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Over the past year or so many of the cruise line's have been making changes in the product they're offering on their ships. Lots of them have been toying with the number of formal nights onboard, and some getting rid of their "semi formal" nights.
Would you like to see Formal nights done away with, or at least reduced in #s, or do you prefer to see that tradition continued?
Keep the formal nights, but (now don't yell at me, just my opinion) relax the dress code on other nights to allow for nice dress shorts and short ensembles...
I'm obviously in the minority on the boards but they can do away with the formal nights as far as I am concerened. I do dress correctly for formal nights but they are the nights I hate the most on any cruise.
I also think the 2 formal nights on a one week cruise are perfect, although I can see all the lines do away with the 1 semi-formal or smart casual nite, that I could do without.
I hate dressing up! But...on a cruise, I want and expect to do so at least once. It reminds me that I am after all civilized. Too many traditions, and along with them social disciplines, have been left behind. Those who can't respect the traditions can go to Disney World, or eat in the buffet.
Steve
Until Enchantment. Until Inspiration
Sensation 2/03
I'm all for keeping the formal nights - they're part of what makes a cruise special. However, I'm not crazy about the "informal" nights, and wouldn't mind seeing them cut back to one per week, or even eliminated altogether.
I like "formal nights" and would hate to see them go overboard.
But, if that's what the hoi polloi wants, and they seem to be paying the bills, that's what we are going to get.
Then I guess the question becomes, do we wish to cruise with the hoi polloi?
The mainstream cruise experience seem to be dropping, at a precipitous rate, to "Lowest Common Denominator."
I've been chastized for being a snob. Chastize on. I cheerfully admit it.
An experience that was "above and beyond" a mere ten years or so ago is now like a visit to ... you supply to analogy. Chuck-E-Cheese? Or, on the high end, one of those plastic places like Olive Garden or Crimson Crustacean found in every strip restaurant maul?
To me, the demand for 24-hour pizza told a lot.
The corporate beings must respond to the desires of their clients/passengers. You want 24-hour pizza and being allowed to walk around a beautiful ship in work-out shorts and tank tops? Give us your money. We supply the pizza. And don't forget to drop a few bucks in the casino on the way.
The mainstream cruiselines are probably NEVER going to offer the "good old days" because that's not what the paying customers want.
I vote FOR the formal nights. On our last cruise (14 adults, 15 teenagers) the formal night was the highlight of the dinners and we have a wonderful formal portrait of all 29 of us.
Angela Z.
I like them, but sometimes it becomes a love-hate relationship.
That's because we tend to piggyback cruises with land trips and frequently spend an additional week or more at the wonderful places the ships take us. For instance, following our transatlantic on the Millie last month we stayed in Barcelona for a while, then went on to Madrid for more fun and games before coming home.
Dragging the formal togs--which are superflouous to a land-based tourist--around the countryside is a pain. We know how to pack light and travel light, so it's really a burden to have what usually amounts to an extra garment bag along for the pre or post cruise activities.
That said, I would miss having a formal night on a cruise. However, I think that having three (as Celebrity does on longer runs) is a bit much. I'd actually be happy with one, but I think they should hold it to a maximum of two for any cruise of 16 days or fewer.
But I think Pamda's got it pretty much on the nose, as she usually does. Those of us who love civility in cruising tend to want to hold on to formal nights not just for the dressing up per se, but because it makes a statement against the general slovenliness that has invaded cruising since the building boom and the price cuts. And the slovenliness goes well past dress, as has been frequently pointed out on these boards with the constant discussions about rudeness, selfishness, "me-first"-ism, general rule-breaking, and all the rest.
I've always liked the employee mission statement of Ritz-Carlton hotels: "Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." Certainly the ships' staffs are overwhelmingly ladies and gentlemen, but with each passing cruise I find the clientele less and less so.
Formal nights are one of the few things left to remind us that the ship isn't the corner saloon or the neighborhood McDonald's set afloat. Maybe there are still some people who will get the message.
If not, we'll have to leave the mainstream lines adrift, save our pennies, and take fewer cruises on the more expensive lines.
PapaBill, I loved your answer! As for me, I am NOT a dress-up person, but a cruise is a rare and special occasion, and I am thrilled to dress up at least once, if only for the photo opportunity!
José and I enjoy dressing formally on a cruise. It is really the only opportunity we have to do so. Here in the southwest, EVERYTHING and EVERY PLACE are casual, casual, casual, right down to church services! I vote for keeping formal nights!
Re: Re: POLL- Would U like to see FORMAL nights GONE?
Definately keep formal nights. A cruise is special and two nights dressing up keeps the fantasy alive. Besides, I just look so damn good in a tux <>
Jim
I like the formal nights and think they should be kept!
As much as I could get blasted for this and do not consider myself a snob by any means, I think with the casual dress a certain casual attitude came along with it and just my opinion, I don't like it.
Jennifer is correct in the casual everywhere! Church, school functions, as in plays, graduation, etc. In the last few years, going to many events, the casual dress seems to have brought along with it, a casual, noisey, sometimes rude, atmosphere!
But you know what, I'll just let it go at that before I get in too deep!
Re: Re: POLL- Would U like to see FORMAL nights GONE?
I like the formal nights. It's fun to wear a gown and feel pretty, again. In my everyday life, I don't have the chance to dress up very often. I think it helps to make the cruise experience very special.
This subject never fails to draw cheers and boos...For me its very simple...IF you don't enjoy dressing up, thats fine..your perogative, BUT dine in the alternative dining rooms, that were created specifically for that..Its so easy, no shleppingt tuxes and gowns..No problem....BUT on the other hand, don't expect me to be happy when my hubby and I and friends are dressed appropriatley, and loving it ..to be happy when a shlub in shorts and a tank plops down next to me....If that defines me as a cruise snob...so be it, I will wear the mantle proudly......Trip /Monday Chat Host
I would love to dress up and feel good about it but it is impossible to find an outfit that is formal for me. I have dressed up as much as I could on my last cruises but it is not as formal as everyone else. I am short and not a size 2 so finding clothes ordinarily is hard but finding something out of the ordinary is impossible. I would love to be able to have a really nice dress. It is on my list for when I win the 10 mil.
tigercat
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POLL- Would U like to see FORMAL nights GONE?
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