We are taking the Pearl from Southampton to Miami early December and since we have not cruised with NCL since they introduced Freestyle, we are interested to know if there are likely to be any formal nights. It is 9 nights/10days, no ports. We were on the inaugural voyages of both Carnival Destiny (our one and only with Carnival) and RCCI Brilliance. Love that everything is brand new, despite the odd hitch. Any past cruisers out there who have made a crossing in December - we would love to hear from you as we are not really sure what to expect. Cold weather and rough seas perhaps. Your info would be really helpful. Cheers.

NCL has no formal nights, but you can certainly dress up if you want, and some people do, particularly if they are dining in one of the specialty restaurants. I can tell you that may encounter some rough seas and certainly will get cold weather, though I've never done this crossing. Someone who can will be able to give you more specific information. I'll probably be checking this ship out, but not until it docks in Miami. These ships are definitely beautiful and have a lot of nice features, so you should find enough to do.

Actually NCL has optional formal nights. I've been on 4 NCL cruises the past year.

scaeo7o6

I am booked on the same cruise. There are about 36 on a roll call on another board. about 90% from the UK. The fares in England were remarkable. I had to pay more for cruise only then the advertised fares including air on your side of the pond. You can email me as the group is planning to gather onboard and we are planning a fun bowling tournament since this is the first ship with 4 full lanes.

Doug, NCL does in fact have formal optional nights. On a 10 day there will be 2. What that means if you want to remain resort casual you can. Depending on the cruise and I have been on 14 NCL cruises in the last 4 years 40-70% will dress up those nights. Some in Tuxes, many in suits, more just jacket and tie.

Some ships even set aside one dining room for those that enjoy getting dressed for dinner.

I too am wondering about the weather hopefully they will head south and then west with 10 days to cross. The original itinerary for this cruise had a stop in St. Thomas. That was dropped I think when they realized it would be an immigrations nightmare

On the NCL cruises I have been on - on optional formal night no more than 1/3 of those present were dressed formally.
We never did and did not feel out of place since most people were dressed like us.

No question about if you want to remain resort casual you will be very comfortable. It has been nice not to have to pack a tux or suit.

The only thing I do is add a blazer to the same resort casual outfits that I wear every night. Not because I feel I need to but I love the extra pockets.