Celebrity: are you a traditionalist or a revolutionary?

[Drew B]

And also, desire for traditional vs. open seating is not necessarily linked to desire for formal vs. casual dress. I imagine that the assumption is that those who want traditional dining want formal dress and those who want open dining want casual dress, but I don't think that is necessarily true.

 

I, for one, do not care a fig about what the dress code is. I will follow it, no matter what and I expect others to do the same, but I would be equally happy sailing on a ship with formal/informal/casual structure or a ship with no dress code whatsoever. It simply doesn't matter to me. I haven't done so, but I'm guessing I would be just a smidge happier without dressing up.

 

On the other hand, I would NOT want to sail on a mainstream line if I couldn't be assured of dining at the same table with the same tablemates and the same waitstaff at every dinner. That one IS a priority.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Formal isn't going away anytime soon. The only mainstream line without a formal night is NCL. Informal is the category that is probably most at risk of abandonment and I'd cheer for that outcome. Celebrity would just be joining the 21st century with that change.

[sea-cruise]

I'd love to find an upscale line where BBCOB(*1) isn't considered the fashion norm. I'm willing to pay a little extra for great service, great food, and I don't mind dressing up for it. I have found that the longer the cruise, the better dressed the cruisers... just call me an old fart tranditionalist who's only in his 40s.

 

 

*1: Baseball cap on backwards.

 

LOL ! I wouldn't call you that...Our married children are all in their forties and they enjoy dressing up as well.

Our grandsons are in their twenties, and they are another matter.

We took them on a cruise and they removed their jackets and ties as quickly as possible.

[junglejane]

And also, desire for traditional vs. open seating is not necessarily linked to desire for formal vs. casual dress. I imagine that the assumption is that those who want traditional dining want formal dress and those who want open dining want casual dress, but I don't think that is necessarily true.

 

Count us in with those who are happy to dress up for formal night but would prefer open seating if given a choice. This is what we get on Princess and we like it. We also like lots of things about Celebrity -- but the lack of open seating is one thing we would change if we could.

 

--Junglejane

[maiden]

My partner and I took our first cruise in October 2007 on board Century in the Mediterranean. One of the things we liked was the "formal", traditional atmosphere of Celebrity. We don't want to see shorts and tank tops in the dining room and we enjoyed set times for supper. That is one of the reasons we won't cruise with other cruiselines. We want our vacation to be a time when we "dress up" and as Celebrity brags, "feel famously". I can wear sweats and a t-shirt at home in front of the TV! It did upset us when we saw a few rebels in the dining room wearing shorts and jeans when Celebrity specifically sets guidelines for dinner attire. I say, order room service if you don't want to get dressed up!

[drrich2]

I care little more about 'dressing for dinner' than I would dressing to go to the bathroom, ride a horse, watch a movie or much of anything else that seems unrelated to clothes to me.

 

Obviously, some like this and want to exclude those dressed otherwise, or force them to conform to a dress code, to create/maintain some sort of 'ambience' important to them.

 

I'd say either make one deck of the dining room casual & one formal on formal nights, offering same service/menu/etc..., or else make early seating casual & late seating formal or vice versa, so the formals can have their exclusive upscale experience without telling the rest of us how to live or being bothered by us.

 

This would be cumbersome to enact in real practice, and take time, effort & trial & error to work out the bugs, but at least to some extent I think it could be enacted.

 

Richard.

[SusieV]

I care little more about 'dressing for dinner' than I would dressing to go to the bathroom, ride a horse, watch a movie or much of anything else that seems unrelated to clothes to me.

 

Obviously, some like this and want to exclude those dressed otherwise, or force them to conform to a dress code, to create/maintain some sort of 'ambience' important to them.

 

I'd say either make one deck of the dining room casual & one formal on formal nights, offering same service/menu/etc..., or else make early seating casual & late seating formal or vice versa, so the formals can have their exclusive upscale experience without telling the rest of us how to live or being bothered by us.

 

This would be cumbersome to enact in real practice, and take time, effort & trial & error to work out the bugs, but at least to some extent I think it could be enacted.

 

Richard.

 

The problem with that idea is that the dress code is not just for dinner- it's for the entire ship after 6pm, barring the casual dining area.

 

People are expected to stay dressed formally in all other public areas.

[Hflors]

We, my husband and I, 61 and 65, absolutely prefer the Celebrity policies as they are written especially as they define dress codes and traditional dining. And, our son and daughter-in-law, 35 yr. olds, enjoy conforming to these guidelines as well, without complaint. They are newlywed professionals, attorney and investment banker, who normally dress in business casual for work but frequently don more formal dress for social and business occasions. On a recent cruise to the Caribbean when so many ignored the formal dress, my son said that he and his wife did not mind being the best dressed couple in the dining room.

 

I'm mystified why X would consider flex dining when lines such as Princess frequently have hundreds of passengers waitlisted for traditional dining. Unless their reservations fall way off due to guests running to lines such as NCL, why change?

 

Mary Anne

 

Mary Anne I copied your quote because I could not have said it better myself.

DH and I are 64 & 54 and traditional is wonderful for us! I hope celebrity never changes (at least in our cruising lifetime)!

[drrich2]

The problem with that idea is that the dress code is not just for dinner- it's for the entire ship after 6pm, barring the casual dining area.

 

People are expected to stay dressed formally in all other public areas.

 

And the problem with actually making that setup routine occurance instead of official policy is that those who choose casual dining are not going to go hide in their rooms all evening, nor are they going to eat casually & then change into formal wear. Many of them (I suspect the majority) are going to violate the dress code, so it will deteriorate the convention over time.

 

Richard.

[spearmint]

Is there a question? X continuing to carry on the TRADITION of cruising is why they are our first choice and our favorite line. Society today is casual enough, thank you. I know several people on the NCL forum that would wish I was on the Titanic, but when you walk around dressed to the nines on formal night, there is a certain air of respectability that casual dress just does not convey. It isn't phony, as some might see it, it's called respect.

 

Sure, you can be a fine, upstanding citizen, and never wear anything but collared shirts, but there is just something about a suit and tie, or better yet, tux. Agree with me gentlemen?

 

Well said!! :D Bill

[Shipyard Cruiser]

Is there a question? X continuing to carry on the TRADITION of cruising is why they are our first choice and our favorite line. Society today is casual enough, thank you. I know several people on the NCL forum that would wish I was on the Titanic, but when you walk around dressed to the nines on formal night, there is a certain air of respectability that casual dress just does not convey. It isn't phony, as some might see it, it's called respect.

 

Sure, you can be a fine, upstanding citizen, and never wear anything but collared shirts, but there is just something about a suit and tie, or better yet, tux. Agree with me gentlemen?

 

Probably all true.

 

The only problem is when I'm on a cruise I'm on vacation.

 

Lugging bags of formal clothes and getting dressed up evey night.

 

Is that how you want to spend you vacation gentlemen?

 

I think the answer is Yes:)

 

Now the question is: Do the cruiser not on "The Boards" feel the same way you do?

[C 2 C]

For the 12% who consider smoking policy as more significant in their cruise enjoyment and would prefer limitations on smoking on board, restrictions are spreading on certain cruise lines. I believe that more restrictions are inevitable on other cruise lines as well.

 

"Peter Deilmann Cruises has announced a ban on smoking:"

 

 

and " Beginning in May, Crystal Cruises is prohibiting smoking on verandahs of all staterooms and suites aboard Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity."

 

 

 

 

[junglejane]

Now the question is: Do the cruiser not on "The Boards" feel the same way you do?

 

That is the question. We can talk all we want about what we personally prefer or what we think Celebrity ought to do, but at the end of the day Celebrity is a for-profit enterprise that has to answer to its investors. Celebrity will do what its market research department says will maximize its profit.

 

--Junglejane

[jclarkhall]

I would ask, indeed beg X, to remain with traditional seating as it is at present. Most of my cruises have been on X but had a nightmare on Sun Princess, when we chose anytime dining. Waiting was terrible, and different waiters each night who could not care less. Never again!

I now do not even consider cruises that offer anytime, freestyle or whatever. Keep trad and dress for dinner!:)

 

95 Crown Princess Caribbean

97 Enchantment of Seas Med

99 Galaxy Alaska

01 Arcadia[old] Med

04 Voyager of Seas Caribbean

05 Constellation. Trans At

05 Sea Princess North Eur

06 Constellation Trans Atl

07 Navigator of Seas Canaries

Future

Mar/Apr 08

Bk 2 Bk Constellation Ult Car/ Trans Atlantic

[Sky Sweet]

There are a number of posters who make judgements about other passengers on a ship by the way they dress.

 

Do you feel the same way about professionals in your every day life? If you were trying to decide between two lawyers to handle a personal matter for you, and one wore a three piece suit while the other wore just casual pants with a shirt, would that affect your decision?

[Sow There]

There are a number of posters who make judgements about other passengers on a ship by the way they dress.

 

Do you feel the same way about professionals in your every day life? If you were trying to decide between two lawyers to handle a personal matter for you, and one wore a three piece suit while the other wore just casual pants with a shirt, would that affect your decision?

I would hire the one that understood my facts and circumstances best, and who articulated a sound legal base that give me the best chance to prevail in the matter.

 

Yes, a first impression makes a difference, but capability and competence trumps appearance in that regard.

[Ma Bell]

Being judgmental is one thing and having an impression is another. It really is not possible to be judgmental unless one knows a lot more than just seeing something for the first time.

If one doesn't get an impression by what he sees, he is either blind or not too bright. I would imagine most people would interview an attorney before deciding whether to use him.

[Ma Bell]

That is the question. We can talk all we want about what we personally prefer or what we think Celebrity ought to do, but at the end of the day Celebrity is a for-profit enterprise that has to answer to its investors. Celebrity will do what its market research department says will maximize its profit.

 

--Junglejane

 

This is true but it just may be possible that there is room in the market for a cruiseline that upholds traditional values, especially when there are so many options for the casual crowd.

 

Until we all decide to live in a huge commune it may be a wise business decision to offer a choice. Thankfully not every business has the same philosophy. What a boring world this would be.

[Sky Sweet]

I would hire the one that understood my facts and circumstances best, and who articulated a sound legal base that give me the best chance to prevail in the matter.

 

Yes, a first impression makes a difference, but capability and competence trumps appearance in that regard.

 

Hi Sow There :)

 

I feel the exact same way, and that is partially because most lawyers no longer dress the way they did traditionally, and I realize that in today's world how a lawyer dresses has nothing to do with his or her level of competency.

 

On the other hand, if I asked that same question ten years ago, most people would probably have thought what kind of a lawyer would dress so casually because traditionally lawyers wore suits to work.

 

I think the analogy I am trying to make is relatively obvious.

[TRadle]

People used to dress up to travel on airplanes. Times change.

 

A dress code, or lack of a dress code, does not have an influence on the cruise I take or the lines I sail on.

[Ma Bell]

Yes it is obvious. Most people form impressions based on what they see but do not "judge" people by what they wear.

I really don't think people have changed much in this regard except that it seems that it's not politically correct to even suggest that one notices what someone is wearing.

[Shipyard Cruiser]

There are a number of posters who make judgements about other passengers on a ship by the way they dress.

 

Do you feel the same way about professionals in your every day life? If you were trying to decide between two lawyers to handle a personal matter for you, and one wore a three piece suit while the other wore just casual pants with a shirt, would that affect your decision?

 

Or a well dressed con man or woman could make out very well out here:D

[Shipyard Cruiser]

Yes it is obvious. Most people form impressions based on what they see but do not "judge" people by what they wear.

 

I really don't think people have changed much in this regard except that it seems that it's not politically correct to even suggest that one notices what someone is wearing.

 

 

I guess sometimes being "politically correct " does work:)

[hudunnit]

After 11 previous cruises on various lines, DH and I did a 14-day cruise on the Azamara Quest December 8-22, and Jimsgirl can't be more wrong when she posts about getting back from an excursion late, not bothering to change, just nipping into the dining room and grabbing something to eat.... The dress code on the Quest is elegant casual, and that's what we saw consistently. The few people who didn't "bother to change" must have eaten at the buffet--we never saw them in the dining room. The ship was gorgeous, the people well dressed and well behaved. It couldn't have been nicer.

 

If you haven't cruised with them, don't judge them. It's a good product. They aren't cheap and they certainly don't appeal to the same people who would enjoy an NCL cruise, even though they don't have "traditional" dining. They are quiet, sophisticated, not party ships, don't cater to kids or smokers and those are all points in their favor, far as we're concerned.

[Ma Bell]

I guess a casually dressed con man could "make out" with those who assume that there's something suspicious about someone who is well dressed and that people who dress casually are more honest and down to earth. It works both ways.

Most of the people I've met on cruises have been very nice normal people. They don't go around making comments about what people are wearing. They abide by the request of the cruiseline and are too busy enjoying themselves to think about what people are wearing and are certainly not "judging" them.

People who are sailing on Celebrity for the most part know what kind of ambience they will find and enjoy it. Of course they are going to "notice" someone who is blatantly disregarding what is requested. That doesn't mean they are "judging" them.