Not doing formal night...where to eat?

[packercruising]

Formal night means formal night for the whole ship, so your options would pretty much be the Horizon Court.

 

Hmm. Someone else said the Specialty restaurants are Dress Casual regardless.

[snowman]

Formal night means formal night for the whole ship, so your options would pretty much be the Horizon Court.

Not!!!

[mjkbaok]

Depends on the ship:)

 

Agreed. As I stated earlier, they told me when I set my reservation that it was formal attire but then told me that I would be ok with a long sleeved dress shirt with no tie or jacket. Not exactly formal attire. Some ships are ok with slacks and a polo type shirt. I would suggest taking at least a long sleeved dress shirt and then talk with the Maitre'd at the specialty restaurant and see what he says. Since it seems to be different from ship to ship then this "policy" isn't real clear.

[hubofhockey]

Hmm. Someone else said the Specialty restaurants are Dress Casual regardless.

 

In this case, Crown Grill wasn't looking for formal. They were only looking for a long sleeve shirt. It's not as if they were looking for a suit or even a jacket.

[CFD130]

On the formal night a couple of years ago on the Crown, we decided to go to the buffet instead. There was very few people there so we got a great table by the window- They use the lobster tails for the main dining and they take all of the claws to the buffet. So we had lobster claws, prime rib and fresh shrimp. We had the "best" formal diner ever.

[arizonaperson]

Well it sure sounds as if Princess needs to be more clear:confused: as it seems from past Princess passengers it does indeed vary. I have always dressed formal on formal nights and smart casual on those nights. I love the traditional dining so that is why I don't have first hand experience on this subject. But the Princess brochure(cruise Answer book) needs to be more specific at which dining rooms you don't need to dress formal on formal nights. That is why I love this board/forum one finds out so much from experienced cruisers.:)

[packercruising]

Why does the dress shirt have to be long sleeve?

[rcacace]

On the formal night a couple of years ago on the Crown, we decided to go to the buffet instead. There was very few people there so we got a great table by the window- They use the lobster tails for the main dining and they take all of the claws to the buffet. So we had lobster claws, prime rib and fresh shrimp. We had the "best" formal diner ever.

 

The last cruise on the Crown, I also ate at the Cafe Carib on formal night & as you say the food was great. They had a hugh pile of frog legs whereas in the DR they usually give out 5 or 6 at a time. The place was relatively empty when I first arrived.

[We2Cruzers]

On our Ruby cruise in February - we were in Sabatinis on the second formal night and were waiting to be seated when a couple arrived and the gentleman was not wearing a jacket. The hostess told him that in order to be seated in the restaurant he would have to wear a jacket. It was done politely and there were some questions but no arguments. The gentleman did leave to get a jacket and then came back. I'm not sure from these boards if this is consistently the way things are handled but this was the way it was handled on our recent cruise.

[MichCook]

Formal night means formal night for the whole ship, so your options would pretty much be the Horizon Court.

 

Not necessarily. It depends on the ship. We ate in a speciality restaurant on the Emerald on one of the formal nights and were admitted in casual dress without an issue.

 

If formal night was meant for the whole ship, you'd be seeing formally dressed diners in the Horizon Court! :D:rolleyes:

[wizard-of-roz]

We decide before we take a particular cruise whether we will be going to the dining room or not......If we decide to remain casual (smart casual, no tank tops) the entire cruise, then I approach the MatreD' the first night and inform him of our change of plans (because we always reserve Traditional/Early seating.)

I know that there are many people who would prefer this dinner time and have been waitlisted and now there's room for 2 more.

We've only done this about 4 times in all of our cruising experiences but it can be fun to just not plan any time for anything......just go on the cruise and enjoy the moment!!!

[juggles]

Returned from the Ruby on Saturday. They would not let my husband in the Crown Grill on formal night because he wasn't wearing a long sleave shirt. He was wearing a silk Tommy Bahama dress shirt. They were very rude. I did my research on these boards and have travelled with Princess on other ships and had no problems in the specialty dining rooms on formal nights but I was told that they have chosen to enforce this on the Ruby which is ridiculous. It ruined our night.:mad:

 

I'm glad, people should adhere to rules....or there wouldn't be any

[Clutterlady]

I'm glad, people should adhere to rules....or there wouldn't be any

 

What rules? Formal dress is for the dining room only. The pay venues are smart casual even on formal night. The problem seems to be that Princess seems to be inconsistent:)

[pj-atsea]

I went looking on the Cruise Answers part of the Princess website and can't find where they say that the specialty dining room are smart casual all nights. The page seems to me to indicate that if it is formal night, then it is also formal dress in the specialty restaurants. Does anyone know for sure if they have changed to smart casual at all times? Would I be denied entrance ( in Sabatini's) on formal night if I was smartly but casually dressed? Not saying that I would dress casually, just wanting to know if I could. pj

Specifically on the Crown Princess, if it makes a difference what ship.:confused:

[Sherri1]

Take a jacket, dress up a bit for the other person you are with. Always makes you feel like the occasion is a little more special when you dress up.

 

If it's not a special occasion, then make it one ... ;)

[espo56]

Agreed. As I stated earlier, they told me when I set my reservation that it was formal attire but then told me that I would be ok with a long sleeved dress shirt with no tie or jacket. Not exactly formal attire. Some ships are ok with slacks and a polo type shirt. I would suggest taking at least a long sleeved dress shirt and then talk with the Maitre'd at the specialty restaurant and see what he says. Since it seems to be different from ship to ship then this "policy" isn't real clear.

 

Yes that was us you saw. It was our anniversary and my husband was pretty annoyed. He didn't bring a long sleeve He was even more annoyed when he looked around and say a guy wearing a long sleeve denim shirt dining there. He was way more dressed up than me but they would have let me in and not him. They told him that if he came back with a long sleeve shirt they would let him in. I was tempted to let him wear one of mine for spite but when we discussed it we felt it wasn't worth the extra $100 it would have cost to eat there (service charge, tip. wine) after going through this BS. We went to the buffet and the food was fine. Ironically, 2 days later when we went back to the DiVinci Dining Room to AT dining the head waiter asked us where we had been eating. We told him that we did not bring formal attire and went to the buffet. We also told him what happened to us in the Crown Grill and he said that was nonsense and that he would make sure we were seated in the DiVinci on the next formal night. I am well aware of the rules on proper attire and I have never tried to eat in the main dining room on formal nights. In fact, this past cruise we only ate in the Main DR 4 rights out of 7. What annoyed me the most was the fact that they are trying to set different standards for this ship which causes confusion and frustration if you have traveled on other Princess Ships.

[espo56]

I'm glad, people should adhere to rules....or there wouldn't be any

 

Your glad about what? The fact that we were given incorrect information from Princess and from others posting on these boards. Do you homework before you make a comment. Most people responding to this issue have stated qthat the specialty restaurants are always smart casual.:rolleyes:

[espo56]

What rules? Formal dress is for the dining room only. The pay venues are smart casual even on formal night. The problem seems to be that Princess seems to be inconsistent:)

 

Thank you for understanding my point of view. That's what we had been told but others. Had we known this in advance. we would have either brought the right cloths or decided not to go at all. I also noticed that several men were wearing jeans in the dining room on the evenings we ate there.

 

I plan to complain to Princess about this directly.

[caribill]

I went looking on the Cruise Answers part of the Princess website and can't find where they say that the specialty dining room are smart casual all nights. The page seems to me to indicate that if it is formal night, then it is also formal dress in the specialty restaurants. Does anyone know for sure if they have changed to smart casual at all times? Would I be denied entrance ( in Sabatini's) on formal night if I was smartly but casually dressed? Not saying that I would dress casually, just wanting to know if I could. pj

Specifically on the Crown Princess, if it makes a difference what ship.:confused:

 

Page 10 of the 2009 "Cruise Answer Book" - "When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests."

 

From this statement, formal attire should not be required at any time in the specialty restaurants. And it should not vary from ship to ship although based on some of these posts, it does.

[skf]

Sabatin's & the steak houses all state on the menu outside the door "Smart Casual" & on formal nights usually the Maitre-d is one of the few wearing a tux.

Steve

[mjkbaok]

Yes that was us you saw. It was our anniversary and my husband was pretty annoyed. He didn't bring a long sleeve He was even more annoyed when he looked around and say a guy wearing a long sleeve denim shirt dining there. He was way more dressed up than me but they would have let me in and not him. They told him that if he came back with a long sleeve shirt they would let him in. I was tempted to let him wear one of mine for spite but when we discussed it we felt it wasn't worth the extra $100 it would have cost to eat there (service charge, tip. wine) after going through this BS. We went to the buffet and the food was fine. Ironically, 2 days later when we went back to the DiVinci Dining Room to AT dining the head waiter asked us where we had been eating. We told him that we did not bring formal attire and went to the buffet. We also told him what happened to us in the Crown Grill and he said that was nonsense and that he would make sure we were seated in the DiVinci on the next formal night. I am well aware of the rules on proper attire and I have never tried to eat in the main dining room on formal nights. In fact, this past cruise we only ate in the Main DR 4 rights out of 7. What annoyed me the most was the fact that they are trying to set different standards for this ship which causes confusion and frustration if you have traveled on other Princess Ships.

 

 

I'm so sorry you went through this. We felt bad for you and I even told my wife that I didn't understand why you were being denied entry. The answer book is definitely NOT clear as indicated by the various posts here. I was just lucky that I had brought the long sleeved dress shirt or I would have been denied access too. I really hope you had a good cruise other than this incident.

[mjkbaok]

In this case, Crown Grill wasn't looking for formal. They were only looking for a long sleeve shirt. It's not as if they were looking for a suit or even a jacket.

 

I get what you are saying, but a long sleeved dress shirt with no tie or jacket is not formal attire according to the answer book. It seems to be somewhere in between smart casual and formal. That makes it very confusing. My suggestion is to ask the Maitre'd once on board as it seems that each ship is enforcing a different policy.

[snowman]

I don't care what the "answer book" says or what anyone else says frankly. We recently returned from the Emerald and I can tell you the the speciatly restaurants are resort casual. This subject comes up every 2 weeks. We ate in in them 3 times on a 10 day, and no one was dressed formaly or even a sport coat. This subject should die, but won't.

[bhopal21]

I am surprised to hear that The Ruby is not adhering to the policy as it was changed last year by corporate to smart casual at all times for the specialty restaurants. We have been on The Golden, The Grand and The Island since that time and they all had posted signs designating the dress as such.:confused:

 

Mike:)

[Clutterlady]

I don't care what the "answer book" says or what anyone else says frankly. We recently returned from the Emerald and I can tell you the the speciatly restaurants are resort casual. This subject comes up every 2 weeks. We ate in in them 3 times on a 10 day, and no one was dressed formaly or even a sport coat. This subject should die, but won't.

 

Agree, as we also ate at the specialty restaurant on the Emerald on formal night dressed resort casual. But, the problem seems to be that it varies from ship to ship and I really feel that Princess has to get their act together:cool: