Dress: Gala nights versus Formal Nights

[cabinluvn]

I travel with 2 pair of shoes (toss in a pair of flip flops if I'm doing a beach vacation). Never a problem. One casual pair of shoes that can go from walking around to being with whatever I'm wearing in the evening. For the past 8 years or so, they have been a pair of Jambu shoes. The second pair of shoes may be my trail runners or a pair of boots. Maybe I'm not so concerned about what I'm wearing on my feet in the MDR. I figure if the Jambus were good for Le Bernadin in NYC and dinners out in Paris and Rome and Florence, they were good enough for the banquet hall, oops, MDR ;)

 

 

 

I'm also one who travels solo with one bag that I am able to lift into an overhead. I'm 62, so not a Spring Chicken. I have not felt like I was missing an item or that I was "making do" with a minimalist wardrobe. It is quite liberating to know that I am able to go anywhere, anytime, and not worry about having to ask for assistance with luggage :)

 

 

 

I am envious! For long trips do you just have basic clothes in one or two colors and then accessorize to dress it up or change it so you don't get bored wearing just a few things over a long period of time?

 

 

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[mek]

In past years I used to love-----really love---the formal nights and would not have believed I would someday come to not really care if we have a gala night or not.

 

We do both more than comply with the dress code but we get no joy out of it anymore. My husband takes along a suit, blazer and sports jacket----along with a few good sweaters to wear over a collared shirt on the non gala evenings.

I wear cocktail dresses on gala evenings and always change for dinner on regular evenings.

 

It seems that gala evenings are little more than an opportunity for photographers to make their money.

 

We take longer cruises and so we have to take four suitcases that are getting increasingly hard for me to handle as I age. It breaks my back to weigh them and not all airports have porters to assist. My husband cannot help at all as he is considerably older than I am.

If the gala nights were eliminated we could get rid of at least one suitcase---two if I were brutal.

 

I ready your post and it sounds exactly the same as my feelings. My husband is 25 years older than I am and also requires the use of a transport chair on the ship. After returning from our last cruise two weeks ago, I find myself questioning if I even want to continue cruising. It has become so much work just to get ready and while he enjoys the MDR, I would be happy to only take casual clothes and pass on the dining room all together. We always dress according to the suggested attire, but it's getting old, especially when so many wear pretty much what they want. It's really not a fine dining experience and hasn't been for a very long time, but people hold on and like to pretend that it is.

[slidergirl]

I am envious! For long trips do you just have basic clothes in one or two colors and then accessorize to dress it up or change it so you don't get bored wearing just a few things over a long period of time?

 

 

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Kind of. My shirts are all light and easily washable overnight. I don't mind doing some before bed. Plus I love to hit the local laundry to sample the local atmosphere. I do bring accessories to dress up or down. I've always been low maintenance, so it was never a stretch to do this travel.

[RMLincoln]

We may be in the minority... or maybe we're just making adjustments due to the changes in our travel style. It's not like driving to the port, parking, and boarding for a 14 night cruise anymore.

 

We now pack as light as we can and still have all our bases covered including cold meds etc. Last year we traveled in Europe about 10 weeks, many different forms of travel and touring. One suitcase each, one tote each... that's all each of us can manage getting on and off trains, trams, buses etc. I've given up trying to find pharmacies while touring so I bring what I think we'll need.

 

We had two cruises in our itinerary: a 12 night Med and a 16 night TA coming home. For Gala dinners DH wore black slacks, dress shirt, tie, black cardigan (double duty for colder days in England, Scotland, Wales in November, plus cold spots on the ship). I wore black crepe skirt, shell and lightweight burnout jacket.

 

For shoes DH wore black walking shoes (his alternative to his other walking shoes which aren't black) and I wore gold sandals which were usually packed inside his walking shoes (I wear a size 6, he wears a 14 so his shoes are a big deal to pack.)

 

We had only a minimal number of Gala dinners so for 10 weeks of traveling we could only justify minimal wardrobe additions.

 

The Gala dinners have not been as outstanding as they used to be, in fact we've asked for the everyday salmon a couple of times even though it wasn't on the little tri-fold square menus... and we got it.

 

Over the last few years we have changed our travel wardrobe some and purchased Ex Officio underwear for both of us, plus lightweight pants and some tops. We do a bit of sink washing which helps us stretch our limited wardrobe. I learned some tips from Rick Steve's books but am not as minimalistic as he. Weather is a critical factor and we need to be prepared for cold, wind and rain... more important than Gala nights.

 

I find that travel is work, rewarding but still work.... it's not a fashion show and I'm not dressing to impress anyone. I'm dressing for comfort but to also be appropriate for some some of the very nice venues we've been able to enjoy... a Viennese concert and the Amsterdam Symphony for example... we didn't go in travel pants and t-shirts, maybe not as fancy as some but conservatively appropriate.

 

On tales of the South Pacific we had 6 Gala nights in 48 nights on the ship. The Lido is looking better all the time! In fact there were some nights that their food was better than the MDR, at least for us.

 

So we may be in the minority, but we are making adjustments. m--

[Cruising-along]

Maureen (RMLincoln) I couldn't agree with you more, on all counts. :)

Your travel style sounds just like ours. We also have to fly to cruise (unless we want to go to Alaska every year, which we don't!)

[cabinluvn]

We may be in the minority... or maybe we're just making adjustments due to the changes in our travel style. It's not like driving to the port, parking, and boarding for a 14 night cruise anymore.

 

We now pack as light as we can and still have all our bases covered including cold meds etc. Last year we traveled in Europe about 10 weeks, many different forms of travel and touring. One suitcase each, one tote each... that's all each of us can manage getting on and off trains, trams, buses etc. I've given up trying to find pharmacies while touring so I bring what I think we'll need.

 

We had two cruises in our itinerary: a 12 night Med and a 16 night TA coming home. For Gala dinners DH wore black slacks, dress shirt, tie, black cardigan (double duty for colder days in England, Scotland, Wales in November, plus cold spots on the ship). I wore black crepe skirt, shell and lightweight burnout jacket.

 

For shoes DH wore black walking shoes (his alternative to his other walking shoes which aren't black) and I wore gold sandals which were usually packed inside his walking shoes (I wear a size 6, he wears a 14 so his shoes are a big deal to pack.)

 

We had only a minimal number of Gala dinners so for 10 weeks of traveling we could only justify minimal wardrobe additions.

 

The Gala dinners have not been as outstanding as they used to be, in fact we've asked for the everyday salmon a couple of times even though it wasn't on the little tri-fold square menus... and we got it.

 

Over the last few years we have changed our travel wardrobe some and purchased Ex Officio underwear for both of us, plus lightweight pants and some tops. We do a bit of sink washing which helps us stretch our limited wardrobe. I learned some tips from Rick Steve's books but am not as minimalistic as he. Weather is a critical factor and we need to be prepared for cold, wind and rain... more important than Gala nights.

 

I find that travel is work, rewarding but still work.... it's not a fashion show and I'm not dressing to impress anyone. I'm dressing for comfort but to also be appropriate for some some of the very nice venues we've been able to enjoy... a Viennese concert and the Amsterdam Symphony for example... we didn't go in travel pants and t-shirts, maybe not as fancy as some but conservatively appropriate.

 

On tales of the South Pacific we had 6 Gala nights in 48 nights on the ship. The Lido is looking better all the time! In fact there were some nights that their food was better than the MDR, at least for us.

 

So we may be in the minority, but we are making adjustments. m--

 

 

 

I may get there yet! We usually travel with a suitcase each and a carry on each and then a backpack to carry documents, etc. It has worked well for us so far, but I can see paring down to one suitcase and two carry ons in the future. We have a 22 day Antarctica cruise scheduled for 2018, but I think we will still need two suitcases for the bulkier clothes we will need

 

 

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[iancal]

We are about to leave for nine weeks in South and Central America. Two weeks of cruising and seven weeks of independent travel.

 

Formal night, gala night, attire does not even make it on our radar screen. We are only concerned with getting the basics into our carry-on and keeping the weight down to a manageable level. I have no doubt that we will easily fall within the attire guidelines but we really do not care.

 

If it comes down to a choice of loading up the clothes for those special nights or being able to enjoy additional weeks of land travel the latter will win out every time.

[Tom O.]

I have no problem with dressing in a suit for dinner. I actually enjoy doing that. But, I don't like having to pack a suit and and worry whether it will get all wrinkled.

Our next cruise will be the first one, in which I do not bring a suit. My wife and I will simply go with the "smart casual" standard, and have one less thing to worry about.

[CherryG]

We're debating about just sticking with smart casual this time. Husband will most likely bring jacket and I will bring dresses and assorted fancier type tops to wear with black pants or capris. Never brought pants to wear to dinner on cruise before but we want a simpler vacation this time. Last Jan on the HA cruise it seemed there were a lot more smart casual diners than fancy dressed up people. We took tux and formal wear the year before but it's a pain to pack.

 

 

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[slidergirl]

A quote from the HAL website regarding what to bring to wear:

"Q: Why the change from “Formal” To “Gala” night?

A: To many, the “Formal” term was misleading as it implies a specific type of dress (black tie or tuxedo) that has never been a requirement. “Gala” still implies festive or dressy without misleading guests to bring attire the majority of guests don’t wear."

 

I am not, as some here would make me out to be, a schlub or a slob, or someone who refuses "to make an effort". I will wear attire that is within what is suggested by a cruise line. I just do not have fashion as a priority. I have no need at home for any kind of "fancy" clothes; I find it silly (and financial wasteful) to go out and buy something to wear may one or two nights for maybe 3 hours each night. I can cobble together a "cruise wardrobe" out of my everyday clothes. Maybe if I had enough money to do multi-week/month-long cruises, I would probably also have enough money to spend on some clothes that I'd only wear on a cruise. But, that is not my lot in life.

[navybankerteacher]

I have no problem with dressing in a suit for dinner. I actually enjoy doing that. But, I don't like having to pack a suit and and worry whether it will get all wrinkled.

Our next cruise will be the first one, in which I do not bring a suit. My wife and I will simply go with the "smart casual" standard, and have one less thing to worry about.

 

I am all for not needing to pack a suit - just a good pair of trousers to go with the blazer I wear anyway while traveling (good to have pockets for phone, docs, etc.) and a tie which takes no room at all, and I can easily make the effort to have our dinners the slightly special occasions my wife and I both prefer.

[Hlitner]

You guys are almost (not quite) winning me over to packing strictly casual. On our most recent HAL cruise (a few weeks on the Zuiderdam in August) we still packed formal clothes and seemed to have plenty of company on that European cruise. Our next (so far) HAL cruise is the Voyage of the Vikings...where we will drive to the port. So we are thinking of dragging our formal clothes and suspect there will be quite a few folks who do dress formal...on the gala nights. But have to admit it is a pain in the behind packing all that extra stuff....especially when we have to fly to a cruise.

 

Hank

[iancal]

We started downsizing when, after returning from several cruises, we realized how much clothing we never use or used only for a few hours. We took note and changed our packing regimen.

 

Going casual/carry on worked for us but it is clearly not for everyone.

It happens to meet our travel requirements, preferences,and ability to physically handle through various forms of travel. If we drove to port, and drove home after disembarkation it would be a different story. No doubt we would take more. We might not wear it, but we would take it simply because we could. This, however is seldom our situation.

[RocketMan275]

We started downsizing when, after returning from several cruises, we realized how much clothing we never use or used only for a few hours. We took note and changed our packing regimen.

 

Going casual/carry on worked for us but it is clearly not for everyone.

It happens to meet our travel requirements, preferences,and ability to physically handle through various forms of travel. If we drove to port, and drove home after disembarkation it would be a different story. No doubt we would take more. We might not wear it, but we would take it simply because we could. This, however is seldom our situation.

 

Even though we drive to the port, we are firm believers in taking as few clothes as possible. We plan what we're going to wear each day. If it's not in the plan, we don't take it. After you've been on a couple of cruises, you know what you will wear.

 

We each take a small, four wheel roller, carry on. I also bring a backpack for the extra wine. I can strap the backpack to the handle of the carry on.