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Dress code for dining on pride of america


russnleanne
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We are Royal Caribbean cruisers most of the time. we are going to do the Hawaiian cruise on the Pride of America next March. I am hoping those who have been on the POA could help with a dress code question. Do they have formal nights? if yes, are there 2 and how dressed up do people get?

 

thank you for your help, Leanne

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we were on POA this past March. I don't recall a formal night, but to be fair we were off the ship as much as possible.

 

We ate in the MDR. My hubby wore slacks and a button down. I wore dresses. My kids wore dress shorts and polos. No flip flops for anyone. That was the norm. Lots of Hawaii shirts.

 

Enjoy! the ship isn't the best but you can't beat that itinerary!

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POA does NOT have any formal night and even in specialty dining, it's resort causal, neat & clean - for men, a Hawaiian shirt with collar is the "dress code" at dinner time.

 

Who vacation and cruise the Hawaii waters, taking along a suit or blazer, shirt & tie ... no way, let alone tuxedo (common sense). Not to worry, you will be fine - just don't show up in the MDR at 6 PM wearing the bathrobe with swimwear underneath. Besides, it's port intensive - it's not uncommon to be done eating early breakfast by 7 AM and off the gangway before 8 AM and not onboard until 8 or 9 PM, barely time to do dinner.

 

Fleetwide, the dress codes are getting relaxed more - of course, you are free to do whatever ... under the notion of freestyle dining.

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POA does NOT have any formal night and even in specialty dining, it's resort causal, neat & clean - for men, a Hawaiian shirt with collar is the "dress code" at dinner time.

 

Who vacation and cruise the Hawaii waters, taking along a suit or blazer, shirt & tie ... no way, let alone tuxedo (common sense). Not to worry, you will be fine - just don't show up in the MDR at 6 PM wearing the bathrobe with swimwear underneath. Besides, it's port intensive - it's not uncommon to be done eating early breakfast by 7 AM and off the gangway before 8 AM and not onboard until 8 or 9 PM, barely time to do dinner.

 

Fleetwide, the dress codes are getting relaxed more - of course, you are free to do whatever ... under the notion of freestyle dining.

 

we were on POA this past March. I don't recall a formal night, but to be fair we were off the ship as much as possible.

 

We ate in the MDR. My hubby wore slacks and a button down. I wore dresses. My kids wore dress shorts and polos. No flip flops for anyone. That was the norm. Lots of Hawaii shirts.

 

Enjoy! the ship isn't the best but you can't beat that itinerary!

 

thank you both for your help! that was my guess, but thought I better be sure. My sister in law just asked me. thank goodness none of that kind of packing! Yea!!

 

May I ask what you did on the islands that is not to be missed. I do have Honolulu all planned out.

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We'll be on POA next March as well. We usually eat in the MDR's on cruises so I'm glad you asked this question. I don't want to take anything 'formal' to Hawaii at all since I'm only taking 1 suitcase but I hope we don't see any shorts, T shirts and baseball caps either,

which seems to be the only clothing people on our last cruise in the Caribbean brought with them.

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OMG who would ever wear shorts and a t-shirt while on a cruise? Seriously though, why is it of any concern at all how other people are dressed for dinner?Why I do think (and know inmost places) that it is both rude and impolite to wear a cap while dining, if someone else chooses to do so it will have zero impact on my dining experience. However all I ever wear is a pair of Levi jeans and a t-shirt, perfectly fine clothing.

 

 

Depends on what venue you are eating in. Personally, if I am eating in a restaurant whose dress code states no t-shirts, hats or jeans, in other words...dress nice for dinner then I expect it to be enforced. Most people book those restaurants not just for the food but the ambiance and a nice experience.

 

Point being is that NCL doesn't always enforce their own dress code.

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The dress code on the POA is even more relaxed than the rest of NCL. Formal to a Hawaiian is you wear your shirt tucked in.

 

Jefferson's Bistro & 1 of the MDR's state that men must wear collared shirt & closed-toed shoes. But nice jeans are acceptable everywhere.

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  • 2 weeks later...
We are Royal Caribbean cruisers most of the time. we are going to do the Hawaiian cruise on the Pride of America next March. I am hoping those who have been on the POA could help with a dress code question. Do they have formal nights? if yes, are there 2 and how dressed up do people get?

 

thank you for your help, Leanne

 

No NCL ship has formal nights. You are free to dress up as much or as little as you like on any night. Usually the night of the first sea day is designated "Norwegian's Night Out". You may see more people that night than normal who wear cocktail dresses, but you will see a mix of dress styles on any night. It helps to go to the NCL website and look at the actual dress code to see what the minimum requirements are. There are only two which require long pants and collared shirts for men, and even then, jeans are acceptable. All others, shorts and tees are acceptable. I've never seen ball caps allowed in any restaurant.

 

As far as enforcement, on the newer ships, NCL has sometimes taken to relaxing the code in the aft, more formal MDR to allow shorts for men. If so, this will be spelled out in the Freestyle Daily. Perhaps this is an experiment on NCL's part, but it does cause some confusion and may lead to some reports that the "code" is not being inforced. Not a good idea, IMO. Either relax the code fleetwide, or keep it uniform to all ships as is. Also, note that the dress code does not apply on the first night of the cruise, so shorts in the aft MDR are fine.

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May I ask what you did on the islands that is not to be missed. I do have Honolulu all planned out.

 

Sure! I loved this trip. We booked a private tour with Emily (http://epicexperiencemaui.com/) while on Maui. We've been there before, so we didn't want to do the Road to Hana again. Emily was great. She took us to the West lobe which is often ignored by tours. We also went whale watching with Trilogy in Lahaina. Fun!

 

We did a tour of Volcanoes National Park we found on Viator out of Hilo . It was nice, but I wouldn't recommend it. We spent all of 20 minutes at Jaggar, but WAY more time at the Orchid shop. They call it a Orchid Garden..nope, it's a shop.

 

We took the helicopter tour thru the ship at Kona. it was fantastic! You can book yourselves, but I had read (may be wrong but didn't want to take the chance) that people tend to get bumped for cruise ship tours if they are running behind. I didn't want to miss this one.

 

.Kauai.... We did the really long tour via the ship. 11 hours or so. Not even 30 minutes at the Canyon. If you're not afraid of the drive, I'd recommend renting a car and going yourself. It's amazingly gorgeous. I wish we had more time there. We also went to a Luau at the plantation. That was fun. On the 2nd day we went tubing with Kauai Backcountry Adventures. Cold water, but a good time.

 

Enjoy!

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we were on POA this past March. I don't recall a formal night, but to be fair we were off the ship as much as possible.

 

We ate in the MDR. My hubby wore slacks and a button down. I wore dresses. My kids wore dress shorts and polos. No flip flops for anyone. That was the norm. Lots of Hawaii shirts.

 

Enjoy! the ship isn't the best but you can't beat that itinerary!

 

You mention no flip flops...did you see others wearing flip flops in specialty or MDR? I plan on wearing a cute dress, but with flip flops...as I have cute ones. I wear them to church with dresses so guessed they would be okay for specialty or MDR.

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Depends on what venue you are eating in. Personally, if I am eating in a restaurant whose dress code states no t-shirts, hats or jeans, in other words...dress nice for dinner then I expect it to be enforced. Most people book those restaurants not just for the food but the ambiance and a nice experience.

 

Point being is that NCL doesn't always enforce their own dress code.

Enforcement is important but at the same time, if jeans, t-shirts, hats, etc. are within the rules, there is no reason for those dressed otherwise to be bothered or upset by people who are within the restaurant's guidelines.

 

With regards to NCL's dress code, there seems to be a feeling (from some) that people dressed in jeans/t-shirt are somehow "ruining the experience for others". If people are within the rules, there's nothing to complain about as far as clothing. I'm more concerned with someone else's behavior than I am with their clothing.

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As far as enforcement, on the newer ships, NCL has sometimes taken to relaxing the code in the aft, more formal MDR to allow shorts for men. If so, this will be spelled out in the Freestyle Daily. Perhaps this is an experiment on NCL's part, but it does cause some confusion and may lead to some reports that the "code" is not being inforced. Not a good idea, IMO. Either relax the code fleetwide, or keep it uniform to all ships as is. Also, note that the dress code does not apply on the first night of the cruise, so shorts in the aft MDR are fine.

 

There is a dress code. On the Breakaway, Getaway, and Escsoe, long pants are required in Le Bistro and Ovean Blue/Bayamo. They are not required in any MDR. That is the dress code.

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You mention no flip flops...did you see others wearing flip flops in specialty or MDR? I plan on wearing a cute dress, but with flip flops...as I have cute ones. I wear them to church with dresses so guessed they would be okay for specialty or MDR.

 

I think those would be fine

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There is a dress code. On the Breakaway, Getaway, and Escsoe, long pants are required in Le Bistro and Ovean Blue/Bayamo. They are not required in any MDR. That is the dress code.

 

If you go to the NCL website and read the official dress code, is it pointed out anywhere that the dress code is different for those 3 ships, and spell out the differences? The last time I looked, it did not, and that is my point.

 

The "official" dress code for NCL is on the NCL website, not what is printed in a Freestyle Daily on a particular ship. I agree that if its posted in the Daily, then that's what applies on that ship. BUT, how many people actually see that small notation in the Daily, yet see many people with shorts in the MDR, and jump to the conclusion, as you have seen repeated often on this board, as well as in this thread, that NCL "does not Inforce their own dress code".

 

I'm simply suggesting that NCL should either allow shorts in MDRs on All ships, or keep the no shorts rule in all ships. Or, simply point out in the official code on the NCL website that there is a difference for these 3 ships. It never made any sense to me why the difference was made between the ships in any case. Is the Escape any less formal than say the Sun or the Jewel or any other ship in the fleet?

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