Am I Atypical To Dislike Cruise Formal Nights?
 

DW and I just completed a 7-day Caribbean cruise on the Ruby Princess. It was very enjoyable in many respects. But, this was only our second cruise in 15 years. One of the major reasons for the long hiatus was a deep dissatisfaction with the first. One of the things I disliked was "formal nights". I just didn't like the idea of being required to put on a suit or tux, <u>on my vacation</u>, to eat dinner.

The most recent cruise had <b>two</b> formal nights in a seven-day period. Of course, we opted out and dined in one of the ship's specialty restaurants instead. The cynic in me says that the driving force behind formal nights is the ship's photo $tudio, not the personal preferences of the majority of cruise passengers. Am I alone in my feelings?

There will always be a cruisers on both sides of this fence.

Most if not all of my friends do not like the formal nights.

Others just love getting dressed up and having their picture take against a backdrop of Palm Trees or where ever the cruise may go.

Personally for me I do not care for them.

I am on holidays and I do not want to pack a suit or tux.

I wear a suit all day long at work , I hardly need to put the "monkey suit" on again while I want to enjoy sunshine of the Caribbean , a cool one and wear shorts.

So no you are definetely not alone !

Smart casual is good enough for me :)

We enjoy them sometimes, but do not like draging along clothes just for that. So, on our last cruise, we didn't take anything formal and we ate in the buffet on formal nights. Also, we prefer to eat out on the deck if the weather is nice and it is still light rather than being stuck inside. If it is cold, or we eat late, than we go to one of the dining rooms. We do have friends who love formal nights.

That's why we like to cruise with Oceania: no formal nights. We always add a landtrip to the cruise and don't want to have to deal with clothing we won't need. In addition, there are the new luggage restrictions to consider.

"Casual elegance", right Percy, works for us too ;-)

I completely agree. We've just done a HAL cruise and had 2 formal nights per week for no other reason than photography and tux hire revenue for the line.

They didn't enforce it, not that many dressed up and we changed as soon as dinner was over in the first week. The second week we didn't bother at all.

Of course the formal nights were invented to get more $$$ out of the passengers by taking photos!

I don't dislike formal nights, just don't care for them. If tuxedo and a gown were required, we'd skip them. A blazer and a nice top is all we do (we both don't wear jeans).

I don't mind getting "dressed up", but I intensly dislike formal nights on a cruise. I have been to many top rank restaurants and to frquent symphony concerts and operas and have not seen the dress expected on formal nights. I suspect that the monetary gains expected drive the code. There may also be a group who like to think that they are on the Mauritania in 1925. In todays world of airlines charging outrageous fees for baggage, it would seem appropriate for cruise lines to assist their paying customers by demanding less in the way of clothing variety.

Our favorite cruise line is Oceania, and we are perfectly happy without formal nights.

But, when we are on a cruise with formal nights, we enjoy them--the process of getting so specially ready for an evening, seeing everyone all dressed up, etc.

My husband and I despise formal nights. The only reason we eat in the dining room on those nights is that a very outstanding meal is usually served. I take lightweight black pants, sort of silky black top. Hubby takes sport coat and slacks. If it were up to me I would eat in the buffet on those nights, but I give in to my better half. I think the whole idea is outdated and impractical.

OV, we are leaving on the Ruby Princess 12-12 for 7 nights. In general, how did you like your cruise? What did you do on the cruise stops? This is our 3rd cruise, but have been so busy, we haven't made any advance plans. Was planning to hire car & driver at the cruise terminal for the day in each port, we have never had a problem. I assume you have the same stops - Bahamas, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Turks & Caicos?

We are ambivalent about the formal nights, as there are 4 of us (2 young women, 1 Mother, 1 Grandmother) and dressing up for ourselves seems silly. How was the food on board and the entertainment? Any tips/tricks for us? Was the ship nice?

No, you're not alone. We also despised them. Fortunately the line we've been lucky enough to travel on abolished them last year. Not sure why more lines don't do this.

I love wearing a formal gown. My husband hates lugging his tux and black shoes but does - sometimes. Things are very informal where we live on the NC beach and there is never an opportunity to dress more than casual - only older men (65+) even wear a jacket to church.
There are times when we don't bring formal wear but wear maybe nicer type outfits on formal nights. I know on Carnival most people are not dressed formally and I have seen shorts and jeans in the dining room on formal nights. I do like it, however when they say "no baseball caps" in the MDR!
We go back to two formal nights, two informal- men didn't have to wear a tie with their jacket, and three casual- what is worn every night now. Back then my husband took a dark suit and two linen jackets plus shirts for each night.
Sorry but we miss those nights!

<b>To All, (thus far)</b>
It looks like there is a small consensus emerging. It's also nice to know others share some of my values about being in control of one's leisure time, especially when one is <u>paying</u> for it!

<b>Response to aliska about Ruby Princess</b>
aliska, I must confess that our first cruise in 1994 soured me on taking another...until last month when we took our Ruby Princess cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. I was skeptical, but went ahead anyway. Here are some of my impressions: In general, we liked the ship very much. Here is an informative review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/...cfm?ShipID=443

The ports of call varied, but were O.K. The ship skipped Princess Cays due to poor weather. Grand Turk - nothing much to see. Don't bother (i.e. waste your $$$) taking a shore excursion. Just enjoy the magnificent beach in front of the cruise center or do a little shopping inside the cruise center http://www.grandturkcc.com . St. Thomas is a shopping mecca (particularly for jewelry). Be aware of the expanded customs exemption for alcohol and other items bought in the U.S.V.I. We didn't take a scheduled, ship-sponsored shore excursion due to weather-related road closures. In St. Martin/St. Maarten, we did not take a ship-sponsored shore excursion either. We took a great, all-day tour through a private company - Bernard's Tours www.bernardstours.com Bernard (Augustin) can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at (954) 376-6582 or 011 [599] 586-0788, 011 [599] 555-1216. Make a reservation for his all-day tour and his driver will show you the entire island and offer free, ice-cold beverages from a cooler in the front of the bus. You don't even pay until the conclusion of the tour. I think the current charge is $40 - a terrific value. I can't recommend him enough.

Now back to formal nights on the ship. A great alternative is the two specialty restaurants - Sabatini's and Crown Grill. There will be a small cover charge for each ($20 & $25, respectively) but it is well worth it in each case. They are <u>wonderful</u> dining experiences. Each is a popular choice and reservations fill up quickly. Make your reservations shortly after you board on the first day. Hope this helps some. You will enjoy your Ruby Princess cruise!

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Atypical? Let's just say you and Mr.321go think alike! A tux is a dealbreaker for him.

A tux? I am missing something here. We have been on 6 cruises on 4 different major lines - and I do not think DH has worn a tux since his HS prom 40+ years ago.

I don't have a serious problem with them since I tend to wear about the same thing on both "formal" and non-formal nights - a dress, skirt, nice pants and dress top. DH throws a suit jacket on over the normal dress shirt, tie, pants he wears to dinner on ship. We have never felt out of place - but I have a general aversion to anyone telling me what to wear.

I did object some years back when a poster here insisted that formal nights meant not just for dinner, but for hanging out in ship bar after dinner, shows, etc.

I will be going on my first QM2 cruise and they make it quite clear that the attire for each night is for the entire evening and not just for dinner.
When I was on RCCL last year, on formal nights many people nights changed after dinner.
So, you need to check carefully and make sure you know the company policy before booking any cruise.

On the HAL cruise I mentioned above, HAL requested that you stay in evening dress for the whole evening. It falls down when they don't enforce it and allow people into the dining room in shorts.

As I said in my previous post, we didn't bother after the first week and most people hadn't bothered for our first week.

The lack of enforcement now for formal night dress codes is an indicator of the trend away from this cruise tradition. Personally I don't mind dressing up for them though a tux is out of the question. You can always opt for alternative dining or room service. As for revenue from pics this is the only time we actually pay for them. The cruise lines make alot of $$ from pic taking in general including port stop pics, themed dinner pics and so on. If one isn't careful a ton of $$ can be spent on pics overall. We get one set during a formal night, not both, then thats it. After that we go around the ship, find a nice spot and take our own.

OV, thanks for the info! I have emailed Bernard to arrange a tour of the island, visit Marigot and spend some time on Orient Beach. Thanks for the heads up on T&I. I suspected as much. We are not shopping in St. Thomas, gold is too high for me! Have been to Coral World and Koki Beach, looking for an island tour with a couple beaches there as well. Hopefully, the weather in the Bahamas will be cooperative.

With the sudden chill here in Ohio down to the teens, we are planning to bask in some beaches throughout the trip. My mother in Southern Florida is also complaining about the cold, don't know if we will be visiting the beach in Miami. The link you sent from CruiseCompete was an overall review, did you do one as well? Thanks again!

aliska,
Nope, no cruise review from me. My comments to you were "an exclusive". Enjoy your Ruby Princess cruise!


_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie