Formal nights on British Isles cruise

[sandancer]

Sorry if this subject has been raised a 100 times before. It is some time since we cruised with Princess (all recent have been with P&O who have black tie nights) and not sure if Princess still have formal nights. This is a British Isles cruise so not a casual Caribbean where you would not expect to wear anything formal. 

[1965]

We've cruised the BI several times. The answer is formal nights are what you want them to be. Some dress ultra formal, some smart casual, some very relaxed. There will be tuxes & gowns, nice jeans, & everything in between. My DH wears slacks, collared polo shirt, a sport coat if it's chilly. I wear slacks & dressy top. We travel with carryon only so no room for formal wear. We've never, ever had a problem. 

Edited April 12 by 1965

[FancyPants21]

It isn't a strict dress code. Living in the UK most of our cruises are from the UK. Until the last cruise we would always take our formal wear and enjoy the experience but on our next cruise (2 weeks 🙂 ) we are just taking smart casual. Providing you were not scruffy you would not feel out of place with anything... smart casual is the recommended dress on non-formal nights but you will find loads of people in smart casual on formal nights too. So, for the first time since I started cruising many years ago, I will not be wearing any kind of tie... I'll still take a jacket as I wear them normally at home anyway but no bow-tie. Trousers will be chinos rather than tux trousers. Not sure how I'll feel about it but it is a sign of the times so I shan't complain and I am sure I'll enjoy the evening no less as a result 🙂 

[Torfamm]

https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

 

 

[Princessfan20]

6 hours ago, sandancer said:

Sorry if this subject has been raised a 100 times before.

 

More like over a 1,000 times....and still there is no clear answer.  

[FancyPants21]

38 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

 

 

Yes, that is what it says but it is not compulsory and a lot of people do not wear formal gear.

[Torfamm]

57 minutes ago, FancyPants21 said:

Yes, that is what it says but it is not compulsory and a lot of people do not wear formal gear.

The poster asked if there will be forms nights and that answer is a simple yes.
 

As for how many will comply with the requested dress code, it’s impossible to predict. In my experience, there are more people in formal wear on cruises in Europe and Asia than in Australia or North America.

[memoak]

I no longer even own a tie. I dress the same for every dinner. Crew pants and button down shirt regardless of geography 

[lahlah57]

Dressy as you wish. Nice jeans with no rips and a sparkly scarf....you're in!

[555]

It's good to hear that the BI cruises isn't much different than the rest of the world. At least Princess is consistent in that effect. 

[karatemom2]

4 minutes ago, 555 said:

It's good to hear that the BI cruises isn't much different than the rest of the world. At least Princess is consistent in that effect. 

 

Perhaps it was just our experience, but I did note that on our two Southampton cruises this past couple of years, overall people did seem to dress up more on formal nights. Many more men in tuxes and women in very sparkly gowns and cocktail dresses then I have seen on our US departures. We will see if that holds true again on our cruise out of Southampton this summer.

[555]

1 hour ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Perhaps it was just our experience, but I did note that on our two Southampton cruises this past couple of years, overall people did seem to dress up more on formal nights. Many more men in tuxes and women in very sparkly gowns and cocktail dresses then I have seen on our US departures. We will see if that holds true again on our cruise out of Southampton this summer.

That seems to happen more when there are a larger number of British cruisers from what I've read. 

Maybe someday we'll get to experience it for ourselves, but casually dressed.🙂

[FancyPants21]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

The poster asked if there will be forms nights and that answer is a simple yes

True but other issues came up in the discussion so are we not allowed to discuss? I thought that is what a forum is for... discussion... it isn't an FAQ!

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, Torfamm said:

The poster asked if there will be forms nights and that answer is a simple yes.

The original post asked more than if there will be Formal Nights. The last sentence assumes that there will be, and goes on to ask if said Formal Nights will be more formal than one would encounter in a Caribbean cruise.  So to those points:

 

1.  Yes, there will be Formal Nights.

2.   Princess does not enforce its suggested attire guidelines any more strictly than it does on any other cruise.

3.  Given the nature of the clientele and the absence of tropical weather, you will see more people dressed formally than you would on a Caribbean cruise.  

 

Putting that all together, you will see a higher percentage of people dressed up on a British Isles cruise, but that is the result of their own choices and not the result of any stricter rule or enforcement by Princess. 

[Ranchi]

Hi Sandancer,

We sailed on Sky P last year out of Soton on a western Med cruise. We hadn’t sailed with Princess before but have sailed P&O quite a bit & also Cunard. I have never had a problem with formal nights (in fact I prefer black tie as it saves thinking about what to wear.) I was aware that Princess may be a a bit more flexible with dress than I was used to I decided to take a dark blue lightweight suit and wear a dark linen jacket to board. As it happened there were a lot of dinner jackets on formal and whilst I didn’t feel out of place in a lounge suit I would have been quite happy in my usual DJ for formal night. 

Have a great cruise 

[Torfamm]

35 minutes ago, FancyPants21 said:

True but other issues came up in the discussion so are we not allowed to discuss? I thought that is what a forum is for... discussion... it isn't an FAQ!

I assumed it was a given that not everyone would comply with the requested attire since many men don’t even own a tuxedo or dark suit. My apologies.

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Perhaps it was just our experience, but I did note that on our two Southampton cruises this past couple of years, overall people did seem to dress up more on formal nights. Many more men in tuxes and women in very sparkly gowns and cocktail dresses then I have seen on our US departures. We will see if that holds true again on our cruise out of Southampton this summer.

Last cruises were out of Amsterdam.  You could count the tuxedos using your fingers.  That said people looked like they were going out to a nice restaurant.  On a British Isles cruise I will bring a sports coat simply to stay warm.

[FancyPants21]

I will wear chinos, a open-neck shirt, a sports jacket and dark shoes... I am looking for a wastecoat made from Cornwall tartan I might wear that also on the "formal" nights just to jazz it up a bit in a smart way 🙂 

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, FancyPants21 said:

I am looking for a wastecoat made from Cornwall tartan

Waistcoat from Cornwall tartan:

 

 

Wastecoat:

[MissP22]

Princess will never get rid of formal nights and perhaps it's a good thing as they always have better menu selections on those evenings. 😃

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:28 AM, sandancer said:

Sorry if this subject has been raised a 100 times before. It is some time since we cruised with Princess (all recent have been with P&O who have black tie nights) and not sure if Princess still have formal nights. This is a British Isles cruise so not a casual Caribbean where you would not expect to wear anything formal. 

Hi, 

Our first Princess cruise on Sky was Southampton to Norway. Compared to P&O (we are on Arvia right now!) the Sky Princess was notably more relaxed with formal wear (a good thing in our opinion). 

 

People wore smart clothes, I saw ladies in long dresses and men in ties, but you won’t see so many black ties or penguin suits or ball gowns. Hubby took a suit jacket and tie on Princess but honestly could have dumped the tie & not been out of place. Dumping the Tie on a P&O would be out of place!

 

We decided basic rule for us for Princess now- be smart but comfortable