dress code on Princess

[cruzkrazee]

Since we are soon sailing on the Golden Princess, we need a bit of advice! We heard from someone that has recently sailed on this line that women are not allowed in the dining room with sleeveless dresses or bare arms without cover-ups? This sounds a bit ridiculous as most formal gowns do not HAVE sleeves, but wanted to check with someone that has been on this cruise ship lately. Tell me it is NOT so!!! Also we are under the assumption that there are two really formal nights and the rest are smart-casual. Does this mean the men can wear polo shirts and dockers on those smart-casual nights, without sport jackets? Which nights are the formal nights--we are going on the Eastern Caribbean route with the first two days at sea. Are the portrait photos taken only on the formal nights? How soon would one have to sign up for that, as our family will want a group photo taken. Thanks!! Oh, one more thought---I read on one of these boards that we shouldn't drink the water on the ship? Does this mean the water in the dining rooms too?

 

[Kathy & Dave]

I have seen many sleeveless dresses in the dining rooms. For the smart casual nites, polo shirt and khakis are fine. The formal nights are often the first full day at sea and another sea day at the end of the cruise. I have only seen 1 formal night on a port day (I forget which). I don't think that happens too often though. I think they only take formal portraits on formal nites, but we didn't get ours done. Maybe it can be done by appointment, I'm not sure. My brother-in-law complained that people cut in front of him in line, so maybe they don't do appointments. I'm sure someone on the board can answer that one. You can drink the water on the ship. The water in the dining rooms tastes fine. I didn't care for the water from the sink in the cabin. But only used that for medication.

The Golden is a nice ship. We are going back on it in October ourselves. Can't wait!

Enjoy!

Kathy

 

[tispwisp]

I concur with Kathy's answers. Formal portraits are taken on formal night and there is no appointment. They have several areas around the atrium set up with different backgrounds. Just get in the line in front of the background you would like your portrait taken. You can also go to different background and have several formal portraits taken.

I wore sleeveless dresses on both formal nights and didn't have a problem. I also saw strapless and halter formals. Dockers and polo shirts are fine for men on semi-formal nights (that's what my husband wore).

The water is safe to drink out of the faucett in your bathroom and in the dining room. I prefer the taste of bottled water (even at home) so I just bring along bottled water.

Have a great cruise!

 

[melissa_bel]

I sailed on the Frand, the Golden's sister ship on the same itinerary and I wore many sleeveless dresses or tops (including formal night) and no one even lifted an eyebrow. You will have 2 formal nights and polo's and docker pants are fine (my husband was wearing the exact same). The first formal night is on the second day if I remember well (but it will be announced on the Princess Patter, the ship's newsletter which you will receive everyday). The second formal night is the night before going to Princess Cays and you will have to see the champaifn fountain (and take a pic with the captain).
Photos? Don't worry, as soon as you put your foot on the gangway, princess photographers are there. You will have many opportunities of having your picture taken: formal night (portraits and dining room), champagne fountain, island night in the main dining room, on princess cays with the ship in the background..
Please, visit my site : http://wave.prohosting.com/~melkrooz/index.htm and read my review.

You'll have a blast!

Mel

 

[SpongeRob]

Dress codes are not strictly enforced by Princess. On a few occasions I saw men wearing shorts in the dining room. I brought a couple of ties during our cruise on the Grand for the smart-casual nights, but never used them. Short-sleeve dress shirts were just fine.

 

[Toto]

No problem at all with those sleeveless dresses, I have never heard of anything like them not being allowed in the diningroom sleeveless before, afraid someone is pulling your leg there, or maybe they are just totally misinformed.
We saw all types of dress on the Grand Princess last week.
Most 7 day cruises now have gone to the 2 formal nights and the rest resort casual mode. All the semi-formal nights have been gone for awhile.

As for water, not one problem. The ships have great filtration systems and the tap water is as pure as what you get at home, so drink away. Same goes for the diningroom, never had one problem with the ships water. We normally take a few bottles of water just to keep in the frig to carry off on port days but that is the only reason we take it, much easier and safer then drinking the water in some ports.

Have a great time.

 

[melissa_bel]

Personnally, I loved the tap water from the ship. They have their own filtration system and it's one of the best I've ever tasted.
If you're tired of water, you can buy their soda card. I think it's $17.50 per person for unlimited soda beverages .

 

[scotian_gold]

Just finished our first cruise on the Grand. No problems with drinking the water at all. We did bring on bottled water to carry with us on our excursions - you can buy it on the ship but if you drink alot of water it may be worth your while to bring on some.

The dress code is a bit relaxed I found. I wore a skirt and top, or dress pants and top to the dining room on the nights that weren't formal and had no problems. The issue you mentioned about sleeveless tops I believe is for men - no tank tops. There is a sign posted outside the restaurant stating no sleeveless shirts and I did question the maitre 'd and he stated that was just for men, so I wore sleeveless tops with no problems. - although the dining rooms are air conditioned so you may want a cover-up anyway.

You may also consider investing in a soda sticker for your cruise card. They are $22.50 and cover unlimited soda. I found this quite useful as I do drink alot of soda. If you don't get one I believe the sodas were $1.00 each.

Hope you have a great cruise!

 

[Toto]

Well that explains the confusion Tanya, I never thought of that. Glad you remembered about the tank tops for men. Yep, that has to be where this all came from and someone misunderstood that it was men only.
Thanks for clearing up that for everyone Tanya. :thumb