Dress on Board

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Hal

Guest
Over the weekend we attended a cruise fair and went to a Princess presentation. The speaker, in response to our question, described the ships as very casual by day and night. In fact, he stated that the way he was dressed in a sport coat, polo shirt and slacks would be the norm for the formal nights. We have cruised on several lines (RCCL, HAL, NCL, and Color in Europe) and have seen very different dress codes in the evenings. Although we appreciate the casual nature of the day, especially in the Caribbean, it is nice to get dressed up in the evenings. Even our two teen aged sons enjoy it. What is the real dress code in the evenings in the Caribbean? Is it different over the Christmas holidays when we typically cruise? We would like to consider Princess as its ships look wonderful, but if it is as described (very casual) we may look elsewhere.

Thanks, Hal Morris

Color Festivale - summer 2001
Monarch of the Seas - Christmas 2001
Norwegian Sea - Christmas 2002
Zaandam - Christmas 2003
??? - Christmas 2004
 
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PeabodyNVL

Guest
Casual is definitely not the norm on the Grand for formal night. Polo shirts and nice slacks may be fine for other nights, but on formal nights, most men wear at least a suit, or a nice sports jacket, matching slacks and a tie. Many men wear tuxes.

I really don't know what the rep what talking about.

Pea
 
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Jeanie

Guest
I agreed, casual is not the norm on the Dawn or the Golden. About 90% dress for formal night
 
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KS Sunflower

Guest
On the Coral Princess, most people still "dressup" on formal nights. There were a few men in a tux, but more in a jacket and tie. Of course, there are always the people who say, "it's my vacation, and I'll wear what I want". That's why they have the Horizon Court, for those who don't want to "dressup".

KS
 
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Hal

Guest
Thanks. I was hoping that the representative was merely trying to "read" the crowd and give an answer that they wanted, albeit not what we were looking for. Our experience on cruises is that formal nights are suits (or tuxes) for men and "party dresses" for women, and on some other nights a sport coat is also typical. Only on the first and usually last night is the dress truly casual and other dining venues exist if you do not want to dress up at all. By the way, one of our main objections to ~NCL's freestyle dining is that even on formal nights (read, christmas dinner), there were diner in the main dining rooms in shorts and sandals. Isn't it just as easy for the crew to redirect those diner to another venue (buffet, etc) if they do not want to dress up.

With your input, we can safely consider Princess for next Christmas. Any hints as to what to look for?

Hal Morris
 
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Cruise cutie

Guest
Just wanted to add that on all 4 of my Princess cruises Formal night is just that-Formal..Black tie/ or Dark suits..Chi Chi gowns./Cocktail dresses...all casual people are directed to the Horizon court. we LOVE the Formal nights..:).....Joanne
 
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asctony

Guest
After 30 Princess Cruises, I wish that Cruise Cutie was correct in stating that 'all casual people are directed the the Horizon Court.' I believe that people should follow the dress code of the day/evening. However, some think they should not. Until a Cruise Line enforces the dress code, you will find those that try to justify their dress (lack of) code. How many times do you dress up to go out anymore? Why not make this vacation special and enjoy two dress up nights. You will see people in the dining room without coat and tie or proper attire on formal nights. They are NOT turned away as the Cruise Lines don't want to loose a paying customer. Seen it too many times. Happy Cruising!!
 
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sparkle56

Guest
I don't know what the cruise rep was saying either. Most people dress up to the nines on formal nights on Princess. I wear long sparkly cocktail or evening gowns and evening jewelry, my husband wears a tux, as do a number of other men. There are always clowns who try to be in your face with their attire but they are, fortunately, an exception. Although I have not seen anyone sent to the Horizon Court if dressed inappropriately I have heard that it is done.

And the Horizon Court has the exact same food that they have in the dining room (although not as elegantly presented because the H.C. is a buffet) so there really would be no reason for someone to pull an "attitude". . .if they want to be casual they'll still get the same menu.

Also people tend to stay dressed up for the entire evening. They go to the shows, or the casino, or watch the champagne waterfall being created. Few change to casual until they are ready to retire for the evening.

The dress on the other nights would be similar to what the cruise rep described. We only saw shorts and very casual during the day. Capris for ladies are okay on informal nights but usually they are dressed up a bit with a nice blouse, shirt, or jacket. And dress sandals or similar.

Hope that helps.

We've cruised Celebrity and Princess and like them both. But our times on Princess now outnumber our times on Celebrity.
 
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Hal

Guest
thanks for your input. I could not agree more with several of you regarding the lack of dress up opportunities today. With the ships having so many options, it is not an inconvenience to simply send people to appropriate desitnations/restaurants if they do not want to be dressed up. As we said, we found on NCL (at a formal Christmas dinner in the main dining room) people in shorts, etc. In our expereince, although we have not cruised on Princess yet, RCCL and HAL are the most particular with dress in the dining room or it may simply be the guests themselves.
 
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DJA

Guest
Hal, to your reference regarding sport coats on some nights... Princess for the last couple of years has reduced the dress code to two, Formal and Casual. They eliminated one called semi-formal, which is when we used to wear sport coats or suits to dinner. Lots still wear sport coats on casual nights... but the distinct three-tier dress code has been reduced to two. ...and yes, formal is pretty formal on Princess.
 
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cvetkovski

Guest
Sailing on the Caribbean Princess in April. So how many formal nights are there? Have not sailed Princess before.
 
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kruznut

Guest
We have sailed Princess many times and let me assure you for the most part, formal nights are formal. Most people are dressed to kill. I enjoy seeing it that way and enjoyed getting decked out myself from head to toe.
 
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Cruise cutie

Guest
As an addendum..Must be my age/generation..I'm 44 but to be honest the thing on Princess that would certainly give me the willies is to look way different from the others...:ie the Wallflower effect. I may wear Pink.Teal,Purple, or Red which with all the Black outfits so many of the others wear, I stand out ,but Hey I have black hair and am really fair and look like Death in Black .I love to drag out my Grama's heirloom jewelry..Where am I gonna be able to wear Cascading Amethysts or Honking Cocktail rings she bequeathed to me...At the Grocery Store??!! So I price shop for very fancy gowns. pay next to nothing for them...drag out the Late Grama's Eye -popping stuff that you can bet your bottom dollar is Insured!!! and really enjoy..Hubby dons his tux..the kids all want formal portraits and we go dancing!!!..If I wanted Casual I would Not BOOK PRINCESS..there my =twocents again..sigh..sorry but that's why we stay with Princess, plus all the Captain Circle Platinum Premium benefits :grin...:)..Joanne
 
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mac1

Guest
Question re: Captain's Circle

We are travelling in a party of eight ,however only one couple is a member of the Captain's Circle I understand that there is a cocktail party for C.C. members does the group of eight go to the party ?????????? Jack
 
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Cruise cutie

Guest
Re: Question re: Captain's Circle

When there is a Captain's Circle member invited to the party , only the members go to the party,it is by invitation only and they check them at the door..The other members of your group are up to their own devices for their part..ie; go to a bar or lounge while the Captain's Circle attendees have cocktails with the Captain...:)...Joanne
 
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mlzangel78

Guest
I was onbaord the grand in december i made my DH rent a tux.. it wasnt gonna kill him and we traveled with 2 22' carryons for the whole week, his black dress shoes would have taken up half the suit case. During the day every one was in swimsuits with wraps for the most part, casual shorts and hawaiin or golf shirts, at night it was mostly khakis and polo shirts. Formal night there was not so many tuxes as i thought there would be , most men were in suits and ties.. i could care less either for my Dh the only thing that made us rent the tux was not having to pack the shoes and the suit. I still over packed the 22 inch carry on , and did laundry twice.. Id rather do laundry than over pack again. Princess laundry machines were fast, cheap, and it gave us time to have quiet time on our balcony and sip wine while the clothes were in the wash:)
 
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