Formal night attire on Carnival and Princess

[korky1]

We are going on a Carnival cruise in November and a Princess cruise in December.  Just wondering what hubby needs to pack for formal nights so hoping someone on here has sailed on Carnival and Princess recently and can offer advice.  Do many men still wear a full suit or is suit trousers, white shirt and tie dressy enough.  Thanks for any insight you can provide. 

[Aus Traveller]

With Princess it is either/or. I my estimation, maybe 20% of men wear a dinner suit, another maybe 40% wear a suit and the remainder have either trousers, shirt & tie or shirt/evening vest & bowtie, or simply a dressy shirt.

 

I haven't been on a Carnival ship for many years so cannot comment.

[Russell21]

Last time we were on carnival they were quite relaxed about things even though it was supposed to be smart casual on normal nights, can't remember the formal nights.

[NSWP]

Smart casual is fine for both Carnival and Princess ships on formal nights, tuxes and suits not compulsory.

[bvm49]

Princess seems to be eliminating formal night as on our present around Australia cruise,  2 of the formal nights are now "dress to impress". It may be just in Australia.

[NSWP]

15 minutes ago, bvm49 said:

Princess seems to be eliminating formal night as on our present around Australia cruise,  2 of the formal nights are now "dress to impress". It may be just in Australia.

Are there many tuxedos to be seen ?  When I was on Coral 13-22 Sept, they were a rarity like a Tasmania Tiger in fact.  Jeans and polo shirts were the vogue.

Not many of the brochure people like below, lol.

 

[RobinBancs]

On 10/31/2022 at 2:40 PM, Aus Traveller said:

With Princess it is either/or. I my estimation, maybe 20% of men wear a dinner suit, another maybe 40% wear a suit and the remainder have either trousers, shirt & tie or shirt/evening vest & bowtie, or simply a dressy shirt.

 

I haven't been on a Carnival ship for many years so cannot comment.

On our first cruise, we saw people in tracksuit pants and t-shirts allowed in the main dining room on Golden Princess for formal night.  Was a bit shocked as we had our kids fully suited up and I even pulled out a bow tie for myself

[arxcards]

I pack a tie in case the ship has high standards, but no longer bother with a coat on summer cruises.

 

Recently on Majestic, I wore a tie on the first formal night and felt a tad overdressed. There were around 5% suits/tuxes, another 10% well dressed with ties. For me now on Australian Princess, I wear a dress shirt and chinos to dinner - every night.

 

That certainly well passes muster on Aussie Princess, but if you still want to make an effort, go with whatever you are comfortable with.

 

For Carnival, any collared shirt and trousers/chinos will be suitable, but you can always dress-up more if you want to.

[NSWP]

Re formal wear on formal nights. As I have said before, Princess suggests tuxedos/dark suit, but if they are not going to enforce it, get rid of formal nights and the dress codes.

[Hogbay]

You can't over dress on a cruise ship . You can't enforce class and style either  if you think thongs , stubbies and a blue wife beater is your style go for it. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Hogbay said:

You can't over dress on a cruise ship . You can't enforce class and style either  if you think thongs , stubbies and a blue wife beater is your style go for it. 

Class has nothing to do with style. I have met plenty of people immaculately dressed in tuxes that have very little class.

[Hogbay]

7 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Class has nothing to do with style. I have met plenty of people immaculately dressed in tuxes that have very little class.

Sorry was drunk that time 🤣🤣🤣 

[LittleFish1976]

On 11/2/2022 at 6:17 AM, NSWP said:

Re formal wear on formal nights. As I have said before, Princess suggests tuxedos/dark suit, but if they are not going to enforce it, get rid of formal nights and the dress codes.

Proof that no-one ever looked good in a safari suit!

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, LittleFish1976 said:

Proof that no-one ever looked good in a safari suit!

Mine was awesome when it fitted properly.

 

Proof that someone did 🤣

[LuckiePuris]

On 10/31/2022 at 2:46 PM, korky1 said:

We are going on a Carnival cruise in November and a Princess cruise in December.  Just wondering what hubby needs to pack for formal nights so hoping someone on here has sailed on Carnival and Princess recently and can offer advice.  Do many men still wear a full suit or is suit trousers, white shirt and tie dressy enough.  Thanks for any insight you can provide. 

We are doing similar - Carnival and Princess in coming months.

 

Carnival - from what I’ve read, formal night on Carnival is much more relaxed. Trousers and a shirt are generally enough. It’s a much more casual version of formal night.

 

Princess - I believe they’ve done away with tuxedos. My husband will probably pack dress pants, shirt and a jacket. Maybe a tie.

[Jean C]

Hi, does anyone know how dressed up kids need to be on formal night on Princess? Four girls and one boy can certainly smarten up respectably, but one 10 year old girl doesn't wear dresses, skirts or nice tops, preferring to live in tee shirts and leggings. We'll do our best with her but just wondered if we'll get black looks if she doesn't go all out 🥴

Edited November 13, 2022 by Jean C

[NSWP]

7 hours ago, LuckiePuris said:

We are doing similar - Carnival and Princess in coming months.

 

Carnival - from what I’ve read, formal night on Carnival is much more relaxed. Trousers and a shirt are generally enough. It’s a much more casual version of formal night.

 

Princess - I believe they’ve done away with tuxedos. My husband will probably pack dress pants, shirt and a jacket. Maybe a tie.

He does not even need a jacket and tie on Princess these days, smart casual perfectly acceptable on so called 'Formal Nights' which are not formal anymore.  Jackets and ties are suggested but not mandatory. You see the odd tux but not many.

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, Jean C said:

Hi, does anyone know how dressed up kids need to be on formal night on Princess? Four girls and one boy can certainly smarten up respectably, but one 10 year old girl doesn't wear dresses, skirts or nice tops, preferring to live in tee shirts and leggings. We'll do our best with her but just wondered if we'll get black looks if she doesn't go all out 🥴

I don't think you would get any black looks. Would your 10-year-old go along with your suggestions on dress if you casually remark that she wouldn't want to be the one out of place? If all else fails, could she wear a long T shirt (like a short dress?) with her leggings. 

[NSWP]

3 hours ago, Jean C said:

Hi, does anyone know how dressed up kids need to be on formal night on Princess? Four girls and one boy can certainly smarten up respectably, but one 10 year old girl doesn't wear dresses, skirts or nice tops, preferring to live in tee shirts and leggings. We'll do our best with her but just wondered if we'll get black looks if she doesn't go all out 🥴

To be honest, I don't think anyone in the MDR will 'give black looks' to your daughter.  Smart, not torn jeans and a top will suffice.

 

None of this malarky, lol It ain't Cunard.

Edited November 14, 2022 by NSWP

[Jean C]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't think you would get any black looks. Would your 10-year-old go along with your suggestions on dress if you casually remark that she wouldn't want to be the one out of place? If all else fails, could she wear a long T shirt (like a short dress?) with her leggings. 

 

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

To be honest, I don't think anyone in the MDR will 'give black looks' to your daughter.  Smart, not torn jeans and a top will suffice.

Thanks for the suggestions. Her mum will see what she can do beforehand, otherwise they are staying on the Gold Coast for a week before the cruise and can see if anything appeals in the shopping mall there. We could always dress her up a bit with a Lei 😊

[LuckiePuris]

8 hours ago, NSWP said:

He does not even need a jacket and tie on Princess these days, smart casual perfectly acceptable on so called 'Formal Nights' which are not formal anymore.  Jackets and ties are suggested but not mandatory. You see the odd tux but not many.

Thank you, we enjoy dressing up for formal nights hence the tie/jacket and I’ll have a dress/heels 🙂 

[Tripmode33]

Just off Luminosa on Sunday and was really surprised to see so many getting dressed up formally for the first Elegant Evening.  Less so for the second one. We usually sail Princess and definitely feel the need to go formal is waning quickly. We're currently packing light for a Princess cruise and aren't even packing a tie this time - first for us.

Having said that, if you enjoy dressing in your finest on a cruise, go for it!

[MicCanberra]

On my recent Princess cruise I wore my tux, one of few who did. Mostly wore smart casual with a jacket or a suit. 

Nowadays, no one really cares, dress for yourselves and how you want, able to when travelling.

[M-H-B]

I was just on Carnival a couple of weeks ago and there truly was not much sign at all of the nights where there was supposedly a more elegant dress code required. Much less than what I had been used to on Royal for comparison.