Emerald Princess Formal Nights

[Whitleycruiser]

We are due to join the ship on 6 February and we understand there are three formal nights. We are wondering if people dress up for these nights ie what % of the men wear black tie ?  We also have the premium package and wondered what it meant by unlimited prix fixe meals at casual dining venues?

 

[Thrak]

7 minutes ago, Whitleycruiser said:

We are due to join the ship on 6 February and we understand there are three formal nights. We are wondering if people dress up for these nights ie what % of the men wear black tie ?  We also have the premium package and wondered what it meant by unlimited prix fixe meals at casual dining venues?

 

 

For the men: A few will wear a tux, etc. More will wear suits. Even more will wear slacks, dress shirt, and a tie. Most will dress in Smart Casual clothing. Some will dress a slobs. (On our recent Australia/New Zealand cruises this last category was much larger than I have seen on any of our other cruises. Perhaps it's a regional thing...)

 

I would recommend going the Smart Casual route if you don't want to wear a suit or a tie. You won't be out of place. If you do want to dress up you also won't be out of place. People do still dress up but not nearly as many as did when I started cruising a short 13 years ago. (I normally wear a suit and tie but I'm "old".)

Edited January 23 by Thrak

[MissP22]

Princess how allows everyone to choose their own style of clothing on any night. 

Whatever you designate as "formal" will be OK. 

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, Whitleycruiser said:

We are due to join the ship on 6 February and we understand there are three formal nights. We are wondering if people dress up for these nights ie what % of the men wear black tie ?  We also have the premium package and wondered what it meant by unlimited prix fixe meals at casual dining venues?

 

The Premier package gives you unlimited access to all of the casual restaurants.  These will differ slightly depending on ship.  They normally have a charge associated with each restaurant but your package eliminates these charges and you may order anything you want.  

European itineraries are usually more inclined to be dressy and Caribbean cruises less so.  Wear exactly what you like and makes you happy.  My husband is British and he loves to dress well, as do I.  American cruisers are considerably more casual.  Your choice.

Edited January 23 by Lady Arwen

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

The Premier package gives you unlimited access to all of the casual restaurants.  These will differ slightly depending on ship.  They normally have a charge associated with each restaurant but your package eliminates these charges and you may order anything you want.  

 

I thought that the included Specialty Dining was limited to the prix fixe meals. Is that not the case for Premier?

[Whitleycruiser]

10 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

The Premier package gives you unlimited access to all of the casual restaurants.  These will differ slightly depending on ship.  They normally have a charge associated with each restaurant but your package eliminates these charges and you may order anything you want.  

European itineraries are usually more inclined to be dressy and Caribbean cruises less so.  Wear exactly what you like and makes you happy.  My husband is British and he loves to dress well, as do I.  American cruisers are considerably more casual.  Your choice.

Thank you, its the Panama transit and we are from the UK and we( especially me) like to dress up on a cruise 

[MissP22]

37 minutes ago, Whitleycruiser said:

Thank you, its the Panama transit and we are from the UK and we( especially me) like to dress up on a cruise 

Looks like your mind is made up.

Enjoy. 

[lizzic]

3 hours ago, Whitleycruiser said:

Thank you, its the Panama transit and we are from the UK and we( especially me) like to dress up on a cruise 

We are also from UK and on your  cruise.  I also like to dress up a bit, maybe not ballroom level though.  I would love my husband to go black tie but unfortunately he has put on too much weight for a DJ  so it is smart casual for him. 

 

 

[Lady Arwen]

2 minutes ago, lizzic said:

We are also from UK and on your  cruise.  I also like to dress up a bit, maybe not ballroom level though.  I would love my husband to go black tie but unfortunately he has put on too much weight for a DJ  so it is smart casual for him. 

 

 

Smart casual is just perfect!  Enjoy your cruise!

[Host CJSKIDS]

15 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

The Premier package gives you unlimited access to all of the casual restaurants.  These will differ slightly depending on ship.  They normally have a charge associated with each restaurant but your package eliminates these charges and you may order anything you want.  

European itineraries are usually more inclined to be dressy and Caribbean cruises less so.  Wear exactly what you like and makes you happy.  My husband is British and he loves to dress well, as do I.  American cruisers are considerably more casual.  Your choice.

Just wanted to clarify that you can't order anything you want at the sushi restaurant on board with the premier package. There is a set menu you can have and if you deviate off that, you pay for those items. 
 

Your explanation of how to dress is great! 

[Skye1999]

Just off the Emerald Princess on the Panama Trip ending in Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

What's happened to the MDR dress policy of no shorts.

On this cruise there was more men wearing shorts and tee shirts than trousers and shirts also noticed guys wearing what looked liked swim wear, flip flops baseball caps and my wife also intimated that some of the women's dress sense was just as bad.

As for formal night I would say about 25% dressed for the evening but shorts were still in abundance in 

the MDR.

 

 

[MissP22]

11 minutes ago, Skye1999 said:

Just off the Emerald Princess on the Panama Trip ending in Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

What's happened to the MDR dress policy of no shorts.

On this cruise there was more men wearing shorts and tee shirts than trousers and shirts also noticed guys wearing what looked liked swim wear, flip flops baseball caps and my wife also intimated that some of the women's dress sense was just as bad.

As for formal night I would say about 25% dressed for the evening but shorts were still in abundance in 

the MDR.

 

 

As you found out on the Emerald, even though they still publish what some would call a dress code, it's evident that they've taken a stance not to shame anyone into following even a portion of it. i.e.- hats, shorts, bathing suits. 

 

[mrell345]

2 hours ago, Skye1999 said:

Just off the Emerald Princess on the Panama Trip ending in Fort Lauderdale on Monday.

What's happened to the MDR dress policy of no shorts.

On this cruise there was more men wearing shorts and tee shirts than trousers and shirts also noticed guys wearing what looked liked swim wear, flip flops baseball caps and my wife also intimated that some of the women's dress sense was just as bad.

As for formal night I would say about 25% dressed for the evening but shorts were still in abundance in 

the MDR.

 

 

Same thing on the cruise before yours Ford Lauderdale to LA, I am not sure if it is fleet wide but the Emerald Maitre D's are not holding any sort of standards in the MDRs.

Edited January 26 by mrell345

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, mrell345 said:

Same thing on the cruise before yours Ford Lauderdale to LA, I am not sure if it is fleet wide but the Emerald Maitre D's are not holding any sort of standards in the MDRs.

It's the same way thought-out the fleet. Casual on every night no matter where you dine. 

[mrell345]

12 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

It's the same way thought-out the fleet. Casual on every night no matter where you dine. 

Casual I wouldnt mind most of the time, but shorts, t-shirt and baseball cap at the table during a formal night ?

[tulok]

I guess I will just need just a backpack to pack for my ten night cruise = ten bathing suits, a baseball cap and flip flops. It’s college spring break all over again, 35 years later. I have come full circle. 🙄🙄🙄 {sarcasm}

[SCX22]

Just got off the Emerald.  There's a prescribed formal night, but not everyone follows.  Wear what you want.  As has been stated, the dress code isn't enforced in the MDR.  I was one of many who "broke the rules" on formal night with by wearing shorts and a short sleeve button down and was let into the MDR for dinner.  Wasn't about to get dressed formally in 90 degree and 90% humidity weather.  In short, dress as you want.

[MissP22]

13 hours ago, mrell345 said:

Casual I wouldnt mind most of the time, but shorts, t-shirt and baseball cap at the table during a formal night ?

I for one applaud the new "do as you like dress code" and don't care what others choose to wear. As long as they don't return to the style that was forced upon their passengers a few years ago, I can now enjoy to relax at dinner dressed the way I think is appropriate. 

From what I'm reading, the new Star Princess is going to offer different levels of attire in 3 different DR's. It should prove interesting to see if the food offered is the same and just how many people will choose each level.