anney

We have a cruise booked with Holland America to Alaska in August. We aren't really interested in the formal dining nights but are wondering if we don't go to the formal seating are we going to be missing out on any special entrees that they don't serve otherwise?

Aristotle

Probably you will miss some entrees in the dining room. But that should be no problem. Some ships have an extra restaurant on the Lido deck - no extra charge, but reserve - and the Lido restaurants are nearly on a par with the main dining room. Which in my opinion means that neither are really that good - about on a par with a better family restaurant. Cruise food reputation is largely now a matter of nostalgia for bygone days. As for formal nights, they too are mainly nostalgia. Most men wear a jacket and tie, but I suspect you can get by with less. For women anything
nicer than a painted sweatshirt should do. I wear a blazer to travel and then that becomes my tux.

mmc923

I can't speak for the Alaska HAL itineraries, as I haven't done those, but on our HAL mediterranean cruise most of the passengers did "dress up" for formal night. That being said, if you don't care to dress up, you may call room service in the first 30 minutes the dining room is open and order anything off the regular dining room menu (it will be posted outside the dining room and in the bar/lounge areas starting that afternoon). This includes the surf and turf option - my undrestanding is that you may have lobster in your room, but they do not offer it in the Lido buffet. You may, of course, go to the buffet and select from MOST of the same entrees which are offered in the MDR. Or you may eat Italian food in the Canalletto restaurant (no upcharge, but reservations required) located in the Lido. For dining in the Pinnacle Grill during formal night, dressing up is also suggested (that is the upcharge restaurant - $20 pp).

Did a Carnival cruise last year and noted there were far fewer folks dressed "formally" than on the HAL cruise. However, it is possible that given the amount of clothing people tend to pack for Alaska, given the changes in weather that can be experienced, less people may want to use up valuable luggage space for tuxedos and long gowns like we did in the Mediterranean, when we knew our weather was going to be either HOT or HOTTER! (it was August).

Have a wonderful cruise! We loved the food on HAL and hopefully you will too, regardless of where you choose to eat it!

Cheers!

1965

In our experience the buffet on any cruise will not serve lobster and prime rib on the elegant nights. It's only available in the MDR.

Aristotle

I remember 1 dinner when lobster was served (on the Noordam in 2010) and the tails were very small. Can't recall whether or not it was a formal night. Can't recall lobster on nthe Zuiderdam in 2008, but if it was served it didn't make much of an impact. Also formal night is to some extent a misnomer. In my youth formal meant a a tux for men. Now it seems to mean any coat and tie, which is fine, but best would be to cease the fiction and have people where just nice clothes. Unfortunatly that would probably mean a tank top and a speedo to some.

MsSteinrunner

We've done 3 HAL cruises, two to the Caribbean and one in Europe. We usually skip formal night, but we do dress well enough not to look totally out of place. We actually prefer the Lido for dinner. Occasionally, an entree will not be offered there that is in the dining room, but we actually prefer the lobster tails at the Lido as they are grilled right there. They were offered on our last two cruises in the Lido on formal night. Prime rib has also been offered whenever it is in the dining room.

utahtea

We did our very first cruise last July & it was to Alaska on the Ziuderdam and they served the lobster on the second formal night. We did open seating, usually went early for dinner and always got a table for 2 when we asked for it...which was all but the first night when we asked for a window seat.

You don't have to dress up a lot for formal night. I talked DH into it because I had two nice dresses I wanted to wear again We saw jeans and one guy getting a table before us didn't have a jacket and no one said anything to him.

Have FUN!

Utahtea

javapick

Just cruised to Alaska on HAL's Westerdam last week. The menu each night is varied and excellent regardles of formal night or otherwise.

If it's just that you don't want to dress up much, don't let that deter you from going to the main dining room. On fomal nights, there was not a tux in sight. Most guys were barely dressed better than business casual and nothing was said to them. There were indeed ties and jackets but the impression I got was that they really don't enforce dress code at all. Guys would seriously be fine walking in with shirt & tie.

The Lido Buffet is always an option, but not nearly as good a selection as the main dining room.

TerryLFred

Just returned from our cruise to Alaska on the Westerdam last week. I only ate at the Lido buffet for the first lunch buffet as we left Seattle and on the last night before returning to Seattle because we were late for our reservations in the Canaletto and they cancelled them on us. Neither of those times did we think the food was much more than OK. Maybe because it was the first and last meals on board, I don't know. The food in the MDR was excellent, as was in the Pinnacle Grill. The Le Cirque dinner was wonderful too. We ate at the Canaletto our first night out and enjoyed our meal there. Not everyone dressed up on formal night but a lot were. As long as you aren't in shorts and tennis shoes you should be alright but I think you would want to be nicely dressed even if not formal to blend in - IMHO.

Enjoy your cruise! We sure did. And the great food was one of the main reasons we loved it so much!

Luv2travel15

We did a HAL Alaskan cruise last July. I was not sure what to expect as far as the formal nights. My husband and I (as well as our traveling friends) like to dress for dinner as we can wear jeans, tee shirts, any time. My husband brought his tux with him expecting to be one of the only ones wearing one. He was surprised to see how many guys wore tuxes and the ladies really dressed up also. It was nice to see.

We just did a cruise to Hawaii in February on HAL and again, we were surprised to see how many were dressed in tuxes and formal evening wear.

So guess it's a matter of preference, type of cruise you are going on as to the formality onboard. However, a nice suit, shirt and tie is always appropriate if wearing a tux is not your thing.

In any event, having a spectacular cruise is the most important thing. What's not to love about cruising!

mrscpa10

Alaska is not a dress up location. Went last May on HAL. Wore a gown one formal night and looked stupid. I was maybe one of 20. Wore a simple black dress the second formal night and it was fine. There is a ton of food, but nothing that special to worry about missing. Some of the ports are so small that you can leave the boat, come back on for dinner, and leave again. Have a great time.

ALF

We just returned from an Alaska cruise on the Statendam - we went to both formal nights, and although some folks were dressed 'to the nines', men will be fine in a blazer of even just a shirt and tie. Women will be fine in a dress or blouse and skirt. Not that big a deal. The formal nights felt worth it, because of the expanded menu and the extra touches in the dining room. We had a late assigned seating, which we liked because the dining room was rarely crowded, we had the same outer window table, and the servers got to know our preferences.

Lifeman

We went on the Nieuw Amsterdam last November in the Carribean and HAL (pre cruise) made a fuss about dressing for the formal nights. We rented tuxedos via them for the two weeks.

In the event, few people dressed up, smart casual was about it. We wore the tux's on the first night, but not again. We felt ripped off.