We're confused! Can someone give a clear explanation on the difference among informal, smart casual and casual? We just returned from the Brilliance to the Mediterranean and noticed that RCCL has replaced "informal" nights with "smart casual" nights. We'd always thought "informal" meant something less than formal but more dressy than casual. Well, on smart casual nights, we saw a motley group of dressing styles -- jeans and polos, cocktail dresses, beaded/sequined ensembles, short sleeves and chinos, shirt and tie... It looked like everyone was confused too! Help!
Smart Casual for men: Dockers and Polo shirt and for the ladies: Sun dress or Capris.
Princess coined the "smart casual" phrase about 4 years ago I think. They did away with semi-formal. Now its just formal and smart casual. We like it better that way.
For me, informal would mean semi-formal, hence a jacket and tie and cocktail dress. They sure do confuse things sometimes. Happy sailing.
Sea Angel
KL - you have it right, informal is dressier than casual but not as dressy as formal, hence the cocktail dresses.
Smart Casual - Men/Boys- dockers, cargos, nice pants, with a polo type, hawaiian or collared short sleeve shirt, casual shoes, no jacket required
Smart Casual - Ladies/Girls - sheath/sundress, capris, skirt, or nice pants with a nice blouse or lightweight sweater , sweater set, casual shoes or sandals.
Just to add to the confusion: Our dinner companions were from Michigan and the UK, and they had different ideas about what smart casual means. So now we've got country differences coming into the equation. And to make it even worse, what's smart casual in the tropics could be very different from what in is in the temperate countries due to weather differences -- this from a couple living on the equator itself! :-)
It makes me wonder if the cruise lines are downgrading their clothing suggestions at the response of cruisers not wanting to dress up anymore. I love to get dressed up every night, I would do formal every night if I wouldn't feel so obvious. My take on the guidelines is:
Formal - gowns, tuxedos, the works
Semi formal - cocktail dresses, dark suits and ties
Smart casual - dressy, what you might wear to an afternoon wedding
Casual - Sundresses or a nice pants outfit, slacks with collared shirts
Sloppy - jeans and what you wear on the weekend to relax (dressy jeans is an oxymoron to me)
After only 6 cruises, I know the choice of dress runs the gamut, I really don't let what other people wear bother me. I will continue to dress up and feel good about myself and live my little fantasy for the week! I cannot dress up for my "normal" life and my job, when I'm on a cruise I like to shine.
Re-phrase, I will not get dressed up for my normal life (unless we go somewhere nice) my job, I am an aide for severly handicapped children. I'm not wearing nice clothes when my hands are in bleach, disinfectant, diapers and mushy food all day!
Doesn't matter what the 'code' specifies anymore because the cruiselines won't enforce it anyway and more and more 'dressup challenged' people are opting to 'do their own thing' which translates into - dress as casually as u can get away with without being arrested for indecent exposure (and I wonder if even that will apply in the future?)! There are so many of them they always find themselves in a crowd of people and don't feel out of place...It's probably the result of doing away with the class system of cruising. I choose to dressup and always will - only way to continue a tradition is to 'follow' it and encourage others to do so also by setting an example - right? Happier cruisin'!
Yes; doing away with the class system must have been very traumatic for folks. Now, when a ship tragically sinks, rich and poor will die together. <rolling eyes>
I'm being fascitious, of course, but the point is that, while I choose to comply with the suggestions for dress, the fact that others choose otherwise doesn't affect me, and remarkably, is none of my business. This is a good thing; an improvement to society. It goes hand-in-hand with other freedoms of choice, like freedom of religion.
The dress code is a *suggestion* for a very specific and deliberate reason, rather than being a reflection of inadvertent neglect. Businesses set policy based on what is best for the business. It doesn't make sense to make policy based on what a small subset of the customer-base wants. Majority does prevail, in free markets, just like in a democracy.
Keep in mind that folks have the right to dress-up even on casual nights. No one will throw you out of the dining room for "over-dressing." It is none of anyone's business if you choose to dress beyond the parameters of the dress code.
Re: Re: Re: Duh...informal, smart casual and casual
Hi bicker..cute - good laugh :0) - do not intend to offend anyone and especially not people as intelligent as yourself....! That said I do take exception to your remark that this is an 'improvement to society '- seems to me this is why the Roman Empire eventually disappeared! A slow erosian of traditions, codes, rules, work ethic and behind all this came greed, indolence, laziness etc or was it simply that they all one day decided not to have an Empire? Isn't the American, Canadian, UK & European type of life going the same way although thanks to TV, computers, cars, etc. it is disappearing much faster than the Roman one did? The Chinese Empire is in the process of being reborn and ours will continue to disappear as we know it...see if I am not right! Ahhh enough - so back to 'fun' things like happy cruisin'! :0)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Duh...informal, smart casual and casual
What you consider an "erosion" others consider constructive progress. Changes in society over the past 100 years have raised women and minorities from terrible depths of neglect or abuse into the board rooms of some major corportations. The tradition in America, at least, was for the man to dictate and the woman to do; for the Caucasions to keep their heads up and all others to keep their heads down; for the rich to luxuriate and the poor to be trapped below decks as the ship sank. We're far better off without those "traditions"!
The work isn't done, but threre is no question that society is far, far better now for most people than it was back then.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Duh...informal, smart casual and casual
U miss or are ignoring the 'forest for the trees' - American, Canadian, etc societies yes with maybe a billion people but look around - there are a lot more societies and billions of people still mired in problems (like Russia who seems to be taking one step forward and two back) and it is getting worse not better partly cause those populations continue to grow (take China for example) - Isn't it now terrorism the US is fighting - didn't have that to do 100 yrs ago.. When a nation now has to worry about where the next attack will occur - water, land, air etc and they will and that is progress? I refer in general to a decline occuring in our societies and will continue to and why this is not about specific gains made by small world populations - like comparing apples and oranges - both fruit but...! Happier cruisin though :-)
Yes, overall, society is far, far better now for most people than it was back then.
There have always been people who claim, and rationales on which to claim, that society is declining. Pick any time in history, and you'll find people bemoaning the decline of some PREVIOUS golden age. Criticism is an instinctive human trait.
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Duh...informal, smart casual and casual
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