Formal Dress

[Ladydee]

I'm excited to be taking my first cruise since 2016, and looking forward to trying Norwegian line for the first time.  The ladies in my group are disappointed though that there is no formal night.  I saw somewhere that they still have some kind of "dress up if you want" night, but my question is 1)  How dressed up?  i.e., are there still women who'd wear long gowns and men tuxes?  or are we talking a basic out-to-dinner midi dress and sport coat for the guys?    2)  If people DO dress to the nines ever, about what percentage?  We will be sailing on the Breakaway if that matters

[RIvacationgirl]

They have a few picture or "Date Nights" they called it. You can usually tell, because there is a lot more people who stepped up there attire for the night! We have seen ladies in long formal dresses at times, but I have never seen men in tuxedos. Women usually have nice dresses or pantsuits, and the men wear a nice suit and jacket. There are several places for the photo opportunities.

Hope this helps!

[www3traveler]

Except for holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, very few people dress up formally.  For most cruises, people wear almosst anything.  Only one  or two of the restaurant required men to wear long pants (nice jeans no holes will do).  Some men will wear sports coats but not many.

 

There used to be a "Dress Up or Not Night" when you could have pictures taken with the Captain but that does not seem to happen very much anymore.

 

Resort casual seems to be the dress code these days.  

[Landl cruiser]

9 minutes ago, Ladydee said:

I'm excited to be taking my first cruise since 2016, and looking forward to trying Norwegian line for the first time.  The ladies in my group are disappointed though that there is no formal night.  I saw somewhere that they still have some kind of "dress up if you want" night, but my question is 1)  How dressed up?  i.e., are there still women who'd wear long gowns and men tuxes?  or are we talking a basic out-to-dinner midi dress and sport coat for the guys?    2)  If people DO dress to the nines. ever, about what percentage?  We will be sailing on the Breakaway if that matters

 

Although there is no Formal Night per se, some passengers do get dressed to the nines in formal gowns and tuxedoes.   Not many, but some do.

[pete_coach]

You can wear what you want anytime.

I have seen gowns and tuxedos and shorts and pants.

It is great that you are not forced to dress a certain way. I am on vacation and choose what I wish to wear.

[graphicguy]

As others have said, wear what you want.  No need to worry about what others are wearing.  That’s the beauty of NCL.

 

That said, you asked if a lot of others wore gowns or tuxes.  I have sailed NCL 3X since the restart.  I don’t think I’ve seen one tux or gown on any of them.  I think some dress up to have their pics taken by NCL’s staff.  But personally, I take all my own pics and prefer less “staged” picture opportunities.

 

 

[Ladydee]

16 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

You can wear what you want anytime.

I have seen gowns and tuxedos and shorts and pants.

It is great that you are not forced to dress a certain way. I am on vacation and choose what I wish to wear.

I know you "can," but I want to get a feel for how many people "do," and to what extent.

 

[BirdTravels]

23 minutes ago, Ladydee said:

I'm excited to be taking my first cruise since 2016, and looking forward to trying Norwegian line for the first time.  The ladies in my group are disappointed though that there is no formal night.  I saw somewhere that they still have some kind of "dress up if you want" night, but my question is 1)  How dressed up?  i.e., are there still women who'd wear long gowns and men tuxes?  or are we talking a basic out-to-dinner midi dress and sport coat for the guys?    2)  If people DO dress to the nines ever, about what percentage?  We will be sailing on the Breakaway if that matters

NCL embraces Freestyle cruising. Shorts are allowed in all restaurants for all meals except Le Bistro (French specialty dining) and Ocean Blue (seafood specialty dining) - for those restaurants, gents are asked to have long pants (jeans or dockers are fine). 

 

NCL also embraces Dress-up or Not. 

 

You can dress up as much or as little as you want. It is up to you. And no one else will care and it is really none of their business (although the fashion police will have many opinions on this thread). There will be photographers out every night with various backdrops on the ship. 

 

"Dress Up" is closer to going out to dinner at home. Casual. 

 

Percentages? You don't see long gowns or tuxes any longer, so that is near 0%. But that does not mean you "can't do it". If it make you feel good, then go ahead and do it. 

 

Dressier dresses 20% (a lot of the young ladies will be in their short club dresses) / Suits, sports coats

 

Sundresses/causal outfits/top with capris 70% / Hawaiian shirts, polo shirts

 

I wear a short dress and sandals on every night. Hubby with a Hawaiian shirt and dockers. 

 

Dress however you like. There are no dress codes. 

 

FWIW: Royal Caribbean still clings on to the idea of a Formal Night and the number of gowns and tuxes are down in the 10% or less and the number of shorts in their MDR on "Formal Night" is on the rise. 

[DCGuy64]

I have not seen many tuxes, but there definitely have been some formal-ish nights. I can't resist telling this story: on our last night aboard the Epic last December, my wife and I were dining at Le Bistro. My wife was in an evening gown and I was wearing a white dinner jacket, tuxedo pants, formal shoes, black bow tie, collar studs, cuff links. The whole 9 yards. This couple was just leaving and as they passed by our table, the gentleman said "it's nice to see some people making the effort." My wife and I beamed with pride. We hadn't set out to dress fancy in order to impress others (part of it was the fact it was the last night, and we wanted to have pictures taken), but it was nice of him to say that. Rest assured, if you put your glad rags on, you're likely to be noticed!

[MCMC100]

1 hour ago, Ladydee said:

I know you "can," but I want to get a feel for how many people "do," and to what extent.

 

In my experience very few people dress much beyond long pants and a polo shirt. I can’t recall any cruise were I noticed enough of an uptick in fashionable dress to even realize it was the “dress fancy” evening.

 

I have seen people in tuxes (once encountered a guy who dressed like an admiral in the British Navy) and gowns so you won’t be alone, buts it’s a very low number.

 

[Monica887]

I've used it as an excuse to wear some fancy dress I bought for an event that I would likely never wear again. A bit "over dressed" I guess, but fun to dress up and take nice family pictures. 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, Ladydee said:

I know you "can," but I want to get a feel for how many people "do," and to what extent.

 

I've cruised four times in the last year and a quarter. One of these cruises was over New Year's Eve/Day. This cruise is the only one where I saw gowns and tuxes. The other cruises, yes there were some gents who wore a suit/blazer and tie (maybe 3 - to 5 on each cruise). With the exception of NYE, I have not seen any tuxes. I have seen more ladies wear a gown, but not a really fancy Met Gala gown. 

 

Though people on the forums care about what folks wear, I've rarely seen this condescension while onboard. If y'all want to have a super duper fancy schmancy evening, then go for it! Just don't scowl if I might walk behind your photo in my flippy floppies, shorts, and t-shirt. I won't photobomb you on purpose though! 

 

As for photographers, I've seen several photographers during dinner hours scatter throughout the ship on decks 6 - 8 every evening. 

[schmoopie17]

For the life of me, given exorbitant baggage fees and limited weights on bags, I don't understand why people would take up valuable luggage space (and weight) by packing evening gowns, suits, etc.

 

Even putting them in garment bags is an extra hassle to drag around.

 

Besides, I had to dress up for the majority of my working years. Now that I'm retired, it's not happening.

 

No, thanks.

Edited July 31, 2023 by schmoopie17

[DCGuy64]

Just like food and drinks, music, maybe even temperature, people all have different tastes. For me, I enjoy seeing people dress nicely, especially for dinner. Maybe it's the way American society has gotten excessively casual in terms of attire, showing perhaps too much skin and the increasing use of hoodies and athleisure wear, it sometimes seems, to me at least, that formal dress is on the wane. To be sure, being on a cruise is usually about being able to relax, but it can also be a time to go all out and dress fancy for a change.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

For the life of me, given exorbitant baggage fees and limited weights on bags, I don't understand why people would take up valuable luggage space (and weight) by packing evening gowns, suits, etc.

 

Even putting them in garment bags is an extra hassle to drag around.

 

Besides, I had to dress up for the majority of my working years. Now that I'm retired, it's not happening.

 

No, thanks.

I agree with you - I'm nowhere near retirement (at least 30 years until full Social Security age), but I've had enough of dressing up for my entire life. Throw me in a plain pine box naked when the end comes. I'll be more happy that way, anyway. 

 

BUT, if one wants to dress up for their trip and lug all that luggage around, well I won't judge them for that. Heck, I'll even help them with their luggage if they're struggling. And, if they would deign to share a table with a barbarian, I'd even share a meal with them. 🙂

 

All that to say, thankfully NCL allows all of us to enjoy our own way of dressing. Phew! At least one mainstream cruise line does. 

[SimplyAlbert]

When we were on the Breakaway in February there were some people who were really dressed up one night.  I did see some long gowns, but not many, and no tuxes - just nice suits.  I'd say maybe 10% were dressed up.

 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

For the life of me, given exorbitant baggage fees and limited weights on bags, I don't understand why people would take up valuable luggage space (and weight) by packing evening gowns, suits, etc.

 

Even though I never pack a suit, we pack as much as can fit in the SUV. That's just one of the benefits of living close enough to drive to 5 different cruise ports on the morning of the cruise. 😁

[zqvol]

3 hours ago, Ladydee said:

I know you "can," but I want to get a feel for how many people "do," and to what extent.

 

The answer is very very very few dress up (Less than 1%) and those that do are not in gowns or tuxes.

Edited July 31, 2023 by zqvol

[9tee2Sea]

Im not good at math, but Im going to guess 1% of the cruises go all out on dress up night.  I have seen a few men in Tuxes ( even saw a guy if a formal kilt), and women in very nice long dresses ( or Gowns).  Personally, I wear a fancier sport coat with a turtleneck sweater ( never a tie).  I love to see the passengers on dress up night.  Just a different feel on the ship.  The food in the MDR is just a bit better on dress up night

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

If you want to have the experience of a dress up cruise where there are still nights where passengers are expected to don their finest togs then you will have to step up the lux cruise lines. Cunard still has dress up as does Silversea. You will pay dearly compared to NCL for that option. Most the lines have gone to "resort casual" dress although some still have optional dress up nights such as Celebrity which has "Chic Night". But these are optional dress up nights and there are fewer and fewer passengers who lug extra clothes (and extra baggage weight) as time goes on.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[DCGuy64]

Our experience on 3 cruises with MSC is that their passengers do tend to "dress to the nines," and MSC isn't anywhere as expensive as Cunard (last time I looked). But that's because their passenger profile is more European. We've seen tuxes, suits, women in evening gowns, the lot. It isn't required, obviously, but it seems to be the case that MSC passengers get more 'gussied up.'

[Susandt]

6 hours ago, Ladydee said:

I know you "can," but I want to get a feel for how many people "do," and to what extent.

 

Less then 4 percent 

[FLAHAM]

Shorts, jokey t-shirt ("I'm with Stupid") and baseball cap (preferably backwards) and you will fit right in.

Edited July 31, 2023 by FLAHAM

[jazzydiver]

My husband still brings his tux, he likes getting a chance to wear it.  But I'd say it frequently seems he's the only one in a tux 🙂 .  We still have fun dressing up.

[Girr]

Please have your group dress up for dinner - that's the joy in sailing NCL!  

 

I just completed a cruise with my husband who has no desire in dressing up, so we went casual.  Yet when traveling with my parents we always pack a special outfit or two.  For dad it's a wonderful opportunity to pull out his mess dress uniform from his military days (retired back in 1972 and it still fits!) or sometimes it's a formal kilt (after a trip to the naughty room he's learned to leave the skean dhu at home).  Mom and dad really enjoy the opportunity to "get cleaned up" and have pictures taken.