Hi everyone! We are thinking of booking a cruise on Ruby Princess but we don't want to dress up for those 2 formal nites. Can we still go to the nice restaurants and not be formal, or is every restaurant on the ship formal on those nites?

Ever restaurant is formal; you may go to the Horizon Court buffet early in the evening or you can order room service.

Actually most cruise lines have significanly relaxed how they enforce "formal" nights. Some people follow the guidelines to the letter and many others don't and are still seated regardless. Based what I have seen wearing a sports jacket and nice pants seems to be enough to get you in. I have even seen men seated on formal nights w/o having a jacket on. The trend has moved away from strict enforcement of formal guidelines and will probably continue to do so. Hope this helps.

People don't dress for anything anymor - not the opera, symphony or church. They all know that to strictly enforce a dress code would be fatal to their business. So do the cruise lines. On our cruises I saw tuxes that I wouldn't be caught dead in. Same with ladies gowns - look at the stuff on rental offer from the cruise line. My standard for the last fifteen years is a navy blazer, dark grey pants, white shirt and a nice tie. No trouble.

I guess I'm more from the "mind the dress code" school. I think for those who chose not to dress up on formal night (which is fine) they should eat in the buffet areas designated as casual, or room service OR chose a cruise line with no formal nights (more and more of those too) but don't show up in the dining room. I think this is disrespectful to those who do dress formally. JMO.

I went on a Holland America ship last Dec. A lot of people dressed up. I wore khakis, a blazer and a collared shirt.. no tie... and felt comfortable.... took the jacket off after dinner for the show, casino, etc.

I agree with Patsy. If folks go to all the trouble to dress up, I don't think that it's very nice to show up in more casual attire

Yes you can! We never dress. On Formal nights we simply go to another place to eat either the usual buffet if we have had a busy day or one of the restaurants. Be aware you may be mobbed heading for them by the folks who love to dress and have their photos taken in the more formal wear. For many that is an important part of their trip.