresses other nights. . Since I have not been on the ship in almost three years I want to know if this is still what is expected ..I have heard that Cunard has become less formal.

What has your experience been?

WE plan on sailing Nov. 5th.

Thanks in advance...

[commodoredave]

We crossed on QM2 in May. More gowns than other cruise lines, but fewer than a few years ago. Probably now 40% cocktail dresses and 60% gowns on our cruise on formal nights for those who dress up (vast majority). And mostly pants and tops on other nights, but some in cocktail dresses. .

Edited August 6, 2015 by commodoredave

[crusader]

Thanks

[BlueRiband]

I have cruised on the QM2 from Southampton to NYC twice. Each time most women wore gowns on formal nights and cocktail dresses other nights. . Since I have not been on the ship in almost three years I want to know if this is still what is expected ..I have heard that Cunard has become less formal.

What has your experience been?

WE plan on sailing Nov. 5th.

Thanks in advance...

 

TAs are still more dressy. On my round trip in June I saw black tie on the majority of the men and short or long evening dresses on women. Long dresses tended to correlate with a woman's age and stateroom category. On informal nights people still dress for dinner but not to the degree done for formal nights. Most men wore ties even though they are optional. For women informal nights had a mix of daytime dresses and cocktail dresses.

[BigMac1953]

For my wife, it's always long dresses on formal and cocktail every other night.

 

In QG, I'd say this is the norm.

 

Stewart

[Bell Boy]

When sailing Cunard 'Too much is not enough' ;) :D

[Scriv]

When sailing Cunard 'Too much is not enough' ;) :D

 

I love your comment Bell Boy. Looking forward to experiencing it ourselves very soon.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Scriv

[BobBranst]

TAs are still more dressy. On my round trip in June I saw black tie on the majority of the men and short or long evening dresses on women. Long dresses tended to correlate with a woman's age and stateroom category. On informal nights people still dress for dinner but not to the degree done for formal nights. Most men wore ties even though they are optional. For women informal nights had a mix of daytime dresses and cocktail dresses.

I agree with most of what you have written except I have to question how one can tell what stateroom class a woman is from once outside of the dining rooms. Some of the best dressed women I've met on TA crossings have been staying in Inside staterooms. My DW always dressing in long gowns on formal nights, but I seriously doubt that you or anyone else could accurately guess the stateroom class we are in once inside the Queens Room or the Royal Court Theater.

 

Bob

[maggiemou]

TAs are still more dressy. On my round trip in June I saw black tie on the majority of the men and short or long evening dresses on women. Long dresses tended to correlate with a woman's age and stateroom category. On informal nights people still dress for dinner but not to the degree done for formal nights. Most men wore ties even though they are optional. For women informal nights had a mix of daytime dresses and cocktail dresses.

 

 

Sorry Blue Riband, I have to disagree with you about long dresses and women of a certain and stateroom category. I always wear long dresses for formal nights which are designed by myself and made to measure for me by my dressmaker. I take a different dress for each night so on world cruises I take over 30 long gowns as there are often around 33 formal nights.

I also take something different for each other night.

Now I don't know what you class as woman of a certain age, but I am a very young at heart lady who considers age as just a number. ;)

Nothing to do with the length of my dress. :)

Also I disagree you can tell what stateroom people are in.

I have been on cruises where the Britannia Restaurant has been full of well dressed people and after got into an elevator and seen someone going up to the Grills level in what I would have considered non formal.

So I can't say it makes any difference what category you travel in as to how well dressed you are. Most world cruisers travel in either an inside ( mainly as many are single ) or in an ordinary balcony/ ocean view cabin. No one knows who is where and no one cares.

We went round the world a few years ago on one of our world Cunard cruises and we travelled in a deluxe inside and I was the best dressed lady on the ship with my extensive wardrobe of over 100 dresses and don't even ask about how many shoes. :):D

I am well known for dressing to the nines and I have travelled in different categories of cabins over the years.

[commodoredave]

I won't be participating in this thread anymore. I asked my wife for her opinion and she went out this morning and bought two dresses for our next crossing!

[keithm]

For my wife, it's always long dresses on formal and cocktail every other night.

 

In QG, I'd say this is the norm.

 

Stewart

Jimsgirl always did inside rooms & was always impeccably dressed whenever we saw her on formal nights. So I'd say accomodations level has nothing to do with level of dress & style!

[BigMac1953]

Jimsgirl always did inside rooms & was always impeccably dressed whenever we saw her on formal nights. So I'd say accomodations level has nothing to do with level of dress & style!

 

Disagree, sorry.

 

For example, on informal nights in QG, I guarantee that 95% of men still wear a tie. That is not so in the MDR.

 

It's the same with gowns. Almost all the ladies in QG wear long dresses. Again, I've seen some odd sights of what some people call "formal" when heading for the MDR.

[Host Hattie]

I wear the same dresses (long on formal nights) whether I'm in the Grills or Britannia.

[balf]

 

Also I disagree you can tell what stateroom people are in.

 

I

 

 

Second sitting is more dressy than first though.

 

David

[maggiemou]

Second sitting is more dressy than first though.

 

David

 

Hi Balf, I would not know about that as we never go to first sitting dinner. ;)

However, no matter what dinner sitting my husband always wear a tie and I find most men do at second sitting.

As I say can't comment about first sitting as not done that. Just the same as someone in the grills will not know the numbers of non-tie wearers as they are not in the MDR. :)

[maggiemou]

Disagree, sorry.

 

For example, on informal nights in QG, I guarantee that 95% of men still wear a tie. That is not so in the MDR.

 

It's the same with gowns. Almost all the ladies in QG wear long dresses. Again, I've seen some odd sights of what some people call "formal" when heading for the MDR.

 

Hello Big Mac,

How do you know this if don't dine the MDR? My husband would always wear a tie and most men we have ever dined with at our table do.

I think I could say similar about the Grills in some cases.

I went to a World club cocktail party last year and two ladies I know very well from the Grills ( friends of mine) did not wear long dresses and it was formal night. Plus another lady wore a kaftan what she had bought on the bazaar stall in Egypt as it was long and she had flips flops on here feet. I was appalled! She was Grills passenger.

I wore my designer custom made dress and I am a Britannia passenger, so you can not judge people. Some people have a better idea and taste in dressing then others.

It is hard to judge.

On the recent three Queens cruise from Liverpool a good friend of mine wrote after to tell me how upset she was that she had worn her new long red/black & gold dress that she had specially made for the formal night in the Grills and no one else had made the effort. She was most upset. Stating maybe it was because there were a lot of first-timers on board. She was very put out to say the least.

To make out Grill passengers dress up more is not correct from what I have seen, and I have spent hundred days on Cunard. I know many passengers from the Grills. Paying more for ones accommodation does not always make you a better dresser. Money doesn't always buy style. ;)

One other thing to consider is that pro rata there are only a handful of people in the Grills compared to Britannia so you will never get 100% of people complying to how we all think we should dress.

Edited August 9, 2015 by maggiemou
typo

[cruiseluvva]

I wear the same dresses (long on formal nights) whether I'm in the Grills or Britannia.

 

Quite right and me too, although being very short I sometimes wear ballerina length. My husband only sometimes wears a tie on Informal nights, especially on World Cruise sectors, and as that complies with the dress code both he and I find that perfectly acceptable.

 

We have travelled QG for a while now and never felt we dressed differently from the majority on board, whichever restaurant they dine in, at the end of the month we will be travelling Britannia for an "extra" and will dress exactly the same!

[Victoria2]

 

To make out Grill passengers dress up more is not correct from what I have seen, and I have spent hundred days on Cunard. I know many passengers from the Grills. Paying more for ones accommodation does not always make you a better dresser. Money doesn't always buy style. ;)

One other thing to consider is that pro rata there are only a handful of people in the Grills compared to Britannia so you will never get 100% of people complying to how we all think we should dress.

 

I agree. We all have our own ideas what we should wear and that is dictated by ourselves and not the restaurant in which we dine. You can't make a blanket statement on how passengers dress, whether in Britannia, Club, Princess or Queens Grill. The number of gentlemen wearing ties on an informal evening in QG fluctuates from most to some, depending on goodness knows what criteria. As for the ladies, I have occasionally seen what I would determine as verging on the casual, but still very elegant, clothes on a formal night as well as ladies in beautiful dresses which vary in length.

[foster269]

Hello,I don't now if some people might takes this as a cop out.

On informal nights I allways set of in a tie and if my table companions decide otherwise after a while I will join them.Then after the meal I will put it on again as I rejoin the rest of the ship.

 

Rodger.

[cruiseluvva]

Sorry Blue Riband, I have to disagree with you about long dresses and women of a certain and stateroom category. I always wear long dresses for formal nights which are designed by myself and made to measure for me by my dressmaker. I take a different dress for each night so on world cruises I take over 30 long gowns as there are often around 33 formal nights.

I also take something different for each other night.

Now I don't know what you class as woman of a certain age, but I am a very young at heart lady who considers age as just a number. ;)

Nothing to do with the length of my dress. :)

Also I disagree you can tell what stateroom people are in.

I have been on cruises where the Britannia Restaurant has been full of well dressed people and after got into an elevator and seen someone going up to the Grills level in what I would have considered non formal.

So I can't say it makes any difference what category you travel in as to how well dressed you are. Most world cruisers travel in either an inside ( mainly as many are single ) or in an ordinary balcony/ ocean view cabin. No one knows who is where and no one cares.

We went round the world a few years ago on one of our world Cunard cruises and we travelled in a deluxe inside and I was the best dressed lady on the ship with my extensive wardrobe of over 100 dresses and don't even ask about how many shoes. :):D

I am well known for dressing to the nines and I have travelled in different categories of cabins over the years.

 

How on earth do you fit 100 dresses in a standard balcony cabin? I am worried about squeezing 16 in in 3 weeks.

[Runaways]

How on earth do you fit 100 dresses in a standard balcony cabin? I am worried about squeezing 16 in in 3 weeks.

 

I'm wondering the same Maggiemou. I've just bought and read your book and cannot fathom how you store so many formal dresses, costumes and day wear plus about 40 pairs of shoes plus your husband's formal/day wear and numerous shirts (36 last WC?). How do you do it and how do you keep so many items in good, wearable condition - do you spend part of every day ironing? Really amazing - I know we could never manage such a feat, and have been trying to cut down on luggage recently, for several reasons. Thank you.

[maggiemou]

Hi Runaways,

Thanks for reading my book. I am sure you will have read that I take all my own hangers very slim ones, and have the fixed ones in the cabin removed to free up more space. I take an under the bed storage box from Ikea and I place all my handbags in that around (30 of them) plus a few other bits and bobs.

I have eight Ikea foldable shoe boxes that I place most of my shoes in and I stack them in the cabin in a corner. Some shoes go in the wardrobes

Under the Beds on QV & QE there are two big drawers. I place lots of casual clothes in there such a beach wear and tops Tee Shirts & pashminas and such.

I place winter our clothes in there and also we keep one large case in the cabin with winter clothes that are not needed as winter clothes only come out on the Transatlantic crossing and whilst in and around Japan. We keep a smaller case under the bed with supplies in such as toiletries meds etc.

I remove the life jackets and stick them in a upper cupboard to free space under the bed.

My husband arranges his own clothes and again we remove the fixed hangers and use slim ones, he will keep his casual things in the drawer under the bed. There is plenty of space in the wardrobes if you move the shelves around and we keep just cupboard empty on the floor for shoe for my husband ( he doesn't need 40 pairs :) )

Outdoor coats we hang on the hooks on the wall. Plus we hang our evening clothes there the morning of a formal night to give them a breather ;)

We take a clothes steamer so my long dresses can be steamed if need be, but I often use the dry cleaning on board and we use the laundry for every day things. Plus the self service wash.

The space in the bathroom on the shelf under the sink is used for storing toiletries and hair stuff and emergency meds etc. I have five square plastic zipped bags from Ikea and I use them like a drawer for storage. I do not use hang on the door plastic storage hangers that some people do I find they take up room in the bathroom .

I have to say every world cruise passenger has a cabin crammed to the hilt as it becomes smaller the further we travel. People buy along the way and it all gets too much really, so the sofa becomes a dumping ground. I often say the sofas should be removed for a world cruise as no one sits on the after two months as there is no space left. :)

Our 19 suitcases are removed from the cabin as soon as they unpacked otherwise we would not find the bed. ;)

Anyhow it all works with a bit of organisation and if you reach the end of the book you will see we were not the people with the most luggage. No that went to the owners of 29 cases when they board and left with 31!!! They were in a balcony cabin also. All good fun and happy days.

Thanks for reading my publication and hope you enjoyed your worldie with me.

Happy cruising. Maggie x

Edited August 10, 2015 by maggiemou

[Runaways]

Thank you for your response Maggie. Yes, I noted the 19!!! suitcases and how you unpacked and sent them to storage 'somewhere'. I read it all, totally amazed you could do what you obviously do without being buried in 'stuff'! And the wedding couple with 29 cases - gobsmacked is the only, rather inelegant, term I can think of. Those slim hangers must make a huge difference to wardrobe space. You must be an incredibly accomplished organizer to be able to regularly pull this off. I/we could never, ever manage it - I lost a mid-sized diary in a rather large handbag for 9 months once. Searched several times but tucked away in the bottom somewhere, and refused to be found until the week I bought a new one! So, I'm forced to keep my travel wardrobe much simpler than yours - double or triple duty for most items except for a couple of long formal dresses. But we're not doing a WC, just a 38 day segment. One day we'll do Sydney-Southampton - hopefully. Best wishes for more happy (and SAFE - no more tap dancing?!) travels. Gwenn.

[Solent Richard]

Second sitting is more dressy than first though.

 

David

 

I'd agree with that David.

 

[Solent Richard]

When sailing Cunard 'Too much is not enough' ;) :D

 

I love your comment Bell Boy. Looking forward to experiencing it ourselves very soon.

 

Thoroughly agree with Bell Boy as well. Why spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar?

 

I would also consider a cummerbund a must (for gentlemen that is)...