Informal Nights
 

I've heard rumors that HAL is doing away informals as they have on Princess. Can anyone confirm?

I haven't heard that. The HAL cruise documents I have in hand say

Dining: 4 Formal, 2 Informal, amd 10 Casual Nights

so at least they haven't done away with them yet.

I can confirm that HAL is doing away with informal nights. There will only be formal nights and "smart casual" nights. It's supposed to start in May, but it's already happening on the ships now.

I think with cruises starting in May there will be no more informal nights. The dress code for formal night has also been changed to allow men to wear a sports type jacket instead of a dark suit coat. However, a tie will still be required with the jacket.

I think the dress codes are being simplified due to the luggage limitations being imposed by just about every airline, and the difficulty encountered when trying to pack for three different types of evening requirements. These new requirements eliminate the need for men to bring both a dark suit for formal night and a sport jacket for informal. Now one can serve both purposes, and certainly the tie won't take up much room in the suitcase.

As for women ... personally, I never saw any difference between casual and informal nights, and I pretty much dressed the same way for both. All the new dress code means is that I can now "officially" do that. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

I find that informal and casual nites are the same thing. I wear a sport jacket to both nights and my suit for formal nights.Its makes no different to me. I am just happy to be there.

Yes, it is true. Informal nights will be discontinued on HAL ships. My DH always wore a jacket on Informal nights (with or without a tie) but my clothes for Informal and Casual really are quite alike. Won't make that big a difference for me but I'm sure it will be a license for some people to take even less care with their dress in the evenings.

Always a few in every crowd.......whaddyagonna do? :)

I think those who will take advantage by dressing downright sloppy probably always dressed that way. Doing away with informal nights won't make them any better or worse.

As for me, I always dressed nice ... just never got into the gown and fancy duds thing. But, I never considered myself ever dressed sloppy in the dining room. I wear jeans for the flight to the port, but as soon as I'm onboard, they get put away ... only to be taken out again for the trip home.

Guess these upcoming cruises maybe will change me. The QE2 is very formal from what I understand. I had to go out and buy new clothes specifically for it. Who knows? Maybe I will become addicted to playing "dress up" after that cruise. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

For informal nights, I usually wear a cocktail dress (another reason to get dressed up of course :)) Now I'm kinda sad that I wont be able to pack as many dresses.

No informal nights
 

We just got off the Oosterdam 4/7/07 and informal nights are GONE.