Dress for dinner - QE2

[leslie drew]

My husband and I have done a transatlantic crossing. He was very comfortable wearing a tuxedo at dinner. We are doing the Los Angeles to New York via the Panama Canal segment of the QE2 world cruise starting 3/29/08. Since the weather will be hot for much of the voyage should he still wear the tux or is a dinner jacket more appropriate? Or both? Do women dress as formally on a warm weather cruise as they do on a transatlantic crossing? Long dresses every night? Thanks for your help.

[Wadadli1]

My husband and I have done a transatlantic crossing. He was very comfortable wearing a tuxedo at dinner. We are doing the Los Angeles to New York via the Panama Canal segment of the QE2 world cruise starting 3/29/08. Since the weather will be hot for much of the voyage should he still wear the tux or is a dinner jacket more appropriate? Or both? Do women dress as formally on a warm weather cruise as they do on a transatlantic crossing? Long dresses every night? Thanks for your help.

 

Hello Leslie. My husband and I are taking the very same segment, so welcome aboard! He is planning on taking both dinner jackets--the black and the cream, and I am bringing long dresses. They aren't required every night, though. In my notes it says that in 2006 the number was 8 Formal and 6 Informal. Of course no one will know for sure until the actual documents are sent, and then they may still change the count on a whim.

 

I think some of the other WC passengers who are fellow Cruise Critic members are planning on keeping in touch via computer and will have a better idea of what to bring and will fill us in.

 

My observation has been the QE2 is quite formal no matter where she may be.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I've done the Panama Canal on QE2 twice. The warm climate did not diminish the formality of formal nights. Remember, the ship is air conditioned, so there's no excuse for going to dinner in cutoff jeans.:rolleyes:

 

The big difference in evening wear for a cruise as opposed to a TA is that not all nights are formal. Nights you're in port generally are not formal.

Kathy

[songanddance]

I did the NYC to LA segment in 2006 and brought both tuxedo and dinner jacket and wore both.I will be bringing both again this time around for the full cruise. And yes the ladies dressed up very nicely with their long gowns.

 

Come on over to the roll call board and we will get you onto the list of 2008World cruise Pax. You don't have to be doing the full trip to join in the fun

[cajim]

I did the reverse of this in January. We had formal and informal nights and only one elegant casual night in LA. Men wear coats every night in the dining room. women go from long to short dresses depending on the formality of the night. With the AC in the ship a coat feels good.

 

Jim

[Kindlychap]

I did the NYC to LA segment in 2006 and brought both tuxedo and dinner jacket and wore both.

 

Now I'm confused. I thought a "tux" was what Americans called a dress suit (or dinner jacket).

 

And now you are talking as if they are two different things - as is Angela.

 

Could someone explain for a confused chap?

 

Matthew

[mzznlink]

Now I'm confused. I thought a "tux" was what Americans called a dress suit (or dinner jacket).

 

And now you are talking as if they are two different things - as is Angela.

 

Could someone explain for a confused chap?

 

Matthew

 

To me, the 'tux' is the black jacket (satin lapels)/black pants (satin stripe), white shirt (with or without pleats) where as the 'dinner jacket' is the same pants & shirt but with a white, off-white, or cream jacket.

 

A dress suit is usually a dark-colored suit.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong as I don't wear either of them on a weekly basis.

 

Keith & Sandy

Central VA

[ColumbiaSC]

Keith & Sandy in Virginia: You are entirely correct about how a tuxedo and a dinner jacket are defined in North America, and, yes, the dark business suit is also correct on the QE2 either for formal nights or informal nights. The British have different terms, but the meaning is exactly the same.

 

Lord Kay of Shandon

(South Carolina)

[Nippy Sweetie]

Yes, a "Tuxedo" is what Americans call a dinner jacket!

Bring back Jeeves!

[transat_jon]

Like Kindlychap I was also confused but think I have got it.

 

So a dinner jacket to an American is white and a dinner suit therefore has white trousers, sorry pants.

 

All clear now.

[ColumbiaSC]

Here it is again.

 

A tuxedo (tux) is a black jacket as described earlier by Central VA, and it goes with black pants, as described earlier. This is the Traditional manner, and I do not speak for musicians, et al.

 

A dinner jacket (at least here in the South) is a white or off-white or cream jacket that is worn with the black pants that one wears with a tux. The white shirt (as described by Central VA) and black tie are the same for both tux and dinner jacket. The black bow tie is traditional but another color such as red is perfectly acceptable in modern society (if a cummerbund is worn, it is normally the same color as the bow tie.)

 

NONE OF THE ABOVE IS WORN WITH WHITE PANTS.

 

One wears white pants with a navy blazer, for example, and often with white bucks (shoes) in the summer months. Other colors of pants may well be worn, of course, and white bucks are not required. In the USA this would be called either informal or dressy casual. A business suit is strictly speaking "informal" but may be worn at formal occasions on the QE2 as stated by Cunard.

 

Clear as a perverbial bell.

[Norfolk Brit]

Clear as a perverbial bell.

 

I'm fine with the dress, but what's a perverbial bell?:confused:

[ColumbiaSC]

Sorry, misspelling. I meant "proverbial," of or relating to or resembling or expressed in a proverb; "he kicked the proverbial bucket"; "the proverbial grasshopper," etc. I was saying that what I was describing was so basic that I thought it would ring the proverbial bell of fashion matters learned in childhood.

[transat_jon]

Here it is again.

 

A tuxedo (tux) is a black jacket as described earlier by Central VA, and it goes with black pants, as described earlier. This is the Traditional manner, and I do not speak for musicians, et al.

 

A dinner jacket (at least here in the South) is a white or off-white or cream jacket that is worn with the black pants that one wears with a tux. The white shirt (as described by Central VA) and black tie are the same for both tux and dinner jacket. The black bow tie is traditional but another color such as red is perfectly acceptable in modern society (if a cummerbund is worn, it is normally the same color as the bow tie.)

 

NONE OF THE ABOVE IS WORN WITH WHITE PANTS.

 

One wears white pants with a navy blazer, for example, and often with white bucks (shoes) in the summer months. Other colors of pants may well be worn, of course, and white bucks are not required. In the USA this would be called either informal or dressy casual. A business suit is strictly speaking "informal" but may be worn at formal occasions on the QE2 as stated by Cunard.

 

Clear as a perverbial bell.

So lets see again.

 

A tux is a dinner suit, which is also known as black tie, but a dinner jacket is a white jacket. A white tux is not a white jacket and white tie is a black suit with tails.

 

Hey, simple.

[Kindlychap]

So lets see again.

 

A tux is a dinner suit, which is also known as black tie, but a dinner jacket is a white jacket. A white tux is not a white jacket and white tie is a black suit with tails.

 

Hey, simple.

 

So where does a dress suit fit in?

 

Matthew

[leslie drew]

Thanks for the information. It's about as I expected. Sorry about starting the fuss over the definition of formal wear. Obviously I'm North American and was using Keith and Sandy's definition.

[Kindlychap]

Thanks for the information. It's about as I expected. Sorry about starting the fuss over the definition of formal wear. Obviously I'm North American and was using Keith and Sandy's definition.

 

Don't worry - we're only playing.

 

It's a lot more straightforward to do than to describe!

 

Matthew

[Marque]

And just to make it more confusing, to an American a white dinner jacket, as opposed to a black tux, has no satin lapels. Both are worn with black trousers with a satin stripe. Hope this helps.

[mzznlink]

So where does a dress suit fit in?

 

Matthew

 

A dress suit is what one wears when you do not have a tux but still want to dress up. Usually dark in color.

 

A co-worker loves cruising but refuses to buy a tux, he brings his navy blue suit for formal nights.

 

I personally like wearing the tux or dinner jacket on formal nights. To me it's a part of cruising. Plus they never really go out of style, although I have purchased several pairs over the years. I think the salt air shrinks them.

[Wadadli1]

Now I'm confused. I thought a "tux" was what Americans called a dress suit (or dinner jacket).

 

And now you are talking as if they are two different things - as is Angela.

 

Could someone explain for a confused chap?

 

Matthew

 

No, sorry. I meant both were part of a dinner suit/dress suit. Not to be confused with a business suit/lounge suit. Any better?

[pb82]

No, sorry. I meant both were part of a dinner suit/dress suit. Not to be confused with a business suit/lounge suit. Any better?

What Americans (me anyway) have trouble understanding is the concept of a "lounge suit"; the only suit we wear while lounging is a bathing suit. Is the "lounge suit" related in any way to the "lounge lizards" that Agatha Christie mentioned from time to time? As far as I'm concerned it's tux (American), dinner jacket (British), and white jacket (waiter).

 

Paul

[Wadadli1]

What Americans (me anyway) have trouble understanding is the concept of a "lounge suit"; the only suit we wear while lounging is a bathing suit. Is the "lounge suit" related in any way to the "lounge lizards" that Agatha Christie mentioned from time to time? As far as I'm concerned it's tux (American), dinner jacket (British), and white jacket (waiter).

 

Paul

 

I think the lounge in this case resembles what we call the living room and in the UK the room is the lounge. So you wear your lounge suit before you change into your dinner suit and head to the dining room?

[highcbob]

What Americans (me anyway) have trouble understanding is the concept of a "lounge suit"; the only suit we wear while lounging is a bathing suit. Is the "lounge suit" related in any way to the "lounge lizards" that Agatha Christie mentioned from time to time? As far as I'm concerned it's tux (American), dinner jacket (British), and white jacket (waiter).

 

Paul

 

I went to a family wedding down unda last year. On the invitation it stated "dress: lounge suit". I telephoned my Aussie bro-in-law and asked just what was a "lounge suit". His reply: " awwh, just a business suit mate!"

 

So, there you have it.

[songanddance]

Two countries divided by a common language and from what I read here a large amount of chain pulling.

[Kindlychap]

chain pulling.

 

Do you mean flushing?

 

Or leg pulling?

 

Matthew ;)