Formal nights

[florence11]

Hi,

 

We are booked on our 1st Princess cruise in March 2022 to the caribbean. I noticed on the web site that there are 3 formal nights and the rest are smart casual, how formal are theses nights as we have a week booked in Fort Lauderdale before we cruise and we have to be careful about luggage allowance.

 

Tracey

[Reina del Mar]

I am presuming you mean 2023. ???

 

We fly to Fort Lauderdale and manage to pack everything we need for a cruise and a few days pre and post cruise in 23kg hold suitcase each and carry on bag each. Be aware Princess has self service laundromats on each deck. Some will tell you to pack for 7 days and use those. As a serial over packer I manage.

 

We did East/ West Caribbean -14 nights this year.(Emerald Princess) The three formal nights were formal, with most people wearing a suit or cocktail dress. The very least was long trousers and long sleeved shirt for men and possibly black trousers and sparkly top for ladies. We chose not to ‘dress’ for the third formal night and felt under dressed. (Not enough to go back to change but enough to take ourselves to the buffet.)

 

The smart casual nights were anything from casual to smart with men even being allowed into the MDR (Main Dining Room) in shorts..which is not what Princess’ policy says. We have been on other Princess cruises in the Caribbean where men wearing shorts have been refused entry. (Caribbean Princess) Ladies tended to wear summer dresses.

 

Although Princess posts a ‘suggested’ dress code, it is not uniformly enforced..depends on the ship and either the hostess /Maitre D’ who is sitting you.

 

Many people will tell you it’s your holiday, you have paid for it so wear what you want.I personally think if there is a printed dress code, the cruiseline should enforce it, but that is not what happens in reality.

[CruizinSusan70]

Post Covid, the enforcement of the dress code is very lax.  While on the Discovery in April, there were five "gentlemen" in Sabatini's wearing baseball caps.  My father is turning in his grave.  We never worn them at home let alone in an upgraded venue on a cruise ship.

There is no need to go overboard worrying if what you have packed is good enough.  It will be.  A nice top and black slacks for her and long pants and a nice collared shirt with optional tie for him will suffice, especially since you're cruising in the Caribbean.

Edited June 25, 2022 by CruizinSusan70

[MissP22]

29 minutes ago, Reina del Mar said:

Many people will tell you it’s your holiday, you have paid for it so wear what you want.I personally think if there is a printed dress code, the cruiseline should enforce it, but that is not what happens in reality.

On our last trip on the Enchanted the "printed dress code" was nowhere to be found. If you hadn't taken the time to find it before leaving, the only information received on the ship was on top of the patter designating it a formal or casual evening. Once arriving at the DR it was also hard to tell the difference between the two by appearance. 

[Esprit]

Just dress to compliment your partner and you will be fine.

My wife loves dressing up regardless of the suggested dress code. I try to be smart too and really don’t care what other people wear.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, florence11 said:

Hi,

 

We are booked on our 1st Princess cruise in March 2022 to the Caribbean. I noticed on the web site that there are 3 formal nights and the rest are smart casual, how formal are theses nights as we have a week booked in Fort Lauderdale before we cruise and we have to be careful about luggage allowance.

 

Tracey

 Note that if you booked a Princess "logical" voyage which is composed of two actual voyages - such as two 7-night cruises also sold as 14 - you will have four formal nights since there are two per week for a 7-nighter. 

 

You will be fine in Smart Casual every night, but may want to dress it up a bit on the formal nights or can go all the way to black tie.  Caribbean sector tends to be less formal than other areas of the world.

[lx200gps]

In our experience, formal dress, at least pre-COVID, is generally worn only in the MDRs, though the MDRs will definitely allow anyone in reasonably well, but not formally, dressed. Certainly you wouldn't find anyone in a tux in the buffet, and for those of us who can't bring formal wear anymore, due to increasingly strict airline baggage weight limits, the fallback is to dine in Specialty Restaurants on formal nights.  In the SD venues, "smart casual" is more than acceptable.

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Post Covid, the enforcement of the dress code is very lax.  While on the Discovery in April, there were five "gentlemen" in Sabatini's wearing baseball caps.  My father is turning in his grave.  We never worn them at home let alone in an upgraded venue on a cruise ship.

There is no need to go overboard worrying if what you have packed is good enough.  It will be.  A nice top and black slacks for her and long pants and a nice collared shirt with optional tie for him will suffice, especially since you're cruising in the Caribbean.

Not just post-COVID. On the Regal just a few years ago, two such "gentlemen" sat down in the Crown Grill in full matching camouflage. Dirty well-worn baseball hats which stayed glued on the entire time, camo jackets and pants, one sporting clip-on suspenders. They literally looked they had just come off a hunting trip.  The wearing of baseball hats indoors has become quite standard in recent years.

[Kansas Gal]

Are you looking for different answers than when you posted this same question back in April?

[cruzsnooze]

Nobody cares what you wear if it's clean.. We see everything from suits to Hawaiian shirts on formal nights. 

[JF - retired RRT]

5 hours ago, florence11 said:

We are booked on our 1st Princess cruise in March 2022 to the caribbean. I noticed on the web site that there are 3 formal nights and the rest are smart casual, how formal are these nights as we have a week booked in Fort Lauderdale before we cruise and we have to be careful about luggage allowance.

The basic answer to your question is...not very.

Wear what you want: no holey jeans, no shorts, no swimsuits.

On one of our cruises, there was a man who wore a white t-shirt, red suspenders and blue jeans every night (formal or not) and nothing was said.

[Reina del Mar]

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

On our last trip on the Enchanted the "printed dress code" was nowhere to be found. If you hadn't taken the time to find it before leaving, the only information received on the ship was on top of the patter designating it a formal or casual evening. Once arriving at the DR it was also hard to tell the difference between the two by appearance. 

I would think the majority would seek out the dress code before deciding what they need to pack.

[lx200gps]

51 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

Nobody cares what you wear if it's clean.. We see everything from suits to Hawaiian shirts on formal nights. 

Let's agree to disagree. You may not care if someone wears a clean baseball hat, and/or clean shorts and/or clean flip flops, into an MDR, but I suggest at least a few of us sure do.

Edited June 25, 2022 by lx200gps

[mtnesterz]

59 minutes ago, Kansas Gal said:

Are you looking for different answers than when you posted this same question back in April?

Good catch! Had a familiar ring about it. You thought to check. 

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

The basic answer to your question is...not very.

Wear what you want: no holey jeans, no shorts, no swimsuits.

On one of our cruises, there was a man who wore a white t-shirt, red suspenders and blue jeans every night (formal or not) and nothing was said.

 

I know that Princess does say shorts aren't to be worn in the DR for dinner but whey you see numerous people (men and women) wearing them on casual evenings it's hard to tell my husband not to put his on also.

 

1 hour ago, Reina del Mar said:

I would think the majority would seek out the dress code before deciding what they need to pack.

True, but what they publish is nothing like you may see aboard the ships. Especially now since the return from Covid things have become more relaxed then ever.

I suppose they don't want to offend any of their customers. 

[ldubs]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Post Covid, the enforcement of the dress code is very lax.  While on the Discovery in April, there were five "gentlemen" in Sabatini's wearing baseball caps.  My father is turning in his grave.  We never worn them at home let alone in an upgraded venue on a cruise ship.

There is no need to go overboard worrying if what you have packed is good enough.  It will be.  A nice top and black slacks for her and long pants and a nice collared shirt with optional tie for him will suffice, especially since you're cruising in the Caribbean.

 

You really must be bothered if you actually counted them.  I personally wouldn't wear a cap in the MDR or speciality restnt.  I sure would not let someone else have that kind of influence on my enjoyment.     

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

You really must be bothered if you actually counted them.  I personally wouldn't wear a cap in the MDR or speciality restnt.  I sure would not let someone else have that kind of influence on my enjoyment.     

It's not too difficult to see a party of 14 walk in taking up multiple tables consisting of 7 men and 7 women.  Five of the men were all wearing baseball caps, twenty somethings that were accustomed to it who obviously had bad parenting.  If not, they were just card carrying members of the me society.

[florence11]

9 hours ago, Kansas Gal said:

Are you looking for different answers than when you posted this same question back in April?

I do apologise if I have offended anyone but after the past 2 years of working in my local hospital I probably have some brain fog and cannot remember what questions I have asked. I am also trying to organise a cruise, accomodation, flights etc for a group of us which is not easy but I am getting there and thank you to everyone for your replies it is much appreciated ☺️.

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

I would think the majority would seek out the dress code before deciding what they need to pack.

True, but they are recommendations.  Only a minimal documentation sentence on what is NOT accepted.

[ldubs]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

It's not too difficult to see a party of 14 walk in taking up multiple tables consisting of 7 men and 7 women.  Five of the men were all wearing baseball caps, twenty somethings that were accustomed to it who obviously had bad parenting.  If not, they were just card carrying members of the me society.

 

No, I didn't mean to imply it would be difficult to count.  I meant, why allow some someone to influence your peace of mind to the extent you needed to count.   For me, if someone is wearing a cap at another table, if I even noticed, I wouldn't care and wouldn't spend any time agonizing about it.  

[CruizinSusan70]

52 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

No, I didn't mean to imply it would be difficult to count.  I meant, why allow some someone to influence your peace of mind to the extent you needed to count.   For me, if someone is wearing a cap at another table, if I even noticed, I wouldn't care and wouldn't spend any time agonizing about it.  

Wasn't agonizing about it, but what others wear does effect the ambiance of an establishment.  A single wearer of a cap is one thing, but when you have 5/7 men wearing them, it's a bit of overkill.   Baseball caps do not belong in the MDR, let alone a specialty establishment, IMHO. 

[windsor26]

I eel that if you go on a cruise that has a nice dining restaurant you would not be epected to wear what would NOT be accepted in the RSL clubs or similar in your own country  ie  no caps/hats etc and no shorts after 5.30pm

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, windsor26 said:

I eel that if you go on a cruise that has a nice dining restaurant you would not be epected to wear what would NOT be accepted in the RSL clubs or similar in your own country  ie  no caps/hats etc and no shorts after 5.30pm

I think you're confusing Princess with Cunard. 😉

[Esprit]

On 6/25/2022 at 12:59 PM, lx200gps said:

 and for those of us who can't bring formal wear anymore, due to increasingly strict airline baggage weight limits, the fallback is to dine in Specialty Restaurants on formal nights.  In the SD venues, "smart casual" is more than acceptable.

Being a cynic, I doubt very much that if there were no luggage weight limits more people would wear formal attire.

It’s just a lame excuse. Period!

[lx200gps]

42 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Being a cynic, I doubt very much that if there were no luggage weight limits more people would wear formal attire.

It’s just a lame excuse. Period!

Don't prevaricate now, tell us what you REALLY think.  I can assure you that we absolutely won't bring heavy suits etc on an airplane any more as it throws me way over the baggage limit.  Were they to start being flexible with baggage limits, I then would start bringing formal attire with me. So no, it's not a lame excuse, it's entirely applicable for some of us.