DACfor4

My husband and I are taking our 2 teenage children with us for our Celebrity cruise in Alaska. MUST we attend the two formal nights? Neither my husband nor I really want to and it's actually "painful" for the kids! ;o)

Lydel

Definitely NOT. You don't have to do
ANYTHING that you don't want to do.
You are on vacation!
There are a lot of people who don't attend or even dress formally on formal nights. You can eat at the casual buffet if you'd like for dinner or any other night. However, if you do go to the dining room for dinner on the formal nights you should dress nicely if not formally.
Hopes this helps,
Happy cruising

DACfor4

Lydel, thanks for the input. It's really what I wanted to hear. We'll most likely still go to one of the formal nights, but not both. Have you ever cruised Celebrity? From what I'm seeing, it sounds like they're a little more "formal" every night?

Thanks again! DAC

Bird

We were on the Celebrity Infinity last year to Alaska. There was some of everything on formal nights. Many people were dressed casually and I didn't hear any hisses. We loved the cruise. Have fun.

DACfor4

Bird, Thanks! I'm figuring we'll have a great time --- it's Alaska ... and a cruise after all. You've relieved probably the only stress I had. Packing TWO dress outfits for FOUR people, none of which really even wants to "dress up" on vacation. We won't be slobs, just not dressed to the nines! Thank you!

everittp

Think of the dining room as a country club dining room. Last time I was no denim, no shorts, but shoes required.

As an aside, I often wonder why women are encouraged to have bare shoulders, strapless etc., and men are asked to cover up! I'm frequently too cold, yet my male friends are wanting to take off jackets. So there is the strange custom of a lady wearing her gentleman companion's jacket. Fashion just doesn't make sense.

As for the teenagers; my young, slim daughter wraps a big colorful scarf around her waist, and tops it with a sleeveless silky t-shirt. Wears jewlry and sandles and looks very dressy. I've seen young men wearing very nice knitted golf shirts, or turtle necked shirts and dressy slacks. I also don't think first seating isn't as 'formal' as second seating.

Gardyloo

The "Alaska Tuxedo" consists of a pressed pair of jeans, a new Pendleton shirt, a bolo tie, and polished cowboy boots, or, in winter, clean sno-pacs.

mmp13

From what I understand the Alaska cruises tend to be les formal anyway!

Doxygal

Having been on this very cruise, I can say that formal nights are indeed very formal (and my husband and I love it). I have thankfully never seen anyone in a pair of jeans in the dining room. I don't think the Alaskan cruise was less formal. Also, since you've booked Celebrity, you must have known that it's still one of the more traditional lines. There are lines less traditional and less formal, but we pick that line particularly because we want that tradition -- we think it's fun. That said, there are lots of places to eat on the ship, but you will see people decked out on the formal nights. Yes, there are a lot of men in tuxes and a lot of men in dark suits and everyone looks great. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, but it's nice when people join in the fun. Why not pick a less formal line if you hate it?

disneynan

We just did Celebrity SUMMIT to Alaska and loved our dining room experience so much, that we never dreamed of skipping it for a second! My 20yr old son LOVED it. His formal wear was the same as my DH, just a dark jacket, white shirt & tie. To tell the truth, I don't remember paying much attention to what anyone else wore, though everyone looked nice! We only had one "informal night", not the two that were listed. we also had 3 teenage girls in our group, and they loved it too! This was our first cruise and feel next time we go, just very nice dress pants or skirt with fancy top would work out great...For the short time you are in there, its really not all that "painful", and all our meals were quite wonderful and not to be missed. We had 4 casual nights, so this was an easy trip to pack for..WE loved every minute on this ship!

DACfor4

Thanks one and all! Doxygal, it's not that I "hate it", it's more that my son hates it. And, we picked THIS line because we only booked it on 8/7/04 to sail on 8/20/04. We just happened upon it, believe it or not. In any case, we'll deal with it, I was just wondering if we everything was formal on this line. We're bringing dress clothes ... if they aren't "dressy enough"? Oh well.