Formal Nights
 

Hi<BR>Need some help? I have been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. I have always felt comfortable wearing a sport coat and slacks on the formal nights. What are the formal nights like on Princess? Im in a suit every day of my life with my job. When im on vacation I need to disassociate myself from my everyday life. Thanks for your reply!

Come on guys, Need some help! Thanks

john:<BR><BR>Formal night on a Carnival cruise is a joke. You can wear whatever you want. Royal Caribbean is slightly better and might expect more. The Princess would expect at least a dark suit.

John, you wouldn't look totally out of place wearing just a sports coat and slacks on Princess but you would be in the minority. Regardless of what you choose, there will always be a few hayseeds who will make you look good.<BR>

Here's my take on the topic of FORMAL nights on all the major cruise lines.<BR>FORMAL means just that and all brochures suggest a tuxedo or --- at the very least a DARK suit with tie.<BR>My husband also dislikes getting dressed up on cruises. <BR>Therefore, we, respecting that others DO like to dress up and the cruise lines want to maintain some semblance of standards, dine elsewhere on *formal nights*.<BR>A sport coat and slacks is never considered FORMAL attire.<BR>

Simple solution. Eat at the buffet on formal nights.<BR><BR>Paul

Hi,don't miss a good dinner, wear your sports jacket. We sailed Princess and you would not beleive some of the outfits, ie overhauls with tux jacket. This was on a 14 day cruise in Europe.

I agree with Gary, you won't be thrown out of the dining room for wearing a sport coat and slacks, but you'll definitely find the majority of Princess passengers in tuxes or suits.

Oh come on John!! You guys, all sizes and shapes look so handsome in a tux..so elegant, so Cary Grant, so Fred Astaire(looks like I'm showing my age)..or Pierce Brosnihan.. Try it..rent one and see the stares you get from other women..

If they are serving a special menu for<BR>&quot;formal&quot; night, does that mean you have to eat run of the mill &quot;buffet&quot; food and forego the Lobster?

Although no one will throw you overboard, 30-40% wear tux, 40-50% wear dark suits, and the remainder don't know better.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

What disassociate yourself from work? Surely you will bring at least a PDA or laptop with you. Oh the agony!<BR><BR>Hahaha couldn't resist.

John, I've never sailed Princess, but I saw some very distinquished, self confident looking gentlemen wearing sportscoats and slacks on our Celebrity cruise on the Formal nights. They obviously weren't worried about what some people who probably don't get the opportunity to wear a suit everyday think of their attire. <BR><BR>Remember that some people never have the chance to put on a tux or even a suit save for a cruise, so it seems to create some kind of fantasy for them to dress up like that. They take the dress code suggestions very seriously. I think that's great for them, but I also think I wouldn't be worried about gaining their approval and dressing to please someone else.<BR><BR>It's one thing if the line requires you to wear a suit or tux (and I don't think any do, I even think Celebrity just requires a jacket) on formal nights otherwise they'll ban you from the dining room, but if it's just a suggestion, then a jacket, tie and slacks should be fine. It's not as though you want to wear jeans or shorts.<BR><BR>I don't know why anyone else would even care whether you wore a jacket rather than a suit. It certainly wouldn't bother me.

The world must be going off its axis. For once, I agree with Nina...it would not bother me if a person wore a sports jacket on formal night.<BR><BR>I just prefer a suit or tux. <BR><BR>Somehow, I cannot see the difference between a sport jacket, suit, or tux. In all cases, you have an extra layer of fabric on your shoulders.

I was on Princess mid-March. On both formal nights, I would say there were a little more than a quarter of the men in the dining rooms in tuxes, and the remainder in nice, dressy dark suits. There were some sport coats. Nothing less than that however. Guys who didn't want to do formal night went to the buffet I am sure. <BR><BR>I'm a woman and at first I wasn't too keen on dressing up for formal night, but I did, and actually it was very festive and enjoyable! I'm not snobby about this but I feel if you're not going to follow the dress recommendations (dark suit or tux), just don't go, no big deal! The reason the menu is more special is because the night is more special and, like weddings and other special events, dress is expected to be special, too.

Lew, it happens.<BR><BR>I asked my husband what the difference is. On a cruise he went on us with, he didn't want to take his tux, even though he owns one. He just didn't want to pack it, plus he does wear it several times a year to black tie functions and fund raisers. He also wears a business suit to work, so he considers a suit something that is strictly for business, and he wants no part of one on vacation, he's had to leave vacations early for work and he does have to take his laptop and cell phone, so he has to put his foot down somewhere. No suits on vacation! He takes a very nice sportscoat and slacks. Why? Because they're very nice, he's somewhat of a clotheshorse and other than cocktail parties around the holidays, he doesn't get the chance to wear them. Most restaurants don't require them anymore.

Misha, And my husband won't go on another cruise again - unless it's Windstar or a Moorings yacht charter, for just the reasons you mentioned. You're right, it is no big deal.

Sounds to me like Nina's husband has the right idea ---<BR><BR>Formal nights are not for him, so he's chosen to not cruise again on lines that have them. Bet he loves the upscale &quot;resort-casual&quot; lines. <BR><BR>A good solution!

And you folks think a tux is tough. On embassy duty [when I had a 32&quot; waste], I had to wear a mess dress uniform to formal affairs...including cape and sword. Now try that for uncomfortable.<BR><BR>My objection is to the woman who thinks a &quot;nice&quot; pair of jeans, or the guy who thinks a T-shirt with insults printed on the front is appropriate.<BR>

The great thing about Princess is you don't have to go to formal night -- you can eat great in the 24-hour buffet; or you can have whatever is being served in the dining room brought up through room service. &quot;Personal choice&quot; it is.

We've only been on 3 Princess cruises and they have all been exotics.<BR>My take is that the formal nites have been quite formal...plenty of tuxes and floor length gowns. <BR>I think it's possible that the exotics draw a dressier crowd..the trips are longer and the passengers tends to be older. We're in our late 30's and there haven't been many other couples our age.<BR>We enjoy dressing for formal night. <BR>My husband has a very dressy black, double-breasted suit. He wears his tux shirt/studs/cumberbund with that.<BR>Can't even tell it's not a tux.<BR>I have floor length and cocktail dresses that I wear..what I pack depends on what's currently fitting me!

Crowsie: I loved your last line &quot;I only pack whats currently fitting me&quot;. So very true, great line. We are young retirees and my husband had to wear s suit every day to work. We are going on a Celebrity cruise to Alaska, and he will bring out his wonderful navy pin stripe for &quot;formal&quot; nights. He doesn't like Tuxes. So this is fine with me.